Baseball

Let's just be honest, nobody around baseball figured Jonathan Sanchez would be the first San Francisco Giant to throw a no-hitter since 1976.

If anyone was willing to venture a guess, the most likely Giant would be either Tim Lincecum or perhaps Matt Cain. Even double-A prospects Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson were more likely to throw a no-hitter than Jonathan Sanchez.

Gotta love the picture

At this time during the baseball season things are beginning to wind down before the All-Star break. The selections have largely been announced, and every team gets a much needed break, while a majority of the players get some time to ease off the tension and relax.

It can't get worse, can it?

Padre management keeps telling the fans that all is well, and the plan is proceeding, and we should all pony up our cash, to watch this great team take its place in the annals of history. Right, and American Idol will give us the next Led Zeppelin.

We obviously have seen just the beginning of the wheeling and dealing to commence before the trade deadline. 

One day after dealing Yuniesky Betancourt for a pair of minor leaguers the Mariners have struck again nabbing 3B Jack Hannahan from the Oakland Athletics for Double-A pitcher Justin Souza. 

We still have 20 full days until the trade deadline, and still have all of our trade chips intact like Jarrod Washburn, and Miguel Batista, both will be subject to plenty of Hot Stove rumors. 

As a Cubs, fan it was a lot of fun putting together my list of The Chicago Cubs 20 Best Transactions Since 1990. However, it is only fair that I follow that up with the 20 Worst.

While none of these moves hold a candle to the Aramis Ramirez trade in terms of significance, there have nonetheless been some truly awful decisions made in the recent history of the franchise.

The biggest surprise here for many will be number three on this list, as I'm not sure aa whole lot of people know about that one.

My reaction to yesterday's Yuniesky Betancourt trade was pretty similar to the reaction most people had.

"Wow, Dayton Moore is a terrible GM. Thank God I'm not a Royals fan."

There are just so many things wrong with the trade.

The first error in judgment, the one most often pointed out by others, is that Betancourt is a bad player offensively and defensively. He's just another bad shortstop to add to Willie Bloomquist and Tony Pena Jr. While he may be an upgrade, he's certainly not a starter. He may not even be a big-league-caliber player at this point.

The no-hitter Friday night by San Francisco Giants hurler Jonathan Sanchez is a reminder that one of baseball’s most hallowed accomplishments is not just reserved for pitchers with lofty career statistics. Instead, for one night anyone (even a pitcher with a 16-26 career record) can look like a Hall of Famer and stamp himself a place in baseball immortality.

No-hitters have a special place in baseball lore because, while there are other accomplishments that occur with less frequency, a no-hitter is one feat that can seemingly come out of nowhere.

1. Is Brian Matusz' 2009 performance more impressive than Matt Wieters' of 2008?

Lawrence Barreca: In some ways yes, and in other ways no. Both have taken the same sort of route, hitting Frederick and Bowie along the way, and both had similar results.

You knew it was going to be a different type of an All-Star game when Dock Ellis served up a dandy for the sports writers in the days leading up to the contest.

“Ain’t no way,” Ellis, who was black, told reporters, “they gonna start two brothers against each other in the All-Star game.”