Arizona Sports

The midsummer classic will be coming to the Valley of the Sun for the first time in 2011.  With Bud Selig in attendance, Diamondbacks play by play man Daron Sutton made the announcement aired on the MLB network Saturday.

The Diamondbacks have been attempting to host the All Star game since being granted a Major League franchise in 1995.  The D-Backs began Major League competition in 1998 and Chase Field has been their home ever since.  It was the first retractable dome stadium with natural grass.

The San Diego Padres wasted no time getting their offense going against Giants' left-hander Barry Zito, scoring three runs in the home half of the first inning, including an RBI double from right-fielder Brian Giles and an RBI single from third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff.

Zito would only last four innings, giving up four runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out four as the Padres outlasted the Giants, and a 51-minute rain delay, for a 7-3 win at Petco Park.

As the Tribe officially moves out of their home away from home in Goodyear and on to two meaningless paid exhibition games with the Houston Astros, it is time to take a look back on the long adventure that was Cleveland Indians spring training.

With the second installment of the WBC this season, the Cactus League was extended by two weeks and many, many games. The pitchers "got their work in." The position players "took it a day at a time." And manager Eric Wedge used countless other analogies to describe baseball games in March that don't count.

I have to say, I really do not see a lot of teams competing for the National League Championship this year.  Many of these teams look good, but I cannot see them going deep in the playoffs.

Starting with the west, you have teams with very good pitching.  The Diamondbacks have a great one-two punch with Brandon Webb and Dan Harren.  After them, it gets shaky.  A lot of these starters really don't make batters nervous.  

There are certain iconic phrases and images whose mere mention will produce galvanized memories among most. 

The line "I'll be back" makes us all think of Arnold Schwarzenegger in "The Terminator."  The phrase "Do you believe in miracles?" is forever screamed in Al Michael's excited register and in reference to the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team. 

Unless you have lived in a cave since the late 1990s, the image of a bloody sock makes you think of Curt Schilling.

Today, Schilling announced his retirement. 

Filed:March 12th, 2009

Kosuke Fukudome (Cubbie Nation/File)

Manager Lou Piniella continued the Cubs' strong commitment to Kosuke Fukudome this week, by announcing that all is well, and Kosuke should expect to hit second in the lineup to start the season for Chicago.