EVIL~! alkeiper

Bill Mueller (.326) is your AL Batting Champion. By all rights, Choi should be starting and Karros should be on the B-Team.

Atlanta @ Philadelphia Greg Maddux vs. Kevin Millwood. The Braves need simply to win this game to gain home field advantage in the NLCS. For the Phillies, its the very last game in Veterans Stadium history. Hopefully, it will also be the last game managed by Larry Bowa. Los Angeles @ San Francisco Wilson Alvarez vs. Kevin Correja. The Giants have just about conceded home field advantage, choosing instead to rest their players. All home field advantage means is that they play 4 games at Atlanta IF they face the Braves in the NLCS. A win along with an Atlanta loss, and they get home field anyway. Minnesota @ Detroit Kyle Lohse vs. Mike Maroth. The Tigers are sitting on 119 losses. After last night's improbable comeback, they're one win away from avoiding the record. The Twins won't go balls to the wall to win, so this is the perfect opportunity for the Tigers to end the season on a high note. Colorado @ San Diego Darren Oliver vs. Jake Peavy. San Diego? They're playing their last game at Qualcomm Stadium before moving into a new park next year. Qualcomm is not closing, as the Chargers will still call the stadium home. Games that don't matter Baltimore @ NY Yankees Cleveland @ Toronto Boston @ Tampa Bay Montreal @ Cincinnati NY Mets @ Florida Milwaukee @ Houston Chicago WS @ Kansas City Texas @ Anaheim Pittsburgh @ Chicago Cubs St. Louis @ Arizona Oakland @ Seattle

These people need to piss off and realize that they should be happy with what they have. Abreu walks 100 times a year. The only other players with streaks that long now are Jason Giambi and Jim Thome. He puts up a .400 OBP every year. He hits for power. He steals bases. The man does everything well, and yet the Phillie fans want more. According to Win Shares, he's the 7th most valuable player in the National League. What more do the fans want?

Is Bobby Abreu having a bad season? He's doing perfectly well from my vantage point. Jimmy Rollins is a special case. First off, he contributes a great deal with the glove. And for another thing, he's stilll better now than Larry Bowa ever was. Pat Burrell is going to have to hit, because there's no way the Phillies are getting rid of his contract.

I'm not going to write a full baseball preview for tomorrow. The only meaningful games are the Atlanta and San Francisco games, and even that's only if the Giants win game 2 tonight. Tomorrow, I suggest watching your favorite non-playoff team for the last time this season. Also, the very last game in Veterans' Stadium history is tomorrow. See the last game of a dying relic before it is mercifully destroyed.

No they aren't. San Francisco will concede home field advantage to avoid playing the game, and the commissioner's office has concured. Makes sense, as the Giants would have to fly cross county for one game before flying back to start the Marlins series the very next day.

Fuck

Walked, stole second, stole third, scored on wild pitch. Talk about winning a game by yourself. The Tigers just need to win tomorrow to avoid tying the loss record. It should be noted that they will NOT beat the '62 Mets record for worst win pct.

And the Tigers have WON!

Tigers scored 7 runs in the 7th and 8th innings to tie the game at 8, now in the 9th. The White Sox walloped Kansas City, 19-3. Weird thing is that the Sox hit no home runs, while the Royals hit two. Roy Halladay won his 22nd game, a new Blue Jays record.

What "recent history"? Since 1995 the Braves have lost in round 1 twice- I would hardly consider that to be choking like a dog. The Braves have better offence, better bullpen and I think their starting pitching can match up to the Cubbies. Braves in 4 Bob, that post could very well refer to the Braves/Cubs series in '98, where the Cubs fared badly.

You know what the only thing worse than the Cubs/Red Sox World Series would be? Hearing one more goddamned joke about how the Cubs/Red Sox would be the sign of the apocalypse.

The Cubs are six outs away from the postseason, and up by six runs.

Tim McCarver, with Thome on 2nd, no outs, game tied. "This is an OBVIOUS bunting situation...." No its not. Giving the other team the first out so that you add a marginally better chance of scoring is not a good idea. Your odds are always better with 0 outs than with 1. Kevin Kennedy "If the Cubs make the playoffs, this is a different Cubs team than a few years ago." Well DUH.

I'm convinced that the worst problem baseball has, the absolute WORST, is the fact that FOX broadcasts important games. Because of the Pirates/Cubs game, the Phillies/Braves game was placed in a small box at the bottom of the screen. With two outs, a runner on, one run behind, and NO INDICATION OF THE COUNT. And Abreu ties the game, and John Smoltz blows a save. If Fox can't broadcast the game properly, then leave it to Comcast, who properly broadcasts the game, and lets us listen to the excellent Harry Kalas, instead of fucking Tim McCarver.

And its a final. The Astros have lost the first two games against the Brewers. The Cubs lead game 1 vs. the Pirates 4-2 in the 8th. The Cubs could actually clinch today if they pull off a sweep.

Astros down by 3 in the bottom of the 9th.

Just out of curiousity, how does Dontrell rank 4th in MVP, but not at all in the Cy Young award?

I think its just to switch things up a bit.

Wild Card teams can't play a team from the same division in the first round. So the Red Sox move on to the team with the 2nd best record. Same goes for the Marlins. They face the Giants regardless of who has the best record.

As long as its not Yankees/Marlins, I'm happy.

Like I point out in my preview, the Cubs could actually clinch tomorrow.

Cleveland @ Toronto Terry Mulholland vs. Roy Halladay. Roy Halladay gets one more shot at 22 wins, and a club record. Atlanta @ Philadelphia Mike Hampton vs. Amaury Telemaco. The Braves seek home field advantage. They're up by two wins over the Giants. Pittsburgh @ Chicago Cubs Josh Fogg vs. Mark Prior. Ryan Vogelsong vs. Matt Clement. Let's try this again. The Cubs are a half game up on the Astros. A sweep, and they go into Sunday at least a game up. A Cubs sweep combined with an Astros loss, and you can pop the cork. Milwaukee @ Houston Wes Obermueller vs. Ron Villone. Yes, the Astros are pitching Ron Villone. The Cubs have to be salivating at this one. Still, if Shawn Estes can do it..... Los Angeles @ San Francisco Edwin Jackson vs. Jerome Williams. Masao Kida vs. Dustin Hermanson. Giants competing for home field advantage. Of course with Dustin Hermanson on the mound, I don't think the Giants are putting much stock in home field advantage. Minnesota @ Detroit Brad Radke vs. Gary Knotts. 119 and counting. St. Louis @ Arizona Sterling Hitchcock vs. Chris Capuano. Since I'm cheating a little bit on the timing of these posts, I don't know who won Friday's game yet. As of this writing, the D'backs are up 2 after 7. If the Cards lost, then forget about this game. But if they won, then the Cardinals live another day. Even if they survived, they still need Houston and Chicago to lose every game. Games that don't matter Texas @ Anaheim NY Mets @ Florida Montreal @ Cincinnati Colorado @ San Diego Chicago White Sox @ Kansas City Boston @ Tampa Bay Oakland @ Seattle Baltimore @ NY Yankees

The whole thing was an April Fools Gag. The thing is, Plimpton painted such a vivid portrait that people BOUGHT it.

-Mike Lowell has been cleared to return, and hopes to play in the Marlin's last game on Sunday. -Mark Grace is retiring after the season. -Author George Plimpton died. Plimpton is best known to baseball fans for authoring SI's infamous portrait on Mets "prospect" Sidd Fynch, a fictional pitcher who was rumoured to throw 168 MPH. Everyone bought it.