Baseball In The Daytime: 6-20-07

It's the 20th of June, which means something. Technically it's the last day of spring, but it's so fucking hot that's not relevant to anyone but astrologers and hippies. I think my water's about to be shut off, I know that bill's around somewhere. What was it? Ah, yes, weekday baseball. Today's MLB slate includes four games, with a tasty bonus from Omaha.

I must extend my sincere regrets for not including the College World Series in the BITD rotation. Diamond-minded slackers have clearly been blessed this week, as ESPN2 has delivered an afternoon game every single day. Today at Rosenblatt, the nooner (Mountain time) is Rice v. North Carolina. The Owls are the top-rated team in the tournament and thus far undefeated in pool play. Carolina has looked similarly dominant, save for Sunday's 14-4 loss to this Rice club. If that outcome is repeated, the Tar Heels are going home, but if they prevail today they'll do it all over again tomorrow. Oregon State and those pesky kids from Irvine square off tonight.

Leading off in the bigs at 10:05 are the Giants and the Brew Crew from Miller Park in Milwaukee. Barry Zito, his bloated contract and 6-7 record take the mound opposite smooth and steady Claudio Vargas (5-1). A big part of the Brewers' success this season has been the effectiveness of the back end of their rotation, with ex-Diamondback Vargas the cornerstone. This one can be found on XM 185 and DirecTV Extra Innings channel 735.

At the same time the Marlins visit the White Sox on XM 180 and DTV 734. Sergio Mitre (2-3), once a Cub farmhand and spot starter, returns to the Second City and faces John Garland (4-4). These teams are basically the same in terms of on-field effectiveness, only Chicago is spending about $70 million more in payroll. Baseball awaits the day that White Sox GM Kenny Williams blows the whole thing up, possibly trading Mark Buehrle, Jermaine Dye, Joe Crede, etc. and/or firing Ozzie. Stay tuned.

1:35 brings us a game from the Bay Area as the Reds take on the Athletics. Matt Belisle (5-5) and Dan Haren (8-2) are your starters on XM 178 (no TV info). Haren is my pick for the American League's All-Star starter. I know that Beckett is 10-1, but Haren has been the most consistently awesome arm in baseball. I don't know if he's going by "Dan" or "Danny" these days, but I'm going to call him "Dan" for now. "Danny" is for little boys and cokehead former child actors.

Finally, we resume the heated century-old rivalry between the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona D'Bags. A surprisingly decent matchup of young pitchers has 6-1 James Shields meeting 4-1 Micah Owings at 1:40 on XM 188 and DTV 736.