Top News:
Paul Sullivan / Chicago Tribune:
Evaluating the Big 3 in Cubs' pursuit of manager — Here's how the main managerial candidates stack up — Joe Girardi, Lou Piniella and Bob Brenly are experienced baseball men with sound philosophies and good reputations. The three top managerial candidates for the Cubs all have attributes …
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Chris De Luca / Chicago Sun Times:
Kranitz could be nice throw-in deal — If Joe Girardi becomes the next manager of the Cubs, there could be an attractive bonus. Respected pitching coach Rick Kranitz, who spent the previous 22 years with the Cubs before joining Girardi's Florida Marlins staff last season, might tag along.
Discussion:
GROTA
Juan C. Rodriguez / Sun-Sentinel:
Kranitz may stay if he chooses — Joe Girardi is gone, but the Marlins want the pitching coach he brought to stay. — New manager Fredi Gonzalez spoke with Rick Kranitz on Wednesday, and indications are the Marlins want him back. First-base coach Perry Hill and hitting coach Jim Presley are strong holdover candidates.
Discussion:
FishStripes
Joe Capozzi / Palm Beach Post:
Latin players welcome Gonzalez's hiring — MIAMI GARDENS — Shortstop Hanley Ramirez hardly could contain his excitement when he learned that Fredi Gonzalez had been hired as the new manager of the Marlins. — Ramirez came to Dolphin Stadium on Tuesday and interrupted Gonzalez's interview session …
Discussion:
FishStripes
Jack Curry / New York Times:
Struggling in October, Rodriguez Finds It's All a Blur — Alex Rodriguez swung and missed, feebly, at Joel Zumaya's 101-mile-an-hour fastball and then behaved like a 7-year-old who had to put away his toys before dinner. He neatly placed his batting gloves and elbow guard inside his helmet and gave them to a batboy.
Discussion:
The Soxaholix
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Ira Podell / Associated Press:A-Rod goes 0-for-4 with 3 Ks as Yankees drop Game 2 to Tigers
Discussion:
FIRE JOE MORGAN
Josh Suchon / Contra Costa Times:
A's need one victory to end 0-9 skid of losing clinchers — Terrence Long lost a ball in the sun. Jeremy Giambi didn't slide. F.P. Santangelo muffed a routine grounder. Practically the entire team contributed to the worst defensive inning of all-time. — Billy Koch served up a back-breaking, ninth-inning home run.
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
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Barry Svrluga / Washington Post:
Nats Contact Braves About Pendleton — The Washington Nationals' search for a replacement for ousted manager Frank Robinson has turned to Terry Pendleton, a former batting champion and the hitting coach for the Atlanta Braves, where he once played and worked under Nationals President Stan Kasten.
Evan Grant / Dallas Morning News:
Rangers players aren't surprised — Players say they had a feeling Showalter's firing was coming — ARLINGTON - Hours after Buck Showalter was fired Wednesday morning, Rangers players spoke volumes about their relationship with him. They did it with what they didn't say.
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
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Kat O'Brien / Dallas Star-Telegram:Rangers' search might stay inside
Discussion:
Dallas Morning News
Ben Shpigel / New York Times:
Glavine Pitches Like an Ace, Small Ball Does the Rest — José Reyes, who was 1 for 3 with a walk, after he hit a single in the sixth inning. Reyes also had two runs batted in. — As the Mets started confronting life without Pedro Martínez and Orlando Hernández, a 290-game winner lurked in the background.
Rob / 6-4-2:
The Hunt For The Precioussss: Division Series Day 3 — Victory Through Superior Tigerpower: Tigers 4, Yankees 3 — The Kittycats did that which the Dodgers could not, chasing their opponents off the field on the road with a victory in hand, ensuring a split going home to Detroit.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Pirates Q&A with Dejan Kovacevic — Q: Fred-dy! Fred-dy! — David Sculley of Sewickley — KOVACEVIC: Yeah, this just in: Freddy Sanchez is good. — Welcome, one and all, to the season-ending Q&A — a little longer than usual, so that it can be spread over several of the next few Fridays …
Gordon Edes / Boston Globe:
Martínez undergoes rotator cuff surgery — NEW YORK — Former Red Sox doctor Bill Morgan was present as an observer when pitcher Pedro Martínez underwent surgery yesterday to repair a torn rotator cuff. Mets doctors David Altchek and Struan Coleman repaired the supraspinatus tendon …
Jack Curry / New York Times:
Rogers Hopes to Find Comfort Zone vs. Yanks — When Manager Joe Torre wrote about Kenny Rogers in his book in 1997, he called Rogers "one of the most difficult players I ever managed." Torre did not put Rogers in what he called "the Ed Whitson category," but he said he felt Rogers lacked confidence.
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley
Bernie Wilson / Associated Press:
Popgun Padres down to last gasp — Offense again MIA as Friars fall 2-0; head to St. Louis trying to avoid sweep — SAN DIEGO - Getting out of September intact was the hard part for the St. Louis Cardinals, who clinched a division title while stuck in reverse. — And the San Diego Padres?
Discussion:
Gaslamp Ball
Jim Caple / ESPN:
On a bad wing and a prayer … Minnesota fans — especially those who hung tough through those long, grim days of the Twins' not-so-recent past — will cross their fingers, knock on wood, toss salt over their shoulders and pray that Brad Radke's shoulder stays in place Friday afternoon.
Fox Sports:
After Game 2, all signs point to Detroit — Ladies and gentlemen, we have a series. — The Tigers prevailed Thursday in what was, at its core, a must-win affair for the Motown Nine. Going down 2-0 against the demonstrably superior Yankees would've all but snuffed out their World Series aspirations.
