EVIL~! alkeiper

I think the Phillies go in as favorites next season. Jayson Werth and Aaron Rowand are free agents, the rest of the offensive core remains. Right now the rotation looks like Hamels, Moyer, Eaton, Kendrick, and Durbin or J.A. Happ. They could move Brett Myers into the rotation. I wonder however if they might consider bringing back Curt Schilling for an encore. The big question is what happens with the bullpen.

Tough luck. I'm perfectly calm and composed right now. I forgot that you are used to losers, My bad. Living near New York City has also gotten me accustomed to unsolicited flame wars.

And Todd Helton is closer now than he would be if he were traded to the Sox. Oh c'mon Al. Well the Red Sox are a win back. I'm not being critical, just noting that Helton has his shot with his hometown team. I think it goes to show that shopping for a team based on finding a ring is overrated. Sometimes (like Pudge in '03) it falls into your lap.

It's up to the organization to distribute rings, not based on active rosters or anything like that. Commonly, they will at least give one to any player active during the season. The Red Sox gave them practically to everyone in the front office as well.

And Todd Helton is closer now than he would be if he were traded to the Sox.

I will say that if you can look past it being two recent expansion clubs, the next series looks really good. Two clubs with great bullpens, built primarily with homegrown talent.

Disappointing that after all the worry about the pitching, it was the Phillies' hitting that failed in this series. Still, congratulations to the Phillies on a wonderful 2007 season. The Rockies are on a HELL of a run right now. If they played in Boston there would be books written about it. They're a fine team and I look forward to watching them in the NLCS.

Tough luck. I'm perfectly calm and composed right now.

Generally when I think heels I think current.

You guys suck at taunting, btw. Here is how you do it, with apologies to Czech and company.

Obviously the Phils' lack of power is contagious.

Well if the Rockies can't provide a playing environment, it's a forfeit.

So Cubs fans. Do you consider the season overall positive or negative?

The Cubs have just about conceded this game. Off topic, one of the most annoying crowd behaviors is yelling "BALK!" in unison. None of them could adequately explain the balk rule.

TBS really has a problem with all of their ads airing too often. I thought W.B. Mason was bad.

Dodgers: Bill Plaschke (Though maybe naming writers sets a bad precident.)

A few months ago espn.com ran polls determining each MLB franchise's "face of the franchise." Generally, that figure most positively representative of the team. I figured it would be fun to take this in the opposite direction. Which player, executive or other person employed within the team is the most embarassing to the team and to you as a fan? A few examples... Philadelphia: Dallas Green Chicago White Sox: Hawk Harrelson San Francisco Giants: Barry Bonds

"It's a pivotal series." Yeah Dane, that's kind of how a playoff works.

It's time for another sim tournament. The concept here is simple. The 64 best teams in organized baseball. One week, single elimination. All 30 MLB teams, all 30 AAA teams, and four AA teams. Much like the NCAA tournament, upsets galore. The basics are that there is no rest for teams. When you win, you go on to face a new team the next day. The four AA teams consist of the champions of the Texas, Southern and Eastern Leagues, plus the Reading Phillies (because it's my tournament and they're only Red Sox fodder anyway). The champions of the International and Pacific Coast Leagues get a home field matchup in the first round. Home field goes first to the team from the higher level, then to the team with the better record. Here is how the field fleshes out. Boston Reading Phillies Richmond Nashville Minnesota Indianapolis LA Dodgers Norfolk San Diego Round Rock Florida Tucson NY Mets Charlotte Chicago White Sox New Orleans Arizona Ottawa Kansas City Iowa Chi. Cubs Las Vegas Houston Omaha Atlanta Pawtucket Texas Louisville Pittsburgh Durham NY Yankees San Antonio Mission LA Angels Trenton Tampa Bay Toledo Milwaukee Tacoma Oakland Albuquerque Isotopes Colorado Memphis Baltimore Fresno Detroit Syracuse Washington Salt Lake City Philadelphia Portland San Francisco Rochester Seattle Columbus Cincinnati Buffalo Toronto Colorado Springs St. Louis Oklahoma City Sacramento Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Cleveland Huntsville Stars Expect first round results next Saturday.

Watching Sting/Vampiro, I just realized why WCW folded. It sucked ass.

They had Ortiz at the plate with a man on second, first base open, two out. Ortiz's OPS is 150 points higher against righties than against lefties. You can afford to issue a walk if you want a better matchup. Manny Ramirez is a great hitter, but his numbers are down this year and he's a righty. And really, you only need a cursory glance at the stats to see that Ortiz was a MUCH more dangerous hitter this year. Why not Lowell? His performance was just as good as Manny's this season. The Angels were in trouble and went with the most favorable matchup they could. A Hall of Famer delivered a big hit. It's not Mike Scioscia's fault, and it's not a case of K-Rod choking. A good hitter came up big.

So now all four series are 2-0. Wonderful.

How is it humanly possible to take over four hours to play a 3-3 game?

Tom Glavine declined his player option for 2008, he is now eligible for free agency.

No new ballots for three days, so this thread is closed while I tabulate the results. Expect them completed in a few days.