NL reclaims "Senior Circuit" title

Well how about that! The National League has won an All-Star Game! It hadn't happened since 1996 but it happened tonight, with the Nationals finally pulling one out, 3-1.

As such, with the ridiculous concept of the the All-Star Game league winning having home-field advantage in the World Series still in place, Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 (the final two if necessary) of the Fall Classic will be held at one of Citizens Bank Park, Petco Park, Dodger Stadium, Coors Field, Turner Field, Busch Stadium, Great American Ballpark or Citi Field (failing some other NL team making a miraculous run). No NL team has had home-field advantage in the World Series since 2001, when the Diamondbacks used it to win all four home games in beating the Yankees and ending the Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez-Scott Brosius dynasty.

The game was poorly managed by both sides with neither side really managing to win so much as to try and get everyone in. Both Charlie Manuel and Joe Girardi seemed unsure as to what the real priority should have been. That being said, there were three heroes for the NL, two of which may even get to benefit in October from the home-field advantage:

1. Brian McCann. The game's MVP, Atlanta's catcher delivered a three-run double off Matt Thornton in the top of the seventh inning. It was the only run-scoring play of the game for the NL as the pitching-dominated theme of the first half of the season continued on in the mid-summer classic.

2. Adam Wainwright. The best pitcher in the NL since the start of last season, the Cardinals righthander was called upon to take over after his team took the lead in the last of the seventh. With one out in the inning, John Buck was credited with a double on what should have been a two-base error on Matt Holliday, who dropped the fly into left. Wainwright then walked Ian Kinsler, setting up a double play situation which is something Cardinals pitchers excel at inducing. As seems to be the case so often, Wainwright succeeded in getting the ground ball from Vernon Wells but shortstop Rafael Furcal and second baseman Brandon Phillips failed to turn it, recording only the out at second. There were runners on the corners with Torii Hunter, the hometown hero, at the plate and ready to create a legendary All-Star moment with his Angels fans going crazy. Instead, Wainwright baffled him with an array of breaking balls to record the strikeout and get out of the inning. The NL gave the AL two extra outs to work with in the frame but Wainwright didn't surrender.

3. Marlon Byrd. The Cubs had to have a representative and Byrd represented them well. He had arguably the best at-bat of the night, battling his way to a walk from Thornton to load the bases in the seventh in front of McCann, who delivered the three-run double. And in the last of the ninth, after Jonathan Broxton allowed a leadoff single to David Ortiz and struckout Adrian Beltre, Byrd threw out Ortiz at second base from right field on a would-be Buck single. Ortiz couldn't commit to running hard because he wasn't sure if Byrd would be able to catch the ball off Buck's bat or not and when it fell, Byrd easily threw out the slow-footed Ortiz.

It should be noted that the incessant need to get every player into the game prevented Girardi from pinch running for Ortiz. The only player he had left on his bench was Alex Rodriguez and Girardi didn't want to use him because of an injured thumb (and why on earth would Girardi want to use his own player if he has some sort of injury). Plus, given his recent history of hip injuries, there is no way A-Rod was going to be used as a pinch runner for Ortiz. Girardi's best play would have been to use an extra pitcher to run for Ortiz (Fausto Carmona?) and then using A-Rod if he had no other choice. Of course, he didn't do it.

The Boss dies after heart attack

George M. Steinbrenner III, one of the most important owners in sports history, has died after suffering a massive heart attack. He had just turned 80 on July 4.

Steinbrenner's 1973 purchase of the Yankees from CBS for $10 million is perhaps the greatest investment in sports history. The Yankees won World Series in 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009 under his ownership, and additional American League pennants in 1976, 1981, 2001 and 2003. Known for his candor and willingness to hire and fire managers on a whim, "The Boss" had been rather quiet in recent seasons as his health started to catch up with him. His last public appearance was on Sept. 27, 2008 at the final game at old Yankee Stadium; he was not on hand for the Yankees 2009 World Series celebration.

The Voice of God has died

RIP, Bob Sheppard.

In 2000, the Yankees held a "Bob Sheppard Day" at the previous Yankee Stadium. This is the tribute that played in the ballpark:

Reds-Phillies: the best game of 2010 so far?

I hope you were lucky enough to watch the Reds-Phillies game tonight. It may have been the best one of the season.

Reds starter Travis Wood, making just his third career start, carried a perfect game through eight innings. Unfortunately for him, his teammates never got him a run as Roy Halladay matched his zeroes, if not his perfection, going nine shutout innings of his own and striking out nine while allowing one walk and scattering five hits. Carlos Ruiz broke up the perfect game with a leadoff double in the ninth and I fully expected Dusty Baker to pull the plug on Wood but Wood pitched around it, retiring the next three hitters in succession thanks it part to Joey Votto reaching over the dugout railing to catch a Jimmy Rollins pop out with Ruiz on third and two out.

There was a critical moment in the game in the top of the eighth. The Reds got Miguel Cairo to third base with one out and had Ryan Hanigan and Wood due up. Hanigan is having a strong season with the bat but Halladay struck him out. Then came Wood, with the go-ahead run on third and two outs. The situation presented Dusty an interesting decision: pinch hit for Wood to try and get that run home in a tie game or let Wood hit for himself to preserve his chance at a perfect game. Remember, the Reds are in a pennant race, entering play two games up on the Cardinals in the NL Central. That run was vitally important. I don't think any manager would have pinch hit for Wood in that spot so I'm not faulting Dusty for letting Wood hit for himself but it is an interesting dilemma to have given the circumstances. Alas, Halladay struck him out as well.

The Reds loaded the bases in the 10th off enigmatic Phillies closer Brad Lidge but Lidge got out of it.

After failing to drive in Ruiz in the last of the ninth, Rollins got another chance to do the same in the last of the 11th, again with two outs. This time, facing Logan Ondrusek, Rollins delivered to give the Phillies a 1-0 win.

In this Year of the Pitcher, this was the best pitched game yet.

Lee to Yankees falls apart, headed to Texas instead

This morning, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that Cliff Lee was close to being traded from Seattle to the Yankees. Well, that didn't happen. The deal fell apart and now the Mariners are shipping Lee to Texas instead. Lee can wear his Rangers cap in the All-Star Game on Tuesday, then sign with the Yankees in the winter since everyone knows Scott Boras will take him to the market and the Yankees will offer him far more than the bankrupt Rangers or anyone else can.

The Mariners are kicking in money in this deal to secure better prospects. They also are receiving Texas first baseman Justin Smoak, a highly touted young hitter who came up earlier this season to play first base everyday for the Rangers. He's shown signs of promise but has struggled for most of his time in the majors.

Yankees closing in on Cliff Lee

Last year, the Yankees lost two games in the World Series and both of those were started for the Phillies by Cliff Lee. Now, the Yankees are reportedly on the verge of acquiring Lee.

Lee is 8-3 with a 2.34 ERA this season, having a preposterous 89-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio for the woeful Mariners, who acquired Lee from the Phillies this past offseason. With his contract up after the season, Seattle is eager to move him for young players and ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting that while the Yankees are close to making this deal happen, other teams are still in the running.

No matter, it's a certainty that Lee will be traded by the July 31 deadline. And when he is, it will be the third time in a year Lee has moved, going from Cleveland to Philadelphia, Philadelphia to Seattle, and Seattle to New York or somewhere else in that span. Lee is represented by Scott Boras and will seek top dollar in the offseason so even if the Yankees fail to acquire him now, it seems pretty certain they will land him as a free agent and that he will be a part of their 2011 rotation.

MLB All-Star teams unveiled

The rosters for the All-Star Game (this time it counts!) have been unveiled and I have only two comments:

1. It's time to rethink things when Evan Meek is an All-Star (quick, what team does he play for?). And Arthur Rhodes? Really? It's not like the Reds didn't have anyone else to choose from (unlike the Pirates, the team for whom Meek pitches and, to be fair, he is having a great season as an eighth inning guy). Do we really need LOOGYs on the All-Star team? Who is his one out going to be? Early prediction: David Ortiz.

2. How on earth is Omar Infante an All-Star but Joey Votto (arguably the NL MVP to this point) not?

Demolition in the desert

The Diamondbacks have cleaned house, firing manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Josh Byrnes. Byrnes, by the way, is under contract until 2015 and the Diamondbacks will have to pay him throughout.

Arizona never quite gelled after their run to the 2007 NLCS. Everyone thought they were on the verge of becoming a power in the National League with such emerging young players as Stephen Drew, Mark Reynolds, Conor Jackson, Chris Young, Dan Haren and Brandon Webb but they never could put it together again. They've been a complete mess this season.

But it sounds like everyone in baseball is dumbfounded by the firing of Byrnes. Writes ESPN.com's Buster Olney:

"Byrnes is widely regarded as a young star within the industry, and for the Diamondbacks to dump him now is a little like Al Davis' cutting ties with a young coach named Mike Shanahan. Byrnes is going to be hired elsewhere, and a lot of his peers fully expect him to thrive in his next job.

"One rival executive called the changes 'absolutely crazy.' Said another: 'That is a brutal decision. They just tore apart one of the best front offices in baseball.'"

The start of July

Here's what the next few days have in store for us...

Tomorrow: LeBron James begins his summer free agency tour while Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amar'e Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki, Carlos Boozer, Joe Johnson, Ray Allen and Shaquille O'Neal become free agents as well. (And in another sport, so do Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrick Marleau.)

Friday: World Cup quarterfinal action, Rays-Twins.

Saturday: World Cup quarterfinal action, Wimbledon women's final, Rays-Twins, Strasburg, Ubaldo, NASCAR from Daytona.

Sunday: Wimbledon men's final, Rays-Twins

Carlos Zambrano melts down (again)

Marlins fire manager for not winning with lowest payroll in MLB

The Marlins are perennially in the wild card chase even though they spend less money than any team in baseball (and even won the World Series in 2003). This got Joe Girardi fired after the 2006 season and he promptly won the World Series once he signed on to manage a team that spends money.

In 2008, in their second year under manager Fredi Gonzalez, the Marlins went 84-77. Last season, they went 87-75. This season, they are 34-36. Today, Gonzalez was fired.

In announcing the move, owner Jeffrey Loria said in a statement: "We believe we can do better and be better. We owe it to our fans to put this team in the best possible position to win. Everyone knows how I feel about winning."

Loria wants to win but he certainly doesn't want to pay for a winning team. Since 2007, Gonzalez's first season as manager, the Marlins have ranked 29th, 30th, 30th and 26th in team payroll. And in Girardi's one season (when he was named NL Manager of the Year), they were 30th. I'm sure Loria wants a medal for raising payroll out of the lowest in all of baseball this season (of course, he only did it because the MLBPA complained that they weren't putting revenue-sharing money back into the team) and claims this shows his committment to winning but the fact of the matter is that Girardi and now Gonzalez have done an outstanding job of keeping the Marlins within striking distance of the postseason despite the challenges that come with having such a low payroll.

This isn't the Pirates, whose managers have repeatedly trotted out pathetic ballclubs despite the low payrolls (haven't had a winning season since 1992, to remind you). This is a Florida team whose managers haven't used the low payroll as a crutch and who have consistently turned young players into overachievers and had them in the wild card race into the last weekend of the season.

I fully understand that the Marlins are in a terrible financial situation that cannot improve until their new ballpark opens. However, for Loria to claim that these managers are failing to win enough for his tastes is dishonest at best and asinine at the most realistic of levels. All these managers can do is get these teams to overachieve and hope that eventually they will catch lightning in a bottle and go on a spirited playoff run (like they did in 2003). To expect anything else is unfair. No manager is going to succeed under these standards.

Anyway, Gonzalez should land on his feet. Already it is being speculated that he will replace Bobby Cox in Atlanta after the season. As for the Marlins, no one is more pleased than Hanley Ramirez who can now go about his business of loafing for interim manager Edwin Rodriguez.

Picking the AL All-Stars

STARTERS
1B Justin Morneau, Minnesota
2B Robinson Cano, New York
3B Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay
SS Derek Jeter, New York
C Joe Mauer, Minnesota
OF Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle
OF Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay
OF Nelson Cruz, Texas
DH Vladimir Guerrero, Texas

Comments: I can't really complain with any of these choices. You could maybe quibble about Cruz being a starter but, if he is healthy, he's deserving of being on the team. Cano is my AL MVP leader right now and Guerrero is perhaps the Comeback Player of the Year.

INFIELDERS
1B Miguel Cabrera, Detroit
1B Kevin Youkilis, Boston
1B Paul Konerko, Chicago
2B Ty Wigginton, Baltimore
2B Dustin Pedroia, Boston
3B Adrian Beltre, Boston
SS Alex Gonzalez, Toronto

Comments: I thought about putting Billy Butler on the team but the other first basemen are more deserving and the Royals have another worthy candidate. Marco Scutaro was also considered but I went with Gonzalez instead, rewarding offense instead of defense. The Red Sox have three other players on the team and I wanted to get a few Blue Jays on to reward them for their season despite trading away Roy Halladay and having to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox (and Rays). Wigginton is the only worthy Oriole and he fits the role of a utilityman to come in should there be an injury somewhere.

CATCHERS
Mike Napoli, Los Angeles

Comments: Thought about adding Victor Martinez too but with the game in Anaheim, getting Napoli four or five innings is a good gesture for the home fans. The irony is now he's basically their first baseman, given the Kendry Morales injury.

OUTFIELDERS
Alex Rios, Chicago
Vernon Wells, Toronto
Josh Hamilton, Texas

Comments: Bravo to Wells and Rios for their bounce-back seasons. They still have hideous contracts but at least they're not total wastes of money anymore. Hamilton is having a strong year too. Magglio Ordonez was a difficult omission (another outfielder with a lousy contract who was lousy last season that has bounced back strong). I have no problem leaving off AL home run leader Jose Bautista, who has no other discernable skill.

RELIEF PITCHERS
Mariano Rivera, New York
Joakim Soria, Kansas City
Jose Valverde, Detroit
Andrew Bailey, Oakland

Comments: One of these years Rivera is going to slow down but when? He's still the best. Valverde has been outstanding for Detroit, essentially solving all of the bullpen woes they had last year. Bailey and Soria are excellent players who are here as more than just representatives for their teams. Neftali Feliz was a tough omission.

STARTING PITCHERS
David Price, Tampa Bay
Phil Hughes, New York
Andy Pettitte, New York
Fausto Carmona, Cleveland
Cliff Lee, Seattle
Doug Fister, Seattle
Brett Cecil, Toronto
Jeff Niemann, Tampa Bay
Jered Weaver, Los Angeles

Comments: Price is the starter; he has lived up to the draft hype. Hughes is showing why the Yankees were so high on him and were wise to never deal him. Carmona isn't having an elite season but a good one, which makes his Cleveland's representative. Lee may not be a Mariner by the time the game arrives and while the metrics don't support Fister at all, the results do.

Picking the NL All-Stars

I thought it may be fun to play the role of manager for the MLB All-Star Game. There are still a couple more weeks to go in fan balloting and before the teams are announced but I thought it would be worth it to fill them out as I see fit. I'm picking the teams on the basis of the actual rules that exist so there have to be 21 position players and 13 pitchers on each team. Every team has to be represented and that includes teams that really aren't Major League quality (yes, I'm talking to you, Baltimore). And for the starters, I'm going with the guys currently leading the fan balloting.

A few things I have to say though: I don't agree with every team being represented. I don't think fans should have any say whatsoever in who starts. And I really, really, really don't think this silly game should determine who gets to host Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 of the World Series. Of all the things that have happened under Bud Selig's watch, including the steroid use that he looked the other way on, that decision bothers me the second most (after failing to strike a new collective bargaining agreement that led to the cancelation of the 1994 World Series).

Let's start with the National League.

STARTERS
1B Albert Pujols, St. Louis
2B Chase Utley, Philadelphia
3B Placido Polanco, Philadelphia
SS Hanley Ramirez, Florida
C Yadier Molina, St. Louis
OF Ryan Braun, Milwaukee
OF Jason Heyward, Atlanta
OF Andre Ethier, Los Angeles

Comments: I don't see how Polanco should be starting ahead of either David Wright or Ryan Zimmerman (or Scott Rolen, or even David Freese). Same goes for Yadier Molina, although it's really a down year for catchers and his defense is so good and his ability to call a game is so good that it isn't a complete abomination.

INFIELDERS
1B Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego
1B Joey Votto, Cincinnati
2B Martin Prado, Atlanta
2B Kelly Johnson, Arizona
3B David Wright, New York
3B Scott Rolen, Cincinnati
SS Juan Uribe, San Francisco

Comments: Debated between Wright and Zimmerman and though I think Zimmerman is slightly better, I didn't have any other Mets on the team (amazing, given their record relative to the rest of the NL). Now I could have gone with Zimmerman over Rolen but I wanted to give the Reds a few position players to reflect the quality of their offense this season. I thought about going with Brandon Phillips instead of Rolen as another Red but I needed to get a Diamondback on the team so Phillips is out and Kelly Johnson in. I definitely could have gone with Phillips over Prado but Prado leads the NL in hits and given the new rule allowing one player to be brought back into the game in case of injury, I figured someone who can play a lot of positions would be beneficial so Prado got the edge. Amazing as this is, Juan Uribe is third among all shortstops in Wins Above Replacement, trailing only Troy Tulowitzki (not on the team because of his broken wrist) and Hanley Ramirez. And that's in all of baseball, meaning he has a better WAR than even Derek Jeter. So he's a deserving choice, although he wouldn't be here if Tulowitzki were healthy.

CATCHERS
Ivan Rodriguez, Washington
Miguel Olivo, Colorado

Comments: Terrible year for catchers. Olivo is having the best offensive season of any NL catcher and leads in homers so he goes. I probably should have gone with Brian McCann instead of Pudge but Pudge, despite missing time injured, is hitting over .330. Plus, I want him on the team to catch one of my pitching choices. Stay tuned on that one.

OUTFIELDERS
Corey Hart, Milwaukee
Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh
Colby Rasmus, St. Louis
Andres Torres, San Francisco

Comments: I debated between Rasmus, Torres, Hart, Jonny Gomes, Josh Willingham, Aubrey Huff and Marlon Byrd. McCutchen was a lock because he's the only Pirate even remotely deserving of a spot. I went with Rasmus because he's fourth in the NL in OPS (and second among outfielders behind Ethier), Hart because he leads the NL in homers and Torres because he's second in WAR. Byrd actually leads all NL outfielders in WAR I couldn't justify placing two Cubs on the team (especially when there is only one Met). I really considered leaving off Hart since he really only had a couple of hot weeks but am keeping him on. For now.

RELIEF PITCHERS
Leo Nunez, Florida
Billy Wagner, Atlanta
Jonathan Broxton, Los Angeles

Comments: I debated about how many closers to include and ended up omitting the deserving Francisco Rodriguez and going with just three relievers in order to accomodate an extra starter. Plus, the NL is loaded with high-end starters. So K-Rod doesn't make the cut, nor do Ryan Franklin, Brian Wilson or San Diego's setup ace Luke Gregerson. I love the season Wagner and Nunez are having and by any calculation, standard or advanced, Broxton has been the best reliever in the NL (and probably all of baseball).

STARTING PITCHERS
Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado
Adam Wainwright, St. Louis
Chris Carpenter, St. Louis
Carlos Silva, Chicago
Matt Cain, San Francisco
Roy Oswalt, Houston
Josh Johnson, Florida
Roy Halladay, Philadelphia
Stephen Strasburg, Washington

Comments: I don't care that Strasburg only has three career starts. This is an All-Star Game and the most exciting player in baseball right now is Strasburg. He is the only player in the sport people are tuning in to watch and the All-Star ratings will dive one he leaves the game (Bud Selig should tell Charlie Manuel to save him until, say, the sixth inning to keep eyeballs). His stuff is beyond electric and his performance, through three starts, is incredible. Unless he completely falls apart his next couple of starts, I want him on the team (and that's why Pudge is on the team, so he can catch him). Oswalt is the only thing close to a deserving member of the Astros, Ubaldo is quite obviously the starter (he might be my choice as midseason MVP) and Silva has had an improbably strong year given the mess he was in Seattle and the mess his team in Chicago has become.

Alright stop! Collaborate and listen!

The Yankees and Red Sox have no shot of catching the Rays, not after word has broken that Vanilla Ice will be playing at their summer concert series. If his appearance on July 9 won't draw fans to the Trop, nothing will.

Another Cubs manager is mad at Steve Stone

The pressure to end the Cubs hilarious World Series drought--headed toward 102 years come October--apparently is quite tough on their managers and they seem to take their frustration out on Steve Stone.

The long-time Chicago baseball announcer left the Cubs booth following the 2004 season when then-manager Dusty Baker and players on the team, most notably Moises Alou and Kent Mercker, grew angry when Stone and then-partner Chip Caray had to audacity to call them out on their hideous play and bad attitude. Alou tried to get them kicked off the team's charter and Mercker called the booth to complain about Stone's commentary. The Cubs were universally predicted to win the National League pennant in 2004 and instead turned into the biggest group of underachievers in the franchise's sorry history as well as the most unlikeable as they choked away a wild card lead in the season's final week. Caray left to broadcast Braves games following the campaign and Stone resigned, briefly joined ESPN and now broadcasts White Sox games.

But working for the White Sox hasn't stopped Stone from commenting on the Cubs. The popular local announcer said on Comcast Sportsnet this week that Lou Piniella "doesn't have a great grasp on what to do with young players," something the Cubs have a few of right now (Tyler Colvin and Starlin Castro being the stars of the youth movement). Piniella has turned into a raging lunatic in response:

"Steve Stone? He has enough problems doing what he does with the White Sox. What job has he had in baseball besides talking on television or radio? What has he done?

"Why isn't he a farm director and bring some kids around? Why isn't he a general manager (or) put the uniform on and be a pitching coach? Why hasn't he been a field manager? There are 30 teams out there that could use a guy's expertise like that. I'm tired of some of these guys, I really am."

Fired back Stone regarding Piniella's comments about his not having credibility because he hasn't worked in a front office or on the field: "That might be one of the dumber things he has said."

And with that, another Cubs season continues to unravel and go down the drain. They are 27-34 and Piniella seems headed out the door at season's end when his contract expires. Piniella came to the Cubs with the reputation of being one of the game's best managers but with the postseason flops of 2007 and 2008, the missed postseason last year and the horrific start to this season, even that reputation could be in jeopardy. Dusty Baker, in fact, came to the Cubs with the same stellar reputation after a string of strong seasons with the Giants that culminated in reaching the 2002 World Series. That reputation took an enormous hit in 2004 and, in fact, has spent the last few years being regarded as one of the game's poorer managers, what with the mismanagement of rosters and especially of pitching staffs. Only now, with the Reds leading the NL Central after a 15-year playoff drought, is his rep starting to be salvaged.

Clearly, the trouble with the Cubs all these years has been the candor of Stone. One thing I'm fairly sure of: Stone will still be around, offering his honest opinions in Chicago, long after Piniella is gone (I fully expect Piniella to be working for Fox or ESPN or Turner or the MLB Network at this point next season). And the next Cubs manager will be the next who can blame his team's eternal misfortune on a local broadcaster.

Was Pete Rose a cheater?

If Pete Rose used a corked bat, would that change your view of him?

I personally think he is a low-life human being and believe he should never be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame due to his betting on baseball but now Deadspin brings evidence that Rose may have used an illegally corked bat during the 1985 season in which he surpassed Ty Cobb as the game's all-time hits leader.

I'll leave it at that.

Tonight it begins

Message to Donald Sterling: SELL THE CLIPPERS

The Clippers could dominate the Los Angeles sports scene for the next 10 years. The Lakers have an older team with Kobe Bryant on the verge of entering his declining years and Phil Jackson going year-to-year. The Dodgers have a young core but a divorce in owners ruining the franchise. USC football is awaiting sanctions that could potentially wipe out their 2004 national championship and place restrictions on the program. No one cares about the Kings even though they have a potentially legendary defenseman in young Drew Doughty.

The Clippers have some good young players like Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon. All they need to become a championship contender is one LeBron James. And David Geffen wants to make it happen.

The entertainment billionaire wants to buy a majority stake of the team from the hapless Donald Sterling and believes he can then get LeBron to sign with the team. And why not? What could LeBron possibly do that would be bigger than winning a championship with arguably the worst team in all of sports? Or to challenge and take down the Lakers in the hearts of Los Angeles? LeBron can make that happen.

Sterling cannot. So the only way LeBron could possibly go to the Clippers would be if he ceased day-to-day operations of the team and sold off a majority share. LeBron is far too smart to possibly sign with the Clippers if Sterling is the majority owner. But Geffen? Hmmmm.

Color me intrigued. But I'm willing to bet Sterling will never sell, no matter how much Geffen offers.

Terrible

I'd like to thank the fans at Dodger Stadium for once again allowing me to go to a Dodgers game and not enjoy myself.

I love the Dodgers uniforms, love their tradition (even if roughly half of it is from Brooklyn), love their connection to the past, love Vin Scully and love Dodger Stadium but I absolutely cannot stand the fans at Dodgers games.

I submit they are the most obnoxious fans in all of baseball and make attending games a chore more than an enjoyment.

(And yet I'm the idiot here--I'm the one who keeps going in spite of this.)

Marv Albert leaves MNF radio; who should replace him?

Marv Albert has decided the time is right to give up football play-by-play. The voice of Monday Night Football and the Super Bowl on Westwood One radio, the Marvelous one has decided to give up the post.

Marv and Boomer Esiason were a nice listen but Albert has decided to cut back and concentrate on his basketball duties, where he is the unquestioned Voice of the NBA (even if he doesn't get to call the NBA Finals anymore). Esiason will continue on in the role.

So the big question is: who should take Marv's place? In the past couple of years, Westwood One has used the likes of Kevin Harlan, Dave Sims, Dick Enberg, Ian Eagle and Larry Kahn on NFL games. You can pretty much forget about Enberg. He wants to do baseball full-time and at his age, he would be a short-term guy and Westwood One needs to hire someone more long-term. Forget about Kahn too since his name recognition is low. Also, you may as well forget about Joe Buck and Jim Nantz, since they are the faces of their networks and probably wouldn't want to do it anyway. Besides, Buck would be unavailable for Mondays in October because of baseball's postseason and neither could call the Super Bowl for Westwood One when their network is covering the game; Buck will already be calling the next Super Bowl for Fox Sports.

That leaves Harlan, Sims and Eagle as logical in-house candidates and Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is stumping for Harlan, who does the Packers preseason games and whose father Bob was once the CEO of the Packers.

Harlan does a nice job on lower-tier CBS telecasts with Solomon Wilcots and I enjoy him calling NBA games for TNT and March Madness games for CBS. Still, he would be my second choice. My top choice? Marv's son, Fox's Kenny Albert.

Kenny Albert has steadily rose up the charts in recent years and is now Fox's No. 2 NFL announcer, working with Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa. He also seems to have ascended to their No. 2 baseball role, usually working with Tim McCarver when Buck decides he cannot be bothered to call a game. He also is NBC's No. 2 hockey announcer during the Olympics and he and Joe Micheletti did an outstanding job on the games NBC deemed lesser profile. He also calls New York Rangers and New York Knicks games for MSG.

That sounds like quite a full plate. It also sounds like a guy who likes to work and who wouldn't want to be able to call the Super Bowl? Clearly, that isn't going to happen at Fox anytime soon, where Buck is the clear No. 1 voice. Kenny Albert isn't much of an entertainer in the booth but that also makes him ideal for radio, where the description of the action is paramount. He also works really well with analysts, something he clearly inherited from his father who is probably the best ever at bringing the most out of his analysts.

The only possible drawback is that Kenny Albert probably would be unavailable to call a divisional playoff game for Westwood One because of his Fox job but that seems like a minor inconvenience to me. Use Harlan, Eagle, Sims and Kahn on the divisional games. Have Harlan and Kenny Albert call the wild card and conference championship games and give Kenny Albert Monday Night Football and the Super Bowl. Sounds like a plan to me.