The Man in Blak

Well, with the additional footage showing how deep Alex Rodriguez was playing (and knowing that Sheffield has all of a dozen games at first), it's somewhat defensible, provided that you have a guy who can actually bunt. The problem is that Craig Monroe, the leading home run hitter on the team, is probably not the guy you want to tap for small ball in that situation. I'd also agree with Morgan that the pitch was a terrible one to try on as well. He probably had a better shot at just taking it on the forearm and getting a free trip to first base, rather than putting forth an awkward "defensive" bunt.

If you have a hitter that actually knows how to bunt in that situation who'll drag it up the first base line, you probably give the Yankee Stadium crowd a collective heart attack. Craig Monroe is not that hitter.

Someone forgot to feed the monkeys in the ESPN production truck again. The Tigers lost the 1987 ALCS to the Royals? And then Morgan mixes up Sheffield and Jeter of all people. At least he didn't confuse "Jason" Verlander with Zumaya like Miller, I guess.

More outside fastballs from Verlander.

How astute of them to bring up Kenny Lofton's overreaction during the 2002 NLCS. There's still time in the playoffs for somebody to take his head off with an errant fastball.

It was a mid-80's curve that started high and took an insane break into the middle of the plate. There was absolutely nothing he was going to do about that.

And A-Rod looks at a curveball for strike three. I think just about everybody knew that curve was coming but, in A-Rod's defense, that was a pretty nasty breaking ball.

Bases loaded and two outs for Alex Rodriguez in the first. Verlander may be in for a long day, if he continues to try to get the Glavine outside strike.

Jump cut to the nervous children!

Is the third base coach narcoleptic? Paging Bill Plaschke, paging Bill Plaschke...

Between Hunter's dive for that ball, Bartlett's adventures, and everybody swinging at everything yesterday, the Twins have done a remarkable job of taking themselves out of this series.

JETER'S POSTSEASON CLUTCH HITTING REACHES SUPERHERO PROPORTIONS I especially love the following excerpt: Apparently, when ARod hits a home run to extend out a lead, he's simply "tacking on" or "padding his stats." When Jeter hits a home run to extend out a lead, it's "insurance."

AL MVP 1. Derek Jeter 2. Johan Santana 3. Grady Sizemore 4. Joe Mauer 5. David Ortiz 6. Carlos Guillen 7. Vernon Wells 8. Jermaine Dye 9. Roy Halladay 10. Justin Morneau NL MVP 1. Albert Pujols 2. Carlos Beltran 3. Ryan Howard 4. Lance Berkman 5. Miguel Cabrera 6. Alfonso Soriano 7. Jose Reyes 8. Roy Oswalt 9. Chase Utley 10. Garrett Atkins AL Cy Young 1. Johan Santana 2. Roy Halladay 3. Francisco Liriano NL Cy Young 1. Roy Oswalt 2. Brandon Webb 3. Chris Carpenter AL Manager of the Year 1. Jim Leyland 2. Ken Macha 3. Joe Torre NL Manager of the Year 1. Joe Girardi 2. Bruce Bochy 3. Willie Randolph AL Rookie of the Year 1. Francisco Liriano 2. Justin Verlander 3. Jered Weaver NL Rookie of the Year 1. Hanley Ramirez 2. Dan Uggla 3. Ryan Zimmerman

Don't forget, one of those wins involved a miracle homer from Albert Pujols off of Cla Meredith in the 8th. This matchup is more lopsided than you think.

I'll go with the Mets in four, as the short series will mask their depleted starting pitching. It's the next series where they could get into big trouble.

The Cardinals were 25th in the league in stolen bases; they had 59 steals all year, with over a third of those coming from part-time contributors (Wilson, Taguchi). I'm not sure that St. Louis can really exploit that weakness. Since the Cardinals decided to burn Anthony Reyes on short rest for the final day of the season, start Suppan in Game 2 on the road (red flag) and start Weaver in what could be a season-ending game (BIG fucking red flag), I'm going to say Padres in a massacre. (But quietly hope for St. Louis in five.)

I'll pick the Twins in four, but it could be a complete walk for Minnesota if Harden doesn't start Game 3.

I'll pick and hope for the Yankees in five, just because we'll be subjected to a relentless deluge of articles about A-Rod and Abreu's chokery for six months if they get knocked out in the first round.

When the best thing that you can focus on for each channel is the orchestral bumper music, I think it's safe to say that they're all terrible. That being said, CBS seems to have the most insightful in-game commentary (by default, really - everybody else is mind-numbingly terrible), so they get my vote. What's crazy is how far Fox has gone down hill. The first few years of Fox Sports (with a sane John Madden working with Pat Summerall) were actually quite revolutionary, with a score that actually displayed at the top through the whole game, pop-up windows that showed more information seamlessly, and a line that showed the first down marker. The problem is that they haven't added a damn thing since then and, in lieu of progress, they've just cranked up the volume on the bells and whistles to the point where it grates the nerves. (This applies for their coverage of Baseball and NASCAR as well.) Also, credit to ESPN for turning Monday Night Football into a complete debacle as well. I think we're about two to three weeks (around the time when we start to see ratings trends) from seeing the real backlash occur, as virtually everything about the broadcast is a real drag on the experience, from the idiotic score monitor at the bottom to the hideous commentary.

Like PLAGIARISM!, Aenima represented the peak of my appreciation for Tool, which dropped dramatically after Lateralus came out. I'd consider seeing them in concert, but not with that gawd-awful set list that was posted earlier.

I can't believe that LaRussa would even consider Marquis for any start in the postseason. To be frank, I'm not even sure he'd be on the roster, if I had the choice.

LaRoche strikes out swinging and the Astros live to fight another day. The win has more repercussions than you might think - if the Cardinals clinch today, they're able to rest Chris Carpenter for the NLDS and have a bullpen game tomorrow. Now they're looking at the possibility of starting Carpenter tomorrow to clinch it, leaving him as a one-start possibility for the opening round of the playoffs.

The LaRoche home run was legit as far as I can tell, but both MLB.com and ESPN gamecasts kind of went TILT during the top of the ninth during Renteria's throwing error, for whatever reason. 5-4 ballgame, LaRoche at the plate.

In a nice touch, the local Cardinals affiliate station (KTRS) has the Atlanta feed from the Houston/Atlanta game, so I'm able to follow the game play-by-play. Laroche ties up the game 2-2 in the bottom of the 8th with his 32nd home run on the year.

Well, I'm pretty sure Maine and Perez will be eligible for arbitration, so that won't be an issue. And Glavine does have a club option available as well. But yeah, the rest of the staff is up in the air going into next year. Edit: Dave Williams may be eligible for arbitration too, come to think of it.