EVIL~! alkeiper

The Phillies still need to score off the Braves to make the Mets' loss matter. And there's the fact that a Phillies' win and Brewers loss would still make the Mets the wild card leader. And for the "sky is falling" Met fans, remember the Phillies dropped two of three to the Nats last week. They're still in the race.

The lack of group sales really hurts. Minor league teams really depend on advance promotion for their games. Flores has 59 games under his belt, so it's hard to say that his durability is proven. The Rookie ball guys look good, but it is still a LONG way to the Majors. Worth noting that in 2006, BA rated Cole Hamels #1 in the Phillies' organization despite the fact that he had made ten starts over the previous two seasons. He sure made that pick look good. Cahill vs. Anderson is one of those great prospect debates. Buster Posey vs. Tim Alderson is another. Really could go with either guy.

And speaking of minor leaguers, I talk about this Bricktown Showdown game from time to time. The section behind home plate is 3/4ths empty. I like the minors, but it's apparent that there's little interest in a glorified minor league exhibition at a neutral site.

Here's an inquiry for those of you who know your team's prospects. I'm coming up with a top prospect for each organization, but I think I may overlook a guy or two who made a huge jump this season. So here's the preliminary list. Any names I should consider? Arizona: Jarrod Parker Atlanta: Jason Heyward Baltimore: Matt Wieters Boston: Lars Anderson Chicago Cubs: Josh Vitters Chicago WS: Gordon Beckham Cincinnati: Drew Stubbs Cleveland: Matt Laporta Colorado: Dexter Fowler Detroit: Rick Porcello Florida: Cameron Maybin Houston: Jason Castro Kansas City: Mike Moustakas LA Angels: Nick Adenhart LA Dodgers: James McDonald Milwaukee: Alcides Escobar/Mat Gamel Minnesota: Aaron Hicks NY Mets: Fernando Martinez (Yeah, I considered Wilmer Flores and it's close) NY Yankees: Austin Jackson Oakland: Brett Anderson Philadelphia: Carlos Carrasco Pittsburgh: Andrew McCutchen St. Louis: Colby Rasmus San Diego: Allan Dykstra San Francisco: Buster Posey Seattle: Carlos Triunfel Tampa Bay: David Price Texas: Neftali Feliz Toronto: Travis Snider Washington: Ross Detwiler

Regarding tonight, I think the Brewers are much deeper in the hot seat than the Mets tonight. They already made a panic move and if Sabathia loses, what next?

Reserving judgment on Beane at the moment, I took a look at the team stats. God damn, only one player on the whole team slugged above .400?! That's bad, but thankfully it is not a hard problem to solve.

And how long ago did MLB sanction a series at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando?

Yeah, and coming in he had walked 21 in 11 innings, and struck out five. Something of an improvement.

He cut his walk rate in half, and doubled his K rate! At least he's back in the majors. I don't think Willis will be an elite starter, but he should yet perform at this level.

Potential playoff tickets. With any team eyeing a berth, it has to be done. You can't possibly expect to work it the other way, trying to sell 58000 seats in a rush.

In fairness, the beginning of their collapse last year was a loss on Sept. 14.

The best day to have your worst outing is always when it rains in the third. Kazmir needs to get out of Tropicana Field.

Dontrelle Willis is actually starting for the Tigers tonight. I'm surprised that really flew completely under the radar.

The only thing I question about Meltzer's ratings is all those AJPW classics. Really now? It says a person is a fan of the style more than anything. That's well and good, but there's more than one way to skin a cat, so to speak. A Five Star Hall of Fame might be a fun idea, to bounce something around.

SABR put their Baseball Research Journals online from 1972-84, as well as '86 and '89. Most of this stuff is actually not stat related. 1981 for example has an article detailing the construction of Wrigley Field. Check it out. www.brj.sabrwebs.com

The way I figure, here's how home field advantage helps your team. 1. Ease of travel 2. Familiarity with home park 3. Batting last 4. Home fans Numbers one and two don't fall in favor of either team in this case. Both teams had to travel to Milwaukee, and both as Central teams play the same number of games in Milwaukee otherwise. Number three is more of a mental factor than anything. That leaves the fans. If a player can't win because he's being booed instead of cheered, he would not have possibly made it to the Majors in the first place. The Astros lost a significant advantage not playing in Houston, but that would have happened no matter where they played.

Funny that Barron asked the same question more or less simultaneously.

That is the primary reason why I don't take Meltzer's opinion very seriously. I just read it again...nothing before 94 either. Wow, usually guys like him cream over Savage/Steamboat and Hart/Bulldog. Interesting. To throw this around, what are the missing ***** matches. I can definitely see arguments for HHH/Cactus Jack, but nothing since '97 that absolutely HAS to be ****. Personally I have a few on my list, but no sure things. Savage/Steamboat I've seen arguments here as well, though I think it gets five due to historical significance. The Slaughter/Sheik boot camp match is *****, but that might just be a matter of a match review not existing.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,2268738.story Darrin Jackson was offered a radio job alongside Ed Farmer.

Certainly not from the bleachers. I was not impressed when I went. Anyone taking odds on what kind of riot Yankee Stadium sees? The souvenir hunters should be out in full force. ESPN2 has the Bricktown Showdown on Tuesday Night at 8pm. IL champion Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees versus PCL champion Sacramento Rivercats.

Carlos Zambrano through eight. I mention this because I decided the next subtitle will be, "Watch Al jinx more no-hitters!"

They acknowledged OVW on the Wrestling Families dvd.

He's gotten big double plays in both innings. The only extra base hit was Rollins stretching a single into a double.

If the Brewers don't make the wild card, does Ned Yost need to go? He's running the same lineup out tonight that he did this afternoon. Honestly, is Jason Kendall THAT important that he needs to play 18 innings?

Phillies have a chance to tie the wild card tonight. Brett Myers on three games rest against Jeff Suppan.