San Francisco Giants

With the Giants quickly slipping out of contention, a cloud of grief is rolling into the hills of San Francisco like the city's trademark fog.

After four years of losing records and finishing towards the bottom of the anemic NL West, the Giants emerged as contenders this year when their pitching became, more often than not, good enough to compensate for their abysmal hitting.

But with a 27-27 record since the All-Star Break, the Giants have descended back to relative mediocrity. They've maintained their great pitching, with a team ERA of 3.35 over the past 30 days.

I'll be honest, when the Giants signed Brad Penny on Aug. 31, I wasn't thinking he could recreate what he did the last time he was considered a legitimate major-league pitcher when he first strapped on the orange and black.

Not only was his time in Boston a complete disaster, his 2008 in sunny SoCal wasn't exactly something you want to remember either.

With all the hoopla surrounding the onslaught of the National Football League's Opening Weekend as well as a couple huge college football games, the San Francisco Giants' weekend series with the Los Angeles Dodgers flew almost completely off the radar.

In truth, I don't really have a beef with that—the return of such monsters as well as the renewal of storied college rivalries merit every drop of ink they got.

Here's a nasty little secret:  I love Los Angeles—the sprawling city, not its sports teams.

It's a rough admission because I'm a die-hard San Francisco Giant fan and, as such, there is no team on Planet Earth I hate more than the LA Dodgers. Honestly, if you told me a Bum broke his leg, there would be a nanosecond of glee.

Until you told me the player's name, it would simply be a uniform and one upon which I wish much ill.

Of course, then you have to bring an individual into the situation, trigger human empathy, and ruin the whole neat equation. Oh well.

After going through computer issues while taking in my first month of college life, there wasn't much time for yours truly to bash the man in charge of the "Orange & Black". However, with my computer back and having down time on a Friday afternoon, there are two succinct advantages. First, I no longer have to borrow my roomate's laptop, and second, I now have time to dissect the absurd decisions that Giants manager Bruce Bochy makes on a daily basis.

Never let it be said that my fear of the Baseball Gods' wrath is phobic. Exaggerated perhaps, but certainly not unfounded or illogical.

"As a die-hard San Francisco Giant fan with a long memory pockmarked by devastation, I'm trying not to get too excited. But it's getting harder and harder..."

I wrote those words to end an article about Brad Penny's resplendent debut against the Philadelphia Phillies.

After browsing on the blogosphere, I found this article on the Daily Dish, a SB Nation MLB trade rumors blog.

Basically, in summary, it is suggesting that if the San Francisco Giants are looking for an upgrade in power, they should look in their own backyard and sign Barry Bonds.

It is a very intriguing suggestion.

The Fresno Grizzlies' Web site has confirmed that Buster Posey, a former top pick of the San Francisco Giants, has been promoted to join the team, skipping Double-A Connecticut.

The Fresno Bee is reporting that Posey will be with the team Thursday when they begin a road trip in Colorado Springs.

In his first year at A-level San Jose, Posey hit .326, with 23 doubles and 13 home runs.

Entering the year, it seemed that Giants fans were looking for Matt Cain to take a big step forward and join Tim Lincecum as a second ace in the San Francisco rotation.

With a 10-2 record and 2.38 ERA, Cain looks to have blown his 8-14, 3.76 ERA 2008 season out of the water.

But he hasn't.

Now, I have nothing against Matt Cain; I think he may improve somewhere down the line. I'm just telling you what the numbers are telling me.

You know what the best season of Matt Cain's career has been thus far?

2007.

When he went 7-16.

I'm not kidding.

After witnessing one of the oddest sights in all of sports in 2002—a baseball game ending in a tie—MLB Commissioner Bud Selig elected to make a change to the "Mid-Summer Classic."

From 2003 onward, the winning league in the MLB All-Star Game would get home-field advantage for their World Series representative come October.

However, the decision to award home-field advantage to the victor of the ASG has been met mostly with criticism.