ESPN

On Oct. 17, 1989, the San Francisco Bay Area was struck by an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 on the Richter scale. Sixty-three people died, and more than 3,700 were injured. A section of the upper deck of the Bay Bridge collapsed, as did sections of the Cypress Street Viaduct. The Bay Area suffered an estimated $6 billion in damage.

The earthquake hit at 5:04 p.m. Pacific Time. At that moment, ABC was broadcasting live from Candlestick Park, where the Oakland A's and San Francisco Giants were warming up for the third game of the World Series. That meant viewers around the world saw the initial earthquake strike live, but ABC was knocked off the air before the tremor ended. ESPN went on the air 18 minutes later. Other national networks also began broadcasting live. The stadium was evacuated, and the series was postponed for 10 days.

Sunday on "Outside the Lines," ESPN's Bob Ley will take viewers back nearly 20 years to that day, telling the stories of what happened and sharing sports figures' memories of the natural disaster.

ESPN would like to hear your story, your remembrances of where you were and what you were doing the moment the earthquake struck. Share them in the comments below.

Are the Braves about to get their own Washington bailout in the wild-card race?

As recently as last week, the NL wild card was a done deal in SportsNation's eyes -- 59 percent of voters said the Rockies were headed to the postseason. And now ... well, actually the Rockies remain the overwhelming popular pick to win the wild card. But after loss No. 8 in the their last 12 games, the wild-card lead is down to 3.5 games over the Braves. And guess who the Braves play seven times in the season's final stretch?

Your 100-loss Washington Nationals!

Meanwhile, the Rockies play both the Cardinals and Dodgers down the stretch. And far be it from us to suggest those teams would think of such things, but since one might end up facing the wild card, what's really in their best interests?

• Vote: Excited for Red Sox-Yankees or waiting for Twins-Tigers?
• Your Rankings: Help "SportsNation" (ESPN2, 4 p.m. ET) rank the best everyday players.
• Chats: Jerry Crasnick, 12 ET | Jayson Stark, 1 ET | Peter Gammons, Amy Nelson, 2 ET
• Chats wraps: Keith Law | Baseball America | Rob Neyer | Joe Morgan | Buster Olney

With nary a dramatic pennant race in sight, baseball fans have to find some way to kill time until the postseason. Buster Olney mused about Prince Fielder landing with the Red Sox in Monday's blog, but after some time to think about it, he came up with another potential fit for Fielder before his chat with SportsNation.

• Vote: How will the Dodgers-Giants series play out in San Francisco?

Baseball sticks by our side all summer long, suffering with us through the heat and humidity, serving up background noise for backyard barbeques. And what do we do when Labor Day arrives? Send it packing for the trophy spouse that is football. We're bad people.

USC-Ohio State and the first NFL Sunday are the weekend headliners, but baseball isn't going away without a fight. Clinging to a two-game lead in the NL West, the Dodgers visit the rival Giants, while the Rockies get the woeful Padres. And fighting for the wild-card, both the Rangers and Red Sox face potential spoilers with winning records in the Mariners and Rays, respectively.

All of which raises an excellent question, as posed by commenter ElGrizzly. If you're a Rockies fan, are you rooting for the Dodgers to sweep and give Colorado acres of breathing room for the wild card, or are you rooting for the Giants to sweep and put the division title up for grabs? Where's Monty Hall when you need him?

• Dodgers still No. 4 in this week's SN Power Rankings | Submit your rankings
• Chat: Jerry Crasnick talks about pennant races and more, 12 ET.

• Your rankings: Which contenders made the wisest moves in baseball's trade market?

Not since fantasy baseball owners haggled through the summer of 2003 have Jim Thome, Jose Contreras and Billy Wagner mattered this much in a trade market.

Of course, even as Thome and Jon Garland headed to the Dodgers and Contreras made his way to the Rockies, their old employer was left with a smoldering reminder of the perils of trading. Alex Rios? Hitting worse than .200 with the team. Jake Peavy? Might not pitch until 2010.

A month ago, voters picked the White Sox to win the AL Central. As recently as three weeks ago, SportsNation still had them neck and neck with the Tigers. Now? Well, at least 58 percent of voters think Ozzie Guillen should keep his job in the Windy City.

• 55 percent of SN thinks Contreras won't help; 72 percent of Colorado disagrees.
• 51 percent of SN thinks Wagner won't help; 61 percent of Massachusetts disagrees.
• Is Jim Thome more a Hall of Fame lock than Manny Ramirez? SN voters say yes.

Perhaps the fans booing Jay Cutler last night in Denver were just frustrated Rockies fans releasing some pent-up anger. Or maybe they just think Cutler is a tool. We're not here to judge. Either way, the NL wild card is proving to be baseball's best drama.

• All-Star break: SportsNation was more surprised that the Giants had a winning record than any of the Mariners, Marlins, Rangers or Rockies.
• Aug. 17: Despite trailing the Rockies in the standings at the time, the Giants were SportsNation's clear pick to win the NL wild card.
• Aug. 24: After the Rockies took three of four from the Giants at Coors Field, they doubled their support in SportsNation and took the vote lead.
• Aug. 31: Turnabout is fair play, with the sweep of the Rockies at AT&T Park restoring the Giants to SportsNation's good -- if fickle -- graces.

In short, about a quarter of SportsNation believes the Giants will win and about a quarter believes the Rockies will win. The rest of us (minus the seven people who still think the Cubs have a chance) have no idea which team will win but will enjoy the ride.

• Your Rankings: Are the Dodgers, Giants and Rockies near the top of Power Rankings?
• Vote: Would a Dodgers-Giants NLCS be better than a Yankees-Red Sox ALCS?
• Chat wrap: Buster Olney on the Giants' offense making for a roller-coaster ride.

• Vote: Which teams will come out on top of the wild-card races?

As Yankees legend Yogi Berra might put it, nobody cares about the Yankees playing the Red Sox anymore; it's too popular.

The rivalry that is probably simultaneously baseball's most popular and most reviled was renewed over the weekend, and the Yankees maintained plenty of breathing room in the AL East by taking two of three. There were a number of important series over the weekend, most notably a big one between the Rockies and Giants that wraps up tonight and which drew more than 130,000 fans to Coors Field for the first three games. But the spotlight was where it always seems to be when Boston and New York are involved; heading into the weekend, only 27 percent of voters rated the Giants-Rockies series as the most significant, compared to 39 percent for the Yankees-Red Sox series.

As much as griping about them is almost as much fun as griping about Brett Favre, is the devil you know more interesting than the Devil Rays or Angels you don't in the playoffs?

• SportsNation gives AL wild card the nod as baseball's best race.
• More than half of voters still picking against the Rockies in NL wild-card race.
• Monday's chat: Buster Olney talks MLB at 1 p.m. ET.

• Vote: Who is the favorite to inherit Lee's crown as AL Cy Young winner?

We didn't plan on starting with one-on-one debates two days in a row, but then again, the Diamondbacks probably didn't plan on looking like a Double-A team against Cliff Lee last night (although Arizona fans forced to endure this season might tell us that's an upgrade).

Lee has been sensational in his first four starts for the team, running up a 4-0 record and 0.82 ERA and leading to inevitable comparisons with last season's big-ticket pitching acquisition, CC Sabathia. But that's not necessarily the comparison on our mind.

• Cliff Lee: 11-9, 2.72 ERA, 185 IP, 141 K, 39 BB, 5 CG (overall)
• Tim Lincecum: 12-3, 2.37 ERA, 178.1 IP, 207 K, 46 BB, 4 CG

The National League has a unique situation on its hands with both reigning Cy Young winners in its ranks and in the pennant race. SportsNation voters have been pretty clear that they expect Lincecum to make it two awards in a row, and given his late arrival, Lee's not going to change that.

But if it came down to one big game, which pitcher are you handing the ball to?

• Rankings: Where do the wild-card contenders rank overall in MLB?

So has anyone seen our divisional races in baseball? We seem to have misplaced them; we swear they here a minute ago. Aside from the AL Central, which is shaping up as less of a sprint and more of a stumble to the finish line, the new week begins with every division leader in possession of at least a 4.5 game cushion. A month ago, only two teams could claim that honor. And a year ago, two races were within a game on Aug. 17.

We can only assume it's the Tigers people have in mind when more than 70 percent of SportsNation predicts at least one current division leader will fall because the rest of the landscape looks about as eye-catching as a Kansas highway in the middle of an overcast night (in other words, dull). Thank goodness for the wild card.

At the outset of a three-game series between the Rangers and Red Sox in Texas, voters predicted the Red Sox would lead the wild-card race after the weekend. Oops. But never a body to be deterred, SportsNation still thinks the Red Sox will end up in the playoffs.

• Rockies lead NL wild-card race; SportsNation still prefers Giants.
• Vote: Add your take to the hot issues of the day in MLB.
• Groups: Top of the Chop | Texas Rangers | PHILADELPHIA SPORTS

• Rankings: Which teams occupy the top spots in SportsNation's Power Rankings?

"Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand in a hurry." -- Ron Burgundy

Nobody on the Yankees killed a guy, or threw a trident, during a four-game weekend set against the Red Sox, but behind SportsNation's AL MVP pick the Bronx Bombers did their best in a sweep to extinguish whatever remaining life their rivals had left in the division.

After Thursday's loss, we looked at how SportsNation's faith in the Red Sox had faded over the past two months, but that was in the context of winning the AL East. But when the Mariners are closer to you in the playoff race than you are to the Yankees, it's time to start worrying about just making the playoffs.

• Only 52 percent of SportsNation predicts the Red Sox will make the postseason.
• Voters split as to whether Rangers or Rays are the main wild-card competition.

But the Red Sox weren't the only contender floundering over the weekend. The Marlins made the NL East a race again by sweeping three from the Phillies (not that the Phillies were alone, considering 87 percent of SportsNation discounted the Marlins last week).

And the Dodgers, who once held a seemingly insurmountable lead in the NL West, head to San Francisco having lost three of four to the Braves and with their lead down to 5.5 games over the Giants and Rockies.

• A month into the season, only 22 percent of voters expected an NL West fight.
• Giants now slight favorite to earn the NL wild card over Cubs and Rockies.
• Vote: Weigh in with your take on the issues of the day in MLB.
• Chat: Buster Olney talks about all the pennant races at 1 p.m. ET.
• Groups: Florida Marlins Rock | National league | Dodgers Fan Club