This guy could play on the moon and still be an All-Star. Our man Vladimir Guerrero had 12 hits in 28 at-bats last week (.429) with three homers and eight runs batted in. As usual, he was swinging at everything and still had only one strikeout. On the season, he's hitting .335 with 35 homers and 91 RBIs.
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Monday-Wednesday, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, Calif.
The wild card-leading Dodgers seem to be back on track. The Diamondbacks have always been there. Arizona owns a 7-6 series lead this season and starts the series with Cy Young favorite Curt Schilling (21-4, 2.68 ERA). The Diamondbacks are 18-5 in August, the best mark in the NL. But L.A., after a terrible start to the second half, is hot, too. The Dodgers are 15-8 in August and have won nine of their last 11. This should be a doozy of a series. And they get to do it again in Phoenix early in September. Well, if …
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If baseball players strike this week, people have all sorts of plans on what to do with their spare time.
Before we get to that, though, we have another question for you: Who's more impressive, a gritty right-hander who throws hard, strikes out people and throws complete games ... or a lefty who does the same? We're talking National League Cy Young, of course, and we're talking Curt Schilling vs. Randy Johnson. Who would you pick?
Click here to tell us what you think. And don't forget to include your name and hometown.
On to your thoughts on what you'll do if baseball players strike …
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If there is a strike, I plan on going to Milwaukee and egg Bud Selig's
house. I'd then go home and watch The Natural, Major League, Bull
Durham, A League of Their Own, and The Bad News Bears. I'd go back to
Bud Selig's house and egg it again. I'd then send him a copy of these
movies. Finally, I'd go back to Bud's house and egg it a third time.
If there is no strike, I'll watch the Twins go on to win the World Series
and then go to Bud's house and egg it. If the words "contraction" and
"Minnesota Twins" are ever uttered from his lips again (without the words
"mistake" or "oops, my bad"), I'll skip the house and just egg Bud himself.
The sad thing is that I could probably get more than half of Wisconsin to
join me in the eggings.
-- Darren Slack, a frequent attendee of the Metrodome, a stadium that still
outdraws Bud's Miller Park.
In my spare time, I'll be celebrating the mutually assured destruction of a
League and game that has grown so rotten, so nonsensical, so fan-hating and
so rooted in greed and stupidity that it deserves exactly what it's getting
-- annihilation. My allegiance is to the game itself, which I love. Of course, there are players and owners who are good, decent human beings (somewhere ...), and the Cincinnati Reds. Them, I will miss. Long live Triple-A baseball, the NFL
and NCAA Basketball.
-- Steve Watkins, Louisville, Ky., home of the Class AAA Louisville Bats
I grew up playing baseball and always dreamed of teaching my son how to pitch. After this fiasco, that dream has really faded. And now that I have a son on the way, I am disgraced by the people who ruined the game I once loved! So in answer to the question, nothing different!
-- Tom Maddock, Vero Beach, Fla.
On Aug. 30, if baseball players officially end their careers, I'll have all sorts of options. Football's (pro and college) starting, hoops is right around the corner, and even though I hate it, hockey starts soon, and I could learn to like it just to spite the spoiled brats ... I mean, baseball players. Plus, living in San Diego, there's always the beach. Just hope the Padres aren't there, too.
-- Eric Weiss, San Diego
"What will I do, what I do?" moaned Scarlett as Rhett walked away. Why frankly, my dear, I'll watch more football and do more yardwork in September and October than usual. Both sides are dumb (stubborn, pig-headed, self-centered?) enough, as they showed in 1994, to throw away the World Series like yesterday's garbage. Let 'em strike. Let 'em padlock the old ballyard. Just like the football players in '82 and '87, we have other things to do. Unlike the lemming I was in '95, I will not come rushing back. Of course, I'll freely admit to the fact that because my favorite team, the Cleveland Indians, has decided to go in the tank for a few years is a contributing factor. To all you Braves, D'backs, Angels, etc., fans, my condolences. To Yankees fans, ha!
-- Jim Galler, Stokesdale, N.C.
Ignore all the BS coming from both the owners and the players and watch a
lot of football. Baseball only keeps my interest between the end of the NHL
and NBA and the start of football.
-- Dan Fitzsimmons, Cleveland
Who cares if baseball goes on strike? I don't. I have Madden 2003 to keep
me company from Tuesday through Saturday and the NFL to take over on Sunday and Monday.
-- Nate Brown, Newburgh, Ind.
If there is a strike, I will become a fan of the local chess team. Do people that play chess strike? My allegiance would lie with the groundskeepers, and my appreciation for Major League Baseball would be lost. I don't think I would ever find myself in Safeco Stadium again.
-- Eric Amador, Seattle
Should they strike, I will have watched, gone to, seen and talked about my last baseball game. Football is here to keep me occupied during the fall. Come spring, there is always golf, fishing, bowling or watching the grass grow, but I can guarantee you that my time won't be spent in any fashion on baseball.
-- Wayne, Birmingham, Ala.
I'm gonna say "To hell with baseball." I'm gonna watch the NFL. I'm gonna play catch with my kids. I'm gonna follow the Philadelphia Flyers madhouse all the way to the cellar of the Atlantic Division. But I'll have the corner of my eye on the biggest sports story going, the baseball strike. I will watch the news and read the experts' commentary. I will root for the owners one day, the players the next. And when they come back, I will try to ignore them. I will not watch the games, but I will most likely catch the scores the next day. But then when Barry approaches Willie Mays, or when Randy strikes out 21, or when Ichiro hits in 40 consecutive, I will be back. I'm hooked and can't deny it.
-- Brad Elliott, Botwood, Canada
Well, for starters, I'll write down current ticket prices and refuse to ever pay a cent higher to see a ballgame. Then I'll write down attendance figures. In a few years, I'll use them to show my child that too much of a good thing can be bad. I'd use profit figures, but they seem to be missing from the owners' information. Salary information for the players though should work just as well. After this, my wife and I will take our daughter to the zoo ... unless the gorillas go on strike.
-- Eric Katz, St. Louis
If they go on strike, I will have to do the unthinkable. Talk to my wife.
-- Bruce [last name withheld by request]
A strike would actually help me solve a big dilemma. With the "real
football" competitions in Europe kicking off (and especially the Champions'
League), I can -- without giving up my fan loyalty to the Yankees -- devote
all my attention to the greatest sport on earth.
-- Bert Vanbaelen, Brussels, Belgium
School is starting within days of the strike date. I guess I'll just have to
be a good student. By the way, as soon as the idea of a strike was brought
up, I got very serious about my golf game and have not since been to a game.
-- Jacob Leven, Huntington Beach, Calif.
After being pissed at feeling I threw away the money I spent on season
tickets and actually going to over 50 games, I think I'll take the money I
would have spent the rest of the season on parking, Diamond Dogs and beer
(quite a sum, mind you) and invest in a brand new non-baseball wardrobe. My
friends, family and co-workers will just have to learn to recognize me without D'backs purple on.
-- Tony DeCastro, Tempe, Ariz.
The good news is that Jon Gruden will be giving Keyshawn the stare, Bill Cowher will give Kordell the jaw, John Stockton will be passing to the Mailman and maybe Michael Jordan will play just one more season even if baseball decides to commit suicide.
-- Mike Tillery, Butler, Pa.
I've been a Red Sox fan since my first visit to Fenway at the age of 6 in
1957. I haven't missed a Sox-Braves game in Hotlanta since interleague
play began. I love the Red Sox more than Tommy Lasorda loves the Dodgers.
But if they walk, I'm done. Finished. No luxury tax because you could mean
having a $10 million contract instead of $15 million. No revenue sharing
because a team might use the money to upgrade the fan's experience instead
of putting it into your already fat wallets?? Cry me a flipping river.
-- Barry McCormick, Powder Springs, Ga.
Our tribute to the banter of baseball 
This guy could play on the moon and still be an All-Star. Our man 
