Two outs, bottom of the inning, two men on base, a full count to the batter at the plate. You've all seen this situation before. Some in real life, some in movies, some in both.

The crowd is hushed, holding their collective breath, watching two men in a field of green and brown. The pitcher stands alone on the mound, a mitt resting against his left shoulder, a ball sits in his right hand, idly spinning and thumbing the ball as it is cradled against his back. The pitcher nods in agreement to the catcher's signal, then eyes the runners on the bases. He eyes the batter, then locks his gaze on to the catcher's mitt. There's the windup and the delivery. The ball screams toward the plate, the batter swings with all of his might, and the hushed silence is broken with a loud crack of the wooden bat. A hush again washes over the crowd as fans slowly rise to their feet, raise one hand flat to their foreheads to block the sunlight bearing down upon their faces, and watch the center fielder sprint towards the wall deep in the outfield. Hands spread apart and arms thrust upward toward the cloudless blue sky, clenching into fists, shaking just a bit, willing the small sports ball of woven leather over yarn and cork to sail higher and farther in to the distance. The grins breaking in to wide smiles as the ball sails over the fence. The roar of the crowd as the announcer calls “Way back, way back … IT’S OUTTA HERE!” Strangers smile at each other and exchange high-fives and exclamations in regard to the magnitude of the amazing moment.

A three run blast. There is just one bigger moment in baseball and that is the grand-slam, which happens all too rarely.

This moment did not come in a game featuring Babe Ruth or in a movie starring Robert Redford.

No, this moment came in a game at Sckavone Field in SE Portland on May 4^th, 2013 between the Bridgetown Thunder and the PBC Tribe of the NWIBL.

After defeating the San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 at Jeld-Wen Field on April 14th, there loomed a daunting six road games in the span of eight for the Portland Timbers.  Being an avid Timbers fan, I was well aware of our abysmal road record; fully expecting a meager three or four points out of the possible eighteen.  But what has transpired instills me to think that we have a new Timbers team on our hands.  A Timbers squad with moxy and vigor; they're hungry and it is very apparent after coming from behind against a talented Sporting KC team and tying with San Jose and FC Dallas.

This new influx of Timber talent may have turned me into a spoiled troll, but both 1-1 draws on the road have been rather dispiriting.  I say this largely because the Timbers were ahead of both of those games and just had some defensive let downs.  Goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts is playing out of his mind, making mind-defying save after mind-defying save.  The weakness to me seems not a lack of talent on the defensive side of the ball either, it's the mindset.  The mentality of "We have the lead, so let's play defensively" has backfired against them and left the Timbers with a tinge of despair when the final whistle blows.  

The Full Contact Fighting Federation (FCFF) is holding an amateur mixed martial arts event here in Portland. Since 2001, the Northwest based FCFF has been breeding some of the area's best up-and-coming fighters. They have held over 230 bouts during that time. Some of Oregon's best martial artists got their starts in the FCFF, such as the UFCs Chris Leben, Ed Herman, and Chael Sonnen. A handful of new talent looks to follow in their footsteps at Rumble @ The Roseland 71.

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The Seattle Mariners starting rotation needs help. They’re hurting. Other than Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma, the rotation has been awful.

Here is a look at what their other starters have done.

Brandon Maurer – 2 wins and 4 losses with a 6.07 ERA in 6 starts.

Joe Saunders – 2 wins and 4 losses with a 6.15 ERA in 7 starts.

*Aaron Harang – 1 win and 4 losses with a 7.30 ERA in 5 starts.

*Harang, who was traded twice within a week, was brought in after a rough start from Blake Beavan … only to have a similar start. Beavan started twice this season. He recorded 1 loss with no wins in the two games and had an ERA of 8.44 before Harang took over his spot in the rotation. Okay, maybe Harang is slightly better.

In writing this article, I distance myself from the Winterhawks Booster Club that I am President of and take the role of a fan, a lover of the game of junior hockey and an angry one at that. 

As a lead up to the WHL Finals in Portland, WHL Commissioner Rob Robison appeared before the local Portland media. The talk wasn't going to be focused on the two teams playing for the Ed Chynoweth Cup and the chance to play in the Memorial Cup. Instead, the focus was on the heavy sanctions handed to Portland which resulted in the loss of GM and Coach Mike Johnston from November through the end of the playoffs this season, plus a multitude of other hardships. The press conference was relatively short and limited with actual information that hadn't already been churned out and can be seen all over the internet. Had people thought there was some sort of chicanery going on, they weren't having their minds put at ease with this conference. The Winterhawks are still without Mike Johnston, they are only able to draft from rounds 6-9 this year in the Bantam Draft, and they are still on course to win the WHL Finals. 

On this episode of The Slant, host Brad Stein talks about LeBron James, the legacy of Floyd Mayweather, the top five names for a racing horse, and more!

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Running has long been a passion of mine. My freshman year of high school, I ran cross country for the Panthers of Plymouth Comprehensive High School in Plymouth, Wisconsin.  That may have been the beginning of my running career, but it wasn’t necessarily what excited me about the sport.

Cross country races were just over three miles and in practice, we typically ran three to five miles. All of which seemed to be a bit extreme to me. I remember my first race; it was at New Holstein High School. The starting gun sounded and everyone began to sprint. This was a complete surprise to me. After all, three miles seemed like an eternity and although I willingly joined the team, I could not understand why anyone would intentionally do something so painful. My perception of distance was obviously unsophisticated.

I did not go out for the cross country team my sophomore year. And I definitely did not run anything close to three miles or more until many years later. I was more likely to utter phrases like, “I don’t run unless I’m being chased.”

The OSAA baseball and softball playoffs are nearly upon us.

In addition to the exciting races for league titles, dozens more teams are fighting to make the postseason.

One thing that makes this part of the season so much fun is when a mediocre team develops into a state contender right before your eyes.

History is punctuated with teams that had to scramble to make the playoffs only to find themselves in a dog pile after winning it all.

Something about baseball and softball lends itself to late season runs.

I love the psychology behind those miraculous, mysterious, glorious streaks.

Those of us of a certain age remember Northern Exposure, a quirky television series that ran on CBS from 1990-95. The series was set in the fictional town of Cicely, AK (though it was filmed in Roslyn, WA). The residents of Cicely were a collection of quirky misfits who came to Alaska looking for a place where they could start over.

Janine Turner played Maggie O’Connell, a Grosse Pointe debutante turned Alaska bush pilot because … well, why not? Maggie was single because, through no fault of her own, all her boyfriends died in freak accidents. No one could explain Maggie’s curse, but she did seem destined for spinsterhood. With a trail of bodies defining her romantic history, who’d be willing to take a chance on breaking the curse?

I mention Northern Exposure because the travails of the Portland Timbers’ back line remind me of Maggie’s boyfriends. The Timbers have lost two central defenders, David Horst and Mikael Silvestre, to season-ending injuries. Both Horst and Silvestre were playing well when they were rendered hors de combat. Horst steadied the back line with his heart and hustle. Silvestre did the same through guile, experience, and dependability. The loss of two players of such high quality would hurt any team. It would have decimated the 2011 and 2012 Timbers. This edition has shown character and resilience despite the loss of two top-flight central defenders. They’re a wee bit short of central defenders at the moment, though.

It could not have started any worse for Mikael Silvestre in Portland. The Timbers’ newest high-profile player looked like a deer getting stomped by Red Bulls in the headlights of the club’s high-profile MLS season opener.

In his first 45 minutes, Silvestre looked old, slow, and French. He also looked destined to become the next casualty in a long line of accomplished international players to come to America for a paycheck and a career swansong, only to never devote the kind of focus, drive and effort required to be successful in MLS.

Rafael Marquez, anyone?

Brad Stein and company host another packed episode, featuring veteran Benson High School head track coach Leon McKenzie in studio, as well as his grand-daughter and Benson track athlete Jasmine McKenzie. Also in studio is Liberty High School athlete Elizabeth Pecsoc and Wilson High School athlete Tristan Anastas.

100.  It is just a number.  Important in mathematics, but not more than 1, 2, or 5.  We see it because it represents perfection.  100% on your test.  100% of your games won. 

From 0 to 100 in just under two years.  Either the world's slowest car, or the march of sports and those who cover it.  Why not see a few more numbers from the last two years?

24: The amount of consecutive wins in regulation by the Chicago Blackhawks this season.

27: Consecutive wins by the Miami Heat this season.

900: Amount of times on national television Stephen A. Smith proved he is an NBA analyst, not an NHL analyst, forgetting that hockey has not had ties to ESPN since 2004.