Finally!
For most baseball fans it is a welcome sight, and judging from the attendance at their recent home playoff games, the locals won't mind much either -- the Atlanta Braves' 14-year playoff run looks to be over. The team is currently sitting well below .500 and is in a tight battle with Washington for the National League East cellar. While the streak is remarkable, it will be remembered mostly for postseason futility and lately, apathy. It will be good for the game to have some new blood in the playoff mix.

The Best May Not Be Good Enough
As strange as it seems, Twins catcher Joe Mauer -- who has led the majors in hitting for the majority of this season -- could be an All Star snub. With Yankees catcher Jorge Posada leading the fan balloting, it will be up to manager Ozzie Guillen to select the reserve backstop. As has been the tendency in the past (especially with the Yankees' Joe Torre), the White Sox skipper could stack the team with his players, including catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who is having a fine year in his own right. If he were to make the team, it would be a delicious bit of irony for Pierzynski, who was traded by the Twins to make way for Mauer following the 2003 season.

Samardzija Knows Football and Baseball
It worked for Bo Jackson before the hip injury, Deion Sanders did it with lukewarm results and now Notre Dame's Jeff Samardzija looks to be the next two-sport phenom. Samardzija recently inked a backloaded five-year contract with the Chicago Cubs that will allow him to suit up for the Fighting Irish football team this fall. The junior caught 77 passes for 1,249 yards and a school record 15 touchdowns last fall and went 8-2 in 15 starts for the baseball team this spring. The six-foot-five-inch 21-year-old could go in the first round of next year's NFL Draft and will join the Boise Hawks of the Northwest League this summer.