Before we jump into the first two days of the Division Series, a plea to Fox, which now has the rights to the entire baseball postseason through 2006: while it’s probable that they will push some of the games off to their cable network, I hope they give some serious thought to having the whole…
WILD CARD CONTENTION "It doesn’t matter if you win the division. It’s getting in and winning the whole thing that’s important. We’re not worrying about the division, we’re worrying about getting in." — Jim Thome, Indians infielder "We’re trying to a win a division here. We’re not trying to be the wild card." — Lou…
My initial predisposition is to pick the Mariners. They’ve got baseball’s best player and Edgar Martinez, and both of them outhit Frank Thomas to the point that the Big Hurt’s MVP campaign should be DOA. On top of the two great ones, the Mariners have got a starting rotation that is, if nothing else, physically…
The Yankees spent the last three weeks of the regular season trying to give the AL East to anyone who would take it from them. Fortunately for them, they were not being pursued by the A’s or Indians, but by a pair of teams who were just as generous, the Red Sox and Blue Jays….
This series shapes up as an interesting experiment. How important is positive momentum going into October? The Yankees set a new standard for backing into a division title, losing their last seven games and 13 of their last 15. The A’s, however, drove from out of a playoff spot to a division title in the…
Over the weekend, I read some news that really made me wonder what kind of a world we live in. I am speaking, of course, of Pierce Marshall announcing he will appeal the $450 million dollar decision in the Anna Nicole Smith inheritance case last week. Scratch that. I am speaking, of course, of the…
Four years ago, the Cardinals had their hands around the Braves’ collective neck and let the series slip away. Don’t think that Tony LaRussa has forgotten. Darryl Kile wasn’t with St. Louis in 1996, but he has his own motivation for revenge: he gave up just two hits and drove in a run against Greg…
Without much fanfare, the San Francisco Giants had the best record in the National League this season. The Mets didn’t put up as good a record as they did in 1999, but were never really challenged for the NL’s wild-card this time. Lineups (AVG/OBP/SLG/Equivalent Average) (Ed. Note: For players who played for multiple teams, their…
Just in time for this year’s Internet Baseball Awards, we’ve stumbled upon the remaining data from the Team of the Decade voting. Previous articles in this series: MVP of the Decade Outfield of the Decade Infield of the Decade The rotation of the Decade is set. Greg Maddux missed out on MVP of the Decade,…
Most of you probably remember the hullaballoo back in May after Rick Ankiel tossed 121 pitches in a start against the Marlins. Those of us prone to paranoia in that area were quick to excoriate LaRussa for his handling of his talented left-hander. We weren’t the only ones drawing swords: Ankiel’s agent, Scott Boras, made…
A lot of my mail today has been asking about or offering opinions on the status of next Monday’s schedule Oakalnd/Tampa Bay game. People want to know whether the A’s will have to play the game if they and the Mariners have already clinched playoff spots, even if the game would decide the AL West…
In the next few days, there will be much ink spilled over Fox’s big baseball gamble: paying $2.5 billion for complete rights to baseball’s postseason and All-Star Game television coverage for the next six years. And beyond the obvious benefits (for example, none of the cloying, ADD-inspired coverage NBC has used to ruin the Olympics)…
Just in time for this year’s Internet Baseball Awards, we’ve stumbled upon the remaining data from the Team of the Decade voting. Without further ado… In the end, the competition for the Player of the Decade came down to the decade’s best pitcher versus its best position player–a competition Barry Bonds won with relative ease….
OK, so maybe I’m just cranky this week about second-basemen-turned-ESPN-announcers. Last night, during the Mets/Braves game, Joe Morgan was insistent that the Braves should go all out for the home-field advantage in the postseason as opposed to resting their starters. The discussion was spurred by the possibility that Greg Maddux would skip his last start…
For the manager of a fourth-place team with few recognizable names, Felipe Alou has been in the news quite a bit lately. Boston observers have long considered him Dan Duquette’s first choice for the Red Sox managerial job, and speculation heated up when the Duke sold his current manager, Jimy Williams, down the Charles River…
I suppose one of the problems with baseball’s current postseason format is that teams good enough to play very, very well down the stretch lock up playoff spots and remove themselves from the pack, leaving us with lesser lights battling to see who can suck the least. A harsh assessment? Yeah, but it’s Monday morning…