Let's Go Brewers!

Yeah, this weekend was a disaster. You lost 3 of 4 to the Braves including a brutal 11 inning loss. But you crushed the Cardinals last night and have Suppan pitching tonight.

With a win and a little help by Dontrelle Willis against the Cubs, you'd be only two games back... you aren't out of it.

I already made it clear that I am openly rooting for the Brewers.

25 years between playoff appearances is insane.
And now they have the stench of Selig removed from them... they are just a young hungry team with a solid fan base who watch men dressed as sausages race in a circle.

People try to talk about the Red Sox collapsing this year, but they haven't relinquished first place since April...

Man June 23 must seem like a long time ago. The Brewers were 8 1/2 games up on both the Cubs and Cardinals... and then won 3 of their next 4 games. They seemed to be cruising to a very winnable Central title.

On June 27th, Damian Miller hit an 11th inning walk off home run against the Astros to give the Brewers a 6-3 win and maintain a 7 1/2 game lead.

Since then the Brewers are 34-44 while the Cubs are 45-34 and up 3 games in the standings. That's how a team makes a 10 1/2 game drop!

So the Brewers still haven't clinched their first winning season since 1992 while the Cubs could potentially clinch the Central tomorrow.

What was once the coolest underdog story of the season will be a forgotten blip in a string of disappointing seasons.

(see also the Royals losing 100 games in 2002, rebounding with a winning season in 2003... followed up with 3 straight 100 loss seasons.)

CHIN UP BREWERS!
Fire up the DVD of Mr. 3,000 or put the money on the Bratwurst to win! This season is poised for a spectacular finish.

Win it for the 25 year old Brewer fan who is saying "I just want to see a playoff game once in my lifetime!"

In honor of Nomar Garciaparra...

...a man who seemed to be destined to join the pantheon of Boston sports heroes

... a two time batting champ with a potent bat who electrified New England for 6 seasons

... a consistent MVP candidate and part of the best "whose the best?" debate since Willie/Mickey and The Duke along with Jeter and A-Rod.

... a man whose name could never be pronounced in New England (No-Mah Gah-Cee-A-Pah-Rah) but whose first name became a rallying cry

... sadly, like Fred Lynn, a man who could not out run injury and had the horrible misfortune of being too hurt to contribute in 2004, setting the stage for the gutsiest deadline deal in baseball history (sending the great "No-Mah" to the Cubs and getting Cabrera and Mientkiewicz to the eventual World Champions

... a man who should always be remembered as a great Red Sox and like Lynn, Fisk, Pedro and Mo Vaughn, a former Red Sox that I will always root for

THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 5!

Am I the only one who noticed the Rockies can't lose?

On Saturday September 15th, the Rockies lost a game to the lowly Florida Marlins 10-2. It was their second straight loss to the Marlins and pushed them 6 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks in the West and 4 1/2 behind the Padres for the Wild Card with only 14 games to play.

They were done. They had a nice season... a winning record... pat them on the head and now let's focus on the real playoff contenders.

Well guess what the Rockies haven't done since then?
LOSE!
They are 8-0 since... winning the last game against the Marlins and sweeping both the Dodgers (effectively ending their season) and the Padres.

Guess what? They are a single game behind the Phillies and Padres for the Wild Card. And with the Phillies inability to pitch and the Padres imploding faster than Milton Bradley's temper... you'd almost have to pick the Rockies to be the Wild Card team!

Matt Holliday is back now, the team is playing the Grady Little led Dodgers who have no heart, drive nor chance...

Get ready folks! You might see both storied Diamondback and Rockies franchises this October!

How badly do you think the folks at TBS are rooting for the Mets and Cubs now?

Go for the division... until Friday

There's a lot of hemming and hawing about whether the Red Sox should go for it! Put the aft thrusters on and win the division title!

And of course Red Sox fans are yelling for it, mainly so the Sox can finish ahead of the Yankees.

And I agree to a degree. The Red Sox are going back to Fenway with the magic number currently at least at 6. It could be as low as 5 if the Blue Jays can manage to split the series.

And yes, it would be wonderful to have Red Sox be crowned as Division Champs.
But what is that really worth?

If they clinch on the last day of the season and then get swept while the second place Wild Card team goes on to the World Series... what is that division title worth?

Ask the Twins, who clinched on the last day of the 2006 season only to get thumped by Oakland... who in turn got thumped by the Wild Card Tigers. Who remembers the Twins were even IN the playoffs last year?

Is this more Red Sox inferiority complex coming out?
Are we so certain that the Sox aren't winning the World Series this year that we need to have something as a retort to the descending Yankee fan base?

"At least we won the Division!"

The Red Sox were the first team to clinch and should take advantage of that to set up the rotation and get rest to the right players.

But they also need to get Youk and Manny back in. (Man, wouldn't one of them have been a better choice than Hinske against Switzer with the bases loaded today?)

And they need to see if Okajima can pitch.
And if Buchholz could relieve. (OR START!!!!)

So I say go for it on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Try to win those games and maybe the Blue Jays and Devil Rays will sneak in a win against the Yankees.

But after Friday, it's spring training. Rest Papi. Rest Papelbon. Have Beckett and Schilling in their street clothes. Have Derven Hansack and Royce Clayton in the games.

Nobody remembers the division winner.
How proud were Yankee fans to have their team be the 2004 American League East Champions?

OCTOBERFEST!

I love lists. And right now I am going to list all the teams who have clinched a playoff berth for 2007:

Boston Red Sox


That's it.

It wasn't pretty.

In fact I was listening to the game on my XM while driving up to San Francisco tonight.
I screamed my voice hoarse when Pena hit the go ahead homer off of Lopez.

And then yelled at the top of my lungs driving up to the Union Square parking lot when Varitek and Lugo homered in the 9th.

It was ugly... but it was a win! And it means no matter what, the Red Sox are playing playoff baseball in 2007.

So stop writing about 1978.
Quit writing about Boston angst.
Quit talking about a fold job.

The 1978 team didn't play in the playoffs.
The 2007 team will.

With a week and a day left in the season the Red Sox have the best record in baseball and a week to line up their rotation and bullpen.

If it costs the Red Sox a division title, to quote Derek Coleman, whoop de damn do.

Thanks for the help, Blue Jays pitching staff!

and I thought 9-8 losses were bad!

Try a 12-11 extra inning game.

Hey Blue Jays pitchers... all you had to be was awful and you would have won the game!
But instead you were AWWWWWFUL!

Oh well. We'll win this thing without your help!

In honor of Bill Buckner...

... you read that right! Billy Bucks was a solid 100 RBI producer and a terrific left handed line drive hitter who won a batting title with the Cubs in 1980.

His famous error was the single most overrated play in sports history.
There is a prevailing impression that if Bill Buckner made that play, the Red Sox would have won the World Series.

And also people think that because he made the error, the Mets won it.

Neither statement is true.

The game was already tied when he made the error on the Stanley wild pitch (or was it the Gedman passed ball.) If he made the play, it would have sent the game to the 11th... not send the Red Sox to a celebration.

And it was a game 6... it tied the series, it didn't end it.

So if you say "the Red Sox lost the World Series because of Bill Buckner" look in the mirror... you will see a horse's ass staring back at you.

And his honor, I am not showing a picture of the error but a picture of his sweet lefthanded swing!

Also in his honor let me say...

THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 6

Tonight was one of those nights where the planets seemed to line up

Red Sox Nation is in panic... people are writing all the snarky articles about how this is 1978 all over again... the press gets to pretend that 2004 didn't happen.

Yankee fans asking me if we are waving the white flag.
WHAT CAN WE DO?

We can thank the folks at scheduling for once again pitting the Red Sox with the Devil Rays! As I had said before, playing Tampa is like going to a refreshing spa.

Bats wake up, confidence builds, pitchers win and even Eric Gagne can throw a scoreless inning!

And the planets aligned perfectly as the Yankees lost in a worst case scenario:

One where they waste a great 9th inning comeback by losing in the 14th, using every pitcher including the Fabrege egg known as Joba Chamberlain... and will play a day game after a night game with a tired pen and Kennedy starting... oh wait I mean Clemens... oh wait I mean Hughes.

A win tomorrow will assure when the Red Sox start the last week of the season they'll be in first.

Oh yeah, the Angels lost so homefield throughout the playoffs is only a game away as well.

After such a lousy week... what feels better than those two magic words:
Tampa Bay.

And Toronto... keep doing whatever it is you are doing!
Maybe those planets will stay lined up!

The Bonds Era in San Francisco will be over in a week...

I wrote last October that I thought Barry Bonds should be celebrated, despite the rumors and the stuff we know because we have two eyes and a brain.

I thought the Giants were going to let him go and I felt it was an anticlimactic end to the run of seasons that saved baseball in San Francisco.

Well of course they brought him back...

Mainly there was too much dough to squeeze out of people's wallets for the Hank Aaron chase.

Well they got it... and had about as bad and boring a season you could imagine.
(So much for my prediction they would win the West)

Well now the Giants are saying "Thanks for saving the team... bye."
And Bonds has said in his official journal (as opposed to his private journal with Hello Kitty on the cover) "I just wish I had known sooner so we had more time to say our goodbyes and celebrate the best 15 years of my life."

Hey Barry... the team gave you a 162 game victory lap!
They loaded the team with quiet, steer the course, punchless veterans so you wouldn't get upset.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Giants have done everything to make this year all about Barry. But they also don't want him to be Belushi's The Thing That Wouldn't Leave.

So the Barry Bonds era ends in San Francisco... now what?

What should the Giants do?

First of all they have some dough to spend. And their lineup with Bonds was one of the worst I have ever seen.

They need at least 3 hitters... a right fielder, a first baseman and for the first time since 1992, a left fielder.

The temptation among Giants fans is to try and get a marquee slugger. When I was at AT&T Park last month, I saw someone with an A-Rod Giants jersey.

While A-Rod would be amazing and welcomed with open arms in San Francisco... we all saw what happened in Texas when he is inserted into a team that isn't ready.

The Giants have 3 young starting pitchers who could be the cornerstone of a great team for years to come. Lincecum is 23, Cain is 22, Lowry is 26. Even Zito, who had a dreadful first season across the Bay, is only 29.

They need need NEED an anchor in their bullpen. If they were to swipe someone from the Yankees, I think it would behoove them to at least offer Mariano Rivera a big contract.

There is a word for people who think closers are overrated: Idiots.

Having someone secure the 9th inning could go a long long way to building up the confidence of a potential Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz/Avery in a pitchers ballpark.

I'd see what they have in the minor leagues for the outfield... but they should keep bringing in speedy outfielders. Getting Rajai Davis in the bizarre Matt Morris trade should be the direction they go in.

Make the Giants like the Whitey Herzog Cardinals. Good pitching, fast outfielders and one slugger.

Spend 2008 getting an anchor for the bullpen and figuring out who the three sprinting outfielders are. And then in 2009 spend the money for the one slugger to be the last piece. But don't feel the pressure to replace Barry.

You can't get another one... even in a laboratory.


Where will Barry go?

Man... at this point, he's a part time outfielder with more baggage than Winslet in the opening of Titanic.

For anyone outside of KNBR's antena range he is public enemy #1.
And he is in such a protected coccon he makes Jim Carrey in The Truman Show look well informed.

So yeah, it might be a shock for him to go a new city and not have a standing ovation everytime he orders a ham sandwich.

But those who boo him would give him a standing ovation if he got big hits for their team. (Just look at the ovations Giambi gets every night in New York.)

The A's could use him, but not if Bonds asks for more than minimum wage.

The Angels could use another bat and having Bonds behind Vlad Guerrero would mean Vlad would see more strikes (like it matters as he swings at everything within 14 feet of the plate.)

The Tigers could use him, and Jim Leyland seems to be the only guy who would chew him out!





But how about this for a scenario?
Let's say the Mets fall out and Willie Randolph is let go.

In comes Dusty Baker to Flushing...
And he brings along his meal ticket, Mr Bonds, who comes to New York.
Both try to win that ring and have one last series in Shea!

What other Hall of Famer left the Giants to finish up in a World Series for the Mets?
His Godfather, Willie Mays!

It's worth a thought!

In honor of Trot Nixon...

... one of the few home grown Red Sox on the 2004 World Champions

... one of the original Dirt Dogs and Lou Gorman's last thumbprint on the team

... whose 2 run double broke the Cardinals back in the clinching game 4.

... and who ended Game 3 of the 2003 Division Series with a walk off home run, a game that we were watching during my own wedding (much to the chagrin of my wife!)


THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 7!

In honor of Yaz...

... who was the first American Leaguer with 3,000 hits and 400 homers

... who was the last Triple Crown winner

... who more than held his own to replace Ted Williams

... who was not only my favorite player but also my grandmother's

... and whose name is so hard to spell, I had to look it up (Yastrzemski)

THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 8!!!!

(Man, it's been a while since the number went down!)

Two Reasons Why It Is Not 1978 All Over Again

1) Worst case scenario has the Red Sox in the playoffs.

2) This idiot is not the manager, so at least we know the Red Sox are trying to win!

The Blue Jays are the biggest market team of them all!

The Blue Jays just swept the Red Sox thanks to someone named Russ Adams.

Now they are off to New York to hopefully derail the Yankee train.

And I have read and heard about how this is the Blue Jays chance to be a spoiler to the two biggest market teams.

Excuse me? The Blue Jays have a market that is 3 times bigger in terms of population than the Red Sox and Yankees combined!

People talk about Red Sox Nation?
Forget that!

The Blue Jays actually HAVE a nation!

From Prince Edward Island to The City of Dawson, there should be 33 million sports fans united!

They all get united come hockey season to root for which ever Canadian team is up for the Stanley Cup. Well just imagine the revenue if from Nova Scotia to Moose Jaw, everyone is going crazy for Team Canada to take the World Series from the Americans.

I admit I wrote that last sentence just so I could say "Moose Jaw."










But I am serious about how the Blue Jays could go about it.
Heck, they could even change their name to "Team Canada."

How is that a worse name than The Tampa Bay Devil Rays or The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim?

And it wasn't that long ago they were the big bad bullies of the baseball world.

Remember the late 1980s and early 1990s?
If there was a big time free agent, where were they going?

If they were Jack Morris, Dave Winfield, Dave Stewart and Paul Molitor... they were heading to the Blue Jays!


































And I remember when they all signed, some people wrote how sad it was they took the big money from Toronto.

Jack Morris and Dave Stewart left their home town teams!
Molitor was a career Brewer!

And they left for the big lights... OF TORONTO!

The Jays drew 4 million a year, won back to back World Series and if they missed the playoffs... they did so on the last day.

And now they are acting like they are the Pittsburgh Pirates.

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE ROUND BACON!

You can have national pride and big bucks again! Don't blame it on malaise from the strike. Kids born during the strike are 13 years old now.

Kids driving in Canada have no memory of it.

You've got a core of good pitching and a few hitters.
Take advantage of your 33 million potential fans (and go back to the old Championship unis while you are at it... you look like a softball team!)

And raise a new trophy... this time in the name of National Health Care and the Mounties

I wanted Anarchy... and I might get it!

When I made my amendment to "Who I Should Root For" in the NL Central, I said I wanted anarchy. I wanted a 3 way tie.

Well, with the collapse of the Cardinals, the NL Central is back to being a 2 horse race.

But I might get my anarchy wish anyway!

And I realize I was not ambitious enough with my anarchy wish.
I was thinking solely of a division in chaos.

But this year, the entire National League could be a mess by seasons end.
Bear with me!

ANARCHY PLAN 1: The National League East

Let's say the Mets go 6-4 in their last 10 games...
And the Phillies go 7-2 in their remining 9 games.



ANARCHY PLAN 2: The National League Central

Meanwhile the Brewers go 7-3 in their last 10
And the Cubs go 4-4 in their last 8 games


ANARCHY PLAN 3: The National League West

And finally let's say the Padres go 5-5 in their last 10 games
And the Diamondbacks go 4-5 in their final 9 games.



None of those scenarios are superhuman.
And what would happen if they all happened like that?

The Mets, Phillies, Diamondbacks and Padres would all be tied at 90-72.
And the Brewers and Cubs would be tied at 85-77.

The season ends... and not one playoff team is decided!
No Division Winner! No Wild Card!
Nobody would know who would be in or out!
Your team could have home field, or be playing golf!

You'd have to play three one game playoffs to decide the division...
And then the next day have the loser of the East game and the West game would have to play a Wild Card game... loser to go home, the winner moves on exhausted!

Tell me that wouldn't be the most intense 2 days of baseball you ever saw!
4 "Do or Die" and "Win or the season is meaningless!" games in two days!

Say it with me!
ANARCHY!!!!!

I stepped away for a day... hopefully the Red Sox did too

With the Red Sox spiraling and the fan base acting like the "Burn the Witch" sequence of Monty Python and the Holy Grail , I decided to step away from baseball for a day.

I played with my kids, I cleaned the house, I went to the gym, I took care of personal business. I didn't watch the scores, nor Pardon the Interruption, which I almost never miss.

Hopefully the Red Sox did the same thing.

Relax... stop playing tight...
Clear your head... all is not lost.

I had 400,819,221 e mails yesterday from Yankee fans saying "Ready to concede the division?"

I had just as many e mails from Red Sox fans saying "It's Over! We lost it."

So today I wake up in my clean house with my smiling kids and I look at the standings.

My team is still in first place.
They are going to Tampa Bay.

The Red Sox need a modest winning streak against Tampa, Oakland and Minnesota.
They are in a 4 game losing streak now. They haven't had a 5 game skid all year.

They also need a modest losing streak by the Yankees, who have won 12 of 14 games.

Let's say the Red Sox go 6-3 against Tampa, Oakland and Minnesota.
Let's say the Yankees counter and go 7-3 against Toronto, Tampa and Baltimore.

There's the division title.

Beckett is going tonight against Kazimir. Should be a great game.
The Yankees are throwing Wang against Halladay. Should be a great game.

Let's all relax and hope the Sox can score a few runs for Beckett and have him win his 20th.

And quit trying to burn Francona at the stake!

Who the hell is Russ Adams?

And what is he doing ruining my baseball season?

Well here's some twisted logic Red Sox fans...
When would you rather have a 4 game losing streak?
September or October?

CLAY BUCHHOLZ LET UP A HIT!

He let up a 2 out hit to Frank Thomas...
And now after 4 innings has let up 1 hit.

Better rest him for another 2 weeks!

Notice what is happening in Toronto?

I've been BEGGING Francona to put Buchholz in the rotation.

3 innings into the start...
No hits.

BETTER REST THE KID!

WHO SHOULD I ROOT FOR? Part 6: THE NL WEST

I've waited a while to write my "Who Should I Root For?" NL West edition for a few different reasons.

And seeing this is Sullybaseball, I will list them.




1) I respect my dad.
Remember he felt the Giants were still in it... and seeing that the Giants are my favorite National League team, I was hoping he was right. Well, they are eliminated from every race... so I have to pick another team.

2) It was too crowded
A few weeks ago there were 4 teams crowded near the top... and it is hard enough writing one of these posts with two teams, let alone 4.

3) I've had a really hard time figuring out who to root for.
Not a lot of emotion tied to these teams other than the Giants.

But now the race has been whittled down.
The Dodgers are out of it unless they start playing with a purpose... and with Grady Little managing you KNOW that isn't happening. And again, I respect my dad... I can't root for the Dodgers any more than he can root for the Yankees!

The Rockies aren't doing it and it is a shame, because they were the team I found myself leaning towards. Plus it would all but clinch an MVP for Matt Holliday, who I love more and more.

So it is down to the Diamondbacks and Padres... tied in the loss collumn with 12 days left in the season.

Now I will admit, when I've done these posts before, a lot of the times I know who I am going to root for and I try to find a rationale for it.

I knew I wanted the Mets, the Brewers, the Indians and the Mariners when I started writing those posts...

But the NL West is proving to be tricky. I honestly don't know which way to lean. So I will be figuring it out as I write this!

So let's break this one down carefully.

First Criteria... which team has more members of the 2004 Red Sox?

Neither team has one. I could have sworn the Padres had one.

The Diamondbacks do have former Red Sox Tony Clark, who as a Yankee hit that bizarre 9th inning 2 out 2 strike ground rule double that didn't score the go ahead run in game 5 of the 2004 ALCS and then struck out to end game 6.


ADVANTAGE: PUSH




Second Criteria... which team has more future Hall of Famers who could use a ring to cap off their resume?

In my Hall of Fame posting, I said that Trevor Hoffman needed to be a closer on a World Champion in order to get in the Hall of Fame. I stand by that.

Another ring for Greg Maddux would be nice, but he doesn't need any more resume padding.

One of the likable qualities to this Diamondback team is that they are devoid of superstars and future Hall of Famers, yet are somehow in First Place.

If you think Eric Byrnes is Hall of Fame material, then more power to you.

ADVANTAGE: PADRES


Third Criteria... which fan base has suffered more?


This is a tough one to pick.
The Diamondbacks won one of the great World Series of all time with their stunning epic 7 game victory over the 3 time defending champion Yankees.

But Phoenix fans have had their share of bad luck.
The Suns lost the triple overtime game in 1976, lost to Jordan and the Bulls in 1993 and had Tim Donaghy blowing calls against them in the 2007 playoffs.

Plus think of an Arizona Cardinals highlight that doesn't involve the words "Jerry" and "Maguire."

Not much in Phoenix other than 2001!




The Padres have never won a World Series. Their only two trips, they had the bad luck of facing two of the best teams of the Free Agency era: The 1984 Tigers and the 1998 Yankees.

The city of San Diego has never had a winner. The 49ers dispatched the Chargers in their lone Super Bowl and has had Marty Schottenheimer run them out of the playoffs the last few years.


That being said when your home looks like this... how bad can life be?







SLIGHT ADVANTAGE: PADRES




Fourth Criteria... which team has a stranger and more random feature to their ballpark?

When building Petco Park, the Padres decided to not tear down the Western Metal Supply Co. Building. Instead it is part of the ballpark, jutting out in the left field corner.

That's pretty cool.


BUT COME ON!
Phoenix has a pool!

A SWIMMING POOL!

You can take a dip while watching the game! Home runs can land in the pool!
When the Diamondbacks had that amazing 9th inning rally against Mariano, someone was watching it while sitting on an inflatable alligator... AT THE BALLPARK!
What isn't awesome about that?



ADVANTAGE: DIAMONDBACKS

Fifth Criteria... which team had stupider uniforms?
Even though the D'Backs have only been around for 10 seasons, they seem to have had about 38 different uniform combinations. The ugliest were the first ones...








But don't talk to me about bad uniforms until you've looked at the Padres.

In fact I'm not going to write another word about their unis... I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.



























ADVANTAGE: DIAMONDBACKS


Sixth Criteria... whose manager would you rather see in the post game conference?













Bob Melvin and Bud Black...

Not exactly a marquee matchup of managers.

Not exactly LaRussa vs. Leyland, or Torre vs. Pinella... or even Scioscia vs. Guillen.

More like "Interchangeable White Guy vs. Interchangeable White Guy."

But there is something likable about Bud Black as a former pitcher doing the job as a manager. Plus Bob Melvin went to a high school that was one of my high school's rivals!

ADVANTAGE: PADRES

Seventh Criteria... which team has had the better run?

Can you believe the Padres could win their third straight division title?
Shouldn't three straight titles be something we celebrate?
At least notice?

I guess they need to win at least one playoff series.The Diamondbacks are looking to be the only team with multiple World Championships this decade... that's worth noticing.

ADVANTAGE: DIAMONDBACKS








So we've done seven criteria, and still no winner...

Better do a random tie breaker!

Random Tie Breaker... which city can lay claim to the funnier movie?



Yeah, I thought the San Diego based Anchorman was funny...









But rent Real Life with Albert Brooks and Charles Grodin... and thank me later. Conan O'Brien has called it "the funniest movie ever made." He might be right. It took place in Phoenix and the opening song number to get the people of Phoenix excited is worth the price of the rental!





ADVANTAGE: DIAMONBACKS

Whew!
That was close!

So I am rooting for the no stars, no frills Diamondbacks to win the West.

And who could argue with my methods?

Ironically Gagne is French for WIN

Man oh man I could not have been more wrong about a trade!

The trade to bring Gagne over to the Sox was supposed to make the bullpen iron clad... not the Achilles Heel!

My God, if he were only MEDIOCRE we'd have a 5 or 6 game lead.

Instead its down to 2 with 2 weeks to play. (Seriously Toronto and Baltimore... thanks for showing up when playing the Yankees!)

I don't blame Francona for putting Gagne out there. Why not see if he could do the role? Now we see that he can't. Make DelCarmen the 8th inning guy and make Gagne the mop up man.

AND KEEP HIM OFF OF THE PLAYOFF ROSTER!

Who'd have thought we'd be pining for Kason Gabbard?