Top News:
Kat O'Brien / Newsday:
Giambi wants to re-sign with Yankees — TORONTO - Jason Giambi's seven seasons in pinstripes have run the gamut. He had 40-homer, 100-RBI seasons his first two years before being diagnosed with an intestinal parasite and a benign tumor and testifying to a grand jury that he had used steroids.
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Bryan Hoch / MLB.com:
Giambi appreciates time in pinstripes — Wild ride with Yankees could be coming to end for slugger — TORONTO — Jason Giambi is aware that he may be putting on his Yankees uniform for the final time this weekend, ending a dizzying seven-year run in pinstripes filled with ups and downs.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Cranky, cranky, everybody is cranky — I'll try to explain this as simply as I can. — Before the game, Joe Girardi told us that Mariano Rivera went back to New York to get his standard end-of-the-season physical. He wasn't going to pitch anyway, the manager said, because he had a “cranky body.”
Mark Feinsand / Blogging the Bombers:
Tough year for Girardi just got tougher — Joe Girardi has had a tough first year as manager, and not just because the Yankees missed the playoffs. Replacing a guy like Joe Torre can't be easy, especially with a demanding fan base, a demanding media corps and demanding owners.
Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
Rivera Is Aching, but Yankees Can't Agree Where It Hurts — TORONTO — Mariano Rivera pitched four times in five days before the Yankees were eliminated from playoff contention this week. On Thursday, he left the team to return to New York for a magnetic resonance imaging exam on his right shoulder.
Joe Capozzi / Palm Beach Post:
Marlins relish spoiler role — WASHINGTON — The Marlins didn't plan on missing the playoffs again this season, but they're at least hoping their season ends like it did in 2007 - by going to New York and eliminating the Mets. — “Anytime you have a chance to knock a big team …
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Juan C. Rodriguez / Sun-Sentinel:
Marlins aim to reprise Mets KO — Situation similar for another finale series playoff coup de grace — WASHINGTON - A year later, the memories haven't faded for the Marlins. Scott Olsen even recalled having pizza in the Shea Stadium visitors' clubhouse after that final regular-season win.
Mark Herrmann / Newsday:
Rain could scramble Mets' schedule — If there is anything harder to predict than how the National League wild-card race will end, it is when it will end. An ominous forecast for New York for Friday night could mean a doubleheader Saturday — and another rainout then could bring a new meaning to “wild.”
Discussion:
Bronx Banter, GoatRiders of the Apocalypse, New Jersey Online, Newsday, NJ.com and ShysterBall
Mike Fitzpatrick / Associated Press:
Walk-off win helps Mets' playoff hopes — NEW YORK (AP)—With a desperate rally in the rain, Carlos Beltran and the New York Mets kept their playoff destiny in their own hands. — Beltran singled home the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning and New York beat the Chicago Cubs 7-6 …
Discussion:
Bleed Cubbie Blue, Blogging Baseball, MetsBlog.com, The Musings and Prophecies …, Mets Geek and My Summer Family
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Kary Booher / Baseball America:
Brackman Kicks Off HWB — 2007 first-rounder makes pro debut, finally — Out in Hawaii Winter Baseball, Yankees' 2007 first-round draft pick Andrew Brackman already has his eyes on grabbing a surfboard and hanging 10. — Well, that and finally launching his pro career come Saturday night.
Bill Conlin / Philly.com:
Brace yourself for wild weekend in baseball's homestretch — IMAGINE THE drama. Imagine the collective mass of several million lumps very high in several million throats. — Imagine the not-quite-final National League East standings showing that after 162 games the Phillies and Mets are tied for first place with 91-71 records.
Discussion:
Bats
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Jordan Bastian / MLB.com:
Ricciardi returning as Jays' GM — Godfrey explains decision on day Toronto keeps Gaston on — TORONTO — Paul Godfrey is a realist. The Blue Jays president and CEO is well aware that his announcing that general manager J.P. Ricciardi will be back for the 2009 season won't go over well in all circles.
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Chicago Tribune:
Fans sue over seats for Cubs playoffs — A budding legal dispute over the divvying up of Cubs playoffs tickets reflects the tensions and possible treacheries that abound as fans who share season-ticket packages attempt to split their much-coveted seats for the upcoming postseason.
Kelly Thesier / MLB.com:
Twins take first on Casilla's walk-off hit — Second baseman singles in 10th to complete sweep of Sox — MINNEAPOLIS — The jubilant way that the Twins jumped into a pile following Alexi Casilla's game-winning single on Thursday night made them look like a team that had just clinched a playoff spot.
Discussion:
ESPN
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Thomas Boswell / Washington Post:
Nats Are in Danger of Losing More Than Just Games — It's hard to lose 100 games. The St. Louis Cardinals haven't done it since 1908. The lousy Montreal Expos, after their initial expansion season, only did it once in their remaining 35 years in Canada.
Discussion:
Balls, Sticks, & Stuff, Oleanders and Morning Glories, Fire Jim Bowden and William World News
Joe Cowley / Chicago Sun Times:
Ozzie fires back at Cabrera — MINNEAPOLIS — White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen wouldn't fault Orlando Cabrera for the shortstop's latest finger-pointing. — As Guillen said Thursday, that's what happens when a player “thinks he's better than what he really is.”
Discussion:
MLB FanHouse
Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:
News: Mets announce Basic Plan for Farewell — The Mets today announced that Tom Seaver, Willie Mays and Mike Piazza, among 45 other former players, will be on hand for this Sunday's Shea Goodbye post-game, on-field ceremony following the team's 1 p.m. game against the Marlins.
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Hot Foot
