Defense gets 49ers a win in the opener

The well-liked $53 million quarterback threw two interceptions. 

The not so well-liked kicker missed one field goal and had another blocked.

Bad news for the 49ers? Not when you check the final score. Unlike most of last year, the Niners came out on top, defeating the Seattle Seahawks 17-13 Sunday at Lumen Field, up there where the air is clear and the fans are overwhelmingly loud.

This was the first regular-season game on a schedule that will extend to 17 games and possibly last until January—and maybe February if you get to the Super Bowl.

Purdy, who last spring signed a five-year contract extension, had a game in which he completed 26 out of 35 for 277 yards and two touchdowns. But he did have the two picks.

“We need to wipe out the past and just work with the new guys,” Purdy said. “Coming out of this game like we did with a win was huge. With Ricky Pearsall coming in and wanting to learn was awesome. And we are going to continue to learn and improve.” 

San Francisco may have to learn to win without premier tight end George Kittle, who left the game in the second quarter with a hamstring injury that was to be diagnosed on Monday.

The place kicker, Jake Moody, who, of course, had his troubles in past seasons, missed his first field goal try Sunday (27 yards) and had his next one blocked when Seattle swarmed over the 49er offensive line. Moody did connect on the third, and certainly that turned out to be the winning margin.

The Niners didn’t play particularly well, understandably for an opener, particularly one on the road, but if you check the results, they certainly played successfully.

“Overall, I’m happy we got a win,” said halfback Christian McCaffrey, whose 73 yards receiving and 69 yards rushing contributed to the victory.

If we’re being honest, not quite as much as the defense designed by Robert Saleh and executed by individuals such as Nick Bosa, whose sack and fumble recovery came in the closing moments, Fred Warner (4 tackles), Dee Winters(5), and Marquez Sigle (5).

The Seahawks primarily are a running team, but the Niners would not let them run. Seattle gained only 84 net yards on the ground, an average of 3.2 yards per carry.

When the Niners had their chances offensively, they did enough. If you stop the other team, you don’t have to go very far yourself. San Francisco gained 384 yards. They made enough big plays, including Purdy hitting Ricky Pearsall for 45 yards in the 4th quarter, that set up a 49er touchdown.

Pearsall unfortunately became part of a bizarre story last year, when as a rookie, he was shot in San Francisco’s Union Square while trying to resist a robbery. After hospitalization ,he came back to football, and his persistence and work ethic have become legendary in a short time. 

Purdy has not been alone in his admiration of Pearsall’s interest in learning not only the requirements of his position, but of everyone in the offense. 

“He’s always asking questions,” Purdy said of Pearsall. 

One question nobody has to ask is about Pearsall’s talent. Pearsall finished with 4 receptions for 108 yards on a day when the Niners' total offense was 384 yards. 

“To win this game was great”, said San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan. “I’m real proud of our team.I like their attitude, they never waivered.”

In Purdy and Saleh, Niners apparently have two essentials for victory

There are two essentials required to win in the NFL: a quarterback and a defense. The San Francisco 49ers seemingly will have both for this season.

They made sure Brock Purdy would be their QB by giving him a very large multi-year contract.

Then, smartly they brought in Robert Saleh to regain the position of defensive coordinator.  Whether these two men, along with the others on the field or sidelines, will be able to get the Niners to the playoffs will be discovered in time.

Purdy was retained, given a $265 million five-year no-cut contract extension that the Niners hope gives them a future, along with the present.

Saleh had left as an assistant with the 49ers to become head coach of the hopeless New York Jets. Now, he’s back, along with the understandable belief, so are the Niners' chances for success, minimally as they might be. 

This is all so important to the Niners, who long have held the role as the City’s established franchise. The Giants are here from New York. The Warriors from Philadelphia. The 49ers started here and have offered their fans—or tormented them—years of struggle and eventually success. 

All the history may not mean much to a fan base preoccupied by current season records. 

Referring to greats such as Joe Montana, Steve Young, and Ronny Lott doesn’t satisfy the public wondering why there hasn’t been a Super Bowl win in years. 

And also why San Francisco, which was so very close to a championship two years ago, not only ended up with a losing record last year,  but dropped the final seven games on their schedule. 

True, injuries played a big part of the failure last season, but good teams find a way to survive, which the Niners did not.

The offense with Purdy, relatively efficient, did what it could. The defense did virtually nothing.

There is an old coaching belief that defense wins. If the other team doesn’t score, the worst you will ever get is a 0-0 tie. So you’d better be able to stop the other guy from scoring, even if you can’t get points yourself. 

Saleh’s reputation is that of someone who has players “flying to the ball.” He’s known for an ability to develop high-intensity defenses, and certainly the Niners can use one of those. They can also use a strong running game, which they have when Christian McCaffrey is not restrained by his leg injuries. McCaffrey is one of the emotional leaders as well as one of the physical ones. He’s the reigning AP Offensive Player of the Year.

San Francisco used to own the NFC West, but they not only fell behind the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks, they also lost to the Arizona Cardinals, which used to be an unpardonable sin.

The problem is as other teams have ascended, the Niners have slipped or been pushed back.

They seem just part of the pack, no longer at the head of it. 

Maybe once the games get underway, we’ll learn differently, or maybe not.

In the US Open semis, Djokovic vs Alcaraz, to Fritz’s frustration

In tennis, unquestionably, you better have a game if you want to have a name. For years, Novak Djokovic had both. Still does. 

Djokovic will play Carlos Alcaraz in a US Open semifinal Friday. If you are surprised by Novak’s success at age 38, well he got there a while ago and seems never to have left.

As Taylor Fritz was reminded Tuesday night when they met in the quarter finals. Before the match, the thinking was that this was the best chance for Fritz to defeat Djokovic and perhaps, after that, advance to the final. Although with Alcaraz and Janik Skinner ahead, that might be more of a wish than a chance.

All that remains speculation. There’s a reason Djokovic has more major championships, 24, than any other man in the sport’s history. 

He may be 38 and arguably less effective than when at his best, but he defeated the 27-year-old Fritz 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

If life is a matter of timing, sport is more so. In the 80’s the Lakers could beat everybody except the Celtics, which was the team they had to beat to become Champions. 

Maybe if Fritz had come along earlier or later, he would own a Grand Slam Title. Then again, maybe not.

Persistence and determination only go so far. Some batters can’t hit a particular pitcher ever. Some tennis players are unable to defeat a certain opponent. Ever.

 One thinks back about the comment by the late Vitas Gerulaitis, who dropped 16 straight matches to Jimmy Connors, and then finally snapped the streak.  

“Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times.” 

At the moment, Djokovic has defeated Fritz 11 consecutive times, or every time they faced each other. The results elicited no smart-alec comments from Fritz, as from Gerulitis. Only rueful observations. 

“For me, in my head, I’m not thinking about all the losses I had to Novak like, five years ago,” said Fritz, the southern Californian who first played Djokovic in 2019, “but so many others do.”  

That’s the nature of competition. And journalists who thrive on records.

Winning streaks and losing streaks make great copy, and sometimes painful memories. It may be as difficult to think about how you’ve done against someone like Djokovic as to actually get on the court and try to deal with his forehands.

In their quarterfinal match Tuesday, Djokovic virtually had an answer for whatever Fritz tried.  And no surprise, he won the first two sets, even though his serve was broken by Fritz in the second set. 

“I was just trying to survive,” said Djokovic, a comment that seemed as much diplomatic as anything.

When you’ve played as long and as well as Djokovic, survival is mandatory. You just keep going, relying on your experience and skill.

Commenting for ESPN, John McEnroe, who won majors in his day, said about the Djokovic-Alcaraz match, “This is the way it was set up to be.”

If not, the way a frustrated Taylor Fritz wanted it to be.

Star system: Osaka-Gauff at US Open, then Ryder Cup team at Silverado

Hollywood figured it out almost from the creation of the movies: the star system sells. If that star can also act, or play tennis or golf, so much the better.  

For the person and the business.

It was Labor Day Monday, but the show on TV may have been enough to keep you from the last picnic of summer, Naomi Osaka vs Coco Gauff.

That Osaka, her comeback after childbirth, now a triumphant reality, defeated Gauff, 6-3, 6-2 in their US Open match. Yet, in a way, it was less important—except to the contestants—than the fact that it happened. 

Two of the best and most famous in their activity, grabbing more than a few minutes of TV time.  

The individual sports must have names. Certainly, Osaka and Gauff, each with multiple major championships, have both the name and the game.

As did the surprise entrance for the Procore Championship, September 11th -14th, at Silverado in Napa, the golf tournament that suddenly, with a flurry of top players such as Scottie Scheffler, Zander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, and other members of the US Ryder Cup team, leaped into relevance. It is understood that the Tennis Open, each year in NY, one of the four Grand Slams, will have a great field. But you never know who will enter the PGA events this time of year, after the Tour Championship.

No question. Every guy out there is competent and may be effective. But every guy out there isn’t well known.

The tournaments after the Tour Championship, August 21-24, this year won by Tommy Fleetwood, sometimes seem like add-ons, full of people attempting to gain exemptions or climb from oblivion. 

Many of the games’ well-financed heroes usually wait for the winter and spring to return to tour competition. But this is a Ryder Cup year, the event scheduled September 26-28 at Bethpage Black Course on Long Island, and the American team members need to stay sharp. 

A month away from the game wasn’t advisable, so 10 members of the US team are entered in the Procore.

Whether this helps the American squad regain the Cup is unknown, but it certainly won’t hurt them. Although Silverado and Beth Page are very different from each other.

Still, wherever the competition, the idea is to shoot lower than the opponent. And almost always putting has been the difference between the squads, as it is almost every week in tournaments on the U.S. PGA Tour or the European DP Tour. The European team, with players such as Rory McIlroy, Fleetwood, and Justin Rose, is composed of players who primarily play the American Tour and/or reside in the United States.

All that is incidental when the golfers tee it up.

They have earned their spots and their recognition no less so than Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff.

Yes, we are only a few days away from the NFL schedule, but for now, the focus will be on courts and fairways, not the football field.

Fleetwood no longer a “nearly man” on the PGA Tour

The congratulatory messages came from those no less accomplished in sport than the person to whom they were directed.

From LeBron James. From Caitlin Clark. From Tiger Woods. From winners who perhaps better than the rest of us understood how it felt for a golfer named Tommy Fleetwood at last to become a winner on the PGA Tour.

And to do it in the final event of the Tour's crawl across the calendar and across the country.

No, pro golf is not over. It returns almost before we’re ready, a month from now, with the Procore Championship, September 11-14, at Silverado Country Club in Napa.  But Fleetwood’s drive(and putt) for a victory is over.

Fleetwood is from England, where our modern games were created. And there is a belief that taking part is just as important as being successful. And we’ve all been raised on the famous poem by Grantland Rice that when the great scorer comes to write against our name, he will judge not whether we won or lost but how we played the game.

And yet, we’re obsessed with victory or the lack of it.  Fleetwood’s career on the PGA tour, inevitably, was discussed in terms of what he hadn’t done, win, rather than about anything he had—including high finishes in the US Open. His streak, as we were reminded all too often, was 164 PGA Tour events without finishing first.

Similar to the Buffalo Bills—defined less by their many great seasons than by the fact that they’ve never won a Super Bowl.

Whether the negative references affected Fleetwood, we may never know until he stops competing. And since he is only 34, that probably will not be for quite a while.

Fleetwood showed his courage and skill in winning. He began the final round Sunday in a first-place tie with Patrick Cantlay, and the question was whether he could outlast Cantlay, who had won the Tour Championship four years ago.

We found out, and possibly Fleetwood found out about himself. This was the third time in the last two months he went into the final round in first or tied for first.

“It completes the story of the near-misses,” he said. “Winning on the PGA Tour was a step I wanted to take.”  

It’s a step every golfer on tour wants to take, needs to take. However, you wonder if we make too much about winning in sports, and forget about the other virtues of being in the battle. Do we recognize the effort required to play any game at a high level? Do we appreciate the job well done? That’s up to the individual.

The job Fleetwood did through the years was impressive, but it was judged incomplete. In Britain, they have a phrase for an athlete or sportsman who comes close but doesn’t come out on top: “nearly man.”  

If indeed that was the way some thought of Tommy Fleetwood, a revision is required.

Howell’s US Amateur win steals a youthful mark from Tiger

The kid was very talented and very driven. Like Tiger Woods. Now the kid has his name on the Havemeyer Trophy as US Amateur champion. Like Tiger Woods.

Except there is one difference. Mason Howell won his title Sunday at an even earlier age than did Woods, Howell routing Jackson Herrington 7 and 6, Sunday, on the Olympic Club’s Lake Course, in their scheduled 36-hole final match, which in effect sadly turned out to be a mismatch.

But it didn’t detract from Howell, who only turned 18 late June, overtaking Woods as the third youngest amateur winner in the 125 years of the competition.

Howell will be returning for his senior year at Brookwood High in his hometown of Thomasville, Ga., down near the Florida border. After graduation, he’s already announced he will enroll at his home state school, the University of Georgia, where the golf team is only a shade less prominent than the football team.

What had been a week of spectacular golf, play so often going to the ultimate hole, came to a rather lackluster conclusion, with Howell overwhelming Jackson Harrington in the final.

Maybe it would not be unfair to say Harrington, who attends another South East conference school, Tennessee, lost the match as much as Howell won it.

“I just played terrible,” said Herrington. “I can't lie. I hit some good shots that didn't even end up close. I thought I flagged it, and it flew 10 yards too far. I didn't even know what I was doing, and I couldn't figure it out.”

Howell figured things out long ago. A multi-sport athlete, he gave up baseball and tennis to concentrate on golf. A good decision, it appears. 

If the competition on Sunday wasn’t what we had hoped, the weather was better than anyone might have expected. After a week of heavy fog and occasional light drizzle, on Sunday the sun finally emerged along the Northern California coastline. 

But for Howell, the shining moment had nothing to do with the weather.

“To have my name next to these other names (people like Tiger, Jack Nicklaus, and Bobby Jones) on this trophy is unbelievable,” said Howell. “To be next to somebody named Tiger, that’s an unreal feeling.” 

The youngest golfers to win the US  Amateur were, in order, Byeong Hun An (2009), 17 years, 11 months, and 13 days; Danny Lee (2008) at 18 years and 1 month; and Tiger Woods (1964), 18 years, 7 months, and 29 days. 

Now at 18 years and 1 ½ months, Howell has replaced Woods as the third youngest. 

“To be ahead of Tiger in something,” said Howell, “that’s something that not a lot of people can say.”

Howell did trail early in the match against Herrington, losing the first two holes. However, he then won three consecutive holes with pars.  

An eagle on the short par-4 7th pushed him 4 up, all but sealing the victory.

All things considered, you might even call it a Tigerish performance.

Donegan comes up short in the Amateur, so it’s Howell and Herrington

The end of the run, but Niall Shiels Donegan, a few inches and one round short of reaching the final round of the US Amateur, saw it as more of a beginning, or at least a continuation. 

Donegan, who had seemingly most of Marin County providing vocal support, lost to Jackson Herrington one up in one of Saturday’s two semi-final matches. On Sunday, Herrington will face Mason Howell, who defeated Eric Lee 3-2 in the other semi-final at the Olympic Club where not surprisingly, an August day had a gloomy resemblance to January.

Maybe it wasn’t Mark Twain who said, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco,” but whoever said it was as on target as some of the golfers were with their iron shots.

Herrington, 19, is about to enter his sophomore season at Tennessee, while Howell, 17, is scheduled to enroll at the University of Georgia in the fall.  

Anybody remember when they used to say, golf was an old man’s game? 

What we’ve been saying about Donegan is that when he was behind in other matches he was able to survive, and found a way to make the big putt at the close.  But despite vocal support from residents of Mill Valley, 20.3 miles across the Golden Gate from the Olympic Club, he wasn’t able to replicate his success of earlier rounds.

Donegan was born in Scotland and lists himself as Scottish, even though he has lived in Northern California since he was three.

“I did what I could,” said Donegan, who this fall will be transferring from Northwestern to the University of North Carolina. “I’m only 20. Like hopefully I’ve got a long career ahead of me, and this is just one of the many building blocks along the journey that hopefully commences.”

Almost certainly that career will be as a pro golfer.  

With the tour purses so large and the game so popular—Scottie Scheffler is living proof of the popularity—who wouldn’t make the effort to become a hero in the sport?

Not that Herrington isn’t already. He and Howell both have qualified for the Masters as US Amateur finalists. Herrington’s play was admirable especially because almost all the spectators watching the match were cheering for Donegan. Harrington was unbothered.

In fact he was almost inspired.

“I think I kind of feed off of it (the vocal support for his opponent). We’d be walking up the fairway, after he hit the fairway,” said Herrington. “And they’d be yelling like he made a hole-in-one. It was funny, I’d walk up the fairway and be like thank you.” 

Howell probably will know the same response Donegan received at Olympic when Mason arrives at Augusta, some 200 miles from his hometown of Thomasville, GA. Howell called qualifying for the Masters unbelievable. 

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. That’s something me and my family will celebrate (Saturday night) for sure.”

There would be no less a celebration by the winner of the Amateur, whether it is Herrington or Howell.

At the US Amateur, Donegan, Daly II, and some big surprises

Match play golf, even among equals, such as the pros, is a game of excitement, tension, and wild unpredictability. That last issue is the primary reason it’s rarely seen on tour.

You think that TV sponsors want an event in which the stars are no longer in the field after a round or two?

But match play is the essence of the amateur game, and one of the reasons the 125th U. S. Amateur now underway in the cold and gloom (brrrr) at San Francisco’s Olympic Club has been so fascinating.

Seedings and rankings mean almost nothing. As you may note from what has happened. The world’s number one-ranked player, Joseph Kolvin, was bounced 3 and 2 by Max Herendeen Thursday morning in the second round, and later in the afternoon, the number one qualifier, Preston Stout, was ousted by David Liechty, 2 and 1.

But finally, and fortunately, the surprises stopped there, not that it was any consolation to the favorites that lost. But the Friday quarterfinals would include one guy who has become a Bay Area star, Niell Shiels Donegan of Mill Valley in Marin County, and another who perhaps is on the way to equaling the stardom of his father, John Daly II. 

Donegan lists his nationality in the entry form as a Scot, and true, he was born in Scotland, but he came to America at age three and no way speaks with a Scottish accent. Donegan, who is in the process of transferring to the University of North Carolina after two years at Northwestern, is the guy who stunned Stout, one-up, going in front with a birdie on the par-5 16th.

Daly advanced to the quarters by defeating Nate Smith of South Africa 3 and 2.

“My putter has been the key to my play this week,” said Daly, who attends the University of Arkansas, where his father once was enrolled. “I’ve been putting really good. I’m reading them well and excited to see putts fall in.”

Putts that fall invariably become the difference maker in match play.

No one could better point that out than Donegan’s father, Lawrence, a long-time sports journalist for the Guardian, who knows from experience what is possible in the games we play.

Asked how he would come down from the victory, Niall said, “My dad does a pretty good job of it. He reminds me that I’m just human, like at the end of the day, this is just golf. 10 percent of my life is golf. 90 percent of my life is my family, my friends. Just keep the 10 percent where it is and live the other 90 like anybody else.” 

But everybody else is not in the quarters of America’s most important amateur tournament.

A kid from the golf school takes the US Amateur Medal

Oklahoma State is a golf school, as surely as Duke is a basketball school and Oklahoma is a football school.

It’s had US Open Champions, Wyndham Clark; Masters Champions, Bob Tway; and a lot of other stars, including Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan, Scott Verplank, and Viktor Hovland.

So it should be no surprise that the medalist from this year’s US Amateur, Preston Stout, attended and played for Oklahoma State. Stout shot a 5-under par 65 Tuesday on Olympic Club’s historic Lake Course that, with a 3-under 67 Monday on the Club’s Ocean Course, gave him a 2-day score of 8-under 132 and Medalist honors as low qualifier for the 125th U.S. Amateur.

That’s quite impressive, but it wouldn’t mean a thing when match play began Wednesday on the Lake.

As golfers say, match play is a different animal from stroke play. 

“I love match play,” said Stout, even though a year ago he got knocked out in the first round of the Amateur.

Need we explain that match play is golf where each hole is a separate entity, and whether you lose the hole by one stroke or five strokes makes no difference. 

“I think it is the best form of golf,” Stout added, “and it’s super fun.”

Those feelings might not be shared by someone who gets eliminated early on. But match play tests your courage as much as it does your putting stroke.

Tommy Morrison, who shared the Monday lead with Charles Forrester, ended up two shots behind Stout, but of course was among the 64 players to get into match play.

Forrester, the Englishman who played for Long Beach State, slipped back Tuesday but was safely into match play. Also advancing to match play were John Daly II of Arkansas, whose father won two majors, and Luke Poulter, Florida, whose father, Ian, kept winning Ryder Cup matches.

There is a cliché that qualifying, which goes on from early morning to dark, is the longest day in golf. But for this amateur, you can make it the longest day and a half, because when the last putt was holed Tuesday, with the fog rolling, in true San Francisco fashion, play had not concluded.

There would be a playoff, not surprisingly, but because of the darkness and gloom, it was determined earlier that if extra holes were needed, it would take place on Wednesday. 

There were 20 golfers tied at 141, 1-over par, for the final 17 places in match play. If that sounds like a playoff that was overwhelmingly large, it was.

Meanwhile, while the playoff was held on the Ocean Course, the golfers who had already qualified were teeing off in match play on the Lake Course.

And they told us golf was a very simple, organized game.

US Amateur returns to charm, contradiction of SF’s Olympic Club

The Lake Course at Olympic Club, hanging on the western edge of San Francisco, is a marvelous blend of challenge, charm, and contradiction.  

From the third tee, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge. But on a foggy day, not unusual, you might not be able to see the fairway from the first tee.

At Olympic, where the 125th U.S. Amateur will be played starting Monday, also offers what members call reverse camber, meaning on certain holes, such as the fourth, you need to hit left but you are leaning right. 

To some, Olympic, which opened in 1924, on the dunes west of Twin Peaks, is best known as the place Arnold Palmer blew a 7-shot lead in the 1966 U.S. Open, losing to Billy Casper. It’s a place without a water hazard and only one fairway bunker, but there are dozens and dozens of trees. 

The first two days of the Amateur are qualifying at stroke play on both the more famous Lake Course and the Ocean Course. A field of 312 players with minuscule handicaps of 2.4 or lower will compete for one of the 64 spots in match play, which begins Wednesday on the Lake.

Not surprisingly, there is no defending champion. The winner invariably turns pro as did Spain’s Jose Luis Ballester, who last year defeated Noah Kent 2-up in the final at Hazeltine.  

This is the fourth amateur at Olympic. Charles Coe won in 1958, Nathaniel Crosby—yes, Bing’s son—in 1981, and Colt Knost in 2007.

Along the way in his distinguished career, Arnie did win an Amateur, in 1954. Phil Mickelson also won one, Jack Nicklaus two, as did Northern California’s Lawson Little Jr., and Tiger Woods three. The record, not unexpectedly, is five, by Bobbie Jones, whose final triumph in 1930 was part of the historic Grand Slam, when he took the US and British Amateurs and US and British Opens.

While the amateur game doesn’t have the glamour in this era of the big-money PGA Tour tournaments, the championship is still a great attraction.  

Especially with the format.

It’s been said that while stroke play may be a better test of golf, match play may be a better test of character.  How does a golfer respond when he or she is one down and approaching the final hole?

The top players this year, off their records, would seem to be Jackson Koivun, who plays for Auburn University (and was born in San Jose); Benjamin James, University of Virginia, and Ethan Fang, now at Oklahoma State after transferring from Cal.

Recognizable names include John Daly II, University of Arkansas, who, unlike his father, has been able to keep himself on the straight and narrow, and Luke Poulter, University of Florida, son of one-time European Ryder Cup star, Ian. Another interesting entrant is Baron Szeto of Moraga, who played at Cal Poly SLO and recorded a hole-in-one during Amateur qualifying at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course.

Wonder how he will handle reverse camber?

Can the road trip be any worse for the Giants than the homestand?

“Somewhere in this favored land, the sun is shining bright.” Yes, a line from the closing of “Casey at the Bat,” a baseball tale of woe. 

Not to be confused with the story of the Giants, who, although failing as the mighty Casey, rarely play when the sun is shining. Especially this summer in San Francisco.

What seemed so glorious a month ago has turned into a disaster that seems destined to continue Friday night in New York, when the Giants face the Mets.

The last few months have been notably displeasing for sports in Northern California. The San Francisco 49ers didn’t even make it to the playoffs last season. The Golden State Warriors were eliminated from the playoffs after a single round. And now the Giants have fallen so far so fast that, like less respected franchises such as Tampa Bay or the Colorado Rockies, at the major league trading deadline, they became sellers, not buyers.

If not clearing the roster, at least dispensing with one of the better relief pitchers, Tyler Rogers.  Teams that think positively don’t do that.

After being swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates (yes, the Pittsburgh Pirates) in a three-game series that ended Wednesday under the marine layer (brrr) at Oracle Park with a 3-1 loss, the Giants had not only dropped below .500 but basically dropped out of contention as a possible wild card.

And it was only a few weeks ago, June 13th, 2025, the Giants were tied for first with the dreaded Los Angeles Dodgers. Optimism, understandably, was rampant. Hey, this time the Giants are going to catch L.A., or at least catch a spot in the postseason. They even made a trade for Rafael Devers. He was going to be the big bat that would make a big difference.

In Chicago, there is a long-held theory that people who played with the Cubs were going to struggle, no matter how good they were before coming there.

It wasn’t the players’ fault. He was trapped by history. The only way he would even succeed again was to be “de-Cubbed.”

Now you wonder whether ball players in San Francisco will have to be “de-Gianted.” Look at what’s happened. Following the All-Star break, the Giants went to Toronto and lost three straight. Then, after a loss in Atlanta, they won two. A good sign before a return home? 

Yes, until they got on the field at Oracle Park. Then it was six more defeats in a row, three to the Mets, followed by three to the Pirates. Going without a lone victory for six games at home equaled a sorrowful record set in 1896, when the Giants still were in New York. 

And, apropos of nothing, it’s where the Giants will face the Mets at the start of a road trip that can’t be worse than the last homestand. Or can it?

Not only did San Francisco prove inadequate on the mound and at the plate. Tuesday and Wednesday, they left runners on base (both times, unable to make contact).

But the Giants also botched fielding chances, misplaying fly balls or bobbling grounders.

“When you play badly, it’s contagious,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said Wednesday. “When you play well, it’s contagious.”

Unfortunately, the Giants haven’t played well for a while. And who knows when, as is the poem about Casey, the sun will shine bright for San Francisco.

Venus and Verlander each get long-awaited victories

Two different sports. Two different competitors. Two different examples of athletes proving persistence will be rewarded while disproving the doubters.

Venus Williams won a tennis match, Tuesday, July 22, her first victory in 16 months.

Fewer than 24 hours later, Wednesday, July 23, Justin Verlander pitched a winning baseball game, his first in 16 starts this season. 

Williams is 45. Verlander is 42. So much for Father Time. 

And so much for doubters who never believed that either party could take the next step in careers destined to finish in their respective Halls of Fame. You felt sorry for Venus as she continued entering tournaments and getting defeated all too quickly, often in the first round. She seemed better off stepping away, as did her younger sister, Serena.

But Venus stepped back in and stepped into the winners’ circle, defeating Peyton Stears, a fellow American, 6-3, 6-4.  

“There are no limits for excellence,” said Venus, thinking the way that champions always think, which is why they are champions.

And if anybody should know excellence, it’s Williams.

“You know it’s the first step,” said Williams. “It’s hard to describe how difficult it is to play a first after so much time off.”

Sixteen months off, since a loss to Diana Shnaider in the first round of the 2024 Miami Open. 

Verlander’s time off came at the end of the 2024 baseball season. A free agent, he signed with the San Francisco Giants, who hoped he not only would pitch as in his younger days but also provide leadership for others.

It was not until Wednesday, however, that he got his first win of the year, as the Giants defeated the Braves 9-3 in Atlanta.  Even then, he was questionable because it might be delayed by the all-too-typical southeast weather. Rain began to fall in the middle of the fifth inning as Verlander needed just three outs to qualify for his first victory since the end of the 2024 season when he was with Houston.

“I figured something like that would happen,” said Verlander. “It would be like, ‘OK, this would be the game that gets rained out,’ and there’s going to be a two-hour delay, and they won’t let me go back out.” Fortunately, there was just a light drizzle and no delay, and Verlander made it through the fifth inning, which meant he and the Giants would make it into the win column. 

But nothing was going to ruin the day for Justin or for Venus. 

“So going into the match,” said Venus. “I know I have the ability to win, but it’s all about actually winning. So this is the best result, to play a good match and win.”

That statement was virtually echoed in the Giants' winning clubhouse.

“We know every time he goes out there, guys try extra hard and for whatever reason it just hasn’t worked out,” Bob Melvin, the Giants manager, said of Verlander. “For him to be able to get through five after throwing 40 pitches in the first inning, there’s some toughness involved in that.” 

As for Venus Williams, to return with a win, there’s also a toughness involved.

Next for Scheffler: Completion of the personal Grand Slam

Scottie Scheffler insists he’s nothing special. Obviously, he’s wrong.  He is “the Champion Golfer of the Year.”

Truth be told, he’s much more. He’s the man the announcers on Golf Channel kept relating to Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.

He’s the man who needs only a victory in the US Open—the next one is at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island in June—to equal one of golf’s most sought-after goals: a personal Grand Slam.  Scheffler’s victory Sunday in the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland gave him the third leg of the slam. It seems inevitable that Scheffler, age 29, and at the height of his game, will achieve the fourth. 

Funny how this year progressed. The talk all winter and spring was whether Rory McIlroy could win the Masters and complete his own grand slam. Which, as we know, he did. There was something else involving golf when the year began: Scheffler’s Christmas Day injury, cutting his hand on a broken glass while making dinner. That kept him out of action for the beginning of the season. But he certainly has come back. And his golf at the Open Championship was so dominant that going into the last day, the only issue was who would finish second behind Scottie, and that turned out to be Harris English.

Scheffler began the last round in the Open with a four-shot lead, which was increased for a while to seven shots, and despite a double bogey at the eighth hole, his first stumble after 32 consecutive holes with nothing worse than a par, he remained in control.

The closing round three-under par 68 gave him a four-round total of 267, 17 under. That was four shots ahead of English, who had a 66. Third, after a 67, was Chris Gotterup, who won the previous week’s Genesis Scottish Open. There was a three-way tie for fourth at 273 among Hao-Tong Li (70), who recorded the best finish ever for a player from China, Matt Fitzpatrick (69), and Wyndham Clark (65). Another shot back at 274 were last year’s winner, Xander Schauffele (68), Robert MacIntyre (67), and Rory McIlroy (69).

McIlroy is from Northern Ireland. Shane Lowry, who is from Ireland, was the 2019 Open Champion. He was effusive in his praise of Scheffler.

“I played with him the first two days,” said Lowry. “And honestly, I thought he was going to birdie every hole. It was incredible to watch.” 

Scheffler won for the fourth time this year. He is the first player in the last century to win his first four majors by at least three shots. He has won 20 times worldwide since February 2022, and this was the 11th straight time he turned a 54-hole lead into a victory.

“I’m very fortunate to come out here and being able to compete,” admitted Scheffler. “I’m living out my dreams. This is amazing to be able to come out here and compete and win.”

Only Open question: Who would finish second to Scottie?

There still was a question remaining Sunday when the Open Championship entered the final Round at Royal Portrush.

Who might finish second? Possibly, the quite unflappable guy named Haotong Li. Maybe the quite emotional guy named Rory McIlroy.

But as the tournament resumed, there was no question who would be the winner. 

Almost no question.

Scottie Scheffler, merely the number one golfer on the planet, held a 4-shot lead after Saturday’s third round, and not only had he won the previous nine tournaments when he was in front after 54 holes, but he also had taken two of the other three majors this year.

“Anytime you can keep a clean card around a major championship,” said Scheffler, who didn’t make a bogey. “You are going to be having a pretty good day.” Scheffler rarely has a bad day when he is playing, which is why he is number one in the rankings.

In this oldest and most historic of tournaments, he shot a 4-under par 67 Saturday, and was at 68-64-67–199. 

Li, the pro from China, who plays the DP World Tour, was at 203 after a 67. Third at 205 after a 66 was Matt Fitzpatrick, the Englishman, while McIlroy who also had a 66 was at 205 for the three rounds.

They tell us nothing is certain in golf, where you can gain or lose shots in an instant. Remember Arnold Palmer’s 4-shot lead in the 1966 US Open disappeared in 2 holes? And of course notoriously, Greg Norman blew a 6-shot lead in the 1996 Masters. 

Yet it’s difficult to believe Scheffler, who hits fairways with consistency and appears never to be rattled, would allow this one to get away. 

“I’m just trying to execute, not overthinking things,” Scheffler said. “I feel like I’ve been doing the right thing so far, and I’m looking forward to the challenge of (Sunday).” 

Li, 29, seems in his own world.  Asked if he was affected by the situation, Li all but yawned. “I think to play without expectations,” said Li. “Is kind of a good thing for me.”

There are plenty of expectations for McIlroy, who grew up in Northern Ireland not far from Portrush. His triumph in the Masters in April gave him victories in all four grand slam tournaments and made him more popular than ever, as hard as that is to imagine. 

His appearance at each hole Saturday brought a huge reception. 

“One of the coolest moments I’ve ever had on the golf course,” McIlroy said.

John Perry of England had a cool moment Saturday when he made so far the tournament’s only hole in one, knocking an 8-iron into the cup on the 192-yard 13th. He had a 67 and was at 213. That was exciting, even though the ending of the main event may be less so.

“Even when he doesn’t have his best stuff,” McIlroy said of Scheffler, “he’s become a complete player. Yeah, it’s going to be tough to catch him.” “But if I can get out (Sunday) and get off to a similar start to what I did today (three birdies in four holes) to get the crowd going…you never know.”

Sorry, Rory. When Scheffler is on a roll, you know.

Is Scheffler the strongest in this battle at Portrush?

Paul Gallico, a sportswriter-turned-novelist best known for The Poseidon Adventure, once said, “The Battle isn’t always to the strong or the race to the swift, but it is a good way to bet.”

And to choose winners.

Another sportswriter (blush) often has pointed out that the longer the competition—individual or team—goes on, the greater the chance the favorite will win.

Headed into Saturday’s third round of The Open Championship at Portrush, Northern Ireland, it should be no surprise that the man in front is the world’s No. 1 golfer, Scottie Scheffler.   

Yes, there is half an Open remaining, and his lead is precarious, a single shot, especially with two other major champions on his tail. Still, you very much have to like his chances. You always have to like his chances. For much of Friday’s second round, Scheffler toyed with the Dunluce Links, Portrush’s main layout, making eight birdies and recording a 7-under par, 64. That put him a swing ahead of Britain’s Matt Fitzpatrick, the US Open champion in 2022, and two ahead of Brian Harman, winner of The British Open in 2023, and China’s Haotong Li. Fitzpatrick shot a 66 on Friday, while Harman and Li each carded 67s.

“He’s going to have the expectation to go out and dominate,” Fitzpatrick said of Scheffler. 

Whether he meets those expectations and he very well might, could depend on the fickle Irish weather, which shifts from sunshine to a downpour in seconds, as Scheffler realized early in the second round. Watching and listening on television, you could hear three things from across the sea: when the weather got nasty very early in Scheffler’s round.

There was the pounding of rain on umbrellas, the confirmation by an announcer on the television who said, “It is raining cats and dogs,” and an apparent outburst by Scotty who muttered something that sounded like, “Oh, spit.” Later on, the Golf Channel issued an apology for what was caught by the microphone next to Scheffler. 

Certainly, there was no reason for Scheffler to apologize for his remarkable golf, which included eight birdies. He almost had one more, but his 15-foot putt on the 18th was inches away

Rory McIlroy—the local kid who, 20 years ago as an amateur, set the course record at Portrush with a 61 (although a less difficult set-up than for The Open)—is at 139.

Two successful veterans (don’t call them seniors), 52-year-old Lee Westwood (70, 69–139) and 55-year-old Phil Mickelson (71, 72–143), both made the cut.

Shane Lowry, who won at Portrush the last time it was held there, in 2019, was assessed a two-shot penalty when, after a long video review, it was judged his ball moved during a practice swing at the 12th hole. That gave him a 1-over 72 and a 36-hole score of 144, even par.

The raucous cheers Lowry received the previous Portrush Open for his triumph will go towards someone else this time, quite probably Scotty Scheffler.

Portrush: Phil and a five-way tie for the lead

So the Open—the British Open, if you will—lurched into the second round Friday with a leader board that resembled a roll call at the United Nations and a man in contention who had all but disappeared the last few years.

That would be our old (emphasize old) friend, Phil Mickelson, who is 55, and shot 70, which was 1-under par Thursday at Royal Portrush.

Five players were tied for first at 67, Jacob Olesen (Denmark), Haotong Li (China), Matt Fitzpatrick (England), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (South Africa), and Harris English (USA).

The betting favorite, Scottie Scheffler, is very much in contention after a 68, and with three rounds remaining, Rory McIlroy certainly isn’t out of it at 70.  

If there were surprises for this Open at Northern Ireland, the weather certainly wasn’t one of them. A day that started with sunshine breaking through the overcast had periods of rain and enough wind to blow ill-struck balls every which way.

It also had a guy not long out of prison. Ryan Peake of Australia, who spent five years behind bars for assault, was paired with Mickelson and asked Phil for his autograph after shooting a 77.

Li, one of those tied for first, became infamous a few years ago when he threw his putter into a pond at the French Open, and his mother waded into the water to retrieve it. There was no reason to get angry with any of the clubs he utilized Thursday, especially the putter. He got around Portrush testing Dunluce Links without a bogey. As did Justin Rose.

Mickelson became the oldest player to win a major, when at age 50, he took the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. He was one of the very early starters Thursday in this Open. He showed his famous short game brilliance quickly, holing a shot out of a greenside bunker on the par-3 third, after failing to get out on the previous swing.

“That was a crazy one,” said Mickelson. “To make it, it was obviously a lot of luck. I was just trying to save bogey, and I got lucky and it went in.” 

Scheffler, number one in the world rankings, hasn’t as much been lucky as determined and consistent. He’s won two different majors, the Masters (twice) and the PGA Championship. He hit only three fairways Thursday at Portrush, yet he’s only one shot behind.

“I actually thought I drove it pretty well,” said Scheffler, seemingly irritated about questions about his accuracy. 

“When it’s raining sideways,” sighs Scheffler, “believe it or not, it’s not that easy to get the ball in the fairway.”  

“Really only had one swing I wasn’t too happy with on the second hole,” he said. “But outside that, I felt like I hit a lot of good tee shots, hit the ball really solid, so definitely a good bit of confidence for the next couple of rounds. 

Confidence is necessary, along with a great swing and maybe a few breaks. Particularly at the Open.

The Open returns to Portrush where the cheers still echo

What some thought could be a question—the return of the Open Championship, the British Open, to Northern Ireland after decades—instead turned out to be a celebration.

That was 2019, and the pain of the difficulties of years past, the violence between the English and the Irish, known euphemistically as “the troubles,” seemed swept away by a fortuitous sporting event. And an Irish winner, Shane Lowry.  

The cheers and chants—“Ole, ole, ole”—still echo in the mind.

 The Open comes back this week with no doubts, and with as much excitement as possible for the oldest tournament in the game.

Royal Portrush, a plot of land that is spectacularly beautiful––and for golfers, agonizingly difficult—sits on the Atlantic where the waves crash, the wind blows, and more often than not, the rain falls.

As challenging as any course, where the Open has been held in its 152-year history, Portrush offers huge dunes and a hole, the 17th, named Purgatory.

It’s long been golf country. Graeme McDowell grew up in Portrush and went on to win a US Open at another seaside course, Pebble Beach, in 2010.

Rory McIlroy, who was the favorite for that 2019 British Open and will be among the favorites this time, is also from Northern Ireland. As is Darren Clarke, who won the British Open in 2011, along with David Faherty, who kept us entertained on television after he stepped away from competition. 

The Open is traditionally held on links courses, where the bunkers are deep and numerous golfers are almost as dependent on the weather as they are on their swings. It’s been said there is too much luck involved on links courses, that a crazy bounce can determine who ends up in first place. But the great Jack Nicklaus often said the people who hit the best shots usually get the best bounces. 

Nicklaus won The Open. So did Tom Watson. And of course, so did Tiger Woods—and those guys were hardly surprised champions. Wherever the tournament goes week to week, Scottie Scheffler inevitably is the choice, along with McIlroy, Sepp Straka, and Justin Thomas.

Yet golf is different from other sports. You have no control over what another player does, only what you do.

True, McIlroy and Scheffler won the year’s first two majors, the Masters and the PGA Championship. But longshot J.J. Spaun took the US Open.

Who knows what to expect for The Open, which last year was won by Xander Schauffele. Maybe Rory, having completed his personal Grand Slam with the victory at Augusta, will follow up with a triumph at The Open. He’s determined to atone for his problems of 2019 when he hit his opening tee shot into the crowd and eventually missed the cut. The gloom was as thick as the rough.

The win by Lowry, who’s from the Republic of Ireland, helped eliminate that gloom. Yes, two different countries, but ask the residents of either and they will say, “We are all Irish.”

McIlroy was measured in describing his thoughts for this Open and his chances.

“We all want to do better. We all think we can just get a little bit extra out of what we have,” said McIlroy. “It has been an amazing year.” 

“The fact that I’m here at Portrush with the Green Jacket, having completed that lifelong dream, I want to do my best this week to enjoy everything that comes my way, enjoy the reaction of the fans, and enjoy being in front of them and playing in front of them.”

“But at the same time, I want to win this golf tournament, and I feel like I’m very capable of doing that.

Fritz not on ESPN’s bottom line, but he’s in the Wimbledon semis

Taylor Fritz has made the Wimbledon semi-finals. But he can’t make ESPN’s bottom line.

Probably not a surprise since the sports network delights in big names, and the other three men who have advanced to the semis are as big as they come in the sport of tennis—Carlos Alcaraz, Janek Sinner, and Novak Djokovic.

Fritz, at 27, although hardly unknown, is not quite in the class of those other three, each of whom has won at least one grand slam, and in the case of the seemingly ageless Djokovic, 24 slams.

The matchups Friday in Centre Court will be Fritz against number two-ranked Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, who will be going for his third straight Wimbledon title, and the number one-ranked Sinner against Djokovic, who has seven Wimbledon victories to his credit.

If you’re excited by the presence of this group and what may result from the competition, you’re not alone. This is when the sport grabs even those who don’t know a volley from a rally, but do know the stars, who rally and volley—and win.

For the first time, Fritz got past the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, Tuesday, defeating Karen Khachanov of Russia, 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4). At last, an American male had made it this far since John Isner in 2018.

If you are wondering about the next step or two, the last American player to win the All England title was Pete Sampras in 2000.  

Djokovic, 38, defeated Italy’s Flavio Cobolli, 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4. Not that Cobolli is unpopular, but the crowd was screaming wildly for the guy they call the Joker.

If Fritz seems like the odd man out, he’s unbothered. In fact, he’s more than satisfied, finally playing the way that had been both predicted and expected since he was a teenager in Southern California. 

When your mom, the former Kathy May, was a success and you took the California Interscholastic Federation crown, there is no way to enter the battle anonymously. So, Fritz had to deal with that sort of pressure as well as more than an occasional injury. He did have a breakthrough of sorts in 2024, reaching the final of the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows, but his opponent was Sinner, who showed no weakness or no mercy, winning in straight sets.

“Having played the quarterfinals here twice,” said Fritz about Wimbledon, “and lost in five twice, I don’t think I could have taken another one.”

Fritz, fifth in the world rankings, won’t have that worry.

He did have another worry when the skin on one foot was rubbed bare after a strip of tape was pulled away. Quick attention from the attending medical staff corrected that problem. Fritz had an explanation for how the match turned around after he breezed through the first two sets and seemingly locked up the win.

“I’ve never really had a match change like that so drastically,” said Fritz. “Where I felt so in control, playing great, serving great. I didn’t feel like my serve was in danger. “I felt like I couldn’t miss and then, out of nowhere, I just started making a ton of mistakes.” 

He fixed whatever was wrong. And make no mistake, Taylor Fritz is one of the last four men remaining in the 2025 Wimbledon singles and the only American.

For Taylor Fritz, Wimbledon turns into a long day and night triumph

Wimbledon goes on. And so does Taylor Fritz. If a bit wearily. But not a bit unhappily.

There is no sport quite like tennis, where there is a category called lucky losers, and no tournament quite like The Championships, which is the way Wimbledon is listed. 

Rankings and seedings may mean very little, as the current Wimbledon verifies. Top players in both the men’s and women’s brackets are getting beaten in what might be described as upsets, although really it is proof that, with rare exceptions, such as Carlos Alcaraz, Janik Sinner, and Aryna Sabalenka, anyone in the draw can defeat anyone else.

Meaning that while Fritz, America’s number one male player, should have breezed through his first two matches, he may have been fortunate just to have won both.  

And here’s where Wimbledon, the only of the four Grand Slam tournaments still played on nature’s green grass, becomes a large part of the story.  The summer days are long in Great Britain, but eventually the sun goes down.  

For decades, daily play at Wimbledon would end in darkness. Then, some sixteen years ago, after too many rain delays, a roof was constructed. Of course, lighting had to be installed. The predictable result was that even when the weather was fine, play would go on after dark, at least until the local curfew at 11 pm.

Which certainly had an effect on Fritz in his opening round match Monday against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France, after Fritz lost the first two sets. Fritz managed to win the third, and then it was decided to close the roof and use the lighting, and after a half-hour break, to continue under the roof and under the lights. That didn’t stop Taylor, but the curfew did.

And so he and Perricard came back Tuesday, Fritz then taking the fifth set. Taylor was again on court Wednesday, and again needed to survive an extended battle, this time with Italy’s Gabriel Diallo, that went five sets, Fritz winning 3-6, 6-3, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3. That match required three hours and six minutes, and medical assistance for Fritz. He incurred a bloodied elbow after diving to reach a ball when he had a break point while trailing 3-2 in the fourth set.

“That’s an incredibly hard match,” Fritz said. “The fourth set that I lost, I really don’t think there’s much I did wrong at all.”

Not an easy three days for Fritz, but certainly more rewarding than for fellow American Francis Tiafoe, who was defeated Wednesday by Britain’s Cameron Norrie, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5.

No American man has won a Wimbledon singles title since Pete Sampras in 2000. Fritz will probably not be the next, but at least after these first two long victories, he’s still very much alive.

And, looking forward to getting a brief break, with no match scheduled on Thursday. 

“Tomorrow is going to be a very, very light hit. I think I’ve played plenty of tennis,” was Fritz’s post-round comment to the media. “I’m very due for a nice, relaxing day.”  

Barry may not get into the Hall, but he will get a statue at Oracle

The award Barry Bonds and his supporters would prefer is a bust that sits in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Which, if he gets—and that remains a question—will not arrive for some time. 

So Bonds, for a while, will have to be satisfied with another piece of equipment, a statue at his long-time place of employment, Oracle Park in San Francisco.

Larry Baer, the Giants' President and CEO, was asked about adding Bonds' statue to the five already outside the ballpark. “Barry is certainly deserving of a statue,” said Baer. “And I would say he is next up.”

Those already in place are five former Giants who also are in the Hall of Fame—Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, and Orlando Cepeda. 

Bonds unquestionably hit more home runs than any major leaguer in history, a total of 762, the majority while wearing the uniform of the San Francisco Giants.

That made him a beloved figure in the Bay Area, but because of the unending reports that he was the beneficiary of drug use that aided his performance, he was equally disliked away from Northern California. Bonds ’abrasive attitude when he dealt with the media also contributed to his unpopularity among baseball writers who recognized his talent but were hesitant to deal with him. 

Bonds, now 60, seems to have mellowed somewhat, although that change has not yet improved his status among those who vote for induction into the Hall. There is no question of Bonds’ skill.  It’s reflected in the number of home runs, including the all-time single-season high of 73 in 2001.  It was just his personality and constant talk of steroids that made him disliked.   

Bonds never was officially denied the opportunity to be elected to the Hall, as were others such as Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose, who are now deceased. 

Perhaps the change in the revised admission to the Hall will also extend toward Bonds. Although the ostracized players, all except Rose, were involved in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal —fixing the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds—before the latter group was cleared last month by Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred.

Baseball people would like to believe their game, once the “National Pastime,” is a reflection, as the man said in the movie “Field of Dreams,” of “what is right in America.”

So now that all is forgiven to the accused fixers, maybe now Bonds will be forgiven for his transgressions.  

Whatever, Barry will get his statue as he continues to get cheers. Giants fans can only wish there were someone on the current roster who could hit like Bonds. 

Maybe someday there will be.