Mika Brzezinski (Zbig's daughter) is winning tons of praise for refusing to read a story about Paris Hilton on MSNBC.

But isn't their resemblance ironic?

(Keep in mind that Mika is 14 years older than Paris.)

Unless Al Gore runs, I'm 95% sure my vote will be for John Edwards. Take a look at this appearance by his wife on Wolf Blitzer as just one example. Also look at recent polling data that shows Edwards as the strongest Democrat in a general election. And most importantly, he's actually got a comprehensive economic platform to strengthen the middle class and reduce poverty. In short, he's the Democrat's Democrat.

In today's Seattle Times, Larry Stone offers an apology:

Sorry to be a party pooper, but as rousing as the Griffey homecoming was, and as much as Griffey has meant to this organization, the M's need to evaluate their upcoming personnel moves divorced from the emotional tugs of a magical weekend.

He goes on to argue, without offering much evidence, that what the Mariners need is another pitcher, not another hitter. Here's the evidence he offers:

Heading into Monday's game against Boston, the Mariners had produced 5.01 runs per game. The mighty Red Sox, percolating along with baseball's best record, had scored 5.05 runs per game, a barely perceptible difference.

That's really not a great argument. First of all, the Mariners are primarily chasing a wild card spot, and certainly not the top spot in the AL East. As we learned in 2001, you need a team set up for the playoffs, not just the regular season. To succeed in the playoffs, you need 3 or 4 good starters -- which the Mariners certainly have. Unless we're talking about getting a pitcher who is a true top of rotation guy, an outstanding regular like Ken Griffey, Jr. provides more value.

Secondly, the Mariners pitching may staff may have already received a huge upgrade as both Jeff Weaver and Felix Hernandez appear to be returning to form. (We'll see after tonight's game versus the Red Sox.)

The Mariners are currently 40-33. They rank 6 of 14 in runs scored per game and 11 of 14 in runs allowed per game. Clearly, they have a decent offense (in fact, it's a little better than the Red Sox, despite Stone's claim otherwise).

But while the Mariners pitching has been a sore spot, it's worth looking under the hood. Before Jeff Weaver went on the DL, the Mariners lost all six games that he had started. They are 2-1 since his return, during which time he's allowed 4 runs in 19.2 innings. Moreover, the curious decision to start a rookie during Junior's homecoming resulted in a 16-1 loss. The Mariners are 40-26 in all their other games, allowing 4.47 runs per game -- good enough for 4th best in the American League.

In other words, the Mariners pitching stats are heavily skewed by Jeff Weaver's historically awful start and Mike Hargrove's stupid decision to start a rookie in the highest profile Mariners regular season game since 1995.

If both Weaver and Hernandez continue to pitch well, the Mariners should actually have a decent starting staff with 3 pitchers -- good enough for giving the team a shot in the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Mariners, a boring, listless squad, could benefit from a player with Griffey's persona, not to mention his bat. Only Richie Sexson has more than 10 dingers, and his batting average is a joke, almost not printable -- a totally obscene .212. He may end up as the first player in baseball history to have more strikeouts than at bats (sic).

Finally, it would just be fun to have Junior back in town. Baseball is about having fun. The fact that he'd probably help the team more than the addition of another arm (unless it's we're talking about a true #1 or #2 pitcher) is an added bonus.

Larry Stone has a lot of baseball knowledge, and I'm sure he's a great guy, but on this topic he not only wrong, he doesn't understand what it means to be a Seattle Mariners fan.

I was just up in Seattle for three days, including three Mariners games. It was great seeing friends and family -- but it was also pretty wonderful seeing Ken Griffey, Jr. take the field once again at Safeco, belting two homers, including a mammoth shot to right field.

There's been much speculation about whether Junior will or will not return one day to the Mariners. I would love to see him return, but I'll leave that debate to others.

Two things really struck me.

First, this weekend was by far the most enjoyable weekend of Mariners baseball I've experienced since 2001. I think it says something about how well (or how poorly) the Mariners have been managed over the last five or so years that the most fun that was had at Safeco Field came when an opposing player made his return to the ballpark.

Second, I've never seen anything weirder as a sports fan than the sight of 46,000 fans rooting for a player on the opposite team, even feeling joy when that player hits a home run to put their team down 2 runs to nothing. I think it underscores the biggest problem baseball has: its financial system, especially free agency. Two teams really stand out in Mariners history: the 1995 Mariners and the 2001 Mariners. Aside from Ichiro, the 2007 Mariners bear absolutely no resemblance to either of those two teams. Even Junior only played on the 1995 squad, giving us the iconic Seattle baseball moment when he slid into home after Edgar's double ("I can't believe it, the Mariners are going to play for the American League pennant!").

It's a real problem for baseball and for the Mariners that there is such little continuity between clubs. People want to root for more than just a uniform. Both football and basketball have better systems -- hopefully baseball will one day recognize the problem and fix it.

p.s.: It was really nice seeing Hargrove get thrown out of the game on Friday, finally showing some emotion. Hopefully he was pissed off not just at the umpires but at the fans for not only praising Junior but booing our own pitcher when he threw over to first with Junior at the plate. If so, it would show to me for the first time that Hargrove has some passion for the Mariners ballclub. It's obvious that while Mariners fans root for their team, their passion is not for the team's present, but rather its past. Its up to Hargrove, at least for now, to get fans excited again about the current crop of players.