I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to finish this column.

After all, I’m not certain that I have the passion anymore to compete at this level. Hey, don’t question it – it is what it is.

OK, obviously I am poking some fun at the sudden resignation of Mike Hargrove as manager of the Mariners.

And while that may be the biggest story in baseball over this past week, the fact of the matter is we’re now celebrating this nation’s birthday. That’s right – Independence Day…a day when all the freedoms of this great nation should be celebrated.

So that’s why – as I type these very words – I’m wearing a tank top with an obscenity printed on the back of it. I hope the kids sitting behind me don’t mind.

All right, all right – I’m joking again. But one thing I’d never joke about is the fact that I’m often confused by this game of baseball. And the only way I can try to make some sense of the national pastime is to review with you – item-by-item – yet another list of…

Ten Things I Just Don’t Know

1. I don’t know if I’ll ever completely understand the sudden resignation of Seattle manager Mike Hargrove – but maybe I’m not supposed to. I was a Hargrove fan during his time in Baltimore, so when I heard the news on Sunday that Hargrove was resigning, I quickly flipped over to the press conference from Seattle to find out what was happening. On the one hand, I think it’s entirely possible that Hargrove’s proclamation that, “It is what it is” could be enough to explain his walking away. But on the other hand, a lot of his answers simply didn’t add up. He claimed he had lost the passion for managing, but then also insisted that he still had passion for the game.

2. I don’t know how Hargrove’s decision would have played out had he been managing in New York, but you can bet we’d still be discussing the “real” reasons for his departure months after the fact. I tend to believe Hargrove that there is nothing sinister behind this – and I certainly hope there’s no underlying health issue. Truth be told, I wonder if the past few years of losing took more of a toll than we imagined. I can certainly imagine Hargrove thinking, “I don’t any part of another 4-32 finish.” It may not have even been a conscious thought…but I have to feel that those losing seasons in Baltimore and Seattle became impossible to deal with.

3. I don’t know if there could have been a more bizarre story to counter-balance the Hargrove story than the news about Alex Rodriguez’s wife wearing a t-shirt with a profanity printed on it at Yankee Stadium. At the rate we’re going these days, I wouldn’t be surprised if A-Rod signed on for a Dennis Rodman-style reality show at some point within the next year.

4. I don’t know about you, but I’m rooting for Colorado reliever Brian Fuentes to pick up a save sometime between now and the All-Star break. Fuentes was named to the National League All-Star team this past Sunday, as a result of the players’ vote. But Fuentes also lost his job as the Rockies’ closer at that same time, as manager Clint Hurdle announced he was going to a committee approach after Fuentes blew four consecutive saves. Making the All-Star team should be a great honor, and the truth is Fuentes has had a solid season in spite of his recent bad stretch. So I’m pulling for the guy to nail down a save this week so he can relax and enjoy his time in San Francisco next week.

5. I don’t know if I want to get all Oliver Stone in this week’s column, but I’ll just say this: Barry Bonds’ remarkable surge in the voting smells awfully suspicious. Having to make the decision as to whether or not to add Bonds to the roster is just the kind of thing that a man who had to end an All-Star Game in a tie would just as soon avoid doing.

6. I don’t know if I’ll ever get an answer to this question without going directly to Major League Baseball, but I’ll raise it anyway. Given the new rules regarding suspended games this season, is it possible that an enormous controversy could be ahead of us? Here’s what I mean – according to baseball’s rule book, “all performances in the completion of a suspended game shall be considered as occurring on the original date of the game.” So what would happen in this scenario: let’s say the Orioles are playing the Blue Jays in early May at Camden Yards, when a game is suspended in the seventh inning of play. Since the Jays don’t return to Baltimore until late July, the game is scheduled to be completed on July 25. Let’s also say that Baltimore’s Brian Roberts had a 30-game hitting streak heading into the game that was suspended by rain. Roberts was 0-for-3 heading into the seventh inning, but was due to lead off for the Orioles in the bottom of the inning. Now let’s also say that – the very next day – Roberts begins a new hitting streak that ends 25 games later. So Roberts had a 55-game hitting streak, with a suspended game in the middle. At that point – even though Roberts’ streak was long over with – would Roberts be batting with history and a chance to tie Joe DiMaggio on the line during the completion of the suspended game? It’s a long shot, for sure, but what if this were to happen? Would MLB allow a “retroactive” extension of the hitting streak due to the suspended game?

7. I don’t know, given my struggles this season, if I can be considered an expert on fantasy baseball anymore. But I can tell you that the Julio Lugo situation this season is fascinating to me. Just how much are stolen bases worth to you? Lugo has a total of 20 steals this season – that’s good enough to tie for fourth in the American League to date. But Lugo’s batting average is absolutely killing fantasy owners; he’s hitting just .189 and heading into Tuesday night’s games hadn’t had a base hit since June 14. That’s an 0-for-33 and counting…ouch.

8. I don’t know if you had a chance to see the column written by Randy Holtz in the Rocky Mountain News on Tuesday, but it’s well worth a look. Holtz did something I’ve always threatened to do: he watched one inning of every MLB game on the Extra Innings package on a day with a full slate of games…and he lived to write a column about it. You can read it here

9. I don’t know if Joe Girardi will be offered the job as next manager of the Cincinnati Reds – and I also don’t know if Girardi would accept if the job were presented to him. But I do know that the Baltimore Orioles figure to be awfully embarrassed if Girardi suddenly feels that the “timing is right” for the Reds, when it wasn’t for the O’s.

10. I don’t know if I’ll have a chance to offer my five-star guaranteed-lock predictions for next week’s All-Star festivities, so let me go ahead and do so now: I predict Prince Fielder wins the Home Run Derby…I predict Barry Bonds hits a home run…I predict the American League will win the All-Star Game (again)…I predict Alex Rodriguez will be the game’s MVP…and I predict that Dan Haren will be the game’s pitching star. Of course, I also predict that Tim McCarver will annoy me three times in the first five minutes of the broadcast…Joe Buck will be featured in at least four commercials…and Fox will find a way to mount a camera on the end of a fungo bat.

Have a question or comment for Jody? Email him at jodymadron@sportsgrumblings.com.