A pitching matchup to skip work for

The most intriguing pitching matchup in baseball today has to be Tim Lincecum and Stephen Strasburg. The game will be played in the sunshine at AT&T Park in San Francisco this afternoon, and I’d love to be there. Lincecum has gone from being one of the undisputed top few pitchers in the game the past […]

My National League West prediction for the 2012 season

With a heaping helping of faith and wishful thinking, I’m picking the San Francisco Giants to win the National League West this year. Even as I typed that sentence, the nagging voice in my head was saying, “What about the Diamondbacks?” The pick comes down to arms versus bats, and the Giants have the better […]

First Albert Pujols, and now Prince Fielder bolt the National League

At this hour, it appears Prince Fielder will be skipping over Lake Michigan from Milwaukee to play with the Tigers in Detroit, and that has to be a bit worrisome for the National League. Earlier this post-season, Albert Pujols bolted from the Cardinals to the Los Angeles Angels. If the Fielder deal comes through, that […]

Requiem for the San Francisco Giants

The inevitable happened tonight as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the defending world champion San Francisco Giants to win the National League West title. It’s a bitter end to the season for us Giants fans, none of whom have the least glimmer of hope that San Francisco can finagle a wild card berth. Frankly, I don’t […]

The 2011 National League MVP: Buster Posey

Scoff if you will at that headline, but the idea has merit. Buster Posey has proved just how valuable he is by his absence from the San Francisco Giants. Posey broke his leg May 25 while trying to keep Scott Cousins of the Florida Marlins from touching home. Cousins scored, the Marlins won, and it’s […]

Baseball is better when the pitchers hit

A recent spate of inter-league play has gotten me thinking again about the designated hitter rule. It’s not that I’m anti-DH per se. It’s simply that I think baseball is more entertaining when the pitchers hit. When kids play the game of baseball, everybody hits. You’re supposed to hit. Baseball is a game that tests […]

19th Century baseball: ‘Old Hoss’ book doesn’t disappoint

A brief update: Last night I polished off the last chapters of “Fifty-nine in ’84,” the biography of Charlie “Old Hoss” Radbourn that I mentioned in a post a few days ago. The book by Edward Achorn was even better than I expected, bringing to life the game as it was played in the late […]

Blowing the NL West notwithstanding, Bud Black wins NL manager of the year

Here’s how the story should read: “Bud Black, who guided the San Diego Padres on a 10-game losing streak that cost them the Western Division title, was named National League manager of the year on Wednesday. He edged Dusty Baker, whose Cincinnati Reds took the Central Division but didn’t win a playoff game, by one […]

Buster Posey is the National League Rookie of the Year

What a treat it was to get the news late this morning that Buster Posey was named rookie of the year in the National League. In my estimation, he deserved the award — and his excellent post-season performance wasn’t even a factor in the voting. Rookie of the Year is a coveted award, but it […]

Does the term ‘pennant race’ mean anything any more?

“Pennant race” conjures images of clutch hits, great catches, overpowering pitching and long shadows slanting across the diamond. But with baseball’s division structure, there isn’t a true pennant race left. Right now, the team I follow — the San Francisco Giants — has a slim lead over San Diego and Colorado in the National League […]