Top News:
Helene Elliott / Los Angeles Times:
Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, wife Jamie separate — The team releases a statement, calling it a ‘personal matter.’ — Jamie and Frank McCourt, who bought the Dodgers in 2004, confirmed their separation in a statement released by the Dodgers on Wednesday night. (Los Angeles Times)
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Beth Harris / Associated Press:
Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, wife separate — LOS ANGELES (AP)—Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and his wife Jamie have separated. — The couple confirmed it in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday night. — “This is a personal matter and they request that their privacy be respected …
Tom Hoffarth / L.A. Daily News:
Gammons on Torre: He's gone after 2010 because Dodger ownership has made his life a ‘living hell’ — Peter Gammons is so money. — ESPN's Hall of Fame baseball analyst, a guest on Michael Kay's 1050-AM ESPN sports talk show in New York, came up with a nice sound bite that should be recycled …
Kasey Kahne / Yahoo! Sports:
Torre: Being a Dodger isn't a ‘living hell’ — LOS ANGELES - Dodgers manager Joe Torre said on the eve of the National League Championship Series that working for team owner Frank McCourt was not so unbearable that he would leave the club before his contract expired after next season.
Discussion:
Dodger Thoughts
Maury Brown / The Biz of Baseball:MLB Announces Umpiring Crews for 2009 LCS
Discussion:
River Avenue Blues
Anthony DiComo / MLB.com:
Mariano wins Delivery Man of Year Award — It's third time in his career Yanks closer has picked up honor — NEW YORK — In a postseason in which closer after closer has faltered, Mariano Rivera has stood tall. Battling an illness, Rivera tossed at least one scoreless inning in each …
Discussion:
iYankees, Zell's Pinstripe Blog, Baseball & The Boogie Down, Bottom9 Baseball and The Bronx Block
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John Perrotto / Baseball Prospectus:Closing Confidence Tests
Discussion:
Phillies Nation, BBTF's Baseball Primer …, True Blue LA, Yahoo! Sports, The Good Phight and MLB.com
Associated Press:
Angels set rotation; Lackey will get Game 1 start … ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Angels manager Mike Scioscia announced his rotation for the AL championship series on Wednesday, selecting John Lackey to start Friday night's Game 1 against CC Sabathia and the New York Yankees.
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Evan Grant / Texas Rangers:
Rudy Jaramillo, Rangers to part ways — UPDATED, 12:17 p.m. CDT: The rest of the coaching staff will return, the Rangers have announced. — Dallas-raised Rudy Jaramillo, the Rangers hitting instructor for the last 15 seasons, has turned down the club's one-year contract offer and is preparing …
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Josh Leventhal / Baseball America:
International League Top 20 Prospects — Wieters sticks around long enough to rank No. 1 … The industry consensus at the start of the season was that the two best prospects in baseball were Orioles catcher Matt Wieters and Rays lefthander David Price. Both began the year in the Triple …
Peter Abraham / Boston Globe:
Japanese lefty sparks interest from MLB — The Red Sox are reportedly one of several teams interested in lefthander Yusei Kikuchi, the top amateur player in Japan. — Kikuchi is trying to decide whether to bypass the Japanese draft in favor of signing with a Major League team as a free agent.
Andrew Baggarly / Extra Baggs:
Bochy says Lansford is not a scapegoat, says it's time for a new voice — Carney Lansford is not a scapegoat, Bruce Bochy said. — The Giants' manager strenuously made that point clear when discussing the decision to fire his hitting coach after two seasons. — “I'd say that's not fair and that's not true,” Bochy said.
Discussion:
El Lefty Malo
Sean McAdam / Boston Herald:
Theo Epstein sees value in patch jobs — Re-arm with retreads — Last winter, the Red Sox [team stats] signed two veterans with shoulder issues - Brad Penny and John Smoltz - to modest deals, designed to give the team inexpensive depth. — Neither deal worked out particularly well.
Ken Gurnick / MLB.com:
Billingsley to 'pen; Garland off roster — Healthy Kuroda causes ripple effect on Dodgers' squad — LOS ANGELES — Reliever Jeff Weaver was sent home from Wednesday's practice with flu-like symptoms, the third Dodgers player this week to fall ill with a bug on the eve …
Discussion:
Dodger Thoughts
Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com:
Mets' Davis dominates in Rafters' rout — Former first-rounder hits grand slam, drives in six runs — A week ago, Mets top prospect Ike Davis was running on fumes. — Following a 114-game Minor League season split between two levels, he spent nearly a month playing for gold medal-winning Team USA at the IBAF World Cup.
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