Barry Zito - Outstanding

By Kalen Patrick

First things first, Barry Zito will NEVER EVER live up to the contract, so just throw that thought away. But today's performance (6/28/11 vs Chicago Cubs) was awesome. The guy has all the pressure in the world on him, and every pitch is basically scrutinized. After 2 months on the DL he comes out and pitches 7 innings, giving up 2 ER and only walking 2. Basically did everything he was asked and more. Now if Zito can start putting out consistent quality starts, it will give the Giants a lot of flexibility moving forward this year.

BARRY ZITO VS CHICAGO CUBS AT WRIGLEY FIELD 6/28/11

If Zito can rediscover himself, Vogelsong can keep pitching well, then that makes erratic Jonathan Sanchez expendable. You put Sanchez and a decent prospect out there and you may get some teams willing to part with a good bat. I'm definitely not saying up and do that right now, lets see Zito pitch some more, lets see if Vogelsong can stay consistent. The Giants are a team that is built for the playoffs, as 2010 showed, when you have pitching like they have, you can beat ANY team in a 5/7 game series.

Giants are a season high 12 games above .500 and it begs the question; How good would this team be with Buster Posey? Back to Zito, props for a great game tonight and looking forward to seeing him hopefully continue along this path.

Could the 49ers use another Rice?

#80 JERRY RICE IS THE GOAT

By Kalen Patrick

We all know the greatest Wide Receiver of all time is and probably always will be Jerry Rice, name every noteworthy receiving record and odds are you will see Jerry Rice's name there. He will always be remembered for his superb superbowl performances, work ethic and being unstoppable once he put on #80. The times sure have changed in San Francisco, but maybe we can see another Rice sporting the Red and Gold. I am talking about Sidney Rice who is a free agent.

Sidney Rice has proven to be a legitimate threat in the West Coast offense up in Minnesota, funny, the 49ers just hired a guy who will be running that offense in Jim Harbaugh, the 49ers starting receivers are Josh Morgan and Michael Crabtree. I do love Crabtree's potential, but I just don't know if or how much he really wants to be in San Francisco. First the obvious long hold out his rookie year, then sitting out the entire pre-season last year and this year he is the last of the notable players to show up for offseason workouts. Again, I love his potential and think he CAN be a superstar player, he just doesn't want to be....in San Francisco. I think you can invest in Sidney Rice, maybe swing a trade to get rid of Crabtree. Does seem a little drastic, and I'm basing this off pure speculation, but it may be what's best for the 49ers.

HE BELONGS IN A 49ERS UNIFORM

Lets summarize: He has the experience in a West Coast offense, he has leaping ability far superior to any other 49er receiver and would make for a redzone nightmare for opposing defenses and just by his last name the fans would immediately flock to stores to buy the jersey and would become a fan favorite in no time. It's a perfect match, Kaepernick is gonna need a big target on the edge and Mr. Rice is the right guy for the job.

It will have been a long time since the 49ers will have seen a Wide Receiver sporting a Rice jersey on the field, but to me it would be an excellent fit. Of course Sidney can't wear the #80 but I'm thinking Rice #18 would look pretty darn good. Sidney Rice, Josh Morgan, Vernon Davis, Delanie Walker, Frank Gore in a west coast offense AND add in an extra 2nd round pick for Crabtree? I like that. I like that a lot.

Buffalo Bills New Uniforms

By: Kalen Patrick

Yes, the lockout has lasted so long that I've gotten to the point where I wanna talk about uniforms. Fortunately this is a good uniform change, the Bills uniforms were way too bland and forgettable, the changes they have made are definitely for the better. Bringing back more of an old school-ish type look which is becoming more and more popular among teams (see 49ers, and teams wearing throwback uniforms more and more). I can be pretty harsh and pretty critical when it comes to this sort of stuff, but everything I have seen from these look awesome. Check out these pictures:

BILLS PERSONNEL SPORTING THE NEW JERSEYS

BUFFALO BILL GREAT JIM KELLY SPORTING THE NEW UNIFORM

OVERVIEW OF THE HOME AND AWAY UNIFORMS

One of my favorite touches to the uniforms are the flying bull right above the Name on the back of the jersey. The colors are awesome, the helmets are awesome. I think it is a HUGE improvement over what they have been wearing. Not that I would plan on ever getting a Bills jersey, but it looks cool, and now is a great time to release them as they are playing more in Toronto and are expanding the fanbase.

Now all we need are the Broncos and Buccaneers to go back to these full-time and all would be right with the world.

I know the Bucs old school uniforms get a lot of hate but there is something about it that I love. Let me know what uniforms you think teams should go back to or what your favorite obscure jerseys are. 

Top 6

By: Michael Mafia 

Team        Wins

Phillies        48

Yankees      44

Red Sox      44

Braves        44

Giants         43

Rays           43

Here are the top 6 teams by winning percentage. The biggest shock on my part are the San Francisco Giants. YES, I am an avid Giants fan...but, that doesn't mean I can't be equally as surprised by their chance at a repeat playoff run after all of the 2011 injuries. 

DL 

Buter Posey

Freddy Sanchez 

Brian Wilson

Cody Ross

Mike Fontenot

Brandon Belt

Barry Zito

Mark De Rossa

Jonathan Sanchez 

Pablo Sandoval

Darren Ford

The team has had its fare deal of injuries the first half of the season, (twice as many as the whole 2010 season) but the Giants are in 1st place in the NL West and have the 5th best winning percentage in all of baseball. 

Pitching and winning in 1 run games is what sets this team apart from the rest and keeps them in competition with all if the injuries. 

Kalens MLB Weekly Power Rankings

By Kalen Patrick

Here we go with another addition of my baseball power rankings, big changes all across the board at the top, while the bottom teams continue to struggle. Also have added a new section called Who's Hot and Who's Not. Lets do this.

Top 5
1 (2) Philadelphia Phillies (47-29) - Phillies have the best winning % in baseball at .618, the bats have been waking up as of late and their pitching has allowed the fewest runs in all of baseball. Hard to top that. NL's team to beat.

2 (1) - Boston Red Sox (44-30) - The Red Sox have the best hitter in Baseball (Adrian Gonzalez), the best pitcher (Josh Beckett), the best record in the AL and the best offense in Baseball. Any questions?

3 (5) - New York Yankees (43-30) - Yeesh I promise I don't work for ESPN and I promise I don't have any kind of East Coast bias, but even I can admit that these are the best 3 teams in Baseball. Yankees have the best run differential in the Majors (+92) and are right in line to fight the Red Sox for the AL East/Wild Card crown.

4 (NR) - Atlanta Braves (43-33) - One of the most underrated and forgotten teams in all of Baseball. The pitching has been outstanding, 2nd in ERA, 1st in WHIP and 1st in BAA. The Braves Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson are #1 and #2 respectively in ERA in the NL. While the offense has been struggling the return of Jayson Heyward should help and they look to be right in the thick of the playoff race.

BEST PITCHER IN THE NL IS........JAIR JURRJENS?

5 (NR) Arizona Diamondbacks (42-34) - I guess these D-Backs aren't going anywhere, with all the injuries the Giants have suffered, it really has opened up a great opportunity to make some noise and give them a realistic shot at playoffs. While I question whether they can maintain this level of play through the season, right now they are playing very well.

Bottom 5
26 (27) - San Diego Padres (32-44) - The Padres are tied for the fewest runs scored in Baseball and they somehow have an awful home record at 14-26. 3-7 in their last 10 games and thats including the 2 game win streak they are on now. Weird how things have gone so far south compared to last year.

27 (26) - Florida Marlins (33-42) - The Marlins are 1-9 in their last 10 games, Hanley Ramirez looks washed up (at 27?), the coaching change is a major hit or miss move and they suffer from having almost no fans show up to games. Pretty bleak.

PICTURE OF A RECORD SETTING ATTENDANCE AT A MARLINS GAME (JOKE)

28 (28) - Chicago Cubs (30-44) - This team is the highest paid bunch of losers I have ever seen. Prince Fielder said he would be open to signing with the Cubs in the offseason? Why? (oh yeah the insane money he will get). This is what I wrote last week and nothing has changed.


29 (NR) Kansas City Royals (31-44) - Fewest wins in the AL, 3-7 in their last 10 games, and while the Royals have some promising prospects coming up and playing respectably, this is a team that will be relevant come 2013.

30 (29) - Houston Astros (28-48) - The Astros are already 20 games below .500, have allowed the most runs in Baseball and have the worst run differential at -72. This team is in full rebuild mode, would trading Hunter Pence be the best way to get some promising prospects?

Who's Hot?
Teams that are deserving of honorable mentions here are the Washington Nationals who are 9-1 in their last 10 games and they have beaten some damn good teams lately. This team could be a force in a few years when Strasburg is back, Harper gets to the Majors and other prospects come up. The Oakland A's have stepped their game up, sweeping the Giants and getting a 6 game winning streak going. The Minnesota Twins are 8-2 in their last 10 games and have been just as hot as the Nationals.

Who's Not?
Besides for all the teams in the Bottom 5, the leading teams in the NL Central have been struggling, both the Cardinals (who are now minus Pujols until mid August) and Brewers are 3-7 in their last 10 and have allowed the Reds to get right back in the race despite only playing .500 ball lately.

Check back in next week for another edition of my Weekly Power Rankings and my new section of Who's Hot and Who's Not.