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 …

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.

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 …

Rangers to interview manager of Japanese team  —  Trey Hillman is former Rangers farm director  —  The Rangers plan to interview Trey Hillman for their managerial opening in person in Arlington Tuesday.  Hillman is in the fourth year as manager of the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan.

Wright's Excellent Adventure to Continue in Japan  —  David Wright played in 164 of the Mets' 172 games this season, and still that was not enough.  The promise of another hit will lure him halfway around the world, to Japan, as part of a major league exhibition tour that is scheduled to begin Thursday.

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 …

Rangers take note: Titles are won with pitching  —  DETROIT - Pay attention, Tom Hicks.  Take notes, Jon Daniels.  An important lesson just finished its prime-time run right in front of your eyes each night — when it wasn't raining — on national television.  —  You want to win the World

A-Rod situation as fluid as words  —  In late January of 2004, a month or so after his long-discussed trade to the Red Sox publicly fell to pieces, Alex Rodriguez and the Texas Rangers put an end to all the trade rumors.  —  After a five-hour meeting in a New York hotel suite …

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.

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.

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 …

Five Phillies opt for free agency  —  Lieberthal, Wolf file on first day of eligibility  —  PHILADELPHIA — With the end of the World Series comes the dawn of the free agency filing period, and the possible end for two career Phillies.  —  Mike Lieberthal and Randy Wolf were among …

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.

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.

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.