Sports Radio Service


		Michael Duca's A's and Giants Q&A By Michael Duca April 27, 2008

	Giants’ question: Anytime Dusty Baker comes back to AT&T Park to visit it's something special for the fans, players and media who knew him so well when coached and managed the Giants. He's been back as a Cub now the Reds’ manager explain why and how important is Dusty to the Bay Area fans when he comes back and in some people's hearts he will always be a Giant. True? True. Dusty is a high-character person, and that plays well here in the Bay Area. He's also a Bay Area, well, Sacramento guy, so he's "one of our own". And, he was a winner. He took the Giants as close to a championship as they have been in 54 years. There's only one way to do better than that. A's question: With the return of Frank Thomas do you see the A's line up starting to get that influenced feeling and start hitting from their heels? That sounds painful. Swinging from their heels, perhaps. Hitting, nah. The A's now have devoted 12% of their roster to DHs. Mike Sweeney, Frank Thomas, and Jack Cust. The only guy missing is Barry Bonds. Someone has to go, sooner or later. My guess is, Mike Sweeney won't be here in August. The A's have some players who can hit, no doubt about that. The question is whether they have enough players who can hit consistently. Travis Buck and Ryan Sweeney seem to be losing playing time by the bushel, so maybe Bob Geren can at least field a starting lineup of "hot hands", but then, your entire bench is made of guys who aren't hitting. Oh, well, at least it's the American League, where nobody ever pinch hits anyway. MLB Question: Barry Bonds is rumored to be being looked at closely by some teams. Talk is he might sign in May. Do you see Bud Selig brow beating such a move and will a Babo return start to drum up more steroids, BALCO and grand jury talk? Of course it will. The media hasn't had an original idea in years. Just keep reprocessing the old ones over and over and over. Selig has granted "amnesty by another name" to everyone involved, it's over, and the judge told the Justice Department to start again with, what, their fourth? fifth? grand jury to re-indict Bonds. Out of sight, out of mind, but if he returns to the game, then there will be plenty of holier-than-thou media people who will express their outrage, while traveling all over the country to chronicle his every move.