EVIL~! alkeiper

Los Angeles came back to beat Colorado last night, extending their lead to three games. Tonight we've got Anaheim at Texas (Kelvim Escobar vs. Chan Ho Park). Last horrah for the Rangers (but I've said that before). Also San Francisco @ San Diego (Jason Schmidt vs. Brian Lawrence).

Of course not. They've got their sights set on Nomar!!

A's lead the Mariners 2-0 in the 3rd, btw.

Depends on what the A's do. But that is a big loss for the Rangers today.

Rangers are making this interesting. Bases loaded, no one out.

It's funny. I was just thinking this morning about how Delgado staying with the Jays might not be a bad idea. His subpar year limits his market value, the big-market clubs aren't really in the 1B market, and Josh Phelps was a bust. I do think they are the most likely team to sign Delgado at this point.

The Giants don't play tonight.

Chicago leads Cincinnati 9-1 in the 5th. Texas leads Anaheim 3-2 in the 7th. Houston leads St. Louis 9-0 in the 6th. And Boston leads Tampa Bay 5-2 in the eighth.

...... Damn you for getting that so quickly. Bruce Sutter also won the award with a 6-6 record. But no starter with a subpar winning percentage has ever won the award. But I do think Johnson will place in the top three. Sabermetrics has changed the way some sportswriters think.

Sheets looks like shit. Maybe if this was in June it would be the best match of the season. Sheets had a bad month in August (4.61 ERA), but he's rebounded, posting a 1.95 ERA in five starts thus far in September.

Actually, a sub-.500 pitcher won the Cy Young. Can anyone name him without looking it up?

Lucky to get 500? Bonds had one bad season, in 1999. That year he had an OBP of only .389, and slugged .617. Looking at baseball-reference.com, Bonds' most similar players at that point were Frank Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Jeff Bagwell, Duke Snider, and Reggie Jackson. None of those guys had 500 home runs at that point, but three went on to reach that goal. The rest of the top ten also includes Willie Mays, Eddie Mathews, and Sammy Sosa. He's not the athlete he once was, because as he is better at the plate, he is not such a great base-stealer or fielder at this point. But his hitting is off-the-charts. Moreover, he is the most disciplined hitter I've seen in a long, long time. And all this begs the question, if steroids can give you this ability at 41, why isn't everyone taking them?

Oh yeah, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention possibly the best pitching matchup of the season. Randy Johnson vs. Ben Sheets tonight in Arizona.

Today we've got Anaheim @ Texas (Bartolo Colon vs. Kenny Rogers), Seattle @ Oakland (Jamie Moyer vs. Barry Zito), and Cincinnati @ Chicago (Brandon Claussen vs. Carlos Zambrano). Today will help clarify the pennant race, as wel remove all but one of those pesky half games.

The Mets have had a real Jeckyl and Hyde history. It's either very good, or very bad.

They're only dumping Guillen for a week. Over a single week, the difference between Guillen and a replacement works out to maybe two hits, on average. It won't make a significant difference.

I'm guessing he lashed out and struck at Scioscia or someone in the clubhouse.

Just a thought. How sad is it that two light heavyweights have KO'd Roy Jones in consecutive fights, but John Ruiz couldn't hurt him?

How about the epic Orioles/Phillies rivalry? "What team do you cheer for?" "Phillies. You?" "Orioles" "Damn. That's a shame." "Yeah, it sucks. Wanna beer?"

As a rule, I don't trust anyone trying to give me something for free.

For those of you not watching, the Angels have suspended Jose Guillen for the remainder of the season, presumably for actions after being substituted in last night's game. As Morgan says, there's more to this that we don't know yet.

No it wouldn't. Lloyd McClendon would have stolen the bag before Mientkiewicz could block it.

Mark McLemore bunted Mark Kotsay to third, which immediately led Joe Morgan into a diatribe over the benefits of small ball, and how perhaps the A's felt it was necessary because this was "like a playoff game." There's only so much Moneyball-bashing I can take before I smash my television in frustration.

I think that just set a record for earliest time in a baseball game I felt forced to hit the mute button.

The Dodgers beat the Giants 7-4 to open a 2 1/2 game lead. The Giants trail the Cubs by 1/2 a game in the wild card, the Astros trail by 1 1/2, and the Padres trail by 2 1/2.