EVIL~! alkeiper

The problem is if the Twins got that hot, they would win the division outright. Notwithstanding the Mets, the Rays' lead is bigger, and there are less games left in the schedule. And bigger than that, the Rays haven't shown a reason they would go on an extended losing streak.

With two weeks left, just about anything can happen. Just look at the L10 column and see if you can separate the good teams from the bad. We're down to about two real races. The White Sox and Twins in the AL Central, and the Mets, Phillies and Brewers chasing three spots. Oddly, all three of the NL teams finish with a week at home. The Phillies have the easiest schedule, simply on the basis of having no more games against the Cubs. Tonight the Phillies send rookie J.A. Happ against the Braves' lone good starter, Jair Jurrjens. The Mets are turning to Brandon Knight against WBC hero Shairon Martis and the Washington Nationals. The Brewers have Ben Sheets against the Cubs' Jason Marquis, so clearly the Brew Crew has the best matchup of the night. A great chance to turn things around tonight. The White Sox and Twins games are worth noting for their opposing pitchers. The White Sox face Phil Hughes, coming off some impressive minor league outings and finally looking like an elite prospect. The Yankees could use a solid Hughes going into next season. The Twins face Cliff Lee, going for a 23rd win.

Here's an event I don't even need to rewatch to discuss, I've seen it as many times as any other event. The Rumble is really split into two parts, everything up to Bossman's elimination is prologue and Piper's entrance really kicks off the fun. It's surprising how quickly the last few eliminations come, particularly with the later Rumbles trying to build epic finishes.

You'll have to direct me to the point where the Mets had this in the bag. Running the race and falling short (assuming they do, considering the deficit is HALF A GAME), is not the same thing as blowing a seemingly insurmountable lead.

The Phillies have nearly fucked up twice worrying about Chipper F'n Jones on the basepaths. Just get the hitters guys.

Lidge. His line includes 81 strikeouts, only two home runs and a 1.99 ERA.

Brad Lidge in to close out a one run game. He's 36/36 in save opportunities, but this may be his biggest of the season.

Bockwinkel isn't quite underrated, maybe underwatched. I've never really heard much anti-Bockwinkel sentiment at all. Everyone familiar with his era appreciated his work.

The club is eight games up. At this point, I think there's no harm in putting a guy like Howry in a clutch situation. If anything, it could give the manager a chance to assess and evaluate a guy like that to determine his postseason role. I dont think Yost was ever in the Milwaukee bullpen. No, but whose bright idea was it to use the situational lefty to walk Howard so that same lefty could then pitch against Pat Burrell? Yost was terrible at bullpen management.

And Ryan F'n Howard strikes again! The NL East lead is six outs away.

The Phillies still need to score off the Braves to make the Mets' loss matter. And there's the fact that a Phillies' win and Brewers loss would still make the Mets the wild card leader. And for the "sky is falling" Met fans, remember the Phillies dropped two of three to the Nats last week. They're still in the race.

The lack of group sales really hurts. Minor league teams really depend on advance promotion for their games. Flores has 59 games under his belt, so it's hard to say that his durability is proven. The Rookie ball guys look good, but it is still a LONG way to the Majors. Worth noting that in 2006, BA rated Cole Hamels #1 in the Phillies' organization despite the fact that he had made ten starts over the previous two seasons. He sure made that pick look good. Cahill vs. Anderson is one of those great prospect debates. Buster Posey vs. Tim Alderson is another. Really could go with either guy.

And speaking of minor leaguers, I talk about this Bricktown Showdown game from time to time. The section behind home plate is 3/4ths empty. I like the minors, but it's apparent that there's little interest in a glorified minor league exhibition at a neutral site.

Here's an inquiry for those of you who know your team's prospects. I'm coming up with a top prospect for each organization, but I think I may overlook a guy or two who made a huge jump this season. So here's the preliminary list. Any names I should consider? Arizona: Jarrod Parker Atlanta: Jason Heyward Baltimore: Matt Wieters Boston: Lars Anderson Chicago Cubs: Josh Vitters Chicago WS: Gordon Beckham Cincinnati: Drew Stubbs Cleveland: Matt Laporta Colorado: Dexter Fowler Detroit: Rick Porcello Florida: Cameron Maybin Houston: Jason Castro Kansas City: Mike Moustakas LA Angels: Nick Adenhart LA Dodgers: James McDonald Milwaukee: Alcides Escobar/Mat Gamel Minnesota: Aaron Hicks NY Mets: Fernando Martinez (Yeah, I considered Wilmer Flores and it's close) NY Yankees: Austin Jackson Oakland: Brett Anderson Philadelphia: Carlos Carrasco Pittsburgh: Andrew McCutchen St. Louis: Colby Rasmus San Diego: Allan Dykstra San Francisco: Buster Posey Seattle: Carlos Triunfel Tampa Bay: David Price Texas: Neftali Feliz Toronto: Travis Snider Washington: Ross Detwiler

Regarding tonight, I think the Brewers are much deeper in the hot seat than the Mets tonight. They already made a panic move and if Sabathia loses, what next?

Reserving judgment on Beane at the moment, I took a look at the team stats. God damn, only one player on the whole team slugged above .400?! That's bad, but thankfully it is not a hard problem to solve.

And how long ago did MLB sanction a series at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando?

Yeah, and coming in he had walked 21 in 11 innings, and struck out five. Something of an improvement.

He cut his walk rate in half, and doubled his K rate! At least he's back in the majors. I don't think Willis will be an elite starter, but he should yet perform at this level.

Potential playoff tickets. With any team eyeing a berth, it has to be done. You can't possibly expect to work it the other way, trying to sell 58000 seats in a rush.

In fairness, the beginning of their collapse last year was a loss on Sept. 14.

The best day to have your worst outing is always when it rains in the third. Kazmir needs to get out of Tropicana Field.

Dontrelle Willis is actually starting for the Tigers tonight. I'm surprised that really flew completely under the radar.

The only thing I question about Meltzer's ratings is all those AJPW classics. Really now? It says a person is a fan of the style more than anything. That's well and good, but there's more than one way to skin a cat, so to speak. A Five Star Hall of Fame might be a fun idea, to bounce something around.

SABR put their Baseball Research Journals online from 1972-84, as well as '86 and '89. Most of this stuff is actually not stat related. 1981 for example has an article detailing the construction of Wrigley Field. Check it out. www.brj.sabrwebs.com