EVIL~! alkeiper

The problem is not the Wild Card. Its that with three rounds of playoffs, the World Series rarely consists of the best team in each league. I can think of two World Series since the Wild Card began where we got the best possible Series. 1995 (Atlanta/Cleveland), and 1999 (NY Yankees/Atlanta). The last two years, we've been priviledged with second place teams in the Series. And great pennant race moments (Ashburn toasts the potential Dodgers winning run to prevent a playoff in 1950, Yaz's hot streak in '67) are lost in favor of divisional series we'll never remember.

When does he make an out? He's had 325 plate appearances, and made 124 outs. That includes the little things like sacrifices, caught stealing, and double plays. He's reached base in 63% of his plate appearances. That's over 45 points over the RECORD. The idea of the game is to create runs, and not create outs. Bonds is sucessful at the plate 15% more often than any other player in the game. There's no way in hell Rolen plays defense so well that he offsets that difference at the plate. And if Rolen wins the MVP because of the outdated notion of RBIs, I'm going to throw up.

I'd much rather have post season meetings between the unstoppable force and the immovable object over two teams that were in third place (but three games back) going into September facing off. I'd rather have less post-season, and make the regular season more meaningful. This has the added benefit of making sure the teams duking it out in October really ARE the best teams.

The MLB Futures game is tomorrow at 4pm. I was going to run a preview of the players involved, but mlb.com has one up, and I don't think I could do any better. Check out your favorite team's players, and keep an eye out for them tomorrow.

Cubs and Cardinals doing their best to make this interesting. Its interesting to note that if the Cards actually tie the game, Hawkins is not charged with a blown save. God bless the save rule.

The new column is up. Check it out here.

Perhaps he's wondering why Scott Rolen > Barry Bonds on their ballots. I've got a full 10 spot ballot coming up on the column, and I place Rolen third, behind Bonds and Abreu.

Obviously you never saw Mitch Williams pitch.

What looked like a pitchers' duel has quickly turned into a Cubs' 4-0 lead.

Looking forward to tonight's Cubs-Cardinals game. Kerry Wood makes his long-awaited return.

If I were to pick a Comeback player, it would have to be Ray Lankford. Here's a guy who was absolutely considered DONE. He didn't play organized ball at any level last season. This year, he's hitting 266/365/435, and building his case as one of St. Louis's all time greats.

The Cardinals are now eight games up in the Central. They're clearly the NL's most dominant team, and its going to take a major collapse to lose the division. The rest of the Central is playing for the Wild Card at this point.

Its also a matter that if you were to make true judgements on how memorable a moment was, they would invaritably get grouped by sport. For example, your MLB and NFL moments would run near the top, followed by NBA, collegiate sports, NHL, boxing, and so on. You'd have two weeks of nothing but football highlights. I think ESPN mixes it up to create variety.

I'm beginning to think numbering these entries was really just a random process.

Well, Anderson did have a World Series and a division title with the Tigers. Every manager on this list won at least three league championships. There's got to be a cut-off somewhere, and Sparky did win the NL manager poll. So there's some consolation. As for winningest team of the decade, it doesn't really mean anything. Move the time-frame forward a year, and the winningest team from 1980-89 is the New York Yankees.

As part of the All-Time All-Star simulation, I need to select managers for each team. Cast your vote for the most deserving manager for the American League. The National League vote will run tomorrow. The choice of manager will affect the strategy used for the All-Star squads somewhat.

Jake Westbrook makes the All-Star squad. The Indians have got to be the worst team ever to send five players to an All-Star game.

Jesus, you have the internet. Look it up for yourself. The celebrity game airs at 10 eastern, right after the Home Run Derby.

How exactly is Greinke struggling? He's 1-6 because his team is averaging 1.33 runs per game when he starts. He's got a 3.86 ERA, along with 39 strikeouts and just 12 walks in 56 innings. And he's 20! This kid is a bonafide superstar in the making.

I watched that home run. The pitch was several inches below the strike zone, and Chase Utley golfed it out of the park. It wasn't due to any great failure on Smoltz's part.

Felix Hernandez is a great talent. John Sickels rated him a B+ prospect, and this season he's struck out 126 batters in 115 innings, with just 30 walks. It looks like only injuries can stop him.

Meanwhile, I have three starters (Clemens, Johnson, Sheets) who can easily fill out an NL Cy Young ballot.

Now the managers conspire to piss me off. Dusty Baker bunts, and Tony LaRussa starts his left/right bullshit.

Its because you put your stock in recent results and ERAs, without closely regarding past history and peripherals. Its important not to base decisions on a handful of games.

Honestly, lineup positioning means very little past the first inning, and given what Pena has to work with, I think Allard Baird is more to blame.