Baseball

It is clear the National League is behind the American League when it comes to overall power and hitting numbers, but they equal the playing field because they have better pitching and defense, both of which are major concerns for Cincinnati.

The Reds have proven at times this year that your pitching does not have to be spectacular to win games (although it helps), but you can't win games when you give opposing teams additional opportunities.

It had been 11 days since Tim Lincecum toed the rubber for the beloved orange and black.

Those 11 long days have seen the San Francisco Giants get back into, fall out of, and now kind of get back into the National League Wild Card race with the Colorado Rockies.

So with the Rockies opening a three-game set in San Francisco on Monday, it only made sense that Lincecum made his triumphant return to the Giants' rotation after his back spasms caused Madison Bumgarner to make a unexpected debut.

In Tuesday's edition of the Chicago Tribune, Paul Sullivan has an extended piece on the Cubs' 2-0 victory over the Brewers Monday, and their upcoming game against Milwaukee.

The starter in tonight's second game of a four-game set is Carlos Zambrano, the Cubs' erstwhile ace, whose attitude, maturity, work ethic, and general competence have come under question more than once over the last three years.

We recognize as the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week one of the key pitchers for the Baltimore Orioles during their championship run of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Sometimes timing is everything. After toiling away in the minors and on primarily losing teams for a decade, a seemingly insignificant trade following the 1968 season proved to be all that Mike Cuellar needed to become one of the top pitchers in baseball.

The Mets have a lot to work on this coming off season, and like most winters, transactions should be a constant priority.

Here is my list of what I think are the most pressing items for management to consider:

1)  Do not issue long term, high dollar contracts to any player.  In this time of financial difficulty, no player is worth acquiring if that goes with the demand of being locked in for a long term deal.

Things can hardly seem to go right for the Minnesota Twins lately. For every win over Roy Halladay, there’s a near sweep at the hands of the punchless A’s. Often, when things finally seem to be headed in the right direction, the Twins either find themselves no better for their effort because the Tigers, too, have improved, or soon find their good fortunes have faded away.

So it was on Monday.

Like most fans out there, I was completely fine with the Vicente Padilla deal. He cost the prorated league minimum and has pitched well thus far.

At the end of play on October 2, 1980, the Houston Astros led the Los Angeles Dodgers by three games, with three games left to play for each team.

The teams would face off at Dodger Stadium for what promised to be a dramatic series. All Houston had to do was win one game. They didn't.