Top News:
Lyle Spencer / MLB.com:
Lack of offense puts Mets in a hole — Upbeat Randolph says club has been in tougher spots — ST. LOUIS — It took more than six months, most of those golden in a summer of love, but the Mets' first real crisis of 2006 has arrived. — How they respond will determine if their autumn features …
Discussion:
Always Amazin'
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Joe Strauss / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Cardinals take 2-1 lead over Mets in NLCS — What does it mean when lightning strikes both sides of Spruce Street within the same block and the same 13 months? — What does it mean when a 97-win team glances up from its sixth postseason game to discover its bullpen has worked more than its starting rotation?
Amy K. Nelson / ESPN:
Mr. Clutch delivers again for Cardinals … ST. LOUIS — Scott Spiezio is a fun-loving, hard-rocking, goatee-dying maniac. He plays the guitar on stage, hits triples like he's Jose Reyes in the ballpark, and is universally appreciated by his teammates as a player who's one of the best during the postseason.
Tom Krasovic / San Diego Union-Tribune:
Padres still covet mercurial pitcher Perez — ST. LOUIS - The Padres will be watching the National League Championship Series tonight with extra interest. One of their own will start for the Mets - left-hander Oliver Perez, who was a gangly, bespectacled 17-year-old when the Padres signed him out of Mexico in 1999.
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George Will / Townhall.com:
The economics of baseball — Sins can be such fun. Of the seven supposedly deadly ones, only envy does not give the sinner at least momentary pleasure. And an eighth, schadenfreude — enjoyment of other persons' misfortunes — is almost the national pastime.
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Richard Sandomir / New York Times:
Fox Fires Baseball Analyst Over Ethnic Comments — Steve Lyons, the No. 2 Fox Sports baseball analyst, was fired Friday night for offensive comments he made earlier in the day during Game 3 of the American League Championship Series in Detroit. — He was replaced by Jose Mota …
Discussion:
Deadspin
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Mark Newman / MLB.com:
Spieziomania reigns in St. Louis — Player who exudes Cardinal Soul a big hit at Busch Stadium — ST. LOUIS — Josh Douglas and Troy Rhives, two Cardinals fans from Festus, Mo., were talking about Spieziomania and posing for a picture when a woman walked by wearing the same red Velcro soul patch as theirs.
Peter Abraham / The Journal News:
Baseball beat: A-Rod has plenty of places to land — Brian Cashman will say he has no intention of trading Alex Rodriguez right up until the day he trades him. And Rodriguez will swear by his desire to play for the Yankees until he agrees to that trade. — It's the game they have to play.
John Fay / Cincinnati Enquirer:
Krivsky offers Twins peek — Reds insider — The firing of Chris Chambliss was the latest move in the "Minnesota-ization" of the Reds. If the Minnesota-ization continues we could see bigger moves. — Let's explain the Minnesota-ization theory. — Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky worked …
NY Daily News:
White Sox still eyeing Rodriguez — Now that Joe Torre has come full circle with George Steinbrenner - facing the same "show me what you're made of" edict in the potential final year of his Yankee managerial tenure as he did in his first - his main mission must be to re-establish the …
Bleed Cubbie Blue:
The 2006 Major League Baseball Bottom-of-the-Heap Awards — While we await Jim Hendry's managerial decision — and I do NOT believe it has been made yet — it is time, once again, to hand out awards to the forgotten, the maligned, the worst of the worst in baseball.
Discussion:
6-4-2
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
With whom will Barry bond? — Prospects for 2007 may be problematic — Played a name-association game with a National League scout last week. — ``Barry Bonds. Answer: ``Advil. That's where you start. Any team thinking about signing Bonds for what should be the historic season …
Discussion:
The Catbird …
T.J. Quinn / NY Daily News:
How to fix Yanks — So the conclusion was reached that whatever ails the Yankees, Joe Torre isn't the problem. At least not so much of a problem that another manager is the solution. — It will be Torre's charge to confer with Brian Cashman and the rest of the brain trust to find …
Discussion:
High and Tight
Jim Baumbach / Newsday:
Not So Fast! — How tof ix the Yankees: First, keep A-Rod — As the Joe Torre "I'm staying!" news conference neared an end Tuesday, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman stood up and returned to his Yankee Stadium office smiling. — Now starts the fun part of the baseball offseason.
Tim Brown / Los Angeles Times:
La Russa Supports Cooling-Off Period — ST. LOUIS — Albert Pujols' decision to slight Tom Glavine's pitching performance in Game 1 had legs for another day, with Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa advocating a 24-hour cooling-off period for athletes before they address the media and threatening …
Discussion:
Can't Stop The Bleeding
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Denver Post:
Rockies look at five for hitting instructor, eye Mets' Alomar as coach — Detroit - For the Rockies to contend next season, they must ramp up their offense. They have moved closer to deciding who will be behind the steering wheel, interviewing Ron Jackson, Jose Morales …
Discussion:
Purple Row
Murray Chass / New York Times:
For Leap Forward, Tampa Bay Tries Taking Step Back — If a team wins 67 games one season and 61 the next, is it going backward or forward, regressing or progressing? — The simple answer, in the case of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, would seem to be the negative.
Discussion:
Management
