Top News:
Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Carpenter gets a timely visitor — As his ace's pitch count climbed and dire trouble threatened in the first inning Sunday, Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan plotted how the game could go from there. Chris Carpenter was capable of finding his gear, Duncan thought. Carpenter would settle in.
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
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Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com:
Cardinals-Mets: Quick hits — Reasons the Mets will win: — 1. Power. The Mets hit a lot of big homers, having ripped 200 during the regular season. Shut down Albert Pujols, and the Cards may have a hard time generating runs. — 2. Home-field advantage.
Joe Strauss / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Rolen's shoulder inflamed; so is La Russa — For much of September his manager had asked Cardinals third baseman Scott Rolen the same question and received the same answer. — Saturday afternoon, after a distressing Game 3 performance in a 3-1 loss to the San Diego Padres, Rolen's answer changed.
Rich Draper / MLB.com:
Mailbag: What's Rolen's NLCS status? — Rich Draper answers fans questions from Game 4 of NLDS — I know Scott Rolen had previously undergone surgery twice on his left shoulder, but what exactly happened the past couple days? Will he be good for the NLCS?
Lee Jenkins / New York Times:
With a Second Wind, the Cardinals Blow Past the Padres — The Mets' opponent in the National League Championship Series needs no advance scouting report. — There is the slugger (Albert Pujols), the ace (Chris Carpenter) and the so-called genius (Tony La Russa).
Associated Press:
Padres-Cardinals Preview — The St. Louis Cardinals may have lost …
Padres-Cardinals Preview — The St. Louis Cardinals may have lost …
Discussion:
Ducksnorts
Vinay Kumar / Hardball Times:
NLDS: Padres at Cardinals: The Tables are Turned (Finally)
NLDS: Padres at Cardinals: The Tables are Turned (Finally)
Discussion:
Padres RunDown
Jack Curry / New York Times:
A Piniella Return Could Benefit Rodriguez Most — Alex Rodriguez was still a young, sensitive and impressionable shortstop when he struck out against Dennis Eckersley in a tie game on Aug. 4, 1995. Rodriguez, 20 at the time, remembered his atrocious swings against Eckersley as "breakfast, lunch, dinner and good night."
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NY Daily News:
Bomber nation mourns, but stands by Torre — Yankee fans awoke yesterday with a season-ending hangover, cursing a postseason flop that had many believing that Joe Torre has managed his last game in pinstripes. — Bombers owner George Steinbrenner fumed that his team's first-round debacle was …
NY Daily News:
Yanks' captain abandons ship — Refusal to help Alex hurt club — If George Steinbrenner thinks that bringing in Lou Piniella is going to solve his Alex Rodriguez problem, and all of the bad karma it has wrought, he clearly isn't in touch with his ballclub.
Discussion:
WasWatching.com
Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
Harsh Words From Steinbrenner, but No Word Yet on His Manager — At his darkest moments, George Steinbrenner has longed in recent years to replace Joe Torre with Lou Piniella as the manager of the Yankees. The question now dominating the organization is whether that impulse will prevail after careful consideration.
USA Today:
Sheffield critical of Torre's managerial moves — New York Yankees slugger Gary Sheffield heard the news Sunday, and snickered, wondering if this was someone's idea of a cruel joke. — "I can't believe they're going to get rid of (Joe) Torre," Sheffield said of the Yankee manager …
Discussion:
WasWatching.com
Marty Noble / MLB.com:
Mets take time preparing for NLCS — NLDS sweep allows Randolph to mull options going forward — LOS ANGELES — It happened so quickly, the series already was a blur for some of the Mets by the time they boarded the buses outside Dodger Stadium on Saturday night.
Discussion:
Metsblog.com
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Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Yankees stunned and done — Bonderman brilliant as Tigers head to ALCS — DETROIT — They were embarrassed, not to mention angry with themselves, in a quiet clubhouse where the positive air that always filters in — in good times or in bad — was stifling in its absence. — There was a little denial, too.
Discussion:
The Soxaholix
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Associated Press:
Zito to start Game 1, Loaiza over Harden for Game 2 — OAKLAND, Calif. — Ten of Oakland's top decision makers held a closed-door meeting in the manager's office Sunday and cast their votes on who should start for the Athletics in Game 2 of the AL championship series — Rich Harden or Esteban Loaiza.
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
Pena shows interest in Nats job — Piniella and Pendleton also candidates to be next skipper — WASHINGTON — A day after watching his team get eliminated by the Tigers in the American League Division Series, Yankees first-base coach Tony Pena said by telephone on Sunday that he is interested in managing the Nationals.
Discussion:
Oleanders and Morning Glories
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Barry Svrluga / Washington Post:
Nats Talking With Girardi And Piniella
Nats Talking With Girardi And Piniella
Discussion:
District of Baseball
NY Daily News:
Talking airhead sez sorry to fan — Stephen Teitelbaum felt on top of the world Thursday night when he left Shea Stadium after his team won the second game of its division series. — But the virtually blind 64-year-old sank when he heard that during the fifth inning Fox commentators mocked the special device he uses to watch games.