Bored

***SIGN UPS ARE CLOSED*** College Football is still two months away but it’s not too early to start a sign up thread. Welcome to Season 3 of the Bored’s College Football Pick ‘Em Contest and the stakes have never been higher. My goal this year is to get 40 people in the contest and have five conferences of eight teams. That may end up being a little over ambitious as after have 32 teams the first season I was only able to increase it to 34 teams last year. But I’ve decided to make things a little more interesting. Now the veteran’s of the contest already know that the winner of the Bored Bowl gets $50 cash from my own pocket (Vern Gagne won in 2004, AlwaysPissedOff won in 2005) and that will be no different this year. Now though I’m putting out a new challenge: If someone manages to go undefeated through the contest, that person will win $100 cash. The only other change this year will be regarding the conference championship games. The problem I’ve run into that is that during Conference Championship Week in college football there are only a handful of games that week. Because of that this season I’ve decided to combine the Thanksgiving weekend games with the conference championship week games into the conference championship games in the contest. So now the regular season will be 12 games instead of 13 games. Now for anyone new who is interested in signing up here’s a summary of how the contest works. -Each week you will be matched up against another person’s team and you will pick a winner for 14 to 16 games that I have selected from the college football schedule that week. Obviously the person who makes the most correct picks wins the match-up. Ties are settled with answers you make to two tiebreaker questions. -After a week is completed I post the Bored Championship Series Top 10. The formula for how the rankings are put together are very basic. There are three factors: 1) Win/Loss record 2) Correct Pick % 3) Correct Pick % Against (aka Strength of Schedule). Win/loss record and correct pick % are weighted evenly at 45% of your ranking and “strength of schedule” makes up 10% of your ranking. -There will typically two deadlines for making picks, one for a Thursday or Friday game and then a final deadline for the Saturday games. If you miss the first deadline you can still make picks for the Saturday games but you obviously get no points for the Thursday/Friday games. If you do not make your picks by the Saturday deadline you will be issued replacement picks. You will be given the picks of the team ranked one spot below you in the BCS rankings. You are allowed to use replacement picks only once during the season and still be eligible to win the contest, although you can still participate in bowl games. You will not be eligible to win the $100 undefeated prize if you use replacement picks at any point in the season. -Conference championship games are a match-up of the 1st and 2nd place teams in each conference. The winner of each game automatically qualifies for a BCS bowl. -The #1 and #2 ranked teams in the BCS face off in the Bored Bowl to determine the winner of the contest. There are seven (at least) other bowl games to which teams can qualify for. The winners of those games will have the option of renaming their bowl game for the following year. Speaking of changing your bowl game name, here were the posters who won last year’s bowl games. If you want to change the name of your bowl game, please PM the name you choose. APO you can select the sponsor for the Bored Bowl. Bored Bowl: AlwaysPissedOff Traditional Bowl presented by Adam & Eve’s Anal Lube: Kingofthe909 Jack Osbourne’s Oxycotton Bowl: Secret Agent Lucky Strikes Cigarettes Tar Bowl: teke184 Out Magazine Bowl: Cuban Linx Meow Mix XNXX.com Pussy Bowl: iggymcfly KFC PETA Bowl: MarvinisaLunatic Ex-Lax Toilet Bowl: SilverPhoenix Alabama – AlwaysPissedOff Arizona State – Spicy McHaggis Auburn – Agent of Oblivion Boise State - bravesfan Buffalo - Carnival Connecticut – SilverPhoenix Florida International – Vitamin X Florida State - Kingofthe909 Georgia Tech – iggymcfly Hawaii – Will Scarlet Kent State – JHawk LSU – teke184 Maryland – MarvinisaLunatic Miami – Spaceman Spiff Minnesota – Vern Gagne Notre Dame – Lando Griffin Ohio State – Gert T Oregon - nogoodnick Penn State – therealworldschampion Rutgers – the pinjockey San Diego State – The Last Samurai San Jose State – Agent Bond34 South Carolina – Cuban Linx Stanford – Bored Syracuse – CanadianChris Tennessee – Art Sandusky Texas A&M – Secret Agent UCLA – phoenixrising USC – Cartman UTEP - Angel Grace Blue Virginia – Edwin MacPhisto New Sign Ups BYU - kkktookmybabyaway (if needed) Florida - Urban Warfare Kansas State - Loaded Glove Kentucky - Danville Wrestling Miami of Ohio - Hawk 34 Michigan - Jimbo Oklahoma - Vampiro69 Oregon State - Princess Leena Temple - Ortonsault Texas - UTBroward

David Cone and Darryl Strawberry were in the Yankees Old Timers game today. I feel about 83 years old now.

THIS ISN'T JUST ESPN ON YOUR CURRENT PHONE And with fewer than 10,000 subscribers. http://www.deadspin.com/sports/espn/fewer-...ouls-181965.php

LCS games on TBS and FOX keeping baseball next year? Oh boy. http://www.nypost.com/sports/tbs_may_air_p...ew_marchand.htm

For the next Where’d They Go? I had already decided on doing a Mets team and ironically enough I received a request from TSM Mets’ fan strummer to do one for the 1997 Mets. The one I had chosen was the overpaid, sexual assaulting, firecracker throwing 1992 Mets. But I’m a giver so instead I will be doing the 1997 Mets. The Mets had gone through six years of losing featuring many bad contracts, bad trades, and bad management. Basically the Mets the from 1991 to 1996 were the New York Knicks of today. Finally in ’97 things started to come together for the franchise under manager Bobby Valentine who had taken over as manager during the previous season for the young pitcher arm shredding Dallas Green. While the Mets never made a serious run for the N.L. East title they were in the thick of the Wild Card race for much of the summer but were never able to get closer than two games of the eventual World Champion Marlins. So let’s meet the 1997 New York Mets and see where they went. C: Todd Hundley (.273/.394/.549, 45.2 VORP, 22 Win Shares) – This was during Hundley’s peak when he emerged as one of the best hitting catchers in baseball. He would have elbow surgery following season which would effectively derail his career. He was terrible in his return the following season in an ill-conceived move to leftfield and likely should have sat out the entire year. The Mets had acquired Mike Piazza during 1998 and Hundley would be on his way out to the Dodgers following the season. He had one good year in 2000 with the Dodgers but that was only productive year left. Signed as a free agent with the Cubs following that season. Played there for two years and was traded back to Los Angles to play one final injury filled season. 1B: John Olerud (.294/.400/.489, 36.2 VORP, 27 Win Shares) – Olerud’s first year in New York many thought he was already on his way down as a player but put together three very productive years with the Mets. Signed as a free agent after 1999 with Seattle where he would play until mid-2004 when he appeared to be washed up. After being released he was picked up by the Yankees and was mildly productive. Went to Boston for 2005 as a part-time player and retired after the season. 2B: Carlos Baerga (.281/.311/.396, 6.9 VORP, 11 Win Shares) – The Mets had a good second baseman in Jeff Kent but traded him the year before to get…Baerga. Whoops. After an early peak Baerga already was past his prime in his late 20’s. He’d leave the Mets after 1998 and would bounce around from San Diego, back to Cleveland, Boston, Arizona (had a surprisingly good year in 2003 as a role player), and finally Washington last year. On no MLB roster this year so I assume he’s now retired. 3B: Edgargdo Alfonzo (.315/.391/.432, 36.4 VORP, 28 Win Shares) – This was Alfonzo’s breakout year at age 23. Had a disappointing 1998 but followed that up with two phenomenal years where he amassed 65 Win Shares. Seemed on his way to becoming a superstar but had a bad year in 2001 with several nagging injuries. Rebounded in 2002 and cashed in as a free agent by signing with the Giants. His days a productive player would be over when he reached San Francisco and played three mediocre years there. Traded after 2005 to the Angels who released him in May, then the Blue Jays gave him a shot but released him after only a month with the team. Appears his career maybe over at age 32. SS: Rey Ordonez (.216/.255/.256, -18.1 VORP, 6 Win Shares) – Everyone wanted to make Ordonez the next Ozzie Smith but it wasn’t going to happen and I don’t care how good defensively he may have been, those offensive numbers are of someone who should have been in Triple-A. Never lived up to the hype and was traded to Tampa Bay after to 2002. Played one year there and went to San Diego but never played a game with the big club. The Cubs of course couldn’t resist picking up a weak hitting middle infielder and picked him up but let him go after two months. LF: Bernard Gilkey (.249/.338/.417, 9.0 VORP, 16 Win Shares) – Hindsight being what it is the Mets probably could have suckered some team into trading a major prospect for Gilkey following his career year of ’96. This ended up being his last season as everyday player. Did end up being traded during 1998 to Arizona but for no one of note. Released by the D-Backs in 2000 and was picked up by the Red Sox. Finished his career with Atlanta in 2001. CF: Carl Everett (.248/.308/.420, 2.8 VORP, 13 Win Shares) – Mets actually had three primary center fielders during the season. They traded Lance Johnson for Brian McRae in a six player waiver deal to the Cubs in August. Everett was a big time prospect who at age 26 at this point looked like he might not live up to the hype. Unfortunately for Mets’ fans GM Steve Phillips had a fetish for trading for middle relievers and he traded Everett after the season to the Astros for John Hudek. He’d have two very good years in Houston but they traded enigmatic outfielder to the Red Sox after 1999 for Adam Everett. He signed a big money contract extension with the Red Sox before the season started and had a great year but like everywhere else wore out his welcome. Traded three more times first to Texas after 2001, then to White Sox during 2003, signed as a free agent with Expos, and then traded back to the White Sox during 2004. Now currently with the Mariners. RF: Butch Huskey (.287/.319/.503, 19.1 VORP, 12 Win Shares) – Alex Ochoa led the Mets in games played in right field but Huskey made the most starts. I can’t remember if Huskey was ever expected to end up being really good or not but he never did become all that good beyond a couple of decent years like this one. Mets traded him to Seattle after 1998, who traded him to Boston during the 1999. Split 2000 with the Twins and Rockies. Spent 2001 in the minors and that appears to be where his career ended. Rotation Rick Reed (140 ERA+, 54.0 VORP, 17 Win Shares) – Reed was always that decent pitcher who you couldn’t see his real name in MLB video games because he was a “scab” player in 1995. I’m sure Brett Butler and Tom Glavine left him flaming bags of poo on his doorstep. This was arguably Reed’s best year and followed up with another good year in ’98. Merely an average pitcher through most of his career, he was traded in a deadline deal to the Twins in 2001 for Matt Lawton and pitched there thru 2003. He signed with the Pirates in 2004 but failed to make the Opening Day roster and decided to retire. Dave Mlicki (101 ERA+, 31.9 VORP, 10 Win Shares) – Reading up on him apparently every Mets fan will always love him for his shutout of the Yankees in their first interleague mathc-up in ’97. Other than that, a very non-descript career who was traded several times. Mets traded during 1998 to the Dodgers in a deal for Hideo Nomo. Dodgers traded him last than a year later to Detroit, who would trade him two years later to Houston for Jose Lima. Bobby Jones (111 ERA+, 32.2 VORP, 11 Win Shares) – Jones was a steady if unspectacular pitcher for the Mets for several years. A shoulder injury in 1999 would limit him to nine starts and he never had a season with ERA under 5 after that. Finished his career with two seasons with the Padres. Mark Clark (95 ERA+, 12.9 VORP, 6 Win Shares) – Mets stats only as Clark was in that Johnson/McRae deal to the Cubs in August but he was the only other Mets pitcher with more than 20 starts. Mediocre pitcher who often seemed to luck into winning seasons. Actually pitched great for the Cubs down the stretch to last place in ’97 but was terrible the following season. The always desperate for pitching Rangers signed him as a free agent where’d he had have two god awful years to finish his career. Closer: John Franco (158 ERA+, 18.7 VORP, 12 Win Shares) – The longtime Mets’ closer was still effective at age 36. Being that he was left handed he was able hang around after he was no longer effective as he was with the Mets thru 2004. Astros picked him up for 2005 but released him midseason. Never officially announced his retirement but his career is most certainly over. Finished 3rd on the all-time saves list with 424.

After some baffling bullpen management by Ken Macha, the A's come from behind in the 9th to beat the Assholes by the Bay 4-3 with a Nick Swisher rbi triple winning it.

It probably helped that he was on the expansion Raptors. He did it against the Celtics I suppose to show up his former team up. Raptors lost 136-108. http://www.basketball-reference.com/games/...tm1=TOR&tm2=BOS

And just when you thought Oregon couldn't get nuttier with their uniforms.

Great link. I think it must have been this game that ended helping Haskin pick up a Win Share. 7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks in 17 minutes. Hey his 40 minute rebound average was 11.8, too bad he only played 186 career minutes.

You know I haven't been able to find a good site for archived basketball transactions to trackdown what exactly happened with those picks. Now they drafted another stiff center in Todd Fuller in 1996 but I'm not sure if that pick was the pick picked up in the trade with Washington. In '98 they had the draft day trade with Toronto swapping Vince Carter for Antawn Jamison and cash. In 2000 they ended up not having a first round pick. What's really a shame with the Warriors is that unlike with baseball and football there is no split fan base here in the Bay Area for basketball. This area would go absolutely nuts if the Warriors have a championship calibar team. Hell even the slightest bit of opptimism like before this year and tickets sales sky rocket. They set a club attendance record this year for a team that won 34 games simply because they had an outside shot at a #8 seed coming into the season and had a halfway decent start to the season. That's how starved this place is for a good basketball team.

Yes they received Tom Gugliotta and three future first rounders in the same years they gave up to get Webber which were 1996, 1998, and 2000. They traded Gugliotta only a few months later for Donyell Marshall.

Good thing I have him on ignore but I'm trying to figure out why a Celtics/Pistons fan (odd combo) cares about a series between the Heat and Mavericks? Yup getting booed out of the building. Seriously put this in the locker room.

I always hate in sports when they have the trophy presentation on the floor/field when the visiting team wins. They should always have a back up plan to have it in the locker room.

A's join the 2002 Pirates as the only team to ever be shutout back-to-back games in Coors Field. Oh and to top it off they get one hit tonight. All those good feelings after a 10 game winning streak? They gone.

Is it wrong of me to wish that Esteban Loaiza would have killed someone while he was driving 120 MPH drunk last week so the A's could have had a valid reason to void his contract? I know they just won 10 games in a row but they've now been shutout 15 straight innings in Colorado. I'm going to assume no team has ever been shutout back-to-back games in Coors Field. Edit: Okay looked it up, in 2002 the Pirates were shutout back-to-back games in Coors. There's your measuring stick A's! They need to score by the 6th inning tommorrow to avoid a record for most consecutive innings shutout in Coors.

I had almost forgotten that the NBA Draft was only a week away. I used look forward to the draft before ESPN took over coverage of it from TNT. Now in the early days of my blog (waaaaaaaaay back four and a half months ago) I did an entry on the 1989 NBA Draft, ranking the players drafted using the basketball version of win shares. I decided that would be a better way to do a Draftback entry for the NBA rather than the usual listing of the first round making stupid comments. I picked the 1993 draft because it ended up leading to the downfall of the Golden State Warriors franchise, not that they didn’t have the right idea at the time. They of course struck a blockbuster draft day with the Orlando Magic to acquire the draft rights to Chris Webber in exchange for the draft rights for Anfernee Hardaway and three future first round picks. The Warriors would win 50 games in the ’93-’94 season while Webber went on to win the Rookie of the Year. But a feud with head coach Don Nelson would lead to a holdout and then an eventual trade of Webber to Washington that would set the course for 12 years (and going) of futility. So even in a year where the Warriors ended getting arguably the best player to come out of the draft it blew up in their face. 1993 Draft Rankings per Career Win Shares 1. Chris Webber, Orlando/Golden State – 241 Win Shares (1st Pick) 2. Sam Cassell, Houston – 233 (24th) 3. Anfernee Hardaway, Golden State/Orlando – 189 (3rd pick) 4. Nick Van Exel, L.A. Lakers – 169 (37th) 5. Allan Houston, Detroit – 162 (11th) 6. Bryon Russell, Utah – 141 (45th) 7. Vin Baker, Milwaukee – 137 (8th) 8. Shawn Bradley, Philadelphia – 132 (2nd) 9. Jamal Mashburn, Dallas – 127 (4th) 10. Rodney Rogers, Denver – 114 (9th) 11. Ervin Johnson, Seattle – 110 (23rd) 12. Lindsey Hunter, Detroit – 101 (10th) 13. George Lynch, L.A. Lakers – 100 (12th) 14. Chris Mills, Cleveland – 97 (22nd) 15. Lucious Harris, Dallas – 77 (28th) 16. Calbert Cheaney, Washington – 67 (6th) 17. Isaiah Rider, Minnesota – 62 (5th) 18. Chris Whitney, San Antonio – 57 (47th) 19. Corie Blount, Chicago – 56 (25th) 20. Gheorge Muresan, Washington - 50 (30th) 21. Scott Burrell, Charlotte – 45 (20th) 22. Terry Dehere, L.A. Clippers – 21 (13th) 23. James Robinson, Portland – 20 (21st) 24. Rex Walters, New Jersey – 16 (16th) 25. Eric Riley, Dallas – 8 (33rd) 26t. Greg Graham, Charlotte – 6 (17th) 26t. Acie Earl, Boston – 6 (19th) 28. Bobbie Hurley, Sacramento – 7 (7th) 29. Mike Peplowski, Sacramento – 3 (52nd) 30t. Doug Edwards, Atlanta – 2 (15th) 30t. Josh Grant, Denver – 2 (43rd) 32t. Scott Haskin, Indiana – 1 (14th) 32t. Darnell Mee, Golden State – 1 (34th) 32t. Richard Petruska, Houston – 1 (46th) The Zero Club Luther Wright, Utah (18th) Geert Hammink, Orlando (26th) Malcolm Mackey, Phoenix (27th) Evers Burns, Sacramento (31st) Alphonso Ford, Philadelphia (32nd) Ed Stokes, Miami (35th) Rich Manning, Atlanta (40th) Adonis Jordan, Seattle (42nd) Kevin Thompson, Portland (48th) Never Played in the NBA Sherron Mills, Minnesota (29th) John Best, New Jersey (36th) Conrad McRae, Washington (38th) Thomas Hill, Indiana (39th) Anthony Reed, Chicago (41st) Alex Holcombe, Sacramento (44th) Mark Buford, Phoenix (49th) Marcelo Nicola, Houston (50th) Spencer Dunkley, Indiana (51st) Leonard White, L.A. Clippers (53rd) Bryon Wilson, Phoenix (54th) Most Win Shares with the Team they were Drafted by Note: Even though Hardaway wasn’t technically drafted by Orlando since he was acquired in a draft day trade he might as well have been drafted by them. 1. Anfernee Hardaway, 143 2. Bryon Russell, 121 3. Nick Van Exel, 94 4. Lindsey Hunter, 81 (two different stints) 5t. Vin Baker, 68 5t. Chris Mills, 68 7. Gheorge Muresan, 49 8. Calbert Cheaney, 43 9. Sam Cassell, 33 10. Allan Houston, 31

A's ten game winning streak ends by getting shutout in Colorado with Byung-Hyun Kim on the mound. Ewwwww.

More fun for Cubs fans. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/draft/news/261750.html

MONDAY Diamondbacks (Vargas) at Pirates (Duke) Nationals (Armas) at Red Sox (Snyder) Cubs (Marshall) at Indians (Johnson) Yankees (Johnson) at Phillies (Myers) Reds (Arroyo) at Mets (Hernandez) Tigers (Bonderman) at Brewers (Davis) A's (Haren) at Rockies (Kim) Angels (Escobar) at Giants (Cain) TUESDAY Marlins (Willis) at Orioles (Cabrera) Nationals (Hernandez) at Red Sox (Wakefield) Yankees (Mussina) at Phillies (Lidle) Cubs (Maddux) at Indians (Lee) Reds (Ramirez) at Mets (Trachsel) Diamondbacks (Batista) at Devil Rays (Hendrickson) Blue Jays (Lilly) at Braves (Sosa) Twins (Radke) at Astros (Oswalt) Tigers (Miner) at Brewers (Helling) Cardinals (Mulder) at White Sox (Vazquez) Padres (Thompson) at Rangers (Padilla) Pirates (Wells) at Royals (Redman) A's (DUI) at Rockies (Jennings) Seattle (Pineiro) at Dodgers (Penny) Angels (Lackey) at Giants (Morris) Weekend Interleague Match-ups Nationals/Orioles Cardinals/Tigers Phillies/Red Sox Reds/Indians Marlins/Yankees Mets/Blue Jays Braves/Devil Rays Brewers/Royals Cubs/Twins Astros/White Sox Rangers/Rockies Angels/Diamondbacks Mariners/Padres A's/Giants

Bases loaded walk to Crosby in the 17th ends it Oakland. A's win their 9th in a row.

Halsey's been a perfectly acceptable long reliever, emergency 5th starter. Now if the A's don't end it here then it's probably Jay Witasick or Steve Karsay time in the 16th and then the game will end.

***OMG SPOILERS*** As I've mentioned I have purchased the 1975, 1979, and 1986 World Series box sets released by MLB this year. I decided to start by watching the bonus disks on the 1986 set before viewing the World Series games. The DVD sleeves are very cool as they have little facts on the cover of them and then on the back they have the boxscore to the game on that disk, then on the inside they have a completely play-by-play account of the game. There's two bonus disks on the 1986 set, one featuring the classic Game 6 of the '86 NLCS that went 16 innings and the other featuring a few clips and interviews. Here are the complete list of features on that bonus disk: 1. Mets Clinch Division Title (final out of game against Cubs on 9/17) 2. NLCS Game 3: Lenny Dykstra's Walkoff HR 3. NLCS Game 5: Gary Carter's Walkoff Single 4. Lenny Dysktra: Red Sox Premature Celebration 5. Keith Hernandez: Perspective On Game 6 Rally 6. Keith Hernandez: Nerve-Wracking Game 6 7. Kevin Mitchell: Coach's Tip Before Scoring in Game 6 8. Mookie Wilson: Mindset Of His Historic At Bat 9. Mookie Wilson: Unfair To Blame Buckner 10. Bill Buckner: Mookie Wilson's Gronder And The Error 11. Bill Robinson: Perspective On Buckner's Error 12. Ray Knight: Game 6 Memories 13. Lenny Dykstra: Full Team Effort 14. Mike Piazza And Mookie Wilson Discuss Game 6 15. Inside The Moments Of Game 6 (has a clip of Dave Henderson's Game 5 ALCS homerun) 16. Ray Knight: Confidence Entering Game 7 17. Keith Hernandez: Mound Conversation With Jesse Orosco 18. Gary Carter: Catching The Last Out 19. World Series Last Out, Clubhouse Euphoria 20. Trophy Presentation 21. Championship Clubshouse Interviews 22. 1987 Opening Day Ring Ceremony The N.L. East clinching out was interesting because it gives a you a glipse of what no longer is allowed, fans storming the field like it was a college football game. Probably for the best as it looked like a riot was ready to breakout before the clip ends. Of course the real treat is that other bonus disk with the complete Game 6 of the 1986 NLCS. The game itself clocked in at 4 hours and 42 minutes but with the commercials cut out the game and the postgame coverage clocks in at just about 4 hours on the disk. The game went so long that ABC's postgame coverage is short as they had to switch coverage to Game 7 of the ALCS that night. I took down some notes as I was watching the game (no I didn't watch it all in one sitting). Keith Jackson and Tim McCarver were the announcers and McCarver was not nearly as annoying back then as he is now. I'm not going to go over every moment of the game of course so here's the boxscore and play account from retrosheet.org -Bob Knepper started for the Astros on three days rest. They threw out a stat at the beginning of the telecast that Knepper was 14-5 with a 2.17 ERA on three days rest over the last three years. -There were several empty seats in the upper deck when the game started. They did fill up a few innings but don't think it was a sellout. -A sign in the crowd "Knepper + Scuffy = World Series". Scuffy was Astros ace Mike Scott and was known for allegedly scuffing the baseball by using sandpaper. It's very interesting during the game Jackson and McCarver often joke about Scott's possible cheating ways. Of course 20 years later there is all this phony moral outrage over cheating baseball players. -Knepper was a being bitch on the mound the whole game. Almost every close pitch that was called a ball he'd slump his shoulders down and look straight at the umpire. In a regular season game he probably would have been ejected at some point. Until the 8th inning I thought Jackson and McCarver were calling the umpire "Brock Landers" but they they finally said his full name which was actually Fred Brocklander. -That being said Knepper was throwing an absolute gem the first eight innings. Mets only had three baserunners with two singles and literally were hitting nothing hard. -Jackson and McCarver mention the Mets set the record for most strikeouts by a team in an LCS and think it will last for a while. They casually mention that the record was held by the Royals just set the previous year and don't bother to bring up that it was the first year that LCS series were best out of 7 so of course strike out records were being broken with more games being played. I wasn't Bored enough to look up who holds the record now. -I had forgotten that the Mets were down 3-0 going into the 9th of this game (I didn't look at the boxscore before viewing so I'd be mildly unaware of the events of the game). Dykstra hit a pinch hit triple to start the rally and it was first hard hit ball all day by the Mets. -Astros closer Dave Smith was the goat of the series as he had given up the Dykstra homerun in Game 3 in his only apperance and came in here with it 3-2 with a runner on 2nd and one out. Tough situation but he proceeded to walk Carter (who the flash a graphic that he was 0 for his last 12 against Smith) and Strawberry before Ray Knight hits a sac flay to tie it. McCarver says it's unusual that Smith was having problems as he has "excellent command." On the year Smith's BB/9 ratio was 3.54. Not terrible but certainly not excellent. -There was a wild moment in the Knight at bat with the bases loaded. The first pitch on the outside corner was called a strike, and it looked pretty good to me, but Knight being the dick he always was complained about it. Then on a 1-2 pitch a pitch clearly outside is called a ball but then the fun starts. Astros catcher Alan Ashby slams his fist and then Dickhead Knight complains about the call too claiming it was the same spot as the first pitch. Astros manager Hal Lanier runs out to the mind to talk to Smith all the while yelling at the umpire. Shorstop Dickie Thon then runs to the mound yelling at the umpire and Lanier has to restrain him to keep him from getting ejected. Again if this was a regular season game plenty of people would have been ejected. -The signature moment of the game was actually by the losing team when Billy Hatcher hit a homerun in the bottom of the 14th to tie the game up after the Mets took the lead It was a majestic shot off the left field foul pole with Hatcher having his own Carlton Fisk moment as he ran backwards down the line hoping the ball would stay fair. Hatcher though in the top of the 16th would help the Mets to a three run inning by misplaying a fly ball by Strawberry leading off the inning that he would then let bounce over his head and allow Strawberry to go to 2nd. It was lamely scored a double. I think I'll do little notes on all the games on each set and group each Game 1 in a single entry and then Game 2, etc. I'm looking forward to watching the '79 series as I know very little about the series itself beyond the ugly (or great?) uniforms.

They would have had to waive or trade his brother but it would have certainly been worth it even with the awkwardness of Jered costing his brother his job. Jeff is only on a one-year contract so eating his salary or picking up most of it in a trade wouldn't have been a big deal. But hey if the Angels want to keep on losing fine by me.

Woo hoo, my three World Series box sets showed up today. I’ll try to figure out some sort of entry to do on the sets beyond a simple review. Probably will start by watching the bonus disk on the 1986 set that has Game 6 of the NLCS. Hey remember how overrated Carlos Beltran was and how he was overpaid? What happened to that talk? He’s arguably the best healthy player in baseball right now. To no surprise Pujols is still on top even on the DL but Beltran is making a serious push for the top spot. If the Mets do end up winning the East you could have an interesting teammate duel for the MVP with him and David Wright, depending on how much Pujols’ injury time affects his chances. Scott Rolen has stepped up in Pujols’ absence and makes his first appearance in the Top 10. After a huge jump into the Top 10, Alfonso Soriano goes cold and nearly tumbles out of it while his teammate Nick Johnson is red hot. The slumping Chase Utley drops out of the Top 10 for the first time this season. #10 Alfonso Soriano, Nationals .289/.350/.585, 57 RC, .299 EQA, 23.9 VORP, 13 Win Shares #9 Bobby Abreu, Phillies .292/.455/.500, 54 RC, .318 EQA, 23.9 VORP, 14 Win Shares #8 Scott Rolen, Cardinals .355/.430/.589, 42 RC, .323 EQA, 27.7 VORP, 12 Win Shares #7 Nick Johnson, Nationals .309/.436/.554, 55 RC, .328 EQA, 30.5 VORP, 13 Win Shares #6 Miguel Cabrera, Marlins .339/.435/.562, 54 RC, .330 EQA, 34.0 VORP, 11 Win Shares #5 Lance Berkman, Astros .308/.386/.602, 53 RC, .313 EQA, 24.2 VORP, 14 Win Shares #4 David Wright, Mets .335/.404/.587, 55 RC, .319 EQA, 33.0 VORP, 12 Win Shares #3 Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks 226 ERA+, 5.69 K/BB, 1.07 WHIP, 41.6 VORP, 13 Win Shares #2 Carlos Beltran, Mets .300/.408/.643, 59 RC, .329 EQA, 34.3 VORP, 17 Win Shares #1 .308/.442/.751, 65 RC, .357 EQA, 38.1 VORP, 19 Win Shares Finally we have a new #1 in the A.L. as Jim Thome is starting to cool off. He actually leads the league in Win Shares still but the new #1 topped him in every other category. Joe Mauer pulls off what Alfonso Soriano did last week and makes a huge jump into the Top 10. Vernon Wells also makes a big jump and might be emerging as a serious MVP candidate this year. I do have some sad news this week…Baseball Jesus has dropped out. Do not cry though, there will be a resurrection. #10 Curtis Granderson, Tigers .282/.379/.464, 49 RC, .290 EQA, 18.5 VORP, 13 Win Shares #9 Ramon Hernandez, Orioles .292/.353/.498, 50 RC, .291 EQA, 17.7 VORP, 13 Win Shares #8 Miguel Tejada, Orioles .333/.392/.556, 51 RC, .318 EQA, 37.1 VORP, 11 Win Shares #7 Jermaine Dye, White Sox .298/.393/.639, 47 RC, .325 EQA, 23.1 VORP, 12 Win Shares #6 Alexis Rios, Blue Jays .335/.386/.623, 51 RC, .320 EQA, 28.2 VORP, 12 Win Shares #5 Jason Giambi, Yankees .270/.443/.616, 54 RC, .341 EQA, 26.5 VORP, 12 Win Shares #4 Joe Mauer, Twins .378/.443/.523, 44 RC, .331 EQA, 33.0 VORP, 12 Win Shares #3 Vernon Wells, Blue Jays .328/.384/.624, 53 RC, .320 EQA, 34.7 VORP, 12 Win Shares #2 Jim Thome, White Sox .281/.415/.615, 61 RC, .331 EQA, 29.8 VORP, 14 Win Shares #1 .303/.454/.620, 65 RC, .356 EQA, 37.7 VORP, 13 Win Shares

Ask and you shall receive as I'm behind the times because there another two new bowl games I completely missed being added this year as there's also now the Birmingham Bowl and the New Mexico Bowl. That brings the total to 31 bowls now although the Houston Bowl is apparantly in limbo at the moment. Remember this year they go back to a 12 game schedule and now all wins vs. D-IAA schools count for bowl eligiblity. Going to be a lot of 6-6 teams going bowling.