Dan Gould

that might have been the end of the Red Sox season but Hot Stove season doesn't start til the Series is over and free agents, trades and roster moves are the topics that sustain us til February.

Oh yeah. I love how he defended Giambi but doesn't think there's anything he can or should do for A-Rod. That guy hates A-Rod and doesn't care what it does to his team. Not much of a team player in my book. I mean all Jeter had to do was say "this guy is working hard, he's a great player and he's going to produce, it doesn't help when the fans boo him" and the fans would have backed off. But no ....

Let's see, I started this past season's MLB thread and it went 32 pages. I don't think anyone is boycotting this.

Brad suggested I get it started and at first I thought that there's nothing really happening, but then I realized that there is one topic we can work over: Barry Bonds Declared Free Agency So where does Bonds end up? A lot of people assume he should go to the AL and be a DH, but not only does that assume that an AL team will have him and all the attendant headaches, but that Bonds will swallow some pride and agree to be DH. I read somewhere that his Range Factor wasn't at all bad which would suggest that what we all saw (an old man lumbering around LF) wasn't really the case. And speaking of swallowing pride, the Giants owner made some comments about Bonds that suggested that they are finally ready to move into the post-Bonds era and start building a real team, with, like, maybe some youth or something. And Bonds took it as if the owner said he wanted to have sex with Barry's mom or something. :g So if he gets an offer that is big on incentives and low on guaranteed salary, what does Barry do? Does anyone want him and the enormous aggravation he'll bring? My best guess is that Bonds goes back to San Francisco, on a salary somewhere in between the mega bucks he's been getting and what he is truly worth, which is maybe 4 mil plus incentives. Maybe 10 mil plus incentives will get it done?

Its a really screwy system, IMO, and I've never gotten a grasp on how it works. I know it was 19 games against each of your division rivals, but I think that actually changes next year, or at least due to some other circumstance, I believe the Red Sox get only 18 games against Tampa, or something like that. its a mess, Hans, and really doesn't make a lot of sense. I think that interleague play has run its course, but the owners think it is still great and the players won't make a stand to say "enough already". But it would be better to play the teams in your league exclusively.

Because I gave some honestly held opinions as a fan of the game and have gotten hostility back in my face.

Dan, my team won more games than anyone did the past two years (2004/2005) and I didn't cry and insist on a rule change because someone (especially a lowly wild card winner) came away with the victory. Give them their due, they are the champions (even if you don't think they deserve it). Those who can (play), do and those who can't sit around and write about it, make preditiions that are meaningless and get shitty then their predictions don't come true. m~ Try not to be a complete ass, Mark. ...you truly are a poor loser, even months after your team has been eliminted. m~ It doesn't have a goddamn thing to do with it. And how do you get from my quite reasonable proposal to some bullshit about your team having the best record for two years running? What is that supposed to entitle you to, a free pass for winning a pathetic 83 games in the regular season this year? Your team sucked then, and deserves about 25% of the credit for winning now. Now go celebrate your world championship and kindly fuck off. Why resort to name calling when someone doesn't agree with you? You are a poor sport and truly a class act......no more free Red Sox photos for you! m~ Show me where I "resort to name calling". "Fuck off" is a command. On the other hand, "poor loser" and "Those who can (play), do and those who can't sit around and write about it, make preditiions that are meaningless and get shitty then their predictions don't come true" sounds a lot closer to "name calling." While you're searching in vain for "name calling" don't forget to shove your camera up your ass. That's another command, by the way.

Dan, my team won more games than anyone did the past two years (2004/2005) and I didn't cry and insist on a rule change because someone (especially a lowly wild card winner) came away with the victory. Give them their due, they are the champions (even if you don't think they deserve it). Those who can (play), do and those who can't sit around and write about it, make preditiions that are meaningless and get shitty then their predictions don't come true. m~ Try not to be a complete ass, Mark. ...you truly are a poor loser, even months after your team has been eliminted. m~ It doesn't have a goddamn thing to do with it. And how do you get from my quite reasonable proposal to some bullshit about your team having the best record for two years running? What is that supposed to entitle you to, a free pass for winning a pathetic 83 games in the regular season this year? Your team sucked then, and deserves about 25% of the credit for winning now. Now go celebrate your world championship and kindly fuck off.

Its Yiddish, Mark, meaning "pest".

Dan, my team won more games than anyone did the past two years (2004/2005) and I didn't cry and insist on a rule change because someone (especially a lowly wild card winner) came away with the victory. Give them their due, they are the champions (even if you don't think they deserve it). Those who can (play), do and those who can't sit around and write about it, make preditiions that are meaningless and get shitty then their predictions don't come true. m~ Try not to be a complete ass, Mark.

Here's hoping, Jim!

I think Marty is right about the need for seven game playoffs all the way through (which would definitely necesitate clipping the season by a week) and also that the Tigers lost their momentum during the week off.

It would take more than a network to do that, because the luxury tax, revenue sharing and expanded playoffs (wild card) means so many teams are in contention in September and get ticket sales they wouldn't otherwise have. Giving up September gate revenue is a non-starter.

Substitute "hockey and basketball" for "football" and this describes me to a "t". I guess Jim A. and old Conn. aren't up yet, or they'd be all over option 2.

I was shocked at this news too. I'll never forget the video of the time that the umpires asked Neikro to empy his pockets and he non-chalantly dropped his emery board as he raised his now empty hands. The look on the umpire's face as he turned to watch the emery board hit the ground was priceless.

Great. I screw up the poll because I realize I'd essentially repeated the last option and a couple of nudniks are voting for the blank.

...sour grapes is right....jesus! Stop your whining, your team has been out for months.....time to move on!!! Yeah yeah yeah, enjoy your championship and remember this: I'd argue for the same proposal even if it eliminated the Red Sox or Cubs from the postseason. The dilution of the playoffs is bad enough, and the line that needs to be drawn is above 83 win teams being "champions". It was bad enough when the Twins did it with 88. Tell you what: I'll call you champions without reservation if you admit your team sucked during the year and that you were embarassed to barely win a piece of crap division.

I always feel a little blue when my six month companion, baseball, leaves in October. Not only does it usually end in sorrow over another lost season, but it brings a reminder that cold, dreary, dark days are ahead. I think that Bart Giamatti put it best: But that's the way I look at the end of the season. What about you?

I'd be so much more impressed with this Cards team if they'd won instead of having it handed to them. Yeah yeah, sour grapes, blah blah blah. But don't tell me about the Cards taking advantage of mistakes, those mistakes led directly to crucial runs being scored. You didn't need a clutch hit when a team throws away two outs at third base, and muffs another sacrifice bunt getting the "easy out". IMO, no team with a winning percentage of .516 and 82 wins on the season should even have the opportunity to win a championship. There ought to be a rule that if a division can't produce a winner with a minimum of 86 wins, they forfeit their spot in the playoffs. 8 teams in the AL won more games than the Cards, including my pathetic Red Sox. Under my proposal, if there is another team in the same league with more wins and no spot in the playoffs, they're in, shitty team is out. If there is no team with a better record in shitty team's league, shitty team stays home, top seed gets a bye into the LCS.

Happy Birthday to one of my favorite Yurpeans!

Varsity spelled with a "c". Naturally I didn't turn the sound on, their creative spelling told me everything I needed to know about their talent.

I don't get it.

Your comparison to the NFL and the NBA - number one, NBA ratings are down ever since MJ quit. But the NFL - the big difference is that Superbowl Sunday attracts boatloads of casual fans. Football has the perfect set-up: one game per week makes those games "events" and the ultimate championship game is the ultimate "event". Baseball, on the other hand, needs a compelling matchup to get attention from casual fans. This series is the antithesis of that. On top of that, its absolutely true that in a universe of cable TV, youtube and everything else that you can find on the internet, TV ratings have trended down for a long time. The fact that attendance is up so much suggests several things: the sport is healthier than post-season TV ratings suggest BUT Not everyone who fills up the stadiums in June want to watch a world series they don't have a stake in. Last point is this, if you were watching the game at a sports bar, those sets with the WS of poker on didn't impact the ratings one bit. Neilsen doesn't count sports bars or dorms or a lot of places that a lot of fans watch games.