Baseball

MESA, Ariz. -- The most reliable fans in America migrate here every spring, supporters of a team celebrating a complete century of failure. They bask in the informality of training camp, savoring a conversation or two with the men wearing the uniform of the Chicago Cubs. Derrek Lee, the Cubs' All-Star first baseman, hears from the fans about last year's playoff flop, this year's chances, how to pronounce the last name of Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome. And steroids?

Commissioner Bud Selig wants the players named in the Mitchell Report to bear some accountability for their involvement with performance-enhancing drugs -- and that is slowing progress in talks with the players' union on implementing Mitchell's recommendations, according to the New York Times.

Had Dave Serrano not done his job so masterfully at UC Irvine the last three seasons, this weekend would have passed without notice. The Big West Conference might not be so highly regarded. And Irvine fans never would have learned how to hold a grudge. But in 2007 Serrano guided Irvine to its first appearance at the College World Series, where the Anteaters became the darlings of Omaha.

Beneath the bill of his sweat-stained baseball cap are scrawled three simple words: Go get it. As in go get the strikeout. Or go get the win. Kyle Petter, the ace of the West Torrance staff, slid a finger over those words -- "It's an expression that stays with me," he said -- then he peered out to the vacant ball field where he had just struck out 10 batters in four shutout innings. He grinned. "Yeah, go get it." As a sophomore two years ago, Petter was getting something else: poor grades.

For the first time since Bo Jackson and Nolan Ryan graced Anaheim Stadium, the All-Star game is returning to Southern California. The Angels have been awarded the 2010 All-Star game, with Commissioner Bud Selig scheduled to make the official announcement Wednesday at Angel Stadium, according to three sources not authorized to speak publicly in advance of the announcement.

UCLA used the old hidden ball trick to perfection Friday in their NCAA baseball regional opener against Virginia, but it was a different kind of hidden ball that gave the Bruins a 3-2 victory over the Cavaliers at Cal State Fullerton. UCLA pinch-hitter Cody Decker came to bat with one out and runners at first and second in the bottom of the ninth and the score tied, 2-2.

Careful examination of an old photograph and a street map determined this had to be the spot -- or at least near the spot. It's all tract homes now, the memories buried beneath cul-de-sacs just downslope from the intersection of Brea Boulevard and Lambert Road, but something special happened here a long time ago. Did anyone know? A man, on a Saturday, was washing his car on St. Crispen Avenue when a reporter approached and posed the question, half expecting a "what-the-?" response.

Cal State Fullerton will advance to a super regional for the sixth consecutive season after holding off feisty UCLA, 5-4, in a regional-deciding game Monday night at Goodwin Field in Fullerton. The Titans (40-20) will face Stanford in a three-game series beginning Friday with a berth in the College World Series on the line.

Jeff Kaplan may have been named an All-American pitcher for Cal State Fullerton, but he was not treated like one Friday night at Fullerton's Goodwin Field. Facing Stanford in the first game of their NCAA Division I super regional, Kaplan struggled from the outset, was hit hard and took a 4-3 loss.

It happened more than 38 years ago, yet Manny Mota still can't bring himself to talk about it. "It's very difficult," the Dodgers coach and former All-Star outfielder said. "It brings up bad memories." "It" was a foul ball Mota lined into the seats down the first base line at Dodger Stadium during the third inning of an otherwise uneventful mid-May game against the San Francisco Giants in 1970.