American League (MLB)

Lost Boys of Summer: Some Ex-Ballplayers Seek Help From MLB

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Manny Ramirez in Oakland: Savor the Possibilities

The half-million dollar man...​Back in the days of yore, Jon Lovitz had a Saturday Night Live bit in which he pitched himself to "single women in their 30s" with the plea "Lower your standards!" Fast-forwarding several decades, the Oakland A's signed erratic, potential fortysomething, busted stero ... More >>

MC Hammer, Brian Wilson, Other Non-San Francisco Voters Shill for Ed Lee

By now you may already be recovering from watching the Ed Lee music video featuring MC Hammer, Brian Wilson, Ashkon, Willie Brown and others. The video was funded in large part by Hammer's good pal and right-wing piñata du jour Ron Conway, as well as Sean Parker (who you may recall having paranoid ... More >>

Sorry, Simba Moneyball is King of the Jungle

Jackpot​Back in 1994, The Lion King's Simba gave his competitors fair warning via song -- "I'm gonna be a mighty king, so enemies beware" -- but that didn't stop Moneyball from dominating San Francisco's box office this weekend. In fact, you could say it was a home run for the Oakland A's baseball ... More >>

"Moneyball": Formula Works for Sabermetrics Sports Flick

Jackpot​Back in 1994, The Lion King's Simba gave his competitors fair warning via song -- "I'm gonna be a mighty king, so enemies beware" -- but that didn't stop Moneyball from dominating San Francisco's box office this weekend. In fact, you could say it was a home run for the Oakland A's baseball ... More >>

Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie Stop in Oakland Tonight

​Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the Hollywood power couple better know as "Brangelina," will be in downtown Oakland tonight for Pitt's premiere of Moneyball, a flim based on the Oakland A's 2002 season.

Barbecue Championship Haiku Contest Winners

​San Francisco knows haiku. We had 41 entries in our haiku contest to win tickets to the Bay Area BBQ Championship on Saturday, and many of them were great. No wonder, with a great prize: three $48 tickets, which include five food/drink tickets for each person at the BBQ championship, and thr ... More >>

Win Barbecue and Baseball Tickets in Our Haiku Contest

​We've got three $48 tickets to the Bay Area BBQ Championship on Saturday, July 16, and we're going to give them away! The 'cue will be cookin' at the Oakland Coliseum before a doubleheader between the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels of Disneyland. The lucky winner gets three pas ... More >>

U2's Giant Spider Show Pops a Noisy, Well-Attended Squat in Oakland

Christopher VictorioU2 in Oakland last night.​ U2 Lenny Kravitz Moonalice June 7, 2011 @ O.co Coliseum [The venue formerly known as the Oakland Coliseum] Better than: Watching a U2 concert DVD with the volume really high while standing outside with 70,000 other people. (But actually, that's e ... More >>

Giants Release "It Gets Better" Video

SF Weekly first reported that the San Francisco Giants would become the first professional sports team to produce an iconic "It Gets Better" video. Today, the World Series champs released a short video aimed to curb LGBT bullying and teen suicides. The roughly 60-second clip begins with Giants pitch ... More >>

Call It Love

SF Weekly first reported that the San Francisco Giants would become the first professional sports team to produce an iconic "It Gets Better" video. Today, the World Series champs released a short video aimed to curb LGBT bullying and teen suicides. The roughly 60-second clip begins with Giants pitch ... More >>

Baseball Beer Prices -- Cheers to the Giants!

Smiles at $6 a pop...​Nouveau Giants fans unaccustomed to adversity may have been left weeping into their beers by the team's disappointing opening series. But, in addition to the reassuring notion that a World Series pennant is fluttering over AT&T Park, San Francisco aficionados can cry prou ... More >>

It Takes a Lot of Balls

Smiles at $6 a pop...​Nouveau Giants fans unaccustomed to adversity may have been left weeping into their beers by the team's disappointing opening series. But, in addition to the reassuring notion that a World Series pennant is fluttering over AT&T Park, San Francisco aficionados can cry prou ... More >>

Sunday: Oakland Rapper Too $hort Makes His Fillmore District Debut at Yoshi's

Tamara PalmerMartin Luther and Too $hort.​Too $hort March 6, 2011 @ Yoshi's SFBetter than: Listening to a studio gangster who's behind closed doors getting his booty all spanked up.He staked a permanent place for Oakland on the international rap map over a more than 25-year career, but T ... More >>

Brian Wilson Challenged to Brawl by Local Idiot

Brian Wilson knows what's best in life: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women​The ascendancy of the San Francisco Giants has created an unexpected quandary. How much Brian Wilson is too much Brian Wilson? For one local dim bulb, that question ... More >>

A Postcard from the Future

Or, how 2011 was the year everything changed in music.

Giants To Be Honored -- By Congress?

Sadly, the Congressional bill congratulating the Giants does not make mention of 'The Machine'​Congressional Bill: "Whereas the rest of the country learned to 'fear the beard'" Rep. Nancy Pelosi -- you've heard of her -- yesterday introduced a Congressional bill "Congratulating the San Francisco G ... More >>

Will Hideki Matsui Bring Porn Collection to Oakland?

Here's a Hideki Matsui-related image we can show you...​The imminent possibility of the Oakland A's signing Hideki "Godzilla" Matsui could certainly fill some holes in the Athletics' lineup. We'll refrain from recycling the above phrase to make the obvious pun regarding Matsui's other claim to fam ... More >>

Jean Quan: 'Plum Purple Is My Color'

Jean Quan loves the color purple...​Last week we noticed that Oakland Mayor-to-be Jean Quan seemed to be wearing the same purple suit in just about every photograph. Is this her lucky suit? Or is purple just her thing? The answer: Yes. Quan confirmed to SF Weekly that "plum purple is my color." Bu ... More >>

Please Don't Hurt 'Em: Hammer Beefs With Jay-Z

Now that we've made short work of Texas, it's apparently time to revive that age-old rap rivalry between the East and the West. So who's bringing the vitriol for the Left Coast? The Game? Ice Cube? Lil B? 2Pac's stepbrother Mopreme? Nope! It's Oakland rapper, dancer, entrepreneur, reality TV star, ... More >>

World Series: Make Your Best 'Walker, Texas Ranger' Jokes. But Make 'Em Fast.

After the Rangers bullpen issued four consecutive free passes to the Giants in a 7-run eighth, this phrase has taken on a whole new meaning​The San Francisco Giants are not running on all cylinders. They are running on cylinders we didn't even know they had. If you're even a marginal fan, you know ... More >>

World Series: The Look-Alikes Edition

This may explain the misplays in right field...​Everything that could be said about the World Series has pretty much been said. The Giants have done no wrong, they're in a commanding spot, but things can change quickly. So we feel entitled to bring up that, yes, Vlad Guerrero is a dead ringer for ... More >>

World Series: Game 1 Leaves Fans Thrilled -- and Nervous

Eric GolubGame 1 viewed from the Willie McCovey statue on the far side of McCovey Cove​A Giants fan is always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Because, with this team, the other shoe always drops. I can't speak for the hordes of orange-clad people inundating our city -- though, as a long-suffer ... More >>

World Series: Let's Hope Fans Give Bengie Molina Ovation He Deserves

​Bengie Molina is a winner. And he's got the hardware to prove it. Whether the Rangers or Giants capture the World Series, Molina is walking away with a World Series ring. And then he'll retire. Hopefully, the home fans will give him the recognition he deserves today. Molina was a great Giant -- a ... More >>

World Series: Actual Odds For Amazingly Stupid Bets

​Those who squander their hard-earned cash on food and heat rather than gambling it away may not know what a prop bet is. It's not a wager on, say, Yorick's skull or the gun Chekhov saw fit to hang on the wall.  Rather, it's a proposition bet -- or side bet -- on something seemingly chancy an ... More >>

Will President Bush Dare Come To the San Francisco World Series Games?

I heart Texas Rangers.​Is Dubya coming to the World Series? Today's Examiner said it's "rumored" that George W. Bush is headed to either Games 1 or 2 in San Francisco to root for the Texas Rangers, the team which he used to partly own. (There's a good little bit of trivia to get you sports-apathet ... More >>

KTVU Goes Low-Tech to Solve 'Clockgate'

What time is it? ​Back when Charlie Finley owned the Oakland A's, an underling was often tasked with keeping the legendarily unpleasant executive abreast of the team's progress. This was accomplished via the low-tech, but effective, method of attaching a telephone to a radio with a rubber band so ... More >>

Padres Fans' Tortured Memories

We all have something to hide...​As the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres face off in Game 2 of The Big Series tonight, one could be excused for confusing the M.O. of the two teams. Both feature pitching that ranges from above average to stellar and, on the offensive side, a lineup full of ... More >>

Brian Wilson's Orange Shoes, and Baseball's Worst Fashion Faux-Pas

Brian -- you shouldn't have! ​Yesterday, San Francisco Giants pitcher Brian Wilson -- a man with about three pounds worth of tattoo ink coursing through his veins and a haircut befitting a Blink-182 roadie -- came under fire from the league office. The objection: Wilson's traffic cone-orange shoes ... More >>

U2 Reschedules Oakland Concert to 2011

"See you in 2011, Oakland"​You may resume breathing, disappointed Bay Area U2 fans: Bono and company are coming back. But not until next year. As you no doubt remember, U2 had to cancel last month's Oakland show due to the sunglassed singer's emergency back surgery. Tour promoter Live Nation annou ... More >>

Giants Can't Quit Bengie Molina

​Bengie Molina, the best Giants catcher fans ever bitched incessantly about, is gone. Really he is. Last month, he was bundled off to Texas for a relief pitcher and a minor-leaguer, bringing about the dawn of the Buster Posey era. But, fittingly for a man who is arguably the slowest in the game, M ... More >>

Wanna Star in 'Moneyball' Alongside Brad Pitt? Here's Your Chance.

That's Brad on the right...​You know what? The Curious Case of Benjamin Button kinda sucked. Here's your chance to potentially relay just this information to Brad Pitt while appearing in a movie that may well not suck. The makers of the forthcoming Moneyball, the big-screen adaptation of Michael L ... More >>

Clumsy Attempts to Smuggle Booze Into A's Games Actually Benefit Needy Kids

​The other day, we queried the San Francisco Giants about the fate of the cans and bottles of libations seized by stadium employees from hapless fans entering the stadium. It turns out the answer is about as thrilling as the team's play of late: They pour them out and recycle them. Across the bay ... More >>

What Do Giants Do With Booze You Tried To Sneak In?

​A New Yorker cartoon from the days of yore depicted a burglar, large bag of swag over his shoulder, jauntily tipping his cap at a startled woman sitting up in bed. In the caption, he nonchalantly explained that today's economic conditions had forced many a small businessman into alternative means ... More >>

Friday Night: How Could Erykah Badu Possibly Seem Exciting After Janelle Monae?

Tom FergusonErykah Badu​Erykah Badu Janelle Monae @The Paramount Theatre, Oakland June 17, 2010 Better than: Watching old Michael Jackson videos on repeat. (Well, maybe not.) There were seats all the way up to the front of the stage at the Paramount last night, and at first they seemed silly: A ... More >>

Perfect Games -- Even Imperfect Ones -- Occurring Eerily Often

But for an umpire's imperfect call with two outs in the ninth, Detroit's Armando Galarraga would have had a perfect game today. Roy Halladay of Philadelphia tossed one just last month, as did the Oakland Athletics' Dallas Braden. Two in a month! Mark Buehrle hurled one last year, and, tragically, if ... More >>

If You Didn't Get Tix to Giants Brewfest, There's Always Next Week in Oakland

francobobfred II/FlickrSummer essential: Chugging beer in some stadium parking lot.​The only thing more exciting than the prospect of a series the Giants can actually sweep (vs. the cellar-dwelling D'backs) is great, free-ish beer beforehand in the form of Saturday's first annual Giants Brewfe ... More >>

Eric Byrnes: Softball God

We recently wrote a pair of articles about how former Oakland A's fan favorite Eric Byrnes is now being paid $11 million to sell sofas and play beer-league softball on the Peninsula. After the wheels came off the 34-year-old's Major League career in Seattle, we were hoping Giants general manager Bri ... More >>

Eric Byrnes: Softball God

We recently wrote a pair of articles about how former Oakland A's fan favorite Eric Byrnes is now being paid $11 million to sell sofas and play beer-league softball on the Peninsula. After the wheels came off the 34-year-old's Major League career in Seattle, we were hoping Giants general manager Bri ... More >>

The rise and fall of an Internet sensation

We recently wrote a pair of articles about how former Oakland A's fan favorite Eric Byrnes is now being paid $11 million to sell sofas and play beer-league softball on the Peninsula. After the wheels came off the 34-year-old's Major League career in Seattle, we were hoping Giants general manager Bri ... More >>

Former Oakland A's Fan Fave Eric Byrnes Earning $11M to Play Beer-League Softball

Now batting for the Dutch Goose softball squad...​You could say Eric Byrnes was demoted -- but that's a very un-dude way of looking at things. The former Oakland Athletic-turned journeyman left his pro baseball career with both a bang and a whimper this week. After, for lack of better words, fucki ... More >>

Giants Allow One Hit, Lose: A Historically Frustrating Day for Jonathan Sanchez

Tough luck, kid. But you've got company...​Jonathan Sanchez' mother told him there'd be days like this. For the first time in the 52-year history of the San Francisco Giants, the team allowed one, stinkin' hit -- and lost the game. The team dropped a 1-0 contest last night at San Diego. Sanchez st ... More >>

Extreme Bargain Hunting at Giants Dugout Store

​When a big-, moderate-, or even small-time Giants player washes out, it's bad news for him and his fans. But for you -- it's a bargain in disguise. We've written in the past about the team's dugout store marking outfielder Marquis Grissom's paraphernalia down to the price of a breakfast snack the ... More >>

Maverick Chef's Baseball-Themed Hot Sauce Scores Home Run

Youk's Hot Sauce​We discovered Youk's Hot Sauce as an added option to our treasured Mariquita Mystery Box last week. Turns out it's a collaboration between the farm of the local culinary stars (from Alice to Zuni), Maverick chef Scott Youkilis, and his baseball star of a bro, Boston Red Sox ba ... More >>

Stealing bases and talking balls at Thieves Tavern

Youk's Hot Sauce​We discovered Youk's Hot Sauce as an added option to our treasured Mariquita Mystery Box last week. Turns out it's a collaboration between the farm of the local culinary stars (from Alice to Zuni), Maverick chef Scott Youkilis, and his baseball star of a bro, Boston Red Sox ba ... More >>

Say-It-Ain't-So Joe

Why does Joe Morgan -- the best second baseman in history and a prominent TV broadcaster -- hate Moneyball? And Billy Beane and his Oakland A's? And you, too, if you think the statistical revolution that's overwhelmed Major League Baseball has any

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