Prosecutors have vowed to proceed anyway. The San Francisco Chronicle explains:

Villalona, 19 - who three years ago became the most expensive minor-leaguer ever signed by the Giants, at $2.1 million - still faces a charge that he shot a man to death in September in a wild bar fight in his hometown of La Romana, Dominican Republic. But the no-bail hold he had been under was relaxed because the family and prosecutor have not been able to pin a motive for the shooting on Villalona, Cedano [Jose Arturo Cevallos Cedano, Villalona's lawyer] said.

"Angel was just there with a friend," Cedano said. "There was no evidence that he did the shooting."

Prosecutor Jose Antonio Polanco, however, told The Chronicle the only thing that has changed in the case is that the victim's family signed a waiver saying it will not file civil charges against Villalona.

"We are continuing the prosecution," he said. "The agreement is only on civil charges, not criminal."

The Chronicle, incidentally, puts the figure at 5 million pesos, which is closer to $140,000. Diario Libre says 2 million. With the family bought off, it's not clear how much of a case prosecutors will have left if this ever comes to trial. Nor is it clear how the Giants will handle Villalona in the seemingly likely event that he's exonerated. Fellow Giants farmhand Garrett Broshuis isn't too comfortable with the situation:

I wanted to believe my teammate was innocent. I wanted something to come forward to exonerate him. I wanted to see him walk out of prison a free man. But not like this. This just smells like rotten sushi, and nobody likes rotten sushi.

Unseemly though it may be, a payoff like this one is fairly common. It's happened with another ballplayer, in fact. Perhaps you recall the precedent established in Juan Uribe v. Two Dudes Who Got Way Too Close to Juan Uribe's Jeep?

Giants' prospect makes bail [San Francisco Chronicle]
Libertan a Villalona tras compensar madre joven muerto con RD$2.0 millones [Diario Libre]
Villalona: paying off a family? [Life in the Minors]

The agreement, which still must be approved by a judge, will basically wipe out any charge involving the 3.3 grams of weed Lincecum had on his person when he was pulled over in his Mercedes for going 74 mph in a 60 mph zone on October 30th in Hazell Dell, Washington, his home state.

Grant Hansen, the Clark County deputy prosecutor, explains:

"We negotiated the case in the manner we do with just about every first-time marijuana-drug paraphernalia case where the individual is cooperative with the officer," Hansen told The Columbian. "We dismissed possession of marijuana and amended the other charge to buying or selling drug paraphernalia, a Class A civil infraction."

But to have a case like this to be resolved this quickly is strange, right? Nope.

"His attorney came to our office Monday. We negotiated the case in the manner we do with just about every first-time marijauana/drug paraphernalia case where the individual is cooperative with the officer," Hansen said Friday.

Right. Every first time offender who is a famous Major League pitcher that has a $500/hour attorney on retainer, correct? Not so fast, so says deputy prosecutor Hansen.

The prosecutor told The Columbian "it could have been the kid next door" getting the same treatment. "The fact it's a celebrity doesn't mean he doesn't get the same deal."

Very true. It is not surprising in the least that anyone busted with a couple grams of bud would get this deal, especially in a state like Washington which has such liberal marijuana laws. What is surprising, however, is how quickly this has gone down and how willing the authorities were to cooperate to resolve this matter as quietly as possible. Perhaps this is a sign of how far we have come with how we perceive recreational marijuana use in this country.

Of course, I completely support how this case was handled (which I assume doesn't come as a surprise to anyone around these here parts). Shit man, have Lincecum pay his measly fine and let him get on with his life. There is a whole bunch of weed to smoke in the Pacific Northwest and times wasting, you dig?

Report: Lincecum has agreement on pot charge [The Associated Press]
Lincecum makes deal with Clark County prosecutors [The Colombian]
(previously on Deadspin) Tim Lincecum Cited In Least Surprising Pot Bust Ever

In 2006, Villalona received what was then a club-record $2.1 million signing bonus from the Giants. On Sunday, according to the Associated Press, he turned himself into police, roughly 12 hours after a 25-year-old was shot in a bar in La Romana. Details are trickling in from the Dominican press. It seems the victim, Mario Felix de Jesus Veleta (or possibly Valette), had argued with Villalona over a VIP seat in a brewery called Tony Super Fria (Tony Super Cold). He was shot in either the chest or the neck or possibly both, and died a short while later.

MLB.com's Chris Haft talked to one of Villalona's teammates in single-A ball last year and got this bit of context:

Right-hander Waldis Joaquin, a fellow Dominican who played with Villalona at low-Class A Augusta last season, didn't address his former teammate's case specifically. But Joaquin pointed out that in his country, people occasionally shoot first and answer questions later if they're being hassled by a group.

"Maybe if you have five people in one fight, you don't want to leave, and if you have a gun, you [fire it]," Joaquin said.

Another teammate, Garrett Broshuis, took to his blog:

A giant of a kid, homesick and still growing up, navigating his way through the labyrinth that is professional baseball; that is how I would describe teammate Angel Villalona. The game delivered him good times and bad, and he reacted as any teenager would react when under a pressurized microscope. He threw an occasional tantrum but got over it and would soon have a smile on his face.

[...]

I am told often by my teammates that the streets of the D.R. are dangerous. At times they exaggerate no doubt, but the latest data puts the murder rate at 23.57 per 100,000. This is much higher than the United States' rate of 5.8, but also much lower than the famed city of Detroit, which posts a rate of 46.

Still, most of my Dominican teammates claim to carry a pistol with them wherever they go.

"Everyone else has a gun, so you have to carry one too," one of them told me recently. "Especially if people know you are a baseball player, they might try robbing you, so you have to carry one for protection."

I don't know how much of their pistol-packing claims are based on truth and how much are based on myth-building machismo, but enough of them have made the statement that it seems plausible that a plethora of guns fill the streets of the D.R. With that many loaded weapons around, nothing good can come from an altercation.

Villalona was the face of the Giants' renewed commitment to scouting the international game. As an 18-year-old Sally Leaguer, he hit 17 home runs and 29 doubles. Baseball Prospectus made him the youngest player ever to be included in its annual, writing, "The sky is the limit like it's been for no other prospect perhaps since Alex Rodriguez was drafted." His ceiling figures to be considerably lower now.

Giants teen Villalona suspected of murder [MLB.com]
Updates On The Villalona Situation 9/21 [SF Dugout]
Villalona: teammate turned murder suspect [Life in the Minors]

Perry will be there at Dodger Stadium when the Giants come to down this weekend, and he plans to leave before the eighth inning. Yes, I know, so will everyone else, but he's got a different reason: he "cannot stand the fact that the Dodgers 'hijacked it first' and use it to win games."

Though he gets royalties every time the Dodgers play his song over the PA system, it feels like his 30 pieces of silver:

It tweaks me to know they're using the song as a rally song. I really wish we'd have hijacked it first. I think the song is about hope and power, and it's working for them, damn it."

Look, I know it's been a long season, and L.A. and the Bay Area don't have a single decent football team between them, but that's no reason to resort to what-does-Steve-Perry-think-about-baseball stories.

Perry's 8th-Inning Journey [SF Chronicle]

As you probably know by now, Penny reacts to every strikeout like he's just closed out Game 7 of the World Series, and to every taunt like you've just spat out his mother's cooking. Monday's game against the Padres made Penny especially combustible because it involved both multiple strikeouts by Penny (six) and taunts aimed at him (two). So when Adrian Gonzalez paused to admire his home run, Penny became predictably enraged. Strangely enough, though, Penny directed his hostility toward not only Gonzalez but the entire Padres dugout as well.

Initially, nobody, including Padres manager Bud Black, understood why Penny was acting like such a baby:

"He popped off after the home run and I'm not sure why. Adrian has done the same thing 36 times this year. I don't know what the hell he was looking at. He gave some gesture toward our dugout … I didn't quite understand that one either."

Only later did ESPN's Buster Olney theorize that Penny's outburst had less to do with the home run than it did with the meanies in the Padres dugout who were mimicking the grunt he emits when he pitches. So Penny exploded. And from the looks of this video, it's a wonder that the umpires who had to restrain Penny didn't put him in a timeout.

Brad Penny Is A Completely Rational Human Being [Rumors and Rants]

Two weekends ago, the Rockies swept the Giants to take command of the Wild Card and eventually closed within two games of the division lead. This weekend, they got swept by the Giants (for five losses in a row) are now in a tie for the Wild Card and the Dodgers NL West lead seems comfortably safe. So we probably won't be seeing the biggest comeback in pennant chase history and the Rockies need to seriously step it back up if they hope to even make the playoffs. All because people like me had to go and jump the gun.

So did I jinx them? I'm going to go ahead and say that yes, it's my fault, because I need to believe in the importance of my own words. If there are any other teams you would like to see fall from a precipitous height, just give me a reason to write about how awesome they are.

Giants sweep Rockies, tie for wild-card lead [The Denver Post]
Giants 9, Rockies 5: Bullpen hands San Francisco share of wild card lead [Purple Row]
Wild Giants are all over the map [San Jose Mercury News]
Rockies familiar with late-season push [MLB, Friday]
Sports Illustrated gives Giants run support [San Francisco Examiner]

On June 3, the Rockies were 15.5 games back of the juggernaut L.A. Dodgers. Now they're three back, with those very Dodgers arriving at Coors Field tonight. They've taken control of the NL Wild Card race, but could very well win the whole shebang, especially after last night's storybook win over the Giants.

Down three runs in the bottom of the 14th inning, with no one left on the bench, a runner with a limp on base, and forced to send a pitcher to the plate with the bases loaded, the Rockies eventually pulled out the victory on a grand slam by Ryan Freakin' Spilborghs. It's the kind of game that makes you feel like somehow, someway your team will always find a way to get it done. (Unless they're playing Boston in the World Series.)

Would winning the NL West be more impressive than their 21-for-22 run that ended the 2007 season? It would be the biggest comeback in baseball history, even after losing their manager in May and with barely a single superstar among them. Seriously, Jason Marquis is leading the team in wins? There's a long way to go, however—maybe even long enough for Denverites to figure out that their baseball team is good again.

Rockies bask in heat of playoff push [Denver Post]
Spilborghs redeemed by walk-off slam [MLB]
Giants serve up walks, Rockies walk off with win [SF Chronicle]

So, this happened last night. And as with any no-hitter, Jonathan Sanchez's had its share of weird. Consider:

-He had never thrown a complete game in his career.
-Banished to the bullpen last month, he only started because Randy Johnson is old.
-His father Sirgfredo was in the stands to watch him pitch for the very first time.

Of course, no one feels worse than Juan Uribe, who booted a ball with five outs left for the only baserunner of the game, and was promptly shanked in the locker room. Regardless, here's the historic line that shows just how filthy Sanchez was.

And if you think Sanchez was excited, take a look at the breathless updates and loss of command of the English language toward the end of the game notes. By the end, the scorekeeper is just smashing the keyboard with his engorged member.

*****
Good Saturday. It's a beautiful July morning, so let's all stay inside and talk sports (except for a quick run to 7-Eleven to get your free Slurpee today, of course). Now, out of the dark and into the light.

Seriously, have you seen that thing lately? It's glorious! The 25-year-old already has a Cy Young under his belt, but his 2009 season is shaping up to even better than last year's campaign. What's the difference? Those luxurious cascading locks.

The Haircut mowed down St. Louis last night on just 95 pitches. (Two hits, no walks, 8 Ks) After an incredible 2008, he's on pace for more innings, more strikeouts, fewer runs allowed, and his ERA and WHIP are slowly disappearing.

But back to the hair. You think he uses Prell on that baby, or does only Herbal Essences touch those tresses?

Lincecum clocks Cards [SF Chronicle]
Lincecum adds two-hitter to post-Cy resume [MLB.com]
Giants' Lincecum dominates Cardinals with 2-hitter [AP]

Throw it back: AT&T Park (formerly SBC Park and originally Pac Bell Park) was one of architecture firm HOK's cutesy, retro-chic nostalgia palaces, all red brick and synthetic quirkiness, set down in a neighborhood built on a landfill and quickly trending toward Web 2.0-era schlock. This, you're meant to think, as you sip your Chardonnay and lazily check your e-mail via free Wi-Fi and gaze beyond the giant Coke bottle and the giant glove at the moneyed layabouts plying the Bay in their sailboats, this is how baseball used to be. (There's an old story, probably apocryphal, that the architects had intended to stick the bullpens in center field, but somehow forgot when the time came to build them, so consumed were they by the ballpark's outward appearance. That's why they're now in foul territory, a la Wrigley. I love this story. It's like a little parable.) These throwback ballparks are the brick equivalent of a Ken Burns documentary — is it any coincidence that Burns' Baseball arrived in the thick of the retro craze? — a window not on any actual history but on how baseball wants its history to be seen. It's a lot of infantilizing crap.

Private Benjamins: For years now, the Giants have billed AT&T Park as "the first privately financed ballpark in Major League Baseball since 1962." This is true if you don't count an estimated $25 million in municipal fire, police and garbage services; $33 million for the land itself, donated by the city; $83 million in property-tax exemptions; and on and on. (These numbers come by way of Baseball Prospectus, subscription required, from a study of hidden stadium costs by urban planner Judith Grant Long.) This has been the Giants' greatest public-relations coup, convincing San Franciscans they were getting a great civic landmark for free when in fact the public was footing 40 percent of the bill — and for a stadium enjoyed primarily by people from San Jose.

Absolutely fabulist: I don't expect a rigorous approach to history from a baseball stadium, but I also don't expect a baseball stadium to treat history like Boris from the Politburo with an X-Acto knife. In 2003, after the death of Bobby Bonds, the team unfurled a number of banners around the stadium in his honor, reading (if memory serves) "Giant For Life." This would've been a touching tribute, except that Bobby Bonds was famously and bitterly not a Giant for life, having been traded away in the game's first star-for-star blockbuster. On its own, maybe this wasn't so bad, but then came the treatment of his son. For 15 years, the team sold Barry Bonds and sold him hard, but last year, with Bonds at last off the roster and prevailing sentiment now aligned against them, the Giants all but sandblasted him out of their stadium, taking down the banners and murals commemorating his pursuit of Hank Aaron's record. Whatever you think of Bonds, this was very much his house, the dimensions tailored expressly for his bat. You can't just pretend him away. But the Giants tried, turning their ballpark into a massive, twee memorial to the team's animating philosophy that its loyal fans are a bunch of distracted, slobbering morons.

Testimonial: This isn't an AT&T Park story, per se, but I will always associate the place with an uncomfortable afternoon once spent in the company of Joe Morgan, back in 2004, at the height of his anti-Moneyball tubthumping. What I remember most vividly is that we made our way from the field up to the press box, and at pretty much every stop, he would jerk his thumb in my direction and announce to anyone in the vicinity that I was a fan of Moneyball and wanted to know why he wasn't. He'd laugh. They'd laugh. And I left the ballpark that sunny day feeling like the whole place was some sort of terrible funhouse, with carnies popping out of every corner to say, "Boo!"

Next up: Nationals Park. Got any horrible experiences to share? Send them to craggs@deadspin.com.

From today's New York Times:

Many teams have various ticket prices for the same seats, altering the dollar amount based on the opponent, the day of the week and the time of the year, but those variations are set before the season and not altered. The Giants, by being more fluid, are taking the concept a step further.

...

On Saturday, with Johan Santana paired against Randy Johnson, the Giants raised the price of bleacher seats [normally $17] to $33, including a $2 increase on game day; seats in the upper deck [normally $10] were again $19. On Sunday, bleacher seats went for $23 and sold out in a few days because Lincecum bobblehead dolls were given away.

Through the first 17 home games, sales of dynamically priced tickets rose 20 percent, compared with sales in those sections during the same period last year. That works out to about 500 extra tickets a game.

The ticket-price populists out there will squirm a little, but it's a fascinating idea (one that the reliably nerdy A's were planning to implement in their new ballpark, which now exists only in Lew Wolff's fever dreams). If it catches on, there might come a time when fans can upgrade their seats instantly or gorge themselves more cheaply on days that hot dogs are in long supply. The fact that this shrewd bit of business comes from a team paying Barry Zito $18 million a year makes it all the more surprising.

Baseball Tickets Cost Too Much? Check Back Tomorrow [New York Times]

Barry Bonds was welcomed back to AT&T Park with open arms last night as the Giants took on the Dodgers. He hung out in the clubhouse, chatted with Mays and McCovey, spent a few minutes in the press box, then was greeted with wild applause as he took his seats in the owner's box. Yes, he sat next to managing general partner Bill Neukom during the game. A preliminary testing of the water before offering the home run king a new contract? Don't hold your breath. (That Giants lineup is pretty tough to crack.)

It's a little strange to see baseball's persona non grata treated like a conquering general enjoying his well-earned retirement. Especially since Bonds isn't actually retired and would surely love to be playing again. But since no one will give him a contract, including the one organization that still shows him so much love, he'll just have to go on playing the lovable former player. I'm not that suits him.

As for the TV interview, here's a reacp: Bonds was only a jerk to sell tickets and Mike Krukow doesn't pay that much attention to baseball.

'Barry' chants echo at AT&T Park for Bonds and Zito [USA Today]
Barry Bonds is at the game tonight [SF Gate]
Bonds chats with the Giants' announcers [MLB]

But for the record, Giants' relief pitcher Joe Martinez seems relatively OK after taking this shot from the Brewers' Mike Cameron in the ninth inning. Martinez, a rookie who earned his first big league win on Tuesday, walked off the field under his own power, and was held in the hospital overnight for observation. He sustained a concussion but no broken bones, and said tests revealed no other significant injuries.

"I'm still shaking, to tell you the truth," catcher Bengie Molina said. "We're human beings before baseball players. We have fathers, mothers and sons. You don't want to see that on a baseball field. That ball went right to his head. He had no shot."

As you saw, Martinez actually got up after he was hit and began walking off the field, until trainers intercepted him and he sat down. That is one hard freakin' head. But what was really interesting was Cameron's reaction.

"I just wanted to come in and sit down," Cameron said. "That's the unfortunate part of playing this game. You see balls going into the stands and hit people. You see it on film. You just don't expect something like this to happen."

Martinez's teammates stood silent. Aaron Rowand covered his face with his glove. Randy Winn bowed his head. Some Giants comforted Cameron.

"He's got a big heart. We've always known that about him," Cain said of Cameron, who incurred a concussion and multiple facial fractures in an outfield collision with New York Mets teammate Carlos Beltran in 2005.

Update: He'll be hospitalized for observation for "three or four days," and is expected to make a full recovery.

A Win Doesn't Ease Pain Of Dreadful Day [San Francisco Chronicle]

When the Giants broke spring training and set up shop at AT&T Park, Randy Johnson was awarded two lockers in approximately the same spot that Barry Bonds occupied two seasons previous. He's the new team guru: Pretty much just as surly as Bonds toward the outside world, but much friendlier with his teammates. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Yeah, Lincecum is the ace, but everyone defers to Johnson. Noah Lowry gave him his number (51), Cain gave him his locker (on Barry Bonds' old wall). Heck, Bill Neukom gave him his seats. Thanks to the new managing general partner, Johnson's wife and children will be sitting in prime real estate for the Big Unit's Giants debut.

Fun facts: The previous oldest Giants pitcher: Warren Spahn, who was 44 years and 156 days when he threw his final pitch on Sept. 27, 1965. The previous tallest? Johnny Gee (1944-46) and Terry Bross (1993), both 6-foot-9.

Not-so-fun-fact: Johnson is 45, and had back surgery in 2007, meaning that if he makes it all the way through 2009 it will be somewhat of a miracle. Have fun stormin' the castle!

On Lincecum: He lasted only three innings on Tuesday (after never failing to at least reach the fourth in all of 2008), giving up three runs on 78 pitches. This produced perhaps my favorite Lincecum quote of all time: "I just have to take this effort with a grain of rice." Ha.

Of course the fact that it was raining and he didn't get a chance to warm up may have had something to do with it. Anyway, no one here is panicking, and the great McCovey Chronicles came up with this graphic to explain why.

Big Unit Is Giants' Go-To Guy [San Francisco Chronicle]

How does the man some consider the best pitcher in baseball make less than Jim Calhoun? The answer lies in MLB's wacky salary arbitration rules. Lincecum hasn't yet accumulated enough service time to qualify for arbitration, and the Giants are in no particular hurry to sign him to a multi-year deal. Next season will be a different story: Gavin Newsome will have to sell the naming rights to all of his future children with Jennifer Siebel to keep him in San Francisco.

But for now Lincecum is making 650 grand, which isn't even enough to buy one Lamborghini Reventon.

With or without a long-term deal, Lincecum is not eligible to leave as a free agent until after the 2013 season. Meanwhile, he said he is happy with the $650,000.

"I think it's fair what I got," he said. "I'm not saying I got gypped at all. I'm happy with what I got. Now I've just to live up to that expectation. You see pay increases and you expect results. That's what happens from the fan standpoint. Now I've just got to push it, I guess."

Maybe he could clean C.C. Sabathia's solid platinum swimming pool to help make ends meet. But I kid: It's actually sort of refreshing to see a top athlete who hasn't been seduced by the Sith Lord Scott Boras.

And at least Lincecum made out a lot better than Albert Haynesworth:

Giants Notebook: Big Raise For Lincecum [San Francisco Chronicle]