Utes begin farewell tour with UNLV

The 20th ranked Utah Utes begin their farewell tour of the Mountain West Conference with a 2 p.m. MT home game against UNLV on Saturday afternoon. The game will be televised on The Mtn. which is channels 616 and 616-1 (HD) on DirecTv and channel 37 on Comcast Cable in the Salt Lake City area. This of course will be the final season that the Utes are in the MWC before joining the Pac-10 next year and it's difficult to foresee them playing some of these teams in the near future. I don't see them playing UNLV for quite some time, so it should be good to leave them something to remember us by.

The Utes looked very talented to me in the win over then 15th ranked Pittsburgh last week and looked like the better team for the better part of the game. There were, however, way too many mistakes in the opener, which I guess is to be expected when the season starts. Let's hope the Utes have cleaned those up and are focused for the conference opener.

The defense in particular looked strong against Pittsburgh with the exception of the blown coverage on Pitt's long 4th quarter touchdown pass that put them right back in striking distance. I think the defense will help to anchor the team all season long. I thought Jordan Wynn looked pretty sharp overall, not great but good. I'm fully confident in him being the quarterback for the Utes not just this year but as we move into the Pac-10 as well. I think the offense should have a pretty big day and that the defense will be staunch against inferior competition. The Utes should win by at least a couple of touchdowns.

I will again be at this game (even though it is at the same time as the big Giants-Padres showdown -- DVR is set by the way) and providing updates via twitter. You can follow me there at twitter.com/dpaysports. And of course I'll be back here on the blog after the game for my thoughts. Go Utes!

Giants now in virtual tie

The San Francisco Giants (80-62) defeated the San Diego Padres (79-61) 1-0 tonight to move into a virtual tie atop the National League West and take the first two games of the four game series at Petco Park. The only run scored on a fielder's choice in the seventh inning as Aubrey Huff took home on a ground ball to third. The Padres tried to turn an inning-ending double play, but pinch runner Nate Schierholtz had an impressive take out slide at second and Juan Uribe was just able to beat the relay to first allowing Huff to score. The Giants' pitching was great all night (although Jonathan Sanchez had a lot of walks he was able to pitch around them) and Brian Wilson was able to lock things down with a five out save. Wilson was again very impressive and I feel lucky to have such a great closer on my favorite team.

The Colorado Rockies (77-64) defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks (57-84) 13-4 in Denver to win their 8th straight game. They now trail the Padres and Giants by 2.5 games in the West. I'm getting really sick of the Rockies winning. Somebody start beating them. Please.

The Giants and Padres resume the series at 2:10 p.m. MT on FOX Saturday afternoon. Madison Bumgarner goes for the Giants and Tim Stauffer gets the start for the Padres. Hopefully the Giants can take sole possession of first place.

In other baseball news, Blue Jays (72-69) out fielder Jose Bautista hit two more home runs tonight and now has a Major League leading 46 on the year. He's having a monster year at the plate and it's really impressive to see. The Blue Jays are a fun team to watch and I feel like with a little more pitching and experience they could make some noise next year. The Rays (85-55) won the game 9-8 in Toronto tonight despite Bautista's homers and that combined with the Yankees (87-54) losing 6-5 in 13 innings to the Rangers (78-63) pulled Tampa Bay within 1.5 games in the AL East.

Giants take opener from Padres

My San Francisco Giants (79-62) won the opener of a four game series at Petco Park in San Diego tonight against the Padres (79-60) by a score of 7-3. The game featured Giants home runs by Aubrey Huff, Juan Uribe, Buster Posey and Pat Burrell. The offense really got the job done tonight. Matt Cain pitched 8+ strong innings, giving up 3 earned runs. The Giants now sit just one game back in the National League West and thanks to Atlanta's (80-61) loss to St. Louis (73-65) now are just one back in the Wild Card as well.

Now the focus turns to tomorrow night's game which gets underway at 8:05 p.m. MT and will be televised on MLB Network as well as MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv. Jonathan Sanchez pitches for the Giants and Clayton Richard goes for the Padres. I feel confident that Sanchez will be able to pitch well tomorrow, he seems to be in a good groove of late and it seems like he pitches well against the Padres.

Oh and the NFL got underway tonight with the home-standing New Orleans Saints (1-0) knocking off the Minnesota Vikings (0-1) by a score of 14-9 in a rematch of last season's NFC Championship Game. It was a lower scoring match-up than I expected, but it sounds like the Saints are still happy with the win. I didn't watch much of the game as my focus was more on the Giants-Padres game tonight. I look forward to seeing how my Philadelphia Eagles do this year. They open the season at home Sunday at 2:15 p.m. MT against the Green Bay Packers.

NL West is tight going down the stretch

The San Francisco Giants (78-61) won their fourth straight game last night, dropping the Arizona Diamondbacks (56-83) 6-3 in Phoenix. Tim Lincecum was dominant for six innings before giving up a few runs in the 7th. I think he's going to be dynamite down the stretch. I was also glad to see Aubrey Huff hit his 23rd home run in the first inning last night as he's been scuffling of late. The offense is looking pretty good. Now we just have to hope Barry Zito can regain the form he had earlier in the season. He starts tonight at Arizona at 7:40 p.m. MT on Fox Sports Arizona.

The Giants trail the San Diego Padres (78-59) by one game in the NL West and the Atlanta Braves (79-60) by one game in the Wild Card. The Braves fell out of first place for the first time since the end of May last night after losing to the Pirates (47-91) and the Phillies (80-60) taking advantage with a win over the Marlins (70-68). The Padres have won the past two nights against the Dodgers (69-70) following a ten game losing streak. Last night, though, San Diego had to call on closer Heath Bell for a five out save, so hopefully at least that tires him out a little bit in advance of the big four game series at Petco Park with the Giants this weekend. It looks like the Padres are starting to feel the pressure of the pennant race. Just one more game and then it's time for the big series which I'm pretty excited for.

Boise State gets huge win

Tonight I watched a good portion of (3) Boise State defeating (10) Virginia Tech by a score of 33-30 in a de facto road game for the Broncos being played in Washington, D.C. The most impressive part of the game for me was when Boise State took the ball with two minutes remaining, no timeouts left and trailing 30-26. The Broncos, behind star quarterback Kellen Moore, drove down the field (after benefiting from a punt return that allowed them to start at their own 45) and took the lead. This game definitely lived up to the hype and was exciting right down to the end. It looks like Boise State may be deserving of the accolades they have received after winning in a hostile environment against a top-10 team. I just hope their ranking doesn't end up getting in Utah's way in terms of BCS qualification.

By far the most exciting finish of the weekend came when Jacksonville State defeated Ole Miss by a score of 49-48 in double overtime after trailing 31-10 at halftime (on the road). The Rebels led 48-41 in the second overtime and Jacksonville State (a I-AA school, now referred to as FCS) converted a 4th and 15 for a long touchdown pass and then proceeded to go for two. The Gamecocks pulled off the victory on a nifty dump-off pass to the running back. I love seeing huge upsets like that and when it's coupled with coming in such dramatic fashion it just makes it very, very exciting. Stuff like that is what helps make college football so great. I'm glad I was able to see the end of that game.

Utes top Pitt

What a game that was last night! Utah beat #15 Pittsburgh 27-24 in overtime. The Utes made a number of mistakes and I really felt that they should have won the game in regulation and by a wider margin. I thought they outplayed Pitt, especially after the first quarter. But a win is a win and it's really cool that we were able to knock off a ranked team to start the season. This should get the Utes into the AP Poll this week as well as move them up in the Coaches Poll. I'm short on time right now, but I just wanted to get in how exciting of a win that was. Go Utes!

Utah football begins tomorrow night!

The Utah Utes open up their 2010 season at home tomorrow night against the #15 Pittsburgh Panthers. The game is set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. MT and will be televised on Versus which is channel 603 on DirecTV and channel 34 on Comcast in Salt Lake City.

Pittsburgh is picked by man to win the Big East this year and should provide a stiff challenge for the Utes right out of the gate. Pitt's top player is sophomore running back and Heisman Trophy candidate Dion Lewis who rushed for 1,799 yards as a freshman last season. Lewis is definitely a game-breaker type who should make things very interesting, not to mention difficult for the Utes. However, Pittsburgh is breaking in a new quarterback this year in sophomore Tino Sunseri and though I am sure he is a talented player, I think it will take some time for him to break in with the offense, particularly on the road. Utah's defense is typically strong and I expect the same this year. Lewis will get some yards but the scoring won't be too outlandish.

On offense I think the Utes are set up quite well with returning starters at all the key positions. Sophomore quarterback Jordan Wynn showed flashes of greatness last year and has a great arm not to mention good decision making abilities. I think Wynn will lead a potent offense this year starting tomorrow night. Notably returning at wide receiver in Jereme Brooks of whom I expect there will be some big plays this year -- he is a solid target for Wynn to throw to. And of course in the backfield there is a two-headed monster of Eddie Wide (who rushed for over 1,000 yards last season) and Matt Asiata (coming back from an injury shortened year). Asiata is more of a power back and Wide provides more speed. I am very confident in both of them. They have both shown they can be effective and have experience on their side.

I expect Pittsburgh's defense to be tough, but I think Utah will get enough points to win in a close one. Lewis will do his fair share of damage on the offensive end for the Panthers, but Utah has a stout defense themselves and a number of weapons offensively. The two teams are pretty evenly matched and in a game like that I'm going to have to go with the home team.

I will be at the game in person and providing updates on my Twitter feed for which the address is twitter.com/dpaysports. And of course I will be back on here after the game to blog with my thoughts. Go Utes!

My 2010 MWC Football picks

Football season is less than 24 hours away here in Salt Lake City, so it's time for my 2010 Mountain West Conference Football prognostications. Here's how I see the conference shaking out this year:

1. Utah
2. TCU
3. BYU
4. Air Force
5. Wyoming
6. San Diego State
7. UNLV
8. Colorado State
9. New Mexico

I think Utah will win the Conference in large part because they have both TCU and BYU at home. I think the TCU game will be the toughest home game of the year but I think the Utes will feed off the crowd and pull it out in a close one. I'm not seeing an undefeated season for the Utes, but I do see a conference title. TCU is the favorite in most people's books and their talent should be enough to win most games, plus they get BYU at home. BYU always seems to have its way with Air Force as well as the lower tier of the league, so they are an easy pick for 3rd. Air Force could make some noise and I particularly think Utah's late October visit to Colorado Springs is a dangerous game. Wyoming and San Diego State appear to be on a bit of an upswing and I don't really expect much from UNLV, Colorado State and New Mexico (more than 1 win this year and no choking incidents on the coaching staff would be a nice improvement for the Lobos). I'm pretty stoked for tomorrow night's game and I'll have more posted on that here shortly.

BYU officially independent in football

Well it is finally official: BYU is going independent in football beginning next season. They will join the West Coast Conference in all other sports. I have already chronicled my thoughts on the blog before, but to recap I think the move will likely create more revenue and exposure (at least in the regular season) but will probably make it harder for them to access the BCS. BYU will likely not be able to have the scheduling power and BCS automatic access guarantees that fellow independent Notre Dame has. It is really tough not to be tied into a conference, but BYU definitely has resources that could help it to at least remain competitive. I think it will make it harder competitively in the long haul, however, unless they do join another conference at some point. If it was me in charge of the decision I probably would have stayed in the Mountain West Conference and worked out some sort of new television package if at all possible.

As for the men's basketball program, I think the Mountain West Conference is definitely a better conference top to bottom than the West Coast Conference but the WCC is more top heavy with Gonzaga and to a lesser extent Saint Mary's which made a run to the Sweet 16 last season. I don't know that it will be a huge drop-off, but I think it will be a drop-off nonetheless. There are some bad teams and bad programs in the WCC that have been down for a while that will really hurt BYU's strength of schedule. BYU does significantly help the conference, though, and should help it to be a bit more of a player nationally. I would put it just a step down from the Mountain West at this point in basketball.

Perhaps the biggest loser in all of this is Utah State. To seem my full thoughts on the subject, simply scroll down the blog. It now appears more than ever though, that USU made a big mistake in turning down the Mountain West. They are now left in what is barely still a conference in the WAC.

Giants get big bounce back win

The San Francisco Giants (73-60) got a nice 5-2 bounce back win over the Colorado Rockies (69-62) at AT&T Park. A loss would have allowed the Rockies to tie the Giants in the loss column so this win allowed them to create a little distance in the standings. There's another big game tomorrow night at 7:15 p.m. MT on FSN Rocky Mountain with Tim Lincecum and Ubaldo Jimenez squaring off. A win would allow for a winning homestand leading into a big 10-game road trip. The Phillies (74-58) won tonight so they remain 1.5 games up on the Giants, but San Francisco did pick up a game on the Padres (76-55) who lost to the Diamondbacks (54-79) tonight. San Diego now leads the Giants by 4 games and has lost a season high six straight games.

Madison Bumgarner threw six strong innings tonight and even hit an RBI double in the 5th inning to give the Giants a 2-1 lead. In such a crucial game, it was very impressive for a kid just barely 21 to have such a good performance.

After Melvin Mora hit a tying home run in the top of the 8th off of Jeremy Affedlt it appeared the Rockies had the momentum. However, the Giants showed that resiliency that they have been showing all year. Andres Torres hit a home run in the bottom half of the 8th that just can't be talked about enough. It was a huge homer in so many ways because it gave the Giants the lead right back as well as stopping the Colorado momentum. Buster Posey's two-run double was big-time as well as it provided breathing room for closer Brian Wilson who had a shut down 9th inning to complete the win.

Giants defense falters in 9th

I remember a line that longtime White Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson said when I was watching a game as a little kid: "And the walk. The dreaded lead-off walk." The White Sox were up 4 runs that day in the 9th inning and gave up a "dreaded" lead-off walk that came around to score for the Blue Jays. The White Sox were able to win that game and were fortunate that they had a multi-run lead to work with that day.

Tonight as I watched the Giants take on the Rockies, the term of dreaded lead-off walk was very applicable. The Giants took a 1-0 lead in the 5th off of an RBI single by Buster Posey that followed two walks to start the inning from Rockies pitcher Jorge De La Rosa. In the 9th, Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez walked Dexter Fowler to begin the inning. Fowler came around to score on a triple by Carlos Gonzalez off of Giants closer Brian Wilson. Gonzalez scored on a throwing error that went into the dugout on the play. Huston Street retired the Giants in order in the bottom half for a 2-1 Rockies win.

Fact is lead-off walks often come around to score. You put a guy on base for free to start an inning and the other team still has all three outs to work with to get the guy around. They can even score him without a base hit in some instances with enough well-placed outs. It's just a tough way to start an inning and I feel has a much more negative impact on a team's psyche than does a lead-off single. A lead-off walk feels like you just gave something away and that in itself gives the other team momentum. A single to start an inning isn't optimal, but at least the hitter has earned his way on.

In my book, the key at-bat of the night was Sanchez walking Fowler, who had fallen behind 0-2 and still worked a walk. Granted, this whole thing might have been different if right fielder Cody Ross hadn't misjudged the ball that turned into a triple for Gonzalez. That ball simply should have been caught and instead of being down 2-1 with nobody out it should have remained a 1-0 Giants lead with one out and a man on first. That's a big difference. It could be argued that Fowler would have scored easily on Ryan Spilborghs' triple later in the inning to tie the game and he would have. But the momentum may or may not have been different. And in any case that would have only resulted in a tie game instead of the Giants being behind. It was just a crushing loss. Ross should have made the play and the throwing error by Freddy Sanchez that allowed Gonzalez to score from third didn't help. The defense let the team down and has to be better if they are going to make a playoff push.

The Rockies improved to 69-61 while the Giants dropped to 72-60. The Rockies are now two back of the Giants for second in the West and the Giants still trail the Padres (76-54) by five games. San Diego lost at Arizona (53-79) tonight to extend their season worst losing streak to five games. It's too bad the Giants haven't been able to take more advantage of that. The Phillies (73-58) still lead the Giants in the Wild Card chase by 1.5 games and now trail the Braves (76-55) by 3 games in the NL East. The Reds (76-55) have a pretty good lead in the Central over the Cardinals (69-60) at six games.

All this being said, the Giants are still very much in the Wild Card race and need to turn it around starting tomorrow night against the Rockies. Madison Bumgarner goes for the Giants and is countered by right hander Esmil Rogers of the Rockies.

Starting pitching struggling for Giants

The Giants (71-59) have lost the last two nights at home to the Diamondbacks (52-78) behind poor starting pitching from Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito. Zito in particular had a rough week. I feel for him, he really seems to put it all out there when he pitches. But the fact is that the starting pitching just has to be better or this team just isn't going anywhere. Bruce Bochy said as much after the game and even had a closed-door meeting with his starting pitchers, in which I can only imagine that he gave a sever chastisement that Zito said was deserved. Matt Cain goes tomorrow and he actually did have a solid start on Monday against the Reds (74-55) so hopefully he can build on that starting tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. MT.

The Giants trail the Phillies (72-57) by 1.5 games in the Wild Card chase and the Padres (76-52), who have dropped to in a row to the Phils, by 6 games in the National League West. The Wild Card in particular is very much in reach and even the divisional race isn't totally out of hand. There's a lot of baseball to be played and I think the Giants will at least make things interesting down the stretch.

In Washington D.C. tonight, Nationals (55-75) out fielder Nyjer Morgan went out of his way to bump into Cardinals (69-58) catcher Bryan Anderson as Morgan was crossing home plate to score. Anderson wasn't even blocking the plate and Morgan went out of his way to bump into him. Just a very unsportsmanlike play. That sort of thing is totally uncalled for. Morgan just seems like a total head case to me. The Nats defeated the Cards 14-5 in the game.

Giants almost complete comeback, big day for Rockies

The San Francisco Giants (71-57) overcame a 10-1 deficit in the 5th inning of Wednesday afternoon's game against the Cincinnati Reds (73-54) to take an 11-10 lead in the 8th inning only to lose in 12 innings by a 12-11 score. I DVR'd the game and wasn't really paying much attention to it after the Reds took a big lead but started really watching in the 8th inning after Juan Uribe hit a 3-run home run to cut the lead to 10-8. Then a few batters later, Andres Torres doubled home the tying runs, then scored himself to give the Giants an 11-10 lead. I've been really impressed with the offense this home series and hope the team continues to swing the bats well at home.

The Reds rallied for the tie in the top of the 9th, then scored the winning run in the 12th on an RBI single by MVP and Triple Crown candidate Joey Votto. Votto also hit two home runs in the game and it's safe to say the Reds wouldn't have won without him. As Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker said after the game, that's what an MVP candidate does, comes through for you when you need him. He's really a big time player and will keep the Reds right in the thick of things deep into the season.

The Giants remain one game back of the Phillies (70-56) in the Wild Card race and now trail the Padres (76-49) by 6.5 games. The Phils have lost three straight at home to the Astros (57-69). The Padres just never seem to lose and are starting to run away with the West. The Phillies still trail the Braves (73-54) in the East by 2.5 games.

Speaking of the Braves, they coughed up a 10-1 3rd inning lead to the Rockies (66-60) in Denver and ended up losing 12-10. You never can count the Rockies out at home and they showed why again in this games. Truly a remarkable comeback and when you think that the Giants almost completed a comeback from the same deficit on the same afternoon you have to think it was a day of historic proportions. Hats off to the Rockies, that is quite the achievement. The Rockies are now 41-20 at home; that mark is second only to (ironically) the Braves who are 44-17 at Turner Field in Atlanta.

Pitch counts playing too large a role

Texas Rangers (70-54) starter Rich Harden was pulled from his start against the Minnesota Twins (72-53) with two outs in the top of the seventh inning last night despite not having given up a hit to that point. This comes within a couple of weeks of the Twins pulling starter Kevin Slowey after he had a no-hitter through seven innings. In both cases the bullpen was not able to hold down the combined no-hitter. Both managers said that their decisions were based on pitch counts and wanting to save their respective pitchers' arms for later in the season.

I get that you want to preserve pitchers' arms and all that, but I think too much is made of pitch counts. I think if a pitcher hasn't given up a hit, then he is probably okay to keep pitching until he does. I think a pitcher deserves that. Edwin Jackson, then of the Arizona Diamondbacks (49-76) was allowed to throw 149 pitches by then-manager A.J. Hinch in his no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays (77-48) earlier this season. I think that was the right cause and Jackson does not appear to have suffered any ill effects from the additional pitches.

I think too much is being made out of pitch counts and I especially feel this about the way the Nationals (53-72) have handled rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg this year and how the Yankees (77-48) babied along Joba Chamberlain a couple of years ago. I think if Strasburg is pitching well, then he should be allowed to go back out there provided he is putting in the requisite conditioning work. I think the said work would be evident in how well he pitches late into a game -- if he has been pitching well then he deserves to stay out there.

I have seen multiple times where a starter was dealing through 7 or 8 innings but then was removed because "the pitch count got him." One that comes to mind are a game I watched last year when Cliff Lee was pitching for the Indians (50-74) against the Cubs (52-74) at Wrigley Field and was just dealing. However, once he was removed from the game for pitch count restrictions, the Cubs won the game in the late innings. Another is from two years ago when Johan Santana absolutely shut down the Phillies (70-54) for the Mets (62-62) at Shea Stadium through 8 innings. But as you can probably guess the pitch count got him and the Phils rallied for a huge, come-from-behind 9th inning against an anemic Mets bullpen to get the win. I feel that if these pitchers had been left in these games that there teams would have had a much higher percentage chance of winning those ballgames.

I'm glad that my team, the Giants (70-56) seem to subscribe to more of (though probably not wholly) the old-school philosophy of letting their starting pitchers throw a lot of pitchers and remain out there deep into games. A lot of rookie pitchers are being capped at 150 innings and being forced to postpone or miss starts or go to the bullpen in order to not go over their limit. Matt Cain pitched 190 innings in his rookie season and is one of the better pitchers in the National League today. He seems to be doing fine. The Giants commonly let their starters throw 120 pitches, which is more than a lot of teams, and they are rewarded by doing so. Their staff is still one of the most solid in the game.

I think the long-term effects of throwing a lot of pitches in games have been exaggerated. Early in the 20th century it was not unheard of for guys like Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson to win 30 games in a year -- and I think their careers certainly weren't any worse off for it. Nowadays for whatever reason (paranoia?) that just doesn't happen anymore.

Aubrey Huff, funny MLB things

Here's a really great article that I just read on espn.com about Giants slugger Aubrey Huff:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=5479224

I really enjoyed reading this. Huff has been our best offensive player all year and seems to be a great clubhouse presence as well. He really has a desire to win and enjoys the winning atmosphere. I remember him saying after a Dodgers game in which fans got there early chanting "Beat LA" and that carried with it a playoff type atmosphere that he had been waiting for that type of thing his whole life. Huff hit his 21st home run of the season tonight in helping the Giants (69-54) beat the Cardinals (65-54) to move within five games of the Padres (73-48) in the NL West and stay one back of the Phillies (69-52) in the Wild Card chase.

A couple of things that I found humorous were the Athletics' (61-60) ball boy admitting that he has used his job in order to get at least one female's number. The ball boy if I remember correctly took a slight fall the other night and now seems to be all the rage. The A's have taken the first two of a four-game home series against the Rays (74-48) and are 7 games back of the Rangers (68-53) in the AL West. It seems like they are just doing enough to remain on the fringe of the division race, but time is running out to make a push. Maybe they're off to a start of something like that as they have won four in a row.

The other thing is the "McCutchen Man Crush Crew" in Pittsburgh in honor of Pirates (40-82) out fielder Andrew McCutchen. It consisted tonight of about four guys in front of a huge sign. After McCutchen got an RBI single tonight against the Mets (61-61) the guys were dancing and styling. Pretty funny stuff. And honestly the Pirates need something to smile about -- they have the worst record in baseball and tonight's 7-2 loss to the Mets ensured that they will have a losing season for the 18th consecutive year. Ouch.

Utah State turned down MWC?

According to an open letter from Utah State published in the Deseret News, the Aggies were contacted before Nevada and Fresno State about joining the Mountain West Conference. The letter said that USU turned down the interest from the MWC out of a commitment to solidarity to the Western Athletic Conference. This commitment included a contract with a $5 million buyout should USU have left the WAC within the next five years. Such a deal was signed by Fresno State and verbally agreed to (though not signed) by Nevada. Both schools defected to the MWC last night.

As honorable as solidarity is, I think Utah State should have been looking out more for itself than for the WAC if the MWC did indeed contact the Aggies about potential membership. Even if Fresno State and Nevada had stayed in the WAC and BYU had joined for basketball, the MWC still would have been a stronger basketball league overall with perennial powers New Mexico, UNLV and San Diego State. Of course there is no question that the Mountain West is the superior league in football as well with TCU and Boise State headlining the conference.

Utah State should have done what was best for Utah State, not what they thought would be best for the WAC. The letter said USU expected all WAC institutions to honor the agreement of solidarity among the schools remaining following Boise State's announced departure to the MWC earlier this summer. I would not have expected other schools to remain loyal to the WAC and not look out for their own interests and I think Utah State is naive for thinking that. Because they chose to remain behind the Aggies are now in a six-team league that is in serious trouble and now may not get BYU to join for basketball either. Sounds a lot worse than the Mountain West, doesn't it?

All this being said, there could still be several things that could still happen in the coming days and weeks that could alter the NCAA landscape. BYU could very will still go independent and be looking to move its basketball and other programs elsewhere. Right now, though, the West Coast Conference looks like a better fit for BYU than the WAC as presently configured. After all, the WCC has national power Gonzaga as well as Sweet 16 entrant from last season Saint Mary's in the league and consists mainly of religious schools. We'll see what happens: the WAC may very well look to the WCC or other places to expand and create a more viable and attractive league for BYU.

Interesting piece in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (that I saw posted on a friend's Facebook page) about TCU as well as BYU and the MWC that I think is an interesting read:

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/08/18/2412369/hold-your-panic-tcu-fans-dominoes.html

I think the article is accurate on a lot of counts, particularly in BYU's self-aggrandizement of itself. It definitely is not on the same level as Notre Dame and has not qualified for the BCS out of the MWC the way Utah and TCU have. I think independence is a tough call and may not be as cut and dried a negative issue as Engel makes it seem, but I do think it would be a risky move. There is little doubt that the proposed move to independence would bring more national exposure on networks such as ESPN as well as more money flowing into the school. However, the competitive aspect may not be as promising. As I've already said, they haven't qualified for the BCS out of the Mountain West and it only stands to reason that qualifying for the BCS as an independent would only be more difficult.

There are benefits to more freedom in scheduling including playing a more national schedule, not having to play teams they don't want to play and being able to play more teams from BCS conferences. However, I think these pros are offset by how difficult the schedule would be and as I noted, they haven't been able to qualify for the BCS out of the MWC. I think there is also something to be said for playing for a conference championship. Winning your conference makes any year sound good, even with a couple of losses. Now with a couple of losses you don't have anything to show for it and are not headed to a BCS game. Of course, BYU may get cold feet and opt to stay in the MWC. My hunch, though is that they will go independent and join the WAC (if they can revamp with other schools -- and that's a big if) or the West Coast Conference for all other sports.

In other sports news, my San Francisco Giants (68-54) got a crucial win over the Philadelphia Phillies (68-52) to pull within one game in the Wild Card race and remain six back of the red hot San Diego Padres (73-47) in the West. It looks like the Wild Card should be the primary focus, at least for now. The Phils are still only 2.5 games back of the Braves (68-52) in the East and could very well make a run at the divisional crown. The Giants now face the Cardinals (65-53) in St. Louis for a weekend series. It's important to take at least two of three as the Cards are also a Wild Card contender (not to mention keeping pace with Philadelphia). I was encouraged by the Giants' performance tonight and I think they will continue to at least stay in the race. I think the rest of the season should be fun.

Elsewhere in baseball, the White Sox (66-55) salvaged the final game against the Twins (70-51) in Minnesota, winning 11-0 after losing a pair of heart breakers. They are now four back in the AL Central after capturing that must-win game tonight. I'm not going to say they are dead yet and I think they still have a hot streak left in them to make the division race a tight one right down to the wire.

BYU looking to go independent

Espn.com reported that BYU is likely to become and independent in football in time for the 2011 football season. The reported move would come on the heels of their rival (and my school) Utah accepting an invitation to join the Pac-10 beginning next season. All of BYU's other sports would reportedly play in the WAC beginning next season.

I tweeted this morning that I thought the move would be more positive than negative for BYU. I've given it some more thought throughout the day and I have had a tough time grasping that as the correct position. I think it could produce a greater strength of schedule and subsequently a higher BCS ranking with a higher chance of playing for the national title. That way they aren't stuck playing lackluster teams like Colorado State, Wyoming and New Mexico every year.

The down side is that they won't be in a conference and won't be able to aim for a conference championship. They also would not have powers TCU and Boise State on the schedule every year in competition for a crown. The BCS might not guarantee BYU an automatic slot the way it does for Notre Dame if it finishes in the top 8. They also might not have the ranking guarantees they would have in the Mountain West Conference in terms of BCS inclusion. You may take this with a grain of salt since it is coming from a Utah fan but if BYU was unable to qualify for the BCS via the Mountain West Conference it would seem to me to be only tougher to gain access with both a tougher schedule and a tougher ranking required for getting into one of the high profile bowl games.

I think going from the Mountain West to the WAC would definitely be a downgrade for BYU's men's basketball program. I don't think there is any question that the MWC is superior to the WAC in both football and basketball. The MWC had four teams (including BYU) make the NCAA Tournament last season with seeds of 3, 7, 8 and 11 while the WAC had two teams make it -- both as 12 seeds. The basketball strength of schedule would take a definite hit, particularly with the defections of Fresno State and Nevada to the Mountain West today and a conference title would not be making as big of a statement. I'm sure it would be fun around these parts to have Utah State and BYU playing in the same league in basketball and I think that would produce some memorable battles. New Mexico State is usually tough as well but with all due respect I don't think those programs are at the same level as UNLV and New Mexico of the MWC.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out over the next few days. I fully expect the move to independent status to be announced soon. It's a definite gamble but there could be some benefits to it as well.

McGrady signs with Pistons, MLB notes

The Detroit Pistons signed Tracy McGrady to a one-year deal and it just seems to me that neither side is going to benefit from this relationship. The Pistons are not a contender and McGrady has a huge ego and appears to have left his best playing days behind him. So I'm skeptical but I suppose I'll still have to stick with rooting for the Pistons (my second favorite NBA team) even though I really don't like McGrady.

As for baseball, the Giants (67-53) lost two of three to the Padres (71-47) this weekend and now trail in the National League West by five games. The Padres just looked like the better team overall as sad as that is for me to say. After dropping the opener to the Phillies (67-51) tonight in Philadelphia tonight, the Giants now trail the Wild Card by one game as well. The Giants absolutely have to win one of the next two in Philadelphia to stay within striking distance in the Wild Card. Tomorrow looks like it could be a win -- I'd take Matt Cain starting over Joe Blanton on any day of the week. I gotta keep my head up about all this as there is a lot of baseball yet to be played and a lot is possible.

Other series to check out going on right now are the Rays (73-46) and the Rangers (67-51) in a match-up of division leaders as well as the Twins (69-50) hosting the White Sox (65-54) in a series that features the top two in the AL Central. The Twins won the opener, so the pressure is on the Sox to get at least one of the last two at Target Field.

Giants drop opener to Padres

Just got through watching the opener of the Giants-Padres series in which San Diego (68-46) beat the Giants (66-51) by a score of 3-2. San Francisco scored two in the first to take an early 2-0 lead but were unable to score afterward. Jonathan Sanchez took the loss after guaranteeing a three game sweep this weekend. I like his confidence and hope he is right about the Giants winning the division at least.

The Padres' bullpen was lights out again tonight. Luke Gregerson, Mike Adams and Heath Bell each pitched a scoreless inning in relief of Mike Richard. Gregerson had hitters looking overmatched in his inning of work and Bell was solid but I thought Adams wasn't that great. Aubrey Huff absolutely crushed a ball that nearly was a two-run home run and a 4-3 lead in the 8th, but it was not to be. There aren't many parks where that ball isn't a home run, but unfortunately tonight AT&T Park was one of them. Huff was really upset after and I don't blame him.

As tough as the loss was tonight, the Giants have to come back tomorrow and get that win behind Madison Bumgarner. We're still only 3.5 games back in the division and with wins the next two days could be just 1.5 back. I still have to think optimistically. Tomorrow's game is at 2 p.m. MT and is available on FOX.

Big weekday series approaching 8/9/2010

There are some big-time baseball series going on this week in baseball that could have an impact on how the races look. Here's the Baseball Weekdays Preview 8/9/2010:

Let's start with the battle for first place in the NL Central with the first place Cincinnati Reds (64-48) hosting the second place St. Louis Cardinals (61-49) for three games starting tonight with the Reds holding a two game lead in the division. Tonight and tomorrow night's games start at 5:10 p.m. MT and Wednesday's game begins at 10:35 a.m. MT. Tonight's game is available on ESPN and espn3.com and all the games are on MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv. The Reds start Mike Leake, Johnny Cueto and Bronson Arroyo and the Cards counter with Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia and Adam Wainwright. So both teams are definitely bringing it with their starting pitchers and that should help make it a great series with Cincinnati's MVP candidate Joey Votto going up against reigning MVP Albert Pujols. I'll take the Reds to win two of three at home and pick up an extra game on their division lead. I still can't get over how well they are pitching this year.

Another big series gets under way in the AL Central tomorrow night with the first place Chicago White Sox (63-48) hosting the second place Minnesota Twins (63-49) for three games with all three starting at 6:10 p.m. MT. The opener is on MLB Network and they are all on MLB EI and mlb.tv. If the Sox lose in Baltimore (37-74) tonight then the division would be all tied up for the series. I think Chicago will win two of three and maintain a narrow lead.

Yet another big series features two American League division leaders as the East leading Yankees (69-41) visit the West leading Texas Rangers (64-47) for two games on Tuesday and Wednesday that both start at 6:05 p.m. MT. Wednesday's game in available on ESPN and espn3.com and both are on MLB EI and mlb.tv. I'll pick the Rangers to win both, especially as they have Cliff Lee pitching on Wednesday and don't have to face CC Sabathia in either game.

Another series of note is a rematch of the last two National League Championship Series when the Los Angeles Dodgers (58-54) visit the Philadelphia Phillies (62-49) for three games all starting at 5:05 p.m. MT Tuesday through Thursday with the finale on MLB Network and all of them on MLB EI and mlb.tv. The Phils have been rolling and I think they'll take two of three.

Also check out my thoughts on Brandon Morrow's dominating pitching performance yesterday just below this space.

Brandon Morrow's dominating performance

Pitcher Brandon Morrow (9-6, 4.45 ERA, 151 SO in 127.1 IP, 1.37 WHIP) of the Toronto Blue Jays (59-52) lost a no-hitter yesterday with two outs in the ninth inning when Tampa Bay Rays (67-44) third baseman Evan Longoria poked a hit just beyond the reach of second baseman Aaron Hill. The defensive play would have been a spectacular one and simply had to be ruled a hit. Hill looked like he did everything he possibly could to come up with the ball and said as much after the game; I don't feel like he should be blamed at all. I feel for Morrow in a big way, I can't imagine how tough it would be to come within inches of a no-hitter and not get it.

Not to be lost in the shuffle, however, was how truly dominating Morrow was yesterday. He struck out 17 batters, walked only 2 and gave up just the 1 hit in a complete game shutout. Bill James has a metric called "Game Score" which measures how dominating a pitcher's performance was based on statistics and Morrow's start yesterday ranked as the 4th best single start by a pitcher since 1920. Really remarkable stuff. "He was putting guys away better than I've ever seen," said Longoria after the game. That's high praise from a player who is fast becoming a superstar in his own right.

Giants lose 3 of 4 to Braves

The Giants (63-49) lost three of four in Atlanta to the Braves (64-47) this weekend. It wasn't a particularly encouraging series to watch as they went 2 for 32 with runners in scoring position. That just isn't good enough and if you do that you're not going to win any games. Fortunately the Giants still hold a half-game Wild Card lead over the Phillies (62-49) who have been tearing it up as of late. I'm hoping the Phils just overtake the Braves in the East so I don't have to have a conflict of interest. The Giants face the Cubs (47-63) for four games this week and anything less than winning three of four will be a disappointment. I think it's realistic to aim for a sweep. The big series is this weekend at home against the first place Padres (63-46) where the Giants could very well have a chance to take over first.

Some thoughts on the series this weekend: The Braves' pitching staff looked pretty good. Their bullpen has a lot of hard throwers with movement on their pitches. That probably had something to do with the Giants not being successful with runners in scoring position. I tweeted that I think Travis Ishikawa should get more playing time and I stand by that. He is hitting for average and plays a solid first base. I'd like to see him get in there more. I do realize that sometimes you have to play the hot hand, so he may not necessarily be an every day player but I think he's earned more playing time.

Giants keep rolling (wahoo!)

My San Francisco Giants (62-45) are playing so well right now. They just swept the hated Los Angeles Dodgers (54-52) and just pounded the Colorado Rockies (55-51) in Denver 10-0 tonight. They've won four straight and 8 of 10. The offense is rocking it as evidenced by Pat Burrell's game winning two run home run in the 8th inning on Saturday and Edgar Renteria's two-run triple Sunday night. The pitching is doing great and the offense just continues to roll.

The Giants acquired right-handed reliever Ramon Ramirez from the Red Sox (61-46) and left-handed reliever Javier Lopez from the Pirates (37-69) in exchange for pitcher Joe Martinez and outfielder John Bowker. I'm really sad to see Bowker, who was the opening day right fielder for the Giants, leave. Bowker was tearing up pitching in Triple-A with a high average and lots of home runs. I think he'll play well for the Pirates and has a lot of potential. It's too bad he hasn't recognized it with the Giants yet. I have to admit that I was initially upset when Andres Torres was getting starts over Bowker this year, but I'm not anymore. Torres is having a great year as a lead-off hitter and is among the league leaders in extra base hits. It's really cool after he spent several years in the minor leagues that he's having such success now. It's a true feel good story and I think he was a big part of why the Giants felt they could include Bowker in the deal for Lopez.

Phillies (58-48) first baseman twisted his ankle on Sunday against the Nationals (47-60) and has been placed on the disabled list. Hopefully he only misses a couple of weeks and the Phils can weather the storm because they won't be making the playoffs without him. They are only two games back of the Braves (60-46) in the NL East right now.

I'm pretty dang excited that the Rays (67-39) have overtaken the Yankees (66-40) for the AL East lead although there is still a lot of baseball to be played. There are some good races out there in pretty much all of the divisions with the exception of the AL West where the Rangers (61-44) have a commanding eight game lead over the Athletics (53-52).

Now on Twitter

Yes it's true. I'm now on Twitter, although I still don't fully know how to use it. But it seems like a cool way to shoot off thoughts on sports so I'm going to try it. And some of my posts will be right here on the feed on my blog. The address to access my Twitter account is:
twitter.com/dpaysports
I tried for derekpaynesports but it was too long so I'm shortening it. I can even text updates to Twitter which will also appear on here so that should enable more frequent (albeit shorter) thoughts. I will of course continue updating my blog itself regularly as well.

Oswalt to Phillies, other trades

The Philadelphia Phillies (56-46) acquired starting pitcher Roy Oswalt from the Houston Astros (42-59) today in exchange for pitcher J.A. Happ and two prospects. Oswalt has been the Astros ace for years and should really give the Phillies a bump in their rotation that also includes Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels. It really just furthers my confidence that the Phils will be in the playoffs. They have already won eight straight as it is and trail the Atlanta Braves (58-43) by 2.5 games. They have really cut into the Braves' lead in the East and I think that the Phils will take the division for the fourth consecutive year.

In other trades that went down today, the Texas Rangers (59-42) acquired infielder Jorge Cantu from the Florida Marlins (51-51) and the San Diego Padres (60-40) acquired Miguel Tejada from the Baltimore Orioles (31-70). Also, the Minnesota Twins (56-46) have just acquired Matt Capps from the Washington Nationals (44-58) to help bolster their bullpen. Cantu should provide Texas with a little extra pop in an already potent lineup and Capps should be good for some late inning relief for the Twins to help them in the AL Central chase. Tejada is a mere shadow of the player who once won the MVP with the Athletics and I don't think his contribution will be too extreme, although I think he could help the Padres to some degree. Yeah it's that time of year, trades are going down all over the place. The Giants (58-45) have yet to make a move, we'll see if they get in on the action before the deadline at 2 p.m. MT on Saturday.

Wilson's orange shoes

Giants closer Brian Wilson has been fined $1,000 for wearing his bright orange cleats that were a gift to him at the All-Star Game in games. The fine comes on the heels of comments from Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez who said the shoes were "too flashy" and that something should be done about them. Major League Baseball told Wilson that his shoes needed to be at least 50 % black, which is the dominant color on the Giants regular home and away jerseys. In order to conform with the rules, Wilson colored in half of each shoe with what he joked were "Nike Air Sharpies" so that they are now half black and half orange. When asked if he could tell if the shoes would indeed be 50% black, he said "I've got pretty good eyes. I think I can eyeball 50 percent."

In response to Rodriguez's complaining, Wilson said "Too flashy. I didn't know that's in the rulebook. Oh it's not in the rulebook. The fact that he thinks these shoes throw 97 to 100 with cut might be a little far fetched. I guess we should have these checked as performance-enhancing shoes." Wilson is hilarious and I agree with what he's saying. Rodriguez should probably focus on worrying about his team and not on an opponent's shoes. The American League didn't complain about them at the All-Star Game. The whole thing is pretty silly to me and I think it's pretty ridiculous that Wilson was fined without a warning for such a minor thing.

Giants rolling, trade deadline approaches

My San Francisco Giants (58-44) have won 13 out of their last 16 games as well as 17 of their last 21. They have been tearing it up lately to say the least. Their pitching has been good for the most part though they did have a rough outing today in coughing up a 9-2 lead to the Marlins (50-51) before winning in extra innings. Rookie Buster Posey now has a 21 game hitting streak and is starting to make a run for Rookie of the Year. He's definitely been the best rookie in July. I believe he leads the Majors in hits this month. The kid looks like he's going to play a big part in carrying the offense for years to come. The Giants conclude their four game home series against the Marlins tomorrow at 1:45 p.m. MT on MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv before taking on the hated Dodgers (54-46) this weekend. The Giants are only 2 games back in the NL West and have a 1.5 game lead in the Wild Card. I can't tell you how much fun it is to watch a team that is playing so well. Every game seems like such an event and something to get excited for.

The Phillies (55-46) have been playing better as of late and really played well in their crucial weekend series against the Rockies (51-50) in earning a four game sweep and have now won 7 in a row as they keep up their winning ways. They trail the Giants by 2.5 games in the Wild Card and the Braves (58-42) by 3.5 in the NL East. I'd really prefer it didn't come down to those two teams, but my preference is definitely the Giants.

The trade deadline is on Saturday and rumors abound. The Dodgers acquired outfielder Scott Podsednik from the Royals (42-59). He'll be helpful, he's a good player, but I'm not extremely worried about him pushing the Dodgers over the top. Dan Haren has moved from the Diamondbacks (37-64) to the Angels (52-52) who hope he can help them catch the Rangers (59-42) in the AL West. Of course the Athletics (51-49) have surpassed the Angels for second place now. The big piece in play is Astros (42-59) ace starting pitcher Roy Oswalt who would like to play for a contending team. It would be cool if the Phillies could land him and use that as a springboard to pass the Braves. I'll be interested to see what happens, but time is running out for a deal to get done. I'll also be interested to see if the Giants can get another hitter before the deadline.

Baseball thoughts from New York

The San Francisco Giants (53-43) took two of three from the Dodgers (51-45) in L.A. earlier this week and looked like an entirely different team from the last time the two teams met. Tuesday's game was a rather unforgettable one, with the Giants showing a lot of heart and coming behind from a 5-1 deficit in the third and eventually taking a 6-5 lead in the 9th and holding on to win by that score. They won the first of four in Phoenix last night against the Diamondbacks (37-59) and now hold a half-game lead over the Reds (53-44) for the Wild Card.

The Phillies (49-46) have struggled since the Break, going 2-6 to this point but somehow are in second place in the NL East, seven games behind the Braves (56-39) and just 3.5 behind the Giants (feels good to refer to the Giants as leaders late in the year) for the Wild Card. It's imperative they start playing better with a four game wraparound series this weekend at home against the Rockies (51-44).

As for me, I'm in New York and will be attending the Kansas City Royals (41-54) at New York Yankees (60-34) game tonight at 7 p.m. ET (5 p.m. MT). I'm pretty excited as it will be my first time in the new Yankee Stadium. Brian Bannister is pitching for the Royals and A.J. Burnett goes for the Yankees in his first start since cutting his hand punching a door last week. The Yankees won the series opener 8-4 last night but I'm hoping the Royals can pull it out tonight despite right fielder David DeJesus (one of their best players) going on the disabled list today with a thumb injury.

Giants robbed; look ahead to Dodgers

At left: Travis Ishikawa clearly beats Henry Blanco's tag for what would have been the winning run but was called out by umpire Phil Cuzzi.

The San Francisco Giants (50-42) lost to the New York Mets (49-43) by a score of 4-3 in ten innings today at AT&T Park. However, the real story of the game was that the Giants by all rights should have won the game in the bottom of the ninth when Travis Ishikawa slid under the tag of Mets catcher Henry Blanco. David Wright fielded Freddy Sanchez's ground ball with one out in a 3-3 game in the ninth and fired a high throw home. Blanco clearly tagged Ishikawa late. It kind of took the wind out of the sails of the Giants who had rallied from 3-1 down at the start of the inning behind Ishikawa's two-run pinch-hit single. Ishikawa and manager Bruce Bochy both argued with home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi but of course to no avail. You can see for yourself in the photo I'm posting that the call was missed.

Cuzzi had a rough day behind the plate and missed several calls including many balls and strikes. It's frustrating to see what should have been a four game sweep taken away, although winning three of four is still a very good start following the All-Star Break. Cuzzi probably should have rung up Mets first baseman Ike Davis on a couple of breaking balls from Brian Wilson on 1-2 and 2-2 counts in the tenth but somehow called those balls. Davis, hitting with two outs, doubled off the bricks in right field to bring in Jason Bay who had singled a batter earlier. It proved to be the winning run.

All this being said, the Giants still had chances to win but Aubrey Huff bounced out to Davis with runners still on first and third following the controversy to end the inning. And in the tenth Eli Whiteside struck out on a 3-2 curve ball from Mets pitcher Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez who ended up throwing 47 pitches on the day over two innings and was responsible for coughing up the two run ninth inning lead. Whiteside was hitting with runners on first and second following Edgar Renteria's two-out double and an intentional walk of Juan Uribe. The Giants showed resiliency in not going down quietly in the ninth or tenth. I like that the team has such great heart.

Ishikawa, Bochy and well pretty much everybody said that Cuzzi missed the call and even Blanco said "He was safe all the way. Everybody was surprised when he called it out." I think it's cool that an opposing player admitted that, but it still sucks that the call was missed. The Giants travel to southern California to face their hated rivals the Dodgers (49-43) for three tomorrow through Wednesday. Coverage of all three games starts at 8 p.m. MT on mlb.tv. I would throw in MLB Extra Innings but for some reason today's Giants-Mets game wasn't on there and I had to bust out my computer to catch it on mlb.tv. Doesn't make sense but most games typically are on Extra Innings and I would think at least two of these three will be.

The Giants need to turn it around on the Dodgers after being swept at home by them recently. Ever the optimist I feel like the Giants should win two of three with Bumgarner, Lincecum and Zito starting, but with the series in Dodger Stadium I would more realistically say the Dodgers will win the series. But go Giants nonetheless. This Dodgers series is important not just for the standings but for the teams psyche after dropping five of the first six this season as well as not playing well against the NL West in general. They have to improve their play within the division from here on out if they want to have good odds of making the playoffs.

One good thing about this weekend was that the Dodgers were swept in St. Louis by the Cardinals (51-41) in four games, including an epic late game meltdown today that really makes me happy. With the Giants winning their series it puts them back ahead of the Dodgers in the West and just a half-game behind the Rockies (50-41) for second place after they lost two of three in Cincinnati (51-42). The Padres (54-37) lead the division by four games and still seem to never lose after sweeping the Diamondbacks (34-58) in San Diego this weekend. But as a Giants fan I'm just focusing on just being a half-game back of the Rockies and Reds for the Wild Card.

Giants playing well

The San Francisco Giants (50-41) have won the first three games of a four game set with the New York Mets (48-43) by scores of 2-0, 1-0 and 8-4. Tim Lincecum went the distance with a complete game shutout on Thursday and Barry Zito threw eight scoreless innings last night. Tonight the Giants offense came alive, sparked by home runs by Andres Torres and Buster Posey as well as another extra base hit for Pablo Sandoval. Matt Cain was solid on the mound as well.

Posey has been tearing it up and going into the game tonight he led MLB in average for July. The kid's fast becoming a star and his opposite field home run to right was something to behold. I don't know when the last time was that I saw a right-handed hitter hit a home run to right field at AT&T Park before tonight. You have to be awfully strong to do that. Hopefully Sandoval's first three games after the All-Star Break are an indication of how strong he will be playing in the second half. If he keeps up the hot streak he's capable of carrying the team and should help make the Giants quite a force to be reckoned with. The fourth game of the series with the Mets is tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. MT and is available on MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv. Johan Santana will be pitching for the Mets and Jonathan Sanchez for the Giants.

The Giants have moved up to second in the National League West and in a dead heat with the Cardinals for the Wild Card lead. This five game win streak and winning 9 of 10 has been refreshing on the heels of that 7 game losing streak. Hopefully the team can keep it up.

National League wins All-Star Game (finally)

The National League beat the American League 3-1 tonight to win the Major League Baseball All-Star Game for the first time since 1996. The win ensures that the National League will have home field advantage in the World Series this year. It's about freaking time the National League wins. So optimistically this means the San Francisco Giants could have home field advantage in the World Series. But that's getting ahead of ourselves.

The big hit came from Braves catcher Brian McCann in the seventh inning. With the American League nursing a 1-0 lead with two outs in the inning, McCann cracked a bases clearing double to put the National League up 3-1 which would end up being the final margin. Not surprisingly, McCann was named MVP of the game. It was a clutch hit and really just helped the NL break the long winless streak. Jonathan Broxton of the Dodgers pitched the ninth to earn the save. He was aided by a terrific play by Cubs right fielder Marlon Byrd who threw out Red Sox DH David Ortiz at second base following a shallow fly ball from Blue Jays C John Buck that landed in front of Byrd. Instead of there being two on and one out, there was one on with two out. That's a big difference and the game ended one batter later.

I enjoyed Byrd and outfielders Michael Bourne of the Astros and Chris Young of the Diamondbacks do a simultaneous jump following the last out being recorded. I like seeing guys look like they enjoy the game; it brings a smile to my face every time. Byrd is fast becoming a favorite of mine because he always seems to have a smile on his face and enjoys playing the game. I saw an interview he did on Sunday and he just seemed ecstatic to be going to the All-Star game. He also smiled a lot in the game tonight and pumped his fist after sliding in just ahead of the throw for the third National League run. So he's a player I'm going to pay more attention to him.

Also in baseball today, longtime New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner passed away this morning at the age of 80. He was a polarizing figure and I have to admit that I didn't really ever like the way he ran things because I didn't (and don't) think it was good for baseball. He tried to buy championships and it tore down the integrity of the game in my opinion because it meant teams weren't on as equal of footing financially. I don't want to delve too much into that right now. Steinbrenner is said to have often been good to his players and to have been good in the community and it's notable that so many people are lamenting his loss. But that still doesn't change the way I feel that he wasn't good for the game overall.

Spain wins first World Cup

At left: Spain celebrates its first World Cup championship.

Spain won the 2010 World Cup yesterday with a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands in Johannesburg, South Africa. Andres Iniesta scored in the 116th minute (in extra time) and it proved to be the winner. It was really a pretty ugly game with a lot of fouls and so forth and the Netherlands strategy has to be questioned. Spain seemed to play the purer form of soccer and appeared to be the better team. So hats off to the Spaniards; it's quite an achievement. I'm not sure they have stopped partying in Madrid and all throughout Spain and who can blame them?

It was quite the World Cup I have to say. There was a lot of drama, such as Ghana missing a game winning penalty kick that would have sent them to the semi-finals and then losing the match in as big of a heart breaker as you can imagine in penalty kicks, and Landon Donovan's late goal against Algeria to send the USA to the knockout stage. South Africa was a great host country if you ask me and the atmosphere was quite festive throughout. It was the first time the World Cup was ever held in Africa and I thought it was just spectacular. Having the Tournament in South Africa brought a unique feel to it that has never been present before and I am glad I was able to watch some of it. Now, we look forward to 2014 in Brazil and hope that the USA can improve then on its Round of 16 appearance this year.

All-Star Game tomorrow; Ortiz wins Derby; MLB thoughts

David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox (51-37) won the Home Run Derby tonight at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, topping Hanley Ramirez of the Florida Marlins (42-46) in the final round by a total of 11 to 5. Ortiz seems like a nice guy and it was cool to see him win. It doesn't mean too much for the second half of the season, but it was fun to see all the players relax and participate and watch the Derby. Many of them had their kids on the field which was also cool. It was a very festive atmosphere and I always enjoy watching it. I liked how Ortiz said it was for the fans, he really seems to get it. He also gave a shout out to former Major League pitcher Jose Lima, who died earlier this year which was cool to see.

The All-Star Game is tomorrow night. Coverage starts at 6 p.m. MT on FOX. It's kind of a big deal in case you haven't heard. Here are the starting line-ups for both teams:

National League:
SS Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins
2B Martin Prado, Atlanta Braves
1B Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
DH Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies
3B David Wright, New York Mets
LF Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
CF Andre Ethier, Los Angeles Dodgers
RF Corey Hart, Milwaukee Brewers
C Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals

SP Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies

American League:
RF Ichiro, Seattle Mariners
SS Derek Jeter, New York Yankees
1B Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
CF Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers
DH Vladimir Guerrero, Texas Rangers
3B Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
C Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
2B Robinson Cano, New York Yankees
LF Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays

SP David Price, Tampa Bay Rays

For the full rosters, check out mlb.com. I'm really stoked for the big game tomorrow and I'm really pulling for a National League victory. It's about time I say.

As for my San Francisco Giants (47-41), I said that if they finished the last seven games of their road trip 5-2 that it would be successful. Well, 6-1 would be considered great. Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey, among others, carried the load for the offense and the pitching was solid during a four game sweep of Milwaukee (40-49) and taking two of three from the Nationals (39-50). I don't think I've ever seen a team play as bad over the course of a series as the Brewers did this week. They just looked awful and it made you wonder how they ever won games. I don't think they are as bad as they looked, although the Giants probably had something to do with that. It was good to go into the break on a positive note after that seven game losing streak and the Giants are right in the midst of the playoff races. Here's a look at the contending teams in the National League West:

W L GB
San Diego Padres 51 37 --
Colorado Rockies 49 39 2
Los Angeles Dodgers 49 39 2
San Francisco Giants 47 41 4

And now the National League Wild Card:

W L GB
Colorado Rockies 49 39 --
Los Angeles Dodgers 49 39 --
New York Mets 48 40 1
Philadelphia Phillies 47 40 1.5
San Francisco Giants 47 41 2
St. Louis Cardinals 47 41 2

So as you can see the Giants are only two back in the Wild Card and four back in the division. So there is definitely perfectly good reason for hope. I'm going to keep the faith alive. As for the Phillies, they had a very big four game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds (49-41) at Citizens Bank Park this weekend after dropping two of three to the Atlanta Braves (52-36). The Braves have opened up a 4 game lead on the Mets and 4.5 on the Phils, but it's hardly insurmountable. And the Phils are only 1 back in the loss column in the Wild Card hunt. They showed a lot of heart in sweeping the Reds in four very close games this weekend after a tough series against Atlanta to stay right in the thick of the race. I still think it will be an upset if they don't at least make the playoffs.

The Chicago White Sox (49-38) have been tearing it up and I'd have to say they are the hottest team in baseball. I think it's been 25 wins in 30 games now and they erased what was about a 9 game division deficit about a month ago to the Twins (46-42) and now the Sox lead the Tigers (48-38) by a half-game in the AL Central at the break. They are riding an 8 game win streak and that has followed closely on the heels of an 11 game win streak. It's too early to say for sure, but there is reason to believe that my preseason pick to win the division will be accurate.

The Texas Rangers (50-38) acquired star pitcher Cliff Lee from the Seattle Mariners (35-53) on Friday and Lee made his Rangers debut last night against the Baltimore Orioles (29-59). The Orioles won the game and swept the four game series in Arlington, but Lee gives the Rangers a legitimate number one starter and makes them the clear cut favorite to win the AL West. With Lee in the rotation and a potent offense, the team even has the potential to do some damage in the playoffs.

James to Heat

LeBron James announced tonight that he will be signing a five year contract with the Miami Heat to play with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in South Beach. The move immediately makes the Heat the favorite to win the Eastern Conference next year, although the Celtics and Magic will still be forces to be reckoned with. It's going to be fun to see these guys play together -- they are going to win a lot of games. I'd be surprised if they didn't win at least one NBA Title during their run together. I'm glad the decision is over with and we can now see where the rest of the free agents are going to go.

It seems like James' heart is still in Cleveland to some extent as he said that in a perfect world he might have been able to stay in Cleveland but he wanted a better chance to win. It's sad to me that places like Cleveland aren't always considered top threats to win and that bigger, more glamorous markets are deemed better opportunities. But such is life in sports I guess. And James is taking a smaller contract than he could have gotten in Cleveland so there is something to be said for that (although he should make up that money with endorsements particularly as he will now be based in Miami).

Boozer on his way to Bulls

More NBA free agent news: PF Carlos Boozer has agreed to a five year deal with the Chicago Bulls for roughly $80 million and will leave the Utah Jazz. Boozer has been great at times with the Jazz, but also inconsistent, oft-injured and frustrating. But his roughly 20 points and 10 rebounds per game will not be easy to replace here in Utah. I'm hoping Paul Millsap is up to the challenge. I'll be interested to see what happens with the Jazz's other free agents. I thought Boozer wasn't guaranteed to stay with the Jazz, but I thought it was likely he would. This is a bit of a surprise, but I think the Jazz will be okay and still competitive.

In other news Ray Allen has re-upped with the Celtics for 2 years and $20 million and Kevin Durant has agreed to a five year, $86 million extension with the Thunder. Allen, along with the also recently re-signed Paul Pierce as well as Kevin Garnett, should keep the Celtics relevant in the East for at least another year or two. The Thunder are becoming an increasingly dangerous team, with Durant evolving into a genuine superstar. I think they will be in the upper half of the Western Conference next season.

It's all set for the World Cup Final on Sunday: it will be Spain vs. the Netherlands at 12:30 p.m. MT on ABC. Neither nation has ever won the World Cup before so we are assured of a first time winner. I'll have more on that as the championship match draws closer.

Wade and Bosh to sign with Heat

Two of the most sought after free agents, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, announced today that they will both be signing with the Miami Heat. Wade has played his entire career in Miami while Bosh is coming over from the Toronto Raptors. The move should help the Heat improve and help them draw closer to championship contenders. I don't know if they will be able to win it all unless they get some other supporting players.

Speaking of other players, LeBron James has yet to announce his decision but word has come out that he will do so tomorrow night at 7 p.m. MT in a one hour special on ESPN. I think he will either stay with the Cleveland Cavaliers or join Wade and Bosh in Miami. I'll be interested to see what he chooses to do. Word was James had been trying to recruit Bosh to join him with the Cavaliers but that Bosh did not want to play in Cleveland. So that shows that James has some desire to remain in Cleveland. I don't know if he'll want to stay unless he knows someone else will be coming also. We'll know tomorrow night. Oh and this from Conan O'Brien's Twitter account: "I don't care where LeBron James ends up... As long as it's not at 11 pm on TBS." Good stuff considering all that's happened in the late night talk show world.

As for the Jazz, there is no news yet on any of their free agents. I think things should start moving one way or another when dominoes start to fall following the James decision.

Division by division midseason looks

Okay, so I'm revising my first half National League MVP pick from Mets third baseman David Wright to Reds first baseman Joey Votto. Votto is hitting .316 with 21 home runs and 59 RBI. His OBP is .419 and his SLG is .595. Wright is still a good candidate and if he keeps ups his pace he could still win the MVP, but Votto's numbers are just slightly better. Also key is that Votto has meant a lot to the Reds, I don't think there is any way they would be first or maybe even second right now without him.

And now I'm set to give a division by division review of roughly the first half of the season and I'll even include the Wild Cards. I would like to take the opportunity now to say that I could still reasonably have gotten all of the postseason teams correct in my preseason picks. They aren't all in position right now, but they're all reasonably close.

AL East:
My preseason pick: Tampa Bay Rays
Current leader: New York Yankees
My thoughts: The Rays (50-33) hit a rough spot but are now just two games back of the Yankees (52-31) and figure to be in the race all year. The Red Sox (49-35) are still in the race also and should make things interesting. I think it'll be a three team race all the way down to the last week or so, just as I thought before the season. These three could very well end up with the three best records in the American League but only two get in. I think the Rays and Yankees will make it and the Red Sox will be on the outside. The Rays seem to be playing with a chip on their shoulders and the Yankees are just really, really tough and don't figure to have any sort of prolonged slumps (though I would like very much to see that happen). I think the Yanks take the division and the Rays the Wild Card.

AL Central:
My preseason pick: Chicago White Sox
Current leader: Detroit Tigers
My thoughts: I said just a few weeks ago that the only one of my preseason picks I wished I'd had back was picking the White Sox (44-38) to win the Central. They were really struggling, particularly on offense, and were well back of the Twins (45-38) and Tigers (45-37). An eleven game win streak and sustained strong play later it turns out I may have been on to something. The Sox are merely one game back of Detroit and have been playing like the team I expected them to be. Starting pitcher Jake Peavy went down tonight with an injury (uncertain of how serious it is), but even so the team really seems to have gelled and I'm going to take them to win the Central. This too will be a tight race into September though, and I suspect all three of these teams will have something to say.

AL West:
My preseason pick: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Current leader: Texas Rangers
My thoughts: The Rangers (49-34) led the division for much of the season last year, but faded down the stretch. They have a 4.5 game lead over the Angels (46-40) right now and I'm going to say the Rangers are going to hold on and win the division this year behind improved pitching and of course the acquisition of former Angels slugger Vladimir Guerrero in the offseason. Guerrero has been outstanding for the Rangers and coupled with Josh Hamilton and others in the lineup, the Rangers offense has been dynamic. They too recently had an 11 game win streak. The Angels just seem to have been scuffling along and not playing great baseball. I think they'll stay within striking distance, but I don't think they have enough for a fourth straight division title. I picked the Seattle Mariners (34-49) to finish second in the division after a promising 2009 season and it turns out they have been one of the biggest disappointments in all of baseball, trailing Texas by 15 games.

AL Wild Card:
My preseason pick: New York Yankees
Current leader: Tampa Bay Rays (Yankees lead East)
My thoughts: You can refer to above in the AL East section. The Wild Card is definitely coming out of the AL East. No team not in first in another division is within five of the Rays.

NL East:
My preseason pick: Philadelphia Phillies
Current leader: Atlanta Braves
My thoughts: I had the Braves (49-35) pegged to make the playoffs and still think they will, I'm just surprised that they have been on top of the division for so long. I think the Phillies' (43-39) experience will help them to ultimately win the division, but it will be closer than I originally thought. A lot depends on if the Phillies can get fully healthy and how much they can stay in the race in the mean time. The Mets (47-37) have been surprisingly solid and they look like they will be making the race interesting in their own right down the stretch. The Marlins (39-43) have been a bit of a disappointment so far and the Nationals (37-47) are still bad, but not as bad, and have Stephen Strasburg.

NL Central:
My preseason pick: St. Louis Cardinals
Current leader: Cincinnati Reds
My thoughts: The Reds (48-37) have to be the biggest surprise in baseball. They've had some great hitters all along, but now their pitching is coming along to match and their consistency has been very unexpected. The Cardinals (45-38) are right there and I don't see them going anywhere. However, I'm going to pick the Reds to win it now, although I picked them fourth in my preseason picks. I didn't expect the Milwaukee Brewers (37-47) to have great pitching, but I expected it to be average enough to keep them relatively close with their great lineup. They've been a disappointment and I honestly only expected a little bit more than this from the Cubs (37-47).

NL West:
My preseason pick: Colorado Rockies
Current leader: San Diego Padres
My thoughts: I picked the Padres (49-34) to finish dead last in the West, but their pitching has been nothing short of outstanding all season long and they have had decent if not great offense with timely hitting. The Padres seem like a tight knit bunch and I think they will win the division now in stark contrast to what I had picked before the season. The Dodgers (45-37) are in second, but I think the Rockies (45-38) will take second and even put some heat on the Padres. The Rockies are notoriously a second-half team and I think this year will be the same. They are already showing signs of heating up. Tonight they came back from six runs down in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Cardinals tonight. I think the Giants (43-40) will be in the mix too, but it's sadly looking like they will take fourth. However, I think all four of these teams will stay in the race and anything can happen, so there is reason to hope for the Orange and Black.

NL Wild Card:
My preseason pick: Atlanta Braves
Current leader: New York Mets (Braves lead East)
My thoughts: The Mets have been good, but I think they will fade just enough down the stretch to not actually win the Wild Card. Since I now have the Padres winning the West, I'm going to take the Rockies with the Wild Card behind a solid second half.

MLB first half awards

I'm really not a fan of either New York team, but it's hard to not select players from each team as the MVPs of the first half of the baseball season. Yankees (50-31) second baseman Robinson Cano has been having an outstanding first half, hitting .343 with 16 home runs and 55 RBIs along with a .396 OBP and a .569 SLG. He's really become a complete player, hitting for speed and power and is a big reason the Yankees are in front in the AL East.

Mets (46-36) third baseman David Wright (.315 BA, 14 HR, 64 RBI, .391 OBP, .541 SLG, 15 SB) has been really stepping up his game this year. He's had the talent, but I don't remember him ever having a season like this. He'd have to be my first half National League MVP. Leading the league in RBIs, plus hitting for average and power as well as having some speed on the bases and being thought of as a good defender at the hot corner.

As for the Cy Young leaders, I'm going to have to go with Josh Johnson (8-3, 1.82 ERA, 115 SO, 0.96 WHIP) of the Marlins (38-43) for the National League and David Price (11-4, 2.42 ERA, 90 SO, 1.20 WHIP) of the Rays (48-33) for the American League. The AL has a tight group including Clay Buchholz (10-4, 2.45 ERA) of the Red Sox (49-33) and Cliff Lee (8-3, 2.34 ERA) of the Mariners (34-47) among others. Price is really becoming a top of the rotation guy, though, and I think is more valuable to his team than the other guys are to theirs. His numbers are very comparable and I think he is ready to become a big game pitcher.

As for the National League, Ubaldo Jimenez (14-1, 2.27 ERA) of the Rockies (44-38) is who everyone is assuming is running away with the award. However, since June got under way, he has been very hittable and is now fourth in the league in ERA. Johnson just hasn't gotten as much hype, but leads the NL in ERA and deserves to be the All Star Game starter. He doesn't have as many wins, but his team hasn't played as well and I'm a big believer that ERA is more indicative of how a pitcher is going than is record.

Rookies of the year for the first half are Tigers (43-37) left fielder Brennan Boesch (.345, 12 HR, 46 RBIs) for the AL and Cardinals (45-37) pitcher Jaime Garcia (8-4, 2.10 ERA) for the NL. Boesch has been having a monster first half and I think it's downright criminal that he isn't on the All Star team. Twins (44-38) broadcaster Bert Blyleven insinuated that Boesch doesn't deserve to be on the All Star team because it's something that's earned over years of solidifying yourself as a player and not over a couple of months in a season. I disagree with that because I think each All Star Game should feature the players who are having the best seasons. That should be the reward, the Hall of Fame can be a reward for a good career. Boesch is having a great rookie season (great for any season really) and deserves to be going to Anaheim.

Garcia is like Boesch in that he doesn't get talked about as much as Jason Heyward of the Braves (48-34) or Ike Davis of the Mets or Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals (36-47). Those guys are all having good years and I particularly was gushing over the hot starts Heyward and Strasburg have gotten off to. However, Strasburg needs to maintain his pace (very possible, by the way) to earn such consideration and Heyward has slumped a bit and been bothered by injuries some, though I still think he is going to be a superstar sooner rather than later. Garcia has a solid record and is second only to Johnson of the Marlins in ERA in the National League. So as far as I'm concerned he's even an early Cy Young candidate. I bet most people don't know that he has a better ERA than Jimenez.

Anyway, these are my first half awards. Of course a lot can change in the second half of a season and I'll give my final awards after the regular season ends.

Giants and Phillies trying to stay in races

The San Francisco Giants (41-40) finally won a game on Saturday night, but still dropped three of four in Denver to the Rockies (44-38). The Giants have now lost eight of their last nine games as well as ten of their last twelve. They are now solidly in fourth place in the National League West, trailing first place San Diego (49-33) by 7 1/2 games.

The Giants are now on the periphery of the race and simply cannot have this type of play continue or they will fall out of the division race altogether. The team has shown some resiliency in the last two games that is encouraging, so I'm hoping that will lead to a solid four games series in Milwaukee (37-45) this week. The first game of that series is tomorrow at 2 p.m. MT.

One thing I'm hopeful about is that the Giants are still only 4 1/2 games behind in the Wild Card race that the New York Mets (46-36) lead. The bad news is they are in sixth place in that race. Hopefully this resiliency they've shown in winning last night despite blowing a six run lead and today where they scored three in the eighth to tie the game before losing in 15 innings will come through.

My second favorite team, the Philadelphia Phillies (42-38) are just ahead of the Giants in the Wild Card race and trail the Mets by three games. They trail division leading Atlanta (48-34) by five games with a big series featuring the two starting tomorrow night at 5 p.m. MT on ESPN. The key for me is the Phils only trail the Mets by two in the loss column and the Braves by four. So they are right in the race. I'm much more optimistic about Philadelphia because they have won the last two National League Pennants and came from behind in September to win the NL East from the Mets. Once Chase Utley and Placido Polanco come of the disabled list, I think they will be playing even better. I think they will be able to hang in the race until then and maybe even do some damage -- even without those players the Phillies are still a dangerous team.

The Giants need to do much better on the last seven games of their current road trip which will take them up to the All Star break. They then have a big series at home against the Mets right after the break that could really push them into the race, or push them out altogether. The key is keeping things relatively close over these next seven. I think they need to go at least 5-2 for me to consider it a success as they are visiting two teams with sub .500 records in Milwaukee and Washington (36-47). I think 4-3 is the more likely scenario, however and I wouldn't even be too surprised at 3-4 the way they have been playing. The Giants are exactly halfway through the season today and as such I'll try and get back on later tonight for a sort of mid-year review of baseball.

NBA musings

At left: The Jazz selected Gordon Hayward from Butler.

The Utah Jazz drafted Gordon Hayward from Butler with the ninth pick in the NBA Draft last week. I was hoping we could get Greg Monroe from Georgetown, but my second favorite team, the Detroit Pistons nabbed him a couple of picks earlier. I don't think there were any can't miss big men on the board at number nine so I'm not really upset that the Jazz didn't get a big man.

Hayward had a monster run with Butler during this year's NCAA Tournament and my dad and I had the privilege of watching him play in person during the Bulldogs' Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight victories over Syracuse and Kansas State. I think he was the best player on the court on either team in both of those games and helped carry Butler to victory. He had an incredible step-back three that really was something to behold.

I just think Hayward has a lot of the intangibles and knows how to win. He's a good player and a good teammate and genuinely cares about basketball and winning. I think he will be a good fit here in Utah. I'm not particularly enamored with the booing that took place at Energy Solutions Arena at the draft day party last week. I think we should be happy to be getting a good player and again I didn't think there were any sure-fire, can't-miss guys that we passed up to get him (I mean it's not like we passed on Monroe, John Wall or Evan Turner).

In case you haven't heard, the NBA Free Agency period is under way and players are now permitted to talk to teams. The big question on everyone's mind is what will happen with LeBron James. Reports are that he has already met with the Nets and Knicks and still plans to meet with the Heat, Bulls, Clippers and Cavaliers. He'll be able to make a lot of money wherever he goes. My bet is he will re-sign with Cleveland but I wouldn't be surprised to see him go and the most likely of those scenarios to me is him going to Miami to team with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. There's a lot of big-name free-agents out there including Dirk Nowitzki (likely to re-sign with Dallas), Amare Stoudemire as well as Carlos Boozer. I think Boozer will be back in Utah but that's far from a guarantee from me.

The World Cup quarterfinals begin tomorrow with Brazil vs. the Netherlands at 8 a.m. MT and Ghana vs. Uruguay at 12:30 p.m. MT with both games on ESPN and espn3.com. On Saturday it's Germany vs. Argentina at 8 a.m. MT and Spain vs. Paraguay at 12:30 p.m. MT with both of those games on ABC. And of course if you own one of those new 3-D televisions you can watch in 3-D. I don't have one so I guess I will "settle" for HD on the games I watch which will be hopefully at least part of three of the four games. The semis are next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Check out below for more pictures including a comparison I make of Dodgers pitcher Vincente Padilla to The Joker.

Bengie Molina traded to Rangers

At left: Bengie Molina has been traded to the Texas Rangers.

Bengie Molina was traded from the Giants to the Texas Rangers (47-30) last night for relief pitcher Chris Ray. It's a really, really sad thing for me to have to see. Molina is one of my favorite Giants players of all-time because he had all the intangibles that make someone a great player and a winning player. He was a great catcher and a good hitter with some pop in his bat, but also a really good teammate. He genuinely seemed to care for his teammates as well as his family and friends and had a sincere desire to win.

He was also a very clutch hitter and was someone I always liked having at the plate in crunch time. I particularly remember a game late in the season last year at AT&T Park against the Arizona Diamondbacks that the Giants absolutely had to have in order to stay in the pennant race. The Diamondbacks led by two in the bottom of the 8th inning with two outs and two runners on for the Giants. Bengie, nursing a sore calf, muscled out a three-run home run to left field. It was one of those very cool baseball moments that I may never forget. He got a curtain call with the crowd chanting "Bengie, Bengie" and it was just awesome. I'm glad I got to see him hit a home run in person during my visit to San Francisco this year. I'm really going to miss having him on the team.

Buster Posey looks like he will be taking over as catcher. I really like Posey and think he is already a good player that will only be getting better. He's a good hitter and I hope he'll be good behind the plate too. I think he'll fill that spot in the lineup well. But that doesn't change that I'm really going to miss Bengie and wish that he would have been able to stick around for at least the rest of the season. Based on his comments, Bengie seems a little upset about being traded and I could really tell that he loves this Giants team and his teammates. I wish him well with the Rangers and think they are fortunate to be getting such a good guy on their team.

Giants have now lost six straight

Pictured: Dodgers pitcher Vincente Padilla reminds me of The Joker.

So the Giants (40-38) were swept by the Dodgers (43-35) after dropping the last two to the Red Sox (47-32) and then lost the opener of their road trip tonight to the Rockies (42-37). So that's now six straight losses by the Giants. I don't know how much more of this I can take. We're falling further behind in the standings every day and are now in fourth place in the National League West. We need to win tomorrow to tie the Rockies in the loss column for third and still only be a few games back of the second place Dodgers. The Giants really need a solid road trip.

As I watching the Giants-Dodgers game yesterday I couldn't help but notice that Dodgers pitcher Vincente Padilla (2-2, 5.05 ERA) looks like the character "The Joker" from the Batman movies. And he is indeed a nemesis to the Giants. Not only did he pitch very well yesterday in helping the Blue Crew complete the sweep, but he also hit Giants center fielder Aaron Rowand (.239 avg, 7 hr, 24 rbi) in the face with a pitch earlier this season in Los Angeles, fracturing a bone in Rowand's cheek and landing him on the disabled list. Rowand has struggled pretty much ever since the injury and has even found substantial time on the bench when healthy, but has really been turning it around at the plate recently and hitting well. Rowand took Padilla deep for a home run to straightaway center field yesterday. It was really cool to see him exact some measure of revenge. I also enjoyed Giants relief pitcher Santiago Casilla (1-2, 2.51 ERA, 2 saves) throw a pitch clearly aimed at hitting Padilla, showing him the Giants haven't forgotten about the Rowand incident. Unfortunately those were about the only things I have enjoyed over the last six games.