Dennis Miller’s Alameda County Fair horse racing picks for Sunday, July 19.

AS WE pass the one-quarter mark of the baseball season, it’s a good time to look back at the major offseason player moves to see whether those acquisitions have made a difference in the division races.

SAN FRANCISCO — The reliever said he’s at a loss for words.

SONOMA — He waved to the crowd as he took a slow victory lap on a sun-splashed afternoon at Infineon Raceway.

SONOMA — Roger Edmondson was well aware of the resistance towards some the rule changes that he’s proposing from some longtime fans of the AMA Superbike series.

PITTSBURGH — Sid and The Kids are off to the Stanley Cup finals, thanks to a dominating run by a younger-than-young Pittsburgh Penguins team that has taken only two seasons to transform itself from one of the NHL’s worst to one of its best.

CLIFTON, N.J. — Lorena Ochoa found a new way to win, grinding it out instead of running away from the field.

BOSTON — Paul Pierce returned home and made sure the Celtics would play there again.

Michael Phelps ended his drought against Aaron Peirsol and is ready to start turning his attention toward the U.

WALNUT CREEK — All Kennedy High of Richmond softball coach Guthrie Fleischman could ask was to be in the room at Sunday’s North Coast Section 2-A East Bay seeding meeting at Las Lomas.