Fabiani, be quiet!

Mark Fabiani, learn when to keep your mouth shut.

You always talk about how San Diego City Manager Mike Aguirre opens his mouth too much. Well, do yourself a favor and take a look in the mirror.

As spin doctor for the Chargers, you made the following statement when National City bowed out last week as a potential site for a new Chargers’ stadium:

“National City found out the same thing we've been finding out for five years – it's difficult to get the city of San Diego and other partners to engage in a meaningful issue,” you told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Mr. Fabiani, let me remind you of a couple “meaningful issues.” San Diego police officers just received their first raise in three years. Firefighters were denied a raise for the third straight year.

Yes, the city of San Diego has some serious financial problems that were created long before the current city council took office. Subsidizing a football team of millionaires owned by a near-billionaire just isn’t a priority.

If your house is ever on fire or you need police help, let’s just hope the police and firefighters don’t treat you with the same disdain that you demonstrate toward them.

Padres get 'sludged'

General Manager Kevin Towers has made himself a reputation with the Padres as the “sludge merchant.”

Well, it looks like the so-called sludge merchant has gotten sludged on his latest move.

Or, did you not notice that Jack Cust of the Oakland Athletics has been named American League co-Player of the Week for the period ending May 13?

Cust was traded by the Padres to Oakland on May 3 for a reported $100,000.

In his first 26 at bats with Oakland, Cust pounded out six home runs and 14 RBIs. During the first 39 games of the season, the Padres had just one player with more than six home runs and three with more than 14 RBIs.

You don’t think they could use Cust’s bat in their power-deficient line-up, do you?

Of course, the Padres said they did not think Cust measured up defensively in left field. That being said, did you see Terrmel Sledge drop a fly ball and misplay a line drive in the same inning during last Saturday’s 5-0 loss to St. Louis?

The Padres haven’t made up for the power loss of Mike Piazza to Oakland as a free agent this past offseason. Consider it a double whammy with Cust going to the Athletics.

Let's hear less from ex-athletes on TV

Jeanne Zelasko deserves credit for standing up for what’s right.

During the pregame show on Fox-TV’s baseball Game of the Week, the topic of comments Curt Schilling from the Red Sox made recently about Barry Bonds arose.

Kevin Kennedy, being an ex-player, stood up for Bonds and said Schilling was way out of line for his comments (who cares if Schilling told the truth originally, before retracting his statement?)

Zelasko responded it’s a fact that Bonds took steroids … and let’s move on to another conversation.

Good for her!

It’s about time we hear more from “people who never played the game” such as Zelasko and Ken Rosenthal on Fox baseball, or football analysts such as Chris Mortensen (ESPN) and Adam Schechter (NFL Network.)

For most of us, it’s getting old hearing athletes … or ex-athletes … defend the poor behavior of other athletes.

What we need are more people like Zelasko, who will stand up to the excuse-making athletes covering for the shame of others.

Cameron may need vision test

Mike Cameron of the Padres probably needs to be checked by an optometrist.

Cameron has misjudged at least four balls in the twilight this season. He’s also not making as many of the spectacular plays that have made him a three-time Gold Glove award winner.

Obviously, he is not tracking the ball as well as he used to.

Manager Bud Black excuses Cameron’s misplays by saying that Darin Erstad normally missed one ball per homestand because of the twilight when he played for the Anaheim Angels. That was Erstad. He’s the same guy who misjudged a fly ball in the twilight this year in Anaheim during his first game back with the Chicago White Sox.

Cameron was not losing balls in the twilight last season. He also seemed to be getting better jumps on the ball in 2006.

Let’s just hope this is an early-season bump in the road; not a developing pattern.

In the meantime, the Padres should have Cameron’s eyes checked out; just to be sure there is no lingering impact from the brutal collision he had in the Petco Park outfield with then New York Mets’ teammate Carlos Beltran in August 2005.

ESPN's Phillips looks like a genius

Credit Steve Phillips for looking like a genius thus far in 2007.

The ESPN analyst more than went out on a limb before the baseball season when he picked Milwaukee to win the NL Central.

At the time, I’m sure most of us were laughing. But look who’s laughing now (Phillips) with Milwaukee leading the NL Central by seven games over the Chicago Cubs.

St. Louis was the obvious preseason pick in the division, coming off its 2006 World Series title. Houston can always be figured on to make a late-season run, and Cincinnati was hot most of last season. Then there are the Cubs who spent $300 million in the offseason; but are still the Cubs (see: losers).

Hardly anybody could have rightfully picked Pittsburgh to win the division, which left Milwaukee as a solid choice to finish fifth.

Obviously, Phillips saw something that the rest of us did not.

Shame on Mike Penner!

Shame on you, Mike Penner!

Two weeks ago, you revealed in the Los Angeles Times that you are going on vacation. You told us that when you return, you will be known as Christine Daniels.

For years, you were just one of the “guys” at the Times. You even went out with the guys in the group led by John Cherwa to attend the pro wrestling matches at the Los Angeles Sports Arena … not something to brag about.

Nor is this sex change any reason to boast.

Remember, your faithful wife of close to 20 years still works in the Times sports department. We’re not going to mention the Minnesota native’s name, but how is she going to feel when her ex-husband comes back into the newsroom as a woman?

Mike, do us all a favor. If you want your sex change, that’s your decision. But if you really want to start all over, then start over someplace else!

Enough of Yankees-Red Sox!

Kudos go out to Michael Wilbon of PTI (Pardon the Interruption) on ESPN.

Wilbon was asked by co-host Tony Kornheiser yesterday whether Josh Beckett of the Boston Red Sox would win his seventh game of the season last night.

“Do we ever talk about any teams but the Red Sox and Yankees on this show?” responded Wilbon, who refused to answer the question.

Amen!

It does seem to many of us as if the Red Sox and New York Yankees are the only teams ever to be featured on ESPN. If memory serves me correctly, those teams combined have won the World Series once in the past six years.

It’s getting to the point where the multitudes would probably just as soon hear about the Washington Nationals and Kansas City Royals, rather than the Yankees and Red Sox.

Did Beckett win his seventh game last night? Yes, he did.

But to paraphrase Wilbon from yesterday: Who cares?