EVIL~! alkeiper

I actually agree. I want to see the team succeed. But the idea that a team can win a championship while losing the division by double digits is nauseating.

Texas jumped out to a 5-0 lead on the Angels, and Oakland leads Seattle 2-0. I think Bored can come back off the ledge now.

And the Padres lead in the 7th. This is getting eerie.

I wouldn't get too worried. Remember the Mets are far more concerned with coasting and resting starters than they are with winning games at this point. If they had something to play for, they'd have a better record.

This is going to be a LONG, long week. I know this team is fully capable of reaching the playoffs. But I get the feeling I've seen this script before, and I know how it all ends. The Cards finally got a three run lead on the Astros. If the 'Stros managed to win the division it would rank as one of the three greatest collapses in MLB history, IMO. It's still unlikely though.

Yes they did. I don't know what's wrong with their system. Maybe they see the possible ties with Minnesota and fail to have the proper tiebreakers in place. Either way, 10000:1 are good odds.

Two big games tonight. The Astros travel to Philadelphia for a makeup game, Matt Albers vs. Randy Wolf. The Phils are a half game up on the idle Dodgers, while the Astros trail the Cardinals by 3.5 in the Central. The Padres visit St. Louis for the first of three games tonight. The Padres lead the West by 1.5, and the Cards lead the Central by 3.5. Both teams have a chance to create some breathing room, and the Cardinals especially need to stop the latest surge by the Astros. The Astros have made up five games in the standings in the last five games.

I was looking at some old ecw results and saw this and was wondering was the lights out battle royal planned or did the power go out in the biulding and they decieded to finish the show because i know this was a few months after Heyman took over the book from Gilbert and it sounds like something Heyman would do. a "Lights Out" match is an old wrestling term, that doesn't literally mean the lights in the building are out. It's a term for a match that means either the participants are blindfolded, or (more likely) it is simply another term for a no-disqualification match.

Playoff Odds from Baseball Prospectus American League Yankees 100% Tigers 99.99% Twins 99.98% Athletics 99.5% White Sox 0.16% National League Mets 100% Cardinals 97.9% Padres 88.7% Phillies 63.1% Dodgers 47.8% Astros 1.9% Reds 0.28% Marlins 0.12% Giants 0.04%

Yes, he's in the second version.

It's quite possible. Everyone is quick to spin the "addition by subtraction" bs. What they miss is that the Phils are on pace to win 85 games, their lowest total since 2002. They're only in postseason contention because no one in the National League besides the Mets can exceed .500 by any decent margin. I think they needed to move him or Burrell though, because the outfield defense had become problematic. You can carry one subpar gloveman, but two is pushing it.

I'm surprised the last one is six weeks old already. Damn. The Phillies' minor league season is over, and I'm mulling over a list of the Phils' Top 20 prospects. Considering prospects from Triple A to Low A is a fairly simple matter. The stats can give you about 70-90% of what you need to know. In Short Season A and Rookie ball though, it's a crapshoot. You've got 18 year old kids in a league too far down to project, along with a sample size too small to trust. You really need good scouts to evaluate prospects at that level. I don't have that luxury. Baseball America though is printing their top 20 prospect lists from each league over the next few weeks. It's a useful guide for getting a start on the lower tier prospects. Five Phillies made the list from the Gulf Coast League. 7. Adrian Cardenas, SS 12. Kyle Drabek, RHP 14. Jesus Sanchez, C 17. D'Arby Myers, OF 19. Carlos Monasterios, RHP Cardenas has hit but his defense is troubling and his future may lie at another position. Drabek's highly touted but his makeup is questionable. Sanchez and Monasterios I know little about besides the fact that neither has gone 20/20 in the majors or posted a .400 OBP. D'Arby Myers was one of the top hitters in the GCL, but his BB:K ratio is poor. I know little personally about their long term prospects, so I defer to Baseball America. I wouldn't switch these guys around unless I had overwhelming evidence to do so. EDIT: The NY-Penn rankings are out, and no Phillies made the list. RHP Edgar Garcia is the only person on that club who really inspires immediate notice. The South Atlantic League rankings place Carlos Carrasco fifth (the top pitcher), Matt Maloney 19th and Josh Outman 20th.

Espn.com reports that Nick Johnson requires surgery to fix his right femur. That sounds like a nasty, nasty injury. It's quite possible that Johnson will never again be the same player.

Whoever was calling Marlins-Phils with Timmy. Gotta rip Moneyball at every turn, y'know. I like it when mainstream sports personalities mock Moneyball. They're just getting more people to read it by doing so. He was right in that specific inference though. The book made it sound like the A's flipped a nothing catcher for Chad Bradford, and that catcher (Miguel Olivo) was a legit player.

Don't underestimate Loria's stupidity. This is a man who has twice tried to suck on purpose and failed miserably.

Just caught the replay. Kearns and Johnson both went for the ball and both slid. Johnson caught Kearns awkwardly. Vidro immediately motioned for assistance while running after the ball. Austin Kearns was taken out of the game as well. He was fairly upset in right field.

Johnson is being carted off the field, and they're immobilizing his leg.

Austin Kearns and Nick Johnson collided in the outfield. Apparently Nick Johnson is badly hurt.

I don't know what they were chanting. Home run for Cody Ross. Hopefully we don't see three more.

If it's warrented, but I tend not to boo players often. Burrell's productive, but I get the impression that he does NOT change his approach no matter the situation.

I'll be at Sunday's game as well. Keep an eye out for a guy in Section 303 wearing a Reading Phillies throwback jersey.

I'd make some comment about being the goat, but I don't think I could do it justice. For those of you with satellite or internet radio, Harry Kalas is doing radio pbp for the Phils today.

The Killer Spamming

The intentional walk hurts the Marlins as Conine hits a single. I'm amazed by it. When is the intentional walk ever a good strategy with a three run deficit and two outs?

In related news, the Yankees' old AAA affiliate, the Columbus Clippers, are now with the Nationals. The significant part of the shuffling is that the NY Mets are the odd team out and will play in New Orleans next season. That means there will be no Mets-Yankees games in AAA the next two seasons.