If the case against Barry Bonds was as good as everyone says it is, why are the feds scorching the Earth in order to try and get the testimony of someone they’ve know ain’t talking for years? FBI and IRS agents raided the home of Greg Anderson’s mother-in-law Wednesday in what Anderson’s attorney said was […]

The San Francisco Chronicle’s Scott Ostler has a rip-roarer of a column today about the imminent collision between the Hall of Fame and steroids: I heard a local radio talker say he’s sure Kent was never a juicer because Kent isn’t that kind of guy. This radio talker is being grossly underutilized. With such psychic […]

You think I read this stuff because it constitutes excellent writing and analysis. The truth is that I’m writing a scathing tell-all book called “ShysterBall: The Hardball Times Years” and I need to know everything about Studeman, Treder, Brattain and the others before I throw them under the bus. Colin Wyers has part two in […]

The latest Torre stuff: Johnny Damon’s lack of heart in 2007 brought players to tears or something: Interesting stuff on Pages 394 and 395 about Johnny Damon’s physical and emotional struggles early in the 2007 season, when a leg injury sapped him of his enthusiasm and he began to annoy old-guard Yankees. In a private […]

The offseason does crazy things to people. Hope springs eternal and that’s great and all, but there’s a fine line between hope and delusion. Example: last summer the Mets probably couldn’t have paid anyone to take Aaron Heilman off their hands, yet this winter, not one, but two teams have traded for him. This isn’t […]

Unfortunately, he won’t be playing first base: Will Clark, who remains one of the club’s most popular players since the franchise moved to San Francisco in 1958, is expected to be named to the Giants’ front-office staff on Wednesday. The Giants issued a media advisory on Tuesday stating that Clark and Bill Neukom, the Giants’ […]

With all apologies to my THT colleagues, Razzball — a most excellent fantasy site, by the way — has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that FanGraphs is the most powerful stat site on the planet. Why? Because they have apparently brought Cory Lidle back from the dead and have a 2009 Marcel projection […]

Miami-Dade officials have set the vote — and released the final renderings and sketches and stuff — for the Marlins’ new stadium: Miami and Miami-Dade leaders are poised to cast rapid-fire, historic votes that could end the decade-long search for a permanent home for the two-time World Series champion Florida Marlins. If approved Feb. 13, […]

Great minds think alike. Mine just thinks snarkier.

While most media attention has focused on the death of my cat, the world of letters lost someone else of note yesterday as well: John Updike. If you haven’t read it, the Rabbit series was pretty spectacular. And of course, as many baseball bloggers are noting today, in 1960 Updike wrote this fantastic piece on […]