I'm not sure which American League team I'd rather see face the Rockies. A Colorado-Cleveland series would promise lots of cold weather (I remember the snow in the 1997 series) and plenty of photo ops for the Rockies at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But Sox on Rock has a whole Dr. Seuss feel to it:

"Now, when Tweetle Beetles fight, it's called a Tweetle Beetle Battle. And when they battle in a puddle, it's a Tweetle Beetle Puddle Battle. AND when Tweetle Beetles battle with paddles in a puddle, they call it a Tweetle Beetle Puddle Paddle Battle. AND when Beetles battle Beetles in a Puddle Paddle Battle, and the beetle battle's puddle is a puddle in a bottle, they call this a Tweetle Beetle Bottle Puddle Paddle Battle Muddle. AND when Tweetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles, and the bottle's on a poodle, and the poodle's eating noodles, they call this a Muddle Puddle Tweetle Poodle Beetle Noodle Bottle Paddle Battle."

And for the first time we have a chance at a team going 11-0 in the post season. The White Sox came close with their 11-1 run in 2005.

Sean Kirst remembers Bill Bevens and his near no-hitter in the World Series sixty years ago.

Don Larsen's perfect game plays once again:

On Friday night, Doak Ewing will show the recording in public for the first time, to an audience at the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center at Montclair State University that will include Larsen, Berra and Bob Wolff, who did the original radio broadcast.

It will be the first time Larsen and Berra see the game since they played in it.

"I'm anxious to see it," Berra said Thursday. "I want to hear the play-by-play, see the commercials. It got a lot of reaction from people, it was amazing. A lot of them said they saw it and want to see it again."

The owner of the film is working on a deal to broadcast it on television.

The St. Louis Cardinals players walked away with a nice pay day for winning the World Series:

St. Louis split $20.02 million for beating the Detroit Tigers. A full share of that was worth $362,173, the commissioner's office said Thursday. That was nearly $40,000 more than what White Sox players received last year.

Teams are allowed to divide the shares as they see fit. The Cardinals gave 48 full shares, 7.133 partial shares and 16 cash awards.

When the Cardinals won their previous title, in 1982, a full share was worth $43,280.

A full share for the Tigers was worth $291,668, more than $50,000 higher than the previous mark for a losing team. The 2000 New York Mets held that mark.

If you made the major league minimum in 2006, you nearly doubled your salary. Based on the two points of the Cardinals victories, winnings shares increased 8.9% annually over the period. Not super growth, but I believe it's well ahead of inflation during that period.

Devon Young points out that the last six World Series champions came from each of the six divisions:

2001. NL West (D'backs)
2002. AL West (Angels)
2003. NL East (Marlins)
2004. AL East (Red Sox)
2005. AL Central (White Sox)
2006. NL Central (Cardinals)

The St. Louis Cardinals win the World Series on the strength of their pitching. They end the series allowing just 10 earned runs in five games, an ERA of 2.05. They struck out 37 Tigers while walking just 8 in 44 innings. The Tigers managed to hit just .199 against the Cardinals. This staff handled the Mets, and handled a very similar offense presented by the Tigers.

The Tigers didn't do badly pitching, either. They posted an ERA of 3.00, but allowed eight unearned runs. With the offense not hitting, it didn't really matter. The big difference between the two teams was the walks. The Tigers gave up 23 free passes. St. Louis only hit .228, but with all the walks they put up a much higher OBA.

Congratulations to Jeff Weaver, who amazed me this October. I thought he'd be out of baseball, but he turned around his season and career with five fine outings, culminating with tonight's championship win.

David Eckstein wins the series MVP. Hooray! David and I share the same first name and the same height, so he's been one of my favorites for years. It's his second championship, winning previously with the Angels in 2002.

Tony La Russa becomes the second manager to win the World Series in both leagues, joining Sparky Anderson in that club.

Congratulations once again to the Cardinals. The almost didn't win the NL Central, but since that last weekend of the season, they've been nearly unbeatable.

Congratulations to the Tigers as well. No one expected this team to perform as well as it did. The took out the Yankees and the Athletics, mowing through two of the better teams in the league. A few better throws, and a few more selective plate appearances and they might still be playing. They have a good, young pitching staff, and I expect them to challenge for the division for a while.

Zumaya retires the Cardinals in order in the eighth. The Tigers are down to their last three outs, and need two runs to keep the game and their season going.

Update: Wainwright starts the ninth with two balls to Ordonez.

Update: Ordonez hits a 3-2 pitch off the glove of Wainwright, but Belliard is able to charge and throw out the slow batter. Two outs to go.

Update: Wainwright gets ahead of Casey 0-2, but Casey works the count full. Casey then lines a double off the wall in right center to bring the tying run to the plate, and keep Detroit out of the double play. Ivan Rodriguez will bat with Santiago pinch running at second.

Update: Ivan checks his swing and grounds back softly to the pitcher. That brings up Polanco, and if anyone is due, Polanco is the man.

Update: A wild pitch makes the count 3-2 on Polanco and puts Santiago at third.

Update: Polanco walks on a low outside pitch, and Inge comes to the plate. A long hit can tie the game.

Update: Inge falls behind 0-2, then swings and misses at Wainwright's final offering to end the game. St. Louis wins 4-2 and are the 2006 World Series Champions! Congratulations to the Cardinals on an improbable post season!

Tony La Russa sends Weaver out for the 8th inning, but the broadcast notes that no one was warming up in the St. Louis bullpen. That's how Dusty got in trouble in game 6 of the 2003 NLCS. After an out, Flores starts warming.

Update: Weaver still going strong, strikes out Monroe.

Update: Jeff strikes out Guillen for the third out in the 8th. That's nine strikeouts for Weaver through eight innings.

Rodney starts the seventh for the Tigers. Verlander throws just 58 of 101 pitches for strikes, but only allowed one earned run.

The Tigers make another mistake as Eckstein reaches on an infield hit as Guillen double clutches on a grounder. I don't know why Guillen wasn't charged with an error.

Update: Rodney walks Wilson to bring Pujols to the plate with two on and none out.

Update: Pujols pops to Polanco for the first out.

Update: Edmonds flies out to shallow right. He needs one more out to get out of the inning.

Update: Rolen just misses a double down the line as the ball lands foul, but he then goes the other way and drops a single in front of Ordonez. Eckstein scores and the Cardinals put an insurance run on the board. It's 4-2 St. Louis.

Update: Belliard taps out in front of the plate. The Tigers have two inning to get two runs, or else it's home for the winter.

Polanco leads off the seventh with a grounder wide of first. Pujols dives, and throws from his back to Weaver covering at first. The throw is low, but Weaver digs it out to get the out. Watching the play live, I thought Polanco wasn't running hard to the end. He might have thought with Pujols on his back, there would be no play. I'm going to go back and look at the play on TIVO as Weaver retires the side in order.

Update: I'll take that back. Polanco was running hard all the way. It's just a great play by Pujols and Weaver.

Tim McCarver's been saying for two innings that Duncan should be out for a better defender in right. Casey flies to the wall with two out and Duncan doesn't make the catch. The official scoring is a double, but it's a ball that was catchable. Rodriguez will try to drive in Sean.

Update: Weaver strikes out I-Rod to end the inning. Jeff's struck out seven through six innings. He's shown great control, throwing 53 of 74 pitches for strikes.

Update: La Russa makes the move in the top of the seventh. Taguchi takes over in right, Wilson comes in to play left.

Both Weaver and Verlander throw scoreless fifth innings. Justin is at 91 pitches after a nine pitch 5th, and may get to pitch in the sixth. It's still 3-2 Cardinals.

With one out, Molina and Taguchi pick up singles to put runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the fourth.

Update: How many times in my life do I have to write, "GET THE SURE OUT!" Weaver bunts, Rodriguez points to third, Verlander has plenty of time, and throws the ball away. The Cardinals tie the game and have runners at 2nd and third with one out.

Update: Eckstein grounds to Guillen at short. Eckstein knocks in his second run of the game and the Cardinals take the lead back 3-2.

Update: Duncan pops out to end the inning. But Verlander is unable to hold St. Louis in check in the half inning after Detroit takes the lead. He has no one to blame but himself as his error leads to both runs.

The Cardinals make a mistake for a change. Ordonez flies to right, but Chris Duncan drops it as he hears Jim Edmonds' footsteps. Sean Casey sends the next pitch deep down the rightfield line for a home run, and the Tigers take a 2-1 lead. Casey only hit eight home runs all season. That's his second of this series. That's all the Tigers get. Now we'll see if Verlander can hold the lead.

Albert Pujols leads off the bottom of the third with a single, but runs on a two-strike pitch to Edmonds. Jim swings and misses, and Albert is only halfway to second. He's easily thrown out by I-Rod. With Albert's bad leg, that play seems to hold too much risk.

Inge makes a throwing error in the bottom of the second, then makes a base running error in the top of the third. After a double, Verlander grounds back to the box and Brandon is caught too far off second. He's taken off base, meaning he can't score on a Granderson single. The Tigers waste an opportunity in the inning and are still scoreless.

They just showed video of Jeter and Howard getting the Hank Aaron award from Hank Aaron and Bud Selig. I was impressed with how both Jeter and Howard are much taller than Hank. Hank is six feet even. Jeter is 6' 3", Howard 6' 4". Hank is short by today's standards.

Yadier Molina picks up the first hit of the game, a lead off single in the bottom of the second. Taguchi bunts, and Inge makes a nice barehand play to get So at first. When I was young, I remember being amazed when Graig Nettles made that play, and now it seems to be pretty routine.

Weaver gets the bat on the ball and grounds the ball up the middle to advance Molina to third with two out.

Update: Eckstein breaks his bat but hits a hot shot down the third base line. Inge makes a great play to stop the ball, but makes a bad throw to first. David gets a hit and goes to second on the throwing error. A great throw gets Eckstein at first. The Cardinals score first and lead 1-0.

Update: Duncan is caught looking, but the damage is done. Verlander's thrown 52 pitches to Weaver's 25 through two innings.

For the second inning in a row, Jeff Weaver strikes out the first two batters he faces. He's retired the first five batters, four on strikeouts.

Ivan Rodriguez grounds out to shortstop. Weaver looks dominating so far.

Verlander walks Duncan with one out to bring up Pujols in the bottom of the second. His first pitch is no where near the catcher as Duncan advances to second on the wild pitch.

Update: Verlander walks Pujols. One of Justin's problems in the post season is his high walk rate.

Update: Verlander falls behind Edmonds 3-0, but Justin comes back to get Jim to fly out to left on a 3-2 count. He needs to get Rolen now.

Update: Another wild pitch puts runners at 2nd and 3rd.

Update: The wild inning continues as Rolen walks to bring Belliard to the plate.

Update: Belliard works the count full, then grounds a medium roller up the middle. Guillen fields, and throws quickly. He doesn't get a lot on the throw, as Casey needs to make a scoop on a long hop to nip Belliard at first. Verlander is wild, but doesn't allow a hit and the game remains scoreless after one. He threw 35 pitches in the inning, however, 20 for balls. He hasn't pitched much past the fifth in this post season, and that looks like it will be true again tonight.

Jeff Weaver strikes out Granderson to start the game.

Update: Weaver also strikes out Monroe swinging.

Update: Guillen flies out to left as Weaver completes a 1-2-3 inning. Detroit does a little better at working him than they did with Suppan last night, seeing thirteen pitches in the inning.

If you want a good idea of how bad the weather is tonight, especially with the wind, take a look at Jeanne Zelasko's hair.

It's do or die time for the Detroit Tigers as they send Justin Verlander to the mound to face Jeff Weaver of the Cardinals. The radar doesn't look good right now. The weather report is iffy for tonight but pretty good for tomorrow. In fact, it should be better in St. Louis tomorrow than in Detroit.

Leyland stuck with Verlander instead of moving up Rogers. Part of that is Kenny's success in Comerica Park. But the Tigers need to get their first. Verlander brings one positive with him this post season, the ability to strike out batters. He's taken out 19 batters in 15 2/3 innings with the K. But balance that against the negatives:

• A home run every three innings.
• A walk every other inning.
• A defense unable to turn balls into play into outs. The Tigers DER behind Verlander in the playoffs is .643. It was .706 during the regular season.

It's been either "swing and a miss" or "swing and a drive" for Verlander. To make matters worse, the Tigers only scored one run while Justin's been in the game. So Leyland is not going with his best option to stay alive. On the other hand, he's going to need to pitch Verlander sometime, so why not show confidence in the young man? It will probably help in the future.

La Russa went the other route. After Reyes' superb game 1 performance, Tony decided he was better off with Weaver in game 5. Weaver hasn't wowed anyone with strikeouts, but he's kept his walks and home runs low. Weaver's defense kept the hits low, as they've put up a .740 DER behind him.

The signs point to a Cardinals victory tonight. A mistake free game by Detroit might provide them with a ticket back to Motown, but right now the Tigers are looking more like Leyland's Pirates teams, superior to their opponents but unable to finish the job.

Enjoy!

Sam Donnellon heaps praise on David Eckstein and makes a very important point about his value at the top of the lineup:

Here's what else is: Eckstein's approach. He entered last night's game more bubbly about a .154 World Series average than any major leaguer has a right to be. Why? Because Eckstein knew he was playing his role, watching and wasting pitches at the top of the order.

His gritty and lengthy at-bats all postseason, even when they ended as outs and not doubles, have stamped a personality on a Cardinals team that survived its way into the postseason. Aside from the mountain of miscues the young Tigers have committed, Eckstein's contributions have been the most noticeable difference between the two clubs.

After falling into an 0-2 count in his first-inning at-bat last night, Eckstein saw a total of seven pitches against Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman before squibbing a ball down the third-base side and beating it out.

The Cardinals got nothing there, except the satisfaction that they had forced pitches from the volatile Bonderman, who had blown some big leads as the Tigers stumbled down the stretch of the regular season. By the time Eckstein saw Bonderman again in the third inning, Bonderman's pitch count was well into the 40s.

At bats like Eckstein's one in the first helped push Bonderman out of the game early.

In the World Series preview I wrote:

Since the indication to me is this will be a low scoring series, I'm pulling the odds down to 60% in favor of the Tigers. There's just too many things that can go wrong when teams don't put many runs on the board.

Tonight, Granderson fell down, Zumaya made a throwing error, and Monroe had a ball tick off his glove. If the Tigers score big, none of those matters. But scoring under three runs a game, those little mistakes gave the Cardinals the victory, and may end up giving St. Louis the series.

Wainwright strikes out Monroe to start the ninth. Craig is 0 for 5 on the night.

Update: Guillen grounds out to Pujols for the second out. It's up to Ordonez.

Update: Magglio swings at the first pitch and grounds out to shortstop. The Cardinals take game four by a score of 5-4 and go up 3-1 in the series.

Zumaya walks Molina on four pitches to start the bottom of the 8th. I'm sure Leyland would like to shoot Joel right now.

Update: Miles grounds to third, forcing Molina at second. Encarnacion pinch hits.

Update: Encarnacion strikes out, but the ball gets away from Pudge and Miles moves to second base.

Update: It's a game of inches as Craig Monroe dives for an Eckstein liner and the ball just ticks off his glove. David gets a double and an RBI, his third double of the night and his second RBI.

The Cardinals go to the top of the ninth three outs away from a 3-1 series lead.

Another throwing error by a Detroit pitcher leads to St. Louis runs. Rodney throws the ball away on a sacrifice, leading to two runs and a 4-3 Cardinals lead. But two doubles in the top of the eighth, one I-Rod's third hit of the night tie the game at four. Inge picks up the second one of the inning off Wainwright, giving the closer a blown save for the game. Zumaya starts the bottom of the 8th for Detroit.

And my daughter's physic's homework is done.

I'm helping my daughter with her Physics home work, but it appears I haven't missed much. It's still 3-2 going to the bottom of the seventh. Both starters are out, and so far neither bullpen allowed a hit. Suppan got hit, allowing 8 through six innings, while Bonderman was a bit wild, issuing four walks. It was the power that got to Jeremy, however, as the Cardinals picked up four doubles, two of them driving in runs.

Three doubles over two innings bring the Cardinals back within one run of the Tigers. Miles effectively added a fourth double by reaching on a single then stealing second before Eckstein's two bagger drove him home in the third. Rolen and Molina each doubled in the 4th to make the score 3-2.

Curtis Granderson doubles to lead off the third inning. It's the first hit of the series for Granderson. Polanco is the only one of the sorry three to still not pick up a base hit.

Update: Guillen walks with one out to bring Ordonez to the plate with men on first and second.

Update: Ordonez flies out, but Casey picks up his second hit of the night, a single that plates Granderson. The Tigers lead is now 2-0 as Sean collects his second RBI.

Update: I-Rod singles to right for his second hit of the night, and the Tigers lead 3-0 in the third. Now Polanco gets a chance to move into the hit column.

Update: Polanco grounds to short to end the inning. Bonderman gets a decent lead to defend going to the bottom of the third.

Sean Casey hits a one-out solo home run to put the Tigers on top 1-0 in the second. I believe all three Tigers home runs were one-out solo shots.

Update: Ivan Rodriguez breaks his 0 for with a single. He then moves up to second on a fly out to centerfield. Of course, now they're walking Inge to get to Bonderman. That's good and bad news. Bonderman won't lead off the third, but the bat is taken out of Inge's hand.

Update: Bonderman puts up a pretty good fight. He works the count to 2-2, fouls off a pitch and then grounds to first to end the inning. He did a better job going deep in the count than either of the table setters, Granderson and Monroe.

Leading off the bottom of the first, David Eckstein reaches on an infield single. He forces Bonderman to throw eight pitches, which is more than Suppan threw in the top of the first.

Update: Bonderman coaxes a double play grounder out of Duncan to clear the bases for Pujols.

Update: Jeremy finishes the inning making Pujols look bad at the plate. Albert swings and misses badly at the first two pitches, then looks at strike three. No score after one.

Curtis Granderson is still hitless as he lines out softly to the shortstop to start game four. Monroe follows with a grounder to short, and they're not trying to work the count against Suppan so far.

Update: Guillen takes two pitches, both for strikes, then swings and misses to end the inning. Suppan's pitches to Guillen started inside then moved over the plate. Nice action for a righty vs. a lefty batter. It's a seven pitch first inning for Jeff.

FishStripes smells mind games coming from St. Louis.

I'm watching the Weather Channel this morning, and they are predicting rain tonight and tomorrow in St. Louis and rain Saturday in Detroit. MLB may be better off waiting to play games on Saturday and Sunday in St. Louis, then heading back to Detroit if needed on Monday and Tuesday. It would also give them the chance to test the new middle of the series on the weekend format that goes into effect next season.

Ken Rosenthal documents the Tigers lack of selectivity at the plate and gets Andy Van Slyke's reaction:

The Tigers' well-documented impatience actually is less of a concern for Leyland and his staff, even though the team is averaging only 3.38 pitches per plate appearance in the Series.

While the sample size is ridiculously small, the Tigers' average is down from 3.86 in the ALCS, according to STATS, Inc., and far below the Giants' major-league worst average during the regular season, 3.59.

"Our problem is that we're not being aggressive in hitters' counts," first base coach Andy Van Slyke said. "If we're not aggressive, we're not going to score. We're like an NFL team running a two-minute drill with no timeouts. Our OBA (on-base-average) means NTU -- nothing to us."

Van Slyke wasn't demeaning the importance of on-base percentage; he merely was describing the nature of the Tigers' offensive attack, which isn't going to change until the team acquires different hitters.

Of course, you can't be aggressive in hitters' counts unless you take a couple of pitches to get into those counts. Leyland did change the order yesterday to put Monroe, Guillen, Ordonez and Casey together. That should help the offense.

They've called off game four of the World Series. They'll make up the game tomorrow, weather permitting.

Tonight's game is being delayed by rain. The good news is that weather looks better for Thursday night:

The teams may catch a bit of a break on Thursday, the day of Game 5 unless Game 4 is pushed back. Another front bringing potentially heavy rain is on the way, but shouldn't arrive until after Thursday night's game, Britt said.

"Tomorrow night we'll be between storm systems," Britt said. "There's still a chance of rain, but the chance at gametime doesn't look as bad."

Stay tuned.

Update: It looks like the game will start around 9:20 to 9:30 EDT.

Update: The latest estimated starting time is 10:15 EDT.

Update: The game was postponed until Thursday night.

Jeremy R lives in St. Louis and is leaving weather information in the comments to this post. His latest:

Actually, now it's starting to pick up. Not a heavy rain, but more of a medium one. Just got back from walking my dogs, and they were soaking wet.

This may be a short game tonight. If they don't play today, they probably won't be able to go again until Friday at the earliest, meaning games get pushed back in Detroit as well. Although given that rain is in the forecast for Saturday in the Motor City, while St. Louis is supposed to be sunny, that may not be a bad thing.

The Tigers send Jeremy Bonderman, in some ways their best pitcher, to the mound tonight in game four. He'll face Jeff Suppan, superman in his home park. The weather forecast does not look good tonight, but it does look better than tomorrow or even Friday. The heavy rain is south of St. Louis right now. If it stays there, the teams should be able to get in tonight's game.

Both pitchers tonight go into situations in which they excel. Bonderman is on the road, where his walk and home run rates both go down. Suppan is at home, where his walk and home run rates both go down.

Suppan, like Carpenter, faced the Tigers during the regular season in Detroit and was knocked around a bit. He gave up nine hits and three walks in five innings, but it only led to three runs. Bonderman pitched one of his better games against St. Louis, striking out eight and walking just one in seven innings of work.

There's not a lot in the way of history between Bonderman and the Cardinals. Jeremy pitched to Belliard a number of times and handled him just fine. The person Suppan's seen the most is Magglio Ordonez, who is 17 for 43 vs. Jeff, a .393 batting average. Throw in five walks and Ordonez's OBA against Suppan is .469.

Leyland is talking about changing his lineup due to the slumps of Granderson, Polanco and Rodriguez. He may just want to put Monroe, Guillen and Ordonez together in the lineup. If the three of them can put together hits, there's a good chance the Tigers will score a run. Guillen's the best hitter on the team and should be batting higher anyway.

Enjoy!

Branden Looper faces Omar Infante to start the ninth.

Update: Omar grounds out to third, two outs to go.

Update: Granderson flies out to left. The Cardinals need one more out for a 2-1 series lead.

Update: Monroe grounds out to third and the Cardinals win their first home game in the World Series since 1987.

The Tigers didn't do anything to make Carpenter work. He threw only 82 pitches in 8 innings. Even after his thumb cramped, Detroit didn't try to take many pitches. Carpenter takes advantage of their aggressiveness, throwing strikes and shutting out the Tigers for eight innings. The Cardinals keep the home field advantage.

A walk, a sacrifice and a single put runners at 1st and 3rd with one out for Preston Wilson in the bottom of the 8th.

Update: Wilson walks. There's no place to put Pujols.

Update: Miner relieves Rodney to face Albert.

Update: I-Rod isn't having a bad enough series, and now he gets a ball fouled off his groin. That hurts to watch.

Update: A wild pitch scored Taguchi. The Cardinals now lead 5-0. Now there is a place to put Albert.

Update: Miner hits Pujols trying to go inside.

Update: Neifi Perez makes a nice play to end the inning, turning the five-three DP. The Tigers need five runs.

Sean Casey picks up his second hit of the night and the Tigers third of the game with a one out single in the top of the eighth. All three hits so far resulted in singles.

Update: Inge hits into a double play to preserve the shutout through eight innings. Carpenter pitch total stands at 82 through eight innings, with 55 of those for strikes.

Joel Zumaya walks Eckstein and Wilson to start the bottom of the seventh. That brings Pujols to the plate with two on and none out.

Update: A huge error by Zumaya. He gets Pujols to ground back to the box, and Zumaya tries to get the out at third rather than going for the double play at second. Inge isn't ready for the throw and the ball goes down the left field line, scoring two runs. Zumaya had the right idea, but didn't execute well.

Actually, with Pujols bad leg, he might have started a triple play.

Update: Rolen grounds out, and that's all for Zumaya. Grilli is coming in with Pujols at third and one out.

Update: Grilli gets Belliard to ground out to first, holding Pujols at third. Edmonds gets the intentionals walk.

Update: Grilli gets out of the inning, but the Tigers trail 4-0 with just two turns at bats left.

Polanco leads off the seventh with a hard line drive that is snared by Pujols. But the trainer is out looking at Carpenter's hand right now and he may need to come out of the game.

Update: It looked like a problem with his thumb, but Carpenter stays in to pitch to Ordonez. The broadcast just said it was a thumb cramp. Ordonez flies out to right for the second out.

Update: Carpenter throws another 1-2-3 inning. The thumb problem didn't seem to make a difference. The Tigers have just six outs left in the game.

The Tigers pinch hit for Robertson but still go down 1-2-3 in the top of the sixth. Ledezma enters the game and gives up a one out double to Yadier Molina. That's it for Ledezma as Zumaya enters the game to try to end the threat.

Update: Zumaya get Tachughi swinging for the second out.

Update: Carpenter flies out to end the inning. One nice thing about this game is that it's being played so fast the youngsters might be able to see the end of the game before bed!

With the pitcher's spot due up in the top of the sixth, Nate Robertson is likely done. He allows two runs through five innings, and like the ALDS, it could have been a lot worse. He put eight men on base with five hits and three walks, but only two came around to score. He kept the Tigers in the game, and now it's up to the offense to score some runs.

Chris Carpenter allows a single to Sean Casey, but that's it in the fifth inning. He's thrown just 50 pitches to shutout the Tigers through five innings. His control is perfect so far as he's struck out four and walked no one.

Nate Robertson couldn't keep Preston Wilson down for long. After lining out hard in the first inning, Wilson singles to left to lead off the fourth, the first hit of the game for the Cardinals. He's now 6 for 7 career vs. Robertson.

Update: Robertson falls behind Pujols 3-1, and Albert takes the 3-1 pitch the other way for a double down the right field line. The ball bounces into the stands to put runners on second and third with no one out.

Update: Rolen walks on four pitches to load the bases.

Update: Robertson gets Belliard to ground to third. Inge throws out the runner at the plate.

Update: A rare hit for a lefty against Robertson as Jim Edmonds doubles down the right field line to plate the first two runs of the game. The Cardinals take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth. The Tigers intentionally pass Molina to pitch to Taguchi.

Update: Taguchi pops up for the second out, bringing Carpenter to the plate. Chris is a career .095 hitter.

Update: Carpenter pops up to end the inning. He'll go back to the mound to try to hold the two run lead.

Brandon Inge singles to put the first hit on the board. Robertson is up to sacrifice.

Update: Robertson successfully moves the runner to second.

Update: Inge moves to third on a wild pitch, and then Carpenter comes close to throwing another but Molina blocks it. Granderson grounds out to second to end the inning.

Jim Edmonds draws a one-out walk in the bottom of the second to become the first base runner of the game.

Update: That's all the Cardinals get as there are no hits and no runs after two innings.

The Tigers go down on four pitches in the second inning. Carpenter is now at 15 pitches for the first two innings. The Tigers are doing Chris a big favor by swinging early, as he'll be able to go deep in the game at this rate.

Preston Wilson came into the game five for five with a walk vs. Nate Robertson. In his first at bat, he hit the ball hard but right at Polanco. Robertson finally gets Preston out.

Update: Robertson, like Carpenter, retires the side in order in the first. Nate manages the feat on just 10 pitches.

Chris Carpenter retired the side in order in the first. Craig Monroe swung at the first pitch, but flied out instead of homering. Chris threw just eleven pitches, eight for strikes.

Game three takes place in St. Louis tonight as Nate Robertson visits Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter. Teams stack their batting orders with right-handers against Robertson. Lefties hit a mere .181 against the southpaw with a .269 slugging percentage. Righties, on the other hand, hit 100 points higher and slugged 200 points higher. His 5.91 ERA in the post season could be a lot worse. He allowed nine base runners in five innings vs. the Athletics but did not allow a run in that game. Don't expect that sort of luck to continue. Twenty-three base runners in 10 2/3 innings is not a recipe for success.

Carpenter is the only pitcher in the 2006 post season with four starts. He pitched brilliantly against San Diego, winning both starts while striking out 12 in 13 1/3 innings. He didn't do so well against the Mets, who managed three homers off the Cy Young winner in 11 innings. Chris allowed less than a home run per nine innings during the regular season. Busch should help Chris in terms of home runs. He allowed just seven at home this season vs. fourteen on the road, leading to his 1.81 ERA in St. Louis.

Carpenter did face Detroit this season, and they pounded him at Comerica Park. He allowed seven runs in seven innings and two homers. He did strikeout nine, however.

Ivan Rodriguez batted against Carpenter the most among the Tigers. Chris may provide I-Rod an opportunity to break out of his slump, as he is 9 for 26 against Chris in his career. Belliard is the only Cardinals players with extensive experience against Robertson. He's batting .320 in those face-offs, 8 for 25. However, Preston Wilson is perfect against Nate, 5 for 5 with a home run and a walk.

Overall, the matchup favors the Cardinals. They don't hit for power vs. left handers, but Carpenter is in his element tonight.

Tony La Russa addressed the Rogers situation at his news conference Monday:

La Russa's answer went on for five minutes.

He said he brought the smudge to the umpires' attention, but did not demand they search Rogers. They didn't. La Russa also said the Cardinals were aware Rogers had a similar spot earlier in the postseason.

"I said, 'I don't like this stuff, let's get it fixed.' If it gets fixed let's play the game. It got fixed, in my opinion," he said.

"If he didn't get rid of it, I would have challenged it. But I do think it's a little bit part of the game at times and don't go crazy," he said.

Jon Heyman at SI.com talks to an unnamed bullpen coach about Kenny Rogers. The coach gives a symposium on what pitchers use to get a better grip, including pine tar:

"It was pine tar. It couldn't be anything else. Pitchers use pine tar, shaving cream and suntan lotion. Pitchers use them to help them grip the ball and make the ball move more. Bullpen guys sometimes keep suntan lotion in the ball bags. It's not for a tan. Pine tar works the best. It's been around the longest. But lately, more and more guys are using shaving cream and suntan lotion. There's no chance to be caught with shaving cream or suntan lotion.

"I don't know Kenny Rogers, but I'm guessing he had to use pine tar because it was so cold. He probably usually uses shaving cream or suntan lotion because they blend in. A lot of guys use shaving cream or suntan lotion, or both, because there's no way you could detect them. But it was so cold in Detroit. You need moisture or sweat to make the shaving cream or suntan lotion work, so it was probably too cold to use shaving cream or suntan lotion."

The coach also voice a theory that crossed my mind today on why La Russa wasn't more vigorous in going after Rogers:

"I bet Tony La Russa's pitchers are mad at him for saying anything, because a lot of guys do it, and I'd be surprise if there's a whole staff of guys who don't do it. In fact, I'd say a majority of guys use one of the three -- shaving cream, suntan lotion or pine tar. They can't like him ratting out the other team when everyone does it. Maybe he had to say something because it's the World Series, it's on TV and he probably has to answer to his owner.

"But you'll notice he didn't continue to talk about it, and he instructed his guys not to talk about it. They probably have no interest in catching Rogers because if they do then the umpire is looking at everyone.''

It seems like a quote from The Sting is appropriate.

Floyd: Doyle, I KNOW I gave him four THREES. He had to make a SWITCH. We can't let him get away with that.

Doyle Lonnegan: What was I supposed to do - call him for cheating better than me, in front of the others?

Michael Sweeney sends this article that focuses on the bill of Rogers' cap.

To explain: Rogers prefers to wear a batting practice cap, instead of the standard-issue New Era 5950 game cap that all the other players wear. He's been pitching with the BP cap all season, as you can tell from the slightly puffier, more rounded brim and more synthetic-looking fabric (5950s are made of wool, while BP caps are polyester). Detroit's BP cap has a colored sandwich brim -- white at home, orange on the road -- which would be a no-no for regular game action, so Rogers apparently fills in the colored edge with a dark marker, which means he doesn't match his teammates during pregame workouts.

But here's the key: The BP cap has a black underbill, instead of the Tigers' usual light gray. Now ask yourself, if you wanted to take a foreign substance out to the mound with you, wouldn't it be easier to hide it against a black background than a gray one? Far be it from Uni Watch to accuse the Gambler of taking cards from the bottom of the deck, but you have to admit it's an interesting coincidence at the very least. Uni Watch's suggestion: Make Rogers wear a 5950 like everyone else, and then let's see who holds 'em and who folds 'em.

Chris Constancio examines the effect of cold weather on walks, strikeouts and hits at The Hardball Times. I'd like to suggest one explanation for why hits go down. In cold weather, the bat meeting the ball stings your hands. The natural reaction is the same one you get when you touch a hot stove; you pull away from the sting. My guess is, players don't follow through as well when making contact on a cold day.

Kenny Rogers says his hand was dirty:

Rogers's version went like this: "It was a big clump of dirt, and I wiped it off. I didn't know it was there and they told me and I took it off, and it wasn't a big deal. It's dirt and resin and all that stuff put together. When it's moist, you're going to rub up the baseball and it was left on my hand when I rubbed them up."

Rogers denied the umpires said anything to him about the substance. He said, "I saw it and I went and wiped it off and then it was gone. I didn't think it was an issue."

The umps seemed to agree:

MLB umpiring supervisor Steve Palermo said, "There was absolutely no detection that Kenny Rogers put anything on the ball. This was not an inspection, this was an observation. The umpires were very proactive. They asked that Kenny just clean that dirt off so there wouldn't be any question as to him with any foreign substance or dirt or whatever it may have been on the ball."

The people who commented on this post seem to think otherwise. Over the years, umpires haven't exactly been on top of doctored baseballs. After all, it was Frank Robinson, not the umpires, who caught Brendan Donnelly with pine tar on his glove.

The Tigers go quietly in the 8th inning. Todd Jones comes on to try to preserve the win.

Update: Spiezio hits it hard but right at Ordonez. Pujols comes to the plate with one out and no one on.

Update: Pujols grounds out to Inge at third, despite a bobble. It's up to Rolen.

Update: Rolen falls behind 0-2, but hits the next pitch the opposite way for a single. That puts the game into Encarnacion's hands. Rolen moves up on the first pitch to second.

Update: Oops! Encarnacion bounces back to the box, but Jones lets the ball bounce off him for an error. Edmonds flairs a double down the leftfield line on the first pitch to end the shutout and put runners on 2nd and 3rd with two out. Wilson faces Jones, and Jones hits him with the first pitch. That brings up Molina.

Update: Jones induces the grounder to short to end the game, and the Tigers earn a split with St. Louis. No sweep this year, as they'll be playing a game 5. Let's see if Fox asks Rogers what was on his hand in the first inning. He cleaned up after that and now owns a 23 consecutive scoreless inning streak. He's more than halved his post-season ERA for his career with these three performances.

Yadier Molina picks up the second hit of the game for the Cardinals leading off the top of the 8th. He singles to bring Miles to the plate, who grounds into a force out. Top of the order is up.

Update: Eckstein grounds into a double play. Rogers' scoreless streak goes to 23 innings, and he's faced just four batters over the minimum. The Cardinals will send the 2-3-4 hitters to the plate in the ninth, including Pujols and Rolen.

Carlos Guillen singles leading off the seventh. That leaves him a home run short of the cycle, but it's unlikely he'll come to bat again.

Why is the best hitter in the lineup batting so low?

Update: Ivan Rodriguez grounds into a double play. It hasn't been a great post-season for the vowel-Rods.

Kenny Rogers just finished his 22nd scoreless inning in this post season. He's walked three tonight, but allowed just one hit. His hand was cleaned in the second inning, so whatever was there early isn't obviously there now. He's still mowing the Cardinals down. He's at 93 pitches, so we'll likely see one more inning of work.

Tony La Russa pulls Weaver after five, lucky that the score is just 3-0. Weaver allowed 11 batters to reach by a hit, walk or hit by pitch. The bullpen hits a batter in the sixth, but that's it.

Carlos Guillen picks up a triple with one out in the bottom of the fifth to put another runner in scoring position for Detroit. Guillen also has a double and a walk tonight.

Update: Ivan Rodriguez strikes out swinging. Once again, the Tigers are not able to put the bat on the ball in a situation that requires it.

Update: After seven failures, Sean Casey gets a hit with a runner in scoring position. He lines a single into right to score Guillen and extend the Tigers' lead to 3-0.

Update: That's all the Tigers get as Inge strikes out.

Kenny Rogers finishes his 20th scoreless inning of the post season. Someone asked for the record. Unfortunately, the record book breaks it down by series, but in the 1905 World Series, Christy Mathewson pitched three straight shutouts, good for 27 consecutive scoreless innings. My guess is, that's the record.

Sean Casey leans his knee into a pitch, and Inge lines one up the middle and the Tigers have men on first and second with no one out in the bottom of the fourth.

Update: Santiago sacrifices, but Pujols bobbles the ball as Molina points toward third. He's charged with an error and the bases are loaded. Always get the sure out.

Granderson strikes out swinging in a situation where a batter needs to put the ball in play.

Update: Polanco grounds out to shortstop. Weaver's given the Tigers plenty of opportunities, but the Tigers are 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.

Update: Monroe pops out to short. That brings up ALCS MVP Polanco.

Polanco's hood makes him look like he's auditioning for Blue Man Group. Placido is the second strikeout in the third. Ordonez singles to keep the inning going, the fifth two-out hit of the game for the Tigers. Weaver's given up two out hits in each of the first three innings.

Update: Weaver walks Guillen. He'll face I-Rod with runners at first and second.

Update: Rodriguez grounds out to third to end the inning. Weaver's allowed six hits to Rogers' one, but with most of the hits coming with two outs, it's tough to put together a sequence to score a lot of runs. The Tigers still lead 2-0.

Inge and Santiago single with one out in the bottom of the second to bring up Granderson with men on first and second.

Update: Curtis hits into a double play. Weaver continues to get outs with runners in scoring position.

Kenny Rogers washed his hand between the first and second inning. We'll see if it makes a difference.

Update: Rogers strikes out Edmonds to start the second.

Update: Kenny retires the side in order. Molina gave the ball a ride, but Monroe tracked it down in deep left. The score is still 2-0 Tigers.

Craig Monroe sends the ball into the leftfield stands, repeating his performance from last night. He even hit it on the first pitch. Once again, the Tigers take the early 1-0 lead.

Update: Ordonez hits Weaver well, and this time he bloops a two-out single into shallow left. Guillen comes up to try to extend the inning.

Update: Guillen delivers a double to the wall in left-center, and Ordonez comes around to score the second run of the inning and the game.

Update: That's all the Tigers get. But they're off to a good start against Weaver.

David Eckstein grounds out to start the game. Scott Spiezio bats second. He's had success against Rogers in his career.

Update: Rogers wins this confrontation as Spiezio strikes out looking.

Update: Rogers pitches around Pujols, issuing a walk. The broadcast just showed a discoloration on Rogers' left hand that looks like pine tar.

Update: Inge dives on a grounder by Rolen and can't come up with the ball. Encarnacion is up with men on 1st and 2nd.

Update: Encarnacion bounces back to the box for the third out. Rogers' scoreless inning streak in the post season goes to 16.

Jim Storer sends a picture of a big cat to get you in the mood for game 2.

The post-season redemption of Jeff Weaver and Kenny Rogers face off at Comerica park. Weaver started his career in the motor city and pitched okay at Comerica. He kept his walks down and the ball in the park. The team he played for just wasn't very good. He was, however, better on the road during that time.

Weaver's only allowed four runs in 16 2/3 innings so far this post season. His strength thus far is keeping the ball in the park, and Carlos Beltran hit the only home run off Jeff. But he has walked more than he's struck out, putting seven on via the free pass. But Weaver's allowed just one hit with men in scoring position during the post season. We'll see how long his luck lasts.

Post-season opponents have yet to score on Kenny Rogers, and his pitching stats match that expectation. He's struck out 14 in 15 innings while walking just four. The Yankees and Athletics combined for just seven hits off Kenny. He's pitching much better than he did during the regular season when he averaged about 4.5 K per 9 and a walk every three innings.

The handedness of the pitchers favor the Tigers tonight. The Cardinals power drops greatly against left-handed pitching, while the Tigers hit righties a little better than lefties. One batter-pitcher matchup to watch is Ordonez vs. Weaver. Magglio is 10 for 33 vs. Weaver with two home runs. Another is Spiezio vs. Rogers. Scott is 15 for 38 against The Gambler, so I won't be surprised to see Spiezio in the lineup. Emonds vs. Rogers is interesting, also. Jim's managed just 10 hits in 43 at bats vs. Kenny, but five went for extra bases.

Enjoy!

Porgy and Bess opened last night in Detroit, across the street from Comerica park. Fortunately, fans were able to use technology to keep up with the game:

It was a night where everyone had a Plan A (call good friend), a Plan B (call close relative if good friend fails to answer phone) and a nuclear option (run out to the street and grab a total stranger! Run to Cheli's and beg the bouncer for an update!) for getting the game score. Some staffers opened the windows of the sixth-floor conference room and drank glasses of imported red wine while watching the game.

But far from being empty, the opera house drew a large, enthusiastic crowd.

"I'm proud of you all for being here tonight," quipped the opera general director David DiChiera from the stage before the performance started.

Instead of resisting the pull of the game, the Opera House aided and abetted, posting the score on the electronic crawl screen ordinarily used to display opera lyrics at intermission, and sending staffers to walk the donor's lounge with bright yellow, hand-written signs that displayed the score.

Cell phones were crucial links to the sporting world. Most everyone had someone on the outside who had agreed to supply frequent updates by phone or text message, from the bartenders stuck too far inside the Opera House to even see the ballpark, to John Madison, the principal viola player who wore a Detroit Tigers batting helmet while performing Saturday, and had a friend send text updates by cell phone in the orchestra pit during the show.

The Birdwatch notes Comerica Park's huge outfield helped Reyes last night:

The ton of fly ball outs didn't hurt him in the cavernous Comerica Park, especially with probably the Cards' best defensive outfield out there. Indeed, lboros noted in his Series preview over at VEB that a Tigers weakness at home was the hugeness of the outfield neutralizing their home run power. It definitely did, and even more appropriately, Pudge Rodriguez hit a ball a mile to the warning track in left late in the game, and So Taguchi hauled it in without blinking.

Todd Jones criticized Jeff Weaver on Weaver's return to Detroit:

Jones told The Detroit News for yesterday's editions that Weaver "was a good pitcher who never really panned out here. Maybe he found a home in St. Louis, but there's no love lost here that he's gone." He also said, "I am not a big advocate of his, and I wasn't a big advocate of his when he was here."

Weaver, who starts tonight's Game 2 of the World Series against the Tigers, pitched with Detroit for 3 1/2 seasons until he was traded to the New York Yankees in 2002. He had a reputation when he was younger for not taking pitching seriously.

Weaver did not strike back:

When asked about the comments yesterday, Weaver said he hadn't read the paper and he suggested that maybe the comments "got twisted."

"Todd Jones is one of the nicest guys I've ever run across," Weaver said. "If he's got unkind words for me I don't know what they're stemming from. And it's the World Series, maybe he's just trying to get a little jab in here or there. ... I've got nothing but good things to say about him."

Is Jones playing mind games? Sometimes, those backfire.

The Cardinals don't score in the top of the ninth. The Tigers have three outs to score six runs. Monroe leads off the ninth for Detroit.

Update: Reyes starts the ninth.

Update: Craig Monroe hits the first pitch deep into the left field stands to chase Reyes from the game and close the gap to 7-2.

Update: Looper enters the game and induces Polanco to ground out to second.

Update: Ordonez strikes out swinging for the second out. The game rests in Carlos Guillen's hands.

Update: Or Scott Rolen's hands as he bobbles the ball for an error and Guillen is on first base for Ivan Rodriguez.

Update: Rodriguez flies out to center to end the game and the Cardinals take a 1-0 series lead by a score of 7-2. Anthony Reyes pitches an unexpectedly great game, retiring the side in order in six of the eight innings he pitched. This ends both the National League 8 game losing streak in the World Series and Tony La Russa's 8 game losing streak in the series as well.

What's even better for St. Louis was the hitting of the middle of the order. Pujols, Edmonds and Rolen combined to collect five hits in eleven at bats with five runs scored and four RBI. Three of the five hits went for extra bases.

As noted in the preview, the Tigers offense is similar to the Mets. The Cardinals did a great job of stopping New York, and tonight they did a fine job of stopping Detroit.

Anthony Reyes just finished up the eighth inning, his sixth in which he retired the side in order. He's allowed two hits.

In game 1 between these two teams in 1968, Bob Gibson shutout the Tigers on five hits and 17 strikeouts. Reyes only allowed three hits so far and struck out four. He's thrown just 91 pitches, so maybe La Russa will allow him to match Gibson's complete game.

Update: Jim Storer reports Tiger fans are leaving early.

Reyes retires seventeen in a row before Carlos Guillen picks up his second hit of the game, a one out single in the bottom of the seventh.

Update: I-Rod sends Taguchi back to the wall where he makes a catch a few feet short of a home run.

Update: Casey pops out to end the inning.

Verlander pitches carefully to Pujols and walks him to lead off the sixth. He then makes a wild pick off throw that puts Albert at third with no one out for Edmonds. As the broadcasters pointed out, Albert is not stealing with a bad hamstring, so why throw over there?

Update: Edmonds gets the call on a check swing, then singles to make extend the lead to 5-1. Rolen follows with a double down the line that bounces into the stands to put runners at second and third with no outs. That's it for Verlander.

The heart of the Cardinals order is now four for eight with two homers, a double, three runs and four RBI. The walking wounded are having a very good night.

Update: Jason Grilli enters the game in relief.

Update: Inge makes two errors on the same play. Encarnacion grounds to Brandon, who bobbles the ball then throws wide home. Rolen runs around third on the overthrow and Inge gets in his way. Rolen is rewarded home on interference, and the Cardinals lead 7-1.

Update: That's all they get. But the Cardinals own a commanding 7-1 lead in the middle of the sixth.

Verlander in two dimensions is pitching very well. Through four innings he's struck out seven and walked just one. It's the third dimension that's gotten him into trouble. Two home runs account for three of the four runs scored against him so far. That's why he's losing 4-1.

Yadier Molina picks up another hit as he flares one into rightfield leading off the third.

Update: Taguchi hits one in front of the plate down the third base line. I-Rod pounces on it rather than letting roll foul and it's effectively a sacrifice for So.

Update: After an Eckstein strikeout, Duncan pulls a ball just inside the rightfield line to score Molina and give the Tigers a 2-1 lead. Pujols isn't walked with first open, and Albert goes the opposite way for a home run and a 4-1 Cardinals lead.

That's what you get for starting Verlander instead of Bonderman.

Scott Rolen takes a 1-0 pitch into the left field seats to tie the game at one. No one was going to catch that. In the last few games, it appears Scott is getting his power stroke back.

Craig Monroe doubles to with one out for the first hit and first threat in the game.

Update: Ordonez walks with two out to bring up the best hitter on the Tigers, Carlos Guillen.

Update: Guillen singles into right, scoring Monroe. Encarnacion bobbles the ball and Guillen winds up at second as the Tigers take a 1-0 lead.

Update: Ivan Rodriguez pops out to second to end the inning. But the Tigers draw first blood.

David Eckstein works the count full then grounds out to shortstop. Game one is underway.

Update: Duncan does the same from the left side. He works the count full and grounds out to the second baseman.

Update: Verlander drops a nasty curve ball on a 2-2 count to Albert Pujols to get Albert swinging. Three up and three down in the top of the first.

Baseball Musings roving reporter Jim Storer sends a couple of pictures from Detroit. Things look grim for the Cardinals:

And there is special transportation:

Update: Here's the view from inside the park:

Update: Here's a shot of the pre-game. The nice thing about the upper deck is you get a great view of these ceremonies.

Endy Chavez's catch reminds Bob Shvodian of another famous post-season grab. He writes:

I stood up all night (Sat) at Yankee Stadium bleachers as a 16 yr old to see game 6 of the 1947 WS and was right at the bullpen area where little Al Gionfriddo made his great catch. R. B. Cramer, in his Joe DiMag book, describes Gionfriddo as doing the "Dardennella" dance circling around and blindly sticking his glove at the fence to pluck the ball out of the air. That comes from the phoney recreation film made the next day. Old Dodger Bobby Bragan talks about being just inside the bullpen fence, yet I have a Gionfriddo autographed (located him at a golf course in Solvang, CA) picture of Gionfriddo at the fence and Bragan is nowhere in sight. For me, Gionfriddo's catch was much more difficult than Mays' catch, as Willie had the reputation (as per writer Dick Young) of making most plays look more difficult. A WashDC writer says Gionfriddo was out of position, yet I have Red Barber's tape of the catch and Barber states: "Outfield around to left and deep" which is exactly how one played DiMag, if you knew what you were doing. Poor Gionfriddo never played another big league game and didn't get in enough time to qualify for the ballplayer's pension.

Both these teams do a great job of stopping the running game. Cardinals opponents stole at a 66% clip, Tigers opponents were just successful 58% of the time. Offensively, there is no comparison. Ivan Rodriguez's offense matches his catching skills, while Molina will always be known as a great handler of pitchers. Defensively, both shine, but offensively, the Tigers win hands down.

This is an easy pick, based on either career or season stats. Magglio Ordonez does everything better offensively than Juan Encarnacion. Juan started his career in Detroit, and players like him were the reason the Tigers were lousy for so long. He didn't get on base and and his power was low. Ordonez, does both well. It's easy to put this one well into the Tigers column.

In centerfield, Curtis Granderson faces off against Jim Edmonds. Curtis represents one of the youngest starters on either team at age 25. Jim is eleven years his senior. Curtis just hit his prime and Edmonds is on his way down. Jim is playing on a bad foot, but he's still getting on base, but only two of his nine hits went for extra bases. Granderson, like Monroe, is doing a better job of getting on base in the post season, and he's also hitting for power. Six of his ten hits resulted in extra bases.

So once again, while career statistics favor the Cardinal, injuries and post-season play evens out things. I'm giving a slight edge to the Cardinals on this one.

Craig Monroe is the prototypical Detroit hitter. He doesn't hit for a high average, he doesn't get on base much, but he collects doubles and homers. In the postseason so far, he's drawn three walks in thirty at bats, showing better patience than he did in the regular season.

La Russa platoons Spiezio and Preston Wilson in left. Wilson is the superior hitter vs. left-handers, and Spiezio bats better against righties. Scott posts a lower batting average from the left side, but his power goes way up. That platoon gets on base a lot more than Monroe, and with decent power. The better OBA in my mind throws this comparison to St. Louis.

This is a tough comparison, since we don't know how much Guillen will play the position. If Carlos Guillen is the Detroit shortstop, the Tigers take the position hands down over Eckstein. If Ramon Santiago gets to start, St. Louis owns the clear advantage. It looks like Santiago will get the starts at home, with Guillen moving to short as the designated hitter disappears. With Santiago scheduled to play more than half the Tigers games at short, I'm calling this position even.

It's been fun watching Ronnie Belliard play second base during the post season. With a strong arm, he positions himself on the outfield grass to increase his range. (Cal Ripken played deeper than most shortstops for the same reason.) Offensively, he posted a poor season, below his already low career averages. He's a defensive second baseman.

Polanco's numbers in 2006 lagged his career averages as well. But healthy for the post season, he's hitting like the 2005 versions of the second baseman, earning the ALCS MVP award. The edge goes to Detroit, simply due to Polanco being a better overall hitter in his career. Polanco getting on base at the order in the ALCS helped extend the Tigers offense, although he neither scored nor drove in many runs himself.

It's fairly easy to give the Cardinals the advantage at this position, since Albert Pujols is the best hitter of his generation. With Sean Casey healthy again, the advantage is even greater, since Casey hits like a shortstop. However, it looks like Leyland plans on putting Casey at designated hitter during the games in Detroit, which puts Guillen at first. Guillen matches up much better with Pujols, since he's a shortstop that hits like a first baseman. Still, even with a bad hamstring, it's tough not to go with Albert at this position.

The Cardinals and Tigers get underway tonight, and it sure looks like the Tigers own an advantage. (In all the tables, ranks are the team's rank in its own league.)

2006 (League Ranks)	Cardinals	Tigers
Runs per Game	4.85 (6th)	5.07 (5th)
ERA	4.54 (9th)	3.84 (1st)

The offenses are pretty even when you consider the Cardinals bat a pitcher most of the season. Detroit's pitching staff stands head and shoulders above the Cardinals, however. I do have one caveat when it comes to the pitching however, but let's take a closer look at the offense first.

2006 (League Ranks)	Cardinals	Tigers
Batting Average	.269 (4th)	.274 (9th)
OBA	.337 (5th)	.329 (12th)
Slugging Percentage	.431 (8th)	.449 (5th)

The Cardinals are better at getting on base, the Tigers are better at hitting for power. Please note that this is very close to how the Cardinals and Mets offense stacked up. That's the caveat. The Cardinals pitchers were able to contain New York's hitters, allowing just 27 runs in four games.

But the Cardinals offense wasn't great. The scored just 28 runs in the NLCS against a depleted Mets pitching staff. With Pujols, Edmonds and Rolen all injured, the big three Cardinals just aren't that fearsome.

Now for the pitching:

2006 (League Ranks)	Cardinals	Tigers
Batting Average Allowed	.268 (9th)	.257 (2nd)
OBA Allowed	.337 (7th)	.321 (3rd)
Slugging Percentage Allowed	.443 (13th)	.405 (2nd)

Detroit posted the best ERA in the majors, not just the AL. As you can see they earned that rank by keeping batters off base and limiting their power. The low batting average allowed indicates a solid defense, and in fact the Tigers were the only AL team to turn more than 70% of fieldable balls in play into outs.

Extra-base hits represent the Cardinals biggest weakness as a staff, which plays into the Tigers biggest strength as hitters. This was true for the Mets series, and while New York hit seven home runs in that series, four came with the bases empty.

As discussed last night, the seven game series with rain outs forced the Cardinals to start the World Series with their #4 starter. Unless La Russa is willing to bring back his three other starters on short rest, the Tigers will see Reyes twice and Suppan once, which just increases the pitching advantage for Detroit.

And none of that takes into account the superior Detroit bullpen. They allowed fewer home runs and took advantage of the great Tigers defense, allowing many fewer hits. The Cardinals were a bit better at getting the strikeout, however,

So what I see is a St. Louis team that shut down a very good Mets offense facing a very similar one in Detroit. However, the Cardinals were not really able to take advantage of a depleted Mets staff due to injuries to the best hitters on St. Louis. The Detroit staff is healthy, rested and very good. The Tigers may very well be held to four runs a game, but that's going to be enough to win. It looks to me that the Tigers have about a 75% chance of winning this series. However, a low scoring series allows more of a chance for random events to affect the outcome. All the home runs Oliver Perez allowed in game four of the NLCS didn't matter, because the Mets stacked up a huge lead. But Yadier Molina's home run in game seven and Carlos Beltran's home run in game one were the difference in those low scoring games.

Since the indication to me is this will be a low scoring series, I'm pulling the odds down to 60% in favor of the Tigers. There's just too many things that can go wrong when teams don't put many runs on the board.

The Cardinals match the Tigers, sending rookie Anthony Reyes to the mound for game one. It will be the first time two rookies start game one of the World Series.

The playoff schedule forced the Cardinals to put their weakest rotation into the series. Suppan should get only one start in game four, and Carpenter won't be seen until game 3. Maybe St. Louis will get lucky again and a rainout will help the rotation. There is some rain in the forecast for tomorrow night; a postponement would make the rotation Weaver, Carpenter, Suppan, Reyes. But the way it stands right now, it looks like Reyes will get two starts, and that lowers the odds of the Cardinals winning in my view.

Jay remembers the 1968 World Series:

When the World Series arrived in 1968, she brought a small black and white TV into the classroom and let us watch the game. I remember when the National Anthem came on, she said something like, "Well, what are you waiting for, stand up!"

Mrs. Boggs, I'll be thinking of you as these two teams play the rematch.

That series marks one of the great divides in baseball.

1. 1893: The mound is set at it's current distance.
2. 1901: NL and AL take final form as two stable major leagues.
1920: Death of Ray Chapman ushers in clean ball era, along with Ruth's home runs.
3. 1969: Division play, lower mound.

It's also a personal dividing line for me. The 1968 World Series was the last one I didn't watch. I would be consumed by baseball the following season, but the only thing I remember about that World Series is the headline on the back page of the New York Daily News my dad brought home, "Tigers Win." It was the last series played between two teams who simply finished with the best record in each league. It was the last series played with a high mound. And it was spectacular, with the Cardinals going up 3 games to 1, and the Tigers roaring back to take the series. I hope this year's will be as good.

There will be two connections to that series as well. Tim McCarver picked up two triples and a homer as he had an outstanding series with the bat, and Ed Spiezio, Scott's father played for the Cardinals in the series. I'm sure we'll hear a lot about both. :-)

The ball representing the last out of the 2004 World Series is going to the Hall of Fame. I hope Mientkiewicz got a nice piece of change for his trouble.

Mientkiewicz was often booed when playing on the road by fans he thinks considered him greedy after misunderstanding the retirement fund joke.

Add in what Mientkiewicz said was inappropriate phone calls to his family asking about the ball, and he’s just happy to have this behind him now.

The president honored the Chicago White Sox today. Paul Konerko summed up the trip to the White House:

First baseman Paul Konerko, who has re-signed with the Sox in a $60 million, five-year contract, said it was worth the trip from Phoenix, Ariz., just for a day to be at the White House.

"I mean, the way I look at it ... it's kind of like the last piece of he puzzle," he said. "Spring training starts this week. We've got the whole thing now. We've won and we've done all the stuff that went with it."

Fran Blinebury puts the blame for the Astros loss clearly on the shoulders of the hitters:

"We can't hang our heads at what happened out there," said Everett, who finished the Series 1-for-15 (.067). "It's not like we rolled over in the Series. The breaks just didn't go our way."

But the Astros certainly didn't help themselves, either. From the time Chicago used its five-run explosion in the fifth inning of Game 3 to take a 5-4 lead, the Astros left 18 men on base through the end of the Series. Twice they had the bases loaded — once in Game 3 and once in Game 4 — and couldn't score.

"You've got to give those guys in the other clubhouse some of the credit," Everett said. "They had some pitchers come in there and do the job. They made pitches when they had to. We just didn't get the job done. Sometimes that's just baseball."

All season long, the Astros good stretches were tied to Berkman hitting, and their bad stretches tied to his injuries or cold spells. Lance hit fine in the series, but the rest of the team tanked. Berkman couldn't carry the Astros by himself.

Ozzie says all the right things in victory:

So Guillen was asked Wednesday what he did this season that made a difference.

''Nothing,'' he said, moments after Juan Uribe charged an Orlando Palmeiro bouncer over the mound and threw to first base for the final out of the World Series. ''I think the players, I have a great communication with them. I do a lot of bad things with my players. They have to deal with all the questions and answers of Ozzie Guillen.

''It was a tough season for them, too. They trust me and I trust them. We're here together. We do this for one reason, that's to win or lose together. And [general manager Ken Williams] give me the best. I'm not saying this because we win; I'm saying it because I mean it. You can talk to others, and they'll say the same thing. Kenny gave me the best guys to fight for me and this team. And they stick together and the unity of this team, it was great. That's why we always feel we can win this game because we are all pulling at the same time.''

Fans of the White Sox appeared to have a good time last night:

When the Sox brought it home, the crowd went ballistic. Champagne poured in the back room as men kissed men, women kissed women, people danced on tables and everyone hugged everyone.

Talk about a coming out party!

It's a good thing the White Sox won the World Series. I don't think I could have taken the sight of 25 dead players on the field as the Astros celebrated. :-)

Jermaine Dye wins the World Series MVP. He hit .438 with a .526 OBA and a .688 slugging percentage. He also picked up the series winning RBI. Congratulations to Jermaine!

Jim and Ed send a picture of the celebration from the Juice Box.

The White Sox win game four 1-0 to sweep the Astros and give Chicago it's first World Championship in 88 seasons. Juan Uribe made three great plays in that game, two on slow rollers and one going into the stands to catch a foul ball.

The Sox did it their way. Four close games, two decided by one run. The White Sox outscored the Astros by just six runs over the four games. Houston had plenty of chances, but the White Sox pitchers always found a way to get out of the jam.

A great season, a great post season, and a great championship for the South Siders. They held off the Indians, destroyed the Red Sox, pounded the Angels, and squeaked out a sweep in the finals. Congratulations to Ozzie Guillen and the whole Chicago White Sox organization!

Do or die time for the Astros. Lane leads off the ninth.

Update: Bloop! Lane drops one into center. Rowand can't catch up to it. The Astros have the leadoff man on again.

Update: Ausmus bunts. I don't agree. Ausmus is one of the better hitters on this team. Give him a chance. Lane is at second with one out.

Update: Burke pinch hits for Everett.

Update: What a catch by Uribe going into the stands for a foul pop! Shades of Derek Jeter. The Astros are down to their last out!

Update: Palmeiro pinch hits.

Update: The count is 1-2 on Orlando.

Update: Uribe makes another great play on a slow roller for the third out. White Sox are World Champions!

Lidge is stil in to pitch the ninth.

Update: Pierzynski doubles leading off the ninth. The Astros need to get Lidge out of there.

Update: Roward strikes out on a foul bunt. Guillen's trying to throw away the insurance run.

Update: Crede strikes out. Maybe I was too hard on Lidge. :(

Update: Lidge gets out of it as Uribe grounds out to third. Jenks is coming in to get what he hopes are the final three outs of the season.

Politte relieves Garcia.

Update: Biggio swings at a high pitch and pops it foul. Neither Pierzynski nor Crede get to it, and Biggio is given another life.

Update: No harm, no foul as Biggio grounds out to short.

Update: Taveras gets hit on the hand. The Astros have the tying run on first with one out.

Update: Politte throws a wild pitch, and Taveras is at second.

Update: They're issuing the IBB to Berkman. Politte is having trouble throwing the ball to the catcher, but manages not to toss a wild pitch. Once again, Morgan Ensberg has a chance to be the hero.

Update: Ensberg gets a good 2-0 pitch, but flies out to right center. Taveras moves up to third. Cotts is called in from the bullpen to face Lamb. Politte's wildness could have resulted in a tie game at this point.

Update: You would think the law of averages would get the Astros a hit here. :-)

Update: Vizcaino is pinch hitting.

Update: Vizcaino breaks his bat and grounds the ball slowly to short. Batting right handed, however, it's an extra step to first and Uribe throws Vizcaino out to end the eighth. The White Sox are three outs away from ending 88 years of nothing.

Lidge on to pitch, Willie Harris on to pinch hit.

Update: Harris singles off Lidge.

Update: Podseknik sacrifices successfully tonight. Harris moves to second with one out.

Update: Interesting move, Everett is pinch hitting for Iguchi. He grounds to second, moving Harris to third with two out.

Update: Dye does it! His third hit of the game is a ground single up the middle to plate Harris and give the White Sox a 1-0 lead.

Update: Lidge strikes out Konerko, just one batter too late. Garcia is now in line for the win.

Dye moves into the pole position for World Series MVP. He's batting .438 in the series.

With two outs in the seventh, Bagwell pinch hits for Backe.

Update: Bagwell grounds out to second to end the seventh. With Garica due up, we've seen the last of both starters. Both go seven, both strike out seven. Backe allows just five hits and no walks, while Garica gives up four hits and three walks. Both deserve the win tonight. Garcia may still get it.

Rowand lines a two out single into center. Crede up in the seventh.

Update: Crede doubles off the wall in left. Rowand gets to third but is held there. Do you pitch to Uribe, or walk him and force a pinch hitter?

Update: A replay shows Rowand slowed up approaching second. Did he forget how many outs there were? Or did he go for Berkman's decoy?

Update: Backe gets ahead of Uribe 1-2.

Update: Backe strikes out Uribe swinging! What a great game by the right hander! He's due up third in the bottom of the 7th. At 100 pitches, my guess is he'll be out of the game.

He does his job and then some tonight. Can the Astros offense do theirs?

Taveras gets a one out single. Maybe the Astros will have better luck with the second batter of the inning reaching.

Update: By the way, I'll take back what I said in the first. This game could easily be decided 1-0.

Update: Berkman walks for the second time. Ensberg gets another chance to be the hero.

Update: Baseball Musings correspondent Jim Storer reports that it's real loud at the Juice Box tonight.

Update: The runners go on a 3-2 pitch. Ensberg swings and misses, but Pierzynski can't find the handle. The Astros have runners on 2nd and 3rd with two out and Lamb up.

Update: After Garcia falls behind Lamb, the Sox issue the intentional walk. Bases loaded for Lane.

Update: Lane falls behind 0-2.

Update: After three foul balls, Garcia throws one in the dirt that Pierzynski blocks.

Update: After another foul, Garcia gets Lane swinging on a high pitch. Garcia seems to find his strikeout pitch with men on base.

Update: Garcia is up to 95 pitches. We might not see much more of him in this game.

Adam Everett makes a great play on a slow roller to short. It gets by Backe, Everett charges and makes the third baseman play of bare-handing and throwing to first for the out. Graig Nettles would be proud.

Update: Backe strikes out Dye for another 1-2-3 inning. Brandon has six strikeouts through six innings, and 55 of his 81 pitches thrown have gone for strikes.

Brad Ausmus gets a leadoff single to center in the bottom of the fifth. That's four of five leadoff batters on for the Astros.

Update: The perils of the hit and run with a catcher at first. Everett pulls the ball hard to third, and Crede starts the double play.

Update: Backe grounds out to third to end the fifth. The fourth starters are throwing the pitching duel we expected to see all through this series.

Backe strikes out the first two batters in the fifth. If he gets Garcia on strikes he'll tie a World Series record with six consecutive Ks.

Update: Garcia grounds out to third. Backe will take it as he's shutout the White Sox through five innings, throwing just 69 pitches. If the Astros are going on in this series, the bullpen can use a break.

The Astros get the leadoff man on for the third inning as Berkman draws the first walk of the game in the bottom of the fourth. Ball four looked so much like a strike that Berkman didn't start for first right away.

Update: Ensberg strikes out swinging. He's now batting .125 for the series.

Update: Lamb grounds to Iguchi, who forces Berkman at second on a nice play.

Update: Lane forces Lamb, the game goes to the fifth.

Jermaine Dye gets his second hit of the night, a single to left to start the fourth inning.

Update: Dye is now batting .429 for the series and has an OBA of .529.

Update: Backe gets a big K, getting Konerko to swing and miss at strike three.

Update: Backe finds his K zone here in the fourth as he strikes out Pierzynski on a pitch in the dirt. Two out, Dye still at first.

Update: Rowand strikes out swinging on a low pitch. Backe appears to be getting stronger as the game progresses.

Garcia gets his first 1-2-3 inning. He's struck out four through three innings, a big reason the Astros haven't driven in a runner from second.

Podsednik is running on the Houston outfielders. Podsednik gets a two out hit to the same place as Dye, but stretches it into a triple. The play was close, however, and it probably wasn't a good percentage move.

Update: Iguchi grounds out to end the inning. Backe is pitching well through three, and he's only thrown 17 pitches over the last two innings after throwing 21 in the first. All good signs for the righty.

Mike Lamb lines one off the right field wall for a double. Again, the Astros get the leadoff batter on, and he's in scoring position. Can they get the second hit here in the bottom of the second?

Update: Lane strikes out. That's the second strike out tonight with a man at second. The Astros should think about choking up with two strikes to put the ball in play.

Update: Ausmus strikes out looking.

Update: Everett grounds out to third to end the inning. The Astros are 0 for 5 with men in scoring position with three K and two ground outs.

Pierzynski lines a ball back at Backe, who knocks it down and makes the play. It didn't look like it was hit that hard to me, but the broadcasters think it was.

Update: Backe retires the side 1-2-3 in the second. He's gotten through the first 30 pitches with only one hit. That's a good sign for the Astros.

Biggio sets the table with a lead off single in the bottom of the first.

Update: Taveras bunts badly again. Crede had time to get Biggio at second, but goes to first for the sure out. I can't complain about that, but it looked pretty sure at second base.

Update: Why play for one run here? Does Garner reall think that Backe can beat Garcia 1-0 or 2-1? I would guess the White Sox can score some runs off Brandon.

Update: Ensberg taps one down the first base line. Garcia throws him out to end the inning. Ensberg actually ran in the box down the foul line to give Garcia a clear throw!

Garcia strikes out Berkman swinging for the second out.

Podsednik works the count to 3-2 then flies out to deep left. Game 4 is underway.

Update: Iguchi flies out to right on a half swing.

Update: Backe falls behind Dye 3-1 and Jermaine shoots one up the right center gap for a two out double.

Update: Backe runs the count full on Konerko and makes a nice play as Paul hits one back to the pitcher for the third out. Backe threw 21 pitches. Brandon won't go deep in games until he can learn to get batters out with fewer pitchers.

It's cliche night as the Houston Astros face elimination. Brandon Backe's against the wall tonight, and there's no tomorrow unless the game goes over 4 1/2 hours again.

The White Sox send Freddy Garcia to the mound to try to clinch their first World Championship since 1917, and the White Sox couldn't ask for a better road warrior. His 10 road victories were tied for second in the American League. His 3.40 road ERA was 8th in the AL. He allowed nearly half as many home runs away from US Cellular than in his home park in more innings on the road. The White Sox should have every confidence in Garcia to get the job done tonight.

The clue to how Backe will do comes early in the game. Opponents batted .339 against Brandon during his first 30 pitches, 58 for 171. The rest of the way they batted .245. If Backe gets through the second inning unscathed, he should be okay.

Unfortunately, Brandon doesn't go deep in games, and the bullpen is a little thin after last night. Of course, Wheeler, Qualls and Lidge have all winter to recover if they lose.

It's been a great series so far. The Astros have had plenty of chances to score runs. Eventually, some of those batted balls are going to find holes. The question is will eventually come soon enough?

Enjoy!

Jay Mariotti celebrates Geoff Blum:

Geoff Blum. Who else would end Bud Selig's slumber party, the longest game in World Series history, but a former Houston Astro who hasn't been heard from in weeks? Geoff Blum is one of the ''Group 4'' guys, the reserves who aren't prioritized in batting practice. But the other day, Blum and the Group 4 guys had something to say to Ozzie Guillen.

"We know this is our time. We were even saying to him on the bus: 'You can't hide Group 4 anymore,''' Blum said. "We've mostly been hiding out in the cage and in the clubhouse, killing the [food] spread. The other night, we got lobster and crab legs.''

When he returns to Chicago, Blum can eat for free in any White Sox-friendly place for the rest of his life. In the top of the 14th inning, well into the fifth hour, he lined a solo home run into the right-field seats at Minute Maid Park. If Soxdom can wait 88 years, I assume you can wait through a five-hour, 41-minute victory, assuming it leads to the parade and the sirens. And I think it's safe to assume it will.

And the fact that the White Sox are bulldozing their way through the playoffs:

Unless this is the all-time sports tease, the Sox are going to complete the dream. That's what is most amazing about this story: Not once in the playoffs have they given their fans any reason to doubt them or feel the familiar Chicago queasiness. The Sox are defying every phobia known to the local sports scene. Is it actually possible they will buzzcut through the playoffs with only one loss, in what would be one of the all-time October plunderings? If they could plaster Oswalt for five runs and eight hits and rattle him for five walks and a hit batsman -- when he had allowed only two runs in his previous 14 innings and was brilliant the last three months -- what are they about to do to someone named Brandon Backe tonight? Even if Backe were to beat them, Roger Clemens is no certainty to pitch Game 5 with his sore hammy.

The White Sox and their fans are ready to win.

A 3-0 series lead is golden:

After five hours and 41 minutes, after 17 pitchers combined to throw 482 pitches, the White Sox became the 22nd team to win the first three games of the Series. The first 21 teams to get that kind of head start went on to win the Series. Eighteen of those Series ended in sweeps, thus reducing the Astros to trying to reinvent themselves as idiots, Boston Red Sox-style.

One would figure that a team up 3-0 would go to five games about 1/2 the time. But given the propensity of sweeps after a 3-0 start, I wonder if this start isn't telling us something about the superiority of the sweeper. That in these cases, the team with the big lead is really the better team. The probability of evenly matched teams only going to a fifth game three times in 21 tries is 0.0007. It may be a demoralizing effect of losing three in a row, but teams get swept way too often.

Phil Garner is not a happy camper:

"We didn't hit the ball good except for Jason (Lane). I'm really ticked off. They had some pretty good at-bats. They're hammering our mistakes and fouling off our good pitches. On the flip side, we're doing just the opposite."

Except, of course, for the hammering part.

"It's embarrassing," Garner continued, "to play like this (in) our hometown. We're not hitting the ball at all. We're not putting the ball in play, except for Jason. We couldn't push anybody across when we had the top of our lineup up.

"We had some momentum, some chances, but we didn't even hit the ball hard. I don't know how we stayed in the ball game as long as we did."

It's possible the White Sox wildness kept them off balance in the late innings. Just when you thought a Chicago pitcher couldn't find the plate, he'd come back with a good pitch and get an out.

Of course, the big problem is that outside of Berkman and Ensberg, there aren't a lot of good hitters on the Astros. That helps even wild pitchers get out of jams.

Adam Everett pops out to Uribe to end the game and give the White Sox a 7-5 victory. It also gives the White Sox a 3-0 lead in the series, which until last year was an insurmountable edge.

The White Sox have now won three games started by the Astros big three starters. Roy Oswalt had one bad inning, but didn't pitch well overall. He didn't have his good control, and that caught up to him in the fifth inning as he blew a 4-0 lead. How many games this season did a Houston starter wish he had four runs?

The White Sox get another unlikely hero in Geoff Blum. He started the season with San Diego, but ends it with the better playoff team. He gets to win a game with his first post season at bat.

The Astros hitters could not take advantage of the wildness of the White Sox bullpen. They drew a ton of walks, but when they got a pitch to hit they couldn't convert them to hits. This was the game that got away.

Good night! Game four later today.

Marte continues to pitch, starting the inning striking out Ensberg on three pitches.

Update: Palmeiro walks with one out to bring the tying run to the plate.

Update: Lane pops out to second. Ausmus is up.

Update: Oops. Ausmus grounds to short, but Uribe bobbles the ball and all hands are safe. The Astros have 1st and 3rd with two outs, and Mark Buehrle is being called from the bullpen.

Update: It's up to Adam Everett.

Ezequiel Astacio starts the 14th for the Astros and Dye singles to right to greet the reliever.

Update: Konerko smashes the first pitch to Ensberg and starts a 5-4-3 double play. Along with Ausmus, that's one of the top defensive plays of the game.

It seems to me that Konerko is swinging very early tonight, but I'd have to review the play-by-play to be sure.

Blum, in at second base in a double switch, homers to right to give the White Sox a 6-5 lead!

Update: That was Blum's first post-season at bat. Chicago's power continues to be the driving force for them in this series.

Update: Rowand beats out an infield hit to third.

Update: Crede gets an infield hit to third. Ensberg let it roll and it hit third base.

Buehrle is warming up in the bullpen for Chicago. Will he come on for the save?

Update: Astacio walks Uribe. Widger up with the bases loaded.

Update: Astacio walks Widger. No excuse for that. The White Sox lead 7-5.

Update: Garner calls for Wandy Rodriguez one batter too late. He'll try to get out of the inning with the bases loaded and two out.

Update: Podsednik strikes out to end the inning. The Astros have three outs to get two runs.

Marte is in to pitch, Vizcaino in to pinch hit. Jose's worked the count to 3-2.

Update: Vizcaino fouls off a couple of pitches, then draws another walk. The Astros need a hit.

Update: The White Sox pen has walked 9, hit one batter, but has only allowed one hit so far in five innings.

Update: Biggio is caught looking at a pitch on the inside corner. Taveras is up.

Update: Marte gets Taveras looking. Lance Berkman is up with two out and a man on first.

Update: Berkman grounds to shortstop for a force play. On to the 14th!

This just became the longest World Series game time wise. If they can go 15, it will be the longest game in both time and innings. The Astros set the record for post season innings with their 18 frames against the Atlanta in the LDS, and once played a 16 inning game against the Mets in 1986. Not bad for a city that hasn't seen that many playoff games.

Qualls comes out for the 13th.

Update: Qualls walks Widger to start the 13th.

Update: Ausmus makes the play of the game. Podsednik bunts at the plate, Ausmus grabs the ball with a bare hand, then throws to second to start a double play. Once again, the small ball attempt doesn't work.

Update: Iguchi strikes out swinging to end the inning. Houston gets another chance to win the game with a run.

It's an easy inning for Chad Qualls, retiring the side in order. Qualls goes two inning allowing a hit and a walk. We'll see if the offense can get him a win in the bottom of the inning.

Update: Jenks equals the feat in the bottom of the inning, striking out two. The Astros didn't get to the pitcher's spot, so Qualls can come out for the 13th. Will that be an unlucky inning for one of the teams?

Bobby Jenks comes on in the 11th to face Biggio, Taveras and Berkman.

Update: Jenks strikes out Biggio. Craig had three bad swings in that at bat, despite working the count to 3-2.

Update: A big curve ball hits Taveras on the top of the helmet. Willy takes first base.

Update: Jenks gets ahead of Berkman, but loses him on a 3-2 count. The walk puts runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. The Astros are getting a lot of walks from the White Sox pen, but they need a hit to bring the runners around.

Update: On a 3-2 pitch, Ensberg flies out to the shortstop Uribe in short left near the line. Palmeiro is up.

Update: Palmeiro grounds back to Jenks. There will be at least a dozen innings tonight.

Chad Qualls starts the 11th for the Astros.

Update: Qualls thought he had Podsednik struck out, and Scott takes advantage of the ball call to single leading off the 11th.

Update: The Astros pitch out, Podsednik is going, but Ausmus throws to the third base side of the bag and Scott is safe at second.

Update: Iguchi flies to right. Lane overthrows third on the Podsednik bluff, but Scott can't move up.

Update: Qualls strikes out Dye. They'll walk Konerko to pitch to Timo Perez, the pinch hitter. Jenks is warming in the pen.

Update: Perez grounds out to first. It's tied going to the bottom of the 11th.

It's Orlando vs. Orlando as Palmeiro pinch hits against El Duque.

Update: Palmeiro walks to start the 10th. It appears that Hernandez is injured, and Vizcaino comes on in relief.

Update: Jason Lane steps up and pops up the first pitch to Widger in foul territory. Ausmus up.

Update: Ausmus flies to center on a hit and run.

Update: Everett walks on a 3-2 pitch to put the winning run in scoring position. With El Duque out, the White Sox bullpen is a bit depleted.

Burke gets a chance to be the hero in extra innings again.

Update: This one goes to 11 as Burke grounds back to the pitcher.

Lidge gets a grounder and two strikeouts to retire the side in order in the tenth. Brad is due to lead off the bottom of the inning.

Orlando Hernandez takes over for Chicago in the bottom of the ninth. I suspect El Duque is on for the duration.

Widger is catching on the double switch.

Everett pops out to start the inning.

Update: Burke walks on four pitches to bring up the top of the order.

Update: Burke gets to second on an errant pickoff throw. El Duque gets the throwing error. Burke steals third on the next pitch. He's there with one out!

Update: Biggio walks on four pitches. It appears the layoff hasn't been good for Hernandez. He's wild.

Update: Orlando continues to miss high.

Update: Taveras strikes out. It's up to Berkman with two outs.

Update: They're pitching to Berkman. He gets ahead 1-0.

Update: After Hernandez goes 2-0 on Lance, they intentionally walk the lefty. Hernandez will face Morgan Ensberg with the bases loaded and two out.

Update: Ensberg misses the first pitch, then fouls the second. He's down 0-2.

Update: Morgan strikes out on a 2-2 pitch. We're going to extra innings! Break out the coffee!

Wheeler stays in to pitch the ninth.

Update: Everett makes a nice play on a slow roller to throw out Dye at first.

Update: Wheeler has a pitch get away and hits Konerko. Gallo is coming in to face Pierzynski with a runner on first.

Update: Pierzynski grounds out slowly to second, advancing the runner. Garner makes the double switch, bringing in Burke and Lidge. Rowand is due up.

Update: Lidge climbs off the ledge and strikes out Rowand to end the inning. The Astros can make their own ninth inning magic now.

Politte comes in to start the 8th. He gets the first two batters, including a strike out of Berkman, but walks Ensberg and Cotts is coming in to face Lamb. I suspect we'll see Burke pinch hit.

Update: Lamb stays in to face Cotts.

Update: Cotts is a reverse lefty. Good call by Garner as Lamb walks.

Update: Brunlett pinch runs for Lamb.

Update: Hermanson is coming in to face Lane.

Update: Lane rips the ball down the left field line to score Ensberg and tie the game. The double puts men at 2nd and 3rd with two outs. What started as a good inning for the Sox pen is now a blown save.

Update: A nice pitch on the inside corner strikes out Ausmus looking. The White Sox will bat in the top of the ninth tied at five.

Carl Everett bats for Garland in the top of the 8th. Garland's last three innings were much better than his first four, as he held the White Sox 1-run lead for three innings.

Update: Everett singles.

Update: Okay, this is totally unfair. Steve Perry of Journey is the White Sox good luck charm. If he can be at the game, why can't the Astros have the roof closed? :-)

Update: Willie Harris pinch runs and steals second. Podsednik flies out to left for the second out.

Update: Iguchi grounds to third to end the inning. Wheeler does his job and keeps the Astros close. Houston has six outs to tie the game.

Ausmus walks to start the bottom of the seventh. Everett and a pinch hitter follow.

Update: Everett sacrifices. It wasn't too far in front of the plate, but A.J. took the sure out at first. That brings Bagwell to the plate to pinch hit for Springer.

Update: Once again I have to question the bunt. Garland is behind Bagwell 2-0, and was behind Everett 1-0. Why not give the pitcher a chance to be wild and walk the bases loaded?

Update: Bagwell pops up a 3-2 pitch to the mound, where Konerko fields the ball. It's up to Biggio.

Update: Great pitching to Biggio. Garland threw him four straight change ups, then caught him looking with a fast ball down the middle. The White Sox still lead 5-4 after seven.

Oswalt comes out for the seventh but walks Konerko to start the inning. That's five walks for Oswalt in the game. That matches his high for the year, done against Cincinnati in April and Flordia in May. He's out of the game and Springer is in.

Update: Pierzynski pops out foul for the first out.

Update: Springer strikes out Aaron Rowand. Two down.

Update: Crede grounds out to second. Springer gets the job done.

Garland gets his second 1-2-3 inning in a row. After allowing four runs in the first four innings, he's been perfect since the White Sox gave him the lead.

Oswalt was close to a 1-2-3 sixth, but a bad hop goes off Ensberg's wrist and puts Iguchi on first. We'll see if Chicago can take advantage of the error.

Update: No harm to Houston as Dye flies out to center. Jim Storer reports the crowd is much quieter now.

Garland shuts down the Astros in the fifth, getting the side 1-2-3 to preserve the 5-4 lead.

So far, the great pitching duels haven't emerged. The White Sox got to both Clemens and Oswalt, as well as Qualls and Lidge. Garland's been less than stellar, and Buehrle wasn't exactly unhittable. So sit back and enjoy the offense!

Crede answers Lane's lead off home run with one of his own.

Fox seems to believe they have evidence that Lane's shot did not hit on the correct side of the yellow line, and wasn't a home run. Not much you can do about it now, and again, in real time, it looked gone to me.

Uribe singles and Garland stays in to bunt.

Update: Garland can't lay down a bunt and strikes out swinging.

Update: Podsednik singles through the right side hole. The White Sox hitters are getting the measure of Oswalt.

Update: The White Sox are mounting a comeback as Iguchi singles up the middle to drive in the White Sox second run.

Update: Dye bloops a 3-2 pitching into center for a single. The runners were going, so it's a 4-3 game with runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Maybe the White Sox should have pinch hit for Garland, given that everyone is getting hits.

Update: Konerko swings early and flies out to center.

Update: Pierzynski gets a pitch to hit this time and drives it to deep center field for a double. He drives in two and Chicago leads 5-4.

Update: Oswalt issues his fourth walk of the night, this time to Rowand. He walked just 48 during the regular season.

Update: Crede is hit by the pitch. That's the fifth batter given a free pass this game. I haven't seen any action in the Houston bullpen.

Update: Springer is warming up.

Update: Uribe flies out to right to end the inning.

Jason Lane hits the wall in left center, but it's above he yellow line for an Astros home run. The lead is 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth.

Update: No other damage in the inning. Only two of the four runs scored against Garland are earned.

For the second time this evening, Oswalt walks Pierzynski. A.J. walked just 23 times during the regular season.

Update: Rowand grounds to third and Ensberg makes a nice play to end the inning.

Adam Everett starts the third inning with a broken bat single to shortstop.

Update: Good call by Guillen, pitching out on a hit and run. Uribe, however, hits Everett with the throw to first allowing Adam to regain first base. It's a throwing error on the White Sox shortstop.

Update: The Astros take off the hit and run and sacrifice Everett to second. That brings up Biggio, who singles in the run. It's 2-0 Houston. This time, a defensive lapse costs the White Sox.

Update: Taveras strikes out swinging for the 2nd out of the inning.

Update: Berkman singles, his second hit of the night to put runners at 1st and 3rd.

Update: Ensberg singles, and it looks like the Astros have Garland measured. Houston leads 3-0.

Update: Lamb strikes out to end the inning. The Astros did in this inning what the White Sox have been doing all post season, taking advantage of an opponent miscue.

Garland, who doesn't strike out much for a pitcher, is caught looking to start the third inning.

Update: An easy third for Roy as Podsednik and Iguchi ground out to end the inning. Oswalt gets the side on just eight pitches.

Garland walks Lane but Ausmus immediately grounds into a double play to end the inning. After two it's still 1-0 Houston.

Oswalt gives up a double to Konerko and a walk to Pierzynski to start the second. It's the seventh walk Oswalt allowed in the post season, after giving up just 48 in the regular season.

Rowand lines to shortstop, doubling off Konerko, making up for the free pass.

Update: Oswalt walks Crede. Joe only walked 25 times in the regular season.

Update: Uribe pops up first to end the inning. Oswalt is walking 3.1 per 9 in the post season. He walked 1.8 per nine during the regular season.

Jim and Ed just gave me a noise report. Jim says it's very loud, and he can't imagine how loud it would be if the roof was closed. He says he can't hear himself think. Ed was in Chicago and believes Minute Maid, even with the roof open, is louder.

Craig Biggio drives a 3-1 pitch into the left center gap to lead off the Houston first with a double.

Update: The Astros waste an out as they have Taveras bunt and he pops out. Taveras is one of the worst sacrifice bunters I've seen. He's always trying to drag the ball. If you're going to sacrifice, do it properly.

Update: Berkman lines a ball the other way, singling near the line in left. Biggio scores to give the Astros an early 1-0 lead.

Update: Ensberg hits into a double play to end the inning.

Oswalt starts off by catching Podsednik looking with a slow curve. Scott was just frozen.

Update: Iguchi goes the other way, grounding a single in the hole between first and second.

Update: Dye hits the ball up the middle, but hits into a 6-3 double play. It's the Astros turn to bat in the first.

Here's a great view of the flag from Jim and Ed's seats:

Jim Storer is at the game tonight and I hope I'll be getting some information on the game from my good friend. He sends this picture from his seats:

Update: I'm told to credit Ed Vescovi for the picture. Without Ed's contacts, Jim wouldn't be reporting from the game.

The roof is open tonight.

The World Series graces the great state of Texas for the first time tonight as game 3 pits Jon Garland and the Chicago White Sox vs. Roy Oswalt and the Houston Astros. It's a matchup of strengths; the Astros were tied for the best home record in the National League. The White Sox are the best road team in the majors. Tonight's starters reflect this strength.

Garland's ERA was 3.44 on the road vs. 3.56 at home. Interestingly, the batting stats against Garland are better at home, except for home runs allowed. I don't have it split out, but I suspect he was better with runners in scoring position on the road.

Oswalt's record is much better at home. During the regular season he went 12-2 at Minute Maid, 8-10 on the road. His road ERA was very good (3.38) however, indicating his offense was more responsible for Roy record. Oswalt's one weakness at home is the home run. He allowed 12 in Houston vs. 6 away in about the same number of innings. Given the White Sox superior power, they might be able to take advantage of that weakness.

The few times Garland's batted, he's done okay. He has two hits in 12 at bats, but he's pretty good at putting the bat on the ball. He's only struck out twice in those 12 at bats (he also has 1 walk). Compare that to Oswalt, who's struck out 88 times in 307 at bats, better than 25%.

Enjoy!

A commenter to this post says there's a movement to get the Astros fans to chant "Close the roof!" before the National Anthem, and keep chanting it until the roof is closed. Getting baseball fans that organized is tough, but I'll be listening for the chant tonight.

One thing that bothered me about all this roof opening and closing is that there appeared to be a change of policy. I remember the Blue Jays having the roof closed during the playoffs in the early 1990's because they were told to keep it shut:

Blue Jays management decides whether it will be open or closed for regular-season games. In the postseason, however, the American League dictated that the roof stay closed for each of the playoff and World Series games played at the Rogers Centre.

There were some beautiful days during those playoffs, but the roof stayed closed. Of course, things have changed. CBS is no longer the rights holder, and the American League no longer exists as an independent entity. Bud Selig's view may be that games should be played out doors whenever possible. The opening of the roof in Arizona during the 2001 World Series supports that theory.

So at one time, baseball insisted on the roof being closed despite great weather, and now may insist that it's open, despite the home team wishing otherwise. I would think that roof closed would be the default state for domed stadiums in the playoffs. To open the roof, I would want a very compelling weather report that nothing is going to happen, be it rain or just a sudden drop in temperature. The roof closed provides a controlled environment which better ensures the broadcast goes off without a hitch. I'm surprised that's not the stance of MLB.

Note: I greatly prefer outdoor to indoor baseball. If I were attending the game as a non-partisan fan, I'd want the roof open. What I don't understand here is the logic baseball is applying. From a business perspective, MLB is better off with the roof closed.

Greg Couch explores the luck of the White Sox:

Face it, the Sox have been lucky. Very lucky. Let someone else worry about that. Let Houston worry about it, and maybe that'll lead to more luck.

Game 1 of the American League Championship Series and also the World Series were defined by the Sox' opponent losing its ace pitcher to injury. In Game 2 of both series, umpiring mistakes directly helped the Sox win.

That's not why they're here. They're here because they know what to do with the luck. I mean, if you believe in luck, then it happens to everyone all the time. The key is what you do with it. The Sox are making the absolute most of it.

The Sox are running right through the postseason, having won nine of 10 games because of star pitching and because they're always ready to jump on the mouse when it pops its head out of the hole.

Jon Garland says Minute Maid won't effect the way he pitches:

Garland, who relies mostly on his changeup and sinker, tried to make himself at home at Minute Maid Park during the White Sox's workout Monday. He checked out the short fences in right field and left field. Everything was familiar to the righthander, who visited the park in 2003 during spring training.

"I've actually thrown here before in 2003, I believe," he said. "We came here for spring training. It's nothing new.

"For me, it really doesn't matter where I'm pitching. I'm not going to try to pitch somebody different because a short porch or a deep porch, something like that. I've got to go out and make quality pitches, regardless. If I'm not doing that, it's not going to matter where I'm at."

Garland pitched a bit better on the road this season, allowing fewer home run than in Comiskey.

There was a particularly funny Looney Tunes cartoon about show business which ended with a the old joke about a dog who can talk. The owner is showing the dog off to an agent, and starts asking the dog questions:

Owner: What's the texture of sand paper?

Dog: Rough!

Owner: What's on top of a house?

Dog: Roof!

Owner: Who's the greatest baseball player of all time?

Dog: Ruth!

You then see the owner and the dog kicked out on the street, at which point the dog interjects, "Maybe I should have said DiMaggio!"

I'm more interested in what's on top of a house, however. The roof in Houston has become an issue.

The Astros have kept the retractable roof shut tight for all five of their postseason games over the first two rounds. But during the World Series, it's MLB's call. And MLB officials have told the Astros they prefer the great outdoors -- tropical storms permitting.

The Astros correctly believe that the closed roof helps them:

"Bottom line," said manager Phil Garner on Monday, "is that I think that with it closed, it does generate a lot of noise and it's a lot of fun. And I think that we play for that. We play for that excitement, and that noise -- it helps a little bit."

So how much has it helped? The Astros had the second-best home record in the sport (53-28) this year, trailing only Boston. And they have gone 4-1 at home during this postseason, losing only the game in which Brad Lidge allowed that game-winning two-out homer in the ninth to Albert Pujols in the NLCS.

But their winning percentage when the roof is open is only .577 (15-11) -- versus .684 (39-18) when it's closed (counting the postseason). (There were two other games this year in which the roof was opened during the late innings.)

It's a very interesting decision. I would guess that nobody other than the White Sox want the roof open. The Astros obviously believe it helps them. I would guess the Astros fans want what's best for the team and would vote to keep the roof shut (Astros fans, please comment). My guess is that Fox would prefer the roof closed, as they don't have to worry about sudden changes in weather causing a delay in their broadcast. So who is Selig helping by having the roof open? His old friend Reinsdorf, maybe? I thought they had a falling out after Jerry signed Albert Belle, but 10 years is a long time. They could have patched up things.

It seems Clemens will pitch Thursday if the Astros can win at least one of the next two games:

Garner said either Wandy Rodriguez, who worked 3 1/3 shaky innings in relief of Clemens in Game 1, or Ezequiel Astacio, who started 14 games for the Astros this season, would get the nod if Clemens wasn't healthy.

But Garner seemed certain that Clemens would be ready.

"Roger Clemens is pitching the fifth game right now," Garner said.

Clemens was given a cortisone shot after Saturday's game, a baseball official who was updated on Clemens' condition told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark on Sunday. Because Clemens has responded to these shots in the past, the Astros hadn't ruled out the possibility that he could pitch again in this World Series.

"He's just a special individual. Sometimes your will can go a lot farther than your body," teammate Jeff Bagwell said Sunday. "The legend grows every day for him. I just think this could be another special time."

"Hobbled Clemens Beats White Sox" as a headline would certainly make his legend grow for Astros fans.

Jermaine Dye turned down better offers from West Coast teams to play with the White Sox. A big reason was travel:

"There were a couple of teams that had [offered] a better contract,'' he conceded Sunday before the start of Game 2 at U.S. Cellular Field. The Texas Rangers were one, "but me playing in the West [Division] with Oakland, I didn't really want to go back to the West. A lot of things played a factor --traveling, scheduling, the other teams you're going to be facing in our division.

"I just felt that I played in Kansas City before, so I knew the travel in the Midwest was a lot easier than going from the West all the way across to the East. You don't really have off days. You're spending your off days traveling.

I always find these free agent stories interesting. There's a perception that many free agents just go for the biggest pay day, but often location is as important as money.

Chris de Luca writes on the White Sox being well grounded, and how last night's game demonstrates why they need to be:

Frank Thomas used to have a sign near his locker in the White Sox clubhouse that warned ''DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE.''

Those words keep popping into general manager Ken Williams' mind these days.

''It's something we should probably plaster on our foreheads right now,'' Williams said. ''Because it can change in a heartbeat.''

Change in a heartbeat?

From the seventh inning on, that's all Game 2 of the World Series did Sunday night.

What was thought to be the Astros great strength in this series is now a serious weakness. Roger Clemens is iffy for a game five start. So over the next three games Houston is throwing Roy Oswalt, Brandon Backe and unknown; either a less than healthy Roger Clemens, Wandy Rodriguez or Ezequiel Astacio. None of those choices inspire a lot of confidence. Except for the Garland-Oswalt matchup, the White Sox have the better starter in two of the next three games. Since Chicago only needs two more wins for the championship, things are looking very good for the southsiders right now.

We saw the danger of having to go to your bullpen last night for both teams. There's no guarantee that once you start using your pen in a predictable fashion that the pitchers will be successful. On the random night that somebody's off, you're in trouble.

It looks like the White Sox relievers pitch better on two weeks rest than in back to back games. :-)

There's an old adage that any major league hitter can catch up to a fast ball. Jeff Bagwell showed last night that he's still a major league hitter. Jeff was blown away by Bobby Jenks the night before, but on Sunday he waited for a fast ball down he could hit. The few pitches Jeff saw in the two nights were enough for him to adjust to the speed, then experience took over. Bad shoulder and all, he can still hit the heater.

Jose Vizcaino proved once again that if you put the ball in play, good things happen (although I still have not seen a report of Garner's reasoning in that situation). His hit along with Podsednik's home run demonstrate something else I love about baseball: Anyone can be the hero. In football and basketball, there are designated heroes. Joe Montana throws to Jerry Rice. Bird or Johnson or Jordan gets the last shot. But in baseball, Podsednik and Vizcaino get the chance to be the hero and sometimes succeed.

Last night was a higher scoring game than I expected. Given the weather conditions and the quality of the starters, I thought we'd be lucky to get three or four runs out of either team. But in a sign of Andy Pettitte getting old, the cold bothered him last night:

Pettitte was frustrated all night by the way his body reacted to the cold temperatures and persistent rain. It didn't hamper his footing and ball control as much as it simply hurt his body. Pettitte didn't have such issues in previous postseasons.

"The weather has never been a problem for me, but there are different circumstances for me now, especially coming off elbow surgery and late in the season like this," Pettitte said. "It's totally different circumstances"

The next few games will be climate controlled. Unfortunately for Pettitte, he won't go again until game 6 (if there is one) and the weather's not likely to get warmer in Chicago this time of year.

An amazing ending as both closers blow the game. Jenks gets the blown save, but Lidge gets the loss. For the second appearance in a row, Brad gives up a game winning home run.

The White Sox have just a little more power than the Astros, posting five extra base hits to the Astros four. Chicago scored five of their seven runs on the two homers.

Chicago retains the home field advantage, and go to Houston with the sweep still intact.

As for the hit by pitch that appeared to hit the bat, it wasn't that bad a call. In real time, I couldn't tell at all. If called correctly, it would have been a foul ball and Dye might have walked anyway, given Wheeler's wildness.

An exciting game, and another close game. Houston plays great at home, and they'll need to do that to get back in this series. Garland vs. Oswalt on Tuesday.

Lidge is in to pitch. Burke is at second, Lamb at first, Vizcaino at short and Berkman in left. 9-1-2 is scheduled for Chicago.

Update: Uribe gives the ball a ride but flies out to deep center.

Update: Podsednik does his Albert Pujols, taking Lidge deep for the White Sox victory. As Tim McCarver points out, Podsednik had no regular season home runs.

Bagwell, Lane and Burke will try to keep the Astros alive in the ninth inning.

Update: Bagwell gets his bat on the ball against Jenks tonight and flies a single to short center.

Update: Jenks blows Lane away with three pitches. Jason swung through all three for the strikeout.

Update: Jenks walks Burke, putting the tying runs on with one out. The bottom of the order is up now, starting with Ausmus.

Update: Ausmus hits a slow roller to first. It advances the runners, but there's two outs.

Amazingly, Vizcaino is going to pinch hit! What is Garner thinking?

Update: Some of that Yankees World Series luck must come over with Jose. He hits the first pitch from Jenks into left, and both runners score. Burke makes a great slide away from the tag, catching the plate with his hand. That game is tied in the top of the ninth at six, and Jenks is gone. Vizcaino is at second on the throw to the plate and represents the go-ahead run.

Update: Cotts is in to pitch to pinch hitter Mike Lamb.

Update: Lamb flies out to end the inning. Eighteen innings in the rain, anyone?

With one out in the eighth, Gallo comes in to face the left handed catcher Pierzynski.

Update: Gallo gets his man, and will face Crede.

Update: Gallo gets Crede as well, and Jenks comes on to pitch the ninth. The Astros have three outs to score two runs.

Cliff Politte enters the game in relief of Buehrle.

Update: Two weeks off doesn't hurt Cliff as he gets the Astros in order, including a strikeout of Berkman. The White Sox are three outs away from going up 2-0 in the series.

Paul Konerko greets Chad Qualls with a grand slam into the left field seats to put the White Sox up 6-4. The vaunted Astros pen is not having a good game.

Carl Everett follows with a single.

Fox just showed an extreme magnification of the Dye hit by pitch and it did appear to hit the bat, not Dye's arm.

Update: Everett is thrown out stealing to end the inning. Once again the White Sox take advantage of a poor call by an umpire to score runs.

Dan Wheeler starts the seventh inning for the Astros.

Update: Uribe hits the wall in center with one out for his second double of the game and third of the series. Uribe hit 23 doubles in the regular season and only slugged .412.

Update: Wheeler strikes out Podsednik for the second out of the inning. It's up to Iguchi.

Update: Wheeler breaks the no-walk streak, issuing a free pass to Iguchi, bringing Dye to the plate with runners on first and second with two out.

Update: Dye has a long at bat that ends with Dye being hit by a pitch. The broadcasters think it hit the bat, but I can't tell from the replay.

That's it for Wheeler, as Qualls is coming in to face Konerko with the bases loaded and two outs.

Mark gets through seven innings, striking out six and walking none. He's at 100 pitches, so he still has room to finish this game.

Everett got the bat on the ball in that inning, but lined to the Crede vacuum cleaner at third. Biggio strikes out, making the 9 and 1 hitters a combined 0 for 7 in the game.

The rain is coming down in the bottom of the sixth. It usually looks worse on TV than it really is, but the people in the stands look pretty uncomfortable.

Update: Everett bloops a single into centerfield with two outs.

Update: Rowand drives the first pitch down the left field line, hitting just inside the line at the wall. That puts men on 2nd and 3rd with two out. Pettitte is staying in against Pierzynski.

Update: Pettitte pops Pierzynski for the third out. His first pitch swinging keeps the Astros lead at two. Pettitte is at 98 pitches, Buehrle at 90.

Buehrle pitches a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth. Neither pitcher has issued a free pass yet, and the two lefties have combined to strike out nine in 11 half innings. The batters are earning every run tonight with batted balls.

Uribe starts the White Sox fifth with a double. These teams seem to be able to answer what ever challenge the opposition offers.

Podsednik flys to center for the first out.

Update: Iguchi taps back to Pettitte, who chases Uribe back to second and throws him out. Iguchi on first for Dye with two out.

Update: The great pickoff move of Pettitte shines as he takes out Iguchi at first. Andy's ability to take off runners with pickoff and double plays makes up for the high number of base runners he allows. The removed runners effectively reduce his OBA allowed.

Brad Ausmus leads off the fifth with a double off the glove of the diving Crede.

Update: Everett fails to bunt and Buehrle ends up with a strike out, the second time the shortstop went down swinging.

Update: Biggio pops up, but Iguchi can't get to the ball. Rather than over playing the pop, he holds back and plays it on a hop and gets Biggio at first.

Update: Ensberg lines to short to end the inning. The Astros 3-4 hitter have done their jobs, driving in all four runs with a homer, double and sac fly.

Update: Taveras hits a slow roller to the left of Crede. Uribe fields the ball but can't get Willy at first. That sets up first and third for Berkman with two out.

Update: Berkman delivers. He doubles down the left field line and both runners score. Who needs little ball when you can drive in a runner from first? The Astros lead 4-2.

Pettitte has just as easy a time as Buehrle in the fourth, getting the side in order also. Mark has thrown 16 fewer pitches so far.

Buehrle gets three ground outs to retire the Astros 1-2-3 in the fourth. Two were hard hit with nice plays by Iguchi and Konerko to turn them into outs.

Tadahito Iguchi gets on base in his seventh at bat, singling down the line in left to start the bottom of the third.

Update: Iguchi goes on a 3-2 pitch and reaches second as Dye breaks his bat and grounds out to first.

Update: Konerko grounds out to second, advancing Iguchi to third.

Update: This time, Ensberg makes a good play on a shot to third. He smothers the ball hit by Carl Everett and gets the out at first to end the inning.

With one out in the third, Taveras hits a double down the right field line that takes a favorable bounce away from Dye, allowing Taveras to turn it into a triple. A sac fly by Berkman ties the game. That's the second triple we've seen in this series, Podsednik hitting one yesterday.

Rowand smashes a ball past Morgan Ensberg at third base to reach with one out. It looks like Morgan pulled away from the ball instead of getting in front of it. Aaron gets a hit on the play.

Pierzynski follows with a ball off the wall in left, but Rowand held up and only made it to second.

Crede, however, follows up with a dump single to right, scoring Rowand. The White Sox come right back and tie the game at one.

Update: Another defensive miscue, this time by Biggio. Craig goes back on a pop by Uribe and drops the ball, allowing Pierzynski to score. Biggio doesn't get an error, however, as he forces the runner at second.

Pettitte gets out of the inning, but poor defense cost him the lead, even though the runs are earned.

Update: I should note that a more experienced left fielder might have caught Pierzynski's ball. Three poor defensive plays led to that two run inning.

Morgan Ensberg leads off the second inning with a home run into the left field seats. Buehrle cut his home runs this year from 33 to 20, one big reason for Mark's improvement. Morgan, however, tags him to give Houston a 1-0 lead.

Update: Lane singels and steals, Ausmus gets an infield single and Everett is up with men on first and third with two out.

Update: Everett strikes out swinging to end the inning. The Astros threaten, but come up with just the one run on the Ensberg homer. Pettitte takes a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the second.

Podsednik starts the game for Chicago with a long at bat. He his the ball hard, but Lane tracks it down in right. Pettitte threw as many pitches to Podsednik as Buehrle did in the top of the inning.

Update: Iguchi strikes out swinging. He's the only Chicago starter not to reach base in the series.

Update: Dye once again collects the first hit of the game, a hard grounder to the left of Everett.

Update: Konerko ends the bottom of the first the same way Berkman ended the top, striking out looking. The White Sox do work Pettitte, however, getting him to throw 23 pitches.

Biggio starts the game with a fly out to Rowand in left center.

Update: Taveras drags a bunt to Buehrle for the second out of the inning.

Update: Buehrle gets Berkman looking at strike three. An easy first for Mark as he throws 10 pitches, 7 for strikes.

The start of the game is being delayed by rain. The tarp was off the field, but just as they were ready to get the game underway, the umpires called for the tarp to be rolled out again. But before the plastic cover could be deployed, the rain let up and they're rolling it up again.

The Astros make one move with the lefty Buehrle on the mound. Burke gets the start in left as Berkman moves to first. Bagwell also moves up to fifth in the lineup as the DH.

Chicago goes with the same lineup as yesterday.

It's also raining, but it's light and the field is playable. They'll get this game in, although it's reminiscent of game 3 of the Yankees-Angels ALDS series.

Andy Pettitte goes to the mound against Mark Buehrle in a battle of lefties in game 2 of the 2005 World Series. Pettitte and Buehrle are at opposite ends of the experience spectrum when it comes to the fall classic. Mark is making his championship debut, while Pettitte goes to 11. Andy is 3-4 with a 3.90 ERA in his 10 World Series starts.

"I realize I've had a lot of good starts, also, but I've had a lot of bad ones," Pettitte said. "And I really don't know, I mean I have been able to come up big on some occasions when they needed a big start out of me and stuff like that. And I think just the more chances and the more opportunities you have to do this you just feel more and more comfortable with it."

Pettitte did not carry his great year-end pitching into the playoffs. He's given up 10 earned runs in 19 1/3 innings in October. He had only allowed nine earned runs in his last eight regular season outings.

US Cellular field is not the best park for Pettitte, either. He hasn't pitched their since 2001, but posted a 3-4 record with a 6.44 in 10 starts at the park.

Like all the Chicago starters, Buehrle is coming off a complete game victory. Mark pitched three complete games during the regular season and averaged over seven innings per start in 2005. Mark was equally as good vs. lefties and righties this season, with righties getting on base a bit more but not hitting for as much power. He matches up well against the Astros, who were even in OBA against lefties and righties, but hit for less power against lefties.

Enjoy!

There seem to be some inconsistencies in the stories about Roger Clemens' injury last night. The Houston Chronicle reports:

Clemens re-injured his hamstring trying to cover first on A.J. Pierzynski's grounder in the right-side hole fielded by first baseman Mike Lamb, who threw out Aaron Rowand at second as Carl Everett was scoring from third.

But Clemens didn't look right to me in the first. Ausmus disagrees:

"Roger was strong in the bullpen and strong in the first inning," catcher Brad Ausmus said. "He had good stuff, no problem. The home run? A fastball with a 3-2 count — it happens. There was no sign until the second inning, after the play when he covered first, that anything was wrong"

Then Roger causes himself more problems by not talking to the media right away:

Clemens' scheduled appearance in the postgame interview room, following the Astros' 5-3 defeat, was canceled when he told club officials he didn't think he could comfortably make it up and down the steps required to get there. After undergoing a long icing session, he spoke just briefly, saying he had no idea what the future holds.

But as the Sun-Times points out:

He made the media wait for almost an hour after the game ended before he spoke briefly. MLB officials said he couldn't come to the interview room because of the steps, but there are no steps to get there from the visiting clubhouse.

The bottom line is we don't know if Clemens will pitch again in the series.

An impressive outing by the White Sox bullpen. The rest didn't hurt as Jenks was throwing consistently around 100 MPH. They record five of their six outs with swinging strikeouts.

Roger Clemens' injury loomed large in this game. The Astros scored on Contreras early, but Clemens couldn't over power the White Sox and they also scored early. The big difference in the game was the home run allowed by Wandy Rodriguez in relief of Clemens. The White Sox had tons of opportunities against Wandy, but couldn't plate another run against the lefty.

It's another close win for the White Sox, their forte all year. I didn't understand Garner's use of Burke, first not using him to pinch hit for Lamb, then wasting him as a pinch runner leaving Everett to bat in the bottom of the ninth.

Game 2 tomorrow night and we'll see a battle of lefties as Pettitte faces Buehrle.

Dye drops a foul fly ball by Lane. It was a tough play, but he did have the ball in his glove. Lane strikes out swinging, no harm no foul. The last four Astros batters struck out swinging.

Update: Ausmus gets wood on the ball, but grounds out to shortstop. Everett is batting!

Update: By burning Burke as a pinch runner, Everett strkies out swinging on three pitches.

Springer enters the game to pitch to Pierzynski.

Update: A.J. singles to start the inning.

Update: Crede flies out to right. One down.

Update: Uribe flies to left. That's the first time Uribe failed to reach tonight.

Update: Pierzynski steals second. He took Houston totally bu surprise.

Update: Podsednik gets the insurance run home in style with a blistering line drive to right center for a triple. The White Sox lead 5-3.

Update: Iguchi flies to right to go 0 for 5 in his first World Series game. The Astros will send the bottom of the lineup to the plate in the ninth, needing two runs.

Contreras comes out for the eighth and Taveras doubles again to left center. One thing I like about Guillen is even if he doesn't use his pen, his relievers are warmed and ready if the starter gets in trouble. Cotts is coming in to pitch to Berkman.

Update: Berkman singles to left, moving Taveras to third. Berkman is equally good left/right in batting average and OBA. Just his power suffers when he's turned around.

Update: Ensberg strikes out swinging. He's 0 for 4 with a strikeout tonight.

Update: I'm a little surprised that Burke is not pinch hitting for Lamb and Mike strikes out swinging. It's up to Bagwell with two outs.

Update: That's it for Cotts. The time off didn't seem to hurt him at all. Jenks is on for a four-out save.

Update: Burke is used now to pinch run for Berkman.

Update: Burke steals second on an 0-2 pitch.

Update: Bagwell strikes out swinging. It seems the well rested White Sox bullpen has plenty of strength to bring the heat.

Jermaine Dye reaches on an Adam Everett throwing error to start the bottom of the seventh.

Update: Poor defense continues for the Astros. Dye runs before Qualls pitches, but makes it back to first on a poor throw from second and a poor tag by Lamb at first.

Update: Qualls gets the next three batters to end the inning. The Astros have six outs to get at least one run.

Contreras comes inside to Bagwell again, and hits him again. Jeff's doing a good job of getting on base via the HBP.

Update: With one out, Contreras hits Ausmus, just brushing his elbow. First and second for the Astros with Everett up.

Update: Everett grounds into a force, but beats the relay throw to put runners on 1st and 3rd.

Update: Crede is doing a good Graig Nettles impression tonight as he dives for a hard hit ball by Biggio and throws him out to end the inning. The White Sox lead 4-3 in the middle of the seventh.

Rodriguez issues his fifth walk of the game, putting Uribe on first with one out in the bottom of the sixth. Uribe had a .301 OBA during the regular season. That's it for the left hander.

Update: Qualls relieves Rodriguez.

Update: Podsednik grounds into a force, taking Uribe's place at first.

Update: Podsednik steals second as the ball gets away from Ausmus. Scott had a good jump on the pitch.

Update: Iguchi strikes out to end the inning.

The White Sox score just one run off Rodriguez despite his giving up four hits and five walks. For all the "smart ball," the one run came on a homer. We'll see if this wasted opportunity comes back to cost the White Sox the game.

Willie Taveras leads off the sixth with a double to left center. Berkman has a chance to drive in the tieing run after the White Sox squander the chance for a big inning.

Berkman grounds to first, Taveras to third.

Update: Ensberg hits a smash, and Crede gobbles it up at third. Taveras is still at third with two out.

Update: Another hard hit ball, but Lamb grounds out to second. The leadoff double goes for naught.

Dye walks leading off the fifth for the White Sox. That's the third walk Rodriguez allowed in this game. Walks and home runs were the rookie's problems this season.

Update: Konerko sweeps a 3-1 pitch up the middle for a line drive single. It's first and second for the White Sox with Everett up.

Update: The White Sox waste an out as Everett sacrifices. If you're going to sacrifice with your fifth slot hitter, you need a new fifth slot hitter. Rodriguez is wild, why not let Everett try to reach base?

Update: Rowand is intentionall walked to bring the lefty Pierzynski to the plate.

Update: The slow Pierzynski hits into a well turned 3-6-1 double play to end the inning. The free out gets the Astros out of the inning.

The Astros go 1-2-3 in the fifth. Contreras appears to be settling down.

Joe Crede takes Rodriguez deep to left center to once again give the White Sox a lead, 4-3. Taveras leaped, but the ball was well over his glove.

Update: Rodriguez follows the home run with a walk to Uribe.

Update: Podsednik singles up the middle to put men on first and second.

Update: Iguchi grounds into a double play to end the inning. So far, whenever the White Sox, the Astros come right back to tie the game. We'll see if they homer in the top of the fifth.

Contreras gets the Astros 1-2-3 in the fourth. Jose is throwing strikes. He has 38 in 56 pitches through four innings.

Wandy Rodriguez starts the third inning for the Astros in relief of Roger Clemens. We don't know why Clemens is out of the game, but I have to believe the leg wasn't right tonight.

Update: They're reporting a sore left hamstring put Clemens out of the game.

Update: Dye walks with one out.

Update: Konerko singles to right to put men on first and second. For a series that's supposed to be a duel of great pitchers, there's been plenty of offense so far.

Update: Rodriguez gets Everett to strike out swinging.

Update: No damage as Rowand grounds out to end the inning. Rodriguez's job is to hold the White Sox until the Astros can get to the meat of the pen.

Carl Everett gets a single to lead off the White Sox second.

Update: Nicely executed hit and run by Aaron Rowand. He hit a soft one hopper through the hole vacated by the second baseman. Chicago has men on 1st and 3rd with none out.

Every batter has put the ball in play against Clemens so far.

Update: Everett scores on a grounder to Lamb. Mike looked Carl back, but could have been thrown out. Lamb threw to second for the force, and Everett came home easily. It's 2-1 Chicago.

Update: Crede shatters his bat and grounds out to third for the second out of the inning. Pierzynski's at second with two out.

Update: You can't spell Uribe without RBI as Jose drives in A.J. from second with a double to the gap in left center. Clemens has gone through the Astros order without a strikeout. The bottom of the White Sox order, a weak bottom, has three hits off Clemens. Roger does not have his good stuff tonight. I think the combination of cold weather and an injured leg is taking its toll.

Update: Clemens finally gets a strikeout, but it takes him twelve pitches to put away Podsednik. The White Sox are up 3-1 after two innings. More importantly, they've worked Clemens for 54 pitches so far. They may get Roger out of there in less than five innings.

Mike Lamb blasts a ball over the center field fence with one out in the second. It's tied at 1 after the homer.

Update: A pitch gets away from Contreras and hits Bagwell up and in. Man on first with one out.

Update: Lane grounds into a double play to end the inning. Two hits in the game so far, both home runs.

Podsednik grounds out to first to start the White Sox first.

Update: Iguchi grounds out to third for the second out.

Update: Dye worked Clemens, fouling off a number of pitches, then takes the ball the opposite way over the right field fence for a home run and a 1-0 Chicago lead.

Clemens looks to me like he can't put batters away tonight. His body language is bad. He's walking around a lot between pitches. I don't think he's healthy tonight. Maybe it's the cold.

Update: Konerko works the count full then grounds out to short to end the inning. The White Sox made Clemens work, getting him to throw twenty five pitches that inning.

Joe Crede makes a good play on a slow, 3-2 roller to get Craig Biggio for the first out of the World Series.

Update: Taveras swings at a pitch at his ankles and pops it to short for the second out.

Update: Berkman strikes out Berkman looking on a nice curve ball. Jose looked tight to me pitching to Biggio, but by the time he faced Berkman that was gone.

They just announced the starting lineup for the Astros and Bagwell is going to be the DH, batting sixth in the order. I've mixed feelings about this. Given his career, Bagwell certainly deserves a start in the World Series. But he's had just three extra-base hits, all doubles, since returning from surgery. My feeling is that Burke probably gives them a better chance to win, especially the way he's playing in the post season. I wouldn't be surprised to see Burke starting the other games in Chicago.

The World Series gets underway tonight as Jose Contreras and the Chicago White Sox host Roger Clemens and the Houston Astros. It's the first World Series game in Houston history, and they'll send a veteran of the competition to the mound. Roger's World Series series experience is a lot like his 2005 season; his record doesn't reflect his excellent ERA. He's made seven starts in the fall classic and posted a 1.90 ERA, but he's only won three of the games (no losses). He's struck out 48 in 47 1/3 innings while walking just 12. His record in Comiskey isn't that impressive, however. He's 4-3 in 10 starts there with a 3.94 ERA.

Jose Contreras starts game 1 for the third time this post season. He's posted a 2.88 ERA in three starts so far, and was the pitcher of record in the White Sox only loss. It's impressive that based on two months of great pitching Contreras is getting the plum assignments of the post season. After his defeat of the Red Sox, Francona explained what changed with Jose:

"We saw a much more mature pitcher," said manager Terry Francona. "I knew the run he's been on and today we found out why."

Francona said that in the past against the Red Sox, if Contreras got into trouble, he would either overthrow or would go predominantly to his split-fingered fastball, a pitch hitters can lay off in hitters' counts. Tuesday, Francona said, Contreras did not overthrow and he was mixing the splitter effectively in all counts, throwing plausible strikes with it.

The big question for tonight is Roger Clemens' health. In his game 3 start against the Cardinals, Roger was fine the first three innings, but struggled after that. The biggest sign that something was wrong, however, was that Roger only struck out one in six innings. Luckily, the Astros have a great defense, posting the highest DER in the NL in 2005. Clemens also locates his pitches so well that even without overpowering stuff Roger is capable of shutting down the opposing offense.

Enjoy!

Sean Kirst tells the story of two people who became legends by being first in line for World Series tickets year after year. Also, watch Sean's blog as he reports from the World Series.

	Chicago		Houston
2005	Value	AL Rank	Value	NL Rank
Runs per Game	4.57	9th	4.25	11th
Batting Average	.262	11th-T	.256	13th-T
On-Base Average	.322	11th-T	.322	12th
Slugging Percentage	.425	7th-T	.408	11th
ERA	3.61	1st-T	3.51	2nd

This looks like a dead-even series. The run predictor I use has these two opponents separated by .01 runs, 3.75 to 3.74.

Still, there are some things in my mind that work in the White Sox favor. The White Sox starters, as shown in the ALCS, are capable of going deep into a game. The Astros offense saw 3.68 pitches per plate appearance this season, about even with the Angels at 3.65. With the White Sox pitchers ability to throw strikes, my guess is Houston will average less that that in the series. When pitchers go deep, when you don't need to go to the pen, you eliminate the chance that some pitcher is going to have a bad day.

Clemens and Pettitte don't do this. Roger is a seven inning pitcher. Oswalt can run his pitch count high pretty quickly. It's unlikely Backe is going nine in game four. Yes, the Astros have a good pen, but as Lidge showed, when you see a pitcher everyday he can become hittable.

Secondly, the Astros did not play well on the road, while the White Sox were great away from home. The Astros were 53-28 at home, but the White Sox were 52-29 on the road. A strength for the Astros is negated by an equal strength for the White Sox.

Thirdly, the White Sox lineup is ordered better than the Astros. The four best hitters sit at the top of the Chicago order, while the third best OBA on the Astros bats 7th or 8th. We saw how well this worked for Chicago in the first innings of games 3 and 4 in the ALCS. It's not that I think the White Sox offense is that much better, but by bunching their best hitters together, they're more likely to have a big inning.

I have no idea how lack of work will effect the Chicago bullpen. If the starters pitch as they did in the ALCS it won't matter. If the offense can get a big lead it won't matter. And no matter what, the pen would have five days off even if they had pitched. My guess is that the pitching coach kept them working.

Both pitching staff are complimented by extremely good defenses. Neither side gives the opposition any extra hits on balls in play.

So there you have it. Two great pitching staffs, with the White Sox having one more great starter. Two excellent bullpens, with the Astros having the advantage of being battle tested in two series. Two below average offenses, but with Chicago putting their best hitters close together. Neither team gives the opposing offense an extra out. I'll give Chicago a slight edge, 52-48. At least we won't have to stay up until midnight on the east coast to see the end of the games. :-)

ESPN figured out how to do a Borda count poll! You can rank the last 20 World Series here. These polls don't suffer from having a small plurality win the vote. In general, the consensus second choice tends to win.

The Chicago White Sox won almost seven more games than predicted by Bill James Pythagorean formula, runs^2/(runs^2 + ra^2). This makes them the 6th luckiest team to reach the World Series:

Team	Wins	Pred. Wins	Difference	Won Series?
1970 Reds	102	91.4	10.6	No
1961 Reds	93	83.4	9.6	No
1931 Athletics	107	99.2	7.8	No
1930 Athleitcs	102	94.8	7.2	Yes
1959 White Sox	94	86.9	7.1	No
2005 White Sox	99	92.2	6.8	??
1960 Yankees	97	90.2	6.8	No

Not very good news for the White Sox as only one of these lucky teams managed to win the World Series. It seems lucks runs out late in the season.

It's really too bad that Frank Thomas can't play and Bagwell probably won't play much. The two have the exact same birthday, born on May 27, 1968. Both were outstanding offensive first basemen (Bagwell was a great defensive player as well). Both won MVP awards in 1994. Baseball Reference lists Thomas as the second most similar player to Bagwell, and Bagwell as the most similar player to Thomas. Bagwell has 449 career home runs, Thomas 448. They've each played their MLB careers with one franchise. Despite their greatness, neither of their teams ever made it to the World Series until now.

Apart from Thomas being five inches taller than Bagwell, you might think they really were twins!

Just in case you don't subscribe to Times Select, you can read Dave Anderson's column on the 1919 Black Sox here.

I don't agree that the Black Sox hang over this franchise. It's been over 80 years. Everyone is dead. The park isn't even called Comiskey anymore. The scandal was important in that it changed the structure of the baseball management and forced the game to clean up its act. But there is no legacy of gambling handed down through the generations of White Sox players even though Angels fans might think someone paid off the umpires. :-)

Richard Roeper is looking for a tough-cool nickname for the White Sox.

How about, The Completions?

There was speculation that Pedro Martinez didn't want his World Series ring. That's over now.

``I am very happy and I am very proud to actually receive this ring,'' said Martinez, according to a transcript provided by the Red Sox. ``Like I said before, I don't think there is ever going to be a better pleasure for me than to be a part of that team that actually won it. Well, tell everyone that I was really proud. And I'm really happy. I finally got it.''

Some folks were looking for pictures of the Red Sox ring. Here's a decent one.

Ryan at Heels, Sox & Steelers was lucky enough to find himself on the White House grounds Wednesday for the ceremony honoring the Red Sox and sends this report. Good humor in the piece, too:

... Speaking of Crespo, I saw more of that guy in the two hours I was at the White House on Wednesday than I saw of him during the entire 2004 season. At least I think that was Crespo up there.

... When the President started the ceremony, he recognized Bud Selig as one of the distinguished guests. It was a little awkward since Selig was in the middle of trying to sell Tom Menino (who was sitting next to him) a used car.

What a great way to spend an afternoon!

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive during March. Click here for details.

The Red Sox have decided to give out the World Series rings opening day against the Yankees. Good for them, and good for the fans.

Soxblog has some thoughts on the controversy surrounding Doug Mientkiewicz and the ball he caught for the final out of the World Series. Looks like the ball belongs to Doug. I'm sure they can work a deal to compensate Mientkiewicz for either letting them display the ball or buying it outright.

Correction: Fixed spelling.

It seems the Red Sox players were very generous in distributing their World Series money. Good to see. There was a time when the World Series shares could be a major part of the money a player earned during the season. Now, it's more like a nice bonus. I'm glad they're spreading the wealth.

Jim Storer just returned from St. Louis (happy birthday, Jim!) where he attended games 3 and 4 of the World Series. On his way back he and his buddies stopped by a Cardinals gear store at the airport. They found minature Cardinals bobble head dolls with the following label on the back:

Warning: Choking Hazard

Just too funny.

Update: Jim forwards this picutre from Ed Vescovi:

The Sports Economist tries to use the Red Sox post-season win streak as an argument for team streakiness existing. I believe he makes a flaw in relating probability to outcomes in one area, however.

The conventional wisdom in the academic literature is that psychologists and behavioral economists have debunked the "myth of the hot hand," i.e. that players or teams are subject to streaky performance. Performance is just a random walk, they say. I don't buy it. The Red Sox were on a roll.

Note: The odds against LLL-WWWW-WWWW in a sequence of coin flips are 2047 to 1. Yes, Sox fans, deliverance from the curse of 1918 was a near miraculous event.

The problem is, any eleven game sequence that resulted in 8 wins for the Red Sox would have the exact same probability. So, if the LCS-WS went like this:

WLWLWWWWLWW

the odds of that would be 2047 to 1, but no one would consider it miraculous, since the Sox never trail in either of the two series. In fact, the odds of winning 8 out of 11, if the teams are evenly matched, is .113, a little better than 10%.

If you want to know the probability of the miracle, you have to start from where the Red Sox are down 3 games to 0. At that point, they have a 6.25% chance of winning the LCS. To win the championship, they have to win the LCS (6.25) and the Series (50%), so the chance of them winning everything at that point is 3.125%, or about 1 in 33. Those are low odds, and a comeback against them is certainly impressive. I don't know how many people would draw the miracle line there, however.

I also don't buy his "hot hand" argument. The Red Sox won 11 of 14 games played in the post season. The 95% confidence interval for a 14 game stretch is 3 to 11, so I'm not ready to reject the hypothesis that the Red Sox played teams that were evenly matched against them. I don't see any evidence that it was not a random occurance.

The Red Sox parade will be at 10 AM Saturday morning. Should be fun.

The Boston Globe has published it's story on Red Sox fans around the world.

All over the world, legions of otherwise productive and healthy people found themselves unable to sleep for almost two weeks.

Some have been staying up in loud bars until the wee hours of the morning; parents are waking up children before dawn to engage in strange, nocturnal rituals that involve howling and dancing in the living room. Neighbors can't explain what has happened; colleagues and teachers are concerned.

They are Red Sox Nation living abroad -- waiting, hoping, and yearning in distant lands, foreign capitals, and even in war zones for The Moment.

But to see it they've had to struggle in time zones where the ninth inning rolls around just before it's time to put on the coffee or to get the kids ready for school. They have bags under their eyes, they're exhausted, and they've never been so happy in their lives about the hometown team, which finished a sweep of St. Louis last night for the franchise's first World Series title since 1918.

The Globe reporter sends her thanks to people who commented here.

For $250, you can watch the World Series with Yogi Berra (subscription required).
Update: Free link here! (Hat tip, SoccerDad.)

It's a lucky few who get to visit a museum and talk with the person it's named after. As Yogi Berra himself said at the 1998 dedication of the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center here: "This is a great honor. Usually you have to be dead to get something like this."

For the third year in a row, several dozen baseball fans and supporters of the museum gathered in the museum's amphitheater Tuesday night to watch the third game of the World Series -- this year between the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals -- with Yogi. (The event is open to the public and advertised through the museum's Web site, its mailing list and the Yankees Web site; the charge is $250 a seat, most of which is tax deductible as a donation.) The theater is designed to look like the bleachers at Yankee Stadium, only, as Yogi says, "It's warmer in here and the language is nicer."

Yogi took some questions as well.

Q: "Yogi, who's your favorite catcher in the game today?"

A: "The guy on Detroit, 'Pudge' Rodriguez. He's built like me. I don't like tall catchers."

Q: "Yogi, who are you rooting for in the World Series?"

A: "The St. Louis Cardinals. They're my home town team."

(From Carmen Berra: "You shouldn't root for them, they didn't sign you.")

Q: "Yogi, what kind of padding did you use in your glove to keep your hand from getting sore when you were catching?"

A: "I used to stick a 'falsie' in the glove. It was perfect."

("I had to go buy them for him," said Carmen. "He was too shy.")

If you don't subscribe to the online Wall Street Journal, it's on page D-1 of the print version.

Thanks to Dave Myers for the tip.

I think this is a great gesture:

Workers at Mount Auburn Cemetery said yesterday they began to see tiny Red Sox flags blossom near some headstones at the historic graveyard in Cambridge.

''This is a place where the living and the dead meet," said Janet Heywood, a Mount Auburn vice president. ''It seems appropriate that people would want to invoke the spirit of their ancestors and let them know what's happening with the Red Sox."

Sounds like fans stayed up all night to welcome the Red Sox back to Fenway park. Has anyone heard if there's going to be a big celebration in Boston today or tomorrow?

Update: Looks like the final decision on a parade will be made this afternoon, but they are leaning toward Saturday.

The Boston Red Sox have swept the Cardinals to win the World Series and end the decades long championship drought. They did it with a game four shutout behind great pitching by Derek Lowe.

There's way too much credit to go around. The pitching was great. Schilling, Martinez and Lowe did not allow a run. The hitting was great. They had 9 hits tonight, six for extra bases. The managing and coaching was good. I can't say I saw a move by Francona that I disagreed with. And of course, the front office did a marvelous job of putting together a team that was able to do all these things. They also put together a great scouting operation that enabled them to attack both the Cardinals hitters and pitchers at their weaknesses.

Congratulations on a great season and a great win. The Red Sox are World Champions! There's a lot of people who will be very happy tonight. My neighbor across the street was born in 1917. She doesn't remember the Sox winning a World Series. My wife's uncle was born in 1919. He's on his deathbed, but he'll go knowing the Red Sox finally won the series. I'm sure there are lots of other stories like that out there.

Edward Cossette, what are you going to call your blog now?

The Red Sox don't score in the top of the 9th. Isringhausen does his job. Can the Cardinals batters do theirs?

Update: Pujols is up, Foulke is on. He'll have to get the 3-4-5 hitters of the Cardinals.

Update: Pujols singles through Foulke legs. Rolen up next.

Update: Rolen flies out deep to right. He remains hitless in the series. It's Edmonds' turn.

Update: Edmonds swings and misses at an 0-2 pitch. Two out. This is where the Mets came back in 1986.

Update: Renteria grounds out to Foulke! The Red Sox win the World Series!

Arroyo is on to pitch the 8th. Roger Cedeno bats for Molina.

Update: Roger pops out to Reese at 2nd. One down. Reggie Sanders up. He came on in the double switch.

Update: Arroyo walks Sanders. Embree comes out of the pen to face Womack and Walker.

Update: The Cardinals pinch hit for Womack with righty Luna. Sanders steals 2nd.

Update: Embree gets Walker to pop out. Three outs to go to a World Championship.

Update: Luna strikes out. It's up to Walker.

Mueller singles, Nixon doubles for the third time in the game, and the Red Sox have men on 2nd and 3rd with no one out. Kapler runs for Nixon, and Isringhausen comes on to try to prevent these runners from scoring.

Update: Bellhorn walks, Reese runs and Millar pinch hits for Lowe. With none out, I'd let Lowe hit and let him finish the game.

Update: Millar strikes out. Lowe could have done that.

Update: Damon hits a ball between Pujols and Womack. Pujols playing in gets to it, and makes an off-balance throw to the plate to get the runner from third. A real nice play by Albert.

Update: Isringhausen falls behind 3-0 to Cabrera, but comes back to a full count. Orlando fouls off 3 pitches, then swings and misses to end the inning.

Great job by the closer, keeping the Red Sox off the boad with the bases loaded. The Cardinals are still in striking distance, and that may be the most positive inning they've had in this series.

Lowe, too is out of the game. As well as he was pitching, lifting him may prove to be a mistake for Boston.

Mabry strikes out again (this time with no argument) to end the 7th. Lowe's only thrown 85 pitches, and 54 have been for strikes. If this score holds up, Derek will be Mr. Clinch, winning game 3 vs. Anaheim, game 7 vs. New York and game 4 vs. St. Louis.

Albert Pujols pops out after a Walker walk. Walker, Pujols, Rolen and Edmonds are now 0 for 8 this game with a sacrifice and a walk.

We just spent the last half-inning outside watching the moon be consumed by the earth's shadow. Very cool. Missed the Damon triple, but no scoring. Step outside if you have a chance and take a look.

Mabry swings and misses at strike three, and Mabry doesn't run. Mabry thought he tipped it, but the replays look like he missed the ball. He didn't run, despite the ump calling it a strike, and was tagged out at the plate. When the ump called it a strike, he should have started running and argued later.

Update: Renteria gets stranded at third. The Sox still lead 3-0.

Marquis walks Ortiz to start the fifth. Is La Russa just trying to have Jason get through five so he won't have the distinction of none of his starters going five? What about trying to win the game?

Update: La Russa gets his five innings out of Marquis. He's pitched worse than the runs allowed indicates. He's lucky the score isn't 6-0.

Another 1-2-3 inning for Lowe. He's now thrown 29 pitches, vs. 72 for Marquis. The Red Sox offense is just wearing down the starters, while the Cardinals are giving Lowe a break.

Update: The fourth inning is the same. Three up, three down, 9 pitches.

Jason Marquis has walked his third batter of the game. The bases are loaded with 2 out. No one is warming in the pen. The Cardinals may win or lose the Series here with Marquis.

Update: Nixon knocks a ball against the wall in right to drive in two more runs. The Sox lead 3-0, and Bellhorn is being walked to load the bases for Lowe. If Lowe drives in a run, the Cards really don't deserve to win this thing.

Update: Lowe strikes out to end the inning. It could have been a lot worse for the Cardinals, but Marquis has now thrown 72 pitches in three innings (41 balls). He can't last much longer.

Two innings, and Derek Lowe has only thrown 20 pitches. He's getting the ball over the plate; 14 have been for strikes. At this rate, he can finish the game all by himself.

Lost in the Cardinals ineptitude this series is the fine defensive play by Larry Walker. He's made good catches, and at least three times he's held hard hit balls over his head to singles. He just cut off a Nixon double in the outfield with a terrific slide and scoop to prevent a triple.

Womack leads off the first with a single, but then Walker sacrifices! Why Walker? He can hit the ball out of the park and give the Cards a 2-0 lead. He's a lefty against a righty! It just doesn't make sense.

La Russa only had 27 outs to work with. He can't afford to give them away with a great hitter at the plate.

Update: Pujols and Rolen ground out. Womack gets to third and is left there. The Cards are still getting no production from the middle of the order.

He'd start the game with a solo HR! The Red Sox lead again, 1-0.

My wife Marilyn just made an interesting observation. She asked why Damon doesn't bat 3rd so he could drive in more runs. Twenty years together, and some of my baseball knowledge has rubbed off on her! On a lot of teams, Damon would indeed be a fine #3 hitter. But on this team, with Ramirez and Ortiz, it's better to have Johnny's OBA at the top of the order.

Update:Marquis likes the #1. After 1 inning, he's allowed 1 hit, 1 run, 1 earned, 1 BB, 1 K and 1 HR. Unfortunately, pitching like that won't make him #1.

Overture, curtains, lights, 
This is it, the night of nights 
No more rehearsing and nursing a part
We know every part by heart 
Overture, curtains, lights 
This is it, you'll hit the heights 
And oh what heights we'll hit 
On with the show this is it.

The St. Louis Cardinals find themselves in the uneviable position of being down 3 games in a best of seven format. And they also find themselves playing the only baseball team that has ever been successful in that situation. As Lisa Gray points out in comments to various posts here, the Cardinals can't hit, pitch or run. They're going to need to do at least one of those things well if they are going to win tonight.

They actually have a chance to hit and pitch well. Derek Lowe takes the mound for the Red Sox. Which Lowe will show up tonight? The one who had trouble getting an out during the regular season (.361 OBA allowed in 2004) or the one who doesn't give up hits in the post-season (.186 BA allowed in 2004). It can't be comforting to the Cardinals faithful that the person who has faced Lowe the most, Jim Edmonds, is 0 for 11 against him.

On the pitching side, the Cardinals send Jason Marquis to the hill to try to stop the Red Sox onslaught (no relation to Don Slaught). Based on his regular season numbers, Marquis should be the #1 starter for the Cardinals in the post season. Instead, he's posted a 6.48 ERA, and in 8 1/3 innings has struck out only 2 batters while walking 8 (he had a 2:1 K/W during the regular season). That won't wash against the Red Sox offense. Don't be surprised to see Millar at first base tonight. He as a very good history vs. Marquis (5 for 12 with a home run and a double).

But at this point, I don't really believe the outcome of this game does much to effect the outcome of the series. Even if the bad Lowe and Wakefield show up the next two nights, even if the Red Sox have to use Arroyo in game 6 because Schilling's ankle can't take another stitching, game 7 would be in the bag for the Red Sox. Jeff Suppan can't pitch in Fenway. Here's what I wrote about Suppan when he was traded to the Red Sox last year:

Suppan, like Jose Guillen, is having a career year. Prior to this year, his lowest ERA in a year in which he pitched 100 innings was 4.37. He's never been a strikeout pitcher and he ususally gives up a good number of HR. His walks are usually between 2.5 and 3.0 per 9 IP. This year, he's gotten those down to 2.0. He's also reduced his HR rate by 45%. Is it real? There's a good chance it's the park in Pittsburgh. He had a 2.88 ERA in Pittsburgh and a 4.36 ERA on the road. He's probably better than Mendoza, but I would not be surprised to see him get pounded at Fenway.

Jeff gave up 8 HR in 39 innings at Fenway park after the trade, 4 in 24 innings on the road. So La Russa would have the choice of Suppan on four days or Marquis on three. Whoever they send out, that pitcher would have to face Pedro. I'll give that one to the Sox 90% of the time.

Every now and then I fall apart.

The Red Sox have effectively shut down the heart of the Cardinals order in this series. Walker, Pujols, Rolen and Edmonds are a combined 7 for 32, a .219 BA with only 2 walks. The hits they have gotten have been for power, however, five going for extra bases. With the rest of the team hitting .257 with 1 extra base hit, the Cardinals have not generated enough offense to overcome the Red Sox.

Things do look bleak for St. Louis. But there is a total lunar eclipse tonight.

A dark and growing scallop will then gradually envelop Earth's only natural satellite. Once in total shadow at 10:23 p.m. ET (7:23 PT), the Moon might turn a shade of deep red that frightened the ancients. No two eclipses are alike, however, and astronomers can't say for sure what color to expect, if any.

I remember the story of a man who had no tomorrow using an eclipse to escape his death penalty. Since the Red Sox are self proclaimed idiots, might the same trick work for the Cardinals? :-)

A 4-1 victory for the Red Sox in game 3 gives Boston a 3-0 lead in the series. Pedro pitched great, the bullpen pitched great, and the offense supplied the power once again.

Rolen and Edmonds continue to be silent at the plate. Both were 0 for 3 today and Edmonds has the only hit between the two. Walker and Pujols cannot carry the team by themselves.

Of course, it used to be impossible to come back from an 0-3 deficit. How ironic would it be for the Red Sox to go from the greatest comeback in baseball history to the greatest choke in a week and a half? It's difficult to believe it could happen the way Boston is hitting and pitching, but I thought after the 19-8 drubbing that the Red Sox had nothing left. If there is a curse, this would be the cruelest incarnation of all.

Renteria will lead off for the Cardinals.

Update: Foulke is on for Boston. And to add insult to injury, it's raining.

Update: A weak swing and Renteria strikes out. Larry Walker up.

Update: Larry Walker connects for a homer to center field. Is it too little too late?

Update: Rolen strikes out looking! The Red Sox win!
Update: Pujols hits the ball a long way, but it comes down in Manny's glove just shy of the warning track. It's up to Rolen to keep the game alive.

It doesn't matter if it's Pedro or Timlin. The Cards go down in order once again in the 8th. They'll have the 9th spot leading off in the 9th.

Update: Sorry, top of the order is due up in the 9th.

Kevin Millar pinch hits for Pedro in the 8th. He allows just three hits and two walks over seven innings while striking out 6. 97 pitches, 59 for strikes. He got off to a rough start, but some good luck (and bad baserunning) got Pedro out of trouble unscathed. After than, he was unhittable.

Jim Storer reports that the crowd is very quiet at Busch.

Pedro strikes out Pujols to end the bottom of the 6th. That's 11 in a row retired by Martinez. Pedro had thrown 64 pitches through four. He's thrown 19 over the last two innings. It looks like Pedro will give the bullpen a nice break as well tonight.

The Cardinals had him on the ropes early tonight, but failed to deliver the knockout punch. Martinez gave them two chances tonight; you can't hope for more than that vs. Pedro.

Update: Pedro gets the side again in the 7th. The Cardinals heart of the order has stopped beating, and the rest of the lineup can't restart the offense.

Calero walks Pedro with 1 out in the 6th. There's not excuse for that. Pedro can't swing; just throw the ball somewhere over the plate. With the blunders they've made tonight, the Cardinals really don't deserve to win this game.

Suppan is in trouble in the fifth. He's given up a double to Damon and a single to Cabrera. He's facing the middle of the order with none out. The Cardinals have not had a starter get out of the fifth yet in this series.

Update: Manny singles with two strikes throught the short stop hole. It's 3-0 Red Sox, and Suppan will face Ortiz.

Update: Ortiz flies out to center. One out.

Update: Varitek hits into a force out. 1st and 3rd with 2 out for Mueller.

Update: Mueller delivers another hit to add another run to the Boston total. It's 4-0 in the 4th, and that's it for Suppan. Once again, the Cardinals starter can't get out of the fifth.

Suppan leaves after throwing 89 pitches, 56 for strikes, a good ratio. But the Red Sox are just wearing down these starters, forcing La Russa into his pen early for the third straight game. Down four runs to Pedro is a tough position for any team, but when you could have scored two more runs, it must hurt even more.

Update: Reyes gets St. Louis out of the inning.

An easy fourth for Pedro. He gets Rolen, Edmonds and Sanders on a ground out, fly out and strikeout. Talk about diversity! Looks like he may be finding his groove.

The Red Sox don't worry about base running mistakes. Mueller doubles, and Nixon hits a single to deep right to drive Bill in. Hit the ball far enough, and it's easy to score. It's 2-0 Red Sox in the fourth.

Update: With runners on base, Pedro is swinging the bat! It's 0-2.

Update: Pedro strikes out looking anyway. But he has a 2-0 lead as he'll take the mound for the 4th.

Pedro didn't get the bat off his shoulder during his plate appearance. Suppan gets wood on the ball, fouling off a couple of pitches before ground one slowly down the third-base line for a single. Suppan makes Pedro look bad.

Update: Renteria hits one over Nixon's head for a double. Nixon also hits a puddle and slides on his back, but Suppan does not score.

Now Walker grounds to first, and Suppan makes the 2nd Cardinals baserunning blunder of the game. He should have scored easily on the grounder, but he stops halfway and gets caught retreating to third. The Red Sox were giving the run away with the infield back. I thought NL teams knew how to run the bases!

Update: Pedro gets Pujols to end the inning. Pedro's minnie-me lucky charm must be in the stadium tonight.

Big mistake by Suppan. With two strikes on Cabrera, he loses him with a walk. It's best to keep the bases empty for Manny.

Update: Manny flies to right. It works out well for the Cardinals. Ortiz will be up with none on in the 4th.

Jeff Suppan gets the side 1-2-3 in the 2nd. He's throwing well; 23 of his 36 pitches have been for strikes.

Update: Pedro gets the 6-7-8 hitters in order as well. He'll lead off the 2nd. Pedro is about even with balls and strikes. He's thrown 37 pitches, 19 for strikes.

Pedro issues his first walk of the night to the 2nd batter he faces, Larry Walker. Not a good person to put on base with the fire power coming up behind him.

Update: Pujols reaches on a grounder that Mueller could only knock down. Nettles would have had him. :-)

Update: Pedro walks Rolen to load the bases. Again, the number of walks Pedro has been giving up in the post season indicates something's wrong. He's pitched more innings this season than he has in a long time. I think he worn out.

Update: Bad baserunning gets Pedro off the hook. Walker might have beaten that throw 10 years ago, but the ball was just too shallow. A golden opportunity lost by the Cards.

Suppan starts the game by getting ahead of Damon 0-2, and eventually gets him to line to right. My good friend Jim Storer is at the game and with any luck I'll get an in-game report from him.

Update: Suppan had been working low to Manny, but he gets one up in the strikezone and Manny hammers it into the left field stands. It's 1-0 Boston. It's Manny's first extra-base hit of the World Series. He's had 19 hits in the post season but only 5 for extra bases.

Update: Ortiz gets a hit, but there's no other damage in the first. Pedro faces the Cardinals next.

Tim Lambert takes a very statistical look at what it means to have home field advantage in the World Series. He even has an interactive calcualator! Excellent job, Tim!

The weather doesn't look too good for game 3 tonight in St. Louis. You can follow the radar here. But, if things dry out, Pedro Martinez will take the mound to face Jeff Suppan.

Suppan, like all the Cardinals starters, is an okay pitcher who strikes out just enough batters and walks few. Suppan has always had a tendancy to give up the long ball. He had a very interesting home/road split during the regular season. Despite giving up fewer HR, fewer walks and striking out more batters, Suppan's ERA was 1.2 runs higher in Busch. He allowed 40 more hits at home than on the road. Was it just his defense playing poorly behind him in those games? He did give up many more doubles at home, so it could be the long hits just stayed in the park in St. Louis. The Red Sox are good at getting the long hit; this should be a good matchup for the Sox.

Edward Cossette is giddy about Pedro pitching tonight.

I just had another ohmygaw thought: PEDRO MARTINEZ IS PITCHING IN HIS FIRST WORLD SERIES EVER. FOR THE BOSTON RED SOX. WHO ARE UP 2-0. IN THE WORLD SERIES!

The problem is that Pedro hasn't pitched like Pedro for a while. He's not the shut'em down lights out Pedro of 1998-2003. He's walked 11 in 20 post-season innings this year. He's given up 20 hits. He still strikes out batters, with 20 of those as well. He's still very good, but he's not so good that he's the automatic win anymore. And so people may be getting ahead of themselves when they start writing as if this is going to be Pedro's last game in a Red Sox uniform:

One game to out-Curt Curt. One game to say goodbye. One game to say, "Pay me." One game to show off for his countrymen watching on TV down in the Dominican. One game to have people back home chanting "Pe-dro!" in the living rooms and bars of New England. One game to remind everyone that he still can pitch as well as anyone in the world. One game to put the Boston Red Sox up, 3-0.

If this post season has proved anything, it's that anything is possible.

Fine analysis in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of the series so far. The Cardinals pitchers are walking too many batters.

The Cardinals walked 14 and hit three batters while losing twice in Boston. Only three times all season did they walk as many in consecutive games, and never did they walk as many as six in back-to-back starts.

"That was so much against what Dunc preaches and what we've been executing all year long," La Russa said. "I thought we pitched backward. We walked guys with nobody on, then got behind and threw balls down the middle. That's a formula for some crooked numbers."

The Cardinals were 88-33 in the regular season when they walked three or fewer, 17-24 when they free-passed four or more. They weren't the league's most overpowering staff, a fact that allowed them to stay below the radar despite barely falling short of the lowest ERA in either league. But what the Cardinals did was maximize a gilded defense with the game's best ground ball-to-fly ball ratio while refusing to provide easy openings for large innings.

Part of the Cardinals pitching woes is really the Boston offense:

Of the possible explanations for the control fritz - stage fright, slick baseballs, fatigue, enforcement of a tight strike zone or a patient Red Sox lineup - the Cardinals give most of the credit to their selective opponents.

"I don't think anybody's tired except for maybe Matt, who pitched a day short," La Russa said Monday, the day after Morris started on three days' rest for the first time in his career. "I just don't think that we executed when we had to. I also think they did a good job being aggressive in the strike zone. It's a good way to hit. It's the way we hit. It's the kind of at-bats we have.

"We're not some big, free-swinging club. We're as good with two strikes as anybody. I see a lot of them in us and us in them.

It's Pedro Martinez's birthday. We'll see if the 33 year old will celebrate with a win tomorrow.

Brian Gunn at Redbird Nation continues to do his usual fine job of covering the Cardinals. His wrap-up of last night's game is excellent. He nails my exact feelings about Schilling.

I've always had mixed feelings about Schilling. Sometimes I think he's a pompous ass; sometimes I think he's about the most admirable superstar in all of baseball. And sometimes the two opinions co-exist uncomfortably in my mind. Like that open letter he sent out after 9/11 -- one of the more heartfelt things I've ever heard from an athlete. And yet, I'm embarrassed to admit, a small part of me thought it was nothing more than Schilling grandstanding again. And then there was the time Schilling showed up at the memorial service for Darryl Kile in St. Louis. Mind you, Schill didn't really know Kile. They'd been teammates back in '91, but that was it. Yet Schilling flew to St. Louis anyway, because he considers everyone in baseball his brother, and he wanted to pay his respects in person. 99% of me thought you couldn't find a classier move in all of sports. 1% of me thought Schilling just wanted to show the world what a great guy he was.

But in the end it's the better part of Schilling's nature that wins out for me. For one simple reason: because whether he's altruistic or self-absorbed, whether he's authentic or simply posturing, he always comes across to me as a full-blooded human being, clearly a well-rounded poerson with a life outside of baseball. That's rare in sports, and great for the game.

I would not be surprised to see Schilling go into politics once his baseball career is over.

Brian also makes a point about Morris that struck me last night as I listened to McCarver explain that Matt can't throw the curve ball from the stretch.

Here's something I want to bring up in regard to Morris... First of all, you all know that he's Jeckyll-and-Hyde from game to game, and you probably also know that he's Jeckyll-and-Hyde with runners on and without. The numbers are eloquent:

                             AVG   OBP   SLG
Morris with Bases Empty     .245  .295  .373
Morris with Runners On      .301  .342  .591

The reason for the split is fairly obvious -- Morris sucks from the stretch. When he's not operating off the full windup, he can't generate enough lower-body push to get any action on his curveball.

So here's my question: shouldn't there be occasions when Morris simply pitches from the full windup even with runners on base? I'm not just talking about bases loaded/two outs. I'm talking about tonight, with Manny on second and Ortiz on first. Are they going to steal in that situation? No. Is there any huge risk by allowing the runners a big jump? No, not really. So why not just go to the full windup? Or what about in the 4th, with Millar on first and two outs? Millar stole only one base all year. He's not gonna go in that situation. And yet, pitching from the stretch, Morris gave up back-to-back doubles to give the Sox a 4-1 lead. I say if the guy's that bad with runners on, just let him pitch to his strengths and suffer the side effects.

There is this whole mindset in baseball that runners have to be held and pitchers have to do everything in their power to cut down on the running game. As in game 5 of the ALCS, worrying about the runner can do more damage than just letting him steal. If a slow runner is on first, why hold? Why pitch from the stretch? Even if the runner steals, if you get the batter, the damage will be minimal.

Matheny grounds out to short to end the game.

The Red Sox have done an excellent job of shutting down the hear of the Cardinals order. Last night, Walker had the hits; Pujols, Edmonds and Rolen were quiet. Today, Pujols had the hits, and the whole rest of the team was quiet.

If Schilling keeps pitching like this, having your ankle stitched may become common practice for all starters. :-)

The Cardinals pitchers continue to issue free passes, putting 8 on via the walk or hit by pitch.

The series shifts to St. Louis on Tuesday. The Cardinals have yet to lose at home this post season.

The Cardinals have three outs to score four runs. The 6-8 hitters are up.

Update: After a long AB, Reggie Sanders strikes out trying to check his swing.

Update: Womack flies out to right. Matheny is batting. Where's the pinch hitter? Has La Russa given up on this game?

With men on first and third and one out, Rolen hits a sacrifice fly to center to make the score 6-2. But it's one less the out the Cardinals have to work with. Outs are the currency of baseball and St. Louis is nearly broke in this game.

Update: Foulke comes in and strikes out Edmonds. The Red Sox are three outs away from going up 2-0 in the series.

Jason Marquis enters the game in the 7th. I'm a bit surprised by this, although it may just be for an inning to get him some work before his Wednesday start. With the use of Eldred, and only using King for one batter, it's almost as if La Russa is saving his main relievers for St. Louis.

Edmonds makes a great catch in centerfield to get the first out of the inning. It was one of those classic over the shoulder plays heading toward the wall that's remeniscient of Willie Mays.

Fox just interviewed a 79-year-old woman who is a 40 year season ticket holder. I think she knows more about the game than all the broadcasters in the park combined. :-)

Another great outing for Curt Schilling. The Cardinals, like the Yankees, did nothing to try to make him move off the mound. The Cards did try to work the counts early, but as the game went on and Schilling threw strikes, the Card appears to abandon that strategy. Schilling threw 94 pitches; not that unusual for six innings.

Major kudos to Curt and his surgeon. I'm impressed by the idea of the surgery, and I'm even more impressed with Schilling's ability to throw through the pain. It's the stuff of which legends are made.

Update: One reason they may not have bunted against Schilling is that early on they seemed to be getting hard hit balls against him. Some were caught; that's just bad luck. It could be the Cardinals figured they had Schilling measured; they didn't count on him getting stronger.

I want to put Orlando Cabrera's helmet through the dishwasher.

Update: Cabrera and his dirty helmet drives a single off the wall in left to plate two more runs. It's 6-1 Boston in the bottom of the sixth.

Update: Manny's helmet can use the pot-scrubber cycle as well. :-)

Update: A pop single by Manny Ramirez leads to Ray King coming in to face David Ortiz.

Update: King gets Ortiz swinging. It looks like Schilling is out of the game, but the Cardinals have their work cut out for them.

Bill Mueller makes his 2nd error of the night. It seems like if there are two outs, the ball is hit to Mueller tonight. St. Louis has a man on first with two out for Edmonds.

Update: Bellhorn gets a grounder and boots it. It's hard to believe the Red Sox are winning with all these errors.

Update: Sanders hits a hard grounder to Mueller, who fields it and beats Rolen to the bag for the third out. I guess you have to hit it real hard at Bill for him to make the play. :-)

Matt Morris gets Manny Ramirez to fly out, but he won't be allowed to pitch to David Ortiz. Cal Eldred is on to try to get Popi.

Morris gives up at least 4 runs in 4 1/3 innings. The Sox didn't homer off him, but they did have a couple of long hits to drive in the four runs.

Update: Eldred hits Varitek, but gets out of the inning. The Cardinals have only allowed four hits, but unlike the Red Sox they have put six runners on via the walk or hit batter. Schilling has added only one extra base runner via the free pass.

Schilling is now through five innings, and appears to be getting stronger. The Cardinals are not trying to use the bunt to make Schilling move, and he's starting to strike out batters.

If the Red Sox win the Series, they should give the throphy to the doctor who stitched up Schilling.

Mueller gets his 2nd hit of the night, and double into the right field corner. That puts runners at 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs for Bellhorn.

Update: Bellhorn delivers a double off the wall in centerfield. The Red Sox lead 4-1. I guess the Boston fans aren't yelling for Pokey anymore. I always wondered what they saw in Pokey.

Albert Pujols gets the double-double, hitting his 2nd two bagger down the line in left to lead off the fourth.

Update: Rolen flies out to shallow right, but he has to dive and Pujols tags up and goes to third.

Update: Schilling gets a big strikeout of Edmonds. His splitter seems to be working just fine.

Update: Schilling get Sanders to ground to third, but the usual sure-handed Mueller muffs the ball, and the Cardinals score an unearned run. That's all they get, however, as Womack grounds to 2nd to end the inning.

The third is Schilling's strongest so far. He gets the side in order, and strikes out Walker for the third out. It's the first inning where the Cardinals didn't work him hard, either. They still haven't tried to but against Schilling.

Update: Morris has an equally strong inning, getting two grounders and a strikeout of Manny. On to the fourth, with the score 2-0 in favor of Boston.

Reggie Sanders costs the Cardinals a base when he thought he missed 2nd on a hit and run. Fox has a microphone in the base, and you can hear his foot hit the base as he rounds 2nd. Nonetheless, the Cardinals have runners at 1st and 2nd with one out.

One thing Sanders did well was step out on Schilling just as Curt was about to go into his motion, causing Schilling to stop in mid windup.

The Cardinals run into bad luck though, as Sanders runs when Matheny lines out to third. Mueller just has to tag Reggie for the unassisted double play. It's the 2nd time in two innings that the turn at bat ends with a hard liner right at the third baseman.

Schilling hasn't struck anyone out yet. As it was in game 6, he's not the real Schilling, but he's throwing strikes and has had good luck so far.

Update: Fox now is saying that it looks like the microphone picked up Sanders hitting the dirt near the base.

Morris, after getting two ground outs, pitches carefully to Ramirez and Ortiz and uses the walk to put men on 1st and 2nd for Varitek.

Update: Oh those base on balls! Varitek clears the bases with a triple to the triangle in center that just misses being a HR. The Red Sox take a 2-0 lead.

Update: I thought it was a double, but it was a triple. Varitek rips his pants on the slide into third. I hope Fox doesn't get fined by the FCC for indecency!

Update: Nixon grounds out to end the inning. Morris works very hard, however, throwing over 30 pitches.

Morris walks Millar; he may not get out of the first at this rate.

What a great play by Scott Rolen. He back-hands Damon's roller, throws off balance, gets a lot of mustard on the ball and the throw easily beats Damon to the bag. I'm not sure Greg Nettles could have made that play! :-)

Game 2 is underway. Schilling starts Renteria with a strike. Renteria has taken three pitches in a row and he's ahead 2-1 in the count.

Update: Renteria is having a great AB. Unlike Jeter, who in game 6 flew out on the first pitch, Renteria has run the count full and has fouled off a number of pitches. He's doing a great job of making Schilling work early and show his pitches.

Update: Renteria grounds out to short. He made Schilling throw 12 pitches, however.

Update: For compairson, Schilling only threw 11 pitches in the 1st inning of game 6.

Update: With two out, Pujols gets a double off Schilling.

Update: Rolen gets all of it, but hits a liner straight at Mueller for the third out.

It was a good inning both for the Cardinals and for Schilling. Schilling showed he has command of his pitches and can throw strikes. The Cardinals made him work, throwing 24 pitches. Pujols and Rolen also hit the ball solidly, although Rolen's went for an out. A nice beginning for both clubs.

I was just watching the end of the Patriots' game and saw dizzle coming down. Here in western Massachusetts, the sky is cloudy but it's dry. It seems the east is wet tonight, however.

This will make it slippery for Schilling, even more reason for the Cardinals to try to make him move off the mound as much as possible. Again, the Yankees didn't take advantage of these conditions in game 6 of the ALCS; I don't expect the Cardinals to make the same mistake.

Tonight is going to be a very interesting game. Matt Morris takes the mound for St. Louis vs. Curt "Frankenstein" Schilling. Former Red Sox great and dentist Jim Lonborg comments at ESPN.com about the surgery Schilling underwent:

"Watching Curt in that game a few days ago, I think that was one of the gutsiest performances I've ever seen,'' Lonborg said. "I don't know as a pitcher that I would be able to stay in the kind of groove that he's been able to maintain. But he's probably been able to identify his pitching motion and the components of it to the point where he knows exactly what he has to do to make good deliveries. He's really been able to focus on that.

"It's such a feather in Dr. Morgan's cap to be able to come up with that, to have the imagination to remedy the problem with that tendon that was flopping around down there. It's just absolutely phenomenal that a few sutures could create such a wonderful feeling for Curt to be able to pitch. It's the simplest of procedures, but it's also very innovative. Dr. Morgan just got a great brainstorm and he went with it.''

One thing working against Schilling tonight, however, is the element of surprise. Had the Yankees known Curt had undergone surgery, they might have approached him differently (actually, they didn't have any approach, so maybe I'm wrong there). It was clear in the bottom of the 4th of game 6 that Schilling could only run in pain, as he had to cover 1st twice. While we speculated before game 6 about the Yankees bunting on Schilling, we now know it would have been a pretty good strategy. I could see Renteria, Taguchi, Womack (or whoever plays 2nd) and Sanders all using this against Curt. Unlike the Yankees, the Cardinals know that Curt can't strike them out. They know his range is limited. I suspect La Russa will devise a strategy to exploit those weaknesses.

The Red Sox batters hope to play long ball again tonight. When you look at Matt Morris' numbers for this season, the one number that jumps off the page is his HR allowed. His thirty five allowed in the regular season was tied with Greg Maddux for 2nd most in the NL. He's allowed 5 in the post season in only 17 IP.

It's also interesting that Morris is starting game 2, which means he's likely to start game 6, both in Fenway. Morris had an ERA that was nearly 2.5 points higher on the road.

My bet is that Boston as another good run scoring night. The question is will Schilling's ankle hold up long enough to bury the Cardinals?

Enjoy!

That was a wild one. Foulke blew the save but won the game. As Bill James once said, that's a lot better than losing it.

It was not a pitcher's night. The two teams combined for 24 hits and 14 walks. One positive for Boston was that they controled Pujols, Rolen and Edmonds; only Walker really hit them. The bad news is that the rest of the Cardinals offense found their bats.

Both teams forced the other pitching staff to throw a lot of pitches. Williams and Haren combined for 139 pitches in six innings. Wakefield and Arroyo were close, throwing 128 in their six innings. With pitch counts like that, the bullpens are going to get a lot of work in this series.

A big win for Boston, but these teams are very evenly matched. Lots more runs to come.

Reggie Sanders strikes out to start the 9th inning.

Update: Marlon Anderson hits a ground-rule double on a 3-2 pitch to bring the tying run to the plate in the person of Yadier Molina.

Update: Molina pops out. Roger Cedeno will try to keep the Cardinals inning alive.

Update: Cendo strikes out to end the game.

Mark Bellhorn hits the foul pole again, this time with a runner on, and the Red Sox take an 11-9 lead in the bottom of the 8th. With Julian Tavarez pitching, the Cardinals are surrounding the dugout phone. :-)

Update: That's all the Red Sox get. The Cardinals need two to tie again.

The eight-nine slots get on for the Cardinals in the eighth, bringing Keith Foulke into the game with 1 out.

Update: Renteria singles in the hole, and pinch runner Marquis somehow scores. He had stumbled going to second on the previous hit, then scores after stopping at third and despite a good throw to Varitek. Good result, bad process. I doubt we'll see Marquis pinch run again.

Update: Walker pops to left and Manny drops the ball! He was given an error on a throw to the plate on the previous play, and now this error ties the game. Runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, and they're walking Pujols to face Rolen.

Update: Rolen pops out. Foulke faces Edmonds.

Update: Foulke gets Edmonds looking. Foulke gets the blown save, but hardly deserves it. Manny deserves the BS here.

Manny Ramirez singles in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 7th. Manny is three for five with two RBI tonight. He has 12 hits since the start of the LCS, 11 for singles. Manny's doing a great job of getting on base, but he's not supplying the usual power. Still getting on base is more important, and he's still helping the Red Sox win.

Update: With the infield in, Tony Womack gets hit when David Ortiz's grounder takes a high hop right into Tony's collar bone. He has looked in pain all night, and now his breast bone hurts as much as his back, and he's coming out of the game. Marlon Anderson is on to play 2nd.

The Red Sox get another run on the play to extend the lead to 2.

Haren walks the first two batters of the fourth, then gets three fly balls to get out of the inning. It's only the 3rd half inning of the 8 played that's been scoreless.

Wakefield walks Edmonds and Sanders to start the fourth. We'll see if Womack is willing to take some pitches.

Update: Womack walks. The soft underbelly of the Cardinals lineup is at bat now. Can the 8-9 hitters deliver?

Update: Matheny has a good AB and files to shallow right. Edmonds scores as Millar cuts the ball off, but Millar makes an error trying to get Sanders at third, throwing the ball into the dugout. That scores another run and puts Womack at third. Womack scores on a Taguchi ground out.

The 8-9 hitters make outs, but at least they put the ball in play and with the help of a Red Sox mistake, get all three runners home. It's 7-5 in the fourth.

Wakefield walks Renteria to make Walker the tying run at the plate. Francona has seen enough, and Bronson Arroyo is coming in to try to end the inning.

Update: Larry Walker gets a single to make the situation 1st and 3rd with two out and Pujols at the plate. Walker just needs a triple for the cycle.

Update: Pujols grounds out. It's not a night for the pitchers.

The Red Sox load the bases again, and Johnny Damon delivers a single to plate one more run. The Red Sox have chased Woody Williams from the game in the bottom of the third with the score 5-2. Woody gave up 8 hits and 3 walks in addition to hitting a batter. That's 12 of 19 batters reaching base.

Update: Haren doesn't do much better as Cabrera singles in one more to make the score 6-2. Bases still loaded for Manny.

Update: Manny hits into a fielder's choice to short to make the score 7-2. Who would have thought that the Red Sox would be doing this well with Manny hitting almost all singles since the start of the ALCS?

Update: Haren does a good job of allowing Williams' runs without giving up any of his own. It's 7-2 Boston after three.

Larry Walker takes Wakefield down the right field line again, this time crushing the ball into the right field stands. He now has half a cycle in the third inning.

Woody Williams is getting a workout from the Red Sox batters. He's faced 14 batters in two innings and has thrown 47 pitches. Not surprisingly, the Cardinals have bullpen action already.

I don't understand La Russa love of the bunt in the post season. Womack is one of the Cardinals better hitters. Why take the bat out of his hand just to advance runners? The two hitters coming up behind him aren't very good. I'd rather see Tony try to get a hit than waste an out.

Matheny hits a sac fly to drive in a run. We'll see what So-So can do.

Update: Taguchi strikes out. The Cardinals play for 1 run and get it.

David Ortiz continues to be everyone's daddy, as he hits a three run home run in the bottom of the first to give the Sox a 3-0 lead. The Red Sox are taking the ball deep on Williams. Even Ramirez's out required a great catch by Larry Walker.

Also, I like the way the Red Sox are tagging and 2nd to 3rd on deep fly balls. Millar just did that and scores on Mueller's single. It's 4-0.

Johnny Damon gets the first hit for the Red Sox. Like Walker, it was a double. Unlike Walker, he went the opposite way, down the left field line.

Larry Walker gets the first hit of the World Series, a double into the right field corner off Wakefield.

Update: A good inning by Wakefield. He had a strikeout and two pop outs around the double by Walker. Looks like the knuckle ball is dancing tonight, although I haven't see Mirabelli have a problem catching the ball yet.

Looks like the Cardinals are using the designated hitter to improve their defense. So Taguchi is in left field for the Red Birds, while Reggie Sanders moves to DH.

The Red Sox have Cabrera batting 2nd and Bellhorn batting 9th. Cabrera has a better BA vs. Williams, but both players have very small samples against Woody. Given Woody's success against lefties, however, it might be a good move.

Woody Williams faces Tim Wakefield tonight in game 1 of the World Series. (By the way, this is at least the third time this week we've had a 3-initial match. We had Mike Mussina vs. Pedro Martinez and Matt Morris vs. Pete Munro in the LCS). Not exactly Bob Gibson vs. Jose Santiago, but it's an interesting matchup.

Woody Williams had an excellent season vs. left-handed batters. With the Red Sox having as many as six lefties in the lineup (3 lefties, 3 switch hitters) this could work as an advantage to Williams. On the negative side, Williams' ERA goes up close to 2 points on the road.

Williams, having spent some time in the AL, has an interesting line vs. Manny Ramirez. Manny is 3 for 23 against Woody with double and 2 HR. So when Ramiez hits Williams, he hits him hard.

Wakefield (and you can say this for Arroyo and Lowe) is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you are going to get. When the knuckler is dancing, no he's as tough a pitcher to hit as there is. If the pitch isn't working, however, the Cardinals have plenty of fire power to pound the slow, straight stuff. Tim hasn't had a great post-season so far. He's been in three games, and in two of them, the Yankees score easily. This start is based on his performance Monday, where he went 3 innings, striking out 4 and giving up 0 runs. His ERA for the post season, however, stands at 8.59.

Two Cardinals have extensive experience against Wakefield. Edmonds has hit him well, collecting 17 hits in 37 AB against Tim, striking out only twice. Matheny, on the other hand, is 3 for 24 against the knuckler. I suspect the other Cardinals will be asking Edmonds about his approach versus Wakefield. :-)

I might add, this is the first World Series I'll see in High Definition. So far, the broadcasts have been spectacular! Enjoy!

The Cardinals and Red Sox are about to meet for the third time in World Series history. The Cardinals beat the Red Sox in seven games in 1946, scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 8th inning of game 7. In 1967, the Cardinals again won in 7 games, pounding the Sox 7-2 in the finale, including a HR by Bob Gibson. The Red Sox had not lost a World Series before 1946, and haven't won one since in four tries. It's fitting that the Red Sox should be playing the Cardinals, since the Red Birds are the Yankees of the National League, having won more World Series than any other NL team (9).

Offensively, the two teams each led their respective leagues in runs per game.

	Cardinals		Red Sox
2004 Batting	Value	League Rank	Value	League Rank
Runs/Game	5.28	Highest	5.86	Highest
OBA	3.44	4th Highest	.360	Highest
Slugging Pct.	.460	Highest	.472	Highest

Both teams are offensive power houses. The Red Sox did a better job relative to their league of getting on base, but both team hit for tremendous power. Looking at the Red Sox aggregate batting order, the first 8 slots were all above league average in OBA in 2004. So there's only 1 easy out in the order (much of that was Pokey Reese; Cabrera is better but still not league average). The Cardinals are above league average in OBA 1-5, but not close 6-9. So the Red Sox will have a tougher lineup to get through 1-9.

The Cardinals strength, as I've said before, is that their offense is concentrated in four outstanding players. Those four (Pujols, Walker, Edmonds and Rolen) are better than any big four in the majors, but that's it. You can see it in the LCS stats, compared to the Red Sox big four of Ortiz, Ramirez, Damon and Millar:

Big Four	Cardinals	Red Sox
Runs/Team Runs	24/34	18/41
RBI/Team RBI	27/33	20/40

There's no one to pick up the Cardinals if the big four slump. On the other hand, the Red Sox won game six vs. NY on the strength of a 4-run inning from the bottom of their order. The edge on offense goes to the Red Sox for depth; the ability of 8 of their 9 slots to get on base.

Both team also had excellent years from the mound.

	Cardinals		Red Sox
2004 Pitching	Value	League Rank	Value	League Rank
ERA	3.75	2nd Lowest	4.18	3rd Lowest
Strikeouts	1041	10th Highest	1132	2nd Highest
Walks	440	2nd Lowest	447	3rd Lowest
Home Runs	169	7th Lowest	159	Tied-Lowest

The Cardinals were 2nd in ERA by .01, but actually led the NL in fewest runs allowed per game. Both of these are great pitching staffs. The way I see it, the Red Sox have two advantages:

1. They strike out a lot of batters (they had more strikeouts than the Cardinals despite facing very few pitchers at the plate).
2. They don't allow many HR (they allowed fewer HR than the Cardinals despite facing very few pitchers at the plate).

One big story that I see will be who wins the contest of hitting HR between the Red Sox pitchers and the Cardinals hitters. If the Boston staff is able to keep the ball in the park, they'll take away St. Louis' biggest offensive weapon.

The Sox and the Cards staffs are the mirrors of their offenses, however. The Red Sox have two great pitchers in Martinez and Schilling. The Cardinals have four starters who are indistinguishable from each other. The Cardinals also have a better and deeper bullpen. The Cardinals overall have better depth (although this is not as extreme a difference as it is for the offenses).

And the big wild card is Schilling's ankle. Right now, it looks like they are going to stitch it up again before his next two starts. How well it holds together again is a mystery, especially if the Cardinals (unlike the Yankees), force Schilling to throw a lot of pitches and move off the mound often. I give a slight edge to the Cardinals staff on this one, basically because Schilling's condition is such an unknown.

Defensively, the Cardinals are the better fielding club. They had a DER of .711, tied for best in the NL. The Red Sox were very good also, with a .695 DER, 4th in the AL. The Red Sox pitcher, striking out more batters, could afford a more porous defense.

As for the intangibles, I just don't know. They're too intangible. :-)

So I like the Red Sox offense because it doesn't give the Cardinals pitchers a break. I like the Red Sox pitching if Schilling can push off, the Cardinals otherwise. I can't wait to see Pujols hitting in Fenway. I'm very curious as to how La Russa will try to exploit Schilling's injury. I'm interested in seeing if Lowe pitches well under pressure again. The Ray King/David Ortiz matchups should be fun. I conditionally like the Red Sox to win this series, but only by a hair.

Betsy Newmark points out how the World Series is like the Electoral College.

Before the series started, I was exchanging messages with Alex Belth of Bronx Banter, and one thing we wanted was that neither team would lose the series the way the Cubs and Red Sox did. We didn't want to point to a dumb move by a manager and say, "That's where the series was lost." Dan Le Batard, in wrapping up the Marlins victory, points out that this didn't happen.

''Do we get respect now?'' Willis asked. ``What more would you like us to do? Got anyone else out there you want us to beat?''

No, the Yankees will do. And, rest assured, no matter how much gnashing and wailing there is in New York today about how the most expensive team in the history of sports underachieved, this was not the Yankees underestimating or overlooking or disrespecting Florida. New York's best simply wasn't good enough, hard as that is to believe.

David Wells, who hadn't allowed a bunt single in two years, didn't field his position poorly in the first play of the World Series. Juan Pierre just put the ball where it couldn't be fielded. Heck, Wells pitched plenty well in Game 1. Penny just pitched better.

That Game 4 Marlins victory? Roger Clemens was proud of the outing that ended with a standing ovation. But he wasn't as good as Carl Pavano. The Yankees, remember, rallied majestically in that game, scoring two runs while one strike from defeat. That's hardly quitting or choking.

No, the Yankees lost because Braden Looper made exceptional pitches to get out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam, not because Aaron Boone and John Flaherty failed to do anything with them. And they lost because Alex Gonzalez fouled off several good Jeff Weaver pitches until he could get one far more to his liking.

And how about Game 5? It isn't like Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams gagged in this series. Both of them stung the ball. Williams would have tied Game 5 in just about any other ballpark with his warning-track flyout in the ninth inning. And how much harder would you have liked Matsui to hit the game-ending out? That's not Matsui failing in a key situation. That's Lee making an unbelievable play to prevent him from succeeding.

And Saturday's clincher? Right fielder Karim Garcia and catcher Jorge Posada made a very good play on a throw in Saturday's fifth inning. But Alex Gonzalez made a better slide. And Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte pitched exceptionally well. Marlins pitcher Josh Beckett just pitched better. New York's bats didn't go cold. New York's bats were silenced. There's a difference. If you want to say the Yankees gagged, make sure to remember that it was because Beckett kept stuffing baseballs down their throats.

And that's how it should be. The Marlins made mostly the right moves, the Yankees made mostly the right moves, and one of the teams got the better performance from its players. And we got to see a great World Series.

Scott writes:

I think there's another rather large error you can point to with Torre. He sent his team out there last night with no plan at all for winning the game. Right there, in the first inning, we saw Jeter and Nick Johnson hacking away. You've got a pitcher on three days rest, and you don't instruct your hitters to take a pitch now and then? I wouldn't be that upset about this if it weren't exactly the way the Yankees won their other recent championships. Who was the manager then? Oh yeah! It was Joe.

Interestingly, Beckett thought the Yankees were more patient last night:

Guess what? Beckett said he actually felt the Yankees were more patient against him last night than they were in Game 3, but he adjusted by mixing in more off-speed pitches and making several hitters look befuddled. Derek Jeter, who had the only three hits off Beckett in his last start, was 0 for 4, stranded three runners and made an error that led to Florida's second run. The player Luis Sojo called "the real Mr. October" played like it was a meaningless month.

It looked to me like Beckett was setting up his fastball with the changeup, instead of the other way around. As for Torre, yes, he should have had a meeting before the game where he said, "Everyone is going to take the first pitch." But Beckett was throwing so well last night, those pitches probably would have gone for strikes anyway. Posada had a great AB last night, described here. He got the count to 3-2, then Beckett threw an inside pitch. Posada took it, and the pitch just caught the inside corner for strike three. When a pitcher is hitting the corners and changing speeds, I'm not sure there is any other approach except to wait for him to make a mistake.

Two players I'm very happy for are Ivan Rodriguez (Everybody's Rod) and Mike Lowell. Ivan came up the majors at the age of 19 and immediately impressed everyone with his tremendous throwing arm. As the years went by, he developed into one of the best hitting catchers of all time as well. I-Rod thinks this is only the beginning for this team:

Maybe the Marlins could be more than just a one-year wonder. Catcher Ivan Rodriguez would love to see ownership keep the team intact.

"We have very good players in this clubhouse, and I think if this team stays together the way it is, I think they can be like the Yankees, they can win pretty much every year in the playoffs and win more World Series," Rodriguez said.

"I think this team right now is the thing that a lot of teams want to have, a team that can do everything: guys that can bunt, good pitching, guys that can move the guy over, power in the middle of the lineup," Rodriguez said. "I think overall, this team has all that, and if you have a team like this, you should keep this team for two or three or four years."

Cabrera, just based on his age, is likely to develop into a great hitter. Beckett and Cabrera gives a team a great base to build around.

Mike Lowell came up with the Yankees, but was never given a chance to develop. He survived cancer, and has developed into a good hitter, a better hitter than Brosius was with the Yankees from 1999-2001. This has to be sweet for him. It was very sweet for his father.

That's what Joel Sherman of the NY Post is doing:

They were 0-for-10 with runners on last night, 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, making them 17-for-86 (.198) and 7-for-50 (.140) in those categories for the Series. The Yanks managed one extra-base hit in 32 at-bats against Florida starters with men in scoring position, a three-run, first-inning homer by Hideki Matsui off Mark Redman in Game 2, perhaps explaining why Beckett bumped Redman for the Game 6 start.

"We had opportunities to win games," Jason Giambi said. "We never seemed to get the big hit."

But before you go blaming the offense too much, remember that the Yankees offense in this series outscored the Marlins 21-17. They were 30 points better in batting average, 50 points better in on-base average and 100 points better in slugging percentage. They out-homered the Marlins 6-2. It was just a question of timing, or, dare I say it, luck.

The Yankees offense isn't perfect like in was in 1998, but I'd much rather have the Yankees lineup than the Marlins lineup. The Marlins won because they were able to take advantage of local weakness in the Yankee lineup (the bottom of the order), injuries (Giambi) and slumps (Soriano). They also got lucky with the one bad managerial move Torre made in the series, leaving Jeff Weaver on the mound in game 4.

And it wasn't exactly like the Marlins were wizards with men in scoring position. They hit .233 as a team in the series, which while better than the Yankees, it did not result in any more runs, as both teams had 14 RBI with their limited success in that situation.

There was nothing special about Scott Brosius or Jim Leyritz or Tino Martinez. They were decent players on a great team, and they all got lucky, just like Alex Gonzalez got lucky in this series. And sometimes, that's all you need to win a championship.

Jim Caple's piece wrapping up the World Series is titled "Disaster Strikes Yankees."

Hmmm. So how do you imagine George Steinbrenner feels about this revelry?

"I know he doesn't like this," first baseman Derrek Lee said. "I know he doesn't like this. But this is sweet. Dancing on the field at Yankee Stadium? That's sweet."

Sweet? It would have killed lab rats. But as wonderful as it was to see another team celebrate on "sacred" Yankee Stadium soil, many heads are going to roll for this.

To lose the World Series is bad enough when Furious George signs your checks. To lose to the Marlins, a team with a payroll $128 million lower than the Yankees? We're lucky George didn't light Brian Cashman on fire and toss him onto the subway tracks. I'm also surprised he didn't immediately offer Loria $100 million for the trophy and Beckett.

Actually, there is a report that George did offer to buy the trophy. :-)

But seriously, what is Caple basing his "heads will roll" mantra on? Cashman and Torre had lost two years in a row before this defeat. Why is this year different? Steinbrenner fired Dick Howser and Buck Showalter after their teams made the playoffs and lost. Torre has now lost in the playoffs four times. Cashman has put a great team on the field every year. If they were going to go, they would have been gone after the Arizona debacle.

The coaching staff? Fine. This is a coaching staff that can't teach Alfonso Soriano how to take a pitch. This is a coaching staff that can't teach middle infielders how to play defense. This is a coaching staff that is old and complacent. But if Torre stays on as manager, I bet a lot of them stay on, too.

And Steinbrenner says Torre is staying:

Owner George Steinbrenner has promised that Joe Torre will be his manager in 2004, the final year of his contract.

"Joe is the highest-paid manager in the history of baseball and he has the highest payroll in the history of baseball," Steinbrenner said. "I've given him everything he has asked for because I like him and he's the manager."

The Yankees have any number of problems that need to be addressed, from replacing the rotation to fixing the defense in the middle of the field to finding hitters for the bottom of the order who have some batting strength. It will be a different team next year, but my guess is Torre and Cashman will still be making the moves.

Dan Le Batard was in the middle of the celebration last night.

This was at the center of the delirium, right near the mound, amid the laughter and screams and tears and hugging and singing and smiling.

Florida Marlins pitcher Josh Beckett, surrounded by bobbing teammates, at the center of a celebration he created, looked into the stands of an emptying Yankee Stadium, in the quietest New York City you've ever heard, and the defiance came out of him with more hiss than even one of those fastballs the mighty Yankees could not hit.

''Go home,'' he spat. ``Have a nice offseason. We're going to have a parade.''

This is what the lovable underdog looks like when angered, disrespected and overlooked.

It looks like a champion.

I'm sorry, I missed the disrespect. All I read the last few weeks was about the great Josh Beckett. I guess a New York fan must have called him a name. Of course, that's the kind of competitive midset that won't make you popular but will make you a champion.

Others were just too happy to be mean:

''This is indescribable,'' Marlins second baseman Luis Castillo said in the middle of the delirium, after lifting 72-year-old Marlins Manager Jack McKeon on his shoulders. ``How do you find any words for this? There are none. There is no explanation for this. Nobody thought we could do this. You just don't see this in Yankee Stadium.''

Castillo was winded from celebrating, gasping for breath.

''That was the team we had to beat -- the Yankees,'' Castillo said. ``What can they say about us now? That we beat them because of a goat or a fan or a curse? That we got lucky? We won because we were the better team. We're the best.''

McKeon came over to Castillo for yet another hug.

''Thank you,'' Castillo said to him in mid-embrace. ``You deserve this.''

''I love you,'' McKeon said.

The old man was on the cusp of tears.

''I cried, too,'' shortstop Alex Gonzalez said. ``A lot of us did. I never thought I'd play in a World Series, and now I've won one. I had to release that joy.''

There's one other thing in this article, that backs up something I wrote earlier:

On his way to the stadium Saturday, while walking the streets here, McKeon couldn't believe how many people who were Yankee fans came up to him, shook his hand and told him they hoped he would beat New York.

''It was unreal,'' he said.

It seems even parts of this city, having grown tired of the corporate, antiseptic Yankees, had fallen in love with the passion and hustle of the Marlins in a way that had New York fans actually embracing Florida's leader on the street.

Hard to believe.

Posada hits a slow roller down the first base line, which Beckett picks up and uses to apply the tag. Marlins are World Champions!

That has to be one of the most amazing World Series performances I've seen, certainly the best since Jack Morris' game 7 in 1991. Beckett gets his 2nd complete game shutout of the post season, allowing five hits and striking out 9. So much for low payroll teams not being able to win the World Series.

I thought the Yankees approached their hitting all wrong tonight. I'll have to look it up tomorrow, but I think they swung at a lot of first pitches, and not all of them were strikes. They had their chances, going 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. They just couldn't deliver.

I think the play of the game, and maybe the series, was Alex Gonzalez's slide at home in the fifth. He turned his series around, with the game winning home run and his 2 for 4 and game winning run tonight.

It's a great win, and the people of Miami have to be very proud tonight. I hope the Marlins do the right thing, keep the core of this team together, and the fans reward that with great attendance next year.

Congratulations to the Marlins on a great season! It's been a terrific playoffs.

Williams flys out to Cabrera in left, who almost misjudges the ball. Two outs to go.

Update: Matsui flies to left also. Up to Posada.

Rivera gets the side in order in the 9th. Pettitte and Rivera have turned in outstanding performances, but not as outstanding as Beckett so far. He'll face Williams, Matsui and Posada in the bottom of the ninth. Three outs away from the championship.

Soriano lines a single into left on the first pitch to start the 8th. He's 2 for 3 in the 9 hole.

Update: Now there is action in the bullpen as Jeter gets ahead of Beckett 2-0, and the pitching coach comes out to the mound.

Update: Urbina and Willis are warming up.

Update: Jeter flys to center. It was deep, but not deep enough.

Update: Nick Johnson hits into a double play to end the inning. Great defense by the Marlins. Yankees will have the heart of the order up in the 9th.

The announcers report that the Marlins bullpen is quiet. This is the Dusty Baker mistake, and I'm surprised McKeon is making it. If Beckett tires here in the 8th, McKeon might not be able to warm up a pitcher fastest enough to stop the damage. Will no one learn how to handle a pen?

Mariano Rivera comes in to start the eighth. I suspect Rivera will be in for the rest of the game, no matter how long it goes.

Update: Enrique Wilson, in for Boone, botches a ball at third, but it's scored a hit.

Update: Derrek Lee strikes out swinging on a pitch near the dirt.

Jorge Posada leads off the 7th for the Yankees with a double down the leftfield line.

Update: One thing helping Beckett is that after Posada, everyone is injured or not hitting well. Giambi grounds out to third, no advance by Posada.

Update: Beckett gets ahead of Karim Garcia 0-2, but Garcia runs the count full. He then gets called out on a high strike.

Update: Sierra pinch hitting for Boone.

Update: Sierra strikes out swinging. The Yankees waste a golden opportunity to score, not even advancing Posada to third. It's 2-0 Marlins after seven.

Pettitte follows Beckett's 6th with his own 1-2-3 7th. The Yankees have gotten everything they could have wanted out of Andy tonight. I suspect if New York takes the lead in this inning, Rivera will be out to finish the game.

Update: Rivera is warming up in the bullpen.

The Yankees go down in order in the sixth, with Williams and Matsui striking out. Beckett is looking better as the game progresses, with his curve ball being especially effective. He's only thrown 72 pitches through six innings. Marlins are now in a great position to win this game.

Jeter makes an error on a routine ground ball by Conine leading off the 6th. It's the first time in the game the Marlins have the leadoff runner on.

Update: Lowell walks on four pitches to put runners at first and second with none out. Pettitte could use one of his DP balls here.

Update: Lee bunts, and Pettitte gets the runner at 2nd. Not enough time for the double play. 1st and 3rd, one out.

Update: Encarnacion sac fly puts the Marlins up 2-0.

Update: Gonzalez bunts down the third base line for a single. Pierre up, and Pettitte is approaching 100 pitches.

Update: Pettitte strikes out Pierre. I believe the run is unearned. Yankees need to work Beckett here if they want to get him out of the game early.

After five innings, things are going well for both the Yankees and the Marlins. Pettitte is keeping the team in the game. The Yankees have to hope this comes down to a battle of the closers. Beckett, however, has kept his pitch count low; remember the only victory that Beckett has been credited with in the post season came when he pitched a complete game.

Karim Garica opens the inning with a single to right. The Yankees waste an out having Boone bunt him to 2nd. However, as poorly as Boone's been hitting, in this case it's not a bad move.

Update: Of course, Soriano swings at the first pitch and pops it up. Jeter's up.

Update: Jeter is blown away by a Josh Beckett fastball. Marlins remain up 1-0 after five.

With two out in the fifth, Gonzalez and Pierre single to put men on first and 2nd. It's up to Castillo, hitting .130 in the WS so far.

Update: Pettitte gets ahead of Castillo 0-2. Castillo fouls off some pitches, works the count to 2-2, then lines a single to right. Garcia makes a good throw, but Posada was slightly up the first base line, and Gonzalez made a great slide to miss the tag and catch the plate with his finger. Great hitting and baserunning by the Marlins. Runners ended up at 2nd and 3rd, prompting the Yankees to intentionally walk I-Rod to load the bases.

Update: Pettitte strikes out Cabrera to end the inning. They made Andy work that inning, however, making him throw close to 40 pitches. It's 1-0 Marlins in the middle of the fifth.

Beckett has an easy 1-2-3 fourth. The Yankees didn't make him work very much, just seven pitches.

Pettitte has finished four innings, and he's averaging about 12 tosses per frame. He's thrown 49 pitches, 34 for strikes.

Soriano takes the 2nd pitch from Beckett into centerfield for a lead off single in the third.

Update: Run and hit, Jeter grounds out to 2nd, but moves Soriano into scoring position.

Update: Beckett seems to be missing the strikezone high when he's missing it.

Update: Nick Johnson walks on five pitches. 1st and 2nd with 1 out for Bernie Williams.

Update: Bernie hits the 2-2 pitch to Castillo, who turns it into a double play. It's 0-0 after three. Beckett has thrown 46 pitches through three, 27 for strikes.

Juan Pierre shows selectivity at the plate and draws the Marlins first walk of the game in the third.

Update: Castillo grounds slowly to third, forcing Pierre at 2nd. Soriano could not get the ball out of his glove to attempt the DP. Ivan Rodriguez sends Garcia back to the wall, where he makes a nice catch as he crashes into the padding.

Jorge Posada makes Beckett work a bit. He runs the count to 3-2, but Beckett gets him looking at a perfect pitch on the inside corner.

Update: Giambi walks on four pitches. Beckett looking more wild in this inning. Ten pitches so far, 7 for balls.

Update: Garica forces Giambi at 2nd. Giambi made a nice slide to break up the DP, but you could see him limp away from the play.

Update: Boone is swinging for the fences again.

Update: Boone strikes out on a pitch high, out of the strikezone. Still 0-0.

Mike Lowell doubles with one out in the 2nd to give the Marlins their first threat of the night. He's not 4 for 21 in the World Series.

Update: Pettitte strikes out Derrek Lee and Juan Encarnacion to end the inning. Three K for Andy through two. The more balls he keeps out of play, the better off he'll be. He's now averaging better than a strikeout per inning during the playoffs.

Jeter swings at the first pitch and pulls it foul. He swings and tips the 2nd. I think Jeter should be trying to take some pitches. It's to the Yankees advantage to make Beckett work a lot this game.

Jeter does take the third pitch and strikes out looking.

Update: With 2 outs and 2 strikes, Bernie Williams drives one into the gap in left center, and it just ticks off the glove of Pierre. Williams gets a double, although the way the ball bounced off the glove, I thought he could have gotten a triple. Matsui breaks his bat and flys out to right to end the inning.

Beckett looked strong, and the Yankees didn't make him throw many pitches. He made 12 tosses, 10 for strikes.

Pettitte works Pierre inside and gets him to pop to Jeter to open the game.

Update: Pettitte strikes out Castillo looking on three pitches.

Update: I-Rod hits the first pitch into centerfield for a single.

Update: Cabrera bounces back to Pettitte to end the inning. Pettitte demonstrates his poise as a fielder. The ball went off hits glove; he didn't panic, he chased it down and threw out Miguel. Ten pitches for Pettitte, seven for strikes.

Torre and I are thinking alike today. Jeter is leading off, Johnson is batting 2nd, and Soriano is batting 9th. Giambi is batting 6th, however.

Alex Belth points out that Pettitte hasn't fared well in recent game sixes. Of course, neither of those games were elimination games for the Yankees. Plus, Pettitte's already had his one bad outing of the post season.

Here's an interesting fact:

From 1999-03, pitchers working on three or fewer days' rest in the postseason have fared poorly. In 37 such starts, they've gone 6-20 with a 5.93 ERA, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

As you know by now, Josh Beckett will face Andy Pettitte tonight in game 6 of the World Series. Beckett will be pitching on three days rest, while Pettitte last took the mound five days ago. Beckett has had an interesting post season, in that he's pitched extremely well in three of his four starts, but is only 1-2 in those games. His one bad start resulted in a no-decision.

Like Beckett, Pettite has made four starts in the post season, and pitched well in three of them. Like Beckett, his poor start resulted in a no-decision. But unlike Beckett Pettite won all his good starts. Pettitte is 3-0 with a 2.30 ERA in the post season. Beckett is 1-2 with a 2.67 ERA. Frankly, I don't see the great advantage for the Marlins in this game. Giambi's going to be back at DH. If Torre is smart, he'll move Soriano down to 9th and bat Jeter and Johnson 1-2. And I'm sure Jeter has imparted any knowledge he has on how to hit Josh to his teammates. This is going to be a better Yankee lineup than Beckett saw in game 3.

The other thing working against Beckett is that he's on the road in a ballpark that favors lefties. Beckett's ERA goes up almost a run on the road. His 2-5 record on the road has more to do with his support than his ERA, but it's clear you can get to him on the road. Meanwhile, Pettitte's ERA goes down 1/2 a run at home.

One thing that does favor Beckett is that, like Petttitte, he's more effective against opposite handed batters. Lefties hit for a lower average and less power against Beckett than righties did in 2003. Pettitte did better against righties than lefties.

I'm on record as saying that McKeon is not giving his team the best chance of winning the series by starting Beckett today. The only win Josh has in the playoffs is when he was able to pitch a complete game. Going on three days rest, he's less likely to do that. So if Pettitte can hold the game close for seven innings and the Yankees hitters can get Beckett's pitch count high, it will come down to Urbina-Looper vs. Rivera. That's a matchup the Yankees like.

I can't wait to see how it turns out.

ESPN.com is reporting that Josh Beckett will indeed start game 6. After I wrote that nice post about McKeon this morning, I may have to retract it. A couple of years ago, before I started the blog, I did a study about starting on three days rest vs. four days rest in the post season. I'll try to find it when I get home and post it here.

But the gist of the study is that teams have less of a chance of winning throwing pitchers on three days rest than on four days rest. Now, of course, you have to balance that vs. a number of factors, including the quality of the pitcher, how you think he'll perform in the stadium and so forth. But the question boils down to, how does McKeon maximize the probability of winning at least one game out of two.

Let's say the Yankees and Marlins are evenly matched; each has a .5 probability of winning a game played between them. Then, we would expect the Marlins to have a .75% chance of winning at least 1 out of the two remaining games. But I don't think Redman against Pettitte is 50/50, and I don't think Pavano with three days rest against Mussina is 50/50. In fact, I think the Marlins expected winning percentage in those matchups is pretty low. In fact, I think if you put a tired Pavano vs. a rested Mussina in New York, I think Mike wins 8 out of 10 times. Redman stinks on the road, too, but I don't think Pettitte is as good as Mussina, so I'd rate a matchup between those two at the Yankees winning 7 out of 10 times.

Now, Beckett vs. Mussina, both on full rest, is about as 50/50 as you can get. Beckett on short rest vs. Pettitte, I have to give the edge to Pettitte, 55 to 45. If you do the math with these odds, I get a Redman/Beckett combination at 65% chance of winning the series, a Beckett/Pavano combination at 56% chance of winning the series. Now, you can play with the odds all you like, but the way I see it, McKeon is reducing his chances of winning the Worlds Series.

Update: By the way, if the Marlins were losing 3-2, pitching Beckett in game 6 would be the right thing to do. But up a game, where they can afford to lose game 6, I think it's a mistake.

One of the nice things about having the Marlins in the playoffs is getting to read Dan Le Batard everyday:

What we're witnessing is so flabbergasting, so unbelievable, so cartoonishly fairy-tale that we're now approaching Bigfoot-wrestling-the-Loch- Ness-Monster-while-Elvis- does-the-play-by-play territory.

It isn't merely that the Florida Marlins are now only one victory away from being crowned baseball's champions and winning the World Series after Thursday's 6-4 victory over the deflated, dispirited New York Yankees.

(Re-read that sentence and feel free to find the most implausible October phrase in it. Marlins champions? Winning the World Series? Deflated, dispirited Yankees? That sentence alone is bizarre enough that I would have been strait-jacketed, institutionalized and immediately sent into rehab if I had written it a few months ago, back when Florida's manager was being fired and the deposed pitching coach was chasing the owner and general manager out of his apartment through curses at midnight.)

But that isn't the most jaw-dropping thing about this jaw-dropping season.

This is:

The Marlins have the Yankees, the most majestic champions in the history of American sports, in a complete, five-alarm panic.

You know, one thing I've noticed in the playoffs is that McKeon doesn't do anything wrong. I don't think he's great or innovative or dynamic, but apart from bunting early in the game, I haven't seen him do anything that makes me want to start writing screeds in my blog. With the players he has, his batting order makes sense. His bullpen use is fine. He has relievers ready when they are needed. He neither overworks nor underworks his starters. He's not the center of attention. He doesn't panic.

Jim Caple thinks the Yankees payroll is too low. It's a very amusing article by a long time Yankee hater, but he has a good point. Why spend all that money on the team if the team has no depth?

This is why I don't go to bed when the World Series is on. Another great game by a starter, this time by Brad Penny. The early departure of Wells set off a series of events that put the Yankees down early. Sort of ironic, given Wells comments about Clemens workout regimen yesterday:

"Just goes to show you don't need to bust your (butt) every day to be successful. Wow. I was wondering when that was going to come out. ... I'll leave the working and conditioning to those guys forever. They can write a book and do videos. They can make money on that, on how to last 20 years in the big leagues by conditioning. I'll write, 'How Not to Work Out.'"

The Marlins, with this win, are in a great position to win the series. If I were them, I'd give Beckett his proper rest and have him pitch on Sunday. Start Redman on Saturday; maybe the Marlins will get lucky. If not, they'll have their best pitcher ready and rested for game 7.

Looper on to pitch the ninth. He'll face Boone to start the inning.

Update: Boone pops out to I-Rod in foul territory. Giambi pinch hitting.

Update: Giambi hits a 2-2 pitch into the right centerfield stands to make the score 6-3.

Update: Jeter singles past the diving Derrek Lee. The Yankees are not done yet. Jeter has reached base 4 out of 5 times. Of course, Torre's lineup puts the weak hitting Wilson up next.

Update: And of course, Wilson doubles. See the Torre Luck Factor post from earlier this evening. That's it for Looper.

Update: Urbina in to face Bernie Williams with Wilson on 2nd and the score 6-4. One out.

Update: Bernie drives Encarnacion back to the wall in right center, but he makes the catch. Just short of Giambi's HR. Wilson goes to third with two outs, but Matsui hits the first pitch hard to Derrek Lee, playing on the line, and the game is over.

Soriano pinch hits for Garcia and strikes out. Who will play right? Torre's already used Dellucci, Garcia, Rivera and Sierra. Will this be Soriano's debut in the outfield?

Update: Yes, Soriano moves into right. Some have suggested this may be where he'll play next year.

Update: Yankees get another K/CS DP to end the 8th. They need four runs in the 9th.

Dontrelle Willis is entering the game at the start of the 8th to relieve Penny. This may make his starting game six less likely.

Jeff Nelson in to start the bottom of the 7th. He gets Castillo to fly out to center. He's now batting .143 in the series and has not drawn a walk.

Nick Johnson singles to lead off the 7th. More importantly, he had a long AB, making Penny work a bit. Garcia follows with a single to put runners on 1st and 3rd with none out.

Update: Once again, with a runner on third and less than two out, Boone fails to deliver. He pops it up to right. Sierra batting for the pitcher.

Update: Sierra strikes out. Penny's pitching great in this jam so far.

Update: Penny blows two past Jeter, but then Derek gets a low fast ball and muscles it into right to drive in the Yankees 2nd run.

Update: Penny would appear to have a blister. Conference on the mound the decide what to do.

Update: Penny stays in, and so does Enrique Wilson, who draws a walk to load the bases for Bernie Williams.

Update: Williams flys out to right to end the inning. We'll see if Penny can keep pitching with the blister.

Chris Hammond in to pitch. I-Rod singles, and then Cabrera almost hits another opposite field HR. Garcia makes a great catch, but Pudge tags up and barely makes it to 2nd.

Update: Great play to bad play. Boone makes a terrific stop on a Conine shot. He gets Pudge in a run down, throws to Wilson, Wilson throws back to third and no one is there. Now there are men on 2nd and 3rd with one out. Mike Lowell then dumps one into center for a two-run single. Marlins lead 6-1 in the bottom of the 5th.

Update: Lee hits into a DP to end the inning.

Penny is keeping his pitch count down. He's only thrown 61 pitches 42 for strikes. He's on his way to a complete game at this point.

With two out and a man on 2nd, Pierre drives one up the middle between Williams and Garcia for a double and an RBI. It's 4-1 Marlins in the bottom of the 4th. Pierre is 1 for 2 with a walk, and he's batting .375 with a .524 OBA in the series.

Contreras seems to have suddenly found his stuff. With two out in the third, he's struck out three in a row.

Update: Must be something about two outs. Conine doubles down the leftfield line past Boone.

Update: Lowell grounds out to end the inning. 3-1 Marlins after 3 innings.

Jeter draws a walk to start the third. He's been on twice in two plate appearances. Unfortunately, Wilson hits into an around-the-horn double play.

Update: In the middle of the third, Penny is bright and shiny so far. He's only thrown 39 pitches so far, 25 for strikes.

David Dellucci is on deck for Wells. Something must be wrong with the starting pitcher. Dellucci will bat after a Boone single with two out in the 2nd.

Update: Dellucci grounds out to Penny. Contreras is coming in to pitch. I wonder if this is the old strat-o-matic switch, where you start a lefty so the opponent will start a certain lineup, then bring in the righty after one to screw that up. Probably not. The Marlins always use the same lineup.

Update: Replays show Wells in pain in the first. Of course, if was pitching that well while hurting, why not leave him in? :-)

Update: The Yankees lost a lot here. They used Dellucci as a pinch-hitter, so they lost him as a pinch-runner/defensive replacement for late in the game. They are going to need to use the bullpen extensively, especially with Contreras having pitched yesterday. Could they bring in Andy Pettitte at some point, start Mussina Saturday and Clemens Sunday on short rest?

Update: Contreras is wild. With two out, he's walked Lowell, and then walked Lee (he almost took Lee's head off). He thrown 19 pitches, 12 of them balls.

Update: Alex Gonzalez drives one up the gap in right center for a ground rule double and his 2nd RBI in as many AB. Brad Penny follows with a single to drive in two, and the Marlins lead 3-1 in the bottom of the 2nd.

Update: Contreras has nothing. He walks Pierre to put men on 1st and 2nd.

Update: Castillo strikes out to end the inning, and didn't look good doing it. Yankees are in a mess of trouble right now.

Pierre bunts down the first base line to start the bottom of the 1st, but Nick Johnson makes a nice fielding play and Wilson covers to get the speedy leadoff hitter. That play will make Torre think the move was worthwhile.

Jeter follows that with a nice play up the middle. Two out.

Update: David Wells has an easy first inning. I-Rod taps back to the mound to end the inning. He threw 8 pitches, 5 for strikes.

This is so typical. Torre puts a lousy hitter in the 2 spot, selects a one-run strategy by having Wilson bunt, and the Marlins screw up the play letting Wilson reach first and Jeter go to third.

Update: Jeter scores on a Bernie Williams sacrifice fly. Yankees lead 1-0 in the first.

Update: Why is Steinbrenner wearing sun glasses? Does he think he's Cory Hart, the tragic poet of MTV?

Penny starts the game by giving up a single to Jeter, a soft liner over the head of Castillo at 2nd base.

Yanni is playing the National Anthem. They should have benched Boone instead of Soriano. :-)

Buster Olney of ESPN reports that Soriano and Giambi will be benched tonight. Soriano will be replaced by Enrique Wilson, who will bat 2nd. Giambi is being benched because of his knee, but Buster doesn't buy it.

Giambi has swung poorly in the postseason, like Soriano, and he is hitting .214 after four games; Johnson is more of a contact hitter than Giambi, a trait which Torre values. Johnson also is better defensively, with more range -- something Torre might have wanted against bunt-happy Juan Pierre with the lumbering Wells pitching for the Yankees in Game 4.

I don't think the Johnson for Giambi switch is a big deal. There's not that much difference. But Torre is batting Wilson 2nd. Wilson is a lousy hitter and should be batting 8th. Actually, I'd rather see Soriano dropped in the order; even bad, he's still a better hitter than Wilson. Sounds like the Yankees are panicking a bit.

I wrote this back on Saturday:

Game 1 of the World Series pits righty Brad Penny of the Marlins vs. the Yankees lefty David Wells. The Marlins were 27-11 when the opposition started a lefty against them during the regular season, best in the major leagues. Some of that record was due to Pro Player Stadium. The distance to the fences is shorter down the leftfield line than in right. The Marlins were 17-6 at home when a lefty starter against them, 10-5 on the road. That's still an excellent record. It looks like the Yankees are going to be starting lefties in four games in this series; they may want to start Pettitte tomorrow so that three of those four games are at Yankee Stadium.

Penny does not walk many batters. That's good against the Yankees, since drawing walks is an important part of their game. David Wells does not walk any batters; that's less important against the Marlins because they don't draw a lot of walks. They were 13th in walks drawn in the NL this year. They also don't strike out much (14th in the NL) so they put the ball in play, something that very good to do against the porous defense of the Yankees.

And it still applies, except this time the Marlins are at home. If the Marlins are going to break out and score a lot of runs, I suspect this is the game. All the variables (home game, lefty opposition) are in place.

Penny did walk too many batters in game 1 (3 in 5 1/3 innings), and now that the Yankees aren't exhausted, I don't think he can get away with that again. Pavano did an excellent job last night of taking out two of the three parts of the Yankees offense; he did not allow a walk and he did not let them hit for power. Penny needs to follow Pavano's lead.

That's pretty much what Wells did in game 1. The six hits he allowed were all singles. However, Wells allowed a lot of balls to be put in play against him in that game. He only struck out 1 in seven innings. With the Yankees defense, that could be disasterous in the game.

I give the edge to the Marlins tonight. Should be another great game. Enjoy!

Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald is questioning Jack McKeon's move of lifting Carl Pavano after eight innings.

Why in the name of all that is holy and sane would McKeon do something so out of character and -- how do we say this gently? -- profoundly, spectacularly and outrageously dumb?

Why would he take out starting pitcher Carl Pavano, who was pitching the game of his life Wednesday, had retired 15 of 16 batters with the ease of a man walking down a grocery aisle and generally muzzled the New York Yankees like very few pitchers have this season?

To make things more interesting, of course.

Why give the people of South Florida just nine innings of tension, theater and nausea when 12 innings is so much more fun?

The Marlins took an awfully creative route to victory, blowing a lead, extracting themselves from impossible jams, stranding runners in scoring position, but their road to victory rarely come with a map. And, at various points Wednesday, the tension was so thick you could have cut it with an enormous tension-cutting utensil.

Ugueth Urbina is not automatic Yankee reliever Mariano Rivera, not nearly. McKeon is a manager from another time -- he isn't merely old school; he wrote the textbooks for that old school -- and it was stunning to see him go to Urbina in the ninth inning and lapse into the push-button managing favored by today's managers who are so reluctant to let their starting pitchers finish what they started. Pavano, after all, had just had a 1-2-3 inning and was cruising. Urbina, of course, promptly gave up two runs, allowing the game to be tied at three and deflating this stadium and the surrounding city.

I have to disagree with Le Batard here. As much as I love a complete game, McKeon made the right move. Pavano's high in pitches this year was 117. He had thrown 115 last night. Sure, you could bring him out for the ninth and see what happens, but then you have Urbina pitching out of a jam, rather than starting fresh. The lesson of this year's playoff is to know when your starter is tired and get him out of there before something bad happens. I don't think this was push-button managing at all. I think if Pavano was at 100 pitches he would have stayed in.

Alex Gonzalez hits a 3-2 pitch down the line in left and over the fence for a 4-3 Marlins victory. It's his first HR of the post season, and another big last AB win for the Fish. I guess after a month off, Weaver could only go an inning.

With the bad calls at first early in the game, the Marlins should have won in regulation, so at least there was no harm from those missed calls. But the Yankees can hang this lost on the terrible AB by Aaron Boone in the 11th.

The series is tied at 2. A favorable matchup for the Marlins tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Giambi keeps the 12th inning alive with a single to right. The Yankees can't pinch run. Four-hit Williams is up.

Update: Bernie grounds out to second. To the bottom of the dozenth inning.

Jeff Weaver is in to pitch in the 11th.

Update: Wow. Weaver retires the side easily. I guess he just needed a month off. Just eight pitches, six for strikes.

Bernie Williams leads off the 11th with his fourth hit of the game, a double. Man on 2nd with none out.

Update: They are pitching to Matsui.

Update: They pitch carefully to Matsui and walk him on 5 pitches. Dellucci up and likely bunting.

Update: The bunt is good on the first pitch. 2nd and 3rd, 1 out, and Juan Rivera pinch hitting for Contreras.

Update: They are walking Rivera to pitch to Aaron Boone. Where's Yanni? :-)

Update: Looper in to pitch to Boone.

Update: Boone is 2 for 6 with a walk against Looper in his career (reg. and post season).

Update: Marlins bring the infield in. I don't understand this move. Go for the double play. It's not do or die, they'll still bat.

Update: Why is Boone swinging for the fences? He just needs to put the ball in play!

Update: Boone strikes out swinging. One of the worst situational AB I've ever seen. He just needs to get the bat on the ball to see what happens, and he's swinging from his heels. No discipline.

Update: Flaherty breaks his bat and pops out to third. A great relief appearance by Looper.

Contreras walks Pierre to start the 10th. Look for a bunt or a steal.

Update: Castillo lays down a perfect sacrifice. Pierre on 2nd for the big RBI man, Ivan Rodriguez.

Update: Contreras blows I-Rod away. He swings and misses at the last two pitches for the strikeout. It's up to Cabrera.

Update: Cabrera strikes out swinging to end the 10th. Contreras has struck out 4 of the 7 batters he's faced.

Chad Fox comes in to pitch the 10th for the Marlins.

Update: John Flaherty, in his first AB in the post season, sends Pierre back to the fence to make the out. Soriano up.

Update: After a Soriano K, Jeter comes through again with a double. Giambi up with the go-ahead run at 2nd.

Update: Giambi strikes out to end the inning. Marlins coming up in the 10th.

Contreras is in for the Yankees in the ninth, and strikes out Derrek Lee to start the inning.

Update: Gonzalez flies out to center. Hollandsworth bats for Urbina.

Update: Hollandsworth strikes out to send the game to extra innings. Contreras throws 12 pitches, eight for strikes.

Florida does not score in the 8th. To the top of the ninth with the Marlins leading 3-1. Giambi, Williams and Matsui will bat for the Yankees.

Update: Urbina is in to pitch the ninth.

Update: Giambi flies out to Conine in left. One out.

Update: Bernie Williams gets his third hit of the night. He's on first for Matsui with 1 out.

Update: Urbina walks Matsui, the first of the night. Men on first and 2nd with one out and Posada up.

Update: Posada hits into a force out, as Castillo gets Matsui at 2nd. 1st and 3rd with two out, as Ruben Sierra pinch hits for Garcia.

Update: Dellucci runs for Posada.

Update: Ball 1 to Sierra. 19 pitches by Urbina, 11 for balls.

Update: Huge mistake by Urbina. The count was 3-2, Sierra had taken two outside strikes and swung at another for a foul. I-Rod set up outside, but Urbina put the ball right over the plate, and Sierra creamed it into the rightfield corner. He scores Williams and Dellucci with the triple. Boone up.

Update: Boone grounds out to shortstop. Neither Pavano nor Clemens will figure in the decision. It's 3-3 going to the bottom of the ninth.

Jeter strikes out looking to end a 1-2-3 eighth for Pavano. My lovely wife Marilyn thought the last pitch was outside. :-)

That's probably it for Pavano. Eight innings, 1 run, 4 K, and most importantly, no walks. All seven hits were for one base. A great outing against a great pitcher, and a huge boost for the Marlins if they can hold on to this game.

An amazing comeback. After throwing 42 pitches in the first innings, Clemens throws 67 over the next six and doesn't allow a run. Against the last batter he'll face in the game, Roger records his 5th strikeout. Now he hopes the Yankees can score to support what was a great outing.

Update: Between innings, Clemens was was brought out for a curtain call. All the Marlins were lined up on the top of the dugout to cheer him along with the crowd. A fitting tribute.

The deeper Pavano goes, the stronger he looks. He's retired the last eight Yankees and has his 2nd consecutive 1-2-3 inning. He's now thrown 103 pitches, 71 for strikes. We'll see if he leads off the 7th.

Update: Pavano does lead off.

Through six innings, neither pitcher has allowed a base on balls. There have only been five World Series games in which no walks were issued. The last was on 10/11/1983 in game 1 at Philadelphia, a 2-1 victory by the Orioles.

I'm getting tired of writing this. With an 0-2 count, Rodriguez sets up about two feet off the plate, Pavano throws there, and Soriano swings and misses. McCarver had a good commentary on how batters are supposed to minimize the area where a pitcher can get you out, and right now Soriano is doing the opposite. Good to hear someone on the air finally say that.

Now, if they would only complain about Jeter's and Williams' fielding.

Update: Jeter hits into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. The Marlins still lead 3-1 in the middle of the fifth.

Not usually a reason to blog, but the leadoff hit was by Roger Clemens leading off the fifth.

Four decent innings from Pavano. He's given up six hits, but they are all singles. And he hasn't complicated things with walks. And 47 of his 66 pitches have been for strikes. He retires the side in order in the 4th, his strongest inning so far.

I complain a lot about Derek Jeter's defense, but he just made a very nice play on a ball chopped over Clemens' head by Rodriguez. Jeter charged in, got a good hop and fired Pudge out at first.

The Yankees are hitting with two out in the third. Consecutive singles by Giambi and Williams put men on 1st and 2nd for Matsui. Bernie is 2 for 2 and is hitting .462 in the series so far. Williams has not been a great series performer in the past, having hit .179 in the fall classic coming into today.

Mastsui flies out to Conine to end the inning.

Clemens has a much stronger 2nd inning. He retires the side in order and gets his first strikeout. He only threw eight pitches, seven for strikes.

Ed Rapuano is the umpire at first base who's made the two bad calls. It's cost the Marlins one run scored and one run allowed. They really should be up 4-0 at this point.

Bernie Williams leads off the 2nd with a single, then Matsui beats out an infield single with the help of the umpire. That's two calls that have been blown at that base in favor of the Yankees. 1st and 2nd with none out, and Posada hits one off Pavano that goes as an infield hit to load the bases.

Update: Garcia is doing a good job of making Pavano's pitches look like the are way inside when they are very close to the plate. Willie Randolph must have taught him that. :-)

Update: Garcia doesn't take the last inside pitch, but swings and misses to strike out.

Update: Boone hits a sac fly to medium center, and Matsui tags up and goes to third. On the weak throw there, Posada advances to 2nd. Poor defense by Pierre. Clemens grounds out to end the inning. 3-1 Fish in the middle of the 2nd.

Pierre grounds out to a drawn in Soriano to start the first.

Update: Castillo grounds out to shortstop. A bad throw by Jeter almost pulls Giambi off the bag who makes a great play to catch it. The umpire called Castillo out, but it looked to me like Giambi's foot came off the bag. But even looking at it in slow motion, I'm not 100% sure.

I-Rod follows with a single to right.

Update: Miguel Cabrera takes Roger Clemens deep the opposite way into the rightfield stands. It's Miguel's fourth HR of the post season. Conine follows with a single to left. Clemens like in game 7, is throwing strikes, but he's not fooling the hitters.

Update: Lowell dumps one into rightfield, moving Conine to third with two outs. Four hits in a row for the Marlins.

Update: Lee singles to left driving in Conine. It's clear this is not Clemen's night. Will he last the first?

Update: Weaver is warming up. I'd rather see Clemens get hammered.

Update: Alex Gonzalez flys out to right to end the inning, saving us from Jeff Weaver. Clemens threw 42 ptiches, only 25 for strikes, and, most importantly, did not come close to striking out a batter. Even if he straightens himself out in the 2nd, it's unlikely Clemens can go deep in this game.

Soriano takes a 1-0 pitch into centerfield for a single.

Update: A rare baserunning error by Derek Jeter. He hits a soft liner toward second that Castillo played on one hop. Jeter must have thought it was caught and didn't run at first, and the Marlins were able to get a double play out of it. Who does he think he is, Miguel Tejada?

Update: Giambi flies out to end the inning. Pavano throws 15 pitches, 10 for strikes.

I hope all baseball fans tune into this game tonight to watch what will in fact be the end of an era. Tonight, Roger Clemens makes his last major league start. Clemens is not just a great pitcher from his generation; he's one of the greatest of all time. And who knows, this may be the night he throws the no-hitter he's never had.

Clemens has started five games for the Yankees on the road in the post season. He's 3-1 with a 2.10 ERA in those starts. In those games he's pitched 34 1/3 innings and struck out 43, with opponents only batting .200 against him. He's also only allowed 1 HR in those games.

He'll be facing Carl Pavano in game 4. Pavano's pitched great in the post season, mixing one start with a number of stellar relief appearances. He's pitched 11 1/3 innings with a 1.59 ERA. He's walked only three while striking out 11, and only 2 of the 10 hits he's allowed have gone for extra bases (2 doubles).

Looks like another good matchup between the starters. It would be good to see Clemens cap his career in a blaze of glory, especially after his poor outing in game 7 of the ALCS. Enjoy!

Mark Hale of the NY Post picks up on Jorge Posada's remarkable World Series, in which he has a .000 BA but a .417 OBA.

Calling Jorge Posada "patient" isn't enough anymore. He's way past that.
Posada's the man waiting on line to ride Space Mountain. He's the guy waiting for his girlfriend to finish in the bathroom. He's the fellow who could join an FBI stakeout team and feel right at home. And he's the Yankee who drew the key walk last night.

Posada's remarkable patience continued to pay dividends last night, as his fourth-inning, bases-loaded walk drove in the Yankees' first run in their 6-1 win.

Incredibly, Posada now has drawn six bases-loaded walks this season. And he now has five walks in the World Series, good for a .417 on-base percentage that masks his, ahem, .000 batting average (0-for-7).

Of players who had at least five AB in a World Series without a hit, Posada's .417 OBA is way beyond the best. Darrel Chaney of the Reds was 0 for 7 in 1972 with 2 walks and a hit by pitch for a .300 OBA. Unlike Posada, however, Chaney's two walks were intentional.

Before the Red Sox-Yankees series, I wrote about the versatility of the NY offense. They can score runs with hits, they can score runs getting on base and they can score runs with power. The Marlins pitchers and defense are preventing hits. The Yankees are hitting just .258 in the three games so far. But they aren't stopping the other two parts of the Yankees offense. NY has a team OBA of .374 and a team slugging percentage of .464, based on five HR. In addition to the hits, the Marlins are going to have to stop the walks or the power if they hope to come back in this series.

Seems people are happy with Mussina now. Here's the NY Post's take from Mark Hale.

His effort was best painted by looking at his at-bats against the pesky Luis Castillo. In the first, Mussina struck him out with pure heat. In the seventh, with a runner on second and two outs, he elected to intentionally walk Juan Pierre to pitch to Castillo with two men on. Then he unfurled a nasty curve to send Castillo to the bench.

Mussina also pitched out of a tough jam in the sixth when the Marlins put runners on first and third with two outs. But he jammed Derrek Lee and got a comebacker, getting the lead out at home. Then he wiped out Mike Lowell with a split-finger.

The Yanks signed Mussina for games just like this one. He couldn't have paid off their investment any better last night.

George Richards of the Miami Herald details Mussina's hard luck all the way back to Baltimore.

In 1997, Mussina stymied Cleveland in the American League championships. Still, the Orioles lost both of his starts despite him giving Baltimore than everything it needed to win.

In that series, the former first-round pick out of Stanford gave up one run in 15 innings and struck out 25. He allowed just four hits, but the Orioles couldn't score against the Indians. Cleveland advanced to the World Series by winning Game 6 in the 11th inning; in that game, Mussina gave up one hit in eight innings.

''He pitched two of the greatest games I've ever seen in my 25 years in the game,'' Orioles first base coach John Stearns said after losing to Cleveland.

``We couldn't get it done.''

The Yankees finally came through for him Tuesday night.

Filip Brody of the NY Daily News finds Mussina's lucky number:
Mussina threw sevens: He scattered seven hits through seven innings, left seven stranded. He also struck out nine with his 111 pitches. "He had an outstanding breaking ball and was putting his fastball exactly where he wanted it," Mel Stottlemyre said.

I think Mussina was very close to be branded someone who couldn't pitch a big game, despite his history of doing very well in his post-season starts. I'm glad he won and put those stories to rest.

Hollandsworth grounds out to Soriano to end the game. A huge win for the Yankees. For the 2nd time in consecutive series, the Yankees come back in game three to beat the opponent's ace. NY now knows the worst that can happen to them in Florida is being sent back to the Bronx. The matchups in games four and six favor the Yankees.

It was a great pitching duel between the starters. It was almost a relieve to the Yankees to get Beckett out of there. The Marlins actually outhit the Yankees 8 to 6, but the New Yorkers drew six walks and had two hit batters vs. the Marlins 1 intentional walk drawn. And all the homers belonged to the Yankees.

It's Clemens vs. Pavano tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel!

Rivera does come out for the ninth. I guess the Yankees don't want the Marlins scoring eight runs in one inning. :-)

Update: Lowell grounds out to Jeter. 1 Down, Conine up.

Update: Conine singles to right, bringing pinch hitter Juan Encarnacion to the plate.

Update: It's really raining hard again.

Update: A pitch gets by Posada to put Conine at 2nd.
Update: Juan Gone. Encarnacion strikes out. Todd Hollandsworth pinch hitting with two down and a man on first.

No picture of Yanni, and Aaron Boone takes it out of the park. The leadoff HR gives Rivera a two run cushion for the ninth.

Update: Soriano walks! Alert the media!

Update: Looper comes in to replace Fox after the walk to Soriano.

Update: Looper hits Jeter, but gets Dellucci to fly out. Two on, two out for Bernie Williams.

Update: Bernie Williams goes deep to give the Yankees a 6-1 lead and set the record for post-season HR with 19. I wonder if Rivera will pitch the ninth, or if they will save him for tomorrow night?

With the one run lead, the Yankees bring out their best defensive team, putting Johnson at first, Dellucci in right and Rivera on the mound for the two inning save. Dellucci makes the first play of the innings, a foul fly off Ivan Rodriguez.

Update: Rivera makes Cabrera look like a 20-year-old. :-) Miguel did not look good striking out. Lee pops out to give Rivera an extremely easy 8th. He threw six pitches, five for strikes. If he has even a normal inning in the 9th, he'll be good to go for two innings tomorrow.

Matsui goes the other way through the shortstop hole to single in Jeter with the 2nd Yankees run of the game, and a 2-1 lead. Jeter has scored both runs. Another big hit for Matsui, and his 11th RBI in 14 post-season games.

Update: After Posada walks, McKeon comes out to get Willis. Not a great outing for Dontrelle, as he only gets 1 out in four batters. Fox is in to face Sierra.

Update: Sierra strikes out to end the 8th. It could have been a lot worse for the Marlins.

I'm starting to believe Jeter is the greatest player ever. :-)

Jeter makes up for Soriano again with his 3rd hit and 2nd double of the night. Jeter has all three Yankees hits.

That's it for Beckett. Dontrelle Willis enters the game in relief. Beckett pitched a great game, striking out ten to go with the three hits and three walks. He can't win the game, but he can lose it.

Update: Derrek Lee goes into the dugout while Willis is warming up, then comes out to the mound. The Marlins have been charged with a trip to the mound, so they can't go out to talk to him without taking Willis out of the game.

Update: Giambi walks. Bernie Williams turns around and bats righty.

Update: Nice save by I-Rod on 1-2 pitch from Willis. It looked like Willis slipped a bit, and the ball sailed way outside. Pudge stretched out and snagged it.

Update: Williams flys out to center. Jeter challenges Pierre's arm and makes it to third. A risky play, but Pierre's arm is really bad (the ball wasn't that deep).

Soriano continues to swing and miss. Three for three in this AB for his third K. The starting 2nd basemen are now 0 for 8 with 6 strikeouts tonight.

The Yankees bullpen was going in the top of the 7th, so if Mussina gets in trouble the Yankees are ready. There's action in the Marlins pen as Mussina starts his half of the 7th as well. Looks like Torre and McKeon are not making the same mistakes as Baker and Little.

Update: Gonzalez is bunting, but goes 0-2. If he's successful at moving the runner, McKeon will apparently bat for Beckett. That's good news for the Yankees.

Update: Gonzalez pops out foul to first. A bad piece of hitting by Alex. Beckett stays in the game and bats in the 7th, bunting. I don't agree with this. The Marlins need a run, and putting a man at 2nd with two out doesn't help that much. Why not bat Encarnacion and try to get a hit?

Update: A good bunt by Beckett brings Juan Pierre to the plate with a man on 2nd. Pierre has two hits today, although one of them was on a poor play by Bernie Williams. Mussina is walking Juan to pitch to Castillo, who has struck out twice tonight.

Update: Castillo strikes out for the 3rd time tonight. Over use and bad execution of the bunt costs the Marlins.

David Cassidy's singing God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch. Where's Tracy and her tambourine?

Last time they showed Yanni, Aaron Boone made an error. They show him again while Aaron is batting. We'll see if he strikes out.

Update: The rain is coming down again.

Update: The curse continues. Boone strikes out.

Ivan Rodriguez doubles with one out in the sixth, and Cabrera follows with his 2nd opposite field single. It's first and third with 1 out.

Update: On a ball hit back to the box, Mussina knocks it down and gets I-Rod in a run down at home. The announcers are praising the play, but I thought he had a good chance to field it cleanly and get a double play. Men on 1st and 2nd with 2 out.

Update: Mussina strikes out Lowell after falling behind 3-1. Marlins blow a golden opportunity to take the lead.

Like Mussina, Josh Beckett gives up a single to the first batter he faces after the rain delay. Jeter hits a solid single up the middle to lead off the 6th inning.

Update: After striking out Giambi and Williams, Beckett walks Matsui to put men on first and 2nd for Posada. Posada doesn't have a hit in the series, but he does have a .400 OBA.

Update: Posada grounds out to end the inning. Beckett has 7 K and 3 BB through six innings.

Update: Jeter is playing his 29th World Series contest, and that's his 9th multi-hit game in the series. The Yankees are 7-1 in the previous eight games where Jeter has had 2 or more hits. And he directly contributed to those wins by scoring 12 runs in those previous eight games.

With two out, Pierre singles to left off Mussina.

Update: Pierre is thrown out on the first pitch trying to steal. For a team with speed, they are only 2 out of 4 stealing in the World Series, and eight out of thirteen in the post season.

The game is supposed to resume in about five minutes.

With 2 outs in the bottom of the fifth, and the score tied, the grounds crew is pulling out the tarp. No telling how long it will go.

Update: You can see the radar loop here.

Beckett retires the Yankees in order in the fifth, another 10 pitch inning.

It's raining in the 4th. Probably won't last long.

Update: Mussina has his first 1-2-3 inning, although he probably should have had two others. Through four, Beckett has thrown 60 pitches, 39 for strikes, and Mussina has thrown 64 pitches, 46 for strikes.

Derek Jeter breaks up the no-hitter with a double to left.

Update: Giambi draws the first walk from Beckett. It was a pretty good pitch; I think I saw that called for a strike many times in the ALCS.

Update: Matsui is hit on the foot after a Williams pop out. Bases loaded and two out.

Update: Posada drew five walks with the bases loaded this year.

Update: Posada has a great plate appearance, fouling off two pitches with two strikes and working back from a 1-2 hole to draw the walk and tie the game.

Update: Garcia grounds out to end the inning. It's 1-1 in the middle of the fourth.

Soriano strikes out swinging again. It's his 22nd strikeout in 14 post-season games, and the 5th in the World Series.

Fox shows Yanni, Boone makes an error. Coincidence?

I just lost a lot of respect for I-Rod, listing Yanni as his favorite recording artist.

Update: Nice pitch by Mussina to strike out Cabrera. Boone's error on the Rodriguez ground ball doesn't hurt the Yankees. It's still 1-0 after three.

Mike Mussina has 8 hits in 37 AB in his career, but impressively, he's only struck out 6 times.

Update: Mussina strikes out. Another 1-2-3 inning for Beckett, and he continues to keep his pitch count low; 31 pitches, 23 for strikes.

Mike Mussina gives up another hit, but doesn't allow a run. He's also pitching well, having thrown 33 pitches, 25 for strikes.

Another easy inning for Beckett, as the Yankees go three up, three down again. No strikeouts, but once again he didn't use many pitches. He's thrown 20 now over two innings, 15 for strikes. At that rate, a complete game is a distinct possibility.

Bernie tries to make up for the misplay, but his long fly falls short of the warning in right center. A good example of why this is a tough park for lefties.

Bernie Williams once again shows why he shouldn't be in center. It was a popup that either he or Garcia could have caught, but Bernie called Karim off and didn't make the play. A gift double for Pierre.

Update: Mussina gets two outs before Cabrera singles the opposite way. His first hit drives in Pierre to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead. Lee grounds out to end the inning.

Beckett starts the game off by striking out Soriano. He worked him more inside than most pitchers.

Update: Jeter strikes out swinging.

Update: Beckett gets Giambi to pop out on a 1-2 pitch. A very easy first for him. Only 11 pitches, 9 for strikes.

Nick Johnson and Juan Encarnacion sit tonight. Encarnacion actually hits Mussina better than Conine, but it's a small sample.

I'm going to keep this short while I can still blog. High strikeout pitchers like Beckett (greater than 100 IP, K per 9 greater than 8.5) were 3-1 against the Yankees this year with a 2.93 ERA in six starts. Mussina has started against the Marlins four times in his career; in his three starts with Baltimore he pitched well enough to win each time but the Orioles lost; in his one start with the Yankees in 2001 he was creamed, giving up 8 runs in 2 innings. Derrek Lee is four for five vs. Mussina, while Aaron Boone is the only starting Yankee to have seen him, and homered in his only AB. I give the edge to the Marlins in this game, should be a great pitching duel. Enjoy!

With the split in NY, the World Series has been reduced to a best of five, and the Marlins have the home field advantage, although that may not count for much. The Yankees record on the road was the best in the majors (51-29) and was almost as good as the Marlins record at home (53-28). So if the Marlins are going to triumph in this series, where will the wins come from?

Two good chances for victories are in the games pitched by Josh Beckett. He'll face hard-luck loser Mike Mussina twice if the series goes seven, and Mussina has shown he can be outpitched. The Moose redeemed himself with his performance in game 7 of the ALCS, but Yankees fans will forget that quickly if he gets beat by another great opposition outing.

The other game that looks ripe to take for the Marlins is game 5, Wells vs. Penny. Wells pitched well, but he let too many ball be put in play against him, and a few of those found their way through the defense to set up the Marlins runs. The ballpark configuration greatly favors Penny in that game. At this point, I have a hard time seeing that contest go to the Yankees.

As shown last night, Pettitte matches up well against the Marlins, so I think that one goes into the Yankees column, as well as game four, in which a well rested Clemens will go against either Pavano or Willis, and I think Clemens will outpitch either of them to go out in a blaze of glory.

So the more I think about it, the more it looks like the 1997 World Series, where the Marlins have the edge in the odd games, and the Yankees have the edge in the even games. In my opinion, it will all come down to Beckett vs. Mussina; whoever scores for their ace will win the series.

It's not clear who it will be yet, but both Pavano and Willis are willing to take the ball. They seem to actually like McKeon giving them multiple roles.

Willis, who pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings in a Game 1 victory, is the likely candidate to replace Redman in the rotation. He said he would be available to relieve in Game 3 tomorrow if starter Josh Beckett faltered, or to start Game 4.

"You've got to be ready to take the ball," Willis said. "Relieve, start. You just have to stay on guard. But that's good. It keeps everyone on their toes. We're all ready for the phone to ring."

Willis said he didn't care if he started or relieved, but Pavano made it clear he is able to start Game 4. "It's not my decision, but I want the ball," the righthander said. "When they called the bullpen, I was up on the mound right away. Before my last start in Chicago [Tuesday], I threw an inning on Saturday. I throw once between starts, anyway. I was successful the last time, so I have the confidence."

In that ballpark, the Marlins are better off going with the righty in game four. I'm betting on Pavano getting the start.

Pettitte pitches a great game, allowing only 1 unearned run. He allowed six hits and 1 walk, but three runners were erased on double plays. He ties Smoltz's record with 13 post-season wins.

The Yankees hitters woke up tonight as well, supplying power to support their pitcher. Matsui and Soriano go deep to drive in five of the team's six runs. They had 19 total bases on 10 hits.

The Marlins continue their pattern of winning odd numbered World Series games and losing the even ones. They'll be happy if that pattern holds up. :-)

Having thrown only 97 pitches, Andy Pettitte comes out to start the 9th for the Yankees to see if he can complete the shutout. A win tonight will tie him with John Smoltz for most post-season wins.

Update: Pierre grounds out to start the ninth.

Update: Castillo singles to center. Only the fifth hit of the night for the Marlins.

Update: Redmond flies to left. Two out for Cabrera.

Update: Cabrera reaches on the 2nd error of the night by Boone. Boone cuts in front of Jeter, who didn't really charge the ball hard.

Update: Derrek Lee singles to right to drive in Castillo. The shutout is gone and so is Pettitte. Yankees lead 6-1 in the ninth.

Update: Contreras is on to face Lowell with men on 1st and 2nd and two out.

Aaron Boone gets his first hit of the night in the eighth. All the Yankees starters have reached based, and only Posada has failed to get a hit.

Carl Pavano comes in to pitch in the bottom of the 7th. Interesting. I wonder if this means he won't start game 4?

Update: Not an easy inning for Pavano. He gives up a double to Giambi and walks Williams, but does not allow a run. However, he does throw 21 pitches, which is probably more tha McKeon wanted out of him. We'll see if he starts Wednesday, or if there is a change of plan.

Miguel Cabrera hits a ball down the third base line, but Cabrera doesn't run. It's an easy double play for Boone. Not hustling? The replay shows that the ball grazed Cabrera's ankle, so it should have been foul. The umpire just didn't see it. Bad break for the Marlins.

Aaron Boone strikes and Posada is caught stealing on a perfect throw (from his knees) by Ivan Rodriguez. Boone is the only Yankee not to reach base tonight. Johnson follows the DP with a double, his third hit of the night. Looks like that bunt did bust the slump.

Andy Pettitte has faced the minimum number of batters through five, despite allowing two hits. The two DP's turned by the Yankees wiped out the only two baserunners Andy has allowed. He's thrown only 53 pitches, 35 for strikes. This is more than the Yankees could have hoped for out of Pettitte tonight.

Soriano is back swinging at outside pitches, but then Helling makes a mistake over the plate and Alfonso puts it in the leftfield stands. It's 6-0 Yankees in the 4th.

With Pierre on at first, Boone makes a diving stop of a Castillo grounder and throws Pierre out at 2nd. It looked like Soriano's foot came off the bag to me; one angle seems to show it did, while another seems to show it didn't. It was real close, but I think the Marlins got victimized by a bad call there. Ivan Rodriguez follows up with a DP grounder to Jeter. Still 4-0 in the middle of the 4th.

Redman gives up a single to Jeter leading off the 3rd. It's becoming obvious that Redman isn't fooling anybody. McKeon wasn't afraid to pull him in game 6 of the NLCS, and I would guess he'll be gone on the next hit.

Update: After a fly out by Giambi, Williams walks and McKeon comes out to bring in a new pitcher. Redman threw 50 pitches, only 24 for strikes.

Update: Rick Helling comes on and gets Matsui and Posada to end the inning. They showed Dusty Baker in the stands. Maybe he'll get a lesson on when to remove your starter.

Pettitte strikes out the side in the third. So far, the short rest seems to be bothering Pettitte a lot less than Redman.

Nick Johnson drops a perfect bunt down the third base line to get a hit with one out in the 2nd. Whatever works.

Update: Juan Rivera doubles over Cabrera's head in left. Johnson tries to score and does on a wide throw. However, Rivera is thrown out a third. Yankees lead 4-0. The NY lineup sure seems awake tonight.

Marlins go 1-2-3. Pettitte threw 21 pitches in the first, only five in the 2nd.

Soriano has taken three outside pitches in a row. Will wonders never cease.

Update: Double wow, Soriano draws a leadoff walk!

Update: Jeter tries to bunt, but gets two strikes. It looked like he was bunting more for a hit than a sac.

Update: Jeter K's. Like last night, why are you bunting when a pitcher starts out wild? Let him prove he can throw strikes. Giambi back to the 3rd slot for this game.

Update: Good move by Redman catches Soriano stealing. Two out.

Update: Redman hits Giambi. Again, he's wild, let him be wild.

Update: Williams singles to center on a 3-2 pitch. Redman has thrown 18 pitches, 10 for balls.

Update: Matsui gets the green light on a 3-0 pitch and hits it out of the park to dead center. Yankees lead 3-0, and I suspect a lot of people in Japan are celebrating.

Update: Posada ends the inning with a ground out. 3-0 NY after 1.

The Marlins take a page out of the Red Sox first inning strategy and run into a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play. One hit, three batters in the first as the Yankees come to bat in a scoreless game.

Pierre makes Pettitte work (8 pitch AB), but grounds out to 2nd base to start the game.

Game two is a battle of lefties, with Mark Redman of the Marlins facing Andy Pettitte of the Yankees. While the Marlins 27-11 record when the opposition started a lefty was best in the majors, the Yankees were only 1/2 a game behind them at 26-11. Both are going on short rest, having started games on Wednesday. Redman threw 69 pitches, Pettitte 92, so Mark may be a little bit sharper.

It strikes me that Andy Pettitte is the type of lefty who would do well against the Marlins. Pettitte is in a class of left-handers that include Tom Glavine and Jim Abbott who are more effective against righties than lefties. During the regular season, left-handed batters hit .321 vs. Pettitte, while right-handed batters hit .254. The Marlins are an extremely right-handed team, and the only lefties in the lineup tonight with be Pierre and Redman. Lefties like this are particularly effective against switch-hitters, like Luis Castillo, and sometimes you will see these hitters bat lefty against these pitchers.

Mark Redman has faced the Yankees before. Two matchups to watch are Redman against Giambi and Posada, both of whom are 4 for 11 vs. Mark. Redman has made three starts at Yankee Stadium between 2001 and 2002, and was 0-2 in those starts. In 2001, he made a start on 5/10, allowed 2 runs in six innings, but did not get a decision. Last year, he made a start on July 17th for Detroit at Yankee Stadium, pitched a shutout for eight innings, but lost the game when the Yankees scored two in the 9th. His opponent that day was Andy Pettitte. His thrid start there was not so good, however, allowing seven earned runs in 4 2/3 innings on 9/6/2001.

Pettitte has not faced the Marlins since 1999. He's 1-1 vs. Florida with a 3.86 ERA (one great start, one bad start). He has faced a few of the Marlins before. Watch for the matchup with Ivan Rodriguez; I-Rod is 15 for 41 (.366) with two HR vs. Pettitte in his career. Also Juan Encarnacion is 10 for 22 (.455) against Pettitte.

I believe this is another even game. Redman has a little edge in rest on the basis of fewer pitches thrown in his last start. Pettitte has an edge in that there will be few lefties in the Marlins lineup. Plus, the Marlins have never won an even numbered World Series game. :-)

Enjoy!

Nick Johnson flies out to shallow center to end the game. Juan Pierre and Dontrelle Willis were the stars, Pierre reaching base four times and driving in two, while Dontrelle Willis proved effective in relief. Florida keeps it's string of winning odd numbered World Series games intact.

Contreras pitches a scoreless ninth. Urbina will face Giambi, Boone and Juan Rivera.

Update: Urbina walks Giambi on five pitches.

Update: Dellucci in to pinch run.

Update: Hit and run, Boone flys out to right. Sierra pinch hitting for Juan Rivera.

Update: Urbina's a bit wild in this inning. I think the Yankees missed an opportunity by having Boone try to bunt and then hit and run. Boone should have waited Urbina out to see if he could throw a strike. There's a chance he would have walked Boone, putting runners at first and second with none out. Now, you have Sierra and Soriano, who are not likely to be selective at the plate.

Update: Wow, Sierra impresses me by drawing a walk. A good AB for Ruben. UU has thrown 20 pitches, 11 for balls.

Update: Soriano strikes out looking. A great pitch on the inside corner by Urbina.

Dontrelle Willis gives the Marlins 2 1/3 innings of solid relief before getting into trouble with 2 out in the 8th. He retired the first seven batters he faced, striking out two. Williams and Matsui followed with back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third. Urbina is on for the 4-out save.

Update: Posada is 3 for 7 vs. Urbina.

Update: Urbina strikes out Posada. Marlins lead 3-2 after 8.

Sorry I didn't see this earlier, but if you read the links on my blog roll, you did. Rich has a comprehensive preview on his blog.

Bernie Williams' HR gives him 18 in his post-season career, tying him with Mantle and Reggie Jackson. Of course, Mantle did it in 230 AB, Jackson in 281. Bernie had 364 post-season AB coming into tonight.

Lowell and Rodriguez let a foul pop drop between them. Luckily, Boone flies out to center, so it didn't turn into game six vs. the Cubs. :-)

Brad Penny comes out after 98 pitches (only 55 for strikes) and only two runs allowed. David Wells just finished his 7th inning, 104 pitches, 70 for strikes. It's unlikely he'll come out for the 8th inning.

The Marlins have never lost an odd numbered World Series game.

Juan Pierre gets his 2nd hit of the game, lining a soft one through the drawn in infield with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Looks like Boone made a bad decision cutting off the throw and not relaying home, but throwing to first to try to get the returning batter. It's 3-1 Marlins in the 5th.

Jason Giambi continues to look bad at the plate. He continues to swing at pitches that he would normally take for balls, and I get the impression that he is overswinging, trying to hit everything out of the park. If he keeps this up, he'll deserve to bat 7th.

Although it seems like Jeter is always getting a big hit in the post season, he's now 13 for 60 with runners in scoring position after his game tieing single in the 3rd.

How many balls have to drop in front of Bernie Williams before the Yankees move him out of centerfield? Any other CF would have caught Encarnacion's ball.

Penny does well, allowing just an infield hit to Soriano. Both teams are testing the catchers arms, and both have been successful so far, with Castillo and Soriano stealing bases.

The Marlins didn't hit the ball hard, but they scored on the speed of Juan Pierre. Castillo blooped one just into the outfield between 1st and 2nd, and Pierre was able to go to third, despite slowing down to see if the ball was going to be caught. He then scored on a I-Rod sac fly. Marlins lead 1-0.

Here's a good World Series preview from the perspective of a Yankees fan, Larry Mahnken.

Update: And if you want the view from Miami, check out the Book Of Mike.

Game 1 of the World Series pits righty Brad Penny of the Marlins vs. the Yankees lefty David Wells. The Marlins were 27-11 when the opposition started a lefty against them during the regular season, best in the major leagues. Some of that record was due to Pro Player Stadium. The distance to the fences is shorter down the leftfield line than in right. The Marlins were 17-6 at home when a lefty starter against them, 10-5 on the road. That's still an excellent record. It looks like the Yankees are going to be starting lefties in four games in this series; they may want to start Pettitte tomorrow so that three of those four games are at Yankee Stadium.

Penny does not walk many batters. That's good against the Yankees, since drawing walks is an important part of their game. David Wells does not walk any batters; that's less important against the Marlins because they don't draw a lot of walks. They were 13th in walks drawn in the NL this year. They also don't strike out much (14th in the NL) so they put the ball in play, something that very good to do against the porous defense of the Yankees.

Penny hasn't faced the Yankees hitters much; Aaron Boone has seen him the most, going 1 for 11 with 1 walk. Wells has faced Ivan Rodriguez and Jeff Conine quite a bit. I-Rod is 19 for 60 (regular and post-season) against Wells with four doubles and four HR. Conine is only 10 for 40 vs. Wells, but 7 of the 10 hits have been for extra bases.

Penny is probably the more rested of the two. He threw nine pitches on the 15th; Wells threw six on the 16th, but started on the 14th. Penny hasn't had a start since the 8th. All-in-all, I'd say this game favors the Marlins.

Buster Olney has points to ponder about the 2003 Worlds Series. One of them has to do with the designated hitter:

This is probably one of the few times when the designated hitter rule will work for the National League team at home and on the road. For Games 3, 4 and 5, Torre will have to choose between benching his second-highest paid player -- Giambi -- or benching Nick Johnson, who is better defensively (the guess here is that he will play Johnson, particularly with Giambi struggling somewhat, in spite of his Game 7 bombs). Then, when the Marlins play in Yankee Stadium, McKeon will not have to sit one of his better hitters -- he can play Juan Encarnacion, Conine, Lowell and Cabrera all at the same time.

My good friend Jim Storer

and I were discussing the DH the other day, and Jim is of the opinion that the DH rule really hurts the Marlins (and would have hurt the Cubs, for that matter) because Florida doesn't have a good hitter to DH. Here's a table of Offensive Win Shares per 600 plate appearances, based on the 2003 season for the players on the Marlins and Yankees:

Here's the latest on the Marlins and Yankees rotations from the AP via ESPN.com:

David Wells is ready for the Florida Marlins, even if he will be pitching with just one day of rest.

"I've been blessed with a rubber arm -- just hope that everything else falls in and I'm ready to go," he said after being picked to start against Brad Penny in Saturday night's World Series opener.

New York and Florida each used three pitchers who usually start in Game 7 of their league championship series.

Yankees manager Joe Torre had not figured out whether Andy Pettitte or Mike Mussina will pitch Game 2. Florida manager Jack McKeon picked Mark Redman for the second game Sunday and Josh Beckett for the third back in Miami on Tuesday.

I guess McKeon decided he didn't want Dontrelle pitching two games in this series. I can understand that, given the way he's pitched so far and his youth. If I were Torre, I'd go with Pettitte in game 2 (giving him two start in NY, again) and Mussina in game three so you have your best against their best if it goes to game 7.

Also, this article presents a good example of why players love Joe Torre:

Torre wasn't about to start Jeff Weaver, the target of boos at Yankee Stadium as he slumped to a 7-9 record and 5.99 ERA.

"It's not fair to him, I think, after he's been idle for so long, to all of a sudden heap all that on his shoulders right now," Torre said Friday.

See, Joe is doing this out of fairness to Weaver, not because Weaver proven he can't pitch. You have to wonder how Joe would have done as a politician. :-)

Games 1 and 2 are going to be very interesting, given the short rest on which everyone will be working. I suspect all players on both teams are very tired due to a flaw in the scheduling of the playoffs this year. The league that hosts the World Series always finishes their LCS first, giving them a couple of days to sell tickets and prepare the Stadium. This year, the All-Star Game determined home field for the World Series, switching it from NL to AL, but they didn't adjust the LCS schedule to match. So the Marlins play game seven Wednesday, and then have no idea where to go for 24 hours!

This is still tentative, but it looks like Penny will go in game 1 vs. Wells. I was not too far off in this post.

Erin Judge is a standup comedian who also is a blogger. You can see her perform at the Hong Kong is Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts. In reading her blog today, I found the following, which I should have looked at yesterday:

Prophecy. Hellfire. Damnation. Baseball.

This man from Dedham has come to lead us all. CLICK HERE.

His insight makes me shudder with righteous indignation. Surely the fist of justice will be swift.

CLICK THE LINK, PEOPLE! ESPECIALLY YOU, BASEBALL MUSINGS GUY!

Now, it's your turn. :-)

Mike Carmianti of Mike's Baseball Rants sent an e-mail wondering who will start for the Marlins in game 1, give than all five starters have pitched over the last two days. This article talks about who the likely top three starters will be, but does not discuss the order.

I think it comes down to Penny or Willis for game 1. If the Yankees win, I'd probably go with the lefty Willis. If the Red Sox win, I'd go with the righty Penny, although given the Boston-Montreal-Flordia axis of evil, I might go with Pavano on short rest, but certainly have Carl start game two there. Then I'd come back with Beckett in game 3, so he could also pitch game 7.