Opinion

Nothing infuriates a fan base more than watching a young player—formerly a prospect within their team’s system—blossom into stardom in another uniform.

One would tend to think that when rooting for a team like the New York Yankees, this mindset would apply much less frequently—as they often demand a prospect fire sale to bring in the latest available superstar on the market.

The San Francisco Giants will rely on strong starting pitching, a struggling Padres team, and an easy September schedule to overtake the San Diego Padres and win the 2010 National League West.

The Schedule:

The Giants are currently three games back of the Padres with 28 games to play. 12 of the remaining games are against teams with sub .500 records, and another seven of those games are against the division leading Padres. The other games are against the struggling Cubs and the hated Dodgers.

Everyone likes a good ole-fashioned baseball brawl.

Fighting in baseball dates back to the '30s, when Bill Dickey broke Carl Reynolds’ jaw after Reynolds collided with Dickey at home plate.

Jeff Francoeur certainly has his free-swinging ways.

The radar-gun indicated a wicked, nasty fastball, akin to a 100 mph car pursuit on the 5 Freeway to commute from Santa Monica to Orange County.

That is, only if you are a local resident and pay your property taxes here in Southern California.

But in another town, such as Cincinnati, the speed and heat is relevant to the Reds’ hitless reliever Aroldis Chapman, a flame throwing Cuban star on the rise when Cincinnati is contending for a postseason berth.

It may be all over except for the crying.

With eight innings of one-hit ball on Thursday afternoon against the Oakland Athletics, C.C. Sabathia has become the front-runner for the AL Cy Young Award, and he may have even clinched it.

Why?

Well, I'll tell ya.  C.C. Sabathia will be the 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner because . . . 

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Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips complimented the Cardinals before our last series, saying they were a fun team, akin to playing with your female dog. He was wrong.

The St. Louis Cardinals are sissies.

The Florida Marlins and the Washington Nationals engaged in a pretty ugly melee on Wednesday night, and the more I read about the events as they transpired the more I am beginning to think that something isn't right.

Inconsistent.

To sum up the Chicago Cubs of 2010 in one word, that word is the clear choice. Until a seven-game skid from late July into early August, the team had not won or lost more than four games in a row all season. They have played 31 games decided by six or more runs, going 11-20. In their 47 one-run games, they are 17-30.

It is somewhat unfair, however, and certainly not constructive, to simply dismiss Chicago as having had a bad team. That is not the case.

When Nyjer Morgan was hit in the hip by a fourth inning Chris Volstad fastball in last night's game, it was payback for Morgan running over Florida catcher Brett Hayes a night earlier. Late in the game a full-fledged brawl erupted when Morgan was thrown at again.