The Nightcap

If you were to make a list of the early candidates for the NL Cy Young Award, one of the very first names would have to be Chris Young. He's 3rd in the league in ERA (2.14), 2nd in WHIP (1.09), 1st in opponents' batting average (.197), 4th in strikeouts per 9 innings (8.38), and 9th in wins (8). Yet somehow, Chris Young is not an All-Star this year, at least not according to the coaches and players. He is however a candidate on the Final Vote ballot at MLB.com, but given that more popular names such as Carlos Zambrano and Roy Oswalt are also listed, I'm skeptical that Young will get his rightful honor. Normally, I could care less about All-Star appearances, but for such an egregious oversight to be made is ridiculous. Don't be surprised if this error comes back to haunt the NL when they loses any chance at home field advantage in the World Series after the AL shells "all-star" Brian Fuentes and his 6 blown saves and 4.17 ERA...

Barry Bonds made a late charge with voters and was announced as a starter, which means Bud Selig is now looking for excuses as to why he won't be able to attend the game this year...

In a move that was surprising only in its timing, Mike Hargrove resigned today as head coach of the Seattle Mariners. During his press conference, Hargrove said he initially made the decision to resign on June 20, however general manager Bill Bavasi asked him to delay his announcement until the all-star break. In perhaps related news, it was June 21 that Joe Girardi turned down an offer from the Baltimore Orioles to be their head coach. This is pure speculation, but could it be that Bavasi contacted Girardi on the 20th to let him know that the Mariners position would soon be available? Bavasi is on the hot seat in Seattle, and hiring a hot name like Girardi could go a long way towards helping him save his job...

Waking up early on a Monday is something I usually try to avoid, but there's more rain in the forecast for London, England and Ana Ivanovic is scheduled to compete at around 8 am PST. That could make for some captivating television...

Cristie Kerr won the LPGA US Open today, beating out #1 player Lorena Ochoa. Of course, nobody bothered to watch because Michelle Wie had already withdrawn from the tournament. As much as the other players on the tour resent Michelle Wie, they absolutely need her if they want their sport to gain any sort of prominence. Maybe the LPGA should start putting remote guidance into her balls so she can make some cuts and boost ratings?...

The Lakers finally made a move that should make Kobe Bryant at least a little bit happier, agreeing to a 6 yr, $30 million contract extension with Luke Walton. Walton is Kobe Bryant's kind of player- meaning that Luke is more than happy to just pass the ball off to Kobe and rebound his misses...

By the way the research on that previous article included an added bonus that I wasn't expecting. The front page of the sports section of the LA Times website includes a picture of Christine Daniels- formerly Mike Penner, the sportswriter who hated his penis- and well, it's just as scary as you might imagine. Seriously, I think Barry Bonds made a more convincing woman last year at spring training.

Lastly, thanks to everyone who checked out the site over the weekend for my in-depth analysis of the NBA draft. It goes to show that Manny Coon's sage advice extends to all realms of art - even sports blogs. (If you're pressed for time, you can forward to the 3 minute mark. Warning, the clip does contain some language that may not be work appropriate.)