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Editor's note: "Summer in Season" is a weekly series focusing on a variety of Wichita-area sports, events and individuals.

Four baseball games played simultaneously on what was an ideal night for baseball at Southwest Boys Club. The wind blew just enough to cool off the spectators, the crickets chirped cheerfully, providing music for the sun's setting. A lone "hey batta, batta, batta, hey, batta, batta -- swing!" floated in from the outfield during a machine-pitch game.

Such a scene has played out many times over the past 50 years at Southwest Boys Club.

But the complex, which is nestled in a southwest Wichita neighborhood on 45th Street South, has been in a state of decline for more than a decade.

"At one time, this was about the only place to play," said Emilio Caire Jr., a board member and coach. "There's a lot of history to this club, and it serves the entire south side and west side for kids that otherwise wouldn't get to play."

There is no direct path to independent baseball. Players end up there after productive major-league careers, mediocre college seasons and years toiling in the minors.

The most difficult path, however, is settling for independent ball after being released by a major-league organization. Players that begin spring training with the certainty of a spot on a minor-league roster end it without a job and few options.

It's an experience shared by Wingnuts players Brad Davis, Byron Embry and Michael Thompson. Between them, they have been released six times. It's nearly impossible to see it coming and nothing can prepare a player for the heartbreak attached to it.

"It's equivalent to finding out that your spouse is seeing somebody else," said Embry, Wichita's closer. "That shock value, that's exactly what it feels like. Your mouth is just wide open, and you don't believe what is coming out of that person's mouth."

Davis started the spring thinking he had locked down a spot in Double-A with the Oakland Athletics. He owns an 18-8 career professional record and last September, in his first and only Triple-A appearance, he pitched seven shutout innings.

White Sox 7, Twins 5 -- Switch-hitter Nick Swisher homered from both sides of the plate and the White Sox completed a dominant four-game sweep for their seventh straight victory.

• Paul Konerko hit a go-ahead home run as Chicago sent Minnesota to its fifth loss in a row. The White Sox outscored the Twins 40-15 in the series.

Indians 8, Tigers 2 -- Cleveland's Ryan Garko and Kelly Shoppach both homered in the first two innings against Dontrelle Willis.

• The Indians kept Cliff Lee on the mound after a 57-minute rain delay in the fifth inning and he became the AL's first 10-game winner. Lee (10-1) allowed two runs, six hits and two walks while striking out five over five innings.

Mariners 3, Blue Jays 2 (10) --Miguel Cairo's safety squeeze after Jason Frasor walked the bases loaded in the 10th inning lifted Seattle to victory.

Jose Guillen finished off a terrific stretch against the New York Yankees in style, hitting a tiebreaking solo home run off Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning to lift the Kansas City Royals to a 3-2 win Monday.

"That's a tough one. That's the last guy I want to face coming into the ninth inning," Guillen said. "I was hoping it was somebody else.... I was just kind of realizing he's going to come with that cutterm, and I guessed pretty good right there."

Guillen went deep on an 0-2 pitch from Rivera (2-2), pumping his right arm as he watched the ball sail over the fence while rounding first base. Rivera turned around and shouted several times after the drive -- a rare show of emotion for the longtime closer.

"You make your pitches, you are able to get him out," said Rivera, who also surrendered a tiebreaking homer to David DeJesus on Saturday. "I didn't make my pitches."

It was Guillen's 11th homer of the season and fourth in the past three games. He went 9 for 16 in the four-game series with four homers and 10 RBIs, and also scored six runs to help the Royals gain a split. The mercurial outfielder even threw out two runners in Saturday's 12-11 loss to New York.

Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 600th home run on Monday night, completing his long ascent and becoming the sixth player in history to reach that milestone.

The Cincinnati outfielder homered off Florida lefty Mark Hendrickson in the first inning of the Reds' 9-4 victory against the Marlins. Griffey joined Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa.

The 38-year-old homered with Jerry Hairston on third and one out, launching a 3-1 pitch 413 feet into the right-field seats.

Griffey received a standing ovation from the crowd of 16,003 and responded by coming out of the Reds dugout and waving his helmet to the fans.

"I don't think I touched any of the bases. I sort of floated around," Griffey said.

Final Wichita State baseball Statistics (48-17)

Batters

The Alley

Men--Dave Berry 269, Eric Schultz 697. Women--Joni Barker 256, 696. Seniors men--Gary Stroud 220, 638. Women--Margie Mellecker 197, 526. Boys--Cole Kitterman 141, 372. Girls--McKenzie Needham 69, 175.

Derby

Men--Kevin Langholz 279, 730. Women--Diana Baker 228, 618. Seniors men--Eddie Poe Jr. 211, John Watson 548. Women--Martha Conn 211, Sachiko Rogers 529. Boys--Dayne Frank 247, Tim Lindsey 598. Girls--Sara Wise 184, Lindsay Wise 506.

Northrock

Celebrities had it rough at the World Series of Poker on Sunday in Las Vegas, with several famous women knocked out of the Ladies no-limit Texas Hold 'Em event on the first day.

That included actress Jennifer Tilly, who in 2005 became the first celebrity to win a gold bracelet at the World Series. She busted out in the first hour of the $1,000 buy-in event when she couldn't make a flush and lost to a straight.

Actress Camryn Manheim of ABC's "The Practice" and CBS's "Ghost Whisperer" was trounced from the field when her pocket kings ran into the pocket aces of Linda Johnson, a pro known as the First Lady of Poker.

Cheryl Hines of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," country singer Mindy McCready and actress Mimi Rogers were eliminated with the other celebrities less than five hours into the three-day tournament.

Alba delivers

Sometimes actor Jamie Kaler wonders what possessed him. He gave up his commission in the Navy to become an actor.

"I can show you the letter from my father," he says over breakfast at a coffee shop in Pasadena, Calif.

"He was upset because my brother is a retired admiral, and my father was a Navy pilot in World War II. He said it didn't matter how successful I was as an actor, it was like, 'Navy pays pretty good! You had a pretty good thing going back there in the Navy!' "

There was no burning desire to become an actor, either. Kaler sort of drifted into it. After a five-year stint in the Navy, he spent a year in San Diego playing volleyball and tending bar before enrolling in an acting class and getting a few TV commercial jobs.

Kaler serving on the USS Callahan is an odd coincidence because he plays the red-headed Mike Callahan on the TBS comedy "My Boys," arriving with new episodes on Thursday.

Look for these new titles in rental shops and video stores beginning today.

Bucket List (PG-13) '' ½(1 hr 50 min) --Two terminally ill men (Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman) escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die.

The Other Boleyn Girl (PG-13) ' ½ (2 hrs 20 min) _ Two sisters (Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johannson) contend for the affection of King Henry VIII. Based on Philippa Gregory's best-selling historical novel.

Jumper (PG-13) '''(1 hr 30 min) _ A genetic anomaly allows a young man (Hayden Christensen) to teleport himself anywhere. He discovers this gift has existed for centuries and finds himself in a war that has been raging for thousands of years between "jumpers" and those who have sworn to kill them.

TV shows