Curse of the Rayhawk?

I'm watching the Phillies pick up the World Series hardware right now and I have two thoughts.

1.) I know the Cinderella Rays were the big story, but part of me is happy for Brad Lidge after he was shelled in 2005.

2.) The city of Philadelphia is perhaps the most dangerous place on earth this evening. There is a lot of pent up fan energy in that town and I can't imagine how crazy their fans are going to go tonight.

Enjoy, Phillies fans. You've waited too long.

Silver linings

Let's say for the sake of argument that you have a job like mine that requires you to work some odd hours without much warning.

Let's say that, like me, you had a meeting planned for this evening with someone who flew from several states away and can't reschedule because there's a small window to meet up.

Let's also say that, like me, you died a little on the inside when you realized there was really no way that you'd be able to see much of the World Series game tonight.

Now, let's say that all of the those hypotheticals line up, but you're also a Phillies fan.

Tonight's game suspension looks a helluva lot better, doesn't it?

My apologies to the guy who has to work late on Tuesdays.

Late update, courtesy of Deadspin:

"SportsNet is reporting that the Rays checked out of their hotel in Philadelphia. That hotel is now booked solid. Life's funny. Maybe just because of that, I'll order room service again."

Heh.

It's not the end of the world... yet

Say it with me Cubs, Phillies, Angels and (more than likely) Indians fans - "It's a five-game series for a reason."

And while Chicago and California fans can at least shrug off losses on the road, judging by the game so far in Philly right now, that fan base - known for it's cheeriness - has a legitimate reason to start losing their minds.

As for everyone else, take a deep breath trust your team and maybe get ready to pee your pants if the next two days don't go very well.

Cubs fans, I'm looking at you - relax. Well, as much as you can with this shit starting up again.

We're watching you, Mariotti.

(Image from: ImpAwards.com)

Someone is going home tomorrow

OK, maybe not immediately, but it's coming down to the last game of the season for either the Phillies or the Mets to seal the deal.

With a 13-0 win over the Marlins today, New York roared back after hitting rock bottom on one of the worst collapses in Major League history. Call it karma for 1969.

This sets the stage for tomorrow when the Phillies close out their season versus the Nationals and the Mets face Florida. Both games are at home.

One of the strangest occurances at the end of each season is taking mental stock of all the games pissed away over a 162-game season. Simple acts that cause losses over the course of a season, from stupid plays to pitchers blowing out in the middle of the third inning to wearing a Royals jersey come back to haunt fans when teams fall just a few games short of the postseason.

For all of the fans going through that this weekend, my sympathy is with you. Rest assured, though it will all be forgotten next year and we'll be back to letting the losses fade away again.

Just as easily as we let them go this year.

(Image from TheShowdownMovie.com)

Catching up

No one told me that the All-Star Break wasn't a full week.

To bring Siberian Baseball back up to speed, here's a nice catch all post to put the train back on the tracks.

* Jason Kendall is the newest North Sider and many Cub fans who have seen games since 2003 are wondering why.

Phil Rogers wrote a short piece asking Cub fans to just trust the scouts on this one - which is pretty funny when you consider he's coming over from the Moneyball A's, which preach numbers over scouts' hunches - but you can't ignore declining numbers for a catcher.

From that story:

Kendall, acquired by the Cubs on Monday night from Oakland, has a great pedigree, impressive career numbers and more name recognition than Koyie Hill, Rob Bowen and Geovany Soto. But he also has a .226 batting average, a .261 on-base percentage and a 20 percent ratio throwing out base stealers.

OK, Phil, I'm with you - but only because the "Old catcher! Old catcher!" song was being sung for Pudge Rodriguez before his resurgence in Detroit.

* It's official, the Phillies are the, say it with me: Worst. Team. Ever.

The Cardinals beat the Phils for loss number 10,000 on Sunday night. Ouch.

But cheer up Cub fans:

Next on the losing list: the Braves, with 9,681 defeats. It took them stints in three cities (Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta) to reach that total. Not even those lovable losers, the Chicago Cubs, come close at 9,425.

* And finally, Scott Boras is causing a problem in Boston, questioning Daisuke Matsuzaka's pitch counts.

We all are, Boras. We all are.

I'll be back to get this thing moving in earnest soon, but as I mentioned at the mothership, it's a hectic week for me.

Keep your fingers crossed - if something good happens tonight, it'll be sooner versus later. Plus, there's always the embarrassing pre-season picks report card still to cover.

It'll go a long way to explaining why I have no future in the Vegas sportsbooks.

(Image from MLB.com)

Well, that was strange

Much like my constant crowing for a passable DH in Minnesota, I rarely shut up regarding the need for the Cubs to find (or pay for) a front-line closer.

When the dust settled on Ryan Dempster's outing in Atlanta tonight, it was one inning pitched, three runs, all earned with three hits and three walks. (I'm still double checking that line because - while I'm seeing it in two places - it still looks so damn strange.)

It was a weird game and a weird loss, but it wasn't a lot of fun to see things go downhill so quickly. It really doesn't make me feel any better to see the trainer out there after the slider that got away for the go-ahead run, either.

Between the birds at the Tigers game and the Royals (yes, the Royals) blowing the doors off the Phillies 17-5, I think it's best if I go lie down now.

Week's end wrap up

I was really excited Thursday morning after a big night of moves in the hot stove league. Better yet was Steve Phillips chasing Barry Bonds around like Carl Monday, asking who he was talking to, if he was staying with the Giants and if he was jacking it.

Bonds told him his testicles were too far gone to even consider the last option. Not really, but in the television of my mind it was awesome.

The biggest, but least shocking moves were today, with Andy Pettitte going back to the Bronx and bringing rumors of a return of Roger Clemens with him. Bonds is also returning to San Francisco where he'll be hated the least.

Other big moves:

Jason Schmidt - Dodgers - Headed to the Dodgers, the biggest free agent arm (tied with Barry Zito this year) undercuts the Giants and helps Los Angeles which has a much better rotation on paper now (Derek Lowe, Brad Penny, Schmidt, Randy Wolf and any number of arms looking to take over the five spot.)

Being able to beef up your team while draining a division rival is a nice bonus, but these moves put the Dodgers as the early favorites in the NL West next year.

To his credit, Drew has defended himself a bit to the media, but given that it's Boston, this could get ugly in a big way. We'll see what happens, but this could be a train wreck right out of the gates.

Seriously, you can't trust LA, but who else is going to step up? In other words, business as usual in the NL West.

JD Drew and Julio Lugo - Red Sox - Here's what worries me. Five words in 20 years: The Curse of Johnny Damon. Expect JD Drew to get a lot of face time with Joe Buck's kid and AJ Pierzinski if this becomes a story line of my future nightmares.

Bad attitude and injury prone? Where do I sign?

To his credit, he's defended himself to a point, but it's still Boston and it's not out of the realm of possibility that this could be a train wreck out of the gates.

As much as I'm skeptical of Drew, I like the Lugo signing.

Not as much as I'd like Damon and Orlando Cabrera, but still...

(The best part of the Cabrera Era was screaming, "Welcome to the O.C., bitch!" every night.

Ted Lilly - Cubs - Please, oh please can we get at least a half-powered Bronson Arroyo factor here?

He was 15-13 with a 4.31 ERA in 32 games for the Blue Jays last season.

I can't lie, I was awake after I turned off the TV the other night asking over and again if Ted Lilly was worth $10 million per year. My gut reaction is no.

Hope it's worth hospitalizing a GM over, but this deal isn't as exciting as it should have been. Yes, Cubs front office, we get it, you're trying to win now. There's still no need to try and spend 15 years worth of surplus cash in one mediocre off-season for talent.

Mike Piazza - A's - It's about time, huh? Maybe they'll give him Frank Thomas' old locker.

Freddy Garcia - Phillies - I'm with Frankie on this one who sent me an e-mail when this signing was confirmed. In an off-season where Lilly gets $10 million per, the White Sox give away a very, very durable pitcher for peanuts?

I thought this would be a move to bring Aaron Rowland back, but was surprised when he was left out east.

Still waiting to get word back on whether or not Kenny Williams is still a genius. That said, I'm getting a Billy Beane vibe off Willaims still where no matter how ridiculous the signing or free agent drop is, you can't help but wonder what he's up to.

This is a direct turn around from the Williams we were given in Moneyball where he was emasculated and painted as too dumb to grasp the finer points of a simple multi-player swap.

More from Frankie on this subject can be found here.

Joe Borowski - Indians - This guy keeps finding work and he always seemed like a good enough guy, but I can't help but wonder how he keeps signing contracts.

He's never very good, but never very bad, either. I think this is indicative of the season Cleveland can expect next year.

Gil Meche - Royals - Good for you, Royals!

Aren't they cute everyone? Yes, they are! Yes, they are!

Cute little ballclub you got there, KC...

For more of the same, jump over to ESPN.com where Jayson Stark has a similar breakdown, but with, you know... facts and stuff.

Good point

Want to see how far salaries have gotten out of control this offseason?

Check out this little math lesson courtesy of Boston Dirt Dogs and Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe.

His [J.D. Drew's] asking price, according to sources, is at least $14 million. That's $4 million a year more than the Sox offered last winter to Johnny Damon before he signed a four-year, $52 million deal with the Yankees. Bobby Abreu, the right fielder the Sox passed on in July because of luxury-tax ramifications before he was dealt by the Phillies to the Yankees, is due $15 million in 2007, with the Yankees holding an option of $16 million for 2008.

Yeah, I feel better now. God, Mondays are the best, aren't they campers?

Here they are coming out of the turn...

Man, football season crept up fast, didn't it?

Almost made me forget there was a playoff race coming down to the wire in my backyard. Well, that and our fantasy league has been pretty interesting now that we're in our playoffs.

For the record, the injury bug hit the Jaleel White Sox hard this month and it's tough to get up for games anymore, but we'll keep plugging along.

So, where does it all stand?

The Braves have been offficially declared dead after 35 years of winning the NL East. Never saw that coming. The Cubs are being sent to AAA until they can get their heads right - and would there be a better sport for relegation European soccer-style?

I really wish this were the case, but logistically it'd be a nightmare. It's too bad, too - I think it'd be a lot more fun to watch teams try to rebuild and make the majors, but there'd be a lot of hard selling done to convince small-market teams to build major league stadiums with no promises that there'd be major league games.

Maybe we can get a secondary idea like the second-to-last place team gets to cherry pick any player from the last place team or a combination of the bottom two or three teams.

Wouldn't you play a little harder if you knew your team could lose it's ace with a bad finish?

* Ryan Howard has surprised the hell out of me this year. In a relatively quiet season (buzz-wise, not numbers-wise) he's leading in RBI and HR this morning.

I thought he'd be a good player, just not this good and not this soon. I can admit that now. I'm sorry I ever doubted you, Ryan.

* In your AL Central update, Minnesota is three games up on the champs. Yikes.

We got our postseason ticket information last week. Looks like that might be a real possibility. That's kind of strange to write, especially after the way the season kicked off.

There's still time for the White Sox to catch up, but they need to do so quickly. Oh, did you know the final series of the season is in the Dome and is Twins/White Sox?

Just so you know.

* For any Red Sox fans still holding out hope, go re-read the stories about Jonathon Papelbon's injury. He said if the Sox were still in the hunt or had any hope for the season he'd be out there.

He's not out there.

There's always 2004, campers.

It's too bad that both he and Francisco Liriano blew out before the season ended. Kind of a bummer - both were a lot of fun to watch. Liriano jerseys sprung up all summer in the seats in Minnesota and his return lit up phone lines with Twin Cities sports talk stations last week.

I guess the trick is resisiting the urge to try and win right now in cases like these. Still, it adds a new flavor to each of those teams to trot out staffs without those guys in them.

Countdown to the Trade Deadline

Baseball Tonight just wrapped up its Saturday trade deadline special and as I don't have inSider with ESPN, I just jotted notes as Buster Olney gave away the top bullet points.

I'm cheap like that.

Bobby Abreu to the Yankees? Looks kinda sketchy. Would you want to be Philly's GM explaining this the year after letting Jim Thome go and watching him find new life in Chicago?

Yeah, me neither.

Brad Lidge to Rangers? I have no idea why this made the end of the show graphic. They shot this one down as they were talking about it. Get your shit together, ESPN. First Soriano to Chicago, now this?

Just for the sake of arguement, can you imagine his trade value at this time last year? Or if last year's post-season never happened?

Miguel Tejada to Houston? Whoever gets Tejada should be a happy, happy team. After watching him play quite a bit in Baltimore, I'm a believer.

Alfonso Soriano still waiting to be dealt? The Twins are the fashionable team as frontrunners today. They were playing last week's frontrunners, the Tigers. As much as Minnesota makes me nervous (and skeptical) as contenders, add Soriano and they immediately become serious players in the AL Wild Card race.

Immediately.

Phillies looking to move Jon Lieber? Eh. So? I have nothing to say here. Instead, did you see Manny Ramirez make that throw home today? Wow, it's amazing what happens when he gives a damn.

Also, the Neifi Perez out on So Taguchi when Taguchi missed tagging back on second base in the Cubs/Cards game today? Pretty crazy, too.

How sick do you feel if you're a Phillies fan watching Cole Hamels get drilled? Hungover sick or bad clams sick?

Red Sox large 3 or 4 team deal? Mike Lowell and San Diego's favorite stable pony Scott Linebrink are rumored to be pieces of this trade. As always, the more teams and crazy double- and triple-loopbacks between teams for salary reasons and other concerns, the less likely the teams will make the trade.

The so-so Coco Crisp was reportedly offered straight up for the struggling Mark Buehrle and that deal was shot down. The chances of pulling off all the necessary twists and turns in time makes things dicey at best.

And finally, while not technically part of the final rundown, check the power rankings. Anyone who needs more fuel for the "NL teams are slipping aginst the AL" fire needs only to count to 10.

Top four are AL teams and seven of the top 10. Subjective rankings? Sure, but give me a strong arguement of which NL teams should be there that aren't. Exactly.

(Image from the New Number Two - flickr.com)