‘The Franchise’ Episode 8: The Season Finale Brings Reflection

It ends tonight.

I think I would give “The Franchise: A Season with the San Francisco Giants” a solid B grade. There were times where it failed with situations in which it really had a chance to provide an interesting view — the Carlos Beltran trade and the brawl with the Philadelphia Phillies, especially.

But overall, it gave us some great personal stories, and it generally did what it was supposed to do. It gave us a pretty nice amount of access to the clubhouse. It gave us the lives of the players both on and off the field. The episode about Brian Wilson’s relationship with his father, and Tim Lincecum’s private nature was the highlight episode of the season, by far.

It may not have excelled in all fields, but I think this was a very successful endeavor for Showtime (I have yet to look up the ratings), and I hope that it is able to get a team to sign on next year. The Giants have enough characters to make a follow-up season watchable, and I think they would agree to do it. But their story has been told.

In the final episode, four players who have been profiled in detail described their experience with the series and talked about what 2011 means to them.

Pablo Sandoval talked about how much he has committed himself to his craft now, losing 40 pounds over the offseason.

Ryan Vogelsong calls his own story — a pitcher who hadn’t played in the majors since 2006 comes back and turns into an All-Star — incredible. “I think, in 2011, I was supposed to have this story happen, and you guys were supposed to be here to film it.”

Brandon Belt talked about how embarrassing it was to cry on TV when he learned that he had made the big-league club out of spring training. But his year has also been about a yo-yo-like existence between San Francisco and Fresno. “It’s been a lot of ups and there’s been a lot of times where I said, ‘Hey, I’m done.’ I had just kind of given up the year, and I just didn’t care about anything. But … I took care of business so that I can get back up here as soon as possible.”

Barry Zito’s story for 2011: “Watching my team go out there, and I couldn’t be a part of it.” Injuries have ruined Zito’s season, a year in which he is making $18.5 million and many have called for the Giants to release him.

“I hear things here and there. … I rip my own heart out daily. That’s a big thing, that I can go to sleep at night knowing that I gave 100 percent. It hurts bad that it wasn’t enough in some instances. But you take it personal. And that hurts.”

Tim Stauffer’s Tuesday Start Was Not A Walk In The Park. It Was Several

Instead of those boring headshots, I'm going to post baseball card photos from now on. You can never go wrong with baseball cards

San Diego Padres pitcher Tim Stauffer has a pretty good idea of where the ball’s going when he’s on the bump. Going into last night’s start, he had walked 43 batters in 166 innings pitched. He walked 24 in 82.2 innings last season. So, you know, he’s got pretty good control.

But last night, he turned into Rick Ankiel, circa 2000-01. OK, maybe he didn’t miss that badly, but he certainly missed a lot.

Stauffer walked seven Dodgers and only got five outs. He walked six in the second inning alone, including pitcher Hiroki Kuroda with the bases loaded and three consecutive batters in a span of 14 pitches. He threw just 25 strikes in 61 pitches and became the 11th pitcher to walk a lucky seven in a game this season. But all of those guys reached at least the fifth inning; Stauffer couldn’t get out of the second.

Stauffer became the 19th pitcher since 1919 to walk at least seven batters in less than two innings pitched. And man, look at some of the names on that list! Do you remember how bad Daniel Cabrera was? Or how Russ Ortiz won 21 games in 2003 despite walking more than 100 batters? Ben McDonald! William VanLandingham!! Bob Feller, who is one of the 16 players to ever walk more than 200 batters in a single season. That is some tasty stuff.

And thanks to Anthony Bass, who relieved Staffer after that seventh walk and then gave up a grand slam on his first pitch, Stauffer is also just the fifth pitcher since 1919 to allow at least seven runs while pitching so few innings and giving up that many walks.

But hey, at least he didn’t give up that many hits. In fact, Stauffer was so busy throwing pure junk, he gave up just one hit. We’ve had a few guys — Edwin Jackson and A.J. Burnett jump to mind — throw no-hitters while issuing walks without care. But they didn’t give up seven earned runs to go with it. Thus, Stauffer became just the third pitcher since 1919 to allow seven runs in three or fewer innings on no more than one hit. The Cubs’ Ryan Dempster actually did it twice: In 2001 with the Marlins and 2003 with the Reds.

I don’t expect this to happen to Stauffer again unless, like Ankiel, it becomes more of a mental than physical problem. There’s reason to expect that either, but there was no reason to expect he would match the Dodgers’ attendance in walks in one start.

My One College Football Prediction For 2011

It’s all pointless.

All preseason polls are worth a price somewhere between that gum on the bottom of your shoe and a used VHS copy of “Snake Eater III: His Law” starring Lorenzo Lamas. I’ve seen that movie. I believe I was nine years old, and it was the first time I saw a woman’s tunnel of love on film.

Anyway, back to college football …

I absolutely refuse to post another top-25 preseason poll. Even though everyone knows you can pretty much pick and slot whatever teams wherever you want, I put too much pressure on myself to actually be correct on something that will turn horribly wrong after just a couple of weeks. So while a bunch of bloggers will throw out their own top-25, I’m just going to pick one team. One team to NOT win the championship that will probably win the championship. Follow?

You see, I’ve been so wrong in the last two years that it actually stands out. In 2009, I said Alabama, AP preseason No. 5, was the most overrated team. I’m not sure why, but I think it had something to do with the Crimson Tide’s lack of offense. Or at least my perception that they lacked enough offense. They ended up winning the national championship.

I said Oregon, AP preseason No. 11, was the most overrated team to start 2010 because of the off-field distractions caused by LaMichael James and the loss of Jeremiah Masoli. They reached the national championship game.

So who am I tabbing as a disappointment this year and as a result, indirectly vaulting into January’s BCS title game?

I Am Clayton Kershaw’s Good-Luck Charm

Well, not really. Dude’s been pretty dominant all year long, and he’s making me feel pretty smart for picking him to win the Cy Young prior to this season.

At home, Kershaw is 10-1 in 14 starts with a 1.80 ERA. But when I’m in attendance, Kershaw turns it up a notch, obviously in an effort to impress me. On Monday, I went to my tenth Dodgers game this season and for whatever reason, Kershaw has been the starter in 40 percent of those games. In those four starts, Kershaw has allowed a total of four runs and nine walks with 32 strikeouts. He has an ERA of 1.04 and a WHIP of 0.78.

Most impressive is the fact that Kershaw has pitched 34.2 innings in those four starts. Some simple multiplication tells you how awesome that is, especially when you consider Kershaw had a really tough time just making it out of the sixth as little as two years ago. Now he leads the NL in innings pitched.

Granted, one of those games — April 21 versus the Braves — went 12 innings, but which starting pitcher is expected to throw more than nine innings in any game ever?

I will be going to one more Dodgers game this season — Sept. 21 versus San Francisco. I have no idea if Kershaw will be on the mound. I would like it if he’s not because while watching him work is really fun stuff, I’m sick of going to the games that the Dodgers actually win. But if the Giants and the Dodgers keep their rotations the same for the next three weeks and I do get to see Kershaw yet again, he’ll be matched up against Tim Lincecum. I’ve got no problem with that beauty.

Lastly, this is something that I probably would have held off writing about until one of those “Running Off At The Electronic Mouth” posts, but I really need to wean off those things. For one, they don’t get almost any views and secondly, it is kind of a cheap way to mention things (read: covering my ass) I should have written about earlier in the week.

I know I’ve said this before. But this time, I’m gonna mean it.

Running Off At The Electronic Mouth, No. XXV

Coming to you live from about a 25-minute drive north of the home of the best Little League Baseball team in the world … .

• Did anyone else find this past week really depressing? It just seemed like every story — Irene not included — had a sad center to it. None more so than the news that Pat Summitt has early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type. It’s a very naive viewpoint, but I just keep thinking about what she is going to be like as we honor her later in life for everything she has meant to women’s college basketball and women’s sports in general. I compare it to Muhammad Ali: An iconic sports figure known for toughness and ferocity, now captive in their own body.

Also, if/when the Lady Vols stumble at some point this year or next or for however long Summitt decides to keep the head coach title, who’s going to be the first bastard to hint that the team’s struggles have something to do with Summitt’s state. I’m sure someone will call it a distraction. It’s a tasteless and offensive thought, but it’s going to happen.

• Where have you gone, Javaris Crittenton? A McDonald’s All-American and Mr. Georgia Basketball in high school, he leaves college at Georgia Tech after one successful season.

He gets drafted in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers and is automatically tagged as their point guard of the future, following in the footsteps of Magic Johnson in some way.

Then traded in 2008 to the Memphis grizzlies in exchange for Pau Gasol.

Traded again that year to the Washington Wizards and pulls a gun on Gilbert Arenas in the locker room on Christmas Eve 2009.

Ends up signing with the Charlotte Bobcats for the 2010 season, but spends most of the year in the D-League.

And now, murder suspect. What a crazy fall from NBA fame in about four years time.

2011 With The Bases Loaded

In honor of the New York Yankees’ three grand slams — and absurd 16 plate appearances with the bases loaded — during Thursday’s game versus Oakland, here’s how each team is doing with the sacks packed this season through Saturday, Aug. 27.

Each team is given a plate appearances/batting average/OPS breakdown followed by its grand slam total.

Angels: 82/.233/612; one home run. They are one of five teams that have hit two triples with the bases loaded.

Astros: 112/.248/.643; two home runs. It’s not very good, but some teams wouldn’t  mind this line. Frankly, it’s a little better than I thought I’d see from Houston. Oh, and Carlos Lee sprained an ankle during Sunday’s win. That lineup is now without a single name that 95 percent of the baseball-loving public would recognize.

Athletics: 117/.223/.529; one home run. The grand salami was hit by Conor Jackson. That’s the only one on his career resume, and he has just six home runs since August 2008.

Blue Jays: 104/.277/.872; five home runs. Nope, none by Jose Bautista. But Corey Patterson’s got one!

Braves: 98/.231/.629; three home runs. The Braves have sent 26 men to the plate with the bases loaded in August — already their highest number for any month this season. Despite just three hits in 19 at-bats, they have driven in 11 runs, thanks mostly to four walks and a Jason Heyward grand slam.

Brewers: 125/.283/.636; one home run. That OPS is so low because 26 of their 30 hits have been singles. Oh, and their lone grand slam came off the bat of slugger Shaun Marcum.

Cam Newton Is No Nate Burleson

OK, this is just getting silly.

In another effort to catch up on stories I’ve missed in the past few days, I must bring up what was at least our second LeBron-powder celebration in as many weeks during the NFL preseason.

I thought it was kind of neat when Nate Burleson did it. It was sort of like a middle finger to Cleveland. And when Nate Burleson is mocking your city, that’s about as rough as it gets.

But it happened again Thursday. Cam Newton scored a rushing touchdown against the Bengals — hey, nice job wrapping up, two-six — and went back to the powder well. Form could have been tighter.

I’m left with two conclusions from this, neither of which are great for Cam.

I don’t know if he and LeBron are friends, but even if so, is this really going to become the norm for Newton? Is this going to be his celebration in the NFL? Newton is such a unique talent, it would be kind of lame if the best end-zone move he could come up with is something that already has a much more successful owner.

OR … was Newton trying to follow in Burleson’s footsteps and attempting to insult the Bengals’ fans? If so, someone should probably tell him that while he was indeed in Ohio, people in Cincinnati don’t give a rat’s ass about the misfortune of their rivals sitting on Lake Erie. If anything, Bengals fans applauded Newton for that gesture because it reminded them of how much Cleveland basketball sucks these days.

I would guess that Newton has been getting a lot of cheers from opposing crowds during this preseason.

Vin Scully Is Coming Back For His 63rd Season With The Dodgers

First of all, just think about doing anything professionally for 63 years. Hell, I suspect that living for 63 years is hard enough. But yes, Vin Scully will be back in 2012 for his 63rd season broadcasting Dodgers baseball.

One thing about that Times headline: Not even God needs to give Vin Scully the “OK” to return to work. When you have basically changed the profession over the course of seven decades, inadvertently launched thousands of copycats and simply become a baseball and pop culture icon, I think you have carte blanche over the highest of powers. Even Frank McCourt knows this. No one in Los Angeles, Dodger fan or otherwise, is ready for Eric Collins full time.

When I first saw the news, I simply thought, “Well, of course he’s coming back.” It can’t be any other way. He is the Dodgers. How could he possibly leave the game? It’s just expected that he’ll be there every spring. I take it for granted. From time to time, I’ve tried to stop myself and envision watching Dodgers baseball without that sound. But I can’t fool myself. Scully must be immortal.

‘The Franchise’ Episode 7: Barry Zito’s Tough 2011 Season, On And Off The Field

Odds are that if you are reading this now, you’ve already seen this week’s episode of “The Franchise.” I’m writing this more than 48 hours after its debut, but for the sake of continuity — and to prevent myself from beating up myself all weekend about not getting around to writing about this episode — I’m going to write about this episode. And hey, if you haven’t seen episode yet, it’s all new to you, right?

Episode seven finds the Giants in peril. They have lost their grip on first place in the National League West and are fighting through their season-long hitting  slump* without so many regulars due to injury.

* I guess you can’t really call a season-long anything a slump. They are who they are, and the 2011 San Francisco Giants are not a good scoring team.

One of those ailing players is Barry Zito, who is the focus for the majority of the episode. This season has been the worst of his career for many reasons, and his overall failure since arriving in San Francisco is examined. However, Zito keeps a sunny disposition with the public as many keep calling for him to get sent packing.

“The expectations, I haven’t met them. It’s obvious and it’s not something I’m proud Of. I am proud of the fact that I keep going out there and I keep seeing the fans in an optimistic way instead of putting the wall up and saying, ‘You know what? Everyone go screw yourself.’”

Zito hasn’t pitched in the majors since July. During a rehab start this month, he sprained his right ankle. Badly. How badly?

Running Off At The Electronic Mouth, No. XXIV

I like to post stuff on here that amuses me and nothing has made me laugh more this week — insultingly so — than this question: Is Jim Thome a Hall of Famer?

Hmm …. eighth player in history to hit 600 home runs.

Eighth-most walks of any player behind only Mantle, Yaz, Morgan, Williams, Ruth, Rickey and Bonds.

Fifteen complete seasons with a slugging percentage of at least .500. Only Gehrig, Foxx, Manny, Musial, Ruth, Williams, Aaron and Bonds have more.

Ten complete seasons with at least a .400 on-base percentage, equal with Greenberg, Cochrane, Anson, Gehringer and Wagner. There’s a reason why all of these players can be identified by just one half of their name.

Thome has a career WAR of 71.5. Forty-five HOF-eligible players have a higher mark and just three of them aren’t in the Hall. Those players would be turn-of-the-20th-century shortstop Bill Dahlen; Jeff Bagwell, who has a pretty good case for induction; Pete Rose, who did that thing with the money thing.

My favorite stat: Thome joins Ruth and Bonds as the only two players with more than 600 homers and 1,700 walks.

And maybe most importantly today, no plausible steroid accusations.

But he’s been a designated hitter for too long! Wasn’t a problem for HOF supporters of Paul Molitor.

But he strikes out too much! Seemed to be overlooked when Reggie Jackson’s name came up.

But he never won an MVP Award! Then you need to evict a bunch of players from the Hall, including Eddie Mathews. In fact, Eddie Mathews finished in the top-15 in the MVP voting four times. Thome has done him two better.

The problem with Thome is perception. He wasn’t blessed with a ton of athleticism. He is not outstanding with the glove. He isn’t flashy, never talks in the third person and doesn’t get caught in tabloid headlines. He was never considered to be the best player in the game for any length of time.

But the numbers are all there even past the home runs. He’s a no-brainer for the Hall of Fame and the fact that the question is even being asked is indeed insulting.

Just Restating The Obvious: NFL Preseason Games Don’t Matter

Sure, they matter to players who need to either get their reps in before the start of the season or impress somebody just to make the team. They matter to coaches who need to evaluate exactly what they are dealing with. They matter to owners who make regular-season money off of preseason tickets.

But really, they don’t matter.

So the New England Patriots’ offense has been exceptional, eh? As of Sunday morning, only the Patriots have scored more points this August than the Detroit Lions. The reigning AFC West champs, the Kansas City Chiefs, have looked dismal and are busy complaining about issues where they are completely in the wrong. John Beck and Rex Grossman have been very productive while the Washington Redskins have gotten the best of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts.

Great.

Don’t care.

Preseason success or failure foreshadows nothing. Maybe you already know this, but here’s a reminder using preseason records of some of the NFL’s best and worst teams from the previous five seasons.

The Good (48 or more wins since 2006)

New England Patriots: 9-11, including an 0-4 record in 2008. That team won 11 games and barely missed the playoffs with Matt Cassel at quarterback. They went 2-2 during the 2007 preseason. Then they didn’t lose another game until February. They have won 63 regular-season games since 2006, the most of any team by a wide margin.

Nate Burleson Just Made About 400,000 More Enemies

Do you know how bad it has gotten for the Cleveland Browns and their fans?

Go ahead, ask …

(How bad has it gotten?!) Yeah, thanks.

It’s gotten so bad that even the Detroit Lions have no problem poking fun at their city. Case in point, Nate Burleson, who scored a touchdown during Friday’s preseason game in Cleveland and then decided to hit ‘em in a still-sensitive area: LeBron.

Unfortunately, I can’t embed the video, so scroll down the list of clips here, and push play on “Nate Burleson 4-yard TD” to watch him mimic LeBron’s powder … thing. I don’t know, it’s not really a celebration. Introduction? Whatever. Just watch the clip. It’s pretty funny when you consider the team and the player doing the teasing.

I don’t care too much for the NFL’s preseason. Most things that happen during this month end up being overrated, and I usually turn the games on TV just for background noise and in hopes of seeing something like a second-rate wide receiver mocking fans after a meaningless score.

Oh, and this just in: Larry Fitzgerald sees your preseason and spits in its hypothetical face, ya dig? Despite the annoying soundtrack to that clip, I’d say Fitz is ready to go.

A Specific Count Of Walk-Off, Pinch-Hit Grand Slams

This former pitcher made a game-winning contribution with a bat Tuesday night

No part of Tuesday’s baseball action was more exciting than what took place in a game against the always-hapless Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros, who are in the early stages of what seems to be a lengthy existence as baseball’s worst team.

Through Wednesday, there have been 186 walk-off wins. Five of them took place Tuesday, but no one this season has stepped to the plate fresh off the bench with the bases loaded in the ninth inning and sent the fans home happy with a grand slam. That is until Brian Bogusevic met Carlos Marmol. There’s been a lot of focus on Marmol, who has blown five saves in which he’s allowed multiple runs; only Joakim Soria has more such outings.

But Bogusevic is the real story considering the lack of reasons to be positive about the Astros now and for a few seasons into the future, and the fact that Bogusevic now has all of two major league home runs to his credit.

I know some guys have hit a grand slam in their first at-bat in the big leagues — I remember the Red Sox’s Daniel Nava and the Marlins’ Jeremy Hermida. But I have serious doubts that anyone before Bogusevic can do what he did Tuesday after just one career homer. I guess we’ll find out with this post.

And Now, Random Things About Three-Base Hits

For the sake of this post, the all-time leader in triples with 309

Continuing with what I said I was going to write Tuesday night, I should have gotten to this yesterday. Alas …

Tuesday night was a big one for triples. At least, it was the biggest one in about 15 months. There were 12 triples coming from five different games and nine players. The total was the most on a single night since May 29, 2010. There were 14 triples that night.

Half of Tuesday’s triples came from just three players as the White Sox’s Alejandro de Aza, the Padres’ Nick Hundley and the Marlins’ Bryan Peterson recorded two each. Prior to that, July 27, 1958 was the last time three players tripled twice in the same day. That trio had a couple familiar names involved — the Athletics’ Roger Maris and Bill Tuttle, and the White Sox’s Luis Aparicio.

Yes, Tuttle and Maris tripled twice for the same team in the same game. That hasn’t happened since 1966, and only once in Baseball-Reference.com recorded history has a team ever had three players triple twice in the same game.

But with everything said about triples on Tuesday, de Aza and his White Sox teammates owned the night. They beat the Indians, 8-7, in 14 innings with the help of five triples. It was almost shocking that it lasted “only” 14 innings. I thought we were definitely headed for another 19-inning marathon with all of the runners who were being left on base after each damn inning. “Hawk” Harrelson was almost ready to cry in the booth.

Those five triples were the most in White Sox franchise history since 1920 when “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and Co. recorded six triples twice — May 20 and Sept. 17. Of course, Eddie Collins was the only player who tripled in either of those two games to play baseball past that season. The Black Sox Scandal marked the end for Jackson, Happy Felsch and others.

In a broader scope, the White Sox were responsible for the 42nd game with at least five triples from one team since 1919. It was the most in a game since 1986 when the Phillies recorded five versus the Cubs. The White Sox share the American League record with those six triples — they’ve done it at least three times that I can find.

The Baltimore Orioles had nine triples in a game versus the Cleveland Spiders on Sept. 3, 1894. In more modern times, the Pittsburgh Pirates put up eight triples against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 30, 1925.  That came about a month after the Pirates had seven triples versus the Cubs, the game in which Pie Traynor, Clyde Barnhart and Johnny Morrison became the first and only trio of teammates to each notch two triples in one game.

‘The Franchise’ Episode 6: The Light Shines On Tim Lincecum — And He Probably Hates It

I’ve wondered why this show hasn’t given us more information into the life of Tim Lincecum. He’s one of the Giants’ best players, one of the best starting pitchers in the game. He’s always struck me as a cool, interesting cat. You know, with a devil-may-care approach. He has the physical stature of a 12-year-old boy but has been overwhelming MLB hitters for five seasons.

Yet, we’ve barely gotten a glimpse of him on camera. In the entirety of what we’ve been shown through five episodes, I think Lincecum has said maybe two or three sentences. And in episode six, the lack of attention made sense. Lincecum wants none of it.

The first five or six minutes of the episode are all about Lincecum and how it is to be him. We follow him as he signs jerseys and balls for rabid hordes of fans. He makes it through one crowd and gives an audible “whew.” Because really, Lincecum finds all of the attention, in his words, “overwhelming.”

“Whether it’s media or fans or just friends you haven’t talked to in 10 years, it just becomes I wouldn’t say a pain in the ass — it’s just something close to that. So I’ve always been one to kind of shy away from it.”

And right after that quote, there’s the scene from the White House when President Obama singled out Lincecum during his speech to the team when it visited last month. When Obama turned to find Lincecum among the players, he appropriately tried to duck out of view.

It’s almost painful to listen to him speak about being in the public eye. He has the talent, the uniqueness and the fans to take over San Francisco, but he just wants to chill at home, playing some video games. While I’m sure many who’ve covered him since 2007 know this all too well now, I was really surprised to learn just how private Lincecum is outside of the clubhouse. He probably hates what Showtime is doing with the team for the summer.

And I think it makes for an interesting personality study. You have two baseball players in their late 20s on the same team who like hanging out together and are two of the best in the sport at their respective job. But with Lincecum and Brian Wilson, you have people who are on completely opposite ends of the social spectrum. That kind of contrast just makes for an interesting thought.

Thanks To Tuesday, There Are A Few Cool Baseball Numbers To Calm Me

I like coming on here and pointing out baseball happenings that strike my fancy every now and then. Most of my ideas come from things I see while flipping through the DirecTV package that night or when I’m actually at a game. And for the past week, I’ve been dying — yes, literally — to talk about team cycles in one inning.

See, I went to Wednesday’s Phillies-Dodgers matinée at Chavez Ravine, where 12:10 p.m. starts are an absolutely beautiful thing. In the second inning, the Dodgers hit for the cycle. After a couple of one-out walks, Matt Kemp singled and Juan Rivera hit a three-run home run. Following yet another walk, Dioner Navarro doubled and Jamey Carroll tripled. Jesus, that’s an awful lineup.

Anyway, I know that team cycles in one inning aren’t exactly the rarest of birds. I’ve heard of them in passing many times before, and the Royals actually did the trick against the Yankees tonight. But I just wanted to check it out, just see how much of the game they do own.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find my answer. I e-mailed my go-to site, Baseball-Reference.com, about it but got a response stating the website doesn’t have the capability right now to give stats within an inning. “Hopefully we will add this capability at some point in the future, though.”

Oh, boo.

These are the kind of things that depress me. I’ve been trying to find a suitable replacement to fill this hole in my heart, but nothing felt right.

Until today when the gods seemed to smile and give idiots like me not one, but three decent, semi-historical, number-centric subjects to talk about: triple plays, team triples in one game and walk-off grand slams.

Running Off At The Electronic Mouth, No. XXIII

I’ll begin with the end of Dan Uggla’s 33-game hitting streak, which didn’t continue today thanks in large part to a ridiculous running catch by the Cubs’ Darwin Barney.

But does anyone really care that much? Sure, in Georgia and in areas of the Southeast, I’m sure many were glued to their seat for every at-bat. There just didn’t seem to be a lot of hype surrounding Uggla’s chase of 56 elsewhere. Maybe it’s just me as I’ve been too wrapped up in the crazy last few weeks in the NFL, or the fact that I live on the West Coast. Maybe Uggla lacked a certain flair. Maybe it’s because Uggla is a .230 hitter who was gunning for one of the most storied offensive records in the sport.

Uggla’s hitting streak was the fourth-longest since the turn of the century. For whatever reason, I seem to remember a lot more attention being paid to Luis Castillo in 2002, Chase Utley in 2006 and Jimmy Rollins in 2005-06. Even Andre Either’s 30-game streak earlier this year took up more of our time. Again, my perception may be warped because I live near Los Angeles, but I think people will have a hard time remembering 5-10 2-3 years from now what Uggla did this season because it wasn’t really treated as a big deal in the moment.

Still … 33 games with a hit in a row! That is freaking impressive.

It’s Great To Have Actual NFL Football Games Back. But For Fantasy Purposes, Let’s Not Get Carried Away

I’ve immersed myself in NFL preseason games over these past few days.

It’s meaningless right now, but it’s just nice to see the players back on the field in live competition. It’s cool to get a look at Vick, Brees, Rodgers, Peterson, Calvin, etc. It’s neat to check out all of the players sporting new colors. So far, Matt Hasselbeck in a Titans jersey has been the strangest look for me to get accustomed. And it’s good to get a first glance at some of the high-profile rookies.

It’s meaningless right now, but jobs are at stake. Depth charts need to be solidified. Players are coming back from injuries and/or trying to prove to us that they’ve still got something left in the tank. Quarterback competitions are on the stove. Unknowns may pop out of nowhere to claim starting gigs.

But … oh yeah, it’s meaningless right now. I’m writing this post for one reason: It seems like everyone wants to build narratives on players after just one preseason game. Mike Vick was outstanding. Ray Rice got stuffed.

Colt McCoy was “near perfect.“

The 49ers’ defense stopped the Drew Brees-led Saints cold.

Tim Hightower was impressive versus the Steelers.

And the new folk hero, Stevan Ridley, is already the subject of articles with really bad puns.

There are so many similar stories floating out their over the past 72 hours, and you know what you should take away from all of it?

Nothing.

It’s week one of the preseason. Some veterans, such as Charles Woodson, got the night off. Some players just aren’t playing as hard as to save their bodies from injury. We still have about a month to go before everything matters. So much can change, it’s just way too soon for anyone to be using these preseason performances to foreshadow possible regular-season success. For me, that should come no earlier than the third preseason game for each team, when the first-stringers will play about a half before letting the backups and fodder take over.

Until then, enjoy looking at the post-lockout action, the rookies, the fantasy studs, the old faces in new places. And pray against injuries.

Just please don’t put any stock into what these guys do in these games for at least a couple of more weeks.

And really, you’re smarter than to trust a single Mike Shanahan running back.

UPDATE: Carlos Zambrano Reaches A New — And Maybe His Final — Low

If you can say only one thing about Carlos Zambrano, it’s that he is predictably unpredictable.

In other words, he’s crazy.

Keeping his emotions in check on the mound has always been a major task for Zambrano, even though we’ve repeatedly heard how he’s worked hard to change. However, he always seems to relapse. And tonight, he was at it again, in the middle of an incident that may have marked the end of his career.

First of all, Zambrano got absolutely pounded tonight by the Atlanta Braves.

Over.

And over.

And over.

And over again.

By now, Zambrano was pretty fed up. Five home runs allowed in 4.1 innings. He became the first pitcher this season to give up that many long balls in such a short outing. Zambrano could have just shook his head and trudged along, trying to make the best out of a bad situation.

Or he could just take the coward’s way out and try to find a way to get ejected from the game as quick as possible.

Guess which route Carlos chose?  Oh, how shocking.  He knew perfectly well what he was doing. He knew he wanted no more of that game.

During the last 30 seconds of that clip, I’ve tried my best to read lips; I would love to hear what Aramis Ramirez said in the middle of that huddle. Because he looks seriously annoyed, and I’m pretty sure it’s not because of anything the Braves did.

And notice how quickly Zambrano walked off the mound and then gave that little smirk in the dugout as he gathered his stuff and headed down into the tunnel. So maybe that anger management is working after all. Zambrano doesn’t appear to be a loud-mouth jerk anymore; now he’s a quiet, cold jerk.

But wait — it gets better!

‘The Franchise’ Episode 5: It’s Getting Worse And Worse

Am I expecting too much, or are the people at Showtime just running out of content? Please tell me. I said last week that the fourth installment of “The Franchise” left something to be desired.

This week, it was even worse.

This most recent episode of “The Franchise: A Season With The San Francisco Giants” had all the makings of fantastic television.

The brawl with the Philadelphia Phillies

A close division race as the season winds down.

Aaron Rowand’s two-time struggle dealing with a broken face, something that was aforementioned.

The result? Extremely lacking.

I think Friday’s brawl was the subject that most fans of the show were eagerly anticipating in this episode. I know I was. Luckily for us, it was mentioned. But that’s all it was — a mention. Nothing insightful was given. Unlike what I expected, no curse words from anyone during the fight were added. With so many players miked up, how can there be nothing entertaining to share with the world from that incident??? I have to think the Giants struck down any “conversations” that took place during the scrum from making the final cut.

The most entertaining tidbit associated with the fight that came from a radio show caller who said, “Eli Whiteside looked like he was ready to fight Kimbo Slice.” When asked after the game, Whiteside said “no comment” about the fight, and Shane Victorino said he thought Ramon Ramirez — you know, the “illegal alien” — meant to throw at him. But I wanted so much more. And it’s too bad that it wasn’t given to us.