EVIL~! alkeiper

Kidnapping his wife and children.

I'd be suspicious of that as well, because I remember the complaints because most fans could not see Maddux's 300th win. In any case, I don't have satellite or digital cable, so Extra Innings is unavailable.

Today we've got a slate of games that most of us will not see thanks to the programming geniuses at fox. 1pm sees Cubs/Mets (or Brewers/Astros). Then viewers on the West Coast get to see Giants/Dodgers or Angels/Athletics, while those of use on the East coast get whatever crap our local affiliates choose. For example, my local fox affiliate is showing a tour of Pennsylvania's golf resorts, followed by a full hour of Celebrity Justice and episodes of the King of Queens and Friends. Seriously, would Celebrity Justice really draw more fans than a live baseball game? This is downright insulting. It's the second to last weekend of a pennant race. Programmers should be crawling over each other trying to put on every single game of significance. Oh well, thank god for MLB Gameday Audio. Fuck McCarver and Buck, I've got Vin Scully. Prior pitches against Heilman today in New York. The Cubs hold the lead in the wild card race, by 1 1/2 games. We've got A's/Angels at 4, Redman vs. Washburn. Then we've got Dodgers/Giants at 4, Hennessey vs. Lima. Shawn Green is sitting this one out thanks to Yom Kippur. 7pm sees the Sox/Yankees, Wakefield vs. Vazquez.

That'll work. Everyone's looking for a middle infielder to hit .216. Unfortunately, the Mets have "Super Joe" McEwing, so that option is gone. And I can't imagine anyone else being that stupid.

Because it's a vesting option, and they don't have a choice. Boone's option vested automatically with 450 plate appearances, which he has reached. So he's under contract for next season.

I have to give credit to the Braves as well. I did give them a better chance than most, but I never expected them to run away with the division. With Giles, Furcal, Andruw Jones up the middle, and Chipper at third, they are still a formidable team.

By West, I meant both the AL and NL West divisions.

It's 4 1/2 games (now 5 1/2). The Red Sox catching the Yankees was highly unlikely. And the opponents are dependant upon their own records as well. Minnesota and Oakland are very close in the standings. Meanwhile, four teams are fighting in the West, with the risk that the loser will go home for the season. That makes the series more important than Yankees/Sox.

On what logic. A series between two teams who are 4 1/2 games apart is more important than two series which involve teams two or less games apart? Fuck off. Seriously. We are all sick and tired of your baseless arguing, ranting, and whining about every damned thing the Yankees do. If you don't care about the rest of the games, you have your wish. A separate thread where you can worry about the Red Sox/Yankees games, unencumbered by those troublesome division series on the West Coast. It's not a fucking cage, and if you don't like it, then don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Agreed. And if you people can't appreciate baseball outside of Yankees/Red Sox, it's your loss. The rest of us get to see Vlad Guerrero, Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Adrian Beltre, Eric Chavez, and a hell of a lot of other good players. Take the Yankees/Red Sox talk to the other thread.

Here you go guys.

Not surprising. The core of the Yankees lineup (A-Rod, Sheffield, Jeter) is right-handed.

Ellis Burks announced he's retiring at the end of this season. Very overlooked player, IMO. He's not a HOFer, but he was very good.

Tampa Bay's franchise record for wins is 69. Right now they are sitting on 64, with ten games left. They need a 6-4 run.

Anyone else catch that Klitschko's next defense is against Danny "Tyson Killer" Williams? Williams had a great upset, but I'm not sure if he's that good. The heavyweight division needs a marquee fight, and this isn't it.

I think Teixeira's a decent choice. Remember he's a converted 3B (the only reason he's not there now is Hank Blalock), so obviously he can play a little defense.

Ugh. Vern is pointing out that the Twins are capable of beating good teams, and their division title is not just the result of a weak division. The argument has little to do with the Playoffs.

Figured I'd get this up as I have an early class tomorrow. This weekend's theme is "fuck the Yankees-Red Sox series." A meaningless circle jerk to decide playoff seeding, and the Yankees are 4 1/2 games up anyway. Meanwhile, we have the Athletics facing the Anaheim Angels. The Angels are just two back of the A's. We also have the Giants and Dodgers this weekend, with the Giants back just half a game, pending the result of tonight's games. Both these series come without the benefit of the wild card as a safety net. So we have some great baseball on the West Coast this weekend.

Amazingly, the Phillies sweep the Marlins at Pro Player Stadium. Hopefully now the monkey is off the Phillies backs heading into next season. And the Florida fans gave the Marlins a nice ovation for their final home game.

Just the usual whining. Seriously, if you don't like ESPN, turn it off and quit bothering the rest of us.

The Marlins and Phillies have no shot here. They're 6.5 and 7.5 games back, respectively, with 11 games remaining. Not only would it take a historic set of circumstances to make that up, but they would need to pass four other teams in the process. It's not happening.

Assuming the Red Sox win the division (since you can't play a division rival in round 1), they would face the division winner with the worse Win/Loss Percentage.

Houston takes on San Francisco tonight, Oswalt vs. Lowry. I can't imagine Houston staying in the race if they lose tonight, so this game is a must win.

Remember the last series lasts TWO weeks, so these matchups continue until October 3rd.

Santana is scary. Since his rough start in April/May, he's posted a 1.50 ERA the rest of the way.