Marcos Breton

You can't force relationships that can only flourish when both sides want them to work.

There is a chance for the city of Sacramento to pivot away from political pettiness that knew no bounds until, perhaps, now.

What better day than the Sunday after Thanksgiving to reflect on how much we ate and drank and how much we'll dread stepping on a scale or looking in the mirror?

In an era of math-based metrics where player value is quantified down to each pitch he hits or misses, Buster Posey tops them all.

At midnight tonight, I turn 50 years old. Fifty. 5-0. A half-century of me. From a rainy night in 1962 (or so I was told) to now, that's a political span that stretches from JFK to Barack Hussein Obama.

There is no feeling good about advocating for the death penalty.

The Giants winning the World Series over the Detroit Tigers was a triumph of the game of baseball – the essence of the game – after years of addiction to highlight reel home runs.

A Giants team for the ages won its second World Series title in three seasons by prevailing in a pulsating, extra-inning clincher by a razor-thin score of 4-3 over the heavily favored Detroit Tigers on Sunday – the final chapter in an improbable four-game Giants sweep.

Having followed the Giants since 1971, when I was 8 and my dad first took me to Candlestick Park, I have to say this turn of events is like some kind of dream.

President Barack Obama bailed out Detroit and the American auto industry, but there is nothing Obama can do for the Detroit Tigers.

I don't know if Jesus is a Giants fan. But it has felt somewhat biblical at times in the house of worship known as AT&T Park, where water isn't turned into wine – but balls off Giants bats do bounce favorably against bases. Or they roll fair when they should go foul as if guided by a higher power in orange and black.

Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval joined the legends of baseball Wednesday and powered an 8-3 Giants win over the Detroit Tigers by hitting three home runs in the first game of the 2012 World Series.

Win or lose the 2012 World Series, the Giants have conquered the enemy of every for-profit business – apathy.

In a cinematic downpour of rain and pulsating emotion, the Giants punched their ticket to the World Series on Monday night by thrashing the St. Louis Cardinals 9-0 to win the championship of the National League.

It's been a thrilling, passionate, never-say-die journey for the Giants to arrive today at Game 7 of the National League Championship Series.

Some monster investments take years to yield results, but this is one for the ages.

How does this sound? The Giants' 2012 season is riding on Barry Zito.

I didn't get the whole St. Louis Cardinals October magic thing until I set foot in this place and felt it.

I have no idea if St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday is a dirty player.

As he has all October, Daniel Descalso, the St Louis Cardinals' slight second baseman, elevated his game and his stature in one nerve-wracking moment when a play had to be made and Descalso made it.

Daniel Descalso, a former UC Davis athlete, is the latest in a legacy of kids who have risen from local sandlots and ballparks with metal benches to pursue the dream of the World Series.

I hear the same remark all over Sacramento whenever the issue of homelessness comes up.

This can't be a surprise.

In 2010, seemingly every break, bounce of the ball and umpire's blown call went the Giants' way as they won an improbable World Series.

The beauty of baseball is that some momentous events cannot be explained.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is nothing if not a shrewd judge of narratives, though his gifts seemed to most often serve as a vehicle to make money and consolidate power for himself.

It was a massive game that didn't sell out on a sultry Monday night, but it didn't matter.

Every year, Sacramento civic leaders take a journey of unfulfilled yearning. They travel to a different American city that is "doing it right" so that Sacramentans can "see how it's done."

I'm done moralizing on the issue of steroids in baseball. Melky Cabrera was the last straw.

There are perceptions about Sacramento's homeless population that are based on emotion and misinformation.

Every time a public figure steps out of the closet to trade years of pain and loneliness for living openly as a gay person, there is a typical reaction from some.

I've been killing Pablo Sandoval on Twitter for his lack of fitness, dormant bat and propensity to lob relay throws in the dirt at inopportune times.

Beginning today, Sacramento County authorities will begin taking several significant steps aimed at saving the American River Parkway from environmental harm caused by illegal camping.

OAKLAND – The A's proved Sunday that they can't win every day even if sometimes it seems they can.

If you dare take issue with homeless advocates in Sacramento, the first rock hurled in your direction is a question meant as an accusation: "What's your solution to the homeless problem?"

Dear Seattle: Be careful what you wish for.

Two years after he famously was left off the Giants' playoff roster, it seems an increasingly good bet Giants starter Barry Zito will make it this October.

A dear friend of mine – a Catholic priest – often encourages me to remain "on the side of the angels" when writing about social issues.

Marco Scutaro is, without exaggeration, the greatest Italian-Venezuelan player in the history of major league baseball.

I've been going to baseball games for 40 years and they've almost always been joyful experiences. But that changed Wednesday with the crack of a bat and the sickening sound of a baseball striking a human head. 

If you're going to argue against the death penalty, then argue against the death penalty.

Was it something I said?

I could be Republican, but I'm not and the GOP has itself to blame for that.

The Maloof "boys" aren't talking – and when they do, nobody should trust them anyway – so Virginia Beach seems plausible even in absence of any facts.

When it comes to steroid busts in baseball, Se Habla Español.

Oh, my city. You are so screwed up politically. You have big city complexities demanding big city ideas.

For days in the wake of Melky Cabrera's suspension for steroid use, the local and national media have spread the myth that we should continue to look for heroes in professional sports.