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American League vs. National League

At Media Day, someone asked Brian Sabean if the National League is underrated. "I think so," he said. "If you watch our games much like our series against Detroit, you have to play baseball in this league. There are a lot of close games. When you play a lot of [...]

By | February 8th, 2013|2 Comments

Barry Bonds — a note

Some readers of this blog -- and some sports fans in general -- have expressed outrage that Barry Bonds flopped on his first Hall of Fame ballot. Bruce Jenkins of the Chron said the Hall of Fame is ludicrous without Bonds. I didn't vote for Bonds. I don't feel ludicrous. [...]

By | January 10th, 2013|29 Comments

On the screws

Many of you kindly offered explanations to my query -- when someone says a pitcher pulls the string what string is he talking about? Here's another one. When the announcer says a batter hit the ball on the screws, what screws is he talking about?

By | October 20th, 2012|6 Comments

Odds to win World Series

Here are odds to win the World Series, courtesy of Bovada. I thought you'd be interested. Odds to win the 2012 World Series Texas Rangers                          9/2 Cincinnati Reds                         13/2 Washington Nationals                7/1 New York Yankees                    7/1 San Francisco Giants                 9/1 Atlanta Braves                           14/1 Detroit Tigers                             14/1 Los Angeles Angels                   15/1 Oakland Athletics                      16/1 Chicago White Sox                    16/1 Baltimore Orioles                       18/1 Tampa Bay Rays                       18/1 Los Angeles Dodgers                 20/1 Philadelphia Phillies                   20/1 St. [...]

By | September 14th, 2012|3 Comments

“Sports are entertainment” is the baloney excuse

We've been having an interesting discussion all day about steroids and the baseball hall of fame and about Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. These are very difficult issues and I sincerely appreciate your insights and input. One argument bothers me -- I don't find it cogent -- and I want [...]

By | June 19th, 2012|30 Comments

Should baseball increase use of instant replay?

Bruce Jenkins wrote a strong column in this morning's Chron. He advocates increasing the use of instant replay in baseball in certain situations. He wants baseball to get things right and to make use of available technology. I disagree with Bruce on almost every point. Let me say that right [...]

By | May 30th, 2012|13 Comments

Baseball to add wild-card teams

Major League Baseball will add two wild-card teams -- one from each league -- for this season's playoffs. The two wild-card teams in each league will play each other in a sudden-death, one-game playoff and the winner will move on. This move is a cause for some debate. Baseball purists [...]

By | March 1st, 2012|9 Comments

Important new baseball book

I am privileged to know Bill Gould and I want to tell you about his new book. Bill is professor emeritus of law at Stanford and he served as the chairman of the National Labor Relations Board from 1994 to 1998. He also is a die-hard baseball fan and for [...]

By | August 29th, 2011|13 Comments

Tipping the cap

The Giants are currently ahead of the Dbacks 8-1 in the top of the 7th. Ryan Vogelsong, who's been very good today, lost it in the top of the 7th, gave up 3 hits in a row, the final hit by the pitcher. So Bochy walked to the mound and [...]

By | August 3rd, 2011|6 Comments

Should fan have given Matsui back the ball?

Grant wrote a controversial piece today for ComcastSportsNet Bay Area while I was out and doing other things. He argued that the fan who caught the ball that was Hideki Matsui's 500th career home run had no obligation to return it to Matsui, in fact would have been a dope [...]

By | July 21st, 2011|8 Comments