RealClearSports: Halladay Outduels Struggling Lincecum

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By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

SAN FRANCISCO — He gave up five runs, yet his ERA fell. Not much. It still is embarrassingly high, 10.54, but maybe Tim Lincecum has regained some of that edge with the slider and some of that swagger in his manner.

The possibility was enticing. Lincecum, the San Francisco Giants' two-time Cy Young Award winner, against Roy Halladay of the Phillies, also twice a winner of the Cy Young, if once in the American League.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2012

RealClearSports: Remembering Robinson's Number - and Skill

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By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

The number, 42, hangs in every major league ballpark, a reminder of a man who was as much a pioneer as an athlete -- a superb athlete -- talented, proud and courageous.

Sixty-five years now since that April day in 1947 when Jack Roosevelt Robinson integrated the majors.

When he became the correction to one of the game's great wrongs, one of America's great wrongs...

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2012

SF Examiner: The mystifying Mr. Barry Zito

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

In baseball, it was pointed out correctly, if not grammatically proper, by Hall of Famer Yogi Berra: You don’t know nothing. Or did you think Barry Zito would be a savior after Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner and Matt Cain would be, not disasters, but at least disappointments?

To the contrary, one thing we all know is no matter how the A’s do, and that was a brilliant 1-0 win Monday night, they can’t draw beans, not with the kicking and screaming involved in their desperate attempt to flee to San Jose.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2012 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Keys to World Series title no secret for San Francisco Giants

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

The Giants are going to be in the World Series. And then, just as in 2002, they’ll lose to the Los Angeles Angels.

That’s the prediction from Sports Illustrated, which is rarely correct in such a thing, but why be concerned about accuracy, unless it’s with Tim Lincecum’s fastball.

Albert Pujols, the new Angel, is on the front of SI’s baseball issue...

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2012 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: The way to San Jose becoming bitter battle for A's

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

PHOENIX -- The dynasty started 40 years ago in 1972. The A’s won a World Series. Then another. Then another, an achievement since unmatched.

This is going to be a season of celebration, of memories, and two of the greats from the era, Rollie Fingers and Bert Campaneris, stopped by spring training before a recent exhibition game, living reminders of the way it was.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2012 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Bees weren't only buzz for San Francisco Giants in Arizona

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Angel Pagan had another hit Sunday. Melky Cabrera had two more. They got things started, and seemingly everybody else, Pablo Sandoval, Aubrey Huff, Brett Pill, wouldn’t let it stop. Only an exhibition game, but for the Giants, a telling one.

And because of the attack of the killer bees — not Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, but genuine bees who make honey — a game which threatened to last until sundown, but in fact took a mere 2 hours, 53 minutes (plus 41-minute bee delay), was a weird one.

Copyright 2012 SF Newspaper Company

Newsday (N.Y.): White Sox's Robin Ventura has NY state of mind

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The home uniform pinstripes are black, not the royal blue he wore when with the Mets or the navy blue with the Yankees. Robin Ventura is manager of the White Sox, but the lessons of New York still are a part of him.

Ventura, now 44, played home games at Shea Stadium under Bobby Valentine and at Yankee Stadium under Joe Torre. Then he became the surprise pick to replace Ozzie Guillen. He had been a fan favorite in 10 years with the White Sox but hadn't managed or coached in organized baseball.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2012 Newsday. All rights reserved.

SF Examiner: S.F. Giants refocused after disappointing 2011

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

They’re just a baseball team this year, the Giants, not the champions, not the club with the attention, baggage and impossibility of doing what nobody had done for more than a decade — repeat.

“I don’t think any of us knew what was coming,” Tim Lincecum said. He meant about the season of 2011, disappointing mainly because understandably it couldn’t match the season of 2010, the championship season.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2012 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Manny Must Handle His Bat and Life

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By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

PHOENIX – Everyone is saying the right things, of course. Why wouldn’t they?

The right things from Many Ramirez, trying to escape what he did to himself, to baseball and to his wife.

The right things from the Oakland Athletics, who out of desperation are taking a chance on Manny.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2012

SF Examiner: A humbler Manny working his way back to being 'baseball ready'

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

PHOENIX -- Green-collar baseball? When Manny Ramirez is in camp for the A’s, it’s green do-rag baseball. It’s “Guess who’s in the cage?” baseball. It’s “Can he still do it?” baseball.

It hasn’t been like this for a while at Papago Park, the A’s training complex, a ball player who has to be watched, if even to find out whether he still deserves to be watched.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2012 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Oakland A's GM Billy Beane an expert at shaking things up

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

The A’s? “Team Irrelevant”? Grabbing supposedly the best Cuban baseball playing defector available, Yoenis Cespedes, for $36 million? Then signing Manny Ramirez? The A’s?

Welcome to the New World of Moneyball. No longer when a journalist asks GM Billy Beane whether we’ll recognize any members of the A’s will he be able to respond, if tongue in cheek, “Do you ever?”

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2012 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Oakland Teams Find There's No There There

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By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

OAKLAND, Calif. – She didn’t mean what we thought she meant. Gertrude Stein’s infamous quote about this town, “There is no there there,’’ was misinterpreted. The intent of teams that, like Stein, called Oakland home is well understood, however.

They can’t wait to get out.

Stein, the poet, author and art collector...

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2011

RealClearSports: Pujols Will Make Angels Resonate in Hollywood

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By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

They've always been the other team, the outsiders, for 50 years, their entire existence. They changed ballparks, changed logos, changed names.

They played in Dodger Stadium, calling it Chavez Ravine, and now they play in the suburbs, calling themselves the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, which is as absurd as saying the New York Yankees of Long Island.

When they weren't anonymous, they were the punch line of jokes...

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2011

SF Examiner: Snakebitten from the start, San Francisco Giants had few high points

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

What happened to the Giants? The better question is, what didn’t happen to the Giants?

From Opening Day, when they were beaten by the Los Angeles Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw — and Buster Posey was still healthy — there was a sense this year might be as frustrating as last year was elating.



Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Fitting farewell for San Francisco Giants in season finale

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

This is the way it ends, with a lot of cheers, a few tears and, once again, if not an unused ticket in a ballpark sold out from first game to last, certainly a lot of unfulfilled hopes.

In this season of 2011, the year after the World Series, the Giants broke their all-time attendance record, luring 3,387,303 fans. Yet in their attempt to repeat as Series champions, they couldn’t even get to the playoffs, breaking a great many hearts.


Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: 'Moneyball' a Reminder of A's Better Days

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By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

The arrival of "Moneyball,'' the movie "based on a true story,'' has brought the anticipated reaction: Like so many other unconventional concepts, it no longer is applicable and can be dismissed as an accident in time.

But that misses the entire point.

Which is...

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2011

RealClearSports: Giants Push Out Man at the Top

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By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

About a week ago, the chief executive officer of Yahoo, Carol Bartz, was fired. In an email to more than 13,000 employees, she delightfully said exactly that, to wit: "I've just been fired.'' Not what we usually hear from people leaving a profession other than through their own choosing.

The normal response is what was provided by Bill Neukom, who will be removed as managing general partner of the San Francisco Giants - numerous, stately euphemisms, such as, "This is the right time to turn the reins over."

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2011

SF Examiner: Sun appears to be setting on Giants' season, Venus Williams’ career

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

It was here in the Big Apple 60 years ago that Chuck Dressen, manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, declared in a statement that some English teachers defended on the grounds a team is a collective noun, “The Giants is dead.”

The New York Giants weren’t — coming back from a 13½-game August deficit to force a playoff with the Dodgers, which resulted in the “Shot Heard ’Round the World,” by Bobby Thomson.



Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Optimism remains for Giants despite season rife with issues

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

The headline wasn’t wrong. "Injuries Leave Big Holes for the Giants to Patch." That was in the New York Times. About the New York football Giants, not to be confused with the San Francisco baseball Giants, who have as many big holes because of injuries and virtually no time to patch them.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Phillies' Lee Leaves Giants Helpless

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By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

SAN FRANCISCO — This is what the San Francisco Giants do to the other team, what the Philadelphia Phillies did Thursday night to the Giants, leave them hopeless and helpless, leave them without a run and very few clues.

The breeze and chill swirled about AT&T Park, leaving the fans as cold as the Giants' bats. The 54th straight sellout crowd, 42,013, watched the home team get baffled by Cliff Lee, the man who got $120 million to try to make the Phils champions.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2011