“How much did you need this win?”

I kid you not.

How athletes find the restraint and refrain from grabbing these reporters and/or shaking and choking them is beyond me. How much did you need this win? This guy does not belong in the third market.

He should be in somewhere like, oh I don’t know…St. Louis. Zing.

Technorati tags: White Sox / TV

Game 1: Buehrle vs. Rogers

Game 2: Garcia vs. Verlander

Game 3: Garland vs. Bonderman

These games have increased importance because the White Sox end the season with 6 on the road against Cleveland and Minnesota. Detroit still has 6 against KC. They are only 27-30 since the ASB.

Technorati tags: White Sox / Detroit Tigers / MLB / Pennant Races

“I have no doubt that whoever represents the National League in the Fall Classic will be taken out quicker than a bowlegged asthmatic kid in a grade school dodgeball match.”

What about the Mets? Only Minnesota, Oakland and San Diego have allowed less runs. Only the White Sox, Yanks, Indians and Phils have scored more. They have a run differential of +134, topped only by the Tigers and Yanks. Their starters don’t look that great, but they can thump, their defense is incredible and their bullpen is awesome. And don’t forget the El Duque factor.

The AL is the dominant league. But I give the Mets a chance, assuming Pedro is healthy.

Technorati tags: World Series / Pennant Races / MLB / Mets

Labels: MLB, Pennant Races, World Series

With a Reds win and a Cards loss last night, they are tied for first in the NL Central.

Whose lineup would you rather have? I’ll take the Reds.

But while the Reds began a 10-game road trip, the Cards are at home for series against the Cubs, Florida and Pittsburgh. The Reds continue on in San Fran and the go to LA and San Diego.

The Cards have Rolen, Edmonds and Albert, but not much else. And after Carpenter their rotation is Cub-like.

It’s hard to see one of these teams getting hot enough to win 90 games. Making it ever more the shame that the Cubs never got it together this year.

Technorati tags: Cubs Cardinals Reds Pennant+Race

Labels: Cubs vs. Cardinals, Pennant Races

I’m glad Maddux is a Dodger and I hope they win the division. I think that the Reds vs. Dodgers would be an entertaining matchup, even if they aren’t great clubs.

I would like to see the Dodgers win the NL. Is there any team besides the Mets that think they can win the NL? The Dodgers were in last place after losing 13 of 14 and were 7.5 out of 1st. They win 18 of their next 21 to take the lead by 4 games. Also, Grady Little has been ripped enough.

Furcal started slow but has been red-hot in July and August. Kenny Lofton is still playing well. Betemit has been incredible. And the Mets are still a hated foe of the Cubs. Go Dodgers!

In the AL I would love to see the Sox win the division. But if not the wild card will suffice. Boston looks beat down lately. It would be a trip to play against the A’s and Frank Thomas. That would be wild.

The Sox don’t look like the same club from last year. But they bop. I would not be surprised to see them win it all again.

What do you think will happen, or what do you want to see?

Let’s start with their skipper, who is shocked that a guy with almost 500 career HRs guessed right or reacted right to a pitch and crushed it. From chicagosports.com:

Right in the middle of the controversy is Jim Thome, who smashed a Verlander pitch for a two-run homer during a four-run fifth. The pitch was a changeup after Thome had taken four straight fastballs.

“Almost impossible,” manager Jim Leyland told Detroit media. “It’s pretty suspicious when a guy looks at [four] straight fastballs and then doesn’t flinch on a changeup and stays back and hits it out of the ballpark. I love Jim Thome, and he’s a hell of a hitter, but that’s one of the damnedest things I’ve ever seen.”

Said Thome: “I don’t know what pitch is coming. I don’t get the pitches. I just hit.”

Paul Konerko, who bats behind Thome, said: “No one told me [what was coming]. Jim has almost 500 home runs. No offense to anyone in [Detroit's] dugout, but Jim hits homers off a lot of good pitchers.”