MLB 2008

[BERIGAN]

Thanks a lot Larry Jones.

C'mon Cubs!!

Sorry, but the checks bounced the last two days!

[Dan Gould]

Hey! Cubs pitched around a lead-off triple to force extras. Keep hope alive!

(My Dad was pointing out how nice it would be if the Cubs could do to the Mets what they did to us in 1969. The way I look at is that the best thing that can happen is to force the Mets to take it to the last day and use Santana on Sunday. Then he can't pitch the first game of the Division Series. I'm pretty sure the Cubs can handle the Mets if they face them in the first round but I'd feel better if Santana won't pitch twice in the series. Actually the problem with the schedule is that after the Mets, the Cubs get the Brewers. So they could hurt the Mets by winning a couple and then help them by beating the Brewers?)

In the meantime, I have to say that for the last month or so, Manny DelCarmen has pitched as well as I've ever seen him. And Okajima has pitched better, given lighter responsibilities than last year. If they can keep it up, Masterson gives them three very strong arms in front of Papelbon. Who knows, the starters and the bullpen could be the best thing the Sox have going for them.

[Dan Gould]

And a two-out, three run rally by the Cubbies!!!

[Chalupa]

And a two-out, three run rally by the Cubbies!!!

YES!!

Go Chicago!

[Chalupa]

Holy crap! I can't believe the Cubs were down 5-1 on the road and won 9-6 in extra innings. Thanks Chicago!

Edit: Phils' magic number for the Division and the WC is now 3.

Edited September 25, 2008 by J.H. Deeley

[jlhoots]

Irrational exuberance.

Mets lost.

Phillies lost.

Brewers (Sabathia) beat Pirates.

Brewers & Mets now tied.

Indeed, go Cubs - especially (only) tomorrow.

[Soulstation1]

Ok

if prince fielder hits a walk off homer

why in the world would you be in the front of the pack at home plate to greet his big ass...........

[Big Al]

Looks like the front-office has already written off next season as well....

Nolan Ryan opts for more of the same for the 2009 Texas Rangers

By RANDY GALLOWAY rgalloway@star-telegram.com

That’s me, down for the count.

Never saw it coming. Took it flush on the chin.

Tom Hicks wins. John Hart (still a trusted adviser) wins. Jon Daniels wins.

Nolan Ryan is now one of them.

Pass the Advil. Nolan once told us, didn’t he, that product was the best for the relief of aches and pain?

The Rangers will stay the same for 2009, the same in philosophy and leadership. Nolan made that declaration to our man Jeff Wilson on Tuesday night at The Ballpark.

This is a great victory for the Jon Boy baseball administration. It’s a puffed-up moment for the ownership reign of Hicks, since Tom informed me a month or so ago that Nolan was his best hire in 10 years of notoriously bad ones.

It also means manager Ron Washington hangs on for another year, which for fairness was actually the right thing to do. Ryan’s worst move would have been to fire Washington and keep Daniels.

One thing, Nolan. Don’t leave the manager hanging as a lame duck. Since Ron is back for next season, give him an extra year (2010) on the contract.

The verbal abuse — much deserved, I admit — came rolling in Wednesday from friends and fellow media members.

I have repeatedly championed the hiring of Nolan in February as the Rangers’ new great hope, a hiring that would bring much-needed change. My now-gleeful pals had a totally different view.

To them, Nolan was just a hood ornament for Hicks. A big name. A good name. But in the end, the Rangers would still be the same ol’ Rangers.

Well ...

You can talk all you want all season with respected people from within the organization, particularly Ryan, but what you think you know, you find out you don’t. Plus, thousands and thousands of former fans, along with the rest of us, can see it on TV (if they still care enough to watch), so no explanation is needed about why this organization continues to fail.

Therefore, the now-trite question of where is the pitching won’t be necessary.

Click here for (literally) more of the same....

With Tom Hicks running this team (into the ground), I feel like we have baseball's equivalent of the Detroit Lions. Sure there are worse teams than the Rangers, but every damn one of them that have been around a lot longer (and some not even as long) have won a playoff series, some even a World Series. As long as shit like this keeps happening and as long as Hicks/Hart is still running the show, it's gonna be a looooooooooooong time before we see any post-season play around here.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if I'm Michael Young, I'm calling my agent and demanding a trade right now to a serious contender. This guy's career is going to waste on the Rangers, and if he was on a respectable baseball team, he'd be infinitely more popular.

Having said all that, GO CUBS!!!!

[Quincy]

Ok

if prince fielder hits a walk off homer

why in the world would you be in the front of the pack at home plate to greet his big ass...........

No kidding! I loved how he untucked his jersey as he was rounding the bases.

[Tim McG]

Congrats to Joe Torre and Man Ram for saving the [hated] Dogers' butts from yet another mediocre season in th NL West.

Enjoy it, Noj.

[Tim McG]

Good thing the [hated] dodgers won it by backing in with an AZ loss....the Giants would just have loved to knock them out of the playoffs or at least into a Monday one-game playoff.

Looking forward to watching my Giants waving bye-bye with their knuckles this weekend.

C'mon, Bochy....don't let us fans down.

BEAT LA!

Edited September 26, 2008 by GoodSpeak

[Noj]

Los Angeles Dodgers, NL West Champs, baby!!!

Weakling SF giants=gone fishing.

[Chalupa]

I'm lovin' Micah Hoffpauir right now.

[Chalupa]

And I hatin' his team's bullpen.

[Dan Gould]

An annoying loss for sure. Who would have guessed that the Met bullpen wouldn't blow it in the ninth? Now it will be up to the Marlins, and I guess I need to root for the Cubs to tank against the Brewers. One thing is for sure - anyone with tickets to the "final" regular season series at Shea better be ready for some very wet baseball. They need to get each game in and will play through conditions that might otherwise lead to a rain delay or postponement.

[Quincy]

Another dramatic victory for the Brewers as Braun hits a grand slam in the 10th.

Yovani Gallardo throws for the first time since May 1st and Ks 7 & 1 run allowed in 4 innings (held him to 64 pitches.) He had surgery last May on a torn ligament in his knee on his pushoff leg. Nice job after such a long layoff at an important time.

[BERIGAN]

Noj/Jon(I shall never admit how long it took me to figure out what Noj was! )

Congrats! It sure looked like a longshot a few months back. AZ was the best team in baseball after May....

[BERIGAN]

Another dramatic victory for the Brewers as Braun hits a grand slam in the 10th.

Yovani Gallardo throws for the first time since May 1st and Ks 7 & 1 run allowed in 4 innings (held him to 64 pitches.) He had surgery last May on a torn ligament in his knee on his pushoff leg. Nice job after such a long layoff at an important time.

Their win, and the Mets win, were something else! Not much of a Mutts fan, but I will feel sorry for them or the Brewers, whoever doesn't make it. \

Oh, and for those that think closers are meaningless, I heard Gammons say(Via info from Bill James and Starks) that if the Mets games all ended after 8 innings, they would have a 7 1/2 game lead in the east....

Dan, I am wondering about the rain. They may have to cancel a game or two, and play double headers. MLB can screw around the Astros, but they can't do the same thing to the Mets and have them lose because Santana or someone else hurt themselves in a downpour....

[papsrus]

I was toggling around among the games last night -- most fun I've had watching baseball in a long time. Twins sweeping the ChiSox was great. What a series. I think the Twins would be a tougher opponent for the Rays in the playoffs, but I don't care. I'm hatin' on Ozzie, A.J. and those punk ChiSox. ... And the Mets game, of course. Coming back after falling behind the way they did in the 7th was really something. I missed the Brewers walkoff, but can't have everything.

[tkeith]

FYI

We are gonna sweep the Bosox

Payback for last year's ALCS

Not that it really matters

oops

Side note: Here's crap in the Skankees eye for omitting even video footage of Joe Torre from their celebration. That's the sort of class I'd expect from a Dan Duquette-run franchise, not the New York Yankees.

Edited September 26, 2008 by Thom Keith

[Dan Gould]

I wouldn't mind at all if the Twins steal the division from Chicago, with Javier "He's Not a Big Game Pitcher" Vasquez getting beat on Sunday. Nothing like a little Ozzie explosion to end the season, and the Twins rotation, iirc, is well-set for the post-season with Liriano available for Game 1. He gave the Rays trouble the last time he faced them and has an ERA just over 2.00 since he came back from AAA.

[BERIGAN]

The baseball tonight I recorded via DVR started way late(1:30 AM) so I only saw the Brewers and Mets highlights, didn't know about the ChiSox! Where oh where is Jazzypaul???

Kind of hard for me to root for the Twins or Sox. The Twins traded away Santana, and got less than they should have for him. Traded away Matt Garza. Amazing what they are doing, no doubt, but I feel like as always, they cry poor while drawing pretty well....imagine how different theirs and the Red Sox fate would be if they hadn't been so cheap as to release Ortiz many moons ago???

[Dan Gould]

Ortiz had to get away from the Twins organization to succeed. They didn't understand what they had with him and trained him in the Twins way to play the game. So, for instance, early in his career with a runner on second and no outs, he took a mighty rip and flied out to RF. Then he got an earful about why his job was to ground to the right side to get the runner to third base. So his first year in Boston, same situation, he grounds to the right side, and I'm not sure if it was Grady Little or Theo but someone took him aside and said, "you gotta knock that runner in!"

Now things might have been different if, say, the Yankees had signed him when he was released.

And speaking of the Yanks, wouldn't it also be nice if the Twins send Santana to the NL yet still make the playoffs, while the team that got him gets there too and at the same time, while the Yanks come up goose-eggs with the young players they held onto, the Sox go to the playoffs with their young players playing key roles?

That would really chap Hankie's hide.

[Chalupa]

Their win, and the Mets win, were something else! Not much of a Mutts fan, but I will feel sorry for them or the Brewers, whoever doesn't make it.

Oh man, I'm just hoping that the Phils can hang on somehow. The way that they have been playing the last two games I would not be surprised if they end up the odd man out.

[Dan Gould]

Here's an encouraging stat from the Globe:

Beginning July 23, the day Justin Masterson made his first relief appearance, Sox relievers Masterson, Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima, Javier Lopez and Jonathan Papelbon – the big five of the Boston bullpen – have a combined ERA of 1.91.

That's good, because with the unknown health status of Drew and Lowell, they may have to rely on the pitching staff to get them through to another championship.