After all the hype and after all the expectations, we have to admit the steroid report was pretty much a yawner. We wanted names, damnit, lots and lots of names. Juicy names. Big names. Super Colossus Names. Instead we got Gregg Zaun. Bo-ring. The list was mainly a bunch of journeymen and never-were's from the 90's and who cares about them? Wasn't this whole thing about nailing the big boys? more ›

Here's todays sports news more ›

Here's todays sports news more ›

First it was the flack over the Home Run Derby and snippy comments from Magowan. Then it was the re-signing of Brian Sabean and further snippy comments from both Magowan and Sabean. After that came the slump, the all-around crappy July and the tired legs that led to some gleeful whisperings that maybe Barry just might not be able to do it. Add it all up and what do you get? A really angry Barry. You wouldn't want to see him when he's angry. more ›

Here's todays sports news more ›

Here's todays sports news more ›

Here's todays sports news more ›

-We'll say this about the Warriors-- they got some gumption. After a series of not so great games and the shellacking at the hands of the Spurs, the Warriors went out and beat the mighty Suns. They started off scoring 45 points in the first quarter and then held onto win 124-119. J-Rich scored 36 points, 24 of them on 8 three- point plays. Stephen Jackson had 29 points and Brittle Baron had 21. They are now only a game behind the Clips for the last and final playoff spot. more ›

Last night, we went to last night's Warriors/Cavs game, a game the Warriors lost in overtime. Now, we'll let Basketball Chris do the analysis and post-game wrap up, but we wanted to make an observation of our own. Mainly, that we went to see Lebron and we were disappointed. But not surprised. more ›

The Oakland A's will win the American League West. Yes, this year! We (SFist) are not accustomed to making barrel-chested predictions that eventually turn to fool's gold as it often does on ESPN's "Baseball Tonight" -- we're merely pointing out the obvious: the Oakland A's will win the AL West this year. Despite their anemic, Milton Bradley-less performance last night at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels and Joe Saunders-- who they made seem like a young Ron Guidry than the junk-ball throwing Tommy John clone that he is-- the A's will win more of those tightly-sewn games than the Angels, or god forbid, the perennial flame-out Texas Rangers. And they'll do it without resident genius Billy Beane making a nano-move during the trade deadline frenzy. more ›

Jon was going to write up a blurb about the Giants taking 2 out of 3 from the D-Backs, but he was way-laid by a prawn quesidilla at Taco Bell. And yes, you might be thinking to yourself that Taco Bell doesn't serve prawn quesidillas but Jon forgot. He still isn't sure what he ate. Since the Giants' keys to victory were so easy to figure out, in his place and writing up today's Giants blurb will be the President of the United States of America, George W. Bush. See, what the Giants need to do is to win. You have to win to make it to the playoffs. And the Giants? They won. They beat the Arizona Diamondboys 8-2. They have now won two in a row. That's better than losing two in a row. more ›

Brian Sabean might not admit it, but when your team is eleven games under .500 and you suddenly announce that it's time for the kids to play, that's what they call in the business as rebuilding. And when it happens in June, a third of the way into the season, that's called "say goodnight, Gracie." Gone is reliever Jim Brower and Al Levine. Rumored to be going is Edgardo (for Kaz Matsui and Kaz Ishii?!). Over is the J.T.-era as J.T. announced that Felipe wants to start Lance Neikro. Also probably gone is Marquis Grissom, once more DL bound and being replaced by the still hot Jason Ellison. And say hello to your new friends, Jesse Foppert, Todd Linden and Jack Taschner. more ›

is reporting that Major League Baseball is investigating Barry Bonds and looking into his various troubles. Dude has 99 problems and, yes, a, umm, "woman" is one. Let's see, there's possible income tax evasion, possible perjury, and the whole steroid thing. And then there's the latest problem- the surgeon who performed Barry's latest knee surgery, a Dr. Albert Ting, has been reprimanded twice by the California State Medical Board and is on probation for "unprofessional conduct." Among one of those things he’s been accused of is prescribing:

"dangerous drugs and controlled substances to friends and acquaintances, particularly athletes, for whom he kept no medical records or for whom the medical records were fictitious, inadequate or inaccurate."

We spent the past few months obsessing over the Giants' offseason moves and the past few weeks wondering if all of our worst fears about the team's collective age were coming true. We spent Tuesday afternoon at opening day at the ballpark and, looking down on the diamond as the Giants soundly beat the hated Dodgers 4-2, we came to this simple conclusion: the 2005 Giants are a really good team and we're really looking forward to watching them play for the next six or, hopefully, seven months. Sure, they're going to miss Barry Bonds, BALCO scandal and all, while he's out recuperating from his third minor knee surgery of the past three months (and if he's out for much more than the fifteen days he's slated to be on the disabled list, they're going to struggle mightily stay in the NL West race), but Brian Sabean has built a team that's so solid on the mound, at the plate, and in the field that they can withstand the absence of even the best player in the game, at least for a while. And yesterday's game displayed that perfectly. With the perfect weather, beautiful park, and great baseball, Giants fans couldn't have asked for too much more from the team (and they had a lovely time booing Jeff Kent all day long). more ›

SFist fully admits to being a fantasy sport geek, although just how big of a fantasy geek we are, we will never let anyone know. Suffice to say that our in-depth knowledge of the Brewers farm system ranks us pretty high. We also have to admit that for whatever reason, we've been having trouble getting into fantasy baseball this season. Early spring weather? An actual job? Too much time posting on SFist? Who knows. We do know, however, that we just got the kick in the pants we needed to start reading through all those super-exciting fantasy baseball books. It was announced yesterday that Yahoo! and the San Francisco Giants are teaming together for a new contest in which the winner of this years' fantasy baseball league will get a job working with Giants GM Brian Sabean. more ›

Making official something that's been talked about for months, Major League Baseball today announced that the 2007 All-Star Game will be held at the Stadium Formerly Known as Pac Bell Park. Isn't it nice to have some news about Bay Area baseball that doesn't involve injecting things in people's asses? The Giants last hosted the Midsummer Classic in 1984 and also held one in 1961, a game remembered primarily for pitcher Stu Miller getting blown off the mound by the Candlestick wind. more ›

First thing is, you gotta understand that at least one SFist writer obsesses over the Giants to a damned near unhealthy point and scours the internet on a fairly regular (constant?) basis looking for Giants orts. So it's pretty rare when significant San Francisco baseball news reaches him through the papers first. Today, though, the Chron had a pretty sweet scoop when it reported that the Giants have all but signed Florida closer Armando Benitez to a three-year $21 million deal. Once he passes a physical, which could happen as soon as today, Thunderbirds are Go and the Giants look like the team to beat in the NL West, especially if they sign a legit bat to hit behind Barry Bonds. more ›

For a trial that's supposed to be leak proof, this whole BALCO mess is leaking all over the place. In response to charges of misconduct brought on by details of the investigation leaking, , the court leaked documents on Friday detailing an interview Federal Agents had with Barry Bonds' personal trainer Greg Anderson ("Barry Bonds' Personal Trainer Gary Anderson", of course, pretty much being his new name). In the report, Anderson named several Giants' players as users of steroids. Those Giants included Bobby Estalella, Armando "Brian Sabean Suckered the Pirates Into Trading Me For Jason Schmidt" Rios, and 2002 playoff hero Benito Santiago. Anderson denied giving Bonds' anything, but when presented with evidence showing that he had, Anderson stopped the interview saying that "he didn't think he should be talking anymore because he didn't want to go to jail." This follows the story from several weeks ago in which the Chronicle said they had secretly recorded tapes of Anderson in which he talked about giving the undetectable steriod known as "the clear" to Bonds. Anderson's lawyer denied the charges. As did BALCO head Victor Conte more ›