E.K. NATION

Gonna see the Giants play the D-Backs on Saturday and on Monday. If we can't find anything to do on Sunday, we'll consult the nearest scalper. Back on Tuesday.

Wearing Your Favorite Team's Gear: Here is the rule I have made for myself and I wish everyone in the country would follow it: At no time--at a game or otherwise--shall you ever sport more than one piece of gear with your team's name or logo on it. If you're wearing the Giants hat, ditch the jersey. If you have on the jersey, 86 the hat. If you insist on wearing a hat, wear a different one. (If you have on Giants pants, you better be in the dugout playing.) EXCEPTION: When you are in the opposing team's park, multiple pieces of gear are acceptable (but keep it to just two). You're in hostile territory; let them know you mean business when you're rooting. Plus, you're in the very small minority. You have to cancel out what you can. When I am at Bank One Ballpark this weekend, I'll have on the shirt and the hat.

Dodger Blues: I came upon the website Dodger Blues this morning, and I've posted a link to it. In my short time discovering blogs, this one is the funniest. It pretty much rails on the Dodgers, which basically makes it a Giants blog. (snicker)

Strong stuff, yet again, and were it not for the decidedly UN-Roberto-Clemente-like play of Jose Cruz in the eighth inning last night, it might have been a shutout. Okay, so Felipe, that's one mistake you've seen Jose make. Schmidt wins his fifth game in his last seven starts. Anyway, it's nice to see the lead back up to 11 games in the N.L. West, although that means this upcoming four-game set with Arizona won't have much urgency. I'll be at two of the games at Bank One Ballpark (Saturday and Monday), and when I return after Labor Day I'll have a review of the stadium. Looks like Barry probably won't be there. Am I disappointed? Absolutely. Do I understand his absence, though? Absolutely. I'll just have to catch someone else's home run ball. Calling all Giants' big-swinging lefty hitters!

Oh, What Races We Would Have Had!: I see what the N.L. East race would look like right now if we were still in two-division, no-wild-card format like we should be. Look at this: At the end of August, five teams would have been separated by two games. Five! Separated by two! Unbelievable! Florida and Philadelphia would be tied for first, with the Cubs 1.5 games back, and Montreal and St. Louis down just two games each. Are you telling me that this is not better than the current system? Hope you enjoy what you're getting, wild-card fans. What you're missing would have been incredible.

What a jerk.

Senate Bill 5, the bill that would go a long way towards bringing the troubled Montreal Expos to Portland, went up for a vote last week, passing in the House but failing in the Senate. However, after a bit of tweaking, the Senate reconsidered and gave it support, so now it goes back to the House for an expected approval there. For crusaders trying to bring baseball to Portland, things are looking rosy in the Rose City.

I'm all for bringing Major League Baseball to Portland, as long as the taxpayers don't have to foot the bill for a stadium. And indeed, taxpayers won't have to pick up the bill if the Expos come here. Plus, it will create hundreds (thousands) of jobs in a suffering local economy and that can only be a good thing for the city. But it will be kind of weird, having a team in my hometown but being a fan of another team. I'll still be a Giants fan, but I'll root, when I can, for the Portland team in a manner reflective of the way current Portlanders root for the Mariners. And I'll certainly attend many games. No problem.

Cruz gets high praise from Alou: Check out Felipe Alou's comments on Jose Cruz and his defensive skills. On a par with Roberto Clemente. That's some high praise right there.

What Can We Learn From The Kids?: The Little League team from Boynton Beach, Florida, got their butts kicked last night, quite frankly, in the world championship game against Japan. But were the kids crying and sulking, like players so often do in this tournament? Nope. In fact, most of them had smiles on their faces throughout. And how cool was it that when the Japanese players ran out to center field after their victory to pay homage to Howard Lamade's bust beyond the centerfield fence--Lamade was the newspaper publisher who gave the land to the Little League--the Boynton Beach players soon followed, and happily leaped around and gave the Japanese players high fives, and some of them even started dancing? How cool was that? I wish we could see sights like this more often in sports. It was a class act by the Florida kids.

He did it again.

Barry Bonds his the first pitch he saw from Trey Hodges into the center-field bleachers for his second walk-off home run in three games. And I had the theme from the "Superman" movies in my head all night.

The guy's unbelievable.

He's moving closer to Willie Mays on the all-time home run list. I'll be sitting in the bleachers next to the pool at Bank One Ballpark on Labor Day. With my glove. Ready to catch home run ball 660 or 661. I will run over children to get that ball if I need to. I'll also return from that trip with an analysis of the ballpark, and see how it measures up to other stadiums I've been to (the list is pretty much comprised of the ones on the West Coast).

The three-game sweep over Atlanta now puts the Giants just 4.5 games behind the Braves for first in the N.L. We--

Ahem. Sorry. Both teams retain large leads in their separate and distinct divisions.

That Ozzy Osbourne Situation Has Me Reeling: The band I am in has one original song down. And I think we're pretty happy with it. But last night I had a dream--nay, a nightmare. I dreamed that Ozzy Osbourne sang his own rendition of the song. Then I had to kill him in the dream.

White Sox Take Over: Chicago has taken over first place from the Royals. Generally once a Cinderella story starts to fade, it's over once it gives up first place. We'll see if Kansas City follows this pattern, like I am suspecting they will.

A third consecutive MVP award is this much closer following last night's come-from-behind 5-4 win over Atlanta. Barry's walk-off jack, his second in a month, in his first game back with the club after taking a week off, ends an excrutiating losing streak at six games. And nobody please dare say that this guy doesn't deserve the award. Welcome back, Barry. We needed you. Your replacements in left field--Jeffrey Hammonds, Todd Linden, Tony Torcato--went a combined 0-for-15. Oh, and did you see Barry's catch of that sinking line drive off the bat of Rafael Furcal in the fifth? (Take THAT, Phil Rogers.)

The victory now puts the Giants just 6.5 games behind Atlanta for first in the N.L. We--

Oh yeah. Ahem. The win keeps San Francisco's lead at 8.5 over Arizona, while the Braves' lead over Philly remains at a tense, uhh, 11.5 games. Meanwhile three mediocre teams are battling for a weak first-place in something called the Central Division.

As The N.L. Stands: The Giants and Braves have big leads; Houston, Chicago and St. Louis are really close in the Central in what appears to be a second-place-goes-home situation; and the wild-card race has Philadelphia leading Florida by just a half-game.

As The N.L. Should Be: Atlanta's lead in the N.L. West would have shrunk to 6.5 with last night's thriller, and the Giants would have a chance to move even closer today. In the N.L. East, Philadelphia and Florida would still be separated by a half-game, but the race would be not for the wild card but for first place (!!!). Meanwhile, teams with records as unimpressive as the Astros', Cardinals' and Cubs', would rightfully be further back in the pack. None of them is on pace to win even 90 games. Right now, the "exciting" races are for third and fourth place, rather than for two first-place spots. And this is usually how it winds up. Edge to: The Way It Should Be.

Giants Make Trade: San Francisco picked up Eric Young from the Brewers in exchange for minor league pitcher Greg Bruso. It's not a season-breaker, but I like it anyway. I like Young's combination of pop and speed, and he'll do nicely to fill in where there are trouble spots. And we've had many of them lately.

I am, as of right now, officially Tired of People Taking Pot Shots At Barry Bonds.

Phil Rogers of ESPN, in his column extolling the virtues of Albert Pujols as MVP, found space to take a swipe at Barry, claiming that his "misplay contributed to the Giants failing to hold a 5-0 lead in Game 6 of last year's World Series".

Hogwash. Dusty Baker for taking out a strong Russ Ortiz before the seventh inning? Yep. Or Felix Rodriguez for allowing Scott Spiezio's home run, could be, or Tim Worrell, for giving up Troy Glaus' go-ahead double in the eighth, sure. But Bonds as contributing to the loss? Gimme a break. Rogers is probably on the long list of people who call out Bonds for not throwing out Sid Bream at the plate in Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS instead of placing blame where it belongs, on Jose Lind or Stan Belinda. I'm tired of it.

Mark Kreidler wrote a companion column praising Bonds as MVP. I have no problem if Pujols win the award, but I'd rather see Bonds get the award, because he truly is the most valuable player. Take him out of the lineup, and looky, the Giants stink. Albert Pujols, to put it a different way, is the guy with the most outstanding stats, at least on the surface of it. Plus, he's got that hit streak thing going for him.

Funny how Barry Bonds proves he is the Most Valuable Player even when he is not playing. He's been out for four games and the Giants have lost them all. Their offense has been worse than anemic.

Never before had the Giants, in the entire history of the franchise, been swept in a season series longer than three games. But somehow, if you would have told me the Expos were going to sweep the Giants this year I wouldn't have been surprised. I think the Giants trade in their American batting averages for Canadian ones when they travel up to Quebec. To put it mildly, when they are in Stade Olympique, they SUCK.

Felix Rodriguez and Rich Aurilia are coming back along with Barry. Let's get this stuff going. Fortunately the Giants-Braves game tonight will be on the Superstation so I'll be able to see exactly what the Giants are doing.

Not Sports Related, But...: When talking about Gary Coleman running for governor of California, people keep saying he played Arnold Drummond on Diff'rent Strokes. Not so, folks. Arnold's last name was Jackson. Mr. Drummond never adopted Arnold and Willis. Thanks for indulging me.

Never let Ozzy Osbourne into a baseball game again. Ever. I beg this.

The I-Saw-You-Doggin'-It Award: We have our second-ever winner of the award handed out to an athlete who displayed less-than-100% effort during a game. And it's me. Yes, me. I was playing in a softball game yesterday and hit a lazy pop fly to shallow left field. Frustrated, I jogged halfway to first base, and then I realized that the shortstop dropped it. It got far enough away from him that I would have reached second had I been sprinting all the way. But instead I had to retreat to first. Bad me. I deserve it. Especially since the next batter grounded into a force play at second, which would not have happened if I had been on second to begin with.

The Southpaw: I want to give a shout out to a fellow Giants fan at The Southpaw. Thanks for the link, and I hope my link to your site, which I just added, boosts your attendance. Although probably not for a while; this site hasn't had much advertising or word-of-mouth yet. But I'm tryin'!

What a Long, Horrible Trip It Was: Can't wait to see the Giants make their way back home after that terrible roadie. Six losses in a row; I can't take it. I was checking up on yesterday's loss to Montreal on ESPN's Game Update feature. I knew the Giants were in trouble when the ESPN page took a while to refresh once it was 3-and-2 on Brad Wilkerson with two outs in the ninth. I could just picture the guy updating that page typing all those words, figuring that was what took so long. I fully expected to see a big fat "4" suddenly appear in the Expos' ninth-inning score box, and sure enough. Three this week with Atlanta--Barry's coming back, not a moment too soon--and then three with the Fish. Let's turn it around. I don't want that lead getting any smaller.

Baseball's wild-card system sucks. No one has yet to explain, convincingly, how expanding the playoff field in this manner has made it better for baseball.

Usually the proponent's argument begins like this: "Well, you're just another one of those purists who doesn't like to see change." As for me, I don't mind change if there is a reason for it. If baseball is broken, you fix it, and you fix it reasonably and rationally. Take this year's All-Star Game: Baseball decided that the winning league in at least this year's game and next year's game will receive home-field advantage in the World Series. Now, while I admire the decision to try to spice up an All-Star Game that, in the opinions of some (not me), has grown old or maybe somewhat boring, the change didn't make nearly enough sense to warrant it, especially considering that last season's All-Star fiasco, the tie game called off in the 10th inning, was not the fault of baseball itself but because of a bumbling commissioner.

Bob Costas, during his radio appearance on the Jim Rome Show Friday, decried the use of the term "purist" in this manner:

That always casts it in a light that makes it difficult to have a rational discussion, because the implication there is that any opposition to it must come from someone who's so deeply entrenched in baseball tradition, that if he really had his druthers, we'd all arrive in games on streetcars, wearing straw hats, and ladies would get in for a quarter on 'Ladies' Day', that someone who is a purist never wants to see the game change, and therefore the discussion can never take place on its merits, because this picture of a guy sort of in a tweed jacket with elbow patches, drawing on a pipe and having a baseball conversation with intellectuals who think baseball is a metaphor for everything in life, that's the image that's created, so it's easy to just say, "Oh, what do you expect?"

Spoken like a true Costas.

Baseball's playoff system did not need fixing. As it stood, prior to 1994, it was the only one of the four major sports that was perfect. You finished first or you missed the playoffs, period. The argument for the change here was that having only four of 28 teams make the playoffs meant that fans of most teams were left with, never mind a meaningless September, but also a useless August, July and sometimes June. And these fans would avoid the game, having given up on their team's chances much too early in the season.

So the two leagues expanded the playoffs to include two more teams each, recklessly disregarding the negative effect it would have on the pennant races, namely that exciting "pennant races"--or "division races" as they would come to be called--between two great teams would become scarce, if they would remain in existence at all. As Costas pointed out on the Jim Rome Show,

It is an absolute impossibility, not unlikely, it is impossible to have a meaningful race for first place among any of the three best teams in the league under the wild-card system. The only time a race for first place matters above all is in a division like the Central in both leagues this year, where the team that finishes second is very unlikely to have any shot at the wild card.

Meaning, of course, that the teams involved there are mediocre enough to be unable to inspire even the casual baseball fan to proclaim that race a sensation. And as it stands now, virtually the only instance in which you can see a playoff game at the end of the regular season would be between two of these mediocre teams. The occasion of a great race between two great teams--like the Braves and Giants had in 1993, where Atlanta won 104 games and the Giants won 103--is ruined by the presence of the back-up wild-card spot that the loser would inevitably take. That is, unless you have two more teams who battle it out in another division with similar outstanding records, and one of them would miss out on the postseason, having a record that was worse than the wild-card team. They don't bother with playoff games where both teams would wind up making the playoffs; they just use an NFL-style tiebreaker. Ho-hum, right?

Case in point: In 1996, the Padres and Dodgers were tied for first place on the last day of the season. And, they played each other on that final day. Ordinarily, this is the situation baseball fans should be dreaming about: a one-game, winner-take-all finale that embodies the same kind of atmosphere present at the Giants-Dodgers playoff game in 1951, or the Yankees-Red Sox game in 1978. But in fact, here is what the wild-card system gave us: a game in which neither participant really cared who won, because both teams had already locked up playoff spots: The winner would get the division title and the loser would get the wild card. These two teams, instead of playing a dramatic winner-take-all final game, where probably their best pitchers would be in the lineup, were simply organizing their rotations for the playoffs, giving their stars the day off. The drama was absolutely non-existent. I find it incomprehensible, that baseball fans would opt for this scenario rather than a last-day, winner-takes-all, loser-goes-home ballgame. But yet, that's essentially what they are asking for. The system showed its flaws that September day.

When the Braves and Giants battled it out down the stretch in 1993, and both wound up winning over 100 games, was anybody saying, "This race would be so much more exciting if they both got to be in the playoffs, instead of having one team, obviously an outstanding team, get knocked out before the postseason even starts?" I don't remember anyone saying that.

Here is what Joe Morgan of ESPN wrote in a recent inexplicable column extolling the virtues of the wild-card system:

I like the wild-card system, because it guarantees that the two best teams in each league will be in the playoffs.

This much is true. However, he goes on to say this:

In 1993, the Giants won 103 games but missed the postseason because the Braves (then in the NL West) won 104 games. The Phillies won the NL East with 97 wins that year, so the NL's best two teams weren't playing in October.

What Morgan doesn't grasp is that both first-place teams were playing in October. Plus, while lamenting the exclusion of a very good Giants ballclub from the playoffs that year because they were one game poorer than the Braves, Morgan forgets that in 2001, the Giants won more games than the Braves, and yet the Braves made it to the postseason and the Giants were again shut out. The wild-card system, in effect, did nothing that year to prevent a scenario similar to the 1993 scenario he decries.

Morgan also adds a common argument:

The wild card also keeps more fans interested down the stretch because more teams have a chance at the postseason. It's been a great addition to the playoff system.

If that's the case, if more playoff spots means more teams having a shot at the playoffs, and that means the fans will be more excited, how about extending the playoff field to eight teams per league? That way, even the worst ballclub's fans will have a chance to remain interested until the last few weeks of September. Or better yet, how about making it twelve teams per league getting to the playoffs? As long as we think more playoff spots means more exciting baseball, right? Using Morgan's logic, maybe 24 teams should make the playoffs. To paraphrase Costas, baseball is adding fast food while taking filet mignon off the menu.

How many times have these same people complained about the NBA letting too many teams into the playoffs, or the NHL regular season being dismissed as worthless because only the playoffs really matter. Why is it bad for those leagues to water down their playoff field but good for baseball to do so? I wonder. And what's wrong with going to a baseball game whose outcome really doesn't matter? Isn't baseball fun enough that you can sit back and watch the Tigers and Orioles play a game in August without feeling like there has to be wild-card implications? It's ironic that baseball, at the expense of die-hard fans who understand the nature of pennant races, is trying to kowtow to fans who don't care enough about baseball to just go see a game for the sake of seeing a baseball game. These are the fans who don't care nearly as much to begin with. They're the kind of people who would see Bad Boys 2 because they think Martin Lawrence is a hoot, despite all the negative reviews, while shunning an Oscar-caliber, subtitled foreign film downtown that gets great reviews because they don't like to read during movies.

It's especially grievous for Major League Baseball to allow more teams into the playoffs because of the nature of the sport of baseball. It's not a five-on-five situation like in basketball, where it's the same five guys every night. In baseball, it's one-against-one, in a sense, pitcher vs. batter, and different pitchers mean different levels of ability. The Red Sox can trot out Pedro Martinez once every four games or so, and will have to depend on three or four other pitchers with decidedly less talent than Martinez. It is easier for the Tigers to beat the Yankees than it is for the Clippers to beat the Lakers.

Some people have cited the 1995 first-round series between the Mariners and Yankees as a reason the wild-card system is good for baseball. "Hey, there were basically five really exciting games, and the last game came down to the final at-bat. It was riveting. Without the wild-card system, those games wouldn't have even been played." That much is true. But the wild-card system did not make those games exciting; the excitement within those games, especially the deciding Game 5 where the Mariners scored two runs in the bottom of the 10th to beat the Yankees by a run, was due to the nature of baseball itself. And to be fair, whoever cites that series as a reason the wild-card system is good for baseball should also be forced to cite the first round series that contained the wild-card winner in the National League. The wild-card system allowed those games to be played too, but would any of these people remember which two teams even played in that series, let alone remember what happened in the games themselves? I should be able to cite that series--a nondescript 3-games-to-1 victory by the Braves over the Rockies--as a reason the wild-card system is not an improvement.

And let's not forget that the way baseball sets up its postseason matchups for the first round is in direct opposition to the wild-card concept itself: A wild-card team will not have to play the top-seeded division winner in the first round if the two teams are from the same division, because the first-place team shouldn't have to defeat a second-place team again right away after having done so over the course of a 162-game regular season. If this is the case, why have a second-place team in there at all?

Soon, I'll analyze how the playoff races would be stacking up right now if we were still in the old two-division, no-wild-card format. (Hint: The races would be better.)

Apparently there is a big power outage on the East Coast in several major cities. The live shot right now on CNN is of hordes of people walking amongst the traffic on New York freeways.

I have two questions: 1) Why are you people walking on the freeways? 2) Why bother with "breaking news" of a power outage? If you're affected by the outage, you're not going to get any information. And if you can see the TV coverage, you aren't affected by the outage.

Just what exactly are all you people doing walking on the freeways? I don't get it.

I told myself not to begin worrying unless the Giants lead, once 12.5 games, gets under 10. Well, it's nine now. I call for Casey Stengel to rise from the dead and make the Mets his own lovable losers again. I can't take it. Two straight losses to the lowly Mets. I haven't changed the magic number over on the left side there for a couple of days now. I'd trade Bonds' two New York dingers for one win out of the two games. Can Jesse Foppert be our savior today?

As For The American League: It's basically down to seven teams for four playoff spots. The Yankees are still the team to beat in the American League, and they should take their division title. Mark your calendars for the end of September and the end of the season: The White Sox and Royals will battle down the stretch head-to-head, in a couple of series that will probably be a winner-goes-on, loser-goes-home situation; neither team is good enough to be the wild card. I'll take the Sox, largely because of the presence of Esteban Loaiza and Bartolo Colon in the rotation, and because Sox fans love to run onto the field and tackle Royals. As for the West, I'd like to think Oakland has the rotation to catch up to Seattle, but Barry Zito is struggling something fierce right now. Then again, so is Freddy Garcia of the M's. I'm not thinking any changes are going to happen in the standings there, which leaves Oakland and Boston for the wild card. The winner of today's A's-Red Sox game--in progress as I write this, no score in the 2nd inning--will take a one-game lead in the wild-card standings over the other, with no other team within six games. I'll go with Oakland and assume their strong rotation will hold up down the stretch.

My projected American League playoff teams: New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners, Oakland Athletics (wild card).

We've had a change of the guard, in both leagues, as of last night. Boston and Philadelphia have given way to Oakland and Florida respectively. Now, far be it from me to to exalt the virtues of The Race For Not-First Place, but for those of you enraptured by such a dishonest event, these are going to be close. (Never mind what would be happening if the three-division, wild-card set-up never took form. All of you who think the wild-card system is great for baseball have been suckered. Suckered BIG time.)

The only two reasons I am really paying attention to this race is that my pre-season pick to win the World Series, the Red Sox, is out of the playoff picture for now, and because the N.L. wild card team will likely come out of the East Division, meaning that Atlanta won't play it in the first round, therefore the Giants will. Ordinarily, I couldn't ever care less who wins Not-First Place. Not even last year, when my Giants made it and took their fortunes all the way to the Series, forcing me to be conflicted about the whole thing. The baseball gods were pulling a fast one, forcing me to root for a wild-card team in a World Series. In fact, anyone who was rooting for either team was doing so and most people probably didn't feel ripped off. The whole thing just sucks, and it should never have taken shape the way it did. You can't have a fantastic pennant race between two really good teams anymore, unless there are six teams in one league who are all headed for the 100-win plateau. Did anybody think of this? Anyone? Anyway, more on this, again, later, when I have all my Anti-Wild-Card ducks in a row.

Who's Headed For The Playoffs?: Some of this is easy. In the National League, the Braves and Giants have pretty much captured their divisions. Left to fight are the nine teams within 5.5 games for the Un-First Place spot, including the Central-leading Astros. But seriously, even being only that 5.5 games out, if you have seven other teams tied with or ahead of you, like the Expos and Rockies do, it's pretty much over. The wild card spot will be taken by one of the four teams within two games, the Diamondbacks, Phillies, the second-place finisher in the Central--more on this in a moment--and current leader Marlins. Last night Florida got one of those looks-like-it's-our-destiny moments when Ramon Castro hit a walk-off home run to beat L.A. and vault them into second place, but I remember a similar moment Robby Thompson gave the Giants around this time of year in 1993, a year they failed to make the playoffs.

About the N.L. Central: I think the Cubs are going to overtake St. Louis and Houston and capture the division, and here's why: Having Kerry Wood and Mark Prior in the pitching rotation is a major plus, not to mention Carlos Zambrano--who is 5-0 since the All-Star break--shutting out the Astros yesterday in a key game that kept the Cubs within 3.5 games of first. And there is also the schedule. What's left for the Cubs is five more games with Houston, eight more with St. Louis, including a five-game series at the start of September, a three-gamer with L.A. for which they will likely have Wood and Prior going. Then, after September 4, they finish off with games against only the lowly Brewers, Expos, Reds, Mets and Pirates. The little bears should be salivating right now.

So, here are the projected National League Playoff Teams: Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies (wild card).

Here's a little something for people to admire about Barry Bonds.

And I am not ashamed to admit it.

I'm from Portland. The Blazers are the only big league team we have here. Of all my favorite teams in the four major sports, the Blazers are the only team I did not choose to be in that capacity. It's kind of a Malvolian thing: I had the Blazers thrust upon me. I chose to pledge allegiance to the San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers and Quebec Nordiques (now Colorado Avalanche). But I'm a Portlander. You're a Blazer fan if you're from here. And that's that.

There is no need to dwell on the Blazers' well-known troubles, both on and off the court. So I'll just say that if Kenyon Martin and Dikembe Mutombo can be had for the low, low price of Rasheed Wallace and Ruben Patterson, then...FOR THE LOVE OF SAM BOWIE, TAKE THE DEAL. Martin has potential and promise, and he's not yet at the top of his game. Plus, Mutombo can fill--easily--the spot vacated just today by Arvydas Sabonis, who announced he will not be playing in the NBA this year. On the other hand, Wallace has no more promise and his best game is pretty much here if it's not gone already, and it isn't enough. Not to mention, you get rid of two guys who have had their legal troubles in exchange for two respectable guys, the kind of guys this team, with John Nash and Steve Patterson now in charge, should be actively seeking. If the Nets are offering, take it. No question. It'll help you fulfill The Pledge you made to your fans, guys.

I Thought The All-Star Game "Counted": So yesterday, Eric Gagne saved his 38th straight game to begin a season, setting a record.

Umm, except he blew a save in the All-Star Game. Doesn't anyone remember that the All-Star Game "counted" this year? "This time it counts" my ass, I guess. Maybe if the All-Star Game "counts" we ought to put add statistics from that game into the regular season stats of everyone who plays. How about that? It still burns me up that in a year when the National League should have had home-field advantage in the World Series, a series the Giants just might make again this year, a Dodger went and blew it all away. We'll have to wait and see whether I ever get over that.

The Yankees may have to play the Mariners in the playoffs. So they shipped Armando Benitez to the Mariners. Deft move. Would you rather have the gas-can Benitez pitching FOR you, or AGAINST you? And the Mariners claim they didn't trade Jeff Nelson because he spoke out against the team's unwillingness to make a trade before the deadline. Riiiiiiiight. Well, Jeff, you got your deal.

Ponson's SF Debut Impressive: For the most part, anyway. He did get the loss, but he pitched seven scoreless innings before giving up two runs in the eighth in a 2-0 setback to Pittsburgh. And how about Jason Schmidt yesterday, throwing seven scoreless innings in a win? And...here's an article on Felipe Alou's laid-back approach to managing.

Like it or not, and I don't understand the reasons for not liking it, his comments about the Kobe Bryant media frenzy being great business for the NBA is correct, at least for a little bit. This media frenzy is drawing attention to the NBA, and that can only help. People who don't otherwise follow the NBA just might tune in to the Lakers-Mavericks season opener this October. And besides, why is it okay for the news media--everything from local stations to national networks like ESPN--to exploit this story for profit, but when Cuban says the NBA might wind up making money off the case, while NOT saying the NBA is actively out to exploit it, it's controversial and wrong? Puh-leeze. He got Dan Patrick with this argument last night on SportsCenter, and Patrick, after questioning whether Cuban's remarks were appropriate, wound up admitting that ESPN might indeed be guilty of sensationalizing the case. Patrick's usually a smart guy, and I don't know if he was arguing from his point of view or ESPN's, but he came off looking extremely hypocritical, and a bit silly.

Cuban's been in the spotlight before and he's been controversial before. And now he's had the misfortune of having people think he said that sex abuse is good for the NBA's ledger, which he did NOT say. People need to stop and read what he said a little more closely.

How did Moises Alou manage to hit a home run off a Giants pitcher, when his father is the Giants' manager? Felipe, just making sure you've been passing the notes along to your pitching staff regarding what kind of pitches your son likes to hit.

Kirk Rueter and Rich Aurilia are now on the disabled list for a while. Now let's see if Sidney Ponson and Neifi Perez can step in and get the job done.

About my question from last week: When was the last time the Giants had a lead of 12 1/2 games? I couldn't remember. No surprise, because the last time that happened, my grandfather, who would have turned 102 this fall had he lived, was 15 last time it happened, in September of 1917, according to cbs.sportsline.com's Giants notes page.

Nice Win Last Night: Last night's win over Cincinnati puts the Giants 12 games ahead of Arizona for first place in the N.L. West. Nice producition in the clutch: All seven runs came with two outs, including six runs in the third inning on four hits. Barry Bonds came through with a two-run single that made it 3-0. Joe Morgan, on last night's ESPN telecast of the game, was saying that Barry makes pitchers think about him several batters before he even comes up. Instead of focusing on getting out Marquis Grissom, who preceded Bonds in the order last night, the pitchers have to start thinking about what to do with Rich Aurilia. Also, they flashed a stat saying Bonds has something like 230 home runs since his 35th birthday.

I'm starting to wonder if Bonds won't be near or at Willie Mays' career home run total of 660 when the Giants come to Arizona at the very end of this month. I will be in the stands with my girlfriend at two of those games at Bank One Ballpark. One of the games, we'll be sitting right next to the pool--home run territory. And really, I'd like nothing more than to catch home run #660 or #661.

Rookie Pitchers Giving Giants A Lift: Here's an article by Rob Neyer on the success, and potential, of the Giants' rookie pitchers, namely Jerome WIlliams and Jesse Foppert.

Heard that Mariners reliever Jeff Nelson was upset at the front office for not putting Seattle into the trade fray at deadline time. Said Nelson, "It's difficult year after year here to watch this team never make moves to better themselves. It's a shame the front office didn't take that extra step to maybe get further in the playoffs." Well, Jeff, you know what? They have made the moves already. They went to Japan and got Ichiro, they got Bret Boone, John Olerud, and all those other guys who helped the team win won 116 games in 2001. Whose fault is it that the team didn't make it to the World Series? The players'. No sense in making a trade for trade's sake.

I sense a little dissent. Will the Mariners collapse again?