After all, the talk leading up to the home run derby was primarily about the players who chose not to participate in the fan favorite event. New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez was too busy playing prima donna to hit a few home runs on his home field. All-time home run leader Barry Bonds can’t even find a major league team to take him at the veteran’s minimum.

Then, as magically as his dream foretold, Hamilton put on a show that baseball fans will be talking about for a very long time. In the house that Ruth built, in the last year Yankee Stadium will exist in its current form, Hamilton laid the foundation for the post-steroids era.

Let’s face it; this year’s all-star game was supposed to be a game that the casual baseball fan didn’t care about. Baseball was at a crossroads between the stars of the steroids-era-past and the young, talented players that had yet to breach mainstream stardom.

Or so we all thought. Hamilton blasted 28 home runs in the first round of the home run derby, surpassing the Bobby Abreu mark of 24 set back in 2005. The average length of each of his home runs was an astounding 445 feet, with three landing beyond 500 feet.

Hamilton would eventually lose in the finals to Justin Morneau, but as Hamilton would probably agree, sometimes the beauty is in the process. You see, a few years ago Hamilton was banned from Major League Baseball for substance abuse and was an admitted drug addict. The 1999 first overall pick was walking down a dangerous path and slowly wasting away, quite literally at points.

Eventually, however, he would get his life back together. After a vivid dream in which he says Jesus helped him fight off the devil, Hamilton started to get clean. The MLB would eventually reinstate him, and in 2007 the Cincinnati Reds drafted him.

Which brought us to Monday night, when a 27-year-old who two years earlier had a dream of being interviewed at a home run derby at Yankee Stadium, stepped to the plate and had all of us asking just who the heck Josh Hamilton is? He didn’t have the name recognition of previous home run derby notables like Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa or Mark McGwire, but he left with one of the most remarkable stories you’ll ever hear in sports: the story of a troubled man who struggled in his life and managed to defy the odds.

A man who overcame addiction and literally lived his dream, in the process helping rebuild the tarnished image of baseball in the aftermath of the Barry Bonds’ and Jose Canseco’s of the past. Maybe this year’s all-star festivities weren’t what we expected them to be, but they were better than any of us, with the exception of Hamilton, could have ever dreamt they would be.

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These 30 second melodramas display messages of perseverance, dedication and emotion – each glorifying a different NBA superstar – ending with a flash of the NBA logo in what is truly some of the best PR in sports.

They’re catchy. They’re emotionally charged. And now I can’t watch one without getting a dirty feeling in the pit of my stomach.

The Seattle Supersonics Oklahoma Yet-To-Be-Named played their first summer league game Monday, their first action since last week’s $75 million dollar settlement that finally brought an end to one of the saddest stories in sports.

A month from now nobody will remember the final score (95-78, Pacers) or who took the first shot in Oklahoma’s newest chapter of basketball history (Jeff Green), but years from now people will still be talking about the team formerly known as the Seattle Supersonics.

When Starbucks millionaire Howard Shultz sold the Sonics to Clay Bennett two years ago, the deal was that Bennett’s ownership group had to make a “good faith effort” to try and keep the team in Seattle. Two years and several revealing emails later, it became known that Bennett and company never had any such intentions and were in fact waiting for the right time to leave Seattle in their rearview mirror.

Throughout the entire process, NBA commissionaire David Stern had disturbingly little involvement. He sat back and let the spectacle play out, losing one Seattle fan at a time. Isn’t his duty to protect the league’s integrity? Don’t you think that if a NBA player reneged on his contract and left to play for another team Stern would have intervened?

But of course he did nothing. The people of Seattle are left with nothing more than 41 years of memories. But hey, Stern says maybe in the future it might be possible for the city to get another team.

The people in Seattle who spent the last year dishing out their hard earned money on Kevin Durant jerseys are left with a useless piece of memorabilia. But hey, maybe it will be worth money some day.

The people who grew up in Seattle watching The Glove dish alley-oops to Shawn Kemp will have to explain to their kids why they can’t go to Sonics’ games anymore. But hey, kids have to grow up sometime, right?

I realize that when it comes down to it the NBA is merely a business, but everything about this franchise relocation stinks. Bennett justified the move with a lack of public financing for a new building, but Seattle shelled out money to renovate Key Arena just 14 years ago.

Ask yourself, how long has it been since your favorite NBA franchise received a new building? Is your team next? Is mine?

Eventually we will all move on though, and to show Bennett that I’m not a poor sport I’ve even prepared an ad to get the people of Oklahoma excited for their new team.

Two tickets to opening night of the Oklahoma Yet-To-Be-Named … $120

Two hot dogs and two sodas … $18

Hijacking 41 years of history and part of a city’s identity … $75 million

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Curt Schilling has never shied away from stating his opinion on his blog and with the release of the Mitchell Report, he’s sure not going to back away from this.

In his blog 38pitches.com, Schilling called out Roger Clemens to clear his name of using performance enhancing drugs or return the 4 Cy Young awards he has won. Schilling says states if Clemens can’t clear his name, that his career technically should have been considered over in 1997 when he had a win total of only 192 games instead of his now 354, because after that, his numbers are tainted.

These are strong words coming from a man who stated that when he was a rookie prospect in Boston, it was Roger Clemens who helped change his career. His “undressing of me and lecture were a major turning point,” Schilling wrote. “I’ve always respected his career accomplishments and regarded him as the greatest pitcher to ever play the game.”

I think Schilling is right. Although it will be hard to prove his innocence on whether or not he took performance enhancing drugs in the past, but if Clemens did take steroids, he should come clean and own up to it. I don’t know how much steroids or HGH can actually help benefit a pitcher, but if you look at the time period he took them and his numbers, then they look like they obviously work.

Although he has issued a statement denying steroid or HGH use, Clemens should try much harder to clear his name rather than stay in hiding from the world. The only things on the line are his legacy and what was once a sure first ballot entry in the Hall of Fame.

Source: Fox Sports, 38pitches.com

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David Beckham: While flashing that boyish grin and walking down the red carpet at the Home Depot Center today, David Beckham’s debut is short lived. He is so focused on the cameras while he’s walking, that he trips on the carpet tearing his MCL, ACL and breaking a nail. Out for the year, fans riot the stadium for their money back.

Philadelphia Phillies: The Phillies come from behind today to beat the St. Louis Cardinals in extra innings to avoid team loss No. 10,000. The win sparks a 20 game-winning streak and the Phillies go on to win the World Series! Yeah, right. They’ll probably lose tonight.

Albert Pujols & Tony La Russa: Animosity boils over from the All-Star game. La Russa and Pujols throw down in the dugout after the skipper benches Pujols after he strikes out with the bases loaded in the seventh. When Pujols walks into the dugout, La Russa remarks, “that’s why I didn’t play you in the All-Star game.” The usually calm Pujols proceeds to fill the dugout full of uppercuts.

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After LeBron James and the Cavs’ last weekend upset of the Pistons helped surge them into the NBA Finals and with Kobe Bryant’s “trade me” antics, I’ve come to this idea.

Who would I rather have on my team? Kobe or LeBron. One was labeled the best player in the game while the other is considered the heir apparent to Michael Jordan. They both possess uncanny talent, but who would I want to lead my team?

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I mean, c’mon now. The guy left his seat and was going to come to the aid of a helpless Steve Nash after Robert Horry decided to transform into a freight train with seconds remaining in the game.

And if you look at the replay, cause they seem to be playing it on every station on TV, he didn’t even get that close.

The NBA should have just made the Suns forfeit and given the Spurs a win for tonight. They took away Phoenix’s biggest scoring weapon inside and the biggest threat to Tim Duncan.

And who cares if you guys suspended Robert Horry. What has he really done? Can he single handedly take over a game like Stoudemire? You should have suspended him for the rest of the playoffs along with a player to be named later. That would have been about even.

Don’t rorget they suspended one of the Suns’ best role players, Boris Diaw, for a game too.

JERKS! 

But it’s ok I guess. The NBA wanted to be fair and enforce their rules.

Hmm…Lemme think about this. Give a one game suspension to a guy who gave a helpless point guard the People’s Elbow, sending him flying into a wall a 2 game suspension while giving the opposition’s two players, one game a piece for getting out of their seats.

Sounds fair to me.

Congratulations NBA. You hit this one on the nose.

I mean, before the NFL Draft, how many of you knew who Kevin Kolb was off the top of your head? How easily does he ring a bell?

Now, if you’ve been keeping up with all the NFL news lately, he’s in there practically everyday.

Kolb, the Eagles’ first pick in this year’s draft has been creating quite a stir lately, causing many to think that Donovan McNabb’s job in Philadelphia may be in jeopardy.

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OJ Simpson is in the news again.

The NFL Hall of Famer was ousted from a restaurant in Louisville, KY the night before the Kentucky Derby.

And I love it. Down with OJ!

The owner of an upscale steakhouse said he saw Simpson come in with a large group of people and was disgusted with the celebrity status he was receiving from his customers. So he did what I wish every owner of every establishment in this country I think should do.

He kicked him out.

Throw the OJ out the door!

Simpson makes me sick. We all remember the white Bronco speeding down the freeway. And who could forget the tell all book he wrote about what he would do if he killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman!

OJ, you belong in prison and you know it. I hope that eventually others will do to you what this owner did and keep you from living a comfortable life.

I hope you get rejected by society.

The Boston Celtics have cut off their ties with second year guard Sebastian Telfair after he was arrested in the New York area with carrying a loaded gun in his car.

Good for the Celtics. As if a horrible season wasn’t enough, not too long after the curtains close on the Celtics’ year, he does this.

What are you doing with a gun in your car anyways? Do you really think you’re really in that much danger? Afraid someone’s going to jump out of the bushes while you’re at a stop light? Get over it. You shouldn’t be carrying a gun with you in the first place. Put it in your house where it belongs.

I’m sure some team will pick him up next season. They’ll shell out millions for a guy who’s been related to gun charges the past two years. But if I have anything to say about it, I hope no one does.

Give some kid coming out of college with a clean record a chance at the big time.

For all you who think that this is going to be a blow for the Celtics next season, it’s not as bad as you think.

For one, you can’t possible lose anymore games.

And second, I’m sure someone will pick up the six points Telfair brought to the game every night.

I don’t care if they hit four in a row.

But I hate it when the damn Red Sox do it against us and it leads them to a series sweep!

For the love of god the Yanks need their pitchers to step it up before I go nuts. It was a good series, as to be expected, but they should have taken one from these guys. At least the last game!

Although the suspense was great with A-Rod coming up to bat with runners on, wondering if he’s going to blast another game winning home run, I’d rather it not come down to that.

Speaking of A-Rod, did anyone see that intentional bean ball he almost took in the ear from Dice-K?! First pitch. High in tight. And they even showed footage of him and his teammates acting out how to brush back A-Rod. At least tip your hat man! I was really hoping they’d plunk Manny when he came up next. Or Ortiz. Any of them. Bean a fan! I don’t care!

Looks like I’ll be left with this bitter taste in my mouth till the next meeting.

Till then, I’ll continue to hate the Sox.

photo courtesy of www.snafugear.com