Category — Mark McGwire

Did we mention Carlos Beltran leads the NL in homers with 13? Didn’t think so.
Despite the Braves sweeping them this weekend, Beltran and the Cards have been among the best teams in the National League so far. But like they say in Anaheim, it’s still early.

With yesterday’s committment by Shabazz Muhammad and the recent one by Kyle Anderson, UCLA and its fans have high hopes of returning to the high life in college basketball. As much as we’d like to share in their enthusiasm, and we do to a certain extent, we’re still bummed Ben Howland is the Bruins coach. But blame Dan Guerrero for that 1 since both should have been shown the door after this past season’s fiasco and the circus-like atmosphere surrounding the program.
The good news, though, is the pressure is on Howland to produce next season despite the pass he has received from the L.A. media. Obviously, if he doesn’t, you can bet the farm he’s history and maybe someone at UCLA will have the balls to boot Guerrero, too. Howland, who apparently went to the same school for offensive strategy as Mike Brown, has even promised to open up the offense. We’ll believe it when we see it. But for the players sake, let’s hope the Bruins are as fun to watch as the talent they have stockpiled. Maybe even Howland can’t screw that up.
College Basketball Talk
Jackie Robinson Day: Major League Baseball will celebrate the icon on Sunday.
MLB.com
The day after: Fans (writers and broadcasters, too) are still stunned by the way the Lakers hammered the Spurs Wednesday night without Kobe.
ESPN LA
Money in the bank: With a big assist from David Stern, the Clippers deal for Chris Paul is paying off as well as any investment. Ask the Thunder.
NBA.com
Will the NFL ever return to L.A.?: As fans, we could care less.
O.C. Register

This dropped more than a week ago, but it still rocks.
Bugs & Cranks

Nelson Cruz has developed into Mr. Clutch in the postseason. Three years ago, the Rangers put Cruz on waivers, but every other Major League club passed on him. Now he’s inflicting major damage on any club standing in the Rangers way of a World Series title.
N.Y. Times

The wild card race provided a memorable finish to the regular season that has baseball fans begging for more. Now the postseason begins, where there should be more drama.
Pitching, pitching and more pitching again will dictate the outcome. With that in mind, here are our picks for the postseason.

American League
Tigers vs. Yankees
Two words: Justin Verlander.
Can the Tigers win a game without him is the question. If so, upsetting the Yankees will be easy.
But this is where the Yankees are at their very best. The same thing was said about Cliff Lee 2 years ago, and the Yanks were able to beat him when it counted.
Now comes the true test, the best hitting team in baseball against the best pitcher. While good hitting usually beats good pitching, the Yanks are the best at working counts.
Pick: Yankees in 4.

Rays vs. Rangers
The hottest team in the A.L. and with pitching to boot, Tampa Bay seems to have it all. But is it too much to ask of them to stay emotionally high? The best momentum is good pitching and the Rays have that. Those arms should carry the day.
Pick: Rays in 4.

National League
Cardinals vs. Phillies
Stay with the pitching theme and the Phillies have the arms to run a way with this series. They will throw 3 big-name hurlers at the Cardinals, who are just happy to be in the postseason. The Phillies also have more offense.
Pick: Phillies in 3.

Diamondbacks vs. Brewers
Two surprise teams find themselves in a surprising place. Milwaukee has the hitters to make a mess of any rotation, but Arizona has a special thing going right now that makes them a fun team to watch. The Brewers, though, have been here before and they should hold up.
Pick: Brewers in 5.

ALCS
Rays vs. Yankees
Another battle of the East with the Yankees doing just enough to win behind the hitting of the middle of their lineup and Mariano Rivera. They just have to get the game to the man. Tampa’s great season comes to a close in the Bronx.
Pick: Yankees in 6.

NLCS
Brewers vs. Phillies
Milwaukee might be able to put a scare into Philadelphia, but that is about it. When you can go 4 stars deep on the mound then things are pretty good. Cole Hammels, the star of the Phillies title run three years ago is the 4th starter now. That’s depth.
Pick: Phillies in 5.

World Series
Yankees vs. Phillies
Two years ago, the New York offense beat up the Phillies, who went cold in the biggest of games and could not defend their title. This time things look different. Philadelphia has it all going, power from the left side suited for Yankee Stadium, the home field and the rotation. The Phils are ready to avenge last year’s playoff debacle and the loss to the Yanks the year before. They should get it done.
Pick: Phillies in 6.

And they’re playing with house money.
With the Cardinals sneaking in (we’re still numb over that 1), the chances of the “Genuis” returning to the club next season instead of Albert Pujols rose significantly.
Post-Dispatch

Maybe the Cards will consider hiring Hal McRae again as hitting coach and fire the current 1? Didn’t think so.
The Genius is grumpy after 6 games, losing 4 of them, after writers question why the Cards can’t hit.
Post-Dispatch

He’s a first-year hitting coach, but no hitting coach is as famous or infamous as Mark McGwire. He’s also a tainted steroid user who refused to come out of the closet about his use until he wanted back in baseball. Tony LaRussa and the St. Louis Cardinals were more than happy to oblige. First, he had to confess his sins, cry before a national TV audience to generate sympathy and forgiveness and then all would be right with the world again. Easy.
Just to enhance his new image, McGwire hired former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer as his PR guru. Fleischer, who had plenty of practice misleading the public with the Bush Administration, is already earning his money talking out of the side of his mouth for Big Mac. ”You have to understand, Mark didn’t have to do any of this,” Fleischer said. ”He wasn’t hounded. He could have happily stayed a retired man. Instead, he took all of this upon himself because he wanted to be a coach. He went forward and told everybody what people suspected. But it was still a giant step forward for a player to voluntarily come forward and say, ‘I took steroids.’ I think he deserves a lot of credit for coming forward and saying it.”
Pretty disgusting, huh?
Chicago Sun-Times

Sometimes, the loyalty of Tony LaRussa is as blind as a bat. Proof is comparing the resumes of McRae and Mark McGwire.
From the time McGwire had his “All My Children” moment, I wondered what had the Cards and LaRussa hatched here? Just to be the hitting coach? Or are they running him up the food chain to one day replace the Genius? Cardinal fans would have you think so.
Gene Wojciechowski makes some great points about baseball’s hypocricy when it comes to McGwire and Pete Rose. Just stinks.
ESPN.com

Somewhere Jose Canseco is laughing, having a shooter (or a Bud Light) and saying ‘what did I tell you?’ Again. We believed him years ago. Baseball? No sir. Bud Selig and his boys probably blame Jose, saying it wasn’t our fault, blah, blah, blah. Water under the bridge. Pity party for Mark. He got caught a long time ago and now he delivers the crocodile tears like some of the best actors. I’m sorry? Whatever.
Still, in the defense of hitters (Mac too), they can take whatever pills and shots they want, but you can’t convince me it enhances their ability to hit a baseball. Hit it farther? Oh hell yeah. Which brings us to another topic: What about the pitchers who threw the ball so hard? None of them were juiced? Whatever happened to those pitchers hitting a 100 and beyond? For all the hitters, I’d bet you’d at least twice the pitchers had some help. Even game according to players, right?
Bugs And Cranks