Frayed Knot

The only thing is screws up from a TV standpoint is that it shoves all 4 games onto Wednesday and the whole skip-day series (the one that goes Tues-Thurs-Sat) was designed to avoid just that. But I don't see how they can wait until late-day Monday to decide that the NYM-v-WC has to be swapped to the Tuesday start.

Y'all don't suppose that a Tuesday play-in game - which would involve at least one of the teams normally sked to play their Game 1 that day - would make our series move up a day? I wouldn't think so.

- I was hoping for losses from LA & SD just to make 'em burn real pitchers on Sunday in order to secure a berth. I wonder if either will still use top-notch guys - Lowe was sked to go for LA f'rinstance - just to avoid the Mets in the first round. I doubt it. - The one I wanted to see gone was Houston but they hung on against Atlanta after moving Pettitte up by a day to replace the rookie who was supposed to go. They still need a win tomrrow and then some help on 2 consect days from 2 different teams (Milw & SF) just in order to force a schedule-screwing-up Tuesday play-in game. - StL was almost in serious trouble here but got a 3-RBI pinch-hit 3B in the 8th from Scott Spezio (he's been hitting well lately everytime I look) while they were down 2-0. - Minny lost but Detroit is losing so this one's still not decided. I'm rooting for Detroit to eek out the division because I think Minny will be the tougher opponent for the Skanks. I've been down on the Tiggers for a while now (even if I've been forced to eat my words on occasion) but the Twins have had a much better 2nd half and I have a lot more confidence in them even though they've not beat the NYY in post-seasons past. Different team, different year. I even have more faith in Oakland than Detroit so that'll be my rooting interest if that's the matchup.

ABG wrote: Well, whatever the case, his trade value has plummeted. I don't buy that. ]I sure wouldn't rather have Zito (or Schmidt, or Boof Bonzer). Not sure what any of them have to do with Milledge.

And here I was thinking that, of all the problems he's had this year, at least none were arm-related.

Edgy DC wrote: Heath is a chunker, but we're rapidly mythologizing his girth. All threads lead to Heath's ass.

SNY is reporting that Pedro will have [u:66975265b3]rotator cuff surgery[/u:66975265b3] next week. Recovery time ... about 8 months (that's late May by my calendar). While they've got the hood open, might be a good time to check the oil and change the plugs as well.

So how many of those molded plastic seats does Heath use at any one time? I bet Dukakis looked more natural on the "T" than he did in that tank.

There was some backup catcher for the Mariners who some bar in or around Seattle adopted for a similar promotion a bunch of years back. That he had a typical backup backstop's low BA made it all that more enticing. As I recall, he was well aware of the promotion and took it with good humor. Can't remember who it was.

Eddie C. on the radio (cue rant from Sal) characterized it as somewhere between a warning shot and a playful prank. Sort of a prank with a message behind it I guess. But when there have already been rumblings that Milledge's 'tude is too big for his body of work, something like this fits right into line with the ongoing narritive. I don't know that there's been enough on this to cause me to worry about in the future despite the drip, drip, drip of low-level stories similar to this one. That the source and quotes cited in Lennon's piece; 'reputation is deteriorating quickly', ... "How much does it take to finally wake up?" are attributed by a "person familiar to the situation" certainly shows that it's being talked about by some insider, although the use of "person" kind of implies that his source here is not a player.

Maine - 2.9 LoDuca - 1.6 Beltran - 1.3 Green - 0.9 Valentin - 1.0 Feliciano - 0.7 Mota - 0.7 Wagner - 0.9

- Dodgers come from behind to beat the Giants - Padres lose to Snakes - Astros (Clemens) lose to Braves - Cards beat Beermakers - Phils romp all over Fishies - Reds stay alive by beating the Pyroots So in the WEST, Pades & Dodgers are tied with each other (SD holds the head-to-head tie-breaker should both teams be the Div/WC winners) and TWO GAMES clear of the Phils. Philly tragic number = 1 In the CENTRAL, the Cards are at least guaranteed of playing their (if necc) Monday rain-out make-up game with the Giants to either clinch it or stay alive. Reds' tragic number is 1, Houston's is 2 If the Reds win both their remaining games, Astros split theirs, and the Cards go 0-3 (incl makeup) ther'd be a 3-way tie. Don't ask. Today: * Phil @ Florida -- Wolf v Olsen -- 1:25 * Milw @ StL -- Sheets v Suppan -- 1:25 * LA @ SF -- Maddux v Cain -- 4:10 * SD @ Ariz -- Wells v Cruz -- 4:10 All of the above games are listed as FOX regional telecasts but I'm not sure who will see what where. I'm sure we'll get the Fils-Phish game in NYC during the early slot but who knows beyond that. * Houston @ Atlanta -- Sampson v Cormier -- 7:10 (No TBS) In the AL: - Both Detroit & Minnesota lose and remain tied with each other for the CENTRAL lead. Tiggers hold any tie-breaker so their magic number is 2. - Yanx win and clinch home field throughout since they hold all tie-breakers in case of a deadlocked record with either Det or Minn. So the Twins/Tiggers winner is playing for the right to face Oakland in the first round while the loser gets the Yanx.

Carp set to play for the 'North Shore Honu' in the newly revived 'Hawaii Winter League' which starts up this weekend. The league features 4 teams playing a 40-game sked in two different stadiums and is comprised of both MLB and JPL (Japan) prospects in a roughly 60/40 split.

Yancy Street Gang wrote: If Mike and the Mad Dog think this is an important issue, then I'm sure it is. Well, to them it is; pretty much making a case for Greg's (FaFiF) argument about their disconnect with the audience. MadDog in particular, who grew up as a true child of the sports/TV age, sees things through that prism almost exclusively and is endlessly facinated by the machinations of radio/TV braodcasts; - Who's doing what game? - Why is the #1 team assigned to Jets v Colts instead of ...? - He always knows which announcers have the lead during which innings of the broadcasts, etc. In short, this is big stuff to insiders like them (MD in particular) but not particularly to fans. The impact is almost certainly minimal: is anyone really going to tune in (or out) based on 2 innings of drop-in work by GC that wouldn't have anyway? I remember seeing Katie Couric on a talk show years ago probably not long after she took over the 'Today Show' and was becoming a nationally known name. She was talking about getting an interview with the storymaker-du-jour and how excited she was about beating Barbara Walters to the punch with it ... and you could tell how much it meant to her but, at the same time I'm realizing that virtually no one else cares in the slightest who "scored" the first interview with whoever it was in their 15 minutes of fame. But to her it was (perhaps understandably) everything. It's all in the perspective. Gary & Murph, in my mind, always suffered from a gap in inter-generational chemistry but I'm not sure if there was more to it than that even though it seems to be an accepted "fact" in some circles.

NYers are likely to be disappointed as many of them fail to realize that getting Gil Hodges into the HoF is NOT a cause-celebe outside of this area.

Reyes - 1.4 Delgado - 3.1 OHernandez - 2.5 LoDuca - 1.4 Beltran - 1.0 Heilman - 0.6

Of course Philly could be done by tonight, rendering all this trash talking irrelevent. Seems like this Olsen guy is rapidly gaining a rep as an asshole ... even among those NOT on his team. Tonight: * Astros @ Brave -- Clemens v James * Cincy @ Pirates -- Harang v Duke * Philly @ Marlins -- Moyer v Moehler * Padres @ D'Backs -- Hensley v L. Hernandez * Dodgers @ Giants -- (Kid Pro) Kuo v Lowry [u:1b7a9d9794]Central[/u:1b7a9d9794] StL Houston .. -1/2 Cincy ...... -2-1/2 [u:1b7a9d9794]West[/u:1b7a9d9794] Padres Dodgers ... -1 [u:1b7a9d9794]Wild Card[/u:1b7a9d9794] Dodgers Philly ... -2

And really, who among us wasn't impressed by their ability to scrape by - during the Matsui/Sheff/Cano injuries - with only 5 or 6 multiple All-Stars in their everyday lineup?

Let's make lists of who should NOT go in. In a number of cases they would be shorter.

It's also where the Mets were at in '99. The difference then being that - because Houston & Cincy were tied for the Central lead/Wild Card - we only needed to make up 2 games on one team or the other. Having that 2nd team in the mix helps a lot. So while we were sweeping the Pirates, Cincy was losing 2 or 3 to Milwaukee and Houston was winning 2 of 3 to (I forget).

Well, they're underway in Washington Elsewhere; * Twins get a tying HR in the 9th from the AL's leading hitter Joe Mauer (but he won't be MVP because he doesn't get clutch hits like Derek Jeter) and then a walk-off hit in the 10th to win their game against the Royals and tie the Tiggers for 1st place. This actually kind of suxx because I'd rather see the Twins remain the WC and face the Yanx than the Tiggers - although I know the pitfalls of rooting for that kind of stuff. Detroit still has the edge for the division lead since they'll be facing the Royals over the final weekend while the Twins go against the White Sox, plus the Tigers hold the head-to-head tie-breaker should the two teams finish even * Reds win, Astros win, Cards lose!! The once-huge StL lead is now down to 1/2 game This would be bigger than the infamous 1964 Philly collapse. * Dodgers win, but Padres also winning big as we speak.

]I'm still waiting for Keith to apologize for that geographical error when he tried to name the states ("it borders the most") that border Missouri. He forgot both Iowa and Nebraska, IIRC. Plus Tennessee borders just as many. He did actually. They re-visited that question in the booth during a game maybe two weeks ago. He def fessed up to messing up the number of states touching Missouri but I don't think they mentioned Tennessee

EARLY RUNS! EARLY RUNS! Reyes - walk LoDuke - walk Beltran - bunt hit (scored an error but they're idiots) Delgado - bases-clearing double

Pedro presumably to get his calf checked out, Cliff to get a cortisone shot for his pesky achilles tendon. Oh yeah, this is the way I wanted to go into the playoffs

My best argument would go for Ron Santo