Top News:
Andrew Baggarly / Contra Costa Times:
Giants' Bochy knows the drill — Born into a military family, S.F.'s manager has done his share of moving — It's a daily spectacle at San Diego Padres games. — The camouflage-clad Marines enter the upper deck at Petco Park in boot-stamping unison, fill up an entire section …
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
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Tom Krasovic / San Diego Union-Tribune:
Loyalty to vets hastened exit — Towers felt Bochy placated players — SAN FRANCISCO - Bruce Bochy heard the whispers. He catered too much to veterans. He was too impatient with young players. — "I've heard it," Bochy said yesterday. "I think that's unfair criticism of me."
Bill Center / San Diego Union-Tribune:
Players regret ex-skipper's departure — Adrian Gonzalez was struggling in early May. — The 23-year-old first baseman hadn't homered since his second game of the season and his average dipped below .230 thanks to a 1-for-27 run. — Bruce Bochy called Gonzalez into the manager's office.
Tom Krasovic / San Diego Union-Tribune:Two names on early list are Black, Oquendo
Discussion:
Ducksnorts
Troy E. Renck / Denver Post:
Offseason talks heating up in a hurry — St. Louis - With the confetti still swirling around Busch Stadium, the clubhouse carpet still wet with champagne, the Hot Stove League turned on the Bunsen burner Saturday. Fifty-nine players filed for free agency, including Barry Bonds, Frank Thomas and Nomar Garciaparra.
Discussion:
Purple Row
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Associated Press:
Bonds, Thomas, Garciaparra get a jump on free agency — NEW YORK — One day after the World Series ended, baseball's business season began Saturday when San Francisco's Barry Bonds, Oakland's Frank Thomas and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Nomar Garciaparra headed 59 players who filed for free agency.
Discussion:
True Blue LA
Yahoo! Sports:
Bonds among first to file for free agency — NEW YORK (Ticker) - Barry Bonds may not be wearing a San Francisco Giants uniform if and when he finally catches Hank Aaron. — Bonds headlined the list of 59 players that declared themselves free agents on Saturday, the first day of filing.
Dan O'Neill / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Leyland laments Tigers' bat futility — People will talk about the five errors by Detroit Tigers pitchers. They will talk about the slip by Curtis Granderson in Game 4. They will talk about the long layoff and the nasty weather. — "It's a shame that the punch line from this World Series …
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Mark Gonzales / Chicago Tribune:
Sox's leadoff spot may tempt Roberts — The White Sox might not have to look far for a seasoned leadoff hitter. — On the first day of free-agency filings, the agent for San Diego outfielder Dave Roberts said Saturday his client was an ideal match for the Sox in the team's quest for more production out of the top spot.
Brian Borawski / Hardball Times:World Series: Cardinals vs. Tigers: Cardinals Win the World Series
Discussion:
Bless You Boys
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Market forces will play out — Sides try to gauge effects of new deal — The Players Association will hold an informational session with player agents Tuesday to review the new Basic Agreement it reached with baseball owners. Management has already been given the 70-plus-page agreement …
Matthew Leach / MLB.com:
La Russa will return in 2007 — Cards skipper announces intentions to manage 12th season — ST. LOUIS — Speculation turned into rumor turned into report on Friday night, but Cardinals manager Tony La Russa insists that whatever you call it, it's false. On Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium …
Discussion:
Viva El Birdos
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Richard Goldstein / New York Times:
Joe Niekro, 61, a Master of the Knuckleball, Is Dead — Joe Niekro, the knuckleballing right-hander who won 221 major league games in 22 seasons and combined with his Hall of Fame brother Phil to win more games than any pair of brothers in major league history, died Friday in Tampa, Fla. He was 61.
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Chris Duncan / Seattle Post-Intelligencer:Joe Niekro remembered for sense of humor
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
Baseball America:
Arizona Fall League Notebook: Oct. 27 — MESA, Ariz.—Since Trevor Crowe was in high school, he always had that certain confidence, that swagger, as a huge part of his game. — He had it for three years at Arizona, and carried it over to his pro debut after being a first-round pick in 2005.
Jim Baker / Baseball Prospectus:
Pop Quiz, Hotshot — Back when I lived in Jersey City, my friends and I used to go to this dive bar that was something right out of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh—at least in terms of its age and the nature of its clientele. What set this place apart from other dive bars, though, was that it wasn't dank.
John Eisenberg / Baltimore Sun:
Bench still hip to ways that baseball players bend rules — The smudge on Kenny Rogers' pitching hand will surely be one of the defining images of the 2006 World Series. The Game 2 incident already has a nickname - Smudgegate. — "Like it's some big mystery, an episode of Lost or CSI.
