This is my Monday column on the best position player in Major League Baseball. In honor of Tuesday’s All Star Game and all the great players participating in it, answer this question: Who is the best position player in baseball? I don’t mean the player having the best month or season or season and a half. Lots of guys have been great for a season or two before they got…
Here is my Thursday column on Andre Iguodala and Bob Myers. OAKLAND – Thursday afternoon in the Warriors’ practice facility, Bob Myers, the best general manager in the Bay Area, introduced his signature acquisition – Andre Iguodala. Myers and Iguodala wore suits and ties and they smiled. Iguodala wore a blue vest and gray socks that matched his gray shirt. He was smart and thoughtful and funny and eloquent and…
Here is my Monday column on Pablo Sandoval. SAN FRANCISCO – Here’s the question of the year for the Giants: What should they do with Pablo Sandoval? Entering Monday night’s game against the Mets, the 26-year-old All-Star third baseman was 3-for-his-past-37. And he looks way overweight, more so than usual. The mechanics of his swing are out of whack and he can’t field his position – he already has committed…
Here is my Wednesday column on Ahmad Brooks. Dear Jed York, We understand the population of NFL players is no different from the general population. There are people who do bad things. One of your players did a bad thing around 2 a.m June 8. Two of your rookies, Lawrence Okoye and Michael Purcell, according to the Sacramento Bee, saw Ahmad Brooks hit your practice squad player, Lamar Divens, with…
This is my Monday column on the Warriors, Dwight Howard and LeBron James. We’re about to find out if the Warriors are the hottest franchise in the NBA. On July 10, free agent center Dwight Howard, the best center in basketball, will decide if he wants to sign with the Lakers, the Rockets, the Mavericks, the Hawks or the Warriors, according to published reports. Warriors’ owner Joe Lacob, general manager…
This is my Friday column on the 49ers’ Mt. Rushmore. Let’s play the Mt. Rushmore Game for the 49ers. Who are the four greatest figures in 49ers history? I’m talking players, coaches or owners. You pick. Who would you carve onto the 49ers’ own Mt. Rushmore? We can agree on three people right off the bat – Jerry Rice, Joe Montana and Bill Walsh. Those are gimmes. “Each of them…
Here is my Monday column on Greg Roman. We’re in a football lull right now, but the 49ers are always in season. So, let’s dissect their most recent move, signing their promising offensive coordinator, Greg Roman, to a two-year extension through 2015. Roman is a good offensive coordinator. From 2011 to 2012, the 49ers’ offense ranked third in rushing yards and ninth in points per game. Jim Harbaugh thinks Roman…
Here is my Wednesday column on Duane Kuiper. SAN FRANCISCO – You know Duane Kuiper. He’s the play-by-play announcer for the Giants, one of the best play-by-play announcers in baseball. If you’re younger than 30, you may not know he used to play in the majors, too. He was a second baseman for the Indians and Giants in the 1970s and ’80s. He was a pretty good player, but he’s…
Here is my Tuesday column on the Seahawks-49ers rivalry. The 49ers and the Seahawks have the best rivalry in sports right now, and it isn’t even close. Here are the top five reasons why: 1. They are two of the best teams in the NFL. 2. They are in the same division. 3. Their head coaches hate each other. 4. Their players hate the other team’s coach. 5. Their players…
Here is my Saturday column on the A’s third baseman, Josh Donaldson. OAKLAND – Six hours before the A’s played the Mariners Friday night, A’s hitting coach Chili Davis and I sat on stools in an empty hallway outside the empty A’s clubhouse, and he explained to me the similarities between Josh Donaldson and Kirby Puckett as right-handed sluggers. You’ve probably heard of Donaldson by now. He’s the A’s cleanup…
Here is my Wednesday column on A.J. Jenkins. SANTA CLARA – Apparently, A.J. Jenkins is two different people. When there are no fans or media watching him, when Jenkins is all alone with his teammates and his coaches, the former first-round pick is a fantastic receiver. That’s what Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman said Tuesday. They said Jenkins had his best practices last Wednesday and Thursday, two practices which were…
This is my Thursday column on Matt Cain: Matt Cain, “The Man” on the Giants’ pitching staff, their ace, has pitched terribly the first two months of this season. His 5.45 ERA is fifth-worst in the National League, and he gave up seven earned runs in the third inning of his most recent outing, on the road against the Cardinals. Cain was like a pitching a machine at the batting…
Here is my Monday column on Eric Mangini and the 49ers. Why exactly did the 49ers hire ESPN analyst and former NFL head coach Eric Mangini as an offensive consultant? Conventional wisdom says Mangini will help 49ers’ offensive coordinator Greg Roman game-plan against opposing defenses. That’s what an offensive consultant is supposed to do, and it couldn’t hurt the 49ers to have a fresh set of eyes on their offensive…
Here is my Thursday column on the 49ers’ offense, sans Michael Crabtree. SANTA CLARA –Without Michael Crabtree, the focal point of the San Francisco 49ers’ passing attack last season, the 49ers need all of their receivers to step up – Anquan Boldin, Vernon Davis, A.J. Jenkins and anyone else who can run and catch and breathe. At an afternoon OTA session this week, Boldin stepped up. He was unstoppable. He…
ALAMEDA – The Oakland Raiders traded a 2014 fifth-round pick and a 2015 conditional late-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks for 27-year old Matt Flynn on April 1. He is the Raiders’ placeholder at quarterback until Tyler Wilson, whom the Raiders drafted four weeks later in the fourth round of the NFL Draft, takes Flynn’s job. “Matt’s our starting quarterback as we go forward right now,” Raiders’ head coach Dennis…
