Justice for Chris Resop

Last week, I saluted Pirates reliever Chris Resop for his 3 shutout innings, all after the 9th. He didn't get a win nor a save nor a hold for that, yet he helped keep the mighty Rockies off of the board long enough for the Bucs to win.

Well today the ledger evened out.

The Pirates looked like they were going to blow a game where they had a 4-0 lead before the Reds even came to bat. I warned them that losing a game like this meant they didn't DESERVE a .500 record.

The Pirates blew the lead, took it back and let the Reds tie it in the 7th. With 2 outs on the 7th, Resop came in to face back up Cincinnati catcher Ryan Hanigan. On his second pitch, Hanigan popped up to end the inning.

The next inning Andrew McCutchen drove home the go ahead run and the Pirates went on to win.

So a game where Resop throws 3 shutout innings in relief, all extra innings, he gets nothing positive for his record.

A game where he threw 2 pitchers to a back up catcher? He gets a win. That's the universe paying him back.

Mike Leake stole a win for the Reds!

OK, I am probably the 4,391,335th blogger to make that joke.
But I wanted ME saying it on record.

I hope the Reds kept track of the alternate uniforms. If one is missing, Leake had better have an alibi.

The big rivalry for the weekend... it isn't in the Bronx

Last year, I wrote about how the Cardinals and the Reds could become a dynamic new rivalry for the new decade.

And after the first two games of this series, I am not backing down from those words. The Reds win on a walk off extra innings hit by Joey Votto last night and today the two battled back and forth until Cincy pulled ahead.

The Reds have leap frogged over the Cardinals and probably put a little more bad blood between the two. I am as excited about Red Sox and Yankees as anyone, but first place isn't on the line in that series.

Put a little fire under this rivalry baseball. Besides, as I wrote for the Hardball Times, the Reds have the opportunity to be another national team.

I for one am excited about tomorrows game.

It's a good rivalry between traditional baseball powers.

Why am I the only one noticing this?

Don't lose this game, Pirates

The Pirates are up 4 runs before the Reds even come to bat. So listen to me Pirates and you listen good. If you have ANY hopes to go .500 (an Everest not scaled since 1992) then THESE are the games you can not blow.

You are going to lose close games.
You are going to lose some blow outs.

But when you put a 4 spot on the board in the first, then you NEED to close out the game.

I expect the Pirates to be 7-8 by the end of today.

Then they would need to go 75-72 the rest of the way to have a winning season.

Lose this game, and you don't deserve it!

Sully Baseball Honors... The 1978 Tony Perez Topps Card

Doesn't Tony look a little ticked off here? Maybe a little unhappy with his situation?
He's not playing, has an expression of indifference and annoyance intertwined.

Maybe that was apt. This picture was taken during the 1977 season.
The year before he was clinching his second straight World Series title with the Big Red Machine. Sure his stats dipped a little bit in 1976, but they won the World Series crushing the Yankees.

They looked unstoppable.
And a year later he was sitting in Montreal.

At the time the Expos had never had a .500 season, let alone be the consensus pick to win the Division. And that season they moved into the behemoth that was Olympic Stadium.

He was a Spanish speaking Cuban learning English shipped from the best American team to a Canadian team in a city that speaks French.

No wonder he looks out of sorts.
He's not even wearing his cap.

Probably he didn't want to wear it.
Instead he's looking out thinking "Really? I was traded for Dale Murray and Woodie Fryman?"

Not exactly an action shot, is it?

A March game that could haunt Milwaukee in late September

Yeah I know it is early.
It isn't even April. So with 161 games left to play, why is this game between Cincinnati and Milwaukee so important?

It is true that there is a lot of time to make up this one game deficit. But these two teams could be two of biggest contenders for the National League Central crown. And guess what? If these two teams go down to the wire, every game in September will be precious.

And if Milwaukee loses the division by a game, I am sure a game where they hit homers with the first two at bats of the season and had a 3 run lead in the 9th to the Reds then coughed it up will be a sore spot.

The games count as much now as they do late in the season.

You had better get your act together, Brewers. The Reds magic number is down to 161!

Not a bad opening act!

The season was less than 4 hours old and we already had a 3 run, 2 out walk off come from behind wiping away a 2 run deficit game winning homer.



Hopefully this is a harbinger for things to come in a great baseball season.



Hey Cincinnati... pay attention. You've got a great team.

Hey baseball... pay attention. There is an exciting team that could become THE team in a very wide region. But I said that already.



MAN it feels good to be seeing baseball again!

Red State Strategy - My latest for The Hardball Times

In my latest for The Hardball Times, I take a look at the 2011 Cincinnati Reds' unique combination of talent, tradition and geography and wonder... could they create their own TV network and become a big market franchise?

It's not as crazy an idea as you would think.

Read the whole article HERE.

Sully Baseball Salutes... Jimmie Wilson

Jimmie Wilson was a two sport star who became a World Series hero because of bizarre and tragic circumstances.

Chances are you never heard of Jimmie Wilson, the former Cardinals and Phillies catcher. I never heard of him until I stumbled across his story while compiling my latest 25 Man Roster. But he lived a unique albeit brief life that is worth a salute here at Sully Baseball.

The player who was nicknamed "Ace" was a native of Philadelphia and the son of Scottish immigrants. He dropped out of high school to work and by 19 went pro... in soccer.

When I read that, I had the same reaction that you probably had. "They had pro soccer teams in America in the 1910s and 1920s?" Yup, evidently they did.

And here I was thinking that they never played the game in America until Pele joined the Cosmos!

He excelled in soccer, playing for several different leagues, mainly for Philadelphia teams. In 1922, he played in the National Challenge Cup but failed to make it to the Quarterfinals. The tournament is now called The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. I had no idea that playoff is nearly 100 years old.

(Man, soccer sure is taking its sweet time catching on in America!)

He was a two sport player, playing minor league baseball as well. By 1923, the 23 year old Wilson focused solely on baseball and began playing for his hometown Phillies.

The 1923 Phillies were a 104 loss dog of a team who drew less than 3,000 a game. Not 30,000... 3,000.

The Phillies remained terrible between 1923 and 1928. But Wilson hit well his first year and by 1925, had developed into a .328 hitting part time catcher.

During the 1928 season, he was paroled from the purgatory of The Baker Bowl and the Phillies and was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals. The trade occured during a game between the two teams. He supposedly started the game as a Phillie, was taken out and watched the rest in the St. Louis dugout in his new uniform.

As a Cardinal, he became teammates with future Hall of Famers Rabbit Maranville, Jesse Haines, Chick Hafey, Jim Bottomley, Frankie Frisch and Grover Cleveland Alexander.

He was no longer on a team tumbling towards 100 losses. Now he was on a contender who would go on to win the pennant by 2 games over the Giants.

In the 1928 World Series, the Cardinals were manhandled by the Yankees. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig combined for 7 home runs in the 4 game sweep.

Wilson was held to a 1-11 series. He did get an RBI double in game 2, but the Cardinals were overmatched. But Wilson was now on a contender.

He developed into one of the best all around catchers in the National League, finishing 6th in the 1931 MVP vote and being selected to the 1933 All Star team.

And he played in the 1930 and 1931 World Series for St. Louis. In the '31 Series, he helped defeat the other home town team of his youth, the Philadelphia A's, as the Cardinals won the World Series.

After the 1933 season, he returned home to Philadelphia to be the player and manager of the Phillies. It was a disaster. The Phillies finished either last or just out of last place each year he was manager, losing 100 games in 1936. He lasted 5 seasons in control of the Phillies before being let go.

In 1939 Bill McKechnie, his former manager in St. Louis, brought him to Cincinnati where he became a player coach. Wilson only appeared in 4 games as a player as future Hall of Famer Ernie Lombardi was the catcher. The Reds won the 1939 pennant but were swept by the Yankees in the World Series.

In 1940, Wilson's playing days looked to be over as he became a full time coach.

Lombardi had an good backup named Willard Hershberger, a former Yankee farmhand who developed into a solid, if light hitting catcher.

Hershberger was a star football player in high school making him, like Wilson, a two sport star. He also seemed to have deep emotional issues stemming from a family tragedy. His father went broke in 1928, predating the crash, and shot himself in the head. An 18 year old Willard discovered the body shortly before he began his professional career.

It took Hershberger 8 years to make the majors but made himself a .300 batter. He was stuck behind a Hall of Famer in Bill Dickey while in the Yankee system and behind Lombardi with the Reds. A finger injury kept Lombardi out of the lineup for a stretch in 1940. Hershberger stepped in ably.

However when the Reds went on a 3 game losing streak in late July, Hershberger put the blame on himself. He felt like his team was blaming him as well and spoke to manager Bill McKechnie about killing himself like his father did.

The two had a private meeting after a game in Boston against the Bees (aka the Braves.) McKechnie seemed to have calmed his fragile catcher down and gave him the day off to collect himself. On August 3rd, Hershberger said he was going to go to the park even if he didn't play, but he never showed up to Braves Field.

Gabe Paul, the Reds' traveling secretary who would later build the great Yankee teams of the 1970s, went to the hotel to check if Hershberger was alright. He found Hershberger dead in his bathtub, having slashed his own throat.

Willard Hershberger became the first, and so far only, major leaguer to commit suicide during the season.

The death stunned the Reds emotionally and put them in a bind in terms of personnel. Third string catcher Bill Baker filled in and Ernie Lombardi came back quickly from his injury.

Jimmie Wilson stepped down as a coach and was activated to catch less than two weeks after Hershberger's death. He started 8 games down the stretch but needed to spell Lombardi in the 1940 World Series against the Tigers.

He started 6 of the 7 games of the World Series, batting .353 in the process.

Wilson singled and scored in the Reds Game 2 win. In game 6 with the Reds on the verge of elimination, Wilson singled and scored a critical insurance run in the 4-0 victory. And in the come from behind 2-1 Game 7 triumph, Wilson collected 2 hits and caught Paul Derringer's complete game victory.

The Reds won the 1940 World Series, their first title since the 1919 Series, the same one where the White Sox took a dive.

It was the last game Wilson ever played in. The team dedicated the World Series victory to "Hershie" and gave Willard Hersberger's mother a World Series share.

The next year Wilson took over the Cubs as manager but had little success. He began growing oranges in Florida when he dropped dead of a heart attack in 1947 at the age of 46.

About a decade later, Ernie Lombardi suffered from intense depression and harbored thoughts of suicide. But unlike his backup, he recovered and lived another two decades.

The 1940 Reds were the only Cincinnati team to win the World Series between the Black Sox scandal and the rise of The Big Red Machine. And Jimmie Wilson coming off of the bench to help heal a great tragedy was a big part of that title.

That's worth a salute.

Rolando Roomes - Another random card found in my old closet

Going through the same box of baseball cards in my old closet, I pulled out this "Score" rookie card for Cincinnati Reds outfielder Rolando Roomes.

Let's face it, he had one of the coolest names in baseball. Shouldn't someone whose name has an alliteration as well as a bad ass first name like Rolando be a star? The P.A. announcer should relish saying his name every time he comes to bat. "Rolannnnnnnndoooooooo Rooooooooomes!"

Alas, it didn't work out that way.

Roomes is one of only four players to be born in Jamaica to play in the big leagues. Chili Davis and Devon White came before him. Strangely enough Justin Masterson was the fourth. I don't think of him as a Caribbean player.

Unlike the baseball crazed Caribbean nations of Domincan Republic and Puerto Rico or Cuba, Jamaica is a cricket first country. And Roomes was indeed a cricket player.

He was a right handed power hitting outfielder with some speed. First of all take a look at him in the picture. In the 1980s, THAT is what right handed power hitting outfielders looked like. LEAN. They weren't built like Andre the Giant.

He came up through the Cubs system, blossoming in 1987 with Pittsfield. By 1988 he was in Wrigley. He played in April and September with the club, but was used mainly as a pinch runner. In the off season he was sent packing to Cincinnati for Lloyd McClendon.

He played in that awful Reds season that was plagued by the Pete Rose investigation. Roomes made the most of his situation, however. Ken Griffey Sr, Paul O'Neill and Eric Davis all had injury issues and Roomes managed to play in 107 games. And he did well enough to have Score baseball cards declare him a "Promising Rookie."

His best moment came on May 26th when he returned to Wrigley Field. In the 7th inning, Roomes hit an RBI double off of Jeff Pico to give the Reds the lead. But John Franco let up a game tying double to Gary Varsho in the 9th.

Undeterred, Roomes faced Calvin Schraldi in the 12th inning and hit a 2 run homer to give the Reds the lead for good. He seemed determined to win that game in Chicago.

Oddly Schraldi was in his FOURTH inning of relief. It was a strange decision for the Cubs manager to leave Schraldi in for four innings... until you realize that the Cubs manager was none other than Don Zimmer.

By the way, Schraldi was brought into the game after Pico was pinch hit for. Who was the pinch hitter? Lloyd McClendon. It all comes full circle.

Roomes played for the 1990 Reds as well, but sadly for him was let go and signed with the Expos before their push for the World Series.

He never played in the big leagues again after the 1990 season.

But he had a card.
And that card was in my old closet.

Where ever you are, Rolando Roomes, I hope you are enjoying life... and playing cricket.

Will by NL Central pick be once again a year early?

This September I pointed out that I am not very good at picking who will actually win the NL Central, but I AM good at figuring out that the consensus pick will probably fall short.

In 2009 everyone and their cow was picking the Cubs to win.
I picked the Reds. The Cardinals won (I picked the Cardinals for the Wild Card.)

In 2010 everyone and their moose was picking the Cardinals to win.
I picked the Brewers. The Reds won.

But with Zack Greinke going to the Brewers, I can't help but wonder if the Brewers and their solid rotation and terrific line up, should be considered to be the favorites in a very winnable NL Central.

And would my pick be a year premature?
Am I the baseball predicting equivalent to that show Early Edition?

There's only one way to test it:
I am going to pick the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the 2011 NL Central.
If the Brewers win in 2011 and the Pirates win in 2012, I will be FREAKED OUT!

Rest in Peace, Sparky Anderson

One of my favorite figures in all of baseball died today. Sparky Anderson was one of the great managers of all time and don't let any moron tell you differently.

He turned the Cincinnati Reds into one of the great teams in history without a legit Cy Young contending ace.

He turned around a Detroit Tigers team and put together one of the great all together ass whuppin' seasons of the past three decades in 1984.

He was the first manager to win the World Series in both leagues as a manager. (He's since been joined by Tony LaRussa.)

And damn he was a funny nice guy.
I met him at a Hall of Fame function and he was chatty, friendly and was an overwhelming force of positive energy.

I reminded him that he was great on that episode of WKRP in Cincinnati.
He laughed and said "How the hell did you remember that?"
Then he went on telling me how much fun the cast was.

He's gone now, but his legacy in Cincinnati and Detroit will live forever.

And in honor of the great Sparky... here's his appearance on KRP.




38 1
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Teams that played only one home post season game

Reds fans have been waiting since 1995 to see a playoff game in their hometown.
And guess what? If they don't win today, all they'll get is a single playoff home game.

It seems almost unfair. A fan base gets pumped up and expects to have a ton of October memories... and then blink, it is over.

So I wondered how many teams made it all the way to October baseball and then gave their teams only one home game.

It has happened 21 times... Cincy had better hope they are not #22.

This is Sully Baseball... we do more than wonder about stuff like this.
The staff here finds it out and we list it.

ENJOY.


1969 MINNESOTA TWINS
Game 3, ALCS
11-2 loss. Baltimore sweeps 3-0.

1971 OAKLAND A'S
Game 3, ALCS
5-3 loss. Baltimore sweeps 3-0.

1975 OAKLAND A'S
Game 3, ALCS
5-3 loss. Boston sweeps 3-0.

1975 PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Game 3, NLCS
5-3 loss in 10 innings. Cincinnati sweeps 3-0.

1980 NEW YORK YANKEES
Game 3, ALCS
4-2 loss. Kansas City sweeps 3-0.

1982 ATLANTA BRAVES
Game 3, NLCS
6-2 loss. St. Louis sweeps 3-0.

1995 BOSTON RED SOX
Game 3, Division Series
8-2 loss. Cleveland sweeps 3-0.

1996 SAN DIEGO PADRES
Game 3, Division Series
7-5 loss. St. Louis sweeps 3-0.

1997 HOUSTON ASTROS
Game 3, Division Series
4-1 loss. Atlanta sweeps 3-0.

1997 SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Game 3, Division Series
6-2 loss. Florida sweeps 3-0.

1998 CHICAGO CUBS
Game 3, Division Series
6-2 loss. Atlanta sweeps 3-0.

1998 TEXAS RANGERS
Game 3, Division Series
4-0 loss. New York sweeps 3-0.

1999 TEXAS RANGERS
Game 3, Division Series
3-0 loss. New York sweeps 3-0.

2000 ATLANTA BRAVES
Game 3, Division Series
7-1 loss. St. Louis sweeps 3-0.

2005 BOSTON RED SOX
Game 3, Division Series
5-3 loss. Chicago sweeps 3-0.

2005 SAN DIEGO PADRES
Game 3, Division Series
7-4 loss. St. Louis sweeps 3-0.

2006 LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Game 3, Division Series
9-5 loss. New York sweeps 3-0.

2007 CHICAGO CUBS
Game 3, Division Series
5-1 loss. Arizona sweeps 3-0.

2007 LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM
Game 3, Division Series
9-1 loss. Boston sweeps 3-0.

2009 BOSTON RED SOX
Game 3, Division Series
7-6 loss. Los Angeles sweeps 3-0.

2009 MINNESOTA TWINS
Game 3, Division Series
4-1 loss. New York sweeps 3-0.

2009 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Game 3, Division Series
5-1 loss. Los Angeles sweeps 3-0.

Were there four games played last night?

It really felt like there were more than 2 games played, didn’t there?

The Reds and the Phillies played two games yesterday… in the first game the Reds showed some serious guts. They came right out swinging, homering in the first at bat.

Bronson Arroyo was in control, Roy Oswalt was faltering, Chase Utley was a mess in the field and the mighty Phillies were vulnerable.

Then they played ANOTHER game in Philadelphia. In this one the Phillies bats were clutch, the calls went against the Reds and the defense would have made Lupus hide his face.

They played 2 games in San Francisco as well. In the first game, the bats were cooking and Matt Cain was dealing. The Braves looked dead from the neck up and AT&T Park was rocking.

In the second game, the Braves got the key hits, made all the right pitches and made the right plays. Meanwhile the Giants pitching nibbled too much and could not get in sync. Eventually it was a Braves shot into McCovey Cove that was the difference.

The problem for the Reds and Giants? They only played one game each today. And now both teams are facing a dire situation in Game 3.

The Reds are staring down elimination.
The Giants have to face Tim Hudson.

If only those first games could have counted!

A SULLY BASEBALL VIDEO - Rampaging Phillies

I'm calling this series over... Phillies have advanced to the NLCS

You know on election night, sometimes they call certain races with less than 1% of precincts reporting?

On the surface it seems unfair. You can say "Hey! How do you know who won until you've read EVERY ballot."

But there is the practicality. If a drag queen is running in Salt Lake City... or a Bible thumping "It's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" loon is running in the Castro district of San Francisco... I think you can make a fair assessment after looking at the first few ballots. You know they don't have a chance.

And that brings us to the Phillies/Reds series.

It's not even the 5th inning yet of the FIRST GAME... and I'm calling it.

I predicted a sweep and guess what? It might not even go to three games. They may have to say "Screw it, just play game 2 in Cincinnati so the fans have something to cheer for and just send the Phillies to the NLCS."

It's not even an official game yet and the Phillies are smacking the Reds pitching around while Roy Halladay hasn't let up a base runner yet.

I've seen enough ballots.
I'm calling this race over.

I bet even Walter Mondale would watch this game and say "Christ, even I put up a FIGHT!"

A guide for Red Sox fans in picking a playoff team to root for

So the playoffs are starting and the Red Sox are on the golf course.
Does that mean we Red Sox fans should just NOT watch the playoffs?

Of course not... just because our team is dead doesn't mean our interest should be.
Seeing that I was too young to remember 1975, I never saw the Red Sox play in October until 1986, when I was 14. Yet I never missed a post season... I would just temporarily adopt a new team to root for.

It's fun and involves a lot less pain if they lose.

So here is a guide for Red Sox fans to help you make a decision in picking which of the 8 playoff teams to root for.

CINCINNATI REDS

Why Red Sox fans should root FOR the Reds

- It is nice to see storied traditional franchises win. (Do we need ANOTHER Marlins World Series winner?)

- A title would be the icing on the cake for Dusty Baker, a great baseball lifer who had near misses with the Giants and the Cubs.

- WKRP in Cincinnati was a great underrated show.

- Old friend Bronson Arroyo is still pitching for the Reds. How can you not love Bronson?

Why Red Sox fans should root AGAINST the Reds

- I don't care how many titles we've won since... the Sox should have won the 1975 World Series and seeing Cincinnati celebrate again would be too much to handle. Seriously, watch the Ed Armbrister play again and tell me you are rooting for Cincy!

- I'm still bitter that all we got for Bronson Arroyo was Wily Mo Pena. We got snowed.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

Why Red Sox fans should root FOR the Giants

- The fans have been tortured in a "Pre 2004 Red Sox" kind of way.

- They lost a World Series where if Willie McCovey hit a ball a foot higher they would have won.

- They lost a World Series because an Earthquake hit. Forget the Bambino... they had a FAULT LINE trip them up.

- You know who... Mr Juicer... is no longer there.

Why Red Sox fans should root AGAINST the Giants

- How much suffering can those fans really be going through? Even in their WORST day, they are living in the San Francisco Bay Area!

ATLANTA BRAVES

Why Red Sox fans should root FOR the Braves

- Winning a title without Glavine, Maddux or Smoltz would shut up the critics of Bobby Cox.

- Jason Heyward is a great budding super star and baseball needs super stars front and center.

- The Braves were once a Boston team... and rooting for them is as close to rooting for a Boston team as we are going to get!

Why Red Sox fans should root AGAINST the Braves

- Wasn't there... ahem... domestic charges against Bobby Cox? And now I'm supposed to root FOR him?

- Braves fans couldn't even sell out NLCS games and their playoff tickets are always available minutes before first pitch. How can you root for a team whose fans don't even support them?

- The Braves broke our hearts when they left town... and has Boston sports ever recovered? (OK, yes, but still. They dumped us!)

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Why Red Sox fans should root FOR the Phillies

- It would be nice to see a dynasty in baseball outside of New York. It might even tick off New York fans which is always fun.

- It's easy to root for Charlie Manuel. He's like Grady Little, but with a backbone.

- It's impossible to NOT root for Ryan Howard.

- A pitcher as good as Roy Halladay deserves a ring.

Why Red Sox fans should root AGAINST the Phillies

- Hey! If there is going to be a bunch of insecure Native Northeasterners with a New York inferiority complex having a baseball dynasty, it had better be US!

- Not that we Red Sox fans are angelic Boy Scouts... but doesn't it seem like every time there is a knuckle head fan being tazed or doing something stupid like vomiting on a little girl, it tends to be in Philadelphia?

TEXAS RANGERS

Why Red Sox fans should root FOR the Rangers

- They are the only franchise to never win a single playoff series. It's fun to see a team finally reach the top and know you are witnessing the best moment in the team's history.

- It is a nice redemption story for both Josh Hamilton and Ron Washington. Hell, you can make the feel good sports movie right now!

- Nolan Ryan runs the team and says "to hell with pitch counts." If they win, maybe everyone else will follow suit.

- The Rangers most famous fan is George W. Bush... a native New Englander.

Why Red Sox fans should root AGAINST the Rangers

- So, Vlad Guerrero sunk the Red Sox last year and sent Papelbon into a tail spin and I'm supposed to root for him now?

- As I addressed in my video, do Ranger fans even care? Would Game 7 of the World Series in Arlington be preempted there for an interview with Tony Romo?

MINNESOTA TWINS

Why Red Sox fans should root FOR the Twins

- Nice people in a nice outdoor park and a cute name... what's not to love?

- 9 years ago they were going to be contracted. Now they are in the playoffs for the 6th time since then. Winning it all would be the icing on the cake (and a wonderful f--- you to Bud Selig.)

- Joe Mauer is a great superstar and having players like him win a ring can only help the sport.

- Jim Thome has played for 20 seasons and played in October now 9 times... but still is ringless.

Why Red Sox fans should root AGAINST the Twins

- There are teams with real legit title droughts... this would be the third World Series title in 23 years for the Twins. Spread the love to Chicago or Cleveland!

- Jim Thome... the guy with 7 post season homers against the Red Sox... I'm supposed to root FOR him now?

- I miss the trash bag right field wall of the Metrodome.

- It might snow in Minnesota. Do we REALLY need to see that?

TAMPA BAY RAYS

Why Red Sox fans should root FOR the Rays

- The greatest turn around of a franchise would be complete... before inevitable cost cutting tears the team apart.

- The Rays can be the answer to anyone who whines about a salary cap and how unfair baseball is.

- Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford and David Price are the kind of stars baseball should be promoting. Having them all shine on the big stage can only help baseball.

- It will take some of the sting out of the Red Sox not making the playoffs.

Why Red Sox fans should root AGAINST the Rays

- I hate the Rays. Don't YOU hate the Rays?

- I'm still bitter about 2008. Why couldn't the Red Sox score a few more runs off of Garza???

- How can you root for a team whose fans need to be handed free tickets to attend a big game? Even their own players crap on their fan base!

NEW YORK YANKEES

Why Red Sox fans should root FOR the Yankees

- You want to test your own personal threshold of pain by watching the Yankees AND Lakers repeat as champions. If you can survive that, you can survive anything.

- You are convinced Joe Girardi is leaving after this year for the Cubs. Winning the title and leaving would be a wonderful f--- you to the Yankees.

- You lost a bet.

Why Red Sox fans should root AGAINST the Yankees

- They are the New York Yankees.

- Derek Jeter would be happy.

- It would make the Alex Rodriguez deal look wonderful.

- You will have to interact with that Yankee fan friend of yours who will be saying "28 TITLES!" all winter long.




So go ahead... pick a team. Cheer them on and have a fun but stress free October.
Heck, a lot of fans rooted FOR the Sox in 2004 and AGAINST the Sox in 2007.

Let's return the favor.
(I'm rooting for San Francisco... who are YOU adopting?)

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY... October 3, 2010

Here we are... the last day of the season... and not one single Division Series match up has been set.

The Yankees played a combined 20 innings yesterday and very well might have lost the Division in the wee small hours of the morning. And the Twins may have lost homefield advantage in the Division Series and ALCS with a poorly timed losing streak.

But that is NOTHING compared to the potential double choke that would be the Giants and Braves... especially if a 3 way playoff is necessary.

Let's look at the current match ups.

AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES

TAMPA BAY RAYS (AL East Champion)
has home field advantage over
TEXAS RANGERS (AL West Champion)


MINNESOTA TWINS (AL Central Champion)
has home field advantage over
NEW YORK YANKEES (AL Wild Card)



ONE GAME PLAYOFF FOR
NATIONAL LEAGUE WILD CARD

ATLANTA BRAVES
would host
SAN DIEGO PADRES


NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES
(If ATLANTA wins)

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (NL East Champion)
has home field advantage over
CINCINNATI REDS (NL Central Champion)

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (NL West Champion)

has home field advantage over

ATLANTA BRAVES (NL Wild Card)




NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES
(If SAN DIEGO wins)

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (NL East Champion)
has home field advantage over
SAN DIEGO PADRES (NL Wild Card)

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (NL West Champion)

has home field advantage over

CINCINNATI REDS (NL Central Champion)

Why do I have a feeling that there will still be things left undecided by the end of today?