E.K. NATION

Sending Damian Moss and Kurt Ainsworth to the Orioles for starter Sidney Ponson has definitely shored up the Giants' rotation, and I couldn't be happier. While I liked Ainsworth's potential and still had faith in Moss, Ponson's easily the strongest of the three, and now we have a formidable 1-2 punch with Ponson and Jason Schmidt. And having a 1-2 punch is about as big a boost in any playoff series as you can have. Now is the time to focus on home-field advantage in the National League playoffs. (ESPN noted that this deal had very high impact on the pennant races. I assume they meant playoffs--there are no more "pennant races".) Today's loss to the Cubs is a minor setback. Kirk Rueter couldn't throw today; he was scrtached in favor of Jim Brower, who had a rough four-run first inning.

Okay, sorry about the "Diff'rent Strokes" spin. But I love Dontrelle Willis. Any kid who can come in and make you want to sit down, actually MAKE PLANS to watch a Florida Marlins game, and then on top of that, beat Randy Johnson in a duel, it's gotta be a good kid. Marlins fans actually packed Pro Player Stadium for this one. The attendance was, what, three times the average for a Fish game?

Willis is 10-2 now, and I have to think he's going to be instrumental in keeping the Marlins in the wild-card race, not that I necessarily worry about which team has the moxie to win second place in any given division. But, Florida helped the Giants, sending Arizona to a season-low 12 1/2 games back of first place San Francisco, which got another great game from Jason Schmidt and a nice productive outing from Edgardo Alfonzo. Fonzie hit a grand slam and Schmidt got another win. It's a twelve-and-a-half-game lead; I can't recall the last time the Giants had a lead this large. Maybe I'll research it.

The winner of the first-ever E.K. Sports I-Saw-You-Doggin'-It Award goes to Moises Alou of the Chicago Cubs. In today's game against the Giants, Moises hit a ground ball right back to pitcher Jason Schmidt. Alou jogged to first the entire way. This is unacceptable. You bust your butt down the line, period. You never know what can happen. If Schmidt's throw takes Andres Galarraga off the base for a fraction of a second and he has to scramble back, you could be safe if you sprint all the way. Congrats, Moises. Not a good way to follow up yesterday's game-winning home run. You're paid $9 million a year to play hard. Moises Alou, I Saw You Doggin' It.

Forget ten runs. How about ten good swings? Matt Clement was excellent in shutting down the Giants, allowing only a Marquis Grissom single and a bloop by Andres Galarraga in a brisk 3-0 shutout. After giving up a three-run homer in the first to Moises Alou, Damian Moss settled down a bit, allowing just five hits over seven innings. But it was too late. Good to see Joe Nathan checking in with three strikeouts in the eighth inning, though. I guess we just have to move on to today's game.

Double Bill: How about former Giant Bill Mueller clocking two grand slams last night, one from each side of the plate. There's something never done before in major league history. Oh yeah, he added a solo homer in there too. Pretty good night.

El Canon Is A Snake: The Diamondbacks picked up Raul Mondesi from the Yankees yesterday, in an effort to gain ground in the, well, the wild-card race. And the Red Sox shored up their bullpen, acquiring closer Scott Williamson from the Reds, who now looks like more of a set-up man for Byung-Hyun Kim. I hope the Yankees-Red Sox race turns into a dandy down the stretch. Not too many rivalries in sports match that one.

What a Croc: Turns out the alligator featured on the cover of the new 2003 Florida Gators media guide is not a gator at all but a crocodile. Oops!

While I am definitely looking forward to the pitchers' duel that we should expect tomorrow between Kerry Wood and Jason Schmidt on ESPN, I'm also looking forward to tonight's game at Wrigley. Matt Clement is the starter for the Cubs, and Barry Bonds is 3-for-14 against him. In terms of hitting home runs. Three home runs in 14 at-bats. Overall, he has six hits in those 14 at-bats. And he's not the only G-Man tearing up Clement. Rich Aurilia is hitting well over .500 against him, for another. I'll be disappointed if the Giants don't score ten runs.

I am busy revving up for a rant against the ridiculous wild-card playoff system in Major League Baseball. Some of the negative effects we are already seeing--well, a FEW of us are, anyway; the rest of you are in some sort of Neverland where the more teams that get into the playoffs the happier you are--in this year's "pennant" races. However, this is really the one issue in sports where I feel it is my duty to explain to people why it is so horrible. And since this blog just started up and I have basically no audience yet, I'm holding off on the discussion until I see the visitor counter on this site increase.

And yes, the wild-card format is the worst thing that has ever happened in American professional sports history. By far.

No Need For A Live Rooster: For the first time since the E.K. Sports blog was created, the San Francisco Giants lost a ballgame. The Giants had been 5-0, but alas, the Padres finally found a way to put an end to the streak on Saturday, beating the Giants 2-1. The Giants bounced back on Sunday, though, getting two big hits from the Big Cat, Andres Galarraga, and won 6-2 to recapture their 11-game stranglehold on the N.L. West.

Walking Barry Bonds is not the way to win ballgames against San Francisco. I know that the 73 homers he hit in 2001 are still looming in the back of everyone's mind, but, come on. Your chances of getting him out are greater than your chances of him hitting a home run, or even getting a hit. And we have guys behind him who can do some damage. Used to be Jeff Kent, now it's Benito or Andres. They take offense to teams' pitching around Barry to get to them, and they often thrive. Remember Game 4 against St. Louis last year? Anyway, they walked Barry unintentionally (we can only assume, I suppose) in the first, and Andres followed with a two-run double. Then in the third, Barry was walked intentionally, and Andres came through with a two-run single. I also noticed that when Barry put the ball in play, they didn't score.

With the score tied in the bottom of the ninth inning against San Diego last night, Pedro Feliz slammed a three-run homer just inside the left-field foul pole to give the Giants their second-straight win via a walk-off home run and their ninth overall. The Giants' lead over Arizona is still 11 games, but it's now 12 1/2 over L.A. due to the Dodgers' loss to the D-Backs last night. It was just a little bit ago that Arizona seemed poised to make a run at the Giants, but it's been falling apart for them lately. I think now is the time for Phillies to step up and be the wild-card front-runner that most people thought they'd be this year.

Suzy Whaley: The lady golfer hasn't put on a great show golfing-wise at the Greater Hartford this week, but she did look like she was having a lot of fun, and I found myself rooting for her a bit, certainly much more than I was for Annika Sorenstam, who didn't qualify for her foray into the Colonial men's tournament the way Whaley did for the GHO. But still, women's golf hasn't made any advances as far as I am concerned. Until a woman really shows that she can be a serious challenger, the attempts by women to play in the PGA rounds will seem like nothing but publicity stunts.

Why is Gary Carter going to be in the Hall of Fame?

The case for Eddie Murray is simple: 504 home runs, 3255 hits, seven seasons batting .300 or better, almost 2,000 runs batted in.

A look at Carter's stats, however, reveals no explanation for his induction tomorrow. There are dozens of players with similar stats whom you would never consider putting in the Hall of Fame. A career average of .262? Only two seasons with 30 or more home runs, and never more than 32? A better case could be made for Albert Belle, who had 14 more RBIs in almost a thousand fewer games and an average 33 points higher. Or why not Steve Garvey (1308 RBIs, .294 average)? Or Al Oliver (1326 RBIs and a .303 average)? Ted Simmons, Dwight Evans, Ken Griffey (Sr.) and Chili Davis all should be in the Hall if Carter is; they all have more RBIs and a better average. (Here's a stat that's almost too unbelievable: Out of all the major leaguers who ever played the game, only 60, that's right, just 60, have more RBIs than Chili Davis.)

Looks like Matt Millen has been fined $200,000 by the National Football League for not interviewing any non-white candidates for the Detroit Lions' head coaching position that was subsequently filled by former 49ers coach Steve Mariucci.

Question: What do skin color and coaching football have to do with each other? Answer: Nothing. Why does the color of an NFL coach's skin make any difference whatsoever? I understand that the NFL hasn't had very many minority head coaches, and I understand the intent behind this policy. But in the end, hiring a black head coach for your football team isn't going to amount to jack when it comes to race relations. It's just football. Plus, if Steve Mariucci were available, might you not skip the formalities and hire him right away?

A Giant Sweep: Barry's leadoff home run in the bottom of the ninth yesterday gave the Giants a 3-2 win over Arizona, their fourth straight over the D-Backs, and upped their lead to 11 games in the N.L. West. Oh yeah: Barry also threw out the potential go-ahead run at the plate in the top of that same inning, keeping the game tied. ("The man is a God," wrote my friend Matt in an e-mail just minutes after the game.) And let's not forget the two solo home runs by Ray Durham, the second of which tied the game in the eighth inning.

Answer To Yesterday's Question: The last player to hit a walk-off home run on his birthday was Alex Rodriguez, who did it last summer for the Rangers. (That also happened to be the first-ever walk-off grand slam by a birthday boy in major league history.) A SportsCenter segment last night told us that three others have done it in the past 30 years. No word on the all-time number, though.

Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry!

Oh, yeah. That's for hitting a game-winning, walk-off home run on your birthday. How many times has THAT happened in major league history?

And many more (birthdays and home runs): It's 39 years. And Barry celebrated early, bombing another home run. Thanks in part to last night's blast off the D-Backs' Steve Randolph in the sixth inning, the Giants upped their lead over second-place Arizona to a full 10 games in the N.L. West. Nothing like a double-digit lead to quell concerns that you might not make the playoffs.

Up until recently I'd had a sneaking suspicion that Bonds would hit his 660th home run at some point and then retire on the spot, to honor his godfather Willie Mays, who hit exactly that many. But now, considering his recent comments about Babe Ruth, that theory is pretty much by the boards at this point. I suspect that Barry is dubious of Babe Ruth's total of 714 home runs, which was achieved without his having to play against black players, which is reasonable. What is NOT reasonable, though, is Barry's suggestion that his 715th home run will "wipe out" Babe Ruth. Nothing will wipe out Babe Ruth, who will remain baseball's greatest legend for a very long time.

One request: Could we stop with Barry's home run total being updated on the spot on the scoreboard at Pac Bell Park every time he hits one? Save it for the true milestones: 660, and 661, 700, 714, 715, 755, and 756 (and 800?) Barry's 645th career home run was not a milestone. Let's please stop proclaiming everything to be legendary the moment it happens. By definition, something that is legendary can't have JUST happened.

Starter, Please; I think the Giants need to pick up another starter. Why not Sidney Ponson? He's on pace to win over 20 games this season.

View From The 300 Level: Drove down to the Bay Area from Portland earlier this month and caught the A's-Orioles game at Oakland Col....excuse me, Network Associates Coliseum. Great pitcher's duel: Barry Zito and Jason Johnson were matching zeroes throughout, and Zito was even half way to a perfect game. Bottom nine, still scoreless, first and third, one out, Ramon Hernandez hits a little grounder to pitcher Hector Carrasco, who proceeded to make two mental errors in a span of about one second: 1) He never looked at Mark Ellis sprinting home, and 2) he tossed the ball to second baseman Brian Roberts, who was standing, well, fifteen feet in front of second base. Oops. Game over. I see my first-ever walk-off run out of the forty or so major league games I have attended. Not exactly as exciting as Barry's 69th, which I saw in person at Pac Bell.

Damian Moss hasn't been the prize I was expecting when we traded for him last winter. But last night he did the job. With no strikeouts. It's nice to see a pitcher acknowledge, as Damian did, that strikeouts aren't necessary to win games, which the Giants did, beating Arizona 3-1 yesterday to go up nine games on the second-place D-Backs. Looks like, for now, I won't have to think about, or worry about, the possibility of the Giants making the playoffs as a wild card entry, the way they did last year. That created a conflict of emotions that I am not willing to go through again. I hate the wild-card playoff format. Hate it, hate it, hate it. And I will be expounding on that later, when the season gets near the end and we can see the inherent flaws in all their glory.

Why am I rooting against the Mariners? Is it because I don't understand the notion that we, as Portlanders, must root for a team from another state, in a city four hours away, simply because they're the closest team? Or is it because KOTK is now pre-empting the Tom Leykis Show in favor of Mariners games, including the worthless pre-game shows? There is nothing more intrusive in my daily life now than the sound of a freakin' Mariners pre-game show booting Leykis off the air. Not only is it a bad programming decision--baseball isn't gonna get better ratings than Leykis, no way, no how--but it's also disrespectful to Leykis. Leykis made KOTK what it is. Even if it were Giants games coming on the air I'd be incensed. I'm a diehard baseball fan, but I recognize that we don't need an hour of pregame claptrap every day before a game.

And here is the E.K. Sports debut of the feature The Next Pitcher To Throw A No-Hitter: Wade Miller of the Houston Astros. He is slated to make his next start this Friday, July 25. We shall keep our eyes open.

So the Yankees picked up Jesse Orosco. He's 46 years old. What is a 46-year-old guy with an ERA of over 7.00 still doing in the major leagues? What, was Minnie Minoso not available? And, please, could somebody get Minnie to stop playing baseball? Records do not mean a damn thing if they are publicity stunts. Why I am reminded of the fraudulent exploits of Nykesha Sales?

Rich Is Back: Good to see Rich Aurilia fire the bats up to start the second half. His was a key presence for the Giants in 2001, but he's been off since then. A nice N.L. Player of the Week plaque to put on the wall.

I had to battle an usher for it, but...: Click here to find out who hit the foul ball that I got at a Portland Beavers AAA minor league game last Friday night at PGE Park. A major leaguer who made the National League All-Star squad in 2001, he's down in Portland on an injury rehab stint.

The names have NOT been changed to protect the innocent: The media won't print the name of Kobe Bryant's accuser in this sex abuse case. Why not? Doesn't that imply that being the (alleged) victim of a sex crime is something to be ashamed of? And why won't the media go to the same lengths to protect the accused? Bryant is still innocent until proven guilty. He should have the same privacy rights.

I suspect that if I had been given the chance to pick the color of my blood, mine would be black with orange trim.

In the world of sports, to me, there is baseball. Well above every other sport. And the Giants are hands down my favorite team. I love hockey, too, but baseball's dominance in my world relegates the frozen game to a distant second. Then there's college basketball, and pro football. The NBA is pretty much unwatchable. Is there any other sport worth mentioning? More on these other sports later.

Right now the Giants are in first place in the N.L. West by seven games. They begin a four-game stand against the second-place Diamondbacks tonight, so by Thursday evening we could be up by as few as three games or by as many as 11 games. I didn't think they'd be as far up as they are right now come July, but I did pick them to win another National League pennant this year. If my preseason World Series prediction comes true, the Giants will lose the World Series to Boston. Probably in seven games, what with the A.L. having home-field advantage in the Series.

So yeah. There's that stupid, stupid, stupid idea of having the outcome of the All-Star Game, the least important game during the entire baseball season, determine which league gets home-field advantage in the World Series, including Game 7, the most important game of any baseball season. It's a bad enough idea as it is. But it's especially bad for the National League pennant winner, which under regular circumstances would have hosted Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 this year due to the alternating turns concept, but now has its home field edge stripped away because a a man from the last-place Rangers hit a late home run in a meaningless exhibition game. And if we get to Game 7, and if the Giants are there, wearing their road grays, the fact that a freakin' Dodger gave up that eighth-inning lead in the All-Star game will not go unnoticed.

Bud Selig's ideas are horrible. He is ruining the game of baseball bit by bit. That's bad enough, but he points to changes he thinks must be made to improve the game without acknowledging that his idiocy made baseball seem like a mess to begin with. The All-Star Game did not need any spicing up. HE chose to end last year's game in a tie--and I still believe he owes every fan in attendance at last year's game in Milwaukee the face value of their tickets, at LEAST, not to mention parking, hot dogs, souvenirs, etc.--so I don't want to hear him ever take credit for "improving" the All-Star festivities by pointing to the "This time it counts" media blitz.

Up until a few minutes ago, I was probably the only person in the solar system who did not have a blog. I must insist, however, upon saying that my starting one does not in any way endorse a belief that I, with a blog, have anything to say that is worth reading about. With apologies to the late, greatly-missed P. Chayefsky, the creation of this log is not a pivotal moment in history, does not require any grandiose proclamations, and a simple thank you to anyone who bothers to take a look at it will suffice.

What will you see on this blog? My opinions about happenings in the world of sports, and other, less important, related topics. Maybe they will get you thinking about things. I don't know. If they do, great. Maybe they will get you to agree with me. If they do, fantastic.

What will you not see on this blog? What I had for breakfast. Unless you really want to know, in which case I may tell you. I then may tell you you need to get a life.

So, now I shall see how far I will take this. I may forget I have it.