Top News:
Ken Rosenthal / Fox Sports:
Cards seem to have edge in best-of-three affair — ST. LOUIS - The postseason hardly is proceeding according to form, but if the pitching matchups mean anything, the Cardinals hold a clear edge now that the National League Championship Series boils down to a best-of-three.
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Joe Strauss / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Rain, Plot Thicken: Pujols, Rolen are story of day — A daylong rain postponed Monday's Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, allowing Cardinals starting pitcher Jeff Weaver and New York Mets 40-something lefthander Tom Glavine to return tonight on regular rather than short rest.
Bob Klapisch / NorthJersey.com:
Mound of trouble — ST. LOUIS — While the Mets were hustling out of rain-swept Busch Stadium on Monday afternoon, general manager Omar Minaya lingered in manager Willie Randolph's office, working his cellphone for dinner reservations. It was an unexpected break in the NL Championship Series …
David Lennon / Newsday:A Game 1 could go to Duque — ST. LOUIS — If the Mets …
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
Chicago Sun Times:
Hendry: 'Lou is the perfect guy' — Piniella, Cubs agree on three-year deal worth $10M-$12M — After two weeks of pink slips and resignation letters littering the landscape at Wrigley Field, the last-place Cubs are relieved to finally be announcing some good news today …
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Gene Wojciechowski / ESPN:
Source: Piniella expects Cubs to go hard after A-Rod … CHICAGO — Lou Piniella, who will be formally introduced as the new Chicago Cubs manager Tuesday afternoon, wants to acquire embattled — and possibly available — New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
Associated Press:
Piniella: 'Curses. Come on' — Lou Piniella vows to make a winner of the Cubs, whose last World Series appearance came in 1945. — "Urgency is important," said Piniella, who was introduced Tuesday as the team's latest manager. "We're going to win here, and that's the end of the story."
Discussion:
1060west
Tom Krasovic / San Diego Union-Tribune:
Bochy to interview for San Francisco job — With Padres' OK, manager to talk with GM Sabean today or tomorrow — ST. LOUIS - For the second consecutive autumn, an upper-level member of the Padres' management team will interview with a National League West rival less than six weeks after San Diego won the West.
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Andrew Baggarly / Mercury News:
Giants will talk to Black about job — PITCHING COACH HAS HISTORY WITH TEAM; TRAINER CONTE QUITS — The Giants are moving to the next phase in their search for a manager, and Los Angeles Angels pitching coach Bud Black will be part of the process. — Giants General Manager Brian Sabean called …
Discussion:
McCovey Chronicles
Michael Silverman / Boston Herald:
Sox land pitching coach — Farrell leaves Indians to guide staff — John Farrell, the 44-year-old credited with much of the success for the talented young arms in the Cleveland Indians organization, will get a chance to do the same for the Red Sox. Farrell was named the team's pitching coach yesterday.
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Kevin Goldstein / Baseball Prospectus:
Where Did the Mets Come From? — Since playing in the World Series six years ago, the New York Mets have been a perennial disappointment, going 377-431 over the next five years and not returning to the postseason until this season, as a combination of homegrown stars and bigmoney free agents cruised to the National League East title.
Associated Press:
Uribe questioned, released; remains suspect — SAN CRISTOBAL, Dominican Republic — Chicago White Sox shortstop Juan Uribe was questioned and released Tuesday but remains a suspect in the shooting of two men in the Dominican Republic. — Uribe spent more than two hours at the San Cristobal courthouse …
Jim Salisbury / Philly.com:
Phils manage to send Manuel clear message — The team's three new coaches have a wealth of experience. — ST. LOUIS - If Pat Gillick's lukewarm endorsement on the final day of the regular season wasn't enough to make you believe that Charlie Manuel's seat will he hotter than a waffle iron come April …
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
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Beth Harris / Associated Press:
Yankees pitcher Lidle mourned at service — COVINA, Calif. —Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle was remembered as "a loving husband and an awesome father" Tuesday at a memorial attended by family, friends and teammates of the avid yet inexperienced pilot who was killed during an aerial tour of New York City.
Greg / Faith and Fear in Flushing:
The Best Fans In Baseball — Watching the middle of this Championship Series has been slightly odder for me than it would be if it were taking place anywhere else in the National League. The ridiculously retentive reader will recall that my midsummer jaunt in 2006 was to the very same Busch Stadium we focus on now.
Neil Best / Newsday:
So far, SNY's on-site show a hit — The Mets' victory Sunday ensured that the playoff circus will be back in town tomorrow, and that its most unusual sideshow will return to Gate A outside Shea Stadium. — Clearly, SNY's pre- and postgame shows have gotten an energy jolt from Gary Cohen …
Larry Stewart / Los Angeles Times:
Lyons to Keep Part-Time Dodgers Job — Steve Lyons, fired by Fox for on-air comments the network deemed inappropriate, will keep his job as a part-time television commentator for the Dodgers. — The team, in a statement issued Monday, said Lyons would undergo diversity training and that he was given probationary guidelines.
