Tim McG

And how.

Could you send some of that our way? 97 and muggy here. Ack.

"George Steinbrenner who famously dubbed him the 'fat toad.'” What an asshole. I'm with you, Jim.

I dunno. I'd be willing to find out

He could be blowing smoke (or deeply inhaling some), but Mets manager Collins claims Beltran can play CF. I guess it wouldn't take too many games to see if that's more adventure than a club wants or not. Maybe he can do so adequately. Bochy is putting Beltran in RF and moving Sheirholtz to LF. His arthritic knees would prevent him from playing in CF. Besides, CF belongs to Rowand and Torres.

GoodGrief would be a better handle I think. Only if that was the name of my small business. But it does have a nice Charlie Brown ring to it.

Baseball is like watching grass grow on TV. I'll stick with Football. I can see your point....baseball does require thinking.

And we'll also wait to see if Giant fans lasting memory of Beltran is of a bat left on the shoulder. Cheap shot at Met fans? Interesting thing I saw somewhere this morning - basically pointed out that measured by OPS, the corner outfield spots are the bright-spots for the Giants offense , so how much of an upgrade exactly is Beltran? Surrounded by 7 guys with OPS below .700, its not like he's going to do a lot of damage suddenly, or make a huge difference over the other guys who've played RF. Fair enough. But with Freddy Sanchez and Buster Posey out, Beltran does bring some badly needed offense to an otherwise mediocre group of hitters. Perhaps Beltran's hitting prowess will rub off on the other guys and help them elevate their game. I know with Posey and Sanchez in the line-up [or when Huff and Sandoval are hitting] the other guys tended to step up. Bottom line? The Giants needed to do something to spark some offense.

Carlos Beltran is traded to the Giants for a minor league pitcher, Zack Wheeler. Beltran to Giants On the one hand, I like the idea of getting some pop back into the line-up. OTOH, Beltran will go to free agency at the end of this season. In short, a "rental player" for hire. So, we wait and see if this works out for us.

It's the pitching. The Giants don't score many runs but they don't give up many either. So far as I know the team leads the Majors in one run wins. Giants win again, 2-1, over the Phillies!

It's the pitching. The Giants don't score many runs but they don't give up many either. So far as I know the team leads the Majors in one run wins.

For the same reason all baseball parks are not the same in dimension and why there is not time limit on games. It is what it is. God Bless baseball!

St. Petersburgh, to be accurate, & the Rangers were rumored to have been right on the edge of becoming tenants as well. The bottom line is Noj is distraught and rightly so, but there are FAR worse things.

To be fair, Noj....we Giants fans felt the same way when Lurie was killing the Giants in an effort to get a buyer to take them out of San Francisco. They almost had the team in that monstrosity of a stadium in Tampa. This, too, shall pass.

And that is what the rivalry is all about.

Don't discount the value of a healthy & especially historic enemy in sports. For now you might relish the thought of the Dodgers in the cellar for years to come, but will will Western titles really be as satisfying if LA stinks? Oh I'm sure they will at first, but unless you're a sadist eventually you might strangely find yourself missing the old hated competitor. Plus it will make failure to win the division all the more painful, losing out the new teams of AZ, CO & SD. Yeah, I still consider the Padres to be a newcomer. Good point. However, the team's W-L records have never mattered. The Giants vs. Dodgers rivalry is as heated now as it has ever been regardless of who's in first; always a battle to beat the Dodgers and for them the Giants. Ask a Red Sox fan if they would care about the Yankees if they were in the same position as the Dodgers. Or a Cubbies fan about the Cards. I'm willing to bet the ranch they would feel the same as I do. Personally, I would like nothing more than to see the Dodgers suck wind from now until eternity. Winning the NL West will be a prize worth having in spite of the teams involved. Trust me on this one. And don't count out the Padres, D'backs or Rockies just yet. All three have the potential to make a strong comeback. BTW, I have a conference to attend in San Diego in a couple weeks so, my son and I are going to a Padres vs. Dodgers game....just to boo the Dodgers

Giants beat the hated Dodgers again! And where I guess I should feel bad for the team's demise [yeah, that'll happen] Mark Purdy wrote a good column in the San Jose Mercury News: Giants fans need to root for the Dodgers To which I replied: Mark, Where I fully appreciate the concern for baseball, I am at a loss as to why we Giants fans should give two hoots and a holler about the hated Dodgers. Has the 2010 WS win caused you to already forget the heated history of this rivalry? We have suffered long and mightily under the weight of Dodger arrogance in the form of constant verbal derision such as over 50 years of, "The Giants have never won a World Series in California". How about the Eric Gag-me flip the finger at the crowd years when the Dodgers just owned us? Try listening to overly tattooed and drunken Dodger fans gloat over yet another win and in San Francisco or the heartache of being prevented entry into the post season even after winning over 100 games by the stinking Dodgers. Have you already forgotten the 1960s, 70s and 80s wherein the Dodgers won NL pennants while we Giants fans just watched? And don't even get me started on old pasta belly; Tommy Lasorda. Yet you expect us to root for the Dodgers...? Have you lost your mind? It is simply not in me to root for anything other than a total destruction of a team and its fan base which has been the proverbial thorn in the Giants' side for decades. It is my fervent hope that they are the doormat to the league for at least as long as the Giants were and more. Pssh. Root for a team and fan base which would stop at nothing to laugh in our collective faces? No sir! Not this Giants fan or legions more just like me. Not now, not ever. I'll say it loud and I'll say it proud: Death to Dodger Blue and all those who sail in her....or words to that effect. Signed: Dodger hater since birth.

The railing did not cause the death. The railing meets/exceeds all current codes. The gap between the rail and the scoreboard has been covered. Hopefully a permanent fix is in the works. Frankly, I'm amazed that the gap existed, much less that it's been this long until somebody fell into it. People still want those seats. They were packed last night and they were packed today, and will always be packed. Fans want to sit there, for obvious reasons. Between that tarp as an immediate reminder and memory as a lasting one, any fan who now makes a big lean over that rail automatically wins a Darwin Award, irregardless of outcome. The notion that "the Rangers" should "do something" beyond what they have done is a laugher. What's needed is a comprehensive review of all sports facilities, because I guarantee you, there's some pretty "proceed at your own risk" venues nationwide. Add alcohol and people going to the game viewing it as nothing more than a "social event", thinking that they're invincible just because, the fact that there have been so few deaths nationwide is indeed a miracle. Sitting in an elevated seat right next to a rail is not without its own unique responsibilities. And sometimes, as with Mr. Stone, shit just happens. If Mr. Stone's death really is solely the fault of unsafe stadium design, then there is a nation full of sports venues that should be classified as death traps just waiting to happen. They should all have their front row, potentially high-risk seats blocked off until corrective actions can be taken. Until then, a random, truly tragic accident occurred. Nothing more, and nothing less. Asking what "the Rangers" "are doing" (behind the scenes, for the Stone family, quite a bit, I'm told) strikes me as trivial, disrespectful, and more than a little clueless. With all due respect, I don't think anyone here is saying the Rangers or the stadium owners/builders are at fault at all. The concern went to Cooper Stone losing a father [shannon Stone] and to the emotional health of Josh Hamilton [a former addict]. Surely you can understand the depth of feeling for those of us here regarding a 6 year-old kid who lost his Dad, can't you? Culpability and/or tort liability never entered the equation until you brought it up. C'mon, Man...see it for what it is: A tragedy.

Why so touchy, Jim?

That's a fact, too. You just never know when your time is up on this Earth. Well put. I'm sure the ballpark is a refuge - but isn't the greater challenge after the game, and when he closes his eyes at night? It sounds like he is OK but I wouldn't make the conclusion off of him hitting a walk-off homer. Exactly, Dan. The article I read also included an interview with Hamilton. He was up all night with his wife and kids talking it out...and it still bothers him when he tosses a ball up into the stands. Then he hit a fan the next night with a foul ball; he needed stiches. Nope, this one is going to take a while.

Just got back from the Bay Area after taking in a little golf and a Giants game with my son. Zito won a nail biter 2-1 over the Padres. High fives all around. A fun day. The next day we were in the North Bay playing golf. He beat me by 10 strokes. It was a great two days together. I remember taking my son to his first game at the old Candlestick Park when he was just 5 years-old. All he wanted to do was ride on his Daddy's shoulders and walk the parameter of the stadium. So that's what we did. I don't think I saw three innings of the game, but what a great day at the ballpark. When ATT [then Pacific Bell] Park opened he wanted to ride the slide behind left field. It was about time to leave the stadium to catch the BART back home and the line was a mile long. So we just watched. Another great day at the ballpark, however bittersweet. He's 21 now and a strong young man I still take to the game. In this morning's paper, I read in horror as another man's son was screaming for his father as he fell to his death from the upper deck in Ranger Stadium. And for the first time in months, I cried like a baby. All he wanted was a souvenir ball for his 6 year-old son. All he wanted for his son was to "catch" a baseball and keep it in his brand new mit. Now it's all gone. Suddenly, that day I disappointed my son by not letting him slide on that big glove at ATT is put into perspective. I think any man who has taken his son to the ballpark knows Shannon and Cooper Stone better than anybody. Such a simple act to take a son to a baseball game with too tragic an ending. Still, when I look at that big glove in left field...I wish I had it to do all over again and say "yes". This morning, I learned of a young boy's broken heart and the loss of a father who obviously loved him so very much. Thankfully, I'm still here for my son, he will not. And my heart just bleeds for that boy.

I'm with you, Jon.

Jane Velez-Mitchell is a close second.

Now who recorded that song? I know I have a version by a female singer, but can't find it ... The Chairman of the Board- Frank Sinatra

True dat.