EVIL~! alkeiper

Despite leading the NL East by half a game, CoolStandings actually sees the Phillies as slightly more likely to reach the playoffs. I disagree with that. Twins and Brewers both trailing. After Thursday's comeback win, the Twins sure showed the value of momentum. Why do we give sportscasters the light of day when they ramble on about that? The Brewers are just listless at this point.

I'll second the recommendation on Von Erich/Race. Nice brawl, sad to see what Kerry was at his best in 1982 compared to what he eventually became. Orton's heel turn there is one of the overlooked great ones. The crowd cheers his arrival, and nearly turns dead silent when he lays into Flair before booing.

They're all one week. Quick turnaround, but on the plus side you get 40 of them in total, an insane amount.

Some days you need to avoid watching to preserve your sanity, and I think this is one of them.

Florida Marlins. The Carolina club is looking at either the Reds (likely) or Giants.

Speaking of the Cal League, when I picked the Mariners' top prospect I failed to notice that Carlos Triunfel played in High Desert all season. Phillipe Aumont gets the nod.

There are some big shakeups in the minor league affiliations. Here's a brief rundown. -The Indians' AAA club has moved to Columbus, while the Mets are set to pick up Buffalo. The Dodgers are heading back to Albuquerque, while the Florida Marlins head to New Orleans. The Blue Jays and Nationals are left to pick out from Syracuse and Las Vegas. -The Dodgers moved their AA club to Chattanooga. -The Red Sox are moving their High A club to Salem in the Carolina League. I think this one is important as it takes their prospects away from the EXTREME hitting environment in Lancaster, CA.

I bet Tazz appears on these often since he lives closer to Stamford than the rest of the panel.

Obviously you frequent BTF. Have you caught my new username? I'm damn proud of it myself.

Dan Wheeler blew the save against the Twins. The upside though is that Evan Longoria will have a crack at home run #4.

The Phillies swept all nine games from the Braves at Turner Field this season. Amazing.

It'd be circular research. Teams replace pitchers when they are struggling, thus you'd find the runs increasing with more pichers.

I'm missing something. The Brewers lost the lead because they let their closer throw 18 pitches?

I rather Curt Schilling than the corporate-speak most athletes have perfected.

Keep an eye on recent performance. He's hitting .351/.438/.845 over his last 25 games, with 12 home runs, 10 doubles and 33 RBIs. He's hit five go-ahead home runs this month. That's why he is gaining momentum.

Also for Met fans, the press box at Washington is very high and that creates a bad camera angle for television. Agree?

SNY ran a poll stating that 85% felt Argenis Reyes should start over Luis Castillo. What am I missing on Reyes? He's 25, has absolutely no power and his OBP's aren't impressive.

I've heard Howard's name come up a few times recently, but really, is there any chance that Pujols doesn't win the MVP award in a landslide? Yeah, mostly via the usual sportswriting stupidity. I've watched Howard all year. NO WAY is this guy the MVP. He was absolutely awful at the plate most of the year, and doesn't contribute anywhere else.

2009 schedules are out. Only three Mets/Phillies game in Sept. next year, again. Phillies score four in the first. Fantastic start considering this is a very weak pitching matchup on their side.

Albert Pujols is hitting .357 now, with a .461 OBP. And Gold Glove defense. With the Cardinals at least finishing above .500, he really should get the MVP.

One of the few times I ever felt uncomfortable watching wrestling. That was just awful, still can't believe Vince didn't think to edit it out Agreed. I actually stopped watching for a full year after that.

I've seen Slaughter do that bump numerous times. The boot camp match with Sheik, I think he pulled it out during the '90 Survivor Series as well. Classic Sarge. He was a tremendously underrated wrestler.

What makes Posnanski great is that along with being a great writer, he is greatly willing to accept and investigate new ideas.

If they both choke, the Houston Astros are the wild card. Of course, they would help their chances greatly if they quit whining and just played baseball.

Joe Posnanski's blog is tremendous.