Curse Of The Baseball?
Remember Doug Mientkiewicz, the guy who was dealt to Boston late in the 2004 season, played a bit part in the team's magical pennant run, was fortunate enough to make the final putout of the World Series and foolishly tried to keep the baseball?

Now, after getting banished from Boston, giving back the ball, playing miserably for the Mets and inking a deal with a Triple A team disguised as the Kansas City Royals, more bad luck has come Dougie's way. The former Gold Glover recently scheduled surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back that reportedly caused him to lose strength in one leg. The injury ended Mientkiewicz's season and puts his career in limbo.

Sudden Power Surge in Minny
On Aug. 9, Twins first baseman Justin Morneau hit his 30th home run of the season. Thirty homers is nice, but it's no reason to celebrate for most fans. Not in Minnesota, where the last players to reach the 30 homer plateau were Kent Hrbek, Tom Brunansky and Gary Gaetti back in 1987.

Now that 30 is out of the way, Morneau has his sights set on 40. In the 105-year history of the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins franchise only two men have posted 40 home run seasons: Harmon Killebrew (eight times) and Roy Sievers (once). If Morneau stays on his current pace, he'll join that group.

Giant Suckers
His batting average would rank around 85th in the National League and his slugging percentage would settle in at about 35th, if he had enough plate appearances to qualify. Sure his on-base-percentage hovers around .450, but he can't play every day in the field, is below average when he's out there, hardly speaks to his teammates, is at constant war with the press and is under investigation by Major League Baseball for using steroids. Yet Barry Bonds is earning a cool $20 million this season. Somebody needs to tell San Francisco Giants management that it's not 2002 anymore.