E.K. NATION

With men on 2nd and 3rd in the bottom of the ninth in a tie game, why would you not walk Andruw Jones?

The Giants have lost more than a few games by not walking this batter in this situation. And it's happened again today. I could manage the Giants in this situation. Why is Felipe getting all the money?

Well, Joe Morgan, for starters.

During last night's Sunday Night Baseball game, Morgan and Jon Miller were taking a look at the stats of the MVP, and also of Adrian Beltre, Scott Rolen and Albert Pujols. Morgan circled Beltre's stats on the screen, which, taken in direct comparison to Bonds' stats, looked pretty much the same as Bonds' (.368-38-88 for BB, 42-98-.342 for AB).

This graphic, though, did not show that Beltre has 176 more at-bats -- in which to compile homers and RBIs -- than Bonds has. It also did not show the huge disparities in walks (Bonds' 183 to Beltre's 39), on-base percentage (.607 to .389), and slugging (.822 to .658). If Bonds had as many at-bats as Beltre does, Bonds would statistically have 60 home runs and and 139 RBIs.

Anyway, Morgan circled Beltre's stats and said something to the effect of, "Beltre's stats are obviously..." and here I expected him to say "superior" but he surprised me by saying, "...second to Bonds..." and for a brief spell I regained a tad bit of appreciation for Morgan's expertise (which is rapidly declining; either that or I am simply recognizing more and more that he didn't have much to begin with).

But then, he brought us back to the reality of MorganWorld when he said, "But if I'm looking at MVP, I'm looking at Beltre, Pujols and Rolen..."

And I figured there would be more to that, something along the lines of "...in terms of who should finish second, third and fourth in the voting..."

But he didn't add that. He added nothing. To which Jon Miller asked, "So you wouldn't consider Bonds at all for MVP?"

And Morgan began to give us the nonsense about how the record of the team the player is on is the most important factor. I really have nothing more to say to Morgan about this than "Shut the hell up. You are a moron."

The only controversy that should ever enter into the MVP race is who should finish second in the voting. If you are on that inexplicable bandwagon, the foundation of which is that Bonds is not the MVP, you are probably insane. When I say "insane", that is not the "Man, you're funny!" kind of comment. It's the "You are probably literally not sane and help may or may not be available to you" type.

Eric Nell of ESPN's Page 2 is absolutely correct: Barry Bonds is once again the MVP of the National League. People don't like Barry and are getting bored with his success as fast as Barry himself gets bored by being intentionally walked all the time and they want someone new to win.

Neel successfully outlines (although who couldn't, really? It's so obvious) why Bonds is far and away the MVP this year. Forget Rolen, throw out Pujols, dismiss Beltre and Edmonds.

Can somebody once again look at Kirk Gibson's N.L. MVP numbers and tell me how he could get MVP that year but Barry can't this year? In all of 1988, Gibson hit 25 homers and had just 76 RBIs, and he didn't even bat .300. This year, Bonds has 79 RBIs so far, in half as many at-bats as Gibson had. Gibson walked 73 times and struck out 120 times. Gibson's on-base percentage barely beats out Bonds' batting average. Not that Gibson had to beat out Bonds' numbers, but to look at the history of baseball and to think that Gibson could get an MVP with his season and Bonds might not with his is truly ri-donk-ulous.

Why do people not give Barry Bonds the MVP consideration he deserves, that is to say, all of it. One-hundred-and-eighty-two walks and just twenty-six strikeouts? The ratio there is incredible. Absolutely incredible. And the fact that he has been intentionally walked almost 100 times should make him the MVP all by itself. Think about that: That's fully one-sixth of a regular season's worth of plate appearances in which Bonds has been intentionally put on base by the opposing team. Two nights ago, the Giants won simply because the other team put Barry Bonds on base. Bonds is unreal.

And because we're Giants fans here at E.K. Nation, don't think bias clouds our thinking. It's obvious to anyone with any knowledge of the game of baseball in the year 2004. Barry's the MVP, end of story. Stop with the Rolen and Pujols and Beltre. Enough. ENOUGH. It's over. Barry gets number seven this year.

The word is, the Expos will not be coming to Portland. But our fair city is moving ahead with a $350,000,000 plan that would get us a stadium if some other team, such as the A's or Twins, feels compelled to move in the next few years.

They won't build the stadium until they're sure a team is coming. But at least we're forging ahead. Portland is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States with as few as one major league sports team. And it's about time we got another one, whether it be baseball or hockey.

A lot of people I've talked to say they don't think the people of Portland and surrounding towns would support a baseball team, but I think they're wrong. We're kind of blase in Portland, because we only have the Blazers, so I guess we just figure we're not big enough for a baseball team in a big stadium. We've had a Triple-A team here for a long time (save for the few years we had the Rockies' A team), and obviously it isn't nearly as big a draw as Major League Baseball. I guess they just see the small crowds and think, see, we don't really like baseball here. But the difference between AAA and MLB is enormous. Are we really thinking that 6,000 fans would show up per night for major league baseball, especially since a new stadium would be built on the waterfront and look fantastic?

Anaheim, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Kansas City, Miami, Minneapolis, Oakland, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Tampa all have smaller populations than Portland does. And although a few of those cities have neighboring cities which add to the fan base, I think this is a good fact to lean on. But anyway, we'll wait for the Marlins in 2008.

Seems like there were about a dozen instances over the weekend where I predicted a certain Giants batter would do something and he would either do it or come very close.

A Barry Bonds hme run this week was preceded by me saying out loud, "Home run." Of course, no one was with me at that time.

But Saturday's game against the Mets was rife with pessimistic prognostications. I announced to all those willing to listen at the Stockpot that, with the bases loaded and no outs, Pedro Feliz would hit into a double play in the eighth inning. Sure enough, 6-4-3.

And in the 10th, with the Giants down two and a man on first with two outs, how tough, really, was it for me to say to the bartender, a fellow Giants fan, after he asked me what the situation was, "Well, there's one out, but Grissom's our last hope, because with Bonds on deck he's undoubtedly going to hit into a double play." After that I started actively rooting for the double play. I even said it like a chant, to the possible annoyance of people sitting near me. I figured, come on, if I root for it to happen, it won't. Will it?

Six.

Four.

Three.

We won't talk much about Dustan Mohr's Jose-Cruz-Jr.-like performance in right, which I give him the slightest of slight breaks on since he had to deal with the sun and the shadows, but still. As soon as I saw him head for the shadows, I thought, this is trouble and we're going to lose. These things happen, I am convinced, because I am a Giants fan and I root for them to win. If I were a Mets fan, Mohr would have caught the ball. This is undeniable.

There were of course some positive things to say about that loss. The Giants knocked a couple more teeth out of Tom Glavine's mouth, and Bonds went 4-for-4 with two walks, raising his on-base percentage to approximately one million percent. And the Giants turned six double plays of their own, including a brilliant turn by Pedro Feliz to keep the Mets at bay in the 10th.

Let's also give props to Noah Lowry, who has done some fine work recently for the big league team. And to Kirk Rueter for a fine outing yesterday, a 3-1 win in which he went seven solid.

So Bonds has two weeks to approach 700 home runs. There is a slight chance I will be in San Francisco over Labor Day weekend. Anybody know a cheap scalper?

First, in a move obviously calculated to orchestrate a third-place finish in the wild-card standings, the Cubs pick up one Neifi Neftali Perez (Diaz). Good luck, guys.

Second, no sooner did I book my flight to Chicago for the September 14 & 15 Cubs games against the Pirates does the city of Chicago demand a positive report on the status of the crumbling Wrigley Field.

Tell me, since I have never been to Chicago, which is more dangerous: Going to Wrigley to see a game and possibly have a chunk of concrete fall on your head, or merely going to the South Side of Chicago to Comisk--sorry, U.S. Cellular Field--to see the transplanted Cubs play? I'll take my chances with the falling rocks. I don't want to go to the White Sox park to watch the Cubs.

I had the game on but the volume was down, and I couldn't tell what Mohr was thinking. What was he thinking?

Anyway, Barry's eight away from 700. Seven hundred. Seems like he was just approaching 500. Amazing.

And can we get some relief help PLEEEEEEASE?

But the Giants win nonetheless, beating the Expos 5-4 on J.T. Snow's single in the bottom of the ninth, after the Giants' relievers gave up a walk and a couple of measly grounders that managed to get two runs home. I can think of at least three instances right away where Schmidt had a win locked up only to have the relievers lose it. This time, however, Schmidt had something wrong with him when he left; he wasn't pulled by Felipe as in past games. So Alou doesn't face the E.K. Nation wrath today.

Barry got two more home runs, although they weren't the prodigious blasts we are used to. The first one, in the first inning, went about one row deep into the right-centerfield stands, and the second one, one at-bat later, hit off the top of the wall in front of the Cove.

• Matt Williams, guest commentator last night, after a foul ball by Snow: "You have a round ball and a round bat. It doesn't always come square for you."

Also, Williams said, "If there's a batter the Giants want up at this time, this guy would be it." Quick guess as to who he was talking about.

It was J.T. Snow. Ya know, as good as J.T.'s been recently, there's one other Giant we can think of whom we would rather have batting.

NL WEST
Los Angeles 69-48
Atlanta 67-50, 2 games back
San Francisco 65-55, 5.5 games back
San Diego 63-55, 6.5 games back

Much closer with the Braves in the mix.

NL EAST
St. Louis 77-40
Chicago 63-54, 14 games back

Okay, that one is a laugher.

AL WEST
Oakland 66-52
Texas 65-52, .5 games back
Anaheim 65-53, 1 game back
Minnesota 64-53, 1.5 games back
ChiSox 59-56, 5.5 games back

Four teams within a game-and-a-half? Forget about it. This would be spectacular.

AL EAST
New York 75-52
Boston 65-52, 10 games back

So instead of four runaway divisions, we have two. And two close races, where first place is the prize, instead of the two close races we have for second place.

Just thought I'd put this out there for reference.

So we come back from a week on Lake Shasta to find out that Neifi had been released.. Aww, boo-hoo.

We pulled our magnificent three-story houseboat up to the marina mid-week to refuel, and there it was, just over the hill, a moderate plume of brown smoke rising. Never fear, though: The fire did not disrupt our trip in any way, and we able to consume the thousand dollars' worth of liquor we bought.

Right now, we here at E.K. Nation are enjoying the wild-card lead again. It's strange to say, given our feelings about the wild-card system and how it absolutely sucks, but considering that the last four times the Giants have made the playoffs, they have been eliminated by a wild card team (although once being a wild card themselves), we are no longer going to be picky about how we get into the playoffs.

One reason the wild card system sucks is that the wild card only needs to beat the best team three out of five times to advance. However, we don't mind that right now; with Jason Schmidt a good bet to start Games 1 and 5 of any five-game series, the Giants have a realistic shot at a guaranteed two victories in those two games, thus needing just one more win in three in a series likely against the Cardinals. And we took two of three in St. Louis recently.

• We were going to take a look at how Barry Bonds' numbers compare to other MVP "candidates" in the National League, but we found that Josh at The New Giant Thrill had already done so, and the result speaks volumes. There is no way anyone other than Bonds deserves the MVP award. Sorry, folks.

• We'll be making our first trip to Wrigley Field next month, for two of the three Cubs' games against Pittsburgh. And we are stoked.

With very few exceptions, after you hit the ball,

Run, Forrest, run!!!

We can't tell you how many times lately we've seen a guy hit a grounder and jog down to first base while getting thrown out by a mere step. We also can't tell you how much that disgusts me.

Actually, We can. It disgusts us tremendously.

If you hit a pop-up or a fly ball with a man on first and fewer than two outs, you don't need to sprint to first base. You can't really go anywhere until the runner finds out what happens to the batted ball.

But on Wednesday night, we saw a thing of beauty, and we're not joking about this. With the Giants trying to rally in the bottom of the eighth inning, Michael Tucker hit a ground ball to Cincinnati second baseman D'Angelo Jimenez. And as soon as he did so, he put his head down and sprinted.

The play by Jimenez did not appear to be extremely difficult, and we don't know what went through his mind, but he may have seen Tucker sprinting and realized he was not going to be able to nonchalant this one over to first. Well, guess what: The throw went wide, there was an error on the play, and Tucker was safe at first.

All these ground balls that get hit, you never know. Major league infielders are quite adept at the routine ball; natch, that's what makes them routine. But you just never know. We remember seeing that one highlight, we can't remember who it was, but we remember the play vividly: A second basemen scooped up an easy grounder and prepared to make a simple toss over to first. However, while setting to make the throw, his right foot stepped on his left foot. He fell over, never made the throw and the batter was safe.

You just never know. So props to Tucker for sprinting out of the box -- although we'd rather castigate those who do not do their jobs by sprinting.

As for that doofus in the outfield stands who reached over and caught J.T. Snow's fly ball that night: Hey moron! Stop reaching over the fence to catch balls in fair territory! For cryin' out loud man! Had the umpires not had discretion at their disposal in that situation, and had you turned it into a straight-up ground-rule double, you would have cost the Giants -- your team! -- a run. Deivi Cruz would not have been allowed to score from first on that two-out hit. He would have been sent back to third. As it happened, the umpires did use their discretion and allowed the run to stand, figuring that with two outs, Cruz definitely would have scored, and he would have. But for Chrissakes, idiot: Wipe that stupid grin off your face and think about what you just did. You could have cost the Giants the game and all you can do is marvel at the fact that you erroneously think something amazing has happened to you.

I was heartened when the broadcast lingered on the idiot for a bit after the play. That stupid grin turned to shock when he started seeing security guards come up to him. I thought I saw one guard say to him, "All right, let's go. You're gone," or something to that effect, but what I hope the guy said to him was, "You don't have what it takes to attend a public game." So I am assuming the dork was removed from the premises. And good. He should be banned from SBC Bell for life.

Memo to Dustin Hermanson: You're the man, now, apparently. Enjoy it. You came into the game and took approximately 0.0000045 seconds to dispatch the Reds 1-2-3 in the ninth. Herges would have taken 45 minutes to take a 8-7 score and turned it into 12-7.

Please welcome, your new...San Francisco Giants!!!

...uhhhhhhh.....

...well, here he is...

That's it?

What a deal, huh? Pretty much the only guy we got before the trade deadline is Ricky freakin' Ledee? Yeah, what a monster bat to place behind Bonds. All in exchange for the low, low price of Fee-Rod, who was one of the better bullpen guys we had, and what the hell are we doing dismantling an already fragile bullpen? Is this it? Is that all we get? Is that Peggy Lee we hear? If so, it's officially over. We don't care what kind of pitching prospect we got in addition. Who cares? If he's not in the lineup helping our team right now, he's useless.

After years of consistently getting a big-name player or two at the deadline, this time Brian Sabean and crew have let us down. No wonder they weren't talking about potential trades; there weren't any. If we'd known they weren't planning on doing much of anything we'd have...uhhh...been nonplussed. As we are now. Bah humbug.

• On the plus side, made our first trip to Petco Park over the weekend; had to leave yesterday's Padres-Dodgers 1-1 game after nine innings in order to catch a flight that turned out to be slightly delayed. Nice park. Nice and open and light in the concourse, good atmosphere, Marines in the upper deck, who got a big standing ovation, all the way through The Marines Hymn. Makes it an even ten major league ballparks we've been to, after Candlestick and Pac Bell, the Kingdome and Safeco, Dodger Stadium, Anaheim Stadium, NetAss, the BOB, and Jack Murphy. Oh, and our trip to Wrigley Field in September has been called off. Anybody want tickets to Sept. 14 and 15's games against the Pirates? Send an e-mail.

• Bass fishing is not a sport.

• Happy wedding J.K. and Cha-Cha! Have fun in the Caymans!