Top 10 reasons why Brian Wilson is the best closer in baseball.

B-Weez says "dig me."

I think it all started on April 28, when San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson entered the ninth inning with one out and promptly blew a save for Tim Lincecum, who had been pitching a masterpiece against the Philadelphia Phillies (read that story here). Legions of Giants fans everywhere began calling for Wilson's head on a platter (as well as Bruce Bochy's).

For the next two months, Wilson was the subject of many "torture" and "B-Queasy" tweets.

There has been a lot of hate cast on Wilson since he has become the team's full-time stopper. Need proof? Click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, or here. (That should be enough to prove my point.)

But let's get one thing clear right now. As I wrote back in March, Brian Wilson is the best closer in baseball. Period. And I've got ten reasons to support my claim.

Giants closing in on Podsednik?

Pods may make the leap back to the NL very soon.

According to my sources, the San Francisco Giants are close to a deal that would fetch Royals' outfielder Scott Podsednik for a couple of minor league players.

The Giants had already worked out the details for sending two prospects to Kansas City for David DeJesus before he was injured and would presumably package them again for Podsednik.

Podsednik, 34, is batting .308/.352/.400 with 5 HR and 43 RBI and has a current 13-game hitting streak. During the streak he is 21-for-56 (.375) with a .607 slugging percentage.

Dunn? Fielder? Hart? I'll take Stephen Drew

Drew would be a great fit for the Giants.

While the rest of the Giants' blogosphere has a woody for a big bat (Adam Dunn, Prince Fielder, Corey Hart, Jose Guillen, etc.), I'm here to tell you that Brian Sabean needs to approach the upcoming trade deadline with a different goal in mind: The Giants need to deal for a speedy, defensive-minded shortstop.

Currently, the Giants have Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe at shortstop, which at first glance looks pretty solid. Uribe was a strong consideration for the All-Star Game earlier this month and Renteria's offensive numbers for the season (.291/.356/.366) don't seem to warrant an emergency back-up plan here.

But let's dig a little deeper here, shall we?

Are the Giants MLB's version of Bad Luck Schleprock?

Next stop...Dodger Stadium.

Remember the old Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm cartoon when they were all grown up? Pebbles had pebbles and Bamm-Bamm needed more bam-bam. That show was pretty righteous, in my opinion. Anyway, they had a character on the show whose name was Bad Luck Schleprock. Everywhere this cat went, he would wreak some kind of physical havoc on whoever might be standing nearby and then mutter "Wowzy wowzy woo woo."

Well, lately, the Giants have been baseball's version of Bad Luck Schleprock. Not just on their own team either (Eugenio Velez' ugly finder off his noodle, Jeremy Affeldt's torn oblique muscle, Dan Runzler's dislocated knee while swinging at a pitch in his first MLB at bat, Pablo Sandoval's divorce -- OK maybe that one's Panda's fault, who knows).

Series preview: Florida Marlins (49-49) at San Francisco Giants (56-43)

Hanley Ramirez is 1-for-13 vs. Barry Zito.

After falling into fourth place in the NL West earlier this month, the San Francisco Giants have made a strong push.

The Florida Marlins have done the same over the last 10 days.

Looking to continue their surge, the Giants go for their fifth straight win Monday night when they open a four-game series against a Marlins club that's making a habit of late-game heroics.

Since trailing first-place San Diego by 6.5 games on July 2, San Francisco (56-43) has won 16 of 20 to move into second place and trim the Padres' lead to three games.

The Giants have scored a major league-high 122 runs in July, helping them take over the wild-card lead -- 1.5 games ahead of Cincinnati.

The play of rookie catcher Buster Posey has helped spark San Francisco's hot streak. Called up May 29, the 23-year-old is batting .472 with six homers and 22 RBIs during an 18-game hitting streak. He matched a career high with four hits, including a double that set up the winning run, in Sunday's 3-2, 10-inning victory at Arizona.

Miller: "I just wanted a job where I could eat french fries"

Miller received the 2010 Ford C. Frick Award on Sunday.

Jon Miller, God bless him. You gotta love the guy.

In a sport where chicks dig the dudes with chiseled chins and bulging biceps, Miller stands out as -- well, not one of those guys.

On Sunday afternoon, the rotund and balding announcer who grew up in Hayward listening to Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons call games, accepted the 2010 Ford C. Frick Award in Cooperstown.

Miller, 58, got his start in 1974 as an Oakland A's announcer and eventually worked for the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles. In 1997 he came home, becoming the voice of the Giants.

Giants sweep Diamondbacks; now lead wild-card race by 1.5 games

Buster Posey connects for his second hit of the game.

Travis Ishikawa's run-scoring single in the 10th inning Sunday boosted the red hot San Francisco Giants to a 3-2 win over Arizona and a four-game series sweep. The Giants, who have won 15 of their last 18 games, moved to 13 games over .500 for the first time this season and now lead the NL wild card race by one-and-a-half games.

Buster Posey went 4-for-5 with an RBI to extend his hitting streak to 18 games, the second-longest in Giants history for a rookie. Posey, who is batting .371 since being recalled from Triple-A Fresno on May 29, surpassed Orlando Cepeda's 17-game streak set in his rookie year of 1958, the team's first season in San Francisco.  Ishikawa finished 2-for-5 and is hitting .333. The Giants (56-43) have collected 122 hits in July, tops in the league.

Sandoval leaving country to deal with his divorce

Pablo, right, with his daughter and his brother Michael.

As reported here weeks ago, San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval is dealing with a divorce. Giants manager Bruce Bochy said on KNBR today that the Panda is expected to miss at least two days so he can return to his home in Venezuela "due to personal reasons."

The San Jose Mercury News later confirmed that Sandoval's absence is due to his divorce. Bochy said that he hopes Sandoval, who has a young daughter, will rejoin the team on Tuesday when they face the Florida Marlins. Sounds to me like he's only flying down to sign the papers.