San Francisco Giants

For every Phil Mickelson Masters moment that fuels our optimism and confirms that the sporting fates have a firm sense of morality, there are at least as many examples of the contrary. Episodes where Lady Luck jilts the White Knight, and instead shacks up with the leather-clad Lothario that plays by nobody's rules.

Not even his own.

(Bonus points if you recognize that bit of hybrid pilferage).

Case in point of this latter blight would be the San Francisco Giants' three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers that just concluded on Sunday.

There are two really, really scary plays in baseball. The first being when a batter hits a line drive at the pitchers head and the second being when a pitcher hits a batter in the head with a fastball.

The later happened when Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Vicente Padilla drilled San Francisco Giants center fielder Aaron Rowand in the head in the fifth inning of their game Friday night. The pitch resulted in Rowand suffering a minor concussion and two small fractures in his left cheekbone.

Let's get it out there right up front—there is very little one can do to sugar-coat a San Francisco Giants loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers sealed by a Manny Ramirez pinch-hit, two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Especially when you consider Major League Baseball's most tiresome clown conspired with a hanging slider from Sergio Romo (in a 1-2 count no less) to deliver the rubber match and series to his fellow Bums.

Nope, that's one of those moments you simply have to wear as a baseball fan.

What's not to like about Eugenio Velez? He's got speed, power and likely, ADD. His attention span can be short on the field but his athletic abilities are superior to those of his teammates - Bowker, Torres, Schierholtz - who would also like to have more playing time. And who amongst the Giants starters will get even with Padilla? I vote for Jonathan Sanchez.

Begin Slideshow

Dear Passionate Baseball Fans,

Okay. I'm going to say this point blank: Barry Bonds is the biggest cheater there ever was.

There you go.

Let's rewind.

Early in his career, Bonds was great. The skinny guy was ripping homers and stealing bases like crazy. He was one of the greatest in the game.

But has he came to San Francisco, he bulked up. As said in the book Game of Shadows, it prompted the question: "What the hell have you been doing?"

Steroids.

Drugs. Performance-enhancing drugs. That's what.

San Francisco Giant uniforms do not like Los Angeles Dodger uniforms and vice versa. However, the hatred is only cotton-deep. Put the ballplayer in street clothes, stick 'em in a room, and most of the exchanges would be cordial.

There are so many transactions and trades that need to happen this season right now and before the July 31st Trade Deadline. Many of these trades and moves will all put the teams on top and become even better than they are and will cause them to pretty much guarantee to make the playoffs. Of course not all of these transactions will happen, and in fact most of them won't happen, but these are moves that should in fact be made and if made, then those teams would be put on top and be even better.

The baseball season is 162 games long, so some losses just have to be written off and filed away in a folder tagged "Stuff Happens."

The San Francisco Giants' 6-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday wasn't one of those games. Manager Bruce Bochy and his willingness to go by the book cost the Giants the game.

Being that I live in Los Angeles now, I've only been able to catch the highlights of the Giants' wins on MLB.com the day after the game or catch the game on MLB.com's virtual game thingy.

Imagine my thrill last night when I dropped into a sushi restaurant that actually had the game on in the bottom of the third.

It immediately made me remember there's a God who loves me and wants me to be happy.  ;-)

Then Mark DeRosa hits into a double play.

The Giants of the last two or three years would have been deflated.

Every single year we are amazed at how fast the first week goes, but that's part of the beauty of baseball.

It’s way too early to care about league leaders and standout performances, but there's no shame in looking, is there?

Here are the top story lines from each team during the first week of the 2010 season.