An unnamed source inside major league baseball has disclosed the plan of the 28 “other teams” to take next weekend off.

“After all, no one is paying attention to anyone but the Yankees/Red Sox games. It’s a long season, and we just kind of figured, ‘what’s the point?’ Any opportunity to get a few days off and heal a bit is welcome.”

Plans are still being discussed as to what exact on-field activities will take place.

“We’re currently negotiating with Fathead for some sort of stand up character we can set at each position. That should take care of the media…most of them will only look up from watching THE game to check the score every couple of innings or so. The fans will be trickier. Maybe some sort of wheels on the stand ups? We’re still looking into the possibilities.”

As for the die hard fans who actual WATCH one of the “other” teams, MLB is considering giving them a rain check/golf pass, good for one free round of golf at the local course of their choice.

“Maybe some golf balls with their team logo on it would be good. There are lots of things we might try. And keep in mind, this is on a trial basis. We’ll try it and gauge the reaction. If it’s positive, we may try this during each series the Yankees/Red Sox play.”

When asked his opinion on the matter, Roger Clemens replied, “More days off? Hmmm…the Astros are looking like a better deal all the time.”

PART ONE

One week ago, the Giants appeared to be on the verge of being the first team eliminated from playoff contention.

Barry Zito and Matt Cain were both winless, the Giants were floundering at the bottom of a weak division at 3-7, and the team appeared headed nowhere fast.

Fast forward to today.

While Cain is still winless, Zito has picked up his second win, Barry Bonds is crushing homers at a regular pace, and most importantly, the Giants are riding a five game win steak, and have pushed above the .500 mark.

I'm more than happy to see the Gigantes coming around. Most experts predicted the Giants to have a poor season, but I was more optimistic. Hopefully this turnaround is a sign of better things to come for the boys by the bay.

I would certainly liked to have seen more of the Giants, however. Due to a screw up at my cable company, the games were not available on Extra Innings until Wednesday. Seems they had already allotted the channels to...get this...hockey playoffs. Hockey??? There are few things I'd rather see than a hockey game. Okay, maybe a soccer game. Or Nascar. But beyond that, there isn't much. Saturday, I cringed when I saw the start time...1:00 p.m. Pacific. I knew that the Fox Channel would only be showing the Yankees/Red Sox game, because, after all, those are the only baseball teams that exist. (more about the Red Sox later). For some unkown reason, the Sunday game wasn't carried on Extra Innings, either. That being said...I STILL am glad to have the Extra Innings option...because MLB.TV, quite frankly, bites the big one.

PART TWO

A week ago, even though they hadn't played many games due to weather, the Seattle Mariners looked, surprisingly to me at least, respectable.

One week later...oh my lord, what has happened?

Well, let's start with the starting pitching.

My apologies for the above formatting issues, but the gist is this: Mariner starting pitching sucks. The injury to Hernandez is indeed unfortunate, and Washburn was at least semi-respectable, but the newcomers? Well, they're just not getting the job done. And I can't say I'm surprised, in spite of what the illustrious Mr. Bavasi wanted us to believe before the season started.

In our latest "Meet the Mariners" segment, we asked Mr. Bavasi, "what did you do before you went into baseball?"

Okay...that explains a lot.

In the series against the Angels, Richie Sexson is 0-11. But in all fairness...will SOMEONE please explain to the umpires that when you are 6' 8", your knees are higher than most other players, and what is above the knees to David Eckstein may not be a strike to Richie? It gets old watching him get called out on strikes that are clearly out of HIS strike zone.

IN OTHER NEWS:

I fully expected to see Santa Claus throw out the first pitch in this game.

I guess what it does show is that Dan "Action Dan" Harrington has been ahead of his time all these years:

One final thought: My wife verbalized something yesterday that I had been thinking. She said, "What is with A-Rod and all these homers? Is he on something?" She said it tongue in cheek, but it was a valid point. If Barry Bonds was on a tear like A-Rods (which I will grudgingly agree is nothing short of phenomenal), everyone would be pointing fingers and blaming 'roids, even though testing would have busted him long ago. But with A-Rod, everything is clean right???

Have a great and wonderful week, all!

This is the first time in MANY years that I haven't had a team (Giants or Mariners) still involved in a division or wild card race by mid-August. (Yes, I know, they're not mathmatically eliminated yet, but they may as well be). Some years I've been lucky enough to have two teams headed for possible playoffs. So...what do I do now?

 What this will probably do is give me a chance to pay attention to some of the other interesting parts of this baseball season. I tend to put on blinders, and I'm sure I miss some great stories. So, now is my chance!

1)  American League Central/Wild Card Race.  I do believe the Tigers are for real...I don't see them fading before playoff time. What does get interesting is the White Sox/Tigers chase. I don't anticipate them catching the Tigers, but I do think they (plus perhaps the Red Sox, but I doubt it) will make for an interesting Wild Card chase. I would give the edge to the Twins...except for the fact that they may have lost their young phenom pitcher (no, not Santana...the REALLY young one!), perhaps for the season.

2) National League Central/Wild Card Race. Just when you thought the Cardinals had it all wrapped up...the scary thing is, they can have a very cold streak and STILL have a lead. I have a gut feeling they'll still win the division...but Cincinnati (yes, Cincinnati!) is certainly making it interesting. I realize there are many other players in the Wild Card race, but I'm pulling for the Reds for a couple of reasons. One, because no one expected them to do a thing this year. After all the Cardinals/Astros hype, to see the Reds doing well (and ahead of the Astros) is pretty cool. Two, Rich Aurilia was one of my favorite Giants a few years back. I like to see him on a winning team (and did you know his wife is a total babe????).

3) The adversity of A-Rod. I know, they'll probably end up in the playoffs, he'll come through in a clutch situation, yadda yadda...but in the meantime, it's nice to see Mr. Golden Boy having to deal with some trials and tribulations. No Gold Glove for him this year...anyone for Adrian Beltre?

4) The phenomenal year of David Ortiz. The guy is amazing...what more can I say?

5) The stolen base titles in each league. Why? Because my fantasy league team sucks...and I am woefully short on stolen bases. I need to remember these folks for next year's draft.

6) The Pittsburgh Pirates. Why? Because I think they should be better than what their record indicates. There is some incredible young talent...Jason Bay (who played his college ball here in Spokane), Freddy Sanchez, Jack Wilson...that I think will bloom into something special given the right chance and proper leadership. I think a managerial change would be in order first, however. Not that Jim Tracy has an abundance of talent, but look at how the Dodgers perennially underacheived with him at the helm.

So, I guess there are some things to follow even with my teams out of contention. Of course, it will also be interesting to see what direction they will be going in preparations for next year. I suspect that the Giants will look DRASTICALLY different...and the Mariners lineup and bullpen will look familiar, but several new players in the rotation.

Saxman