E.K. NATION

Didn't see last night's Giants game, as it was not offered by the MLB Extra Innings package. Didn't see what would have been an excruciating game to watch, and was an excruciating game to hear about second-hand from Vin Scully.

Did, however, see an excruciating, ridiculous, enraging Rockies' surrender last night. With the Rockies leading 4-0 with one out in the ninth and nobody on base, Shawn Chacon proceeded to walk four batters in a row, on approximately 17 pitches, 16 of which were nowhere near the vicinty of a white five-sided slab of rubber. Two quick hits later, and the game was improbably, ridiculously, put into the W column by the Dodgers. It was interesting to hear how quickly Scully blasted Chacon for the loss, even though he'd been out of the game for two batters. ("He...scores! Dodgers win. And Shawn Chacon gives it away.")

An inning earlier, we were treated to the sight of Milton Bradley apparently losing a fly ball in the lights with two outs and the bases loaded. What could have been the final out of the inning, preserving a 1-0 Rockies lead, turned into a 3-0 lead, which, after yet another ridiculous fan-related controversy (more in a sec), was then parlayed into a 4-0 lead, and I, for one, was very happy about that. It was great to see the Rockies come into Dodger Stadium and try to make L.A.'s lead one game smaller.

Not so fast. Suddenly, we saw Bradley pick up a bottle, which had apparently been thrown at him by a fan after the second and third runs scored, and walk over to the rightfield stands near the foul pole, where he tried to inquire which fan threw it. Not getting an answer, he then angrily slammed the bottle (a plastic one, not glass) to the ground right on the other side of the short wall. He was thrown out by the umpire there and then proceeded to pull off his jersey and razz the crowd over their booing, although it wasn't clear from the broadcast what the boos were for, the error, the bottle, or the ejection. Bradley's outburst, shown here on ESPN.com, has at least one L.A. writer calling for his outright release right now.

I give Bradley a tad bit of the benefit of the doubt here. It wasn't like he was merely being taunted with The-Idiot-Craig-Bueno-like invectives. Somebody actually tried to hurt him with a beer bottle. My philosophy is that is any situation, not just sports, verbal abuse doesn't cross the line into physical-retaliation territory, but assault certainly does. However, Bradley, a gas can as it is, wasn't about to think this through calmly. He should have left the field on his own immediately until the fan in question could be identified and thrown out. (Later, I would see more highlights, which showed Bradley breaking his bat and then throwing the broken pieces and his helmet fater striking out. Anger management?--E.K.)

Did I mention this game was ridiculous?

Meanwhile, Portland never had a chance to land the Expos and in frustration I hurled a plastic beer bottle at the TV.

Standings With, Without Wild Card: Haven't done a whole lot of ranting about how dumb the wild-card system is this year, mostly because I really don't care anymore how the Giants get into the playoffs, as long as they get in. They've been sucked out by the wild card team the last four times they have made the playoffs, and I want revenge and I'll take it any way I can get it. But here we go anyway. See which scenario you would prefer:

AS IT STANDS:

N.L. WEST: Dodgers lead Giants by 3 games.

N.L. CENTRAL: Cardinals clinched.

N.L. EAST: Braves clinched.

N.L. WILD CARD: Giants, Cubs tied, Astros .5 game back, Padres 3 back.

WITHOUT THE WILD CARD*:

N.L. EAST: Cardinals clinched.

N.L. WEST: Braves lead Dodgers by 1.5 games.

AS IT STANDS:

A.L. WEST: Angels, A's tied, Rangers 3 back.

A.L. CENTRAL: Twins clinched.

A.L. EAST: Yankees clinched.

A.L. WILD CARD: Red Sox clinched.

WITHOUT THE WILD CARD:

A.L. EAST: Yankees lead Red Sox by 2.5 games.

A.L. WEST: Twins lead Angels and A's by 1.5 games.

*Pre-1994 divisional alignment used

So in the N.L., two races of four are over, one is almost over, and the last one, for second-place, is silly close among three teams. Again, though, it's for second place. Without the wild card, one race is a blowout and the other one is very close. And in the A.L., instead of two thrilling races out of two possible, we have one thrilling race out of four possible.

By the way: Anyone telling you the two Red Sox-Yankees series were exciting and pivotal in this, the age when the two best teams can't have a pennant race, well...let's put it this way: They don't deserve a smack in the face, because violence is wrong, but it's like Chris Rock said, "I'm not saying he shoulda killed her...but I understand." Is home-field advantage a better prize than first place? If we did not have the wild card system would anyone be thinking, hey wouldn't it be great if both the Red Sox and Yankees could make it to the playoffs? Nope. Noody said that in 1978 either, because their race that year was incredible. One team would make it, the other would go home. Now, the Sox and Yanks both get to go. Where's the drama?

Yeah, I've stated this already, and it's a lost cause, but I will not stop.

Sometimes, Umpires Just Suck: He was falling asleep, so he didn't see it, and an out call would get him into bed earlier than he would with a safe call anyway, so umpire Brian O'Nora called him out.

The picture shows him safe, the broadcast and the replay showed him safe, we all saw him safe. Except for the umpire, who had the best view. What the hell is going on with umpires?