SF Examiner: A's lineup needs more pop to back pitching

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

Say this for the Oakland A’s. The commissioner of baseball hasn’t felt the need to commandeer them, as he did the Los Angeles Dodgers.

At least the people who run the A’s still are controlling their direction. Or misdirection.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Red Sox Nation Invades Oakland

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

OAKLAND — The old Mausoleum wasn't so empty or quiet Tuesday night. The exes were there, as in expatriates, as in Red Sox fans who wouldn't go back to New England for all the tea once dumped into Boston Harbor, but for reasons you don't want to hear cling preciously to the old ball club.

It's an interesting matchup when the Bosox, as the headlines in the old Sporting News called them, show up in Oakland. An interesting contrast too.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2011

RealClearSports: For Bonds, No Jail, No Hall

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

SAN FRANCISCO — Feel safer now? The feds got Barry Lamar Bonds. Barely. They took their money, which is our money, and spent it in an attempt to show that Bonds had lied, which he may have done but also which the feds were unable to prove.

No perjury, which is lying under oath. Just obstruction, which ironically in baseball allows the runner to go to the next base.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2011

SF Examiner: Defense is Giants' No. 1 concern

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

So right field has turned into the Magical Mystery Tour. And as with last year, the offense seems to be a mystery of its own. Still, the season is not quite two weeks old, and if Giants fans seek a sense of perspective they are urged to check out the disaster that is the Boston Red Sox.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Despite scandal, slugger Barry Bonds' legacy remains fully intact

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

The numbers are not going to change, and neither are most opinions. Barry Bonds will keep the home run records he set, even if everyone from Cooperstown to Candlestick knows he used performance-enhancing drugs.

What everyone didn’t know was he could be convicted for previously testifying before a grand jury that, in effect, he was a celebrity child. That was his defense 7½ years ago.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company