Without Bonds, It’s a Glorified Beer League

Watching the San Francisco Giants play a game without Barry Bonds in the lineup, as they did Wednesday against the Milwaukee Brewers, can be a serious letdown, according to Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle.

How serious?

“Ladies and gentleman, Mr. Jagger has sore lips. Singing lead for the Rolling Stones at this performance will be Mr. Tony Orlando,” Ostler wrote. “It’s that bad. No Barry, no buzz. The only buzz at the ballyard Wednesday was provided by Gordon Biersch.”

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Trivia time: Name the only brothers to throw no-hitters in major league baseball.

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Prime time: The Cincinnati Bengals make their first “Monday Night Football” appearance in 12 years on Oct. 25, when they play host to the Denver Broncos, which prompted Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken to say, “The attention these prime-time games bring to Cincinnati is priceless. As a community, we look forward to getting Cincinnati rocking on national TV this fall.”

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Off their games: Headline writers for New York’s tabloids came up with the all-too-predictable “Tunnel Vision” on the back pages of Thursday’s editions of the Post and Daily News, heralding the third playoff matchup between the Knicks and Nets.

“Knicks’ Light at End of (Lincoln) Tunnel is Nets,” was the offering in the New York Times.

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Looking back: On this day in 1997, the Chicago Cubs set the mark for the worst start in National League history, losing their 12th consecutive game, 4-0 to the Colorado Rockies, and breaking the record of 11 losses in a row by the 1884 Detroit Wolverines.

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How soon we forget: One year ago tonight, the Mighty Ducks completed a first-round sweep of the Detroit Red Wings with a 3-2 overtime victory en route to their first Stanley Cup finals appearance. The Ducks failed to make the playoffs this season, the second Cup runner-up in as many seasons to miss postseason play.

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Add hockey: Wing nuts from coast to coast were fretting about Detroit’s inability to put away the pesky Nashville Predators in this season’s opening round, which prompted Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom to write of the importance of a victory:

“This series is simply and undeniably a tipping point for the Red Wings’ legacy, the difference between remembering them, decades from now, as a success or a failure.”

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Trivia answer: Bob and Ken Forsch. Bob, of the St. Louis Cardinals, held the Philadelphia Phillies hitless on this date in 1978. Ken, of the Houston Astros, did the same to the Atlanta Braves less than a year later.

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And finally: Darius Miles, a former Clipper, said he would like to remain with the Portland Trail Blazers when he’s eligible to become a free agent July 1.

“Hopefully, everything works out right and I will be here,” he told the Oregonian newspaper. “But I don’t know, you know what I’m saying? God works in mysterious ways.

“Like, I thought I’d be a Clipper my whole career, so I never know where I’ll be at next year. Hopefully, I’m happy.”