EVIL~! alkeiper

The Phillies swept all nine games from the Braves at Turner Field this season. Amazing.

It'd be circular research. Teams replace pitchers when they are struggling, thus you'd find the runs increasing with more pichers.

I'm missing something. The Brewers lost the lead because they let their closer throw 18 pitches?

I rather Curt Schilling than the corporate-speak most athletes have perfected.

Keep an eye on recent performance. He's hitting .351/.438/.845 over his last 25 games, with 12 home runs, 10 doubles and 33 RBIs. He's hit five go-ahead home runs this month. That's why he is gaining momentum.

Also for Met fans, the press box at Washington is very high and that creates a bad camera angle for television. Agree?

SNY ran a poll stating that 85% felt Argenis Reyes should start over Luis Castillo. What am I missing on Reyes? He's 25, has absolutely no power and his OBP's aren't impressive.

I've heard Howard's name come up a few times recently, but really, is there any chance that Pujols doesn't win the MVP award in a landslide? Yeah, mostly via the usual sportswriting stupidity. I've watched Howard all year. NO WAY is this guy the MVP. He was absolutely awful at the plate most of the year, and doesn't contribute anywhere else.

2009 schedules are out. Only three Mets/Phillies game in Sept. next year, again. Phillies score four in the first. Fantastic start considering this is a very weak pitching matchup on their side.

Albert Pujols is hitting .357 now, with a .461 OBP. And Gold Glove defense. With the Cardinals at least finishing above .500, he really should get the MVP.

One of the few times I ever felt uncomfortable watching wrestling. That was just awful, still can't believe Vince didn't think to edit it out Agreed. I actually stopped watching for a full year after that.

I've seen Slaughter do that bump numerous times. The boot camp match with Sheik, I think he pulled it out during the '90 Survivor Series as well. Classic Sarge. He was a tremendously underrated wrestler.

What makes Posnanski great is that along with being a great writer, he is greatly willing to accept and investigate new ideas.

If they both choke, the Houston Astros are the wild card. Of course, they would help their chances greatly if they quit whining and just played baseball.

Joe Posnanski's blog is tremendous.

The problem is if the Twins got that hot, they would win the division outright. Notwithstanding the Mets, the Rays' lead is bigger, and there are less games left in the schedule. And bigger than that, the Rays haven't shown a reason they would go on an extended losing streak.

With two weeks left, just about anything can happen. Just look at the L10 column and see if you can separate the good teams from the bad. We're down to about two real races. The White Sox and Twins in the AL Central, and the Mets, Phillies and Brewers chasing three spots. Oddly, all three of the NL teams finish with a week at home. The Phillies have the easiest schedule, simply on the basis of having no more games against the Cubs. Tonight the Phillies send rookie J.A. Happ against the Braves' lone good starter, Jair Jurrjens. The Mets are turning to Brandon Knight against WBC hero Shairon Martis and the Washington Nationals. The Brewers have Ben Sheets against the Cubs' Jason Marquis, so clearly the Brew Crew has the best matchup of the night. A great chance to turn things around tonight. The White Sox and Twins games are worth noting for their opposing pitchers. The White Sox face Phil Hughes, coming off some impressive minor league outings and finally looking like an elite prospect. The Yankees could use a solid Hughes going into next season. The Twins face Cliff Lee, going for a 23rd win.

Here's an event I don't even need to rewatch to discuss, I've seen it as many times as any other event. The Rumble is really split into two parts, everything up to Bossman's elimination is prologue and Piper's entrance really kicks off the fun. It's surprising how quickly the last few eliminations come, particularly with the later Rumbles trying to build epic finishes.

You'll have to direct me to the point where the Mets had this in the bag. Running the race and falling short (assuming they do, considering the deficit is HALF A GAME), is not the same thing as blowing a seemingly insurmountable lead.

The Phillies have nearly fucked up twice worrying about Chipper F'n Jones on the basepaths. Just get the hitters guys.

Lidge. His line includes 81 strikeouts, only two home runs and a 1.99 ERA.

Brad Lidge in to close out a one run game. He's 36/36 in save opportunities, but this may be his biggest of the season.

Bockwinkel isn't quite underrated, maybe underwatched. I've never really heard much anti-Bockwinkel sentiment at all. Everyone familiar with his era appreciated his work.

The club is eight games up. At this point, I think there's no harm in putting a guy like Howry in a clutch situation. If anything, it could give the manager a chance to assess and evaluate a guy like that to determine his postseason role. I dont think Yost was ever in the Milwaukee bullpen. No, but whose bright idea was it to use the situational lefty to walk Howard so that same lefty could then pitch against Pat Burrell? Yost was terrible at bullpen management.

And Ryan F'n Howard strikes again! The NL East lead is six outs away.