Giants-Dodgers Rivalry Returns

You wouldn't know it by tuning into ESPN, but there are other rivalries in baseball besides Red Sox-Yankees.  Cubs-Cardinals have a marvelous history in two wonderful sports towns.  But even that doesn't hold the tradition and bitter history that comes with Dodgers-Giants.

As a full-fledged Giants fan, I am proud to announce that we, the Giants, are relevant again.

Finally.

I Predicted What?!

We're past the non-waiver trade deadline in major league baseball, which means a couple of things. 1) We have two months of exciting pennant race baseball 2) There are sure to be other trades simply because teams cannot take on money with the economy the way it is, rendering the typical waiver process a non-deterrent 3) It's a great time to look back at my earlier comments on pretenders and contenders and rip myself.

No Halladay For Yankees

So the MLB non-waiver trading deadline has come and gone, and the Yankees did… nothing.  Wisely deciding not to trade their entire minor league system to Toronto for Roy Halladay, the Yanks head into the stretch with the same line-up they’ve been sporting all season.  Will it be enough?  It’s difficult to say.

Offensively it would be hard to improve on what they already have.  Second in the AL in team batting average and home runs, the Bombers sit at the top of the AL East, 2.5 games ahead of Boston.  Boston did add catcher Victor Martinez from the Indians, but with the circus that is the David Ortiz steroid story just getting underway, the Red Sox will be hard pressed to challenge for the wild card, let alone the division title.  The AL East is the Yanks to lose.  It’s hard to imagine them missing the playoffs this year.

Pittsburgh’s New Record Low

Don’t cry too hard for the city of Pittsburgh. Their city has seen two Super Bowl victories in four years. They saw a Stanley Cup in 2009 and another finals appearance in 2008.

This success, however, has not translated to the Pirates, Pittsburgh’s Major League Baseball franchise. Today, the Pirates traded Jack Wilson and Ian Snell to the Seattle Mariners and Freddy Sanchez to the San Francisco Giants. These trades all but guarantee their record 17^th straight losing season, a mark they will now hold by themselves.

Put Pete In?

The day after this year's Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, notorious non-Hall of Famer Pete Rose's name came up.  Bill Madden of the New York Daily News penned a story claiming that Commissioner Bud Selig was re-considering Rose's application for reinstatement. Rose, who agreed to a lifetime ban from the game in August of 1989 due to gambling allegations, has the support of such notable veterans as Joe Morgan and Hank Aaron, writes Madden.  "Charlie Hustle," as he was known, spent the better part of a decade claiming the betting allegations were false before finally fessing up in an ill-timed release of book "My Prison Without Bars" in 2004.

Rickey Loves Rickey

There's a lot of stuff going on in the sports world this weekend.  The rumor mill is swirling in baseball, there's a full slate of games, and football is right around the corner.

But what I'm looking forward to most is not even an event on a playing field.

Perfection

Last night, July 23, Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox became the 18th pitcher in major league baseball history to throw a perfect game. 27 Up, 27 down, for a final score of 2-0 against the Tampa Bay Rays. For those who may be unfamiliar with the term, a perfect game is one in which a pitcher completes all nine innings of a game while not allowing any batters to reach base either by way of a walk or hit. They can’t hit a guy with a pitch to put him on base either, but you get the picture.

Baseball Rumor Mill About To Get Ridiculous

You're bored at work, so you're using your internet to do something other than whatever work you have on your plate.  Your favorite team is a buyer at the trade deadline for the first time in ages.  Or maybe you've been through this every year.  Or maybe you're a Royals or Pirates fan and you're just wondering if you'll ever have a veteran last beyond a trade deadline.

Let the Trading Begin

Mark DeRosa, Felipe Lopez, and Jeff Francoeur have already been shipped out. But as the MLB Trade Deadline approaches, many begin to wonder where some of the big names may be ending up.

Texas Rangers Biggest Surprise?

Mid way through the MLB season there have been a lot of story lines, but there's one that no one thought they would see. The Texas Rangers either leading or being within a couple games of being in first place especially since they moved Michael Young to 3rd base and promoted a 20 yr. old Elvis Andrus. I mean come on this is a team that hasn't been to the playoffs since 1999, had only one winning season once since then, and had one of the worst pitching staffs in 2008. That was so 2008.