There is something just wrong about losing a playoff game to Trot Nixon

Borderline cruel.

Man, like every Red Sox fan I thought Youk was going to single home Ellsbury after fouling off 4,818 pitches.

And like every Sox fan I was praying Papi or Manny would launch one before Gagne came in.

Well... you didn't think it was going to be easy, did you?

Now it is up to Dice-K or Wakefield to win a game in Cleveland.
It's a series now!

Well... at least my dad is happy the Rockies won

I told my dad that I was rooting for a 7 game NLCS, thinking he would agree with me. My dad is a big Giants fan and follows the NL West closely, so why wouldn't he want the Championship Series to come down to a Game 7 showdown.

So I was surprised when he said to me "I want the Rockies to sweep."

At first I thought he was getting swept up in the feel good story of the Rockies winning 19 out of 20 games.

But then I remembered... there are some baseball names that should never be mentioned in the prescience of my father. (And I'm no different... just try to say the words "Don" and "Zimmer" with me in the room and watch me turn red.)

Well, the Diamondbacks have one of those people for my dad.
My dad has been a loyal Giants fan since before the days of Willie Mays. He hasn't seen the Giants win a World Series since 1954 when he was... well... a lot younger than he is now.

The Giants had no better chance to win it all than 2002 in the World Series with the Angels. The Giants blew a 5-0 lead in a potential clinching game 6 but there was still a game 7 to play. Dusty Baker had two pitchers to chose from for game 7:

14 game winner Kirk "Woody" Reuter, who pitched 6 solid innings in the Giants' game 4 win.

16 game loser Livan Hernandez who got clubbed in game 3 by the Angels.

Guess who Baker chose? Yup, Livan.
His decision was partly based on his "big game background" and he was indeed the NLCS and World Series MVP for the Marlins in 1997.

But his 15 strikeout performance in the NLCS was aided by the fact that Eric Gregg's strikezone 14 feet wide and 28 feet high.

And his World Series MVP was a joke. Yeah he went 2-0.... he also had a 5.27 ERA. Safe to say he had a lot of run support.

But Livan got the game ball... and from the first inning it looked like a horrible idea.

In the first inning he walked two, let up a sacrifice and got out of the inning without a run only because David Eckstein was caught napping and doubled off at second on a line drive to center.

Anyone watching the game saw he was wild and getting hit hard. It was the luckiest scoreless inning. I thought "OK, bring in Reuter and have him pitch NOW!"

Even McCarver and Buck were commenting "They can't keep Hernandez in here much longer."

The Giants scored in the second on a Sanders sacrifice fly and now there was a lead to protect.

Livan coughed the lead up the very next inning. The score was 1-1 after 2... and it was clear to anyone watching that the Angels were literally licking their chops walking up to the plate.

For some reason that historians, philosophers and poets for generations will never be able to figure out... Hernandez came out to start the third. He didn't retire a batter.

SINGLE
SINGLE
HIT BATTER
BASES CLEARING 3 RUN DOUBLE.
INTENTIONAL WALK.

And thus his night ended. Angels led 4-1.

The next inning Reuter started.
He pitched 4 innings of 1 hit shut out baseball.

Game 7 of the 2002 World Series ended 4-1... just as Livan Hernandez left it.
Hernandez record in the 2002 World Series?
0-2 with a 14.29 ERA.

My dad has never forgiven Livan for his miserable performance and keeping the Giants from their best chance in 40 years to win a World Series in San Francisco.

Which brings us full circle back to the 2007 NLCS.
Guess who the game 3 pitcher for the Diamondbacks is?

Livan Hernandez.






And my dad wants a Colorado sweep.

Grudges die hard.

COME ON DIAMONDBACKS!

Look, I am not passionate about the D'Backs winning the series.

And looking at the empty seats in the stands, it's clear nobody in Phoenix is passionate about the series either.

But look, when two teams that I don't care face off... I want the series to go seven games. So I will always root against the team that won the night before.

Look, I know the Rockies are a great story. But I want a seven game series.
And right now the Rockies are winning by one run in the 9th inning... and I want a little drama. Is that too much to ask?

I am sure TBS agrees with me.
They have 6 more games worth of Frank TV promos to show!

Hey Terry... let Alex Cora play

Before the playoffs started, I listed the players on the active rosters with 10 years of big league experience and no rings.

The Cubs had the most and they will start next season ringless as well.

With Julian Tavarez mercifully not on the Red Sox post season roster, the only active player on the Boston roster with 10 years in the show and no ring on his finger is Alex Cora.

I know he isn't a beloved local All Star like Todd Helton or an oft traveled solid veteran returning home like Kenny Lofton... but he's a nice role playing infielder who has filled nicely in second and short during the year.

How about letting him play a game, Mr. Francona?
Look, far be it for me to complain about ANYTHING this post season... especially with the Red Sox 4-0 so far and winning each game by an average of 7 to 2.

But let him in one game... as a pinch runner. Hell tonight, Papi got a double in the 8th. Why not bring in Cora to run then? Or in the 9-1 clincher against the Angels, have him play shortstop in the 9th?

I know this sounds odd, but this is coming from a guy who sat on the bench all through high school... just waiting for a blow out for me to make a pinch hitting appearance.

Maybe I feel for Alex sitting on the bench while the team steamrolls.

Maybe he doesn't care.
I guess when your team is winning every game by 5 runs, you need things to root for.

Man... that was almost TOO easy

Look, I'm not complaining... but that was such a sound ass whuppin', such a one sided crushing, that by the 6th inning I almost turned the game off to let my sons watch Thomas the Tank Engine.

Of course we all bought into the hype of game 1. The two top Cy Young Award candidates were squaring off. The Cy Young pretenders Wang, Lackey and Escobar all flopped and now the big two were poised for a classic duel between Sabathia and Beckett.

And Hafner homered in the first and every Red Sox fan gulped in unison.
And the only way the night could have gone worse for Cleveland was if the river caught on fire and the Browns moved again.

I talked to a few of my Red Sox fan friends after the game and asked "Was there anything negative about the game?"

They all had the same response... Eric Gagne.
They were unhappy with Eric Gagne.

And yes, Gagne didn't look good letting up two hits and a walk in the 9th inning.
But folks... he was the mop up man. His job was to be a warm body on the mound in a 10-3 game.

And guess what? Along with those 2 hits and that walk, he struck out 3 and didn't let up a run.

So if the only bad thing you have to say about a game was the mop up man's scoreless 9th inning in a 10-3 win wasn't as smooth as you wanted, guess what?

It was a pretty good game.

TWO PLEASE!

Hey, people of Arizona!

You have a baseball team in the NLCS!
People in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Milwaukee would be sawing their arms off to have their team in the NLCS.

What's the deal with the empty seats?

I heard on Dibble and Kennedy that the fan base isn't behind the team yet.
WHAT ELSE IS IT GOING TO TAKE?

You've got 90 wins and homefield advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
If you don't sell out game 2, I say the D'Backs should be kicked out and we fly the series to Wrigley Field!

I don't care how new your fan base is, when you have a LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES GAME in your home park, you should not be able to get tickets after the first pitch is thrown by coming up to a ticket window and saying "Two Please."

Try coming up to a ticket window in Fenway or in Cleveland and ask for two please.

FOX can't be happy

A week ago I tried to figure out what matchup Fox wanted for the World Series and ranked them by desirability.

Want the good news first, Fox?
The two worst match ups for getting national attention are thrown out.
No Rockies/Angels nor Diamondback/Angels World Series to contend with.

Now the bad news?
The 7 best ones are thrown out the window too.

A lot of the postseason juice would have revolved around "Are the Cubs going to do it?"

Now if "it" meant "not even show up and be out of the playoffs before the Wrigley fans got even buzzed" then yes... they did it.

And any hope to get Yankee haters and Yankee lovers all across the country glued? Nope. They are toast.

You have two old school AL franchises, although, the Major League movies not withstanding, the Indians don't have a national audience.

Fox had better hope the Rockies start building up some interest (although TBS putting the games on at 11PM eastern isn't helping matters.)

The third worst match up (Indians/Diamondbacks) is still in play!

Guess what... the playoff system works!

I don't want to hear any complaints about how the baseball playoffs aren't fair.
I already covered how there is more variety in the playoffs than in the NFL but let's take a look at the 4 teams left in the playoffs.

You have the two teams tied for most wins in the AL (Red Sox and Indians) going for the AL championship.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

And then you have the two teams tied for the most wins in the NL (Rockies and Diamondbacks) going for the NL championship.

That's pretty cool!
We are assured the best teams are playing, thus not having another year where the regular season was rendered near obsolete.

And for the myth that only the highest payroll teams can win... there is only one team, the Red Sox in the top 22 payrolls.

Think about that... after all the bitching and moaning about how small budget teams can't compete... 75% of the remaining teams are from the bottom 8 payrolls.

And the remaining one is the new Evil Empire.

Boston! Before you get too excited!

Nobody is more thrilled about the Red Sox sweep of the Los Angeles California Angels of Anaheim in Orange County than me.

But don't think the Angels are going to be this easy.

Their best offensive weapon isn't hobbled and forced to DH.
Their second best offensive weapon isn't injured.
Their third best offensive weapon doesn't have pink eye.

And the Indians Cy Young candidate actually can pitch a big game.

Please keep that swagger going... but there's no way you are going to keep this team from scoring in all but two innings!

Cleveland! Before you get too excited...

Congrats on beating the Yankees... but rest assured things will be different in the ALCS.

Your pitching has been great, but don't expect the Red Sox to bat 6 for 28 with runners in scoring position.

And I might be wrong, but our games 1, 3 and 4 starters won't go for 8 innings... combined!

I'm not trying to take anything away from your win, Indians.
But there's a bigger challenge on the horizon!

Hey my fellow Red Sox fans... guess who is the Evil Empire now?

I am rooting hard for the Red Sox... and I expect all of my fellow Red Sox fans to cheer hard as well.

But make no mistake about it. With the Yankees gone, the Red Sox are the bad guys in this playoff.

Our team is the big bad bully that people want to see get crushed.

We can't play the "We just want to see a World Series before we die" card anymore.
We can't play the "lovable loser" card.

And we REALLY can't play the "We don't buy titles like the Yankees do" card.

The Indians, Rockies and Diamondbacks all have payrolls in the bottom third amongst teams. They are filled with rookies, young players and some hungry veterans playing for their first titles.

Only one team left has a $100 million + payroll with big priced free agents and loaded with stars who already have rings.

Guess which team?
Yup... we've become the team to root against. We're playing the role of "The Yankees."

Let's face it. It's what we've always wanted. We've WANTED to be the team you expect to win, not the team that people talk about curses and 8 decades of losing.

Why not embrace it? As a Celtic fan growing up in the 1980s, Larry/McHale/Parrish and company were hated across the country. Wasn't that fun rooting for the big bad Celtics?

Hey you Patriot fans! People hate the Pats... especially after the whole Belicheck video scandal. Do you care? Doesn't that feel good to be rooting for the bad guy? Especially when the bad guy is kicking everyone's butt?

Well, I know we have generations of playing the underdog... and I got some sweet HBO appearances because of those years of futility.

But those days are over... we're the type of team we rooted against.

And MAN is it fun.

We're the Empire!
Now let's get this Death Star going and blow up Alderaan!

Some final Yankee thoughts...

- I can't imagine these Yankees "Wild Card" hats are going to be best sellers in New York this year.



- It is sad that Joe Torre is being treated like he is Grady Little. He should have been awarded a little more dignity than to be forced to answer questions about his job while still in uniform.

That being said, he has managed the Yankees for the same amount of time that Casey Stengel did. And with his contract expiring, this might be the only classy way to end his tenure as opposed to firing him and eating his contract.


- It would be insane, I'm talking Crazy Eddie insane if anyone other than Girardi becomes manager. He already has experienced, has already worked with young kids and will have the respect of Jeter et al because he has won it in a Yankee uniform.

I think the job is already in place for him. Why else would have not only turned down the Baltimore job but also refuse toe ven interview for the Seattle or Cincinnati jobs and instead stay in the YES broadcast booth?

Nobody can like being around Michael Kay that much.

Don Mattingly would be nice for all the 1980s era Yankee fans... but the guy has the same managerial record as Crazy Eddie.


- A-Rod will opt out... spare me any "He wants to win as a Yankee" garbage. He has a chance to rewrite baseball contract history.

Plus he has an agent who is hell bent to rewrite contract history.

Plus both the Cubs and Angels were bounced embarrassingly quickly from the playoffs and need another bat... and both have deep pockets and room in their infield for him and would love to make a splash with their fans.

Plus the Giants and Dodgers need a centerpiece for their offensive attack.

Plus he is probably still in the doghouse with his wife for running around with strippers.

He will go for the money.
And so would you.


- Good for David Justice for calling "bullshit" on A-Rod last night.
When asked about his contract situation A-Rod said "I haven't had two minutes to think about it."

REALLY?
While taking a shower, one of those cross country flights, taking a crap, during a pitching change or lying in bed with a Canadian stripper... the thought of "I wonder if I'm going to get $300 million more dollars" never crossed your mind?

Here's some things that have crossed my mind recently:

- I wonder what it would be like to be President.
- I bet we can build a livable space station on Saturn's moon Titan.
- The history of the country would have been so different if James A. Garfield wasn't shot.
- I wonder how bad Clark Gable's breath was.
- Sir Topham Hatt, the superindendent of Thomas the Tank Engine's railway, actually does a lousy job when you consider all of the crashes they have on the show.
- What would I ask a Genie?
- How did Indiana Jones and Marion get off that island with the Ark after the power of God melted all of those Nazis?
- I wonder if Alex Rodriguez will opt out of his contract.

You can't tell me the chance of putting more than a quarter of a billion bucks in the account didn't flash by his mind.

David Justice said that was crazy on YES. Good for him.
(On a separate note, I am sure the thought "Why did I have to MARRY Halle Berry?" must cross David's mind every night.)


- The real loss might not be A-Rod or Torre... but Rivera.

Did you hear his quotes? When I called into Dibble and Kennedy today on the XM, Dibble played the quotes from Rivera.

"I don't know what the Yankees want, if they want me. We'll see. They had their chance."
Ominous quotes for Yankee fans.

No single player meant more to the Yankee run of titles than Mariano Rivera.
Not Jeter, not Bernie, not Clemens... nobody.

His prescience at the end of games, shutting down the opposition and giving the Yankees the chance to say "Just have a few rallies and Rivera will seal the deal" was the difference between 12 straight post season appearances under Torre and missing a few of those years (2000, 2005 and 2007 come to mind.)

Saves can be overrated (the fact that Trevor Hoffman, Lee Smith and John Franco make up 3 of the top 4 all time in saves is a testament to that!) but difference making closers are not.

The sense of doom that Rivera, Fingers, Gossage, Sutter and Eckersley had when they started warming up would make teams press in the 8th inning.

It won't be easy to replace that.

And trust me, after watching years of lousy relievers in Red Sox uniforms, I will tell you games lost in the 9th inning or later hurt most of all.

If a Todd Jones or Eric Gagne is blowing leads in the 9th while Rivera is closing out games for the Cubs... it will be a world of hurt.



Alright enough about Wild Card teams that can't get out of the first round...

I have an ALCS to worry about!

Phew!

I can admit it now... I wanted NO PART of a Yankee team in the ALCS.
ESPECIALLY a Yankee team on a roll!

Not that I think the Indians will be a push over.
They did beat the Yankees and matched the Red Sox for wins... but they aren't in the Red Sox heads. It will be great baseball, but my nerves couldn't handle a Red Sox/Yankees ALCS.

FATHER! THE SLEEPER HAS AWAKENED!

Sorry for the obscure Dune reference there...

But I can't help but think that the Yankees are currently like Paul Atreides after taking the Water of Life... and will soon be storming Jacobs Field on the backs of giant sandworms.

OK, I think I have confused 100% of my readers.

What I am saying is... I did not want the Yankees to wake up.
I think they woke up.

I have NO "Bring the Yankees On!" bravado.

I want no part of them.

I want to take my chances with the Indians and try to win the pennant without going through New York.

My heart can't take it.

But here come those Yankees... screaming Muad dib!

YES!

A CLEAN SWEEP!

Kept them scoreless for 25 out of 27 innings... and had Papi and Manny's bats going.

Oh the anti-Red Sox articles are already coming out.
"They swept a team that was banged up... big deal."

How about "They did what they were supposed to do!"?
They played a team that was banged up and swept them out of the ballpark.
They shut down their lineup and smacked the pitchers around.
What were they supposed to do?

If they lost a few games, the word on the Sox was they weren't taking care of business.

Oh well... onto the ALCS. Ortiz looks great. Manny looks great. The pitching looks great... and good job by Francona for putting in Gagne and giving him a feel good moment (a 9-0 is the only lead I would ever trust with Gagne!)

DIVISION TITLE...CHECK
DIVISION SERIES VICTORY... CHECK

8 more wins to go!

And now the playoff nightmare for TBS is complete!

Congrats on covering the NLCS!

Here's the only people who won't be following it:

People on the East Coast
People on the West Coast
People in the Great Lakes region
People in the South
People in the Midwest
People who have followed baseball before 1993.

BUT you get the fertile markets of Denver and Phoenix wrapped up!

Hey! You'll get higher ratings than hockey!

BUGS!

Well the "Bug Game" was cool if for no other reason than it gave New York headline writers a chance to break out all of their bug puns when slamming the Yankees.

INDIANS BUZZ PAST YANKEES

BUGGED

YANKEES SEASON ABOUT TO BE ZAPPED

A-ROD IS GNAT HITTING

It gave the typical headlines a refreshing new twist.

Of course in the aftermath of the Yankee loss, the attitude in Yankee land was the Yankees lost because of the bugs.

And of course that is jaw droppingly stupid.

If I am not mistaken, the bugs were swarming around the Cleveland players as well.
They weren't wearing (racist) Indians caps.

Another interesting take I heard was they were swarming around Joba Chamberlain because he wasn't sweating... because he was cool. But they weren't swarming around Fausto Carmona because he was sweating... ergo he was scared.

An interesting way to compliment a guy who walked two, hit a batter and threw 2 wild pitches while slamming a guy who held the most fearsome lineup in baseball to 3 hits in 9 innings.

Oh well... nobody said Yankee fans were logical.

Finally my friend, the brilliant comedy writer Julius Sharpe, declared the game the single worst advertisement for Off. They emptied can after can on the players... and it didn't work.

Hopefully they won't be around for the ALCS... the bugs that is.

A-Rod's plan isn't working

Back in April, I thought I had figured out A-Rod's exit strategy:

1. Have the best regular season any Yankee fan had ever seen.

.314, 54 HRs, 156 RBI, 1.067 OPS and more walk off homers and clutch hits than I can remember. CHECK!

2. Act relaxed and have fun.

A-Rod smiles! A-Rod and Jeter seem to like each other! Heck, he even goes to strip clubs! CHECK!

3. Win the fans over and have them want him to stay.

Lots of fans wearing #13... lots of fans saying "He's got to stay." The very fans who were going to run him out of town and saying how much he sucks... now love him.

4. Because the team doesn't make the playoffs, he doesn't have to hear about his October failures... and when he bolts with New York asking him to stay he can say "Don't blame me for this one!"

Whoops.

A-Rod has as many hits in October as Maya Angelou and suddenly he has become the focus of the Yankees disappearing offense and sudden 0-2 hole.

He's not the only person to blame, of course. Posada and Matsui are hitless.
Damon is 0-8 after his leadoff homer in game 1.
Saint Derek Jeter has 1 hit.
Robinson Cano has 1 hit.
Wang stunk.
Torre mismanaged the bullpen.

But when you sign the biggest contract in sports and then bat 4-for-47 (.085) with no RBIs in his last 14 post season games... you have to be ready to take the grief.

And if he goes 0 fer in game 3 and the Yankees go quietly, the very fans who were giving him curtain calls in May will be chasing him out of New York with torches and pitchforks.

Imagine any other fan base chasing a 2 time MVP out of town!
54 home runs thrown right down the drain.

His plan would have been perfect... if only the Yankees didn't have that great comeback!

I think Manny is still posing at homeplate

And I love that lunatic.

Some people will just never get why Manny is so awesome.
Some of the readers on my favorite Yankee Blog try to admonish me for being such a fan.

"He quit on the team... he's selfish... he takes himself out of big games... he's a whiner... he's a cancer... blah blah blah."

He's also hilarious.
He pees in the Green Monster, looks like Predator, wears his uniform like pajamas, makes easy catches look hard (like tonight in the 8th inning) sells his grill on line...

And oh yeah, if you walk Big Papi... you might let up a walk off homer that leaves the park completely.

And he does it in the postseason, which let's face it, is the only time of the year anyone remembers.

If that's a cancer, then I hope the Red Sox never get Chemo!

It's The Swarm!

It took a giant swarm of flies to make Joba Chamberlain finally blow a save!

We didn't WE think of that!

Hey Lou! Nice job keeping Zambrano rested for Spring Training!

Look, I'm not claiming I know more about baseball than Lou Piniella... but if I had my team on the road for game one of the playoffs... and I had my ace on the mound and he is matching the other team's Ace inning for inning... and he has 8 Ks in 6 innings... I'd let him pitch the 7th.

I'd push him to 100 pitches.

I'd say "We have a chance to beat this team, get homefield advantage, win the game that they threw their ace and get the edge in a best of five series."

Call me nuts!

Forget 100 pitches, he never threw 90!
This is not a second guess... this is what I, and I assume 99% of Cubs fans were thinking!

When he came out before the 7th began, I just assumed he was injured.

But Piniella explained in the post game press conference that he is bringing Zambrano back on 3 days rest.

Um... not if the Diamondbacks win game 3 you aren't!

If Rich Hill wins game 3, Zambrano comes back to win game 4 and Mr Throw the Glove after a homer Ted Lilly clinches it, I'll eat a big bowl of crow.

But maybe then Lou might hold Zambrano back as well... got to save him for the World Series!

Don't get too giddy, Sully

Repeat to yourself...

It's only one game.
It's only one game.

snicker.

I'm sure Clemens and Mussina will pitch great in games 3 and 4...
Once they get that time machine and go back 10 years.

STOP IT!

It's only one game.
It's only one game.

tee hee.

I am going to start an irresponsible rumor...

Gamblers paid off Chien-Ming Wang to lose game 1 of the Division Series.

He looked terrible in the first, letting up 3 runs and blowing a 1-0 lead.
But what did he do with the first batter?
HE HIT HIM!
Come on! You saw Eight Men Out!
That was the signal to the gamblers that the fix was it... hit the first batter!

Say it Ain't So, Chien-Ming! Say it Ain't So!

Believe it or not, Joe Borowski could join exclusive company

With closers changing teams all the time, it was surprising for me to find out that only 5 pitchers have thrown the clinching pitch in a post season series for more than one franchise.

The 5 names are the kind of elite All Star closers you would expect to see...

Tug McGraw closed out the 1973 NLCS for the Mets and the 1980 World Series for the Phillies.

Goose Gossage clinched the 1978 ALCS and World Series and the 1981 Division Series and ALCS for the Yankees and the 1984 NLCS for the Padres.

Dennis Eckersley closed out series for the A's in 1988, 1989 and 1990 and finished the 1996 Division Series for the Cardinals.

Randy Myers finished the 1990 NLCS and World Series for the Reds and then the 1996 and 1997 Division Series as a member of the Orioles.

The last one to do it was Robb Nen who finished the 1997 Division Series for the Marlins and the 2002 Division Series for the Giants.

So this year, who can join this elite group?

The way Josh Beckett pitched last night, it was similar to his World Series clinching shut out for the Marlins in 2003... but it is unlikely anyone but Papelbon will be in a series ending situation.

Another Red Sox pitcher, Mike Timlin, closed out the 1992 World Series... but that was a fluke, as would be any big game appearance this year!

Jose Mesa. JOSE MESA? Yeah, he closed out a few series for Cleveland... not the World Series of course... and he might not be the guy you want on the mound for various reasons.

Which leads us to Joe Borowski.
He finished the 2003 Division Series for the Cubs... making him part of even a smaller fraternity: Guys who closed out post season series for the Cubs.

The other two were Hall of Famer Three Finger Brown (1907 World Series) and the strangely named Orval Overall (1908 World Series).

So if the Indians win this series and Borowski is on the mound to clinch it... forget his ERA above 5 and his many blown saves... he will be in select company for closers!

Why would someone bring Jose Mesa into a close playoff game?

I mean Charlie Manuel knows it's the same guy who blew the 1997 World Series, right?
He knows he's the same psychopath who wants to kill Omar Vizquel, right?

Well before you could say "dumped 7 times since the 1997 World Series" a 6-3 game in the 6th is now a 10-3 whuppin' and the Phillies season is in danger of being on the brink 2 games into the post season.

GULP!

That sound you just heard was the collective gulping of Turner Sports executives who realized that the NLCS might just be the Colorado Rockies vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks.

I mean to people like me who follow the games, it would be a great match up.

Two teams filled with young hungry players, most in their first postseason, having unlikely runs to the World Series.

Can you imagine a worse scenario to sell to casual baseball fans?
Are there a lot of transplanted Diamonbacks and Rockies fans out there?

If you have ever said the sentence "I've rooted for the Diamondbacks my whole life," then you are 10!

There are no second generation Rockie fans!

How old are the Cubs?
When they were formed the President was Grant!
Stalin wasn't even born yet.

Brigham Young was still alive!
That's right, Brigham young could have walked up to the box office and said "One Please", sat his ass down and had a brew with some Cubs fans!

And the Phillies have been around since the Chester A. Arthur administration.

How many transplanted Phoenix natives have you met?
How many times have you seen the Rockies on the road and see a tremendous amount of fans dressed in purple and black cheering them on?

It might be great baseball seeing Arizona and Colorado... but ratings wise, the sponsors might be happier with a Mama's Family marathon

It's not going to be this easy.... but...

MAN THAT FELT GOOD!

If Beckett keeps this Orel Hershiser impersonation up, then this could be such a beautiful post season.

If Ortiz keeps up his... well... David Ortiz impersonation up, then it might even be better!

It's your serve Dice-K.
You've had a week's rest. Now pitch like you did in that high school game we all heard about!

I'm just so happy for [BLANK]!

Every year, there seems to be a veteran that has never won a World Series ring that people like to root for.

I remember the joy felt for Paul Molitor when he finally won a ring for Toronto and for Red Sox fans, seeing stars like Pedro and Manny and mainstays like Tim Wakefield made it all the more special in 2004.

This year you have Kenny Lofton, who has been traded so many times that he is part of a bizarre DHL ad that he doesn't even appear in. This will be his 11th postseason since 1995... and somehow he is still ringless.

And you have heard a lot about Todd Helton, who has been stuck in Colorado his whole career and finally is having that be a good thing.

If neither Lofton nor Helton's story catches your attention, here are the other players in this year's post season who have been in the majors for the past 10 seasons looking for their first ring:


Angels
Bartolo Colon
Kelvim Escobar
Vladimir Guerrero
Justin Speier

Cubs
Ryan Dempster
Mark DeRosa
Scott Eyre
Bobby Howry
Jason Kendall
Aramis Ramirez
Steve Trachsel
Daryle Ward
Kerry Wood

Diamondbacks
Jeff Cirillo
Tony Clark

Indians
Paul Byrd
Kenny Lofton

Phillies
Tom Gordon
Wes Helms
Jose Mesa
Jamie Moyer

Red Sox
Alex Cora

Rockies
LaTroy Hawkins
Todd Helton

Yankees
Bobby Abreu
Jason Giambi
Mike Mussina
Alex Rodriguez

What does FOX want?

The Post Season starts in 15 hours and it seems like everyone is writing articles predicting what will happen or writing about how they feel emotionally about a series.

I am not going to waste your time with that.
Clearly my predictions suck (I had the Giants, Cardinals, Twins and White Sox in the playoffs for God's sake!)
And ALL predictions are just guess work (how many picked the Tigers and Cardinals last year?)

And my emotions are pretty easily defined... I want the Red Sox to win.

But what we CAN forecast is what match up does Fox want in the World Series.

Oh there are great stories in every team in the playoffs... all 4 National League teams are scrappy underdogs who could be a David to the big spending Yankees/Red Sox/Angels Goliath.

But remember Fox isn't trying to sell to hardcore baseball fans. They need to sell a World Series to people who are p*ssed off that Bones has been preempted.

There are 16 possible World Series scenarios... and seeing this is Sully Baseball... I need to list them in the order that Fox can sell it.

1. NEW YORK YANKEES vs. CHICAGO CUBS
There are Fox executives slaughtering billy goats to the baseball Gods to make this match up happen. The Big Bad Yankees with all of those rings in the Bronx... superstars galore... vs. the Cubs (even their name is cute) who haven't won a World Series since the Teddy Roosevelt administration... the passionate fans... Lou Pinella and Alfonso Soriano up against their old team... A-Rod in his first World Series... Jeter and company wanting to win one more for Joe Torre... and a chance to break out the cliches they thought they lost forever when the Red Sox finally won. Maybe even get poor Steve Bartman box seats.

2. BOSTON RED SOX vs. CHICAGO CUBS
Not as sexy as it would have been in 2003 when both teams were looking to lift a curse. But still, you get the two most beloved parks in baseball... and two of the craziest and most transplanted fan bases in baseball. Plus Big Papi and Manny aiming for Waveland.

3. NEW YORK YANKEES vs. PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Or "The Battle for South Jersey's Soul." Yankees have the established stars. The Phillies have the stars on the rise. Lots of transplanted fans for both teams and for people who hate New York sports... the Phillies have slain one already... why not both?

4. BOSTON RED SOX vs. PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
The two most insecure and New York obsessed fan bases square off. It was heated for the Patriots/Eagles Superbowl and those Celtics/76ers playoffs. Why not try baseball?

5. CHICAGO CUBS vs. LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM
You get the Cubs angle and Fox can pack the stadium with cast members of all their upcoming shows. No airfare or hotel needed... just a limo to Anaheim. Plus did you remember this was the World Series match up in the movie Taking Care of Business? I didn't think so.

6. CLEVELAND INDIANS vs. CHICAGO CUBS
My God! Someone would HAVE to win this one! The two remaining cursed franchises square off! The only reason this isn't higher is you lose the East Coast completely. (They didn't care about the White Sox either!)

7. NEW YORK YANKEES vs. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
The Yankees could take revenge for 2001!

8. BOSTON RED SOX vs. COLORADO ROCKIES
You get the Red Sox nation watching... and enough people hate us now that maybe they'd cheer Colorado on for a truly unlikely ring.

9. NEW YORK YANKEES vs. COLORADO ROCKIES
Beating the Yankees is practically the only movie cliche left for the Rockies this year. A-Rod in high altitude would be fun. (Remember the Rockies swept the Yankees! Remember how odd that sounded then?)

10. BOSTON RED SOX vs. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
When you think of traditional rivals for the Red Sox... you think of the Arizona desert!

11. CLEVELAND INDIANS vs. PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Two tormented fan bases... united in their hatred of Jose Mesa. I would love to be the Fox executive who comes up to Simon Callow to ask him "Where do you want to go and sit outside at night in late October? Cleveland or Philadelphia?"

12. CLEVELAND INDIANS vs. COLORADO ROCKIES
First The Drive and then The Fumble. Denver couldn't torment Cleveland in baseball too, can they?

13. LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM vs. PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
The good news is we got both coasts! The bad news is we don't have New York, Boston nor Los Angeles (I don't care what their name says... they are in Anaheim!)

14. CLEVELAND INDIANS vs. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
The Indians versus an expansion team? Great! It's 1997 all over again. There have been test patterns that got higher ratings than the 1997 World Series.

15. LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM vs. COLORADO ROCKIES
"The World Series will now be shown on Fox Family Channel... we now return to Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? already in progress."

16. LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM vs. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Fox sports executives commit Hari Kari (the suicide technique... not the announcer.)

Don't talk to me about NFL parity

When you hear people talk about how football is better than baseball, one thing I hear is "You always have the same teams in baseball winning it... but in football ANYONE can win it!"

And people repeat that over and over again... so it must be true.
Right?

Since 2000, there has been a different World Series winner every single year.
Since 2002 we've had 4 different Super Bowl champions, with the Patriots winning 3 times.

In that same time only one team has even made the World Series twice.
Guess which team?
Nope, not the Yankees... not the Red Sox.
The Cardinals (2004 and 2006.)

And now we have 8 playoff teams lined up and only the Yankees are back from last year's playoff. 7 out of 8 teams in the playoffs this year were not in it last year? How is this "the same people every year?"

In fact if you look at the National League, not only were none of the playoff teams in the 2006 playoffs... but none were in the 2005 playoffs... nor the 2004 playoffs!

In that same time, there were 16 repeat playoff teams in the NFL, including the conference title game regulars Patriots and Colts who were in the playoffs every year.

Compare it also with the NBA, another salary cap team. Year in and year out... the Pistons, Heat, Spurs, Mavericks, Suns and Lakers are the big teams. When a Warriors or Cavaliers sneak it, everyone is stunned.

So please... if you like football better, fine.
But spare me any discussion about how "unlike baseball, every team in football has a shot."

Repeating it doesn't make it true.

More salt in Mets fan's wounds

The Mets are not going to the playoffs... but Kaz Matsui IS!

It's not going to get better, Mets fans.

How were my predictions?

The regular season is over... and what a great finale we had! Not only did it go an extra day, but the extra day went extra innings.

Now as last year's post season 0-7 series record shows... I am not always the best at predictions.

But I make them anyway. Let's see how my preseason picks turned out:

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST
I picked THE NEW YORK YANKEES
The actual winner was THE BOSTON RED SOX

Nobody could confuse me for a homer in my picks!

AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL
I picked THE MINNESOTA TWINS
The actual winner was THE CLEVELAND INDIANS

Oh I'm sure you knew Morneau and Mauer would have such dramatic drops in production and that nobody else would be able to pitch!


AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST
I picked THE LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM
The actual winner was THE LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM

Hey! I got one right!

AMERICAN LEAGUE WILD CARD
I picked THE CHICAGO WHITE SOX
The actual winner was THE NEW YORK YANKEES

Man, did I get THAT one wrong! I thought the White Sox were going to be younger and hungrier than the team that won 90 games in 2006. Ooops.


NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST
I picked THE ATLANTA BRAVES
The actual winner was THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

At least I didn't pick the Mets!

NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL
I picked THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
The actual winner was THE CHICAGO CUBS

Not even LaRussa could keep this team together through death and scandal.

NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST
I picked THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
The actual winner was THE ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

The only question is which pick was worse? This one or the White Sox?

NATIONAL LEAGUE WILD CARD
I picked THE ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
The actual winner was THE COLORADO ROCKIES

This almost cancels out my crappy Giants and White Sox picks. Seriously, who else had the D'Backs bound for the playoffs. Granted my logic was faulty (I thought that Randy Johnson was poised for a big year!) but it's the pick that matters!


So there you have it... two AL participants (Yankees and Angels) and one NL participant (The Diamondbacks) picked.

And people wonder why I don't gamble!

And thus ends any Hall of Fame consideration for Trevor Hoffman

I never want to hear the words "Hall of Fame" and "Trevor Hoffman" in the same sentence.

Hall of Fame closers don't blow 2 games that could clinch a playoff spot in 3 days.

Hall of Fame closers slam the door on titles, not let his team down after a brilliant 13 inning game where the Padres bullpen had icewater in their veins.

And it wasn't like the Rockies got a few bloop hits... they were smoking the ball so hard that I wondered in the Padres had acquired Armando Benitez.

If you want to get into the Hall of Fame, admission is $14.50.

Hey Ump!

More specifically, Tim McClelland!

Next time you are the home plate umpire and there is a close play at the plate that could determine whether or not a team is going to the playoffs... do every baseball fan in the world a favor:

Give a demonstrative SAFE or OUT!

Don't give a nonchalant little "safe" call about 40 minutes after the play took place.
Don't do it with the casualness and as disinterested as if it were a Devil Rays/Royals game in June.


By the way, if the name Tim McClelland sounds familiar, it's because he, like every other umpire in the world, has a Supreme Court Justice/Pope like contract where they never get fired.

He's the same dude who called George Brett out during the "Pine Tar Game."
That was a long time ago... 1983.
I'm not asking McClelland to be as demonstrative as George Brett.

Somewhere in between Brett foaming at the mouth and looking like you just don't care would suffice.