San Francisco Bay Area

The Giants offense has been lifeless over the past week and now, their best offensive threat is injured.  Third baseman Pablo Sandoval broke the hamate bone in his right hand while taking a swing in Washington on Friday and will have surgery to remove it this Tuesday in Arizona.  He will likely miss at least 4-6 weeks, accordin

All Major League Baseball stadiums have their own sets of appeal and charm—whether the history of Wrigley Field or the beauty of a new building like Target Field.

The debate as to what stadium is the greatest in the league is one that has raged on for many decades, and I would imagine that it will not be dying down any time soon.

What I wanted to do was to attack this argument from a different angle—taking the actual stadium itself out of the conversation.

Tim Lincecum is the face of the San Francisco Giants, but in a time where team loyalty is down and money is king, is it possible that he and other beloved Giants will end up elsewhere?

If there was ever a pitcher in baseball who deserves a lifetime contract extension, it would be Tim Lincecum.

Tim Lincecum has already etched his name in Giants history. His is the stuff of legend, and he's only in his fifth major league season.

The Giants right-hander won back-to-back National League Cy Young awards in his first two seasons, becoming the only pitcher in major league history to accomplish that feat.

He led all of baseball in strikeouts in each of his first three full big-league seasons.

The panda is, by nature, a docile creature.

DreamWork's Kung Fu Panda was a lovable novice who needed to learn how to harness his considerable talents.

Lovable though he may be, the 2011 version of Pablo Sandoval resembles neither a kung fu panda nor a real one.

That’s why it may be time for a new nickname.

It's a wonderful thing baseball is back.  After a long cold winter, we can finally get back to spring time, warmth, and baseball.

Now that we can enjoy our pastime again, we can get back to the traditions that we practice for every baseball game.  Sure different teams have different traditions, but these traditions bind us from one generation to the next.

Traditions are one of the most important parts of baseball.  Here is a list of the top 25 traditions in baseball stadiums:

Coming into Monday's opening game of a three-game series between the Giants and Rockies at Coors Field, the buzz around baseball was how the Colorado Rockies have surged to a 12-3 start right out of the gate in 2011.  Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki have been called the best 1-2 offensive punch in the game and the Rockies seemed to be unstoppable.

Aaron Rowand has been a certified pariah since his first season in San Francisco.

His performance at the plate has not endeared him to the fans or management, and it showed with his reduced role in the latter half of the 2010 season.

Was what Jackie Robinson endured and accomplished as significant as what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did?  If so, then why doesn’t Jackie have a national holiday like Dr. King has in his honor?

Perhaps no holiday because the world hasn’t seen any vivid images of Jackie being sprayed down with water hoses or being hauled off to jail.  I’ll deal with the first question later here.

When the San Francisco Giants called up Matt Cain in August of 2005, he made his debut as the second youngest pitcher in the major leagues.  Now in his seventh season as a big leaguer, Cain is a seasoned veteran with a laundry list of accomplishments to his credit.  He finished last year's World Championship season with a 13-11 record with a 3.14 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 177 strikeouts, 61 walks, 223 innings pitched and four complete games (including two shutouts).