Good Use of the CC Sabathia Rule

Yesterday you saw how the CC Sabathia rule would have worked so well.

Ted Lilly is throwing a no hitter in the 7th inning… on the heels of Carlos Zambrano’s no hitter. Could it be back to back no hitters? Could it be history in the making?

Aramis Ramirez botches a play but it could go either way…
The scorer called it an error.
Then Loretta hit a clean single and the point became moot.

But if the no hitter was broken up on the Ramirez play, that would have stunk.
Ergo the no hitter was able to be broken up free of controversy.

I’m telling you I should be the commissioner.

Don't Panic Brewers... whoops. Too late.

I was at work today and I happened to check CNNSI and I saw the headline "Brewers Fire Ned Yost."

I didn't understand what it meant. I felt like it was is a foreign language.
What do mean they fired him? At the end of the season maybe? They rehired him maybe.

But nope. I read the article... and the Brewers, tied for the Wild Card in mid September with 12 games to go, thought it was time for a change.

The only other time I can remember a contending team making a managerial move this late in the season was in the movie The Kid From Left Field when Gary Coleman took over as manager of the Padres... only to have child welfare take him away with the Padres up 3-0 in the World Series against the White Sox... and the interim manager lost the next three games... until Robert Guillaume was hired to manage game 7 which they won on a 3 run walk off shot by Gary Collins.

And any time your managerial moves remind me of a Gary Coleman movie, you know it is a n F'ed up move.

The Brewers are in full "Godzilla is approaching Tokyo" mode and they are still in position to at least play for a playoff spot.

What could that meeting between Yost and his friend GM Doug Melvin have been like?


YOST: Doug... I have a good feeling about this series with the Cubs. I know we had a crappy run. 3-11 stinks... but we are home, the crowd should be energized... and even with that run we are still tied for a playoff spot. We've got Sabathia on the mound, Sheets is pitching later... I think we got the losing behind us.

MELVIN: You're fired.

YOST: What? You mean you are not picking up my contract at the end of the year?

MELVIN: No. Right now. Clear out your desk.

YOST: What the f---? There's 12 games left!

MELVIN: We feel its time to go in a new direction.

YOST: In 12 days? You couldn't trust me for 12 days at home with our best pitcher on the mound? Who are you replacing me with? Did you clone John McGraw?

MEVLIN: Dale Sveum.

YOST: Let me get this straight... when I took this job, they had gone 10 straight losing years.

MEVLIN: Yup.

YOST: And I'm about to manage their second straight winning year.

MELVIN: That's right.

YOST: They could go to their first playoff since Paul Molitor, Cecil Cooper and Robin Yount were suiting up.

MELVIN: Uh huh.

YOST: And you are going to replace me with a guy who was such a bad third base coach that he was booed while getting his World Series ring in Boston?

MELVIN: He's our man.

YOST: Am I being Punked?

MELVIN: Security!


Seriously... there must be something we non Brewer fans just didn't know.

Sometimes it happens in other sports. I remember Larry Robinson taking over the New Jersey Devils in March of 2000 and leading them to the Stanley Cup title... but he was a Hall of Famer.

Dale Sveum?

Something is up here!

Fill us in Brewer land.

Two Fisted Slopper, what the f---?

No seriously Don Walker, what the f---?

Hey Scott at In Between Hops, I know expectations are high for this year but for a team that hasn't played October ball since Reagan's first term, isn't this a bit rash?

Let me ask you, Yost Infection. Was there grumblings about this that maybe those of us outside of Brewers land didn't hear about?

And Dale Sveum? Really? The guy that Sports Bubbler claimed can be replaced with an actual windmill!

Brew Crew Call, are you expecting a bump from the firing? Is 12 games enough of a bump?

I could understand if they brought in a Brewers hero like Robin Yount... but Dale Sveum? Was Billy Jo Robidoux not available? Is there another Brewer legend you'd rather see, Bernie's Crew?

Brewers Chatters, did Yost key Doug Melvin's car?

Or maybe this is like that Kevin Costner and Cal Ripken's wife urban legend. Did Melvin catch Yost with his wife? Hey Chuckie Hacks, let's spread that rumor.

How could that be any less insane than firing the manager with 12 games to go?

Well, that was quick

3 batters in... Two 4 pitch walks and a 3 run homer.
That couldn't have gone better if I had help from a Genie.

But keep in mind, the Sox won the first game at Fenway as well.
And look who's pitching but my old nemesis Andy Sonnanstine.

Come on Sox!
Let's have that No Prisoners attitude this time.

Last Stand For The Division

The Defending World Champion Red Sox are taking on the First Place Tampa Bay Rays... and for some reason I am thinking of that scene near the beginning of the movie Troy.

The Red Sox are like Agememmnon and the Rays are the king of Thessaly.

Two armies meeting on the beach.

"Get away from our Division Lead."
"I like you Division Lead, I think we'll stay."

And the two kings call for their best fighters...
In the movie its Boagrius and Achillies.

Today it's Kazmir and Dice K.

Let's hope Dice K has a better heel than Achillies.

You can exhale a little bit, Cubs fans

Nothing like a no hitter in a neutral site to release some tension.

I think Zambrano is fine.
He had a decent hit to innings pitched ratio.

Some neutral site! The Cubs were in their road jerseys and the place was rocking like it was Waveland Avenue.

So calm down Cub fans...
Remember it's better to lose a few in September instead of October.

I say good for K-Rod

I know it is popular to belittle the save statistic, especially since Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan destroyed the concept of a 2 inning save when they turned Eckersley into a 1 inning pitcher.

And yeah, it is possible for a choke artist to pile up saves and have the stats but not the guts of an All Star.

(See Benitez, Armando)

And that facing the bottom of the order with a 3 run lead in the 9th probably shouldn't be called a "save situation."

And I also know that Frankie Rodriguez's hits and walks are up and his strike outs are down, so you can argue this isn't his best season.

But hey!
If saves are so easy to get, then why didn't Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Randy Myers, Jonathan Papelbon et al saved 58 games in a season?

And was he supposed to do in those 58 instances where he pitched with a 3 run or fewer lead in the 9th inning?

He's not the best in the game, but he deserves his day in the sun.

(But remember who is writing this blog... and before anyone thinks he is infallible, enjoy Manny Ramirez's walk off shot against Rodriguez in last year's division series.)

Orioles... you could have been a contender

The Orioles could have helped the Red Sox playoff push with a pair of wins against the Twins.

Naturally they lost the first game 12-2 and were down 10-2 after 3 innings of the second game before losing 12-6.

Thanks for the help.
One more loss and they clinch yet another losing campaign.
Once again the Orioles play out an irrelevant season.
Their 11th in a row.

Normally an Orioles fan could shrug and say "What are you going to do in a division with the Red Sox and Yankees?"

But not this year.
This year there is the indignity of see the bottom dwelling laughing stock formerly known as the Tampa Bay Rays on top of the division... and doing it with a payroll $24 million less.

So now Oriole fans have the knowledge that like Terry Malloy, they could have been a contender.

There are many reasons why.

I think the biggest reason is managerment was complacent when Ripken was playing all of those games and Camden Yards was a novelty. I mentioned that last year.

And obviously the front office made some terrible moves both by holding onto veterans too long (hello Brian Roberts) and getting rid of useful players (good bye John Maine.)

Maybe the front office just had trouble wrapping their arms around the idea that they weren't contenders as they dealt young players for Kris Benson and Sammy Sosa and signed Miguel Tejada.

Maybe they just screwed up the draft as Nick Markakis is the only #1 pick of their last 16 #1 picks that has worked out.

Markakis is a nice player... but hardly a corner stone of a franchise.

I guess it all has to do with ownership and Peter Angelos... the man who took one of the marquee franchises of my youth...

A franchise that from 1960 to 1989 had a winning record for 25 out of 30 seasons including 18 seasons in a row...

A franchise that in that run won 7 divisions, 6 pennants and 3 World Series titles...

A franchise with remarkable managerial stability...

A franchise with a rabid fan base and a ballpark that was the envy of all of baseball...

And he ran that franchise into the ground.

Andy McPhail is going to try to do to the Orioles what he did with the Twins, but that might be hard with Angelos running the show.

So the question needs to be thrown out to Orioles fans...

Is Angelos completely to blame for this mess? What do you think NumerOlogy?

Is he just a scapegoat, Orioles Insider? Are there other factors?

Hey Roar from 34. Have the arrival of the Nationals been a factor at all with Orioles fans?

Let me ask you SC at Camden Chat, do the glory days of Jim Palmer and Eddie Murray seem like 1,000 years ago?

Keep in mind, Wayward Oriole, Yankee fans chanted "George Must Go" in the early 1990s. If the Orioles won a few on Angelos' watch, would you cheer for him?

Be honest, Dempsey's Army... how much does it stink watching the Rays blossom and not the Orioles?

Well, the Orioles day will come again some day.
And here's hoping when that day comes, they will have brought back the smiling bird!

I don't like Ike

Obviously and most importantly, we all hope and wish that Hurricane Ike comes and goes with as little damage and loss as possible.

But man the havoc it can cause to the schedule down the stretch is amazing.

The Cubs are trying to clinch a division and the Astros are trying to steal a playoff spot and those teams will likely have 3 head to head match ups canceled with not many off days to make them up. They'll probably have to play some games in a neutral site, like when Hurricane Ivan forced the Expos and Marlins to play in Chicago 4 years ago.

I hope they figure out a solution fast.

Either way, tomorrow promises to be as wild a day in baseball as we've seen all year.
Double headers involving the Red Sox, Rays, White Sox and Twins that can play out with the second place team catching the first... or the Wild Card lead shrinking... or the leaders pulling away or playing to a stand still.

Just go away Ike.

That a boy Wakes...

Nothing bouncing back from a brutal pair of losses with a nice 8 inning rain covered lopsided shut out win from the knuckler.

Especially on a day where every game against a contender seemed to be rained out... pick up 1/2 a game on everyone and a full one of Toronto.

Throw like that in October and there might be another parade.

Wait... the Astros are good?

Seriously, what in the name of Terry Puhl is going on here?
I follow baseball pretty closely.
And not just the Red Sox and Yankees.

I've written 6 or 7 posts about the freaking Marlins this year.

So I like to flatter myself that I follow the game pretty closely.
Well, I guess I should have been following it closer.

All year it seems like the Astros have been a mediocre, uninspiring sub .500 team.
And you'll forgive me for thinking that, but they no longer have Bagwell and Biggio and they went from 1 1/2 games out on May 27th to 10 games out on June 10th.

I wrote them off as a May pretender.
Can you blame me? They were a sub .500 team on August 10th and the Cubs and the Brewers were a good 2 weeks of games ahead of them.

They were at .500 on August 26th... 16 games out of first... 11 games out of the Wild Card.

I hope you will cut me some slack that I didn't go rushing to the Astros box score in the morning.

Since that loss on August 26th they are 14-1.
Read that sentence again.

I didn't know that until I just looked it up.
They almost won half a month of games.

Did YOU know that?
Did you know that they are only 3 games out of a playoff spot?

Did you know that after making up these Cubs games lost to Hurricane Ike and a series in Florida they will be playing nobody but tomato cans the rest of the way?
The Pirates? The Reds? The Braves? Are any of them going to put up a fight?
(Then again, I didn't think the Nationals and Marlins would offer much resistance to the Mets last year!)

But with the Brewers playing the Cubs 6 times, and currently 3-8 in an uninspired September... could the Astros make the playoffs this year?

And how the heck are they doing this?
Is anyone else noticing that Lance Berkman should be in the MVP discussion?
Has anyone else seen that the trio of Roy Oswalt, Randy Wolf and Brian Moehler are as good a 1-2-3 in the NL?

Or Jose Valverde has had a scoreless save in his last 10 appearances?

Shouldn't Cecil Cooper be getting some talk about manager of the year?
Especially since he is doing this without Carlos Lee and starting the year 6-12!

And with the NL so wide open (the Mets with their bullpen woes, the Phillies and Dodgers inconsistencies all year, the Cubs and Brewers shaky September and the Diamondbacks stunning collapse) who is to say that sneaking in via the Wild Card couldn't mean a trip to the World Series for the hot team?

I mean what in the name of the 2007 Colorado Rockies is going on here?

In the light of Hurricane Ike, I won't ask the fan base their my typical questions...
I hope that the folks at Crawfish Boxes, The Space Race, Plunk Biggio, Chip Bailey, Cliff at Astros Home Plate, Lisa Gray and everyone in Houston is safe and comes home to find their home intact...

And their team in a race.

I've noticed.

A Request For Major League Baseball Scheduling

Neither the Yankees nor the Mets are playing today.

Both Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium are empty.
I know there are going to be the occasional day when both stadiums are empty... but why today?

Is it that hard to make sure every year this terrible day has a baseball game in New York to commemorate the day?

And while we are at it, make sure there is a game in Washington as well.

Baseball was too important in the healing process of that day to not have the cities participate every single season.

That shouldn't be too hard.

OK, back to the fun stuff.

HALL OF FAME OR NOT: MANAGER EDITION

Last Spring, I broke down which current players belong in the Hall of Fame or not.

It got me some attention and this interview heard in Toledo on On Sports with JP and Kevin.

And rest assured, I am working on an update of that entry for 2008.

But for some reason I didn't think of which managers should get Cooperstown consideration.

And today's division title for the Angels made me think about Mike Scioscia and his ever growing Cooperstown resume.

Here are the parameters for consideration that the staff at Sully Baseball has come up with.

1) The manager is currently managing now.
2) They have managed a World Series winner.

Sorry Bruce Bochy, Ron Gardenhire and Dusty Baker. You need to win the big Kahuna in order to get in.

So lets look at the candidates.


BOBBY COX
Case For:
14 straight division titles with 5 pennants and the 1995 World Series title. Throw in the 1985 AL East title with the Toronto Blue Jays. His Braves teams won year in and year out despite a constantly changing cast of characters. He is also as respected a manager as there is in the game.

Case Against:
Only won one World Series. Had the better team but lost in the World Series or playoffs in 1985, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Was outmanaged often and his use of the bullpen was suspect to say the least. Went 1-6 in post season series in the 2000s. How much of the success was because of him or because of Leo Mazzone’s handling of the pitching staff and the rise of Glavine and Smoltz and the signing of Maddux?

Verdict: HALL OF FAMER RIGHT NOW
Winning only one World Series didn’t keep Earl Weaver or Leo Durocher out of the Hall of Fame. Al Lopez didn’t even win one! And the consistency of managing a team into the playoffs with different faces and different clubhouse leaders for nearly a decade and a half is more than enough.





TERRY FRANCONA
Case For:
Two World Series titles for a franchise that was starving for one. His calm and never panicking approach allowed the Red Sox to come back from a 3-0 deficit to the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS and a 3-1 deficit to Cleveland in the 2007 ALCS. First manager to win his first 8 World Series games. Made the playoffs in 2005 and looks ready to have them back in 2008.

Case Against:
Was he in the right place at the right time? What manager couldn’t win with a team front loaded with superstars? OK, besides Grady Little. The huge payroll and All Stars at almost every position makes filling out the line up card kind of easy. He didn’t exactly display Hall of Fame stuff as a manager in Philadelphia. Besides, shouldn’t Theo Epstein be getting the credit for this team?

Verdict: NOT A HALL OF FAMER YET
It’s early but if he stays in Boston for 5 more years and keeps them in the playoffs for most of those years and wins another World Series title, it might be enough.




CITO GASTON
Case For:
He was the first manager to win back to back World Series in the Free Agent era. His teams made the playoffs 4 of his first 5 seasons. His 1992 team lost Dave Winfield, David Cone, David Wells, Tom Henke, Candy Maldonado, Manny Lee and Kelly Gruber in the off season and yet they won the 1993 World Series. Was the first African American to manage a World Series winner. The 2008 Blue Jays have played over .600 ball since he took over the team.

Case Against:
Followed up the back to back World Series teams with 4 straight losing seasons. Was fired and couldn’t get a job for 11 seasons. GM Pat Gillick replenished the lost stars after the 1992 seasons with more stars, so his teams were always stocked with talent.

Verdict: NOT A HALL OF FAMER YET. PROBABLY TOO LATE.
His first five seasons were spectacular and we forget now what a huge task it was to repeat as World Series champs. If he turns the Blue Jays around and they win a third World Series under his leadership, it might be a career worth examining. But not yet.



OZZIE GUILLEN
Case For:
Managed the White Sox to their first World Series title since 1917. And he managed them with their most visible superstar, Frank Thomas, hurt for most of the year. The 2005 World Series roster was devoid of a legit Hall of Fame candidate or a single marquee player… and yet they matched the 1999 Yankees with a 11-1 post season record. Has a White Sox team most picked to finish near the bottom in 2008 in first place in mid September. Has a hands on and aggressive managing style, including hit and running, stealing and unorthodox bullpen management, that makes it clear he is not a “fill out the line up card and take a nap” manager.

Case Against:
Like Billy Martin, can grate on the players and the management and constantly seems on the verge of getting fired. His 2006 squad was superior in talent to the Twins and Tigers and yet finished third (despite 90 wins) and the 2007 White Sox were a disaster. The team’s success could just as easily be credited to GM Kenny Williams.

Verdict: NOT A HALL OF FAMER YET
One great season and playoff run doesn’t make a Hall of Famer. Jack McKeon and the late Dick Howser would be in if that were the case. Ozzie needs to pile up some Division Titles and another pennant and not get himself fired. Longevity will go a long way. Earl Weaver was firey too and he only won one World Series… but he stuck around and piled up the October appearances. Take note Ozzie.


TONY LARUSSA
Case For:
Along with Sparky Anderson is the one of two managers to win the World Series as a manager in both leagues. Led the Oakland A’s to 3 straight World Series appearances. Including his time managing the White Sox, he has had 12 post season appearances, 11 division titles, 5 pennants and the 1989 and 2006 World Championship. Is considered to be a superior intellect in the dugout and consistently a winner from 1983 to present.

Case Against:
Has there been a manager who has more benefited from the steroid era than LaRussa? He won the pennants in the late 80s and 1990 on the juiced up strength of McGwire and Canseco and turned a blind eye as McGwire chased down Maris in 1998. Now there are whispers of Albert Pujols and positive tests for Rick Ankiel. Are we to believe after all the books written about his intelligence that he didn’t know?

Verdict: HALL OF FAMER RIGHT NOW
I don’t like LaRussa and I made that clear. But the total tonnage of what we don’t know about the steroid era is not enough to wipe out a remarkable managerial career.




JIM LEYLAND
Case For:
Took 3 teams to the playoffs, including the 1997 World Champion Florida Marlins. If it wasn’t for Francisco Cabrera’s single he would have lead three different teams to the World Series. Took a losing Pirates franchise and led them to 3 straight NLCS appearances. Took a losing Marlins franchise and led them to the World Series title. Took an irrelevant Tigers team, just 3 years removed from a 119 loss season and brought them to the World Series in his first year. A tough and no nonsense manager who actually got Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield to march to his beat.

Case Against:
Couldn’t win the pennant in Pittsburgh and when the stars left the team collapsed. Managed the 1998 Marlins, stripped of their World Series participants and saw them finish 54-108. His one year in Colorado was a disaster. The 2006 Tigers looked rusty and unprepared in their World Series loss to the Cardinals. Was given a $100 million plus roster for the 2008 Tigers and they stumbled badly out of the gate and have been irrelevant in a year they were supposed to be a World Series contender.

Verdict: HALL OF FAMER RIGHT NOW
If Francisco Cabrera had popped up, there wouldn’t even be a discussion here. Either way, his ability to revive moribund franchises and the respect he commands is enough for me.




LOU PINIELLA
Case For:
Pulled off one of the great World Series upsets in history when the Reds swept the A’s in 1990. Turned the Mariners, the most laughable franchise in baseball, into playoff contenders. After the Mariners lost Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr and Alex Rodriguez, they responded with a 116-46 record. With the Cubs has now managed three different teams into the post season. Has a firey unmistakable brand of managing he undoubtedly picked up from his former manager Billy Martin.

Case Against:
Couldn’t get the Yankees into the playoffs his three seasons as manager… The 1988 AL East was very winnable. Despite having Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr, Edgar Martinez and a host of other stars, he couldn’t win a pennant in Seattle. His 116 win team got beat badly in the 2001 ALCS by the Yankees. His three years in Tampa Bay were disastrous. His managerial decisions may have cost the Cubs the 2007 Division Series.

Verdict: NOT A HALL OF FAMER YET… BUT HE’S ALMOST THERE
He’s on the bubble right now. Some might argue he is in Jim Leyland’s position of winning only one World Series but turning franchises around. I would argue that he needs to return to the World Series as a manager. If he wins a pennant for the Cubs, he’s in… no questions asked.



MIKE SCIOSCIA
Case For:
Won the 2002 World Series, toppling the heavily favored Yankees in the first round. With 2008 already wrapped up, he has led the Angels to division titles in 4 of the last 5 seasons. Has a mixture of veterans and rookies on his team and an ever changing roster, yet like Bobby Cox the team keeps winning. The turn over in ownership and in the front office during his time shows this isn’t a manager simply benefiting from a GM’s power.

Case Against:
The 2002 World Series was lost by the Giants as much as it was won by the Angels. While he has no problem beating the Yankees in the post season (the did it in 2005 as well) they get clobbered by teams with Sox in their name. (The Angels were swept by the Red Sox in 2004 and 2007 and lost the 2005 ALCS in 5 games to the White Sox.)

Verdict: NOT A HALL OF FAMER YET… BUT PROBABLY WILL BE
It’s early but no manager in baseball is putting together a Hall of Fame resume faster than Scioscia. He has the ring and is piling up the Division Titles. He needs at least another pennant and he also needs to keep the Angels as annual pennant contenders into the next decade.



JOE TORRE
Case For:
12 straight post season appearances for the Yankees including 6 pennants and 4 World Series titles. The 1996 World Series victory was as unlikely a win in World Series history. He rattled off 4 straight pennants despite strong challenges from Oakland and Seattle. And after Steinbrenner made 19 managerial moves in 21 seasons, he gave the Yankees stability over 12 seasons. Restored the dignity and championship expectations of the Yankees with his cool and calming managerial style and developed new Yankee legends along the way. He also managed the 1982 NL West champion Braves and looks poised to win a division title in Los Angeles this year. Also was a borderline Hall of Fame player.

Case Against:
How much was his Yankees success because of him or how much was it because he walked into a good situation with a team developed by Buck Showalter and Gene Michael? His record as a Mets, Braves and Cardinals manager was not exactly stellar. (One post season appearance prior to the Yankees and it was a 3 game sweep.) Not a great strategy manager and prone to making some terrible decisions that possibly cost him the playoffs in 2002 and the World Series in 2003. Only one manager has ever blown a 3-0 series lead and that was Torre. His managing of games 5 and 6 possibly cost the Yankees the pennant. How hard is it to manage the Yankees with all that money?

Verdict: HALL OF FAMER RIGHT NOW
You think it is easy? Ask Joe Girardi! The ability to stay calm in stormy waters is his greatest asset and it led directly to the 1996 and 2000 World Championship and post season appearances in 2005 and 2007 despite terrible starts. No man in baseball is more respected and no record speaks more clearly that they deserve a spot in Cooperstown.




So there you have it.
Tony LaRussa, Bobby Cox, Jim Leyland and Joe Torre will be in Cooperstown.
Lou Piniella is a Chicago pennant away and Mike Scioscia is well on his way.

Then again if Piniella wins the World Series for the Cubs he might be canonized by the Pope

Got to hand it to the Angels... wherever they play

They are dancing in the streets of Anaheim... or Los Angeles... or Los Angeles of Anaheim.

Talk about taking care of business.
They get a playoff spot on September 10th with 17 games to play.

Basically all they have the play for is to have Frankie Rodriguez save 2 games to break the save record that nobody cares about.

Maybe they can go 12-5 to win 100 games for the first time in franchise history.

Or maybe they can line up the rotation, rest the veterans and get ready to steamroll the American League.

This is one scary team.

To Quote Charlie Brown

AAUGH!

We had Papelbon on the mound last night to take the division lead...
And 13 innings to take a lead before that 2 out 14th inning monstrosity.

And BANG!
What should have been a 1 1/2 game lead turns into a 2 1/2 deficit.

So much for No Prisoners.

OK folks... dust yourself off, tip your hats to the Rays and clinch the playoff spot and get our asses to October.

And hope Lucy doesn't pull the ball again.
*sigh*

Why would anyone go to today's Tigers/A's game?

Seriously...
The Tigers are out of it.
The A's are out of it.
The teams are playing out the string.
It's a day game and school is back in.

Seriously who is showing up to this game.

Here are 10 reasons to go to the Tigers/A's game.

1. You desperately want a foul ball and figured this is your best shot.

2. You are an A's fan nostalgic for the 1972 ALCS when Oakland won their first pennant against the Tigers.

3. You are a Tigers fan nostalgic for the 2006 ALCS when Detroit beat the A's.

4. You are in the witness protection program.

5. You are having an affair and want to be in a place where you know nobody will see you.

6. You have Armando Galarraga fever.

7. You made a sign that has an acronym that spells FOX and damn it, you want to have it seen on TV.

8. You are RoboCop villain Clarence Boddicker, and as you stated, you never miss a Tigers game.

9. Someone told you someone from the Red Wings was going to be at the game.

10. You just need some peace and quiet.

Well THAT was a nice 2x4 to the face

3 outs from taking over first place and Dan Johnson homers off of Papelbon...
DAN JOHNSON?

Didn't the Rays read the script? That Bay's homer was to put the Sox in first and then Boston would steamroll the rest of the season?

OK... tonight... Beckett versus my buddy Andy Sonnanstine.

Just win the series.
I don't like this Underdog stuff.

Cleveland Rocked City

1964.

It's been 1964 since a Cleveland sports team won a championship.

LeBron couldn't do it in 2007 and neither could the Indians despite a 3-1 lead against Boston.

2007 was a tantalizing and cruel year for Cleveland fans.
And the Cavs lost to my Celtics, the Indians faded fast and the Browns... well it doesn't look good for them.

And you've seen all the other clips of Cleveland's failures... Elway's drive in 1987, the fumble in the end zone in 1988, Jordan's shot over Ehlo, the Indians blowing the 9th inning of game 7 of the 1997 World Series, third base coach Joel Skinner holding up Kenny Lofton from scoring last year, the fact that their river caught on fire...

Cleveland needs a hug.
1964 was a long time ago.

That year the Browns, led by Jim (Mars Attacks) Brown, won the NFL title.
Notice I didn't say they won the Super Bowl. The first Super Bowl wasn't played for another 2 years... We're now up to Super Bowl XLII (that's 42 for the Romanic Numerically challenged).

Think about waiting since 1964 for ANY TITLE!

Imagine how drunk Cubs fans would be without the Bulls or the Bears.
Imagine us Red Sox fans being even more obnoxious and celebrating the 2004 and 2007 World Series with less class.
That's Cleveland.

You could be a 50 year old with grown kids and have no clear memory of any of your teams ever winning.

Your grown kids will be thinking of having kids of their own and think "I wonder if my kids will ever see a parade."

That's Cleveland.

How outlandish is the idea of a Cleveland championship?

In the movies Major League and Major League 2... the Indians don't win the World Series. They make the playoffs, but they don't win it all.

This is a film where the left fielder does voodoo.
That's fine.
But the Indians winning the World Series?
COME ON! How much can we suspend our disbelief?

Want to see the face of someone born right after Cleveland's last victory parade? Try Rob Zombie.
That's what Cleveland sports fans all look like inside.










Winston Churchill, Nat King Cole and Malcolm X were all still alive.
Brandon Lee was born after their last parade, made some lousy movies and has been dead for over a decade... all since their last title.

Which means when the Browns played for the NFL title, giving Cleveland their last reason to celebrate, Winston Churchill, Nat King Cole and Malcolm X could have been at a bar together watching it and during half time call Bruce Lee, who would be at home taking care of his pregnant wife.

And I'd like to think that happened.
It's more believeable than a Voodoo outfielder.

So let me ask you Cleveland fans some questions...

Ryan at Let's Go Tribe, which is worse? A year like this where the team didn't even show up despite great expectations or last year when the pennant was in your reach?

Hey Disappointment Zone, who is the most villified Indian in your lifetime? It's got to be Jose Mesa, right?

I kept replaying the 10th inning of game 6 over and over in my head. What inning do you replay, Deb at Tribe 24/7?

Cleveland Sports Animal, at this point does it matter who wins? Would a Cavs NBA title or a Browns Super Bowl be as sweet as an Indians World SerieS?

Sorry to bring this up, Mistake by the Lake, but aren't those caps a little racist?

I'll ask the big question to you T Bone. Do you allow yourself to imagine it? To picture the last out and the Indians rushing the field? Or do you think it would jinx it?

Personally I would always imagine that last out before it really happened on 2004.

Stay true to your team, Cleveland fans.
Take it from me, when they win (and one of them will eventually) the parade and the off season will be an out of body experience.

No voodoo necessary.

NO PRISONERS!

Last Thursday, I wrote that Joe Maddon would win the AL Manager of the Year even if the Rays finished the season 0-25. Little did I know the Rays would try to test my theory.

On the last day of August, the Red Sox were 5 1/2 games behind the Rays.
With a win tonight, they can go to bed on September 9th 1/2 a game ahead.

Last night was a tremendous performance by Jon Lester as he continues to be a walking argument against the insane babying of pitchers.

Hey people coddling starters.
Hey people demanding Joba Rules... check out Lester.

2 years ago this guy had f---ing cancer and now he consistently gives 7 innings, will pitch into the 8th like last night and every once in a while complete a game. (GASP!)

Well the Division is in our sites... and I want it.
I know the Sox pretty much have the Wild Card sewn up, but I want home field advantage.

Hell, at this point the Sox are not just 1 game in the loss column behind Tampa but only 2 in the loss behind California... or Anaheim... or Los Angeles of Anaheim.

I want this running at full speed Sox train to barrell through the AL and have the "we're the defending champs" swagger to them again.

I don't care about how cuddly the Rays story is. I know we are the bad guys.

I don't care.
The Rays can't pull a Sarah Palin and run and hide and demand everyone treat them with kid gloves.

This is a pennant race folks! Tampa, you want to win? Well guess what? These games in September count.

I want no Mercy from the Sox nor from our fans.
Hey Professor at Rays Index... hey Pat and Christin... hey Dirt Bag Fan...
Everyone I live blogged with in Tampa.

This is what a September stretch drive feels like.
Teams don't give a damn about your story. Think you can't blow a big lead in September? Talk to the 2007 Mets.

Hey Red Sox... you really want to be the new Yankees?
Then tonight, with Dice-K on the mound, act like Lawrence of Arabia and scream NO PRISONERS!!!!!

I've been giving way too much thought to the Marlins this year

I realized I've written quite a few posts about the Marlins this year.
I've probably blogged more about the Marlins than some Marlins fan sites.
And I know the fact that I keep writing about them is kind of odd.

But I just really hope they have a winning season this year.
Having the team with the lowest (by far) payroll win more games than they lose is a good thing.

So amidst the pennant races, I will be keeping an eye on the Marlins to see if they can go 10-8 in their final games... securing a winning record for less money than the Yankees are paying Jason Giambi.

I did the same thing rooting for the 2002 and 2003 Expos to have a winning record despite not having an owner.

So bear with me readers... when you think of it, it's a good story.

A-Rod just can't win

I don't often feel bad for Alex Rodriguez, but sometimes I can't help it.

The Yankees lost 5-2 to the always tough Mariners and slipped into 4th place (tee hee).

Someone asked him about the Blue Jays passing them in the standings and A-Rod tried his best to be diplomatic, praising the Toronto pitching staff and saying "a lot of people should be happy they're not in the playoff race."

Then reporters acted like Sam Waterston catching a witness in a lie on an episode of Law and Order.

"A ha! So if the Blue Jays aren't in it... and they are ahead of the Yankees, what does that say about the Yankees... and I will remind you that are under oath."

You could see A-Rod struggling with the SAT problem as he basically became Chevy Chase in that Jerry Ford debate sketch.

"It was my understanding that there would be no math."

And my how the papers ripped him as if he told a bunch of kids there was no Santa Claus or as if he stood up at the RNC and said "The Bible is a series of poorly translated allegories."

Yeah, the Yankees are out of it.
And if you don't think so, then YOU are out of it.

But no matter what he said, he was screwed.
He was in one of those pickles that husbands find themselves in where no matter what they say, they'd have to apoligize to the wife. (Something A-Rod doesn't have to do anymore.)

If A-Rod had said "We're still in it" people would have bashed him

If A-Rod had said "I'm not even looking at the standings" people would have bashed him

If A-Rod said "I just cured cancer, made the Palestinians and Israelis find common ground, invented a cheap renewable energy source, found a way to make education and health care affordable and I am donating $10 million a year to help rebuild New Orleans and another $10 million a year to bring children of Sudan into a new environment where they will have food, shelter, education and a chance..."

People would say "Yeah, but he never won a ring!"

Football? Are you kidding me? This was a borderline PERFECT baseball weekend!

I didn't watch one play of football this weekend.
Why should I have?

This was a BASEBALL weekend

The Defending World Champion Boston Red Sox took 2 of 3 from Texas and inched closer to the division lead.

The Dodgers put together a stunning sweep of the Diamondbacks completing a total turn around from their disastrous road trip to take over first place, much to my pleasure.

The Phillies and Mets had a wonderful series, causing tension with my Met fan cousins and my Phillies fan cousins.

You had the Cubs finding ways to lose and giving Cub fans, including my boss, reason to dread the Billy Goat again.

You had the White Sox spoil a Frankie Rodriguez save, setting up a Jim Thome walk off homer and the Twins and White Sox both saying "You have the division" "No you... I insist!"

You had the Blue Jays surge into third place while sweeping the Rays in a series that included a come from behind, 2 out 10th inning walk off Grand Slam on Saturday and a 1-0 win on Sunday.

The Yankees continue their remarkable free fall into 4th place against the worst team in the American League, turning Seattle pitchers Brandon Morrow and Ryan Feierabend into the second coming of Walter Johnson and Grover Cleveland Alexander.

You will forgive me, but football didn't even register on my radar.

How badly do Ken Griffey Jr and Jim Thome want to kill Carlos Quentin?

As if the Sox didn't have enough troubles.
They didn't take advantage of the Twins miserable stretch during the Republican Convention and now have to face a tough pennant stretch without their MVP candidate.

I wonder if Ken Griffey Jr and Jim Thome took Carlos Quentin aside.

THOME: Kid, let's talk.

QUENTIN: (referring to Griffey) I thought he was called Kid.

GRIFFEY: I'm 38 years old. Nobody this close to 40 should be called a kid.

THOME: Let me ask you something, how many homers do you have in your career?

QUENTIN: 50.

THOME: 50? How cute. Hey Griffey, did you ever hit 50 homers?

GRIFFEY: Yeah. In 1997 and 1998. I hit 40 in 1994 when the season was cut short by nearly 2 months.

THOME: Yeah I hit 52 homers... in 2002.

GRIFFEY: You see we've been doing this for a while. In fact I broke into the bigs when you were 7 years old.

QUENTIN: I know. I grew up idolizing you.

[Griffey stares him down.]

THOME: You are best off listening right now.

GRIFFEY: Look, I have been doing this for 20 seasons.

THOME: This is my 18th.

GRIFFEY: And I don't have many more chances at a ring. I had the misfortune of running into Thome's Indians in 1995 and we stumbled against Baltimore in '97 and I haven't even sniffed the Post Season since.

THOME: And I had the misfortune of being on a team that had Jose Mesa as a closer.

QUENTIN: Oooof.

THOME: Exactly, and I arrived in Chicago a year after their title. I've got 537 homers.

GRIFFEY: I'm at 609. We're both rehearsing our Cooperstown speech... but it would be nice to have a ring before hanging them up.

THOME: It would be grand.

GRIFFEY: And it would be cool to have our MVP candidate not break HIS OWN F---ING WRIST IN SEPTEMBER IN THE MIDDLE OF A PENNANT RACE!

THOME: Look, Cliff Lee is a good pitcher. So striking out to him isn't terrible. But if you feel compelled to punch your own wrist, take the bat out of your hand. It will decrease the chances of breaking your wrist in the middle of a pennant race. Consider that a tip from your pal Jim.

QUENTIN: Um... thanks.

GRIFFEY: IF I RETIRE RINGLESS I WILL BEHEAD YOU!

THOME: I'd run if I were you, Carlos.

No I am NOT ready for some football!!!!

Nominally I am a New York Giants fan. I adopted them when I moved to New York in 1990. I've been to some of their games and cheer them.

I never was a Patriots fan growing up and it felt odd jumping on the bandwagon when they became good in 2001.

So the team I supposedly root for opened their season last night with a win in their pursuit of repeating as Super Bowl Champions.

I didn't even know they played until I came into the office today and a coworker who is a big Giants fan came up to me to talk about the game.

"Did they play?" I asked.
"Yeah! Didn't you watch?"
"It's preseason, isn't it?" I asked.
"No! The season started."
I had no idea.

I guess this is a very frustrating part of the year for me...
All I am thinking about in terms of sports is baseball. And I can't comprehend a sports fan being distracted from baseball now.

You have the Rays, a team whose very name meant a bottom dweller until this season, is playoff bound.

The Defending World Champion Boston Red Sox are charging towards the division lead.

The White Sox and Twins can't get out of each others way but one of them will make the playoffs.

The Phillies and Mets are squaring off in what is quickly becoming a wonderful rivalry for the division title.

The Diamondbacks and Dodgers are another 1st and 2nd place match up this weekend.

And the Yankees are playing themselves out of the season.

All of this and when I turn on sports talk radio or ESPN, what are they talking about?

THE JETS AND DOLPHINS?

Really?

Ugh

TBS can save money on blimps

With the Rays cruising to a playoff spot and the Twins only a game back, TBS could have a nightmarish Division Series match up... possibly even worse than their Rockies/Diamondbacks NLCS last year.

Picture a Twins/Rays Division Series.
Picture two domed stadiums... too horrifically ugly domed stadiums. (My defense of the Metrodome not withstanding)

Great blimp shots, eh?
"We're looking down on... well... a monstroscity and we can't even see the f---ing game!"

And while both teams play great fundemental baseball, how are they going to promote it? "GARZA VERSUS BAKER! Only ONE can win!"

I guess "Hey! Here are a pair of over achieving teams that just 7 years ago were threatened with contraction... now at least one of them will get to the ALCS. They play the game with heart, spirit and without spoiled stars! Come watch!"

Nahhhh.
No way THAT could work

Hey you people screaming about a salary cap!

Today the team with the highest payroll in baseball is playing the team with the smallest payroll in the American League.

One of the teams is the best team in baseball trying to secure a division title.
The other faces a double digit defecit and has to be content playing the role of spoiler.

Guess which team is which?
Yup... all the Yankees can do is be a spoiler as the Rays are October bound.

Remember the firesale the Marlins had that shrunk their payroll to baseball's lowest?
Remember how they sent off their best known players to the Tigers and the Tigers payroll skyrocketed to over $100 million?

On September 4th, only one of those two teams has a winning record.
Guess which one it is... no guess!

It ain't the Tigers, believe you me.

Remind me why we need a salary cap again.

It's good to be Joe Maddon

Going into the season the idea of the Tampa Bay Rays even sniffing .500 was laughable.

And here we are, September 4th... the Rays have done more than sniff it.
They are the best team in baseball.

That still looks odd.
I've been a snob towards Tampa all year and now I am just being a jerk.

But the Rays, who had never won 71 games in a season prior to this one, have 84 this season with most of a month to play.

The Rays could go 0-25 the rest of the way and Maddon would STILL be the unanimous pick for manager of the year.

Here's hoping he does go 0-25.

Say it with me Red Sox fans... LET'S GO YANKEES!!!

I can feel the glory of 26 Championships basking over me!
I can feel the honor and the pride of the Pinstripes!

I get choked up thinking of those great Yankees honored in Monument Park and knowing that the Yankees... the team I am rooting for today... has been the standard for generations.

Putting on the uniform just DOES something to a fan.

And Red Sox fans all across this country need to root for the Yankees tonight!

No... the blog hasn't been hijacked by a crazed Yankee fan.
And no, I'm not raising my "Red Sox fans and Yankee fans should be friends" theory to a new level.

Sure we all hate the Yankees and man oh man is it fun seeing them as relevant as the Washington Nationals in September.

Yes it is great watching Jeter doing the math in his head realizing "Holy Cow... I'm going home this October."

And nobody has more fun watching the Yankees tumble and even fanticising about a 4th place finish.

But there is a bigger picture to follow.
The Yankees are 10 back of the Rays and 7 games behind the Defending World Champion Boston Red Sox.

As long as the Defending World Champion Boston Red Sox keep winning, the Yankees won't make up a week of games.

And there is no way they are going to make up 10 games behind Tampa.
They are dead.

They are one of the Thugees falling off the bridge in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
No matter how much the Yankees flail their arms, they are falling into the river and will be eaten by crocodiles.

But the division is in sight.
A Yankees win will pull the Sox to within 2 1/2 games (3 in the loss collumn)with 6 head to head Tampa games left.

And yeah, I know the important thing is to get into the playoffs... but I think that home field advantage will be huge for the Sox this year. They play better at Fenway and they aren't as deep as the '04 and '07 teams. They need every advantage they can get.

And while the Sox plowed through the Angels in their two World Championship seasons, I want no part of them this year. I'd much rather face either the Twins or the White Sox in the first round.

So I want that division...
Even if it means holding your nose and rooting for the Yankees.

So for one night at least...
LET'S GO YANKEES

Let's make a new rule...

We'll call it the CC Sabathia rule.
The Official Scorer has to make sure the first hit of any game is not a judgement call.

Now normally this would be a complete non issue. Most games have a sharp hit or a grounder with eyes in the first couple of innings.

But if in those first few innings the only hit you got is a questionable judgement call... here's the rule: You call it an error.

If there has been no hits by a team and they even have to ASK if it was a hit, call it an error.

But I don't want to have a situation like what happened this weekend with CC Sabathia to happen again.

He fumbles a play in the 5th inning, the Pirate's scorekeeper calls it a hit... and that's the only hit they got.

And eeeeevvvvveryone was in a tizzy.
John Kruk said it should count as a no hitter.

But that's absurd. You pitch differently with a no hitter than you would with a 1 hitter. (I'm guessing that of course... I never even pitched a no hitter playing Hard Ball.)

You can't go back and make it a no hitter any more than the Cardinals can put the 1985 team back on the field and call Jorge Orta out.

But that one simple rule would change everything.

If it is questionable, call it an error until the first clean hit.
Most of the times, this rule would come and go without notice as most pitchers stink and will let up a hit sooner rather than later.

It's kind of like at rule in Hearts where you can't drop the Queen or any hearts on the first trick.

(Granted my mother doesn't like that rule.)

Now of course this would cause a problem if a guy is looking for their 3,000 hit or trying to win a batting crown, but I'm sure they'd want to win in on a clean hit too.

Either way, I think preserving a no hitter is more exciting than recreating the plot for Mr. 3,000. (Also about a Brewer.)

THE WORLD DIDN'T END!

They used instant replay the other day... and they got a call RIGHT!

It took less than 3 minutes.
If they conferred, discussed, had one manager come out... and then the other... we're talking 5 to 10 minutes.

And... here's the kicker...
THEY GOT THE CALL RIGHT!!!!

Isn't that the point?
Isn't making sure that games aren't decided because of a bad judgement call a good thing?

I thought so.

Sorry for the lack of posts...

I've been busy this past weekend moving my family into our new home in the jaw droppingly beautiful town of South Pasadena California.

Heck, I may live here the rest of my life.

But there's a lot of baseball to talk about and time for Sully to get cracking