Recently, I have watched a number of the MasterCard shows highlighting some of baseball's greatest moments. Among the moments that I have seen recently were game winning home runs by Bill Mazeroski to win the 1960 World Series and Carlton Fisk's home run to win game six of the 1975 World Series. While both of these home runs share a number of similarities, the one that struck me the most was that in each situation fans rushed the field as the player was rounding the bases. Unfortunately, this week brought about another instance of fans running onto the field.

In a horrific scene this week in Chicago, two fans jumped out of the stands and brutally attacked the Kansas City Royals first base coach Tom Gamboa. William Ligue Jr. and his 15-year old son jumped out of the stands and started beating Gamboa in an unprovoked and premeditated attack, before the Royals team was able to rush to the aid of their coach. The idea of a father and a son taking part in something like this is completely disgraceful-I think that most people would agree with that-but that is not what I wish to address.

Recently, sports teams have made changes in order to protect the fans from the game, but now it looks like the organizations will have to make changes in order to protect the players and coaches from the fans. In the last couple of years we have seen a number of instances where fans have showered the field with debris, and there have always been instances where drunken fans take a fun-run on the field, but this is a completely different type of situation.

I don't know exactly how to prevent this type of hostile situation, but I am sure that people more knowledgeable of the situation will have some solutions. I don't care if the field is surrounded by police officers or by netting, but something has to be done and quickly. Athletes have enough problems with stalkers and crazed fans outside of the field of play, they don't need to worry about assault while they are working.

Smith ain't no Sanders

With Emmitt Smith approaching Walter Payton's career rushing record, I can't help but think about how good Barry Sanders was.

Sanders is the greatest running back that I have ever seen play. His ability to make a big play, especially when the other team's defense knew that he would be getting the ball, was unparalleled. He made more big gains out of losses than any player that I have ever seen, and I am sure that he still would be if he had not retired early.

The biggest difference in my mind between Emmitt and Barry was the teams that they played on. Barry was with the Lions for nearly a decade. Sure, Herman Moore was a dominating wide receiver for a couple of years, but Barry really had very little help. In contrast, Emmitt ran behind one of the greatest offensive lines in the history of the game, had an All Pro quarterback in Troy Aikman and also had a number of stellar wide receivers to take attention away from him. Emmitt didn't have to be the whole team in Dallas, he was greatly aided by the other offensive players.

Sanders would have broken Payton's rushing record after about 11 years in the NFL-he only played for nine-and Smith would still be light years behind Sanders today. Instead, Barry disappeared in the prime of his career, much like Jim Brown did three decades ago. There are rumors that Sanders might come back to the league next year-of course these rumors have been present ever since Sanders retired-but he does not have to do that in order to cement his legacy as one of the greatest running backs in the history of the NFL and a running back who is far better than Smith.

Dodging success

The scintillating race for the Wild Card between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers has put a number of issues into the national spotlight. The greatness of Barry Bonds, the meaning of chemistry after the Bonds-Jeff Kent feud and the sweet swing and Judaism of Shawn Green come to mind. But one thing that has haunted the Dodgers and their chances at making the playoffs is their pitching.

Unfortunately for the Dodgers, they experienced a bit of bad luck to go along with their ineptitude. Lefty Kazuhisa Ishii took a line drive off of the forehead recently and fractured his skull. This loss hurt the Dodgers chances of making the playoffs, but it is really two decisions that have deep-sixed their chances.

The first was the unbelievable contract that was given to Darren Dreifort after the 2000 regular season. Dreifort was given a five-year, $55 million contract. This was based upon a losing record and an ERA above four for his time in the major leagues. Why the team would give him this type of money is unbelievable; but they did, and they have paid for it ever since. Dreifort, who had a history of injury trouble when he signed the deal, pitched half of last year and then had surgery that sidelined him for the second half of last year and all of this current season.

The second bad move was signing Kevin Brown to a long term contract after he led the Padres to the World Series in 1998. Brown was a postseason savior for that team, and he had been a key member of the Florida Marlins World Series run, but his accomplishments since signing the seven-year, $105 million deal have been much less impressive. Basically, he has been on the disabled list for half of the time since he was signed.

This season has been no different, as he missed much of the first half with an elbow injury and is now missing the rest of the year with a bad back. Combined, these two have torpedoed the Dodgers postseason chances. They have had to swallow $26 million in contracts per year, and without more room to expand their payroll, which is already near $110 million, they have had to rely on a number of minor league callups to start in crucial games down the stretch.

The Dodgers are one of the poster teams for poor management in major league baseball. They are situated in one of the largest markets in the world, they are owned by billionaire Rupert Murdoch, and yet they still cannot win with a huge payroll. Their decisions regarding Dreifort and Brown were folly at the time that the deals were signed, and now they look even worse as they have knocked the Dodgers out of the playoffs with just a week to go.