Frayed Knot

The thing is, even if Evans does the worst and grounds into a DP, you've still got the tying run on 3rd and Turner coming up to take a crack at it. I wouldn't have bunted there if a good bunter was up but what Terry did, especially given this team's track record on sac Bs, is inexcusable.

Edgy DC wrote: And... the Sawx are now down 6-2. An inside-the-park-homer... in Baltimore... in a park without power alleys. Nice. Almost a GREAT catch by Ellsbury (actually caught it but then lost it crashing into the wall) who has been the Sox' best player over the 2nd half of the year as Gonzalez has slowed down. Really should have been a triple + error as the relay throw beat him easily but skidded through Saltalamacchia's legs. Either, the WC lead is GONE and it's dead even with two to play. Sox relying on former Oriole Erik Bedard tomorrow. Yeah, good luck with that one.

Gary, Keith, Ron: 'Let him swing away' Keith: 'Nope, he's going to bunt, he's going for the win' FK: 'No, he's going for the loss'

This version of the Igarashamon story had a happy outcome.

If the Sawx can't win this one while they've got Beckett on the mound then they should probably just skip the next two contests. 2-2 end of 5 as Beckett got a 3rd out K with the bases loaded.

Vic Sage wrote: A quiet, contemplative, deliberately paced movie with much to say, that avoids most (if not all) sports movie cliches. I liked it alot. And Pitt's perf as aging jock seemed pitch-perfect, working well off of goofball gone straight Jonah Hill. Just enough baseball to keep it a baseball movie and not a business movie. and it makes a folk hero out of Scott Hatteberg. Yeah, pretty much this. It's not the book, which is OK because I didn't go in expecting it to be. Beane's relationship with his daughter, barely mentioned in the book, is played up as a sizable part of the story to bring the human element into things. Other parts from the book are left out (the amateur draft portion) and naturally timelines are skewed, simplified, or condensed from actual happenings. And what that all means is that those who misinterpreted what 'Moneyball' means because they misread or never read the thing it in the first place (Joe Morgan, Mike Francesa) are going to have a whole new set of reasons misunderstand it. Particularly well done are the virtually seem-less transitions back and forth between actual footage of 2002 baseball scenes and shot footage, sometimes to the point where it's tough to tell which is which. Met connections/sightings: Beane of course. Not just as A's GM but also in flashback scenes to his signing and his NYM career (wearing #35 with shots of Straw in the background) Art Howe. Played by Philip Hoffman as much more grouchy than the sunny if bland Art we all knew and ... tolerated. Chad Bradford. One of the few players with significant speaking parts. Paper NYM David Justice. A prominent player/actor in the flick. Izzy. Often mentioned but never shown.

Ceetar wrote: Actually, give me Mark Buehrle in a heartbeat. Because even if he sucked as much as Pelfrey he'd be more tolerable simply on account of his bad games only taking half as long.

Haven't seen it in like a million years but my memory is one of 'Serpico' where the lines separating the good guys from the bad are not nearly as distinct.

Ceetar wrote: Edgy DC wrote: Just my opinion, but I imagine back channel tampering goes on all the time. Probably. Think they get explicit though, or is it just "wink wink, we REALLY like that Jose guy. you guys close to something with the mets?" Dear Jose's agent, We here at the _______ organization are very interested in your client's services for next season and beyond. As you know we are not permitted to discuss money at this juncture but would appreciate touching base with you prior to the official opening of the FA period if possible. You may prefer to defer any meeting prior to that point but if you are interested we will have our representative available at precisely 135 on the 7th if you have any questions. Sincerely yours, Major League GM

Atlanta takes its [u:3ojoc6ww]1 Game Lead[/u:3ojoc6ww] home to face 99-win Philly - Rookie Randall Delgado starts against Cliff Lee tonight - Lowe v Oswalt tomorrow - Hudson v TBA (was to have been Hamels) on Wednesday, although presumably if they've clinched they'll sit Hudson Cards have a decided advantage in getting the 104-loss (and counting) Astros in Houston - Jamie Garcia faces Wandy Rodriguez tonight - Tuesday's game sees Jake Westbrook and Henry Sosa - Wednesday: Carpenter v Brett Myers I'm rooting for some Thursday baseball (and ultimately the Braves) In side news: - Giants were eliminated over the weekend - Brewers have a one-game lead over Snakes in race for 2nd best record. Arizona holds that tie-breaker if they end with matching records (I think on account of more rushing yards).

Ah yes, the Scott Proctor factor at work. Jim Kaat: "Ellsbury just drove home two runners and about 10,000 fans with that shot" Holy shitsky Ellsbury is having a great year!!!! I honestly didn't think he a year like this in him.

I turned away from this for almost an hour ... and they're still tied and now are headed for the 14th (Gardner K'd with 2-on to end inning # 13) Sox fans gotta be pulling their hair out over this (not to mention over the last three weeks). Yanx now turning to their 8th pitcher of the game (I think they only have 6 or 7 left after this).

So, after getting the leadoff guy on with Crawford, Pedroia, and Papi coming up, the Sox can't even manage to get the runner as far as 2nd in top-10 I realize as I'm watching the last two innings* here that I'm instinctively pulling for the Sawx even though I don't want them to even make the post-season this year. * Kaat & Verducci on MLBN - better than 95+ pct of network announcing teams at probably 10% of the price. Two guys calmly talking baseball who realize that you don't have to try to over-sell an exciting game.

Geez Terry, bunting with Carl Crawford in the 10th inning?!?!? I guess $140 mil doesn't buy what it used to. I remember when you could get an actual hitter for that price. btw, he failed to get the bunt down on the first attempt and bunted into a force play (and almost a DP) on his 2nd. I think the Yanx brought up like 47 call-ups during September because they're changing guys like every other AB.

G-Fafif wrote: Kemp at .324. No triple crown for you! Almost certainly no TC for Kemp - but that's gotta be about the quietest TC quest in recent memory. It's almost like he fell off the radar after his great 1st half and then snuck back into the verge of winning it before his 1-for-5 today.

Sox trying to hang on to their now 1/2 game lead. Tied at 4 heading to extras w/the Yanx after losing the opener Papelbon just came in to K MFY catcher Austin Romine with the bases loaded to preserve the tie game. Angels pulled a Cards move today - giving up 4 in the 9th to lose to Oakland and put themselves on the verge of elimination from WC (3.0 out w/3 to play if Boston wins tonight)

Could be worse, Houston taking on the chin 19-1 v Colorado

Or nurse him more literally, and continue to do so until contract time.

Slightly different format to go with the new mid-week season ender Times and teams still to be decided (IOW, which AL gets the prime-time slots due to matching up with the Yanx) [u:a24s4zni]ALDS[/u:a24s4zni] -- Both series will go Friday (Sept 30) - Saturday - XX - Monday - Tuesday - XX - Thursday [u:a24s4zni]NLDS[/u:a24s4zni] -- Both series to be played on Saturday (Oct 1) - Sunday - XX - Tuesday - Wednesday - XX - Friday Both rounds to be handled by TBS (with spill-over on TNT if needed) I still hate the multiple days off to where it takes seven days to get in five games, but at least it's only in this round and they've wisely stacked multiple games on the first Saturday. [u:a24s4zni]ALCS[/u:a24s4zni] -- Saturday (Oct 8) - Sunday - XX - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday - XX - Saturday - Sunday (Oct 16) ** FOX ** [u:a24s4zni]NLCS[/u:a24s4zni] -- Sunday (Oct 9) - Monday - XX - Wednesday - Thursday - Friday - XX - Sunday - Monday (Oct 17) ** TBS ** [u:a24s4zni]World Series[/u:a24s4zni] Wednesday (Oct 19) - Thursday - XX - Saturday - Sunday - Monday - XX - Tuesday - Wednesday (Oct 27) ** FOX **

Between that lineup and Blanton only being sked to go two innings, all's we're missing is players getting their jogging in on the outfield track during the game.

Dickey - 4.2 Wright - 1.3 Pascucci - 2.0 Tejada - 1.1 Acosta - 0.7 Parnell - 0.2 Satin - 0.5

Good God the Sawx Suck!!! Lester is their one healthy & productive pitcher left (OK, maybe Beckett too) and he just got pulled in the 3rd already down 8-0 It's also weird watching a game in the Bronx right after one in Queens. Jeter up with one out and two-on* hits a fly to RCF and my first reaction was to consider whether it was deep enough to move the runner to 3rd ... I'm thinking No, except that the ball winds up six rows deep in the stands. * right after Crawford failed to catch a bloop in front of him that would have been an easy DP. At this point, the only good part about the Sox making it to post-season (assuming Tampa continues to blow too) is that they'd be an easy 3-and-out for whichever of the Rangers or Tigers they match up with which, in turn, means a rested and on-turn Det-or-Tex pitching staff for round 2.

It's easy to dismiss the Phils' current 7-game losing streak as the product of post-clinching syndrome, but their offensive drought actually goes back further than that. They've now scored just 38 runs over the last 16 games (4-12 over that time) - and nine of those runs came in just one game so, taking that one out, it's 29 runs over 15. Hard to believe that offense can go into such prolonged slumps like that (esp at that park) but it's not the first stretch they've had like that this year.

Braves fall to CM Wang and the Nats 4-1 While over in St Louie, the Cards score twice in the 9th for a 2-1 win over the Cubs. Sounds like it was a typical Carlos Marmol melt-down: FO - 1B (Holliday - finger healed I guess) and then the PR steals 2nd and takes 3rd on an error So with the tying run on 3rd and one out he Ks David Freese (who I don't think we got out all week) and things aren't looking too bad. So now with two outs and one on: Walk to Yadier (OK maybe he was pitching around him) - Walk to Schumaker (are you sure you want to do this Carlos?) - Game-tying Walk to PH Theriot (now we know it's not on purpose) ... and then a Freakin' Wild Pitch to end the game Back to a 2.0 game gap.

Edgy DC wrote: Love that movie. Can't even say why. Never seen it. Not sure if I'm going give it a shot this go-around or not.