Poor Pat Gillick. No one believes him. He is the major leagues’ senior general manager – that means he has been a general manager longer than anyone else. He is in the World Series with his second team – the first team won two World Series. But he apparently has no credibility.

His problem is that he says he is retiring at the end of the month, but this is the fourth time he has said he is retiring, and none of the first three retirements stuck.

“I don’t believe him this time either,” said Gord Ash, who worked under Gillick in Toronto for 10 years and succeeded him there. “I told him the other day when I saw him. I said ‘You’re not going to retire.’ He said he is.”

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(Updated October 16)
Whenever the name Barry Bonds comes up these days, it is followed by the phrase, “who is scheduled to go on trial next March.” Bonds’ name will appear on a court docket before it appears on a lineup card again – if it ever appears on a lineup card again.

“I am convinced that Major League Baseball will never let him put on a uniform ever again,” said Bonds’ agent, Jeff Borris.

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While four teams continue to play baseball games, the other 26 have consoled themselves with the knowledge that they are getting an early start on their plans for next season. The way some teams play, though, you have to wonder how bad they could be if they had even more time to plan.

Exhibit A: the San Francisco Giants. They have just completed a 72-90 season that gives them their worst two-season stretch since 1984-85. Coincidence or not, these two seasons have been the first two seasons of Barry Zito’s contract.

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