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
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
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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.
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 — HOUSTON - Quick with a joke or a smile, Joe Niekro was the life of the Houston Astros' clubhouse for more than a decade. He also became their most successful pitcher, earning a franchise-record 144 victories in 11 seasons.
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
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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Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
La Russa works the numbers game — Left to slot the Cardinals' versatile collection of sometime starters and would-be role players into a lineup for each World Series game, manager Tony La Russa has let his pen follow the diving rod of numbers. — Preston Wilson's strong numbers get him a string of starts.
Discussion:
Off the Facade
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.
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.
Amy K. Nelson / ESPN:
Weavers were believers in Jeff … ST. LOUIS — There they stood, together, in the middle of a celebrating crowd. They embraced one another as tears streamed down their faces. The blond-haired brothers from Southern California had been through enough tumult this season to last their entire lives.
