Baptism By Fire

Blue Jays Gang-Bang Benson in Rehab Start... Not Anna... Damn!

2008-06-20T08:12:00.000-07:00

CLEARWATER, FL -- While Josh Johnson was cutting loose 95 MPH fastballs to the Palm Beach Cardinals for 5.1 innings at Roger Dean Stadium, on the Gulf Coast, former No. 1 draft pick (1996) Kris Benson was making a rehab start for the Clearwater Threshers, the Philadelphia Phillies Florida State League club.

Would you like to know how Benson did?

Let's just put it this way, the Blue Jays hit Benson as hard as they'd like to hit his wife, Anna.

(Time for the gang bang!)

Three home runs sailed out of Bright House Networks Field on Thursday night.

Cory Patton belted his seventh home run, a two-run shot, first. Then player-coach Brian Dopirak, former Cubs standout prospect, went yard next for his ninth of the season. Lastly, backup catcher David Corrente went yard for his second home run of the season (he'd hit another one two innings later, not off Benson). Catcher J.P. Arencibia was probably wishing the Blue Jays hadn't promoted him for another week.

I'm guessing Anna Benson told the Blue Jays the same thing she told Kris if he ever cheated on her in New York. Something to the effect of, "If you ever cheat on me, I'll screw the entire Mets team and the front office staff."

The proposal must have sounded something like, "If you guys can knock Kris out of the game so we can make our 7:30 dinner reservation, I'll screw the entire single-A Blue Jays squad."

(Hit this, boys!)

Well, not quite. Let's put it this way, three home runs in the first inning off Benson to give the Blue Jays a 5-0 lead was more than enough. Yet Benson lasted into the second inning and left with this line (Benson... 2.0 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 5 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 3 HR).

(If Anna was pitching, chances are the guys would have been too distracted to hit... Batter up!)

Unfortunately, for us over on the East Coast and every other team who would like to see Kris rear back and try to throw 94 MPH (only to see it come in at a BP fastball of 86 MPH), we'll have to wait and be envious.

In the meantime, we can only hope Kris gets released, ends up on our favorite team and is unfaithful to Anna.

That's just too much to take in.

Let's Go Rocco!

2008-06-16T08:53:00.000-07:00

TORREY PINES, CA -- It's a modern day David vs. Goliath. When Tiger Woods made the shot of the century on the 18th yesterday and made it look easy, all he did was force a playoff with Rocco Mediate at the U.S. Open.

Get this, Tiger Woods forced a playoff and is currently a heavy favorite.

I think Tiger is an appropriate name for Woods considering he's like a tiger on the prowl. Sleek, vicious, accurate and a heavy favorite in the jungle. The man has won 64 majors and is the best golfer in the World, maybe all-time. I think he is.

Then there's Rocco Mediate. First off, what a great name! Secondly, he's a local of sorts for me, growing up in Greensburg, Pa. Greensburg is where my cousins grew up, and where I visit my aunt and uncle for holidays. It's not a country club kind of place.

Mediate went to college at Florida Southern, a strong Division II golf program, not even D-1 like Stanford. He currently resides in Naples, like Woods resides in Windemere, right outside Orlando.

He's 45 and taking interview questions like a champion. He doesn't answer them seriously, he's having fun. Mediate is enjoying the moment.

The No. 1 player player in the world versus the 158th ranked player, and a shot for the oldest player ever to win the Open.

Odd stats for this event, Mediate is 2-0 in overtime matches. Woods is 10-1.

I like Woods. I think Woods is a great symbol of athletic prowess in America and I'll root for him all the time. However, I think in this case, and you can tell by the crowd, people are pulling for Mediate.

Everyone loves an underdog! Make us proud Rocco! Show us how America was built, on the little guy toughing it out.

Cardinals Pounded in Every Way

2008-06-14T08:59:00.001-07:00

ST. LOUIS, MO -- You can't understand it unless you've been to one. It's a Friday night, the weekend has started, you're going to the Cardinals-Phillies game at Busch in front of a sell out crown and then...

THIS HAPPENS!

It started with Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell with consecutive home runs in the first inning. Seventeen runs later... It just hurts thinking about it. "Seventeen runs later?"

It wasn't a good night for Todd Wellemeyer. In fact, if you were basing your weekend on how Friday night's game was going to go, it would be like getting stood up for a date by answering the door with a pie to the face and a hit in the lower abdomen.

To add insult to injury, Tony LaRussa and Russ Springer got tossed by an overzealous home plate umpire Larry Vanover after Springer sent some chin music toward Howard in the eighth. Howard had hit two home runs in the game, but it was way too late for that.

But it got better...

In the bottom of the eighth, the Phillies retaliated by returning fire via Rudy Seanez (remember this guy, who used to throw 100 MPH with John Rocker in the Braves bullpen years back?) who threw one behind Brendan Ryan.

Does Seanez get tossed? Hell no! But Jose Oquendo did while arguing. I don't get it. I thought when you started tossing guys it wasn't arbitrary? It kept the game safe. Evidently, Vanover has issues with the Cardinals. Springer was throwing intentionally and Seanez just lost control when the pitch went BEHIND Ryan?

That's pretty shallow Vanover. And to think, umpires are on the field to keep the game 'fair'.

If we're complaining and it's 20-2, there's only one thing left to do... start throwing your second basemen.

Aaron Miles threw a scoreless ninth retiring Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino and Eric Bruntlett. Shockingly, Vanover didn't toss Miles, although I'm sure there were some evil squints relayed at each other.

About the only good thing about this game is this: It was only ONE loss. Despite giving up 20 runs and having everything go wrong, it was only one loss. Today, if the Cardinals win, it really doesn't matter.

Oh, by the way, Chicago lost to Toronto last night 3-2, so even more it didn't matter. Thank you, A.J. Burnett!

Karma Hits Cubs, Soriano Injured in 7-2 Win; Cardinals Continue to Roll

2008-06-12T11:58:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO, IL -- I'm not going to say I was glad to see Alfonso Soriano get injured last night, but I kind of felt a sly grin cross my face when the Cubs slugger bite the dust only a day after Cubs fans were cocking off about Albert Pujols going down for three weeks with a strained calf.

(Karma's a b!tch, isn't it Cubs?)

So while the Cubs fans were shaking their hineys in the general direction of I-55 South, karma was flying into town on an express train from Atlanta.

Yes, the Cubs won their 10-in-a-row at the Friendly Confines and hold the best record in baseball, but something happened just a bit south that couldn't have made them feel comfortable at all.

LOOPER... BRADEN LOOPER

Looking like he did as an undergrad at Wichita State, Braden Looper fired a three-hit shutout, his first of his Major League career, as the St. Louis Cardinals had the cannons thundering at Great American Ballpark for a 10-0 rout of the Cincinnati Reds.

RICK ANKIEL - HOME RUN #10

RYAN LUDWICK - HOME RUN #16
4TH IN N.L. IN RBI (52)
T-6TH IN N.L. IN HR (16)

This ship coming off the banks of the Mississippi isn't running out of steam!

Marlins-Tigers Trade: Who Really Got the Worst of it?

2008-06-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

LAKELAND, FL -- The question popped up really fast, "Do you think he'll still be here in a month?" It was from someone who thought Dontrelle Willis would still be in Lakeland when the Flying Tigers came to play the Palm Beach Cardinals on July 11-14 at Roger Dean Stadium.

For the D-Train's sake, he had better hope not. For those who didn't hear, Willis was sent down to class-A Lakeland last night. Not because he was injured, but because the nine million dollar left-hander was demoted.

Remember the Winter Meetings of 2007? There was a blockbuster trade that went down. The Florida Marlins traded Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera for Andrew Miller, Cameron Maybin, Burke Badenhop, Dallas Trahern, Eulogio De la Cruz and Mike Rabelo.

At the time, the Motor City was about to paint 2008 World Champions on Comerica Park and people criticized the low market Marlins for trading their franchise away in Cabrera and the left-handed Willis, a former 20-game winner.

Well, here was the part people didn't realize. One, Willis finished the 2007 3-12 in his last 15 decisions. That's not good. Two, Cabrera was gaining weight, and although moving to the American League would allow him to DH, this isn't beer league softball, he's going to get pitched to and it's not going to be soft-tossed to see if he can hit .340 again.

The problem with players getting enormous salaries is that they don't have to try anymore. They are in a comfort zone because they get the money no matter how bad they play.

For example, Barry Zito. Zito signed for $18 million a year for seven years. The Giants just assumed he would pitch like a Cy Young Winner for the next seven years. The money is guaranteed, the effort or results are not. So far, Zito has made Giants GM Brian Sabean look like the biggest sucker in the game. Zito was hideous last season and started out this year 0-9 before breaking his losing streak to Scott Olsen and the Florida Marlins on May 23 in Miami.

Here are the blockbuster players:

MIGUEL CABRERA

Certainly, Cabrera would be the one player who would come through, because after all, he was tagged as one of the best hitters in the game and almost certainly would be in Cooperstown after watching him hit over .300 for four seasons.

Through June 11th, Cabrera is "crushing" .278 with 8 home runs and 38 RBI. He's tied with Curtis Granderson for second in home runs on the Tigers. However, Granderson is a lead-off hitter who was injured for parts of this season. His .278 average is currently 32nd in the American League. This is a guy who rarely fell out of the Top 10 in the National League, a pitching heavy league. By these standards, Cabrera is projected to hit 20 homers and knock home 97. And they paid him what?!!!

DONTRELLE WILLIS

Willis is currently one of the toughest pitchers to hit against in the American League. In 11.1 innings pitched this year, he's only allowed seven hits and opponents are hitting a mere .189 against him. Of course, it's kind of hard to hit a guy who can't find the plate. Why are opponents only hitting .189 and have seven hits? It's because he's walking the entire ballpark. Willis is 0-1 with a 10.32 ERA and has issued 21 free passes as opposed to five strikeouts. He's thrown 265 pitches, 127 for strikes (48%).

NOW THE MARLINS...

ANDREW MILLER

The prize of the class so far and that's not saying much. The highly-touted all-American out of North Carolina is 4-5 with a 5.65 ERA in 63.2 innings this season. Opponents are smacking a .310 average when he puts the ball in the vicinity of the plate. On the other hand, he did beat Greg Maddux keeping the future Hall of Famer from his 350th win on May 4th. He also threw seven scoreless innings against Washington (2 H, 7 K) May 10th and against Arizona (2 H, 9 K) on May 22nd.

CAMERON MAYBIN

This guy couldn't make it out of Spring Training on the roster, but was supposed to cover everything from Miami to Naples in the outfield. In fact, thank god Maybin wasn't a Rule V or the Marlins would have had to send him back for half price. So far in Carolina (AA), Maybin is hitting .264 with 12 HR and 29 RBI. He does have five triples and is 13 of 16 in stolen bases, but he's struck out 79 times already. Lead-off hitters on pace for 170 strikeouts in a season rarely provide the results MLB teams are looking for.

MIKE RABELO

Rabelo was the added switch-hitter to lend some support behind the plate to go with Matt Treanor. I can't say Rabelo hasn't come through with some big hits... he has. Just not a ton, as he's tallied a .214 average with three homers and 10 knocked in.

BURKE BADENHOP

Badenhop was supposed to have a killer sinker. After getting rapped in one outing, the Palm Beach Post headline was, "Rookie's Sinker is a Stinker." Not the kind of press he was hoping for. Badenhop is 2-3 with a 6.00 ERA in 12 starts covering 45 innings.

DALLAS TRAHERN

Dallas, seen wearing a Lakeland Tigers jersey here, would probably be better suited for Class-A ball. In Albuquerque (AAA), Trahern is 1-5 with a 7.23 ERA in eight games started. Opponents are batting .302 against him in 42.1 innings.

EULOGIO DE LA CRUZ

I remember when the hard-throwing De La Cruz was called on to start Game 5 of the Florida State League Championship (seen above). He was solid for four innings, one more inning than he lasted in the Major Leagues this season (3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 1 K). In Albuquerque, De La Cruz wasn't bad (7-3, 3.92 ERA, 12 GS, 66.2 IP, 51 K) but, as you can see, the promotion was about a half a shot of cappuccino without the caffeine... instead of a full cup of coffee.

ANALYSIS

People may wonder who got the worst of this trade, or if there even was a team who got screwed over worse than the other. Maybe even "BOTH". Bright spots are hard to come by.

Yes, Cabrera is healthy and on pace for 97 RBI, but for his contract, they were expecting a Pujols-like .330-30-100 every year, no questions asked. Most likely more.

Miller and Maybin were supposed to start in Florida and play a full season. Miller, more on the side of 10-11 wins; Maybin on the roster all season. The southpaw can probably still make it, and is a fan favorite of the Fish Tank, providing them with several opportunities for souvenirs this season.

I can sum it up in these facts on who got the better end of the deal:
-The Marlins unloaded two guys demanding big contracts and were able to sign their future star Hanley Ramirez (.304, 15 HR, 32 RBI, 16 SB) to a multi-year deal. The deal was signed May 18th. In June thus far, Ramirez is hitting .324 with 5 HR and 8 RBI
-The Marlins are in second place in the N.L. East, three games behind first place Philadelphia and six games over .500
-The Tigers are fourth in the A.L. Central, 10 games behind Chicago and 10 games below .500
-The Marlins are three games behind St. Louis for the N.L. Wildcard
-The Tigers are 10.5 games behind Tampa Bay for the A.L. Wildcard

Cubs Keep Winning at Home; Pujols Goes Down; Rookie Boggs Comes Up Big

2008-06-11T07:04:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO, IL -- I can't explain it. It being a nine-game home winning streak by the Chicago Cubs beginning with a 4-3 win over Pittsburgh on May 18th and has continued through last night's 10-5 win over Atlanta.

I was there for the second win of that streak when the Dodgers lost to the Cubs 3-1 on Memorial Day. Then somewhere in between, the Cubs pulled off a miracle win by rallying from a 9-1 deficit against Colorado, the biggest underachievers in the history of baseball, following a World Series appearance. Just say it out loud and think how ridiculous it sounds, "The Colorado Rockies were in the World Series last year." Looking back now, no one can question how the Red Sox swept them.

In fact, it's borderline disgusting every time I watch the Cubs on TV playing at Wrigley Field. I know I'm going to be serenaded by 39,000 a$$ ho!e$ busting out Steve Goodman's "Go Cubs Go!"

Last night was no different. Geovany Soto's three-run home run in the bottom of the eight off Manny Acosta gave the Cubs a 10-5 lead. Although Jon Lieber attempted to prove why he's gone bust in the ninth, a twin killing ended the game and let the music begin...

"Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Gooooooooooo! Hey Chicago whaddaya say, the Cubs are going to win today!"

Now, because of that win and the Red Sox getting cold-cocked at home by the Orioles after failing to hold a 6-4 lead at Fenway Park (stick that in your Okajima and smoke it!), the Cubs have the best record in baseball... again!

Chicago's .771 home winning percentage (27-8) is second only to the Red Sox .787 (26-7). Can it get any worse?

Glad you asked, because it did! In the sixth inning of last night's Cardinals-Reds game, Albert Pujols went down with a strained calf. But how many strained calf injuries call for your best pal Yadi and Ron Villone to help carry you off the field?

As it was, rookie Mitchell Boggs, a two-way star at the University of Georgia before focusing on baseball (thank god!), won his first Major League start in place Todd Wellemeyer.

Pujols did manage to homer in the game and Ryan Ludwick also put on a pyrotechnic display with a longball of his own in the Cardinals 7-2 win over Cincinnati.

St. Louis trails the bastard Cubs by 2 1/2 games in the Central, salivating for that Fourth of July weekend series when the North Siders come to Busch Stadium.

Other good news involves the fact the Reds are the opponent for the next two days and Edison Volquez will not pitch either of them.

Baseball in September

2008-06-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

JUPITER, FL -- There's always going to be baseball in September, because the Major League season last until the last week of September, but in the minor leagues, that usually means your team made the playoffs.

In the ass-roasting hot Florida State League, where 90 degree temperatures translate into hurricane season 100 degree heat indexes and afternoon thunderstorms threatening every day, you'd think people would not care about baseball come September. Oh, but they do... just not at Dolphin Stadium, and especially if the Marlins are way out of contention.

Attendance figures are lower in the FSL than any other league, mostly because living in vacation paradise, there are plenty of other things to do besides watch minor league baseball. The Daytona Cubs, open season to Georgia rednecks on vacation in Daytona Beach, sets the benchmark as fans tend to watch more baseball at the worst park in the FSL, Jackie Robinson Ballpark, than anywhere else... like say 10,000 seat Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.

However, baseball is baseball and it's a lot more fun when you win. Case in point, the Palm Beach Cardinals. A team which has found more ways to win in the first half, with more players moving up to Springfield-AA like high rollers in Vegas penthouses, than I've ever seen. They just win. Guys who aren't supposed to come through do. They don't have the power crunchers like last season with Allen Craig and Mark Hamilton, therefore teams can't concentrate on just one player.

Last night, after three straight losses to Tampa, the Cardinals were on the verge of clinching September baseball if they could beat the last place in the West, Clearwater Threshers.

The out of town scoreboard read: Brevard County 4, Lakeland 1. Thanks a lot Tigers! Still reeling from that 2005 Championship the Cardinals won on your field? It was going to have to be won at the Dean.

No problem, the Cardinals had Jason Isringhausen on the mound as a rehab start and Chris Carpenter and Josh Kinney sipping draft cold ones of the "Home Team" behind home plate.

Isringhausen only needed 21 pitches to cut through two innings of the Threshers meager lineup. Brandon Dickson came on in relief and tossed six scoreless innings as the Cardinals led 2-0 heading into the ninth. FSL all-star and local hero Tony Cruz did the damage with two RBI on the night. Palm Beach looked poised to throw a few more runs on the board in the bottom of the eighth, but wonderboy Daryl Jones and Luke Gorsett went down with RISP.

Coming in to close out the game was Francisco Samuel. Isringhausen didn't stick around to watch this kid, and it's probably a good thing he didn't. Even though Chris Perez is the up-and-coming closer, the 21-year old Samuel has the kind of stuff that can make guys like GM John Mozeliak change their mind in a hurry.

Samuel is out of the Dominican Republic and warms up at 92 to 93 MPH. Known to light up your local scout's Stalker at 98 MPH, he usually relies on a fastball that cruises, cuts and jets all over the place at 94 to 96. Which is one reason batboys are warned not to turn their back while chasing wild pitches at the screen when Samuel is warming up.

The Cardinals' young gun had 10 saves in 12 opportunities. He also struck out 36 batters in 22.1 innings entering the game.

Walking slowly out of the bullpen to Linkin Park's "Bleed it Out", Samuel usually takes about two-and-a-half minutes to loosen up, despite unloading the velocity he does.

This is a guy who made his Palm Beach debut with a three-run lead, walked two batters, gave up an infield single, balked in a run, then struck out the side in order. He's been known to occasionally gun a 94 MPH missile in the rib cage of an opposing batter on an 0-2 count. Recently, he's gotten much better.

Despite his wildness, he surrendered a lead-off double, struck out the next batter, got a pop out, then gave up an RBI single.

There are two outs, one out from the first half title, and Francisco is making it interesting. However, he gets the next batter to pop up. Bryan Cartie races in from third, calls off the catcher Cruz and... drops it.

WHAT THE HELL, BRYAN!

Fortunately, Samuel doesn't really give a damn, so he fires the next one right down Broadway and the hitter comes up late, popping the ball to right field. Gorsett was under it, but Antone DeJesus, outfielder by trade-rocket by lifestyle, is there to observe in case he misses. He doesn't.

That's a winner! And so are the Palm Beach Cardinals!

There will be baseball in Septmeber. Now we can relax for three months! Thank god!

The Gods of Omaha Went Calling on LSU

2008-06-10T06:50:00.000-07:00

BATON ROUGE, LA -- They were three outs from ending what seemed to be a storybook finish to a season at their own burial ground and time honored stadium.

The LSU Tigers, who finished the season and SEC Tournament with 23 consecutive wins, trailed UC-Irvine 7-4 in the ninth inning. If the Tigers lost, their season was over and the Anteaters were headed to Omaha for the second straight season, a place in college baseball who usually holds an open invitation to the Tigers each year.

Also on the table was the last game at Alex Box Stadium, one of the largest ballparks in the nation, and one of the most intimidating for opposing teams and fans. For the teams who had to walk out of the visitors locker room tunnel, and the first thing they see is the right field wall with all the Tigers national championships, this rite of passage was reserved for LSU tonight. In the Super Regionals, teams swap dugouts between the first and second game, so the Tigers had a constant reminder in front of them what they had accomplished in the past.

Like something out of a mythical movie, the Tigers went right to work. They had trailed 7-2, but a solo home run Jared Mitchell cut the deficit to 7-3. Another run scored and they were still in a tough position.

Walks, timely hits and a little help from the gods of Omaha and the Tigers pulled within one on a double to left field.

It was hero time, and who better to call on than Blake Dean. The sweet-swing of the left-handed hitting sophomore drilled a ball through the right side to give the Tigers the lead 8-7. Some young men were born heroes, as long as Dean is in Baton Rouge, he'll be one of them. Just two weeks earlier, Dean hit a walk-off home run in the 10th inning of the opening SEC Tournament game against South Carolina to culminate a five-run comeback.

The Tigers held on to win and force a third game. This time there would be no mistake. The Anteaters had their chance, but an experienced team in their home environment with Omaha on the table, was too much for them.

LSU pounced on UC-Irvine for six runs in the first inning. Before you knew it, the score was 16-2 late in the game. The final tally looked more like a football score as LSU won 21-7 and punched their ticket in the best way possible to close down Alex Box Stadium. Dean was 5-for-5 with a home run, three runs and three RBI to lead the 24-hit attack by the Tigers.

The only casualty in the game came when Leon Landry was in pursuit of a fly ball to centerfield. He jumped up to catch the ball off the wall, and boy did he ever catch it! It ricocheted off the hard outfield wall at Alex Box Stadium and caught him right in the face as he turned to look. He left with a shiner that made you wonder if he just got through a 12-round heavyweight fight. I'm sure he'll be ready for Omaha next week.

It's been awhile since LSU was in Omaha. They even missed the NCAA Tournament all together last year.

The fact is, the Tigers deserved to be there. They won 23 games in a row to finish the season. They have an upstart explosive offense and some solid pitching. Let's not forget, the Tigers were so common in Omaha that in 2001 a restaurant already had their logo painted on the window, but had to make some last minute adjustments when Tulane shot out of the New Orleans Super Regional. LSU is expected, just like Miami, Stanford and Florida State.

This field could make up one of the best ever in Omaha. I'd watch just to see those four teams. Granted, Frenso State, Rice, Georgia and the NCAA runner-up of the last two years North Carolina, will be there too, but there's something in the air in what could be the last season at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha. The site of the holy land of college baseball.

I wouldn't want it any other way!

June 14th, we're BACK HOME IN OMAHA!

Bartman: Act II

2008-06-09T12:59:00.000-07:00

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- Since there's a "cult following" of college baseball even though it's on for 12 hours straight during the Super Regionals, and 10 straight days of the College World Series, I found it odd that I was the only person of all my friends in sports who saw the "Bartman: Act II" play at Dick Howser Stadium when Wichita State played Florida State Sunday afternoon.

After Florida State's unbelievable offense (which happens to go away only on Friday) scored six runs in the first inning, the Shockers were in deep trouble. Which is to say, the Shockers rely mostly on their pitching and Anthony Capra looked like he needed an L-screen in front of him while pitching the first.

In the second inning with a runner aboard and two outs, Adam Dirks hit a high pop fly headed toward the left field picnic area. The ball was about to be caught by Florida State's Stuart Tapley, when a Cliff Claven-like fan in a Florida State football jersey, did his best Jim Edmonds by reaching over the wall and making the catch.

The ball most likely would have been caught for the final out of the inning. Instead, on the next pitch, Dirks pulverized a two-run home run to right-centerfield cutting the deficit to 6-2. When Wichita State scored two more runs in the third to make it 6-4, you couldn't help but think that play might have made a difference.

Fortunately for Bartman Jr., who was ejected soon after for fan interference, let alone a public execution by Seminole fans; Buster Posey (the first NCAA triple crown leader heading into Omaha since Indiana's Mike Smith in 1992) aka Sir Crush-a-Lot launched a home run and the Seminoles went on to win 11-4.

It's strange, because despite the 92 degrees and hot, humid tropical weather, Dick Howser Stadium was packed to capacity and the Animals of Section B were in full effect, and the guy ended up surviving.

I just have to wonder what would have happened if the Seminoles would have lost?

How My Road to Omaha Fared: Miami still in, UCLA bows out late.

2008-06-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

ROAD TO OMAHA -- A lot of people pick the NCAA Basketball tournament every year. It's a mainstay and it's probably the most participated activity done in March next to drinking on St. Patrick's Day. Well, I like filling out the brackets, but I'll pretty much do it in every sport, including the double elimination round of the Road to Omaha.

This year, I picked the 64-team field and had 11 of my 16 picks advancing. Now anyone can pick the favorites and with the eight national seeds it's rather easy, however, who's got the balls to pick a 2, 3 or 4 seed?

Of the 16 No. 1 seeds, 13 advanced to the Super Regionals. Three lower seeds prevailed with one of them being No. 4 seed Fresno State out of the Long Beach Regional.

I correctly picked No. 2 seeds Wichita State and UC-Irvine to advance. You can credit Doc for helping me pick the Shockers out of the Stillwater Regional (Oklahoma State), because I got to see Wichita State play the Missouri Valley Conference championship on Fox Sports Midwest while I was in Crystal Lake for his wedding. I had a pretty good feeling about the Shockers taking out Oklahoma State and I was right.

Call it a hunch, but Nebraska hasn't been as dominating as they were in the past. They had ace Johnny Dorn, and the well ran dry after that. All the rest of their sluggers had graduated or drafted recently and were currently residing in Palm Beach with the Cardinals. The Anteaters were still pretty loaded from their trip to Omaha last year and with Scott Gorgen on the mound, I liked their chances. They didn't disappoint.

Where I went wrong...

I originally had Coastal Carolina winning their regional, but at the last second I picked Alabama. Bold move, went with history and got blasted for it. However, you gotta give credit to the Chanticleers, they played up to their top seed and made the NCAA committee look good.

I had Texas winning the Houston Regional over Rice. Why? Mostly because I feel the world of college baseball hates me and karma magically picks the teams I dislike to advance... like Texas. Nothing worse than seeing the "Hook'em Horns" for three more weeks. Well, thanks to Wayne Graham and his Rice Owls, that's not going to happen. A loss I'll take any day.

I picked Long Beach State to come out of their own regional. Even though I knew that was the most loaded regional in the country with San Diego, California and Fresno State, I thought the Dirtbags would pull it off. They didn't even make it to the championship. Fresno State whacked them early and San Diego squeeked in to the championship game, only to choke again, making me wonder how they'll take being banished to the realm of the unknown again with ace Brian Matusz leaving for the draft this year. On a side note, Fresno State was the one No. 4 I would have picked. But who's going to believe that?

My next loss was a sentimental pick with Kentucky coming out of the Ann Arbor Regional. They finished second to Arizona, but I figured the upstart Kentucky boys were explosive enough to get by Michigan in teh first round (they didn't) and would just let the offense ride against the less deep pitching staff of Arizona (not used to playing in the cold weather of Michigan in late May). It really didn't matter who won this regional because they were the No. 16 seed heading into Miami where they would ultimately get destroyed by the Hurricanes. I highly doubt Andy Lopez will do better than he did the last time he was in Miami for the post-season. All of a 5-foot-8 sophomore walk-on southpaw named Roger Lincoln from Stetson sent Lopez and his Florida Gators packing (literally and figuratively) in the elimination round of the regional.

My last error really hurt me bad because they were my pick to make Omaha all season: UCLA. I saw the Bruins last year on my way back from Stockton, Calif. I was visiting my aunt in Glendale and stopped at Jackie Robinson Stadium to see UCLA play Pepperdine in a midweek game.

The Bruins weren't totally explosive, but they were fundamental, scrappy, used their strengths and had almost everyone returning. I liked guys like Jermaine Curtis, Alden Carrithers, Casey Haerther, Cody Decker, Brandon Crawford, Ryan Babineau, Jason Novak and two-way star Tim Murphy. They looked like they had the formula to make it to Omaha. Cal-State Fullerton ruined that. In fact, Fullerton blew through Virginia and UCLA twice.

UCLA had them too in the first game when they reeled off 17 hits and left 11 men on base, but lost 11-8.

As it is, I shall be pulling for the Miami Hurricanes from here on out and probably Coastal Carolina and if I had to pick a third team it would be Wichita State or LSU. I know LSU has just dominated the stretch run, but how awesome would it be to see Miami and LSU battle it out just like they did 12 years ago when LSU was on the same kind of streak?

That was one of the best College World Series I've ever watched. Hopefully this field of 16 remaining will do the same.

MLB PLayoffs: Yankees Go From "Everybody WANG Chung Tonight" to "Everybody Bang WANG Tonight."

2007-10-05T10:04:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, AZ -- At 1:39 a.m. EST, I was more than excited to turn of my television set after the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Chicago Cubs 8-4 in Game 2 of the National League Division Series.

JoJo had to sit there and watch me fall asleep and wake up more times than ever during the game because I was dead tired from my run that afternoon and watching baseball all afternoon really takes it out of you.

The Cubs took a 2-0 lead on Geovany Soto's two-run home run, but that's the last time things would be happy in Cub-ville.

The next inning, rookie lead-off hitter Chris Young pulverized a three-run home run to left field that the second he swung, I yelled out, "GONE!" It was instantly confirmed when Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly threw a temper tantrum by taking off his glove and slamming it into the ground. It was poetry in motion for a Cardinals fan.

I wish someone in the Associated Press would have taken the sequence shot of Lilly slamming the glove down because it's what everyone rooting for the Diamondbacks or against the Cubs wanted to see.

As it was, the ball sailed about 20-25 rows into the left field stands and silenced the Cubs fans in attendance. The one thing you can be certain of, you couldn't see a shot of the crowd without seeing a Cubs fan somewhere.

When Jose Valverde recorded the last out in Arizona, the series would shift to Chicago for one, maybe two games if necessary. Here's my problem with that. The Cubs play at home at 6:00 p.m. If there was ever a team who should play day games during the playoffs, it should be the Cubs. There wouldn't be a problem getting fans to come out for the game, as they sell out regular season day games all year. However, in 2003, the Cubs played six home games during the playoffs, all at night. The Marlins played five home games that year in ass-roasting hot Florida and two were during the day and one mid-to-late afternoon.

PHILADELPHIA, PA -- Watching this game was a perfect start as both teams went to the longball early. Troy Tulowitzki homered in the first to give the Rockies a 2-0 lead. Jimmy Rollins came back with a solo home run to lead off for the Phillies in the bottom of the first.

Eventually, the Phillies took a 3-2 lead, but that was quickly silenced when Kaz Matsui golfed a grand slam into the right field bleachers off Kyle Lohse.

Listening to the Phillies fans boo their team at their mistakes and an inning later be going wild makes me wonder if the Phillies don't have a traveling team psychologist just to ease the minds of being a Phillies player.

The Rockies started to turn Citizen's Bank Park into their own personal driving range, banging shots all over the yard and taking a 10-4 lead. I went out for a run in the bottom of the seventh. About 32 minutes later, I came back and saw the games was in the bottom of the eighth and the Phillies had the bases loaded down 10-5.

Rockies reliever Brian Fuentes walked Tad Iguchi to load the bases and Clint Hurdle went to closer Manny Corpas. Corpas went right to work putting away Carlos Ruiz, who really had issues with Corpas' curveball.

Eventually the Rockies won 10-5, taking the series back to Denver for two games. The worst enemy to the Rockies is an off-day. So far, the Mile High boys have won 16 of their last 17 games, which blows your mind!

The Phillies are struggling, but maybe they need to get out of town in order to focus on playing baseball again. It has been 14 years since they last made the playoffs. The Rockies were in the playoffs two years sooner than that.

CLEVELAND, OH -- This game had a familiar ring to it if you were from Ohio. A first play explosion followed by a complete and total butt kicking after. Reminds me of the 2007 National Championship game between Ohio State and Florida.

Johnny Damon led off the game for the Yankees with a towering solo home run to right field. The initial call was that it went foul, but after the umpires convened, the ruling came back from crew chief Bruce Froemming, home run. Damon, for the most part, was in shock and kept running around the bases regardless of the umpire's opinion.

The Indians came back with three runs off Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang. Wang won 19 games during the regular season, but the Tribe had no problem getting RBIs from Ryan Garko and Kenny Lofton to highlight the inning.

Andrusal Cabrera homered and the Tribe took a 4-1 lead.

The Bronx Bombers came back with a rocket of a solo home run by Robinson Cano to right field cutting the lead to 4-2.

Next inning, the Yankees started things as Shelley Duncan rapped a pinch-hit single. Damon followed Duncan's lead and two runners were aboard with Derek Jeter up. Joe Torre let Jeter swing away and the Yankees captain went down without moving the runners. Bobby Abreu bailed out Jeter perfectly slapping a double down the left field line.

C.C. Sabathia intentionally walked Alex Rodriguez to load the bases for Jorge Posada, one of the American League's top hitters from the 2007 season. Sabathia was laboring and I figured this was it for him, especially when he fell behind 3-0 in the count.

I felt Torre was going to give Posada the green light, because this could be a huge inning for the Yankees if Posada came through. As it was, Sabathia still had a lot left on his fastball and blew a 96 MPH heater by Posada when the Yankees backstop swung away.

Posada would foul off another pitch, but that's as close as he would get as Sabathia struck him out on some high heat (96 MPH) for out number two. That brought up Hideki Matsui, who popped out for out number three. That's all the Tribe needed. Sabathia got out of the mess on his own and saved the Tribe and his confidence tonight.

Cleveland struck for five runs in the bottom of the fifth. The telling stat by TBS during that inning was New York was 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position, while Cleveland was 4-for-4. That does make a huge difference.

The Indians were crushing balls all over the yard including Travis Hafner, who hit a solo home run. Before you knew it, Torre was going to the bullpen to remove Wang for rookie Ross Ohlendorf.

The night for Yankees fans went from "Everybody Wang Chung tonight!" to "Everybody Bang Wang tonight!" Ohlendorf didn't fare much better as the Indians never bit on his hellacious breaking ball and waited for him to bring his fastball up before unloading it everywhere in the park.

Quite possibly, the biggest outing came from Rafael Perez, who put down the Yankees in order in the sixth. Perez threw two perfect innings fanning four Yankees and kept New York from any chance of coming back. Jensen Lewis and Rafael Betancourt threw the eighth and ninth to mop up the victory.

The Indians bullpen looks as good or better than any in the playoffs and they never even got to AL saves leader Joe Borowski.

However, the best set up man in the playoffs probably resides in the pinstripes as Yankees' rookie Nebraskan right-hander Joba Chamberlain moved from A-ball (Tampa) to the big leagues in less than three months, posting an 0.38 ERA in 24 IP. With him setting up Mariano Rivera, the top pitcher in post-season history, the Tribe better keep scoring runs to keep them out of the ballgame.

Are Yankees fans worried? No. Do the 12 runs matter? Not really. If anything, a blown save by Rivera would have been worse. With 13 straight post-season appearances, the Yankees have seen and experienced pretty much everything you can throw at them. Nothing surprises them anymore. Even if they go home 0-2 to Yankee Stadium, that's still Yankee Stadium and those are still the New York Yankees.

Today should be interesting with the Yankees and Red Sox playing back-to-back.

So Long Uncle Walt! Cardinals and GM Jocketty Part Ways

2007-10-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

ST. LOUIS, MO -- Although the formal announcement took place at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time, the news reverberated through Major League Baseball and along the banks of the Mississippi River at about 7:30 when it was announced that the St. Louis Cardinals and longtime general manager Walt Jocketty would be parting ways.

"Parting ways" was a nice way of telling the man, affectionately known throughout Cardinal Nation as Uncle Walt, the locks would be changed on the doors the next time he wanted to come into his Busch Stadium office.

I'll never forget the way all the players, players' wives, family members and stadium staff were out giving Jocketty a hug after the Cardinals won the 2004 National League Championship Series. I never saw an organization so appreciative and close to its general manager. It was something you were proud to be a part of.

The news hit me and the rest of the staff like the perpetual bullet that has continued to rip through Cardinal Nation with bad news all of 2007.

Teams change general managers all the time these days which makes it even more special to realize Jocketty had been in St. Louis for 13 seasons. Just last season, Jocketty engineered the 83-78 Cardinals into the World Champions, the first World Series the club had won in 24 years. It was well worth it. I never saw a set of fans so happy.

Then again, this is St. Louis, the envy of all fan bases in Major League Baseball. When people want to criticize fan bases, most teams are open targets, but you have to carefully choose your words when you go after the Cardinals.

The city of St. Louis is not exciting to say the least. Spending a month there during the 2004 playoffs, I learned very quickly it was a sports town. If there wasn't a sporting event going on, you could fire a shotgun down Chestnut Street and not hit anyone at high noon on a weekday. However, when the Cardinals, Rams or Blues are in town, the place is rocking. The Cardinals, in recent history, have been the lead horse of the bunch winning 105 games in 2004 and 100 more in 2005.

Mark McGwire was the biggest acquisition by Jocketty in 1997 that continuously sold out games at Busch Stadium. In 1998 when McGwire went for the home run title, you couldn't find a seat at Busch (or anywhere else the Cardinals played that season). It snowballed from there. The Cardinals were a mainstay in the playoffs with big names coming in, and despite having a solid but not overwhelming payroll the Cardinals were as good as anyone to be picked as World Champions.

Jocketty was the cornerstone of those years. The thing about Jocketty is that you could always get a smile out of him. People felt comfortable with him steering the ship and he was great for public relations.

In a time where general managers feel an entitlement of appreciation, exclusivity and respect, Jocketty was just real. He had charisma and a look of success, but you never saw him try to avoid fans or click open his cell phone to ignore someone. Granted, in Cardinal Nation, your fans tend to be a cut above everyone else in the area of class.

Whoever gets Jocketty now will get a prize beyond their wildest dreams. Other teams, such as Pittsburgh and Houston are kicking themselves that they jumped the gun on other general managers, rather than waiting for the off-season to see where all the cards (no pun intended) fell.

Jocketty's successor and interim GM, John Mozeliak, is about as good of a replacement you're going to get in the meantime. Mo is described as a liaison between the civil war that seemed to be brewing between Jocketty and the player development office. Hopefully he will be able to bridge the two areas and keep the Cardinals as a contender. It's hard to see Mo without Walt. They always seemed to be together. Yet, I have no doubt Mo can pull off the job as general manager.

There are outside candidates proposed, but the only other person I could see coming into St. Louis and keep things going while working with player development is the Los Angeles Dodgers' Logan White. White has always impressed me from a distance and in person as a down to earth guy who is very well-versed in the game, its players and knows how to bring out the best of his scouting and player development personnel. Anyone other than Mo or Logan and I will have a hard time seeing it through.

I have never experienced the parting of a general manager while working in an organization until this year, and it hits you like a lightning bolt... and just one year after a World Series Championship.

So long Uncle Walt! Good luck where you land. I know there will be a well-deserved welcome party when you arrive.

USA Women Scorched by Brazil, Coach Ryan "Scurry's" Away From Solo

2007-09-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

CHINA -- Everyone who heard about it couldn't believe it. Coach Greg Ryan of the US Women's World Cup team, winners of 51 straight matches, pulled 26-year old (not to mention extremely hot!) goalkeeper Hope Solo in favor of veteran Briana Scurry because Scurry had a much better track record against the Brazilian team.

While most people should start referring to Ryan as Viktor Tikhonov (if you're failing to make the connection, see 1980 USSR hockey coach), who also yanked his goalie, Vladislav Tretiak, after the first period of the Miracle on Ice game (but at least Tretiak got to play), I would rather see him not on the sidelines for the US Women.

It's simple, you don't change goalies in the middle of a win streak, and one you're dominating. Like Kevin Costner said in Bull Durham, "You don't f--- with a winning streak." Not saying that I wouldn't take my shot at Hope if she was offering during the winning streak, but there is no good reason she should have been taken out.

I'm a numbers guy and I appreciate stats as much as the next geek, but sometimes you gotta throw the damn numbers out and play logic over the numbers. Besides, Solo said something like, you have to live in the present and now. That's a very true statement. Let's put it into prespective.

Scurry's record against Brazil was a different team and a different time. The players have changed on both sides. At one point the Romans had a pretty good record against the rest of the world too, but you have to go with what's working.

Plus, it's not like Scurry is a pitcher who is taking on the Brazilians by herself. The 36-year old Scurry may have slowed down, lost skills over the past couple years. It may sound sexist, but the reason you're not seeing an abundance of 30-40 year old players on the US National team is women tend to drop off faster and their skills are obsolete by upcoming college players. For some reason, men can seem to keep from falling to the same fate in men's athletics. Plus, the US was winning with Solo.

Critics are saying the way the Brazilians played, they would have beat anyone, but I don't think that's a relevent argument. I don't believe the Brazilians didn't change their approach with a different keeper. Each player has their strenghts and weaknesses and I'm sure the Brazilians factored this in.

Another comment people are saying is that Solo shouldn't have called out her coach and Scurry following the game. In the whole sports cliches and world of unwritten rules, I can see where that's coming from, but you have an upset 26-year old girl who played her tail off and did nothing wrong to merit a demotion or getting pulled. The coach played the numbers, which are skewed as it is. This is the USA, where freedom of speech is more appreciated in sports than anywhere else. If Solo didn't say it, everyone else would have. Might as well catch it from the horse's mouth.

You can't say Solo is not a good teammate for her remarks. She was honest, truthful and she said what everyone was thinking or hoping she was thinking. How can you not be upset if you were her? This is the World Cup! This may not mean much in the USA where soccer is still riding a distant fifth to football, baseball, basketball and hockey (possibly golf with Tiger Woods popularity), but to the rest of the world, this is it. Women's sport or not, this IS a big deal!

I think Ryan should be pretty thankful he didn't get the axe immediately after the loss or worse. I remember when Andres Escobar of Colombia was shot and killed after scoring an own goal to lose a match to the USA team after the 1994 Men's World Cup.

I think this was a huge loss for the USA Women's team and one that will always be evaluated and brought up in years to come. People will remember this.

However, do you want to know the saddest part about the entire thing? How relevant and important would people be talking about this if Hope Solo wasn't as attractive as she is?

Think about that one for a bit.

MLB Playoffs Go Down to the Wire

2007-09-28T11:11:00.002-07:00

BRONX, NY -- Okay, for those of you who have a hard time keeping up with all the teams I pull for, I'm going to make it simple for you concerning the Major League Baseball playoffs. I'm rooting for the New York Yankees... and the Colorado Rockies, if they make it.

And for all you Boston Red Sox fans, you haven't won anything yet. The 20-game winner Josh Beckett you've been boasting about all year lost to Gibbs HS (FL) phenom Boof Bonser last night, as Joe Nathan struck out Jason Varitek and Kevin Youkilis with the bases loaded in the ninth inning.

Has to be hard watching Mariano Rivera do that about a week ago, then watching Joe Nathan, Mr. Ice Water in His Veins stick it in your grill at Fenway Park? Varitek says he didn't see the scoreboard when the Yankees knocked off the Devil Rays. Unless he's blind, he did. He can use all the cliches he wants, the fact is, the Red Sox scoreboard people keep that score monitored better than the secret service watches the president.

Remember in 2005 when the Yankees won the division on the last day of the season? It can happen again, especially since the Yankees won the tie-breaker by beating the Red Sox more times this season. Since May 29th, the Yankees ar 71-38. Division or not, that's not a team I'm looking forward to playing in the playoffs.

Now onto something more exciting, like the National League...

Recently, I've been able to take in a couple Marlins-Cubs games. The Cubs brought the fans, the Marlins brought the artilery. At 7:13 p.m. on Thursday, the Marlins just swept the Cubs for the season (6-0) and extended their win streak to 10 consecutive wins over the Cubs, the longest current streak in MLB.

This put a wrench in overall happiness on the north side of Chicago, but kept the Cubs from being able to clinch the division (the NL Central has no shot at a wildcard) in Miami. They were definitely scoreboard watching because St. Louis was playing Milwaukee. Cubs fans would rather sell their first born (or name it Albert) than root for the Cardinals. However, the Brewers were closing fast and looked like they were on a roll heading into the playoffs.

I have an issue with rooting against the team behind you. If you're in first place, you control your own destiny. You shouldn't need any help. But that's Cubs fans. They're desperate.

There's something called "thinking" that more managers and teams should do, especially down the stretch of the season when chasing a pennant.

The Brewers were having their way with the Cardinals. The Cardinals didn't seem to mind at all. They had nothing left to do but go through the motions and get Albert Pujols his 100th RBI. Pujols has been playing through pain to finish the season. Whether the record was part of that or not, who knows, but the guy is a warrior and that's one of the reasons St. Louis loves this guy.

With a 2-0 lead on the series, the Brewers' Prince Fielder was hit by a Brad Thompson pitch. There are times to retalliate and there are times to play for the win. The Cardinals weren't showing any threat to the Brewers, on the scoreboard or anywhere else, but Ned Yost and the Brewers took Thompson's pitch personally. I know Brad, he's not the kind of guy who's going to try and whack Fielder in the melon for kicks on a Wednesday night.

Right about now, what's the stupidest thing the Brewers could do? Yep, that's right, go after Pujols. Scott McClung stuck one right in the middle of El Cinco's back causing McClung and Yost to get ejected and suspended. That wasn't the worst part. They woke a sleeping giant. The Cardinals haven't been that impressive down the stretch, but they really haven't been given a reason to play.

I said it before... let sleeping dogs lie. When McClung let that pitch fly they gave the Cardinals a reason to beat them. Think the Cardinals care who wins the NL Central? They're the defending World Champions. Until the Chicago Cubs and all of Wrigleyville can pull of 10 World Series rings in the last 81 years (let alone one), we'll deal with that when it comes.

St. Louis put the hammer down and smacked the Brewers bullpen around for four more runs. No more Mr. Niceguy, we're coming after you Ned! A critical loss for the Brewers who could have cut the lead to one game in the NL Central.

Last night, they lost to San Diego at home 9-5. The Padres are in a battle for the NL West crown, let alone wildcard if they lose. Milwaukee is going to have to go balls to the wall and pray for the best coming out of Cincinnati.

Speaking of the Cardinals, they dialed up a 3-0 shutout of the New York Mets, who have lost 10 of the last 14 games. Joel Piniero and Jason Isringhausen combined on the three-hitter. No one in Flushing has the foggiest of what's going on with the Mets, and to see the 74-84 Cardinals come in for a makeup game and put the screws to them must have been like a huge kick to the nuts.

Once again, Pujols came through big, as did Rick Ankiel. St. Louis is losing draft position, but gave the Mets a parting shot before heading to Pittsburgh for the three fastest games you will ever see in a series between the two teams considering they have nothing to play for. If you're a betting person, take the over in counts that don't run past 1-1.

The Mets are now tied with the Phillies who saw Kyle Kendrick get a longball from Ryan Howard and other help on their way to beating John Smoltz and the Braves. Here's the catch though:

Arizona leads the NL West by a game over the Padres, who lead the wildcard by a game over the Phillies, Mets and Rockies. Are you getting all of this? Yes, that means whoever blows the division between the Mets and Phillies will probably have no shot at the wildcard.

Now onto my reason why I'm pulling for the Rockies. The Rockies have won 11 straight and came out of nowhere to be one game out in the wildcard. I'd personally love to see them win the division, and that's not entirely out of the question, even now!

See, Colorado plays Arizona to finish the season. They sweep Arizona and the Padres lose twice, the Rockies win the NL West. Yes, it can actually happen that way!

The Padres lose twice and the Cubs drop the series to Cincinnati and there's a one game playoff at Wrigley Field between the Cubs and the Brewers. The Cubs would be flying in from Cincinnati, while the Brewers are at home and just need to take a bus south.

To be honest, I can't remember a year when this many teams were separated by a game and seven of the 16 teams in the National League were involved in the pennant race with three games to go. Seven teams, but only four make it. Not one division winner has been decided yet.

Think about it... There's not one team who doesn't use the designated hitter that has popped the cork to a bottle of champagne after 159 games.

I know the Cardinals aren't in the pennant race and will miss the playoffs a year after they gave the city of St. Louis one of the best open houses for new Busch Stadium, but this is a pretty damn good alternative.

BIG GAME FISH! Marlins Whack Cubs for Ninth Straight Win Over North Siders

2007-09-28T11:11:00.001-07:00

MIAMI, FL -- On the schedule, this game meant a lot more for the Chicago Cubs than it did the Florida Marlins. The way the Cubs are playing and running for the National League Central Division crown, people would have thought the Marlins would have folded and the Cubs would take an easy sweep, maybe 2 of 3 at worst.

However, there's something about Underarmour commercials (We must defend this house!), Dan Devine's speech in the movie Rudy (Nobody, and I mean NOBODY comes into our house and pushes us around!) and Home Alone (This is my house, I have to defend it), that kicked in for the Marlins... This is our house, and we're going to defend it.

When you pulled into Dolphin Stadium, you had to double check the weather, the sun and pretty much the hot women to make sure you were still in South Florida. Yes, this was Miami, but it looked like Wrigley Field South. Cubs fans were everywhere. It felt like a road game when you walked by a Marlins fan, you were eager to say "Hi" and let them know you were on their side.

However, I knew this was a battle ground, and there's nothing more satisfying than to remind the Cubs exactly who they are, so I grabbed the St. Louis Cardinals 2006 World Series Champions hat and put it on to go with my Marlins shirt.

Cubs fans can come in all shapes and sizes... literally. They tend to not keep up-to-date on player transactions as I think I saw a ton of Moises Alou jerseys. Hey, if they want to remember the guy who blamed the playoffs on a fan, go ahead. The guy actually won a World Series for the Marlins in 1997.

I got into my seats and just couldn't believe how many Cubs fans were coming in. I remember thinking how bad this had to feel for the Marlins when the crowd erupted into cheers when Alfonso Soriano took the field to warm up. Sometimes I think the Cubs fans overdo it on the road, just to show they are there. That's a lot for a team who hasn't won a World Series in 100 years.

The Marlins were outmanned on the mound as Daniel Barone was going up against Jason Marquis, but this is baseball and the Marlins have a lot of passionate hitters.

When Soriano stepped up to the plate, the crowd roared. I don't know how the Marlins felt at that moment, but it had to be awful to be playing a home game and have to deal with that. Barone was up to the challenge retiring the side in order.

Up came the Marlins and a spattering of applause came for lead-off batter Hanley Ramirez, who was having a much better all-around season that Soriano. Ramirez put it all out there by singling and stealing his 51st base with Dan Uggla up. Two batters later, Miguel Cabrera slapped a single to knock home Ramirez and the Marlins crowd came to life with Florida up 1-0. When Todd Linden struck out to end the first inning, it was doubly bad because the Cubs fans were all on their feet to cheer on the third strike.

The Cubs came back on Barone cracking a couple hits and a two-RBI single by Jacque Jones gave the Cubs the lead and the volume in the stadium was deafening for the 19,051 in attendance.

Florida had to get something going and silence the home crowd of Cubs fans, as absurd as it sounds. Matt Treanor led off the second inning with a single. Alejandro De Aza followed with a sharp singled through the right side. Barone struck out on a bunt attempt which brough Ramirez up with a runner in scoring position.

Ramirez hit a hard grounder to second base, a sure double play ball if the Cubs played it right. Mark DeRosa's backhanded toss to Ryan Theriot sailed wide as De Aza slid hard into second base causing the ball to go into short left field. Third base coach Bo Porter kicked up the windmill directing Treanor home to the plate with the tying run. That's when the Marlins felt the home faithful. The Marlins fans, the ones that were there, exploded as Cubs fans saw something all too familiar in clutch situations.

"There's the Cubs we know!" shouted one fan. "There's the Cubs we know!"

Even a couple Brewers fans were starting to cheer for the Marlins, or against the Cubs.

With two outs, Jeremy Hermida sliced a ball down the left field line. De Aza scored easily and the speedy Ramirez had no problem scoring by beating the throw to second to get Hermida. It's no secret that hustling has never been big with Hermida, but he did his job and knocked home two runs before getting gunned down at second base by Soriano, among the N.L. leaders in outfield assists.

The Cubs sliced into the lead in the third as Derrek Lee pulverized a home run to dead centerfield. Jones would knock home another run in the fourth inning to tie the game at 4-4. Chicago threatened again and had Soriano up with two outs. Fredi Gonzalez emerged out of the Marlins dugout and brought in right-hander Ross Wolf. With the pitcher's slot due up in the next inning, this was it for Wolf, one objective: get Soriano.

Wolf fell behind 2-0, and then 3-1. It took a lot of balls to do what he did next as the young right-hander with an ERA of 10.24 blazed two fastballs by Soriano, stunting the Cubs rally and silencing the standing Cubs fans. Something they would get used to as the night continued.

Florida didn't score in their half of the fourth, although a broken bat single by pinch-hitter Robert Andino had Marquis cowering away from shrapnel that didn't come close to him. It didn't matter that the Marlins didn't score, the fact was they were fighting and they were coming out throwing everything they had.

The Cubs came up in the fifth and out of the bullpen came right-hander Logan Kensing. Kensing has been on the disabled list most of the season, and the few appearances he made in the minors while on rehab weren't exactly promising.

Here was Kensing in a tough atmosphere and a tie game, facing the top of the Cubs lineup and he sliced and diced through it like a hibachi chef. What's more, he made it hurt. He twisted the knife. The first batter he retired was Theriot on a slow grounder to Cabrera who fired to first, getting saved on a nice scoop by Jacobs.

The next batter was Lee, who homered the previous at bat. Lee was up on the plate and Kensing buried a 93 MPH fastball into his right shoulder. Cubs fans were on their feet yelling and booing. I couldn't help but allow a smile. That's old school baseball. "You want to be on top of that plate? It's going to cost you!"

Cliff Floyd was next and he crushed a line drive to deep right center. Hermida didn't take the best route to the ball, but it was smoked, so it hit off the wall. Lee was coasting into second, but Hermida's throw kept Floyd to a single.

Aramis Ramirez was next. His 26 HR and 100 RBI were glowing on the LED scoreboard. Kensing was overmatched in experience and stats, but he had a lot of pride left. He let Ramirez know he was there by repeatedly hammering 93-95 MPH fastballs in different locations, combined by snapping off an 80 MPH breaking pitch that would die and hang a left on right-handed batters.

On a 2-2 count, Kensing reached back and looked like he was going to throw a fastball, but the wrist broke and so did the ball as Ramirez whiffed big time. Once again, the standing Cubs fans took one in the grill.

DeRosa was up next and belted a high fly ball to left field. Linden looked up first as he ran back to the wall. Cubs fans were already giving high fives, but Linden hauled in the ball right in front of the out-of-town scoreboard. Look, the Yankees are winning 11-2 over Tampa Bay. Cool! Oh yeah, by the way, DeRosa's out. Inning over.

The Marlins needed to make a move as Kensing's outing had definitely thrown a right hook to the Cubs. With two outs in the fifth, Linden crushed a high fly off the left field scoreboard. Lou Piniella went out to the mound to talk to Marquis. With Treanor up, packing a .270 average and 17 RBI on the season, I couldn't see this being a long talk. De Aza, a left-hander with speed, was on deck, so they wouldn't bypass Treanor. Marquis pitched to Treanor and the Marlins catcher slapped a single to left field that fell right in front of Soriano to give the Marlins the lead 5-4.

Kensing went right back to work retiring the Cubs in order. He started the frame by fanning the veteran Jones on three pitches. The last pitch was a vicious curveball that bellowed at Jones, "Who's your daddy?".

He finished the inning by setting down pinch-hitter Sam Fuld on a called third strike that was a perfect setup. Kensing reminded me of another Texan and ex-Marlin who came in during the middle innings of a big fall game against the Cubs and shut them down.

The Cubs went to the bullpen and brought in Carlos Marmol. Marmol has been lights out for the Cubs out of the bullpen this year. His delivery leads batter to set up for a fastball and then the curve comes making them look silly. He made De Aza look bad, then pinch hitter Brett Carroll. I wasn't sure how long Kensing could go, but thought at the time, "This may have been a bad move the way Kensing was pitching." I looked down to the bullpen and saw flamethrower Matt Lindstrom warming up. That's who I would have brought in and Gonzalez was in the same mindset. Was it me, or was Gonzalez managing this game that good? Yes.

Lindstrom came out of the bullpen and started firing bullets. Once again, Soriano had the fans on their feet, and once again, he went down waving at a Lindstrom bullet for out one. Two batters later and the Marlins were six outs from a win.

The seventh inning would be critical for the Marlins as it would be the last time the middle of the order could do some damage to create a cushion.

Uggla flew out for the first out. Marmol seemed to have the upper hand. Hermida fouled off a ball here and there staving off a strike out. Somehow between the first pitch and the final pitch of his at bat, Hermida figured out that if you stay back and wait curve, and unload at the last second you could still get good wood on the ball... and he did, smacking a high fly ball off the left field scoreboard for a double.

Marmol would make his biggest mistake to the next Marlins batter.

Question: How do you silence 18,000 Cubs fans at once?

Answer; M-I-G-U-E-L C-A-B-R-E-R-A

Cabrera rifled a line drive to left field that just kept rising. I was yelling out, "Get up! Get up ball! Get up!" Which would piss off most Cubs fans knowing that's Cardinals radio voice Mike Shannon's home run call.

Home run Marlins! Finally, I could see who were the other Marlins fans, they were the only one standing at that moment. Finally, the crowd was taking over as good as they could. You could see the excitement on the Marlins players face from the guys waiting for Cabrera at home plate all the way out to the bullpen.

It was playoff atmosphere baseball and the Marlins were playing the game the way they knew they could. This was a franchise which had been there before, and one of them was Cabrera. Although the 24-year old Cabrera is still very young, he performed like a seasoned veteran. His 34th home run was a career high for a single season.

The Marlins held a 7-4 advantage going into the eighth inning and left-handed specialist Taylor Tankersley came out of the bullpen. He would only face one batter, Cliff Floyd. Although Tankersley hadn't allowed a run in his last 16 apperances, Floyd doubled off the right field wall. Gonzalez was already out to the mound. Amid catcalls and heckling, Tankersley left the mound and in came Justin Miller.

With Miller, you never know what to expect. Yet, he did his job retiring Ramirez before striking out DeRosa on a called third strike that bore into DeRosa having him question the decision of plate umpire Mike Reilly. It was a good pitch and one DeRosa wasn't expecting. Miller just got the best of him and that was it for Miller as he gave way to Renyel Pinto.

The Cubs fans were getting very impatient with all of Gonzalez's pitching changes. I wasn't sure if it was the delays in the game making them impatient or the fact it just reminded them of all the changes Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa makes during a game.

Pinch hitter Matt Murton was brought in to face Pinto. He wasn't wasting any time and hammered a shot to deep centerfield. Cubs fans got up cheering in excitement... but oh wait, it's 404 to dead centerfield and De Aza is a rocket out there. De Aza caught it at the edge of the warning track in full stride, punched the padding of the wall and headed back toward the infield.

The Marlins went down in the eighth and Gonzalez brought in Lee Gardner to close out the ninth. Gardner has been filling in for regular closer Kevin Gregg and pulled off the save last night.

Jason Kendall hit a gound ball to Ramirez to lead off the inning. I haven't seen Ramirez pulling off unbelievable range and plays this late in the season. Whether it's the long haul of the season wearing on him or just the fact the Marlins aren't playing in meaningful games, it wasn't the Hanley that impressed everyone defensively on his way to the majors. With Kendall, who runs better than most catchers, Ramirez was going to have to hustle and fire. Sure enough, he fielded it on the run and unloaded a strike to Mike Jacobs for out number one.

Daryle Ward was the pinch hitter and crushed a double to right-centerfield. That's when I saw it. Ward missed first base. Practically everyone in our section saw it, even the geezers with the Harry Carey coke bottle glasses. Jacobs definitely saw it and called for an appeal.

Gardner stepped off the mound, threw to first and veteran umpire Jeff Kellogg at first base blew the call by signaling safe. Gonzalez went out to argue and I'm pretty sure the conversation went something like this:

Gonzalez: You didn't see it! You didn't even watch it, because you were too busy trying to get your mechanics right of trailing the runner to second, while Coop (second base umpire Eric Cooper) was out trailing the ball.

Kellogg: How much confidence do you have in Lee Gardner?

Gonzalez: Quit dodging the point. Just admit you f--- up?

Kellogg: Yeah, I screwed up. Just don't report me to the league like Mike Winters. I didn't realize we could actually get suspended.

Okay, so that's probably not even close, kind of like Kellogg blowing the call that wasn't even close, but that's a free out for the Cubs, whose fans were back on their feet with Soriano up at bat.

Gardner fooled the free-swinging Soriano and got him to pop up meekly to Uggla for out number two. One out left and Theriot was the batter.

Theriot was down 1-2 in the count, when the Marlins fans started to get the clap going for the third strike. The Cubs fans either were confused and started cheering for the hell of it (a common occurance to casual baseball fans) or they honestly though Theriot was going to keep this rally alive.

Theriot tried to drop a single into left field, but Linden was on his horse and scooped it up on a sliding catch.

Van Halen's "Standing On Top of the World" starting blasting on the speakers, the Marlins hustled out for the post-game handshake and 18,500 depressed Cubs fans headed for the exits realizing the Marlins just beat them for the ninth consecutive time, the longest current streak in Major League Baseball.

I was grinning like a butcher's dog, and you really can't surpress that while walking out of the ballpark. The Cubs fans were miserable, but at least they were together. I don't think they really cared about that. There was no Steve Goodman playing over the loudspeakers, and even though St. Louis was now beating Milwaukee 4-2, the Cubs still had that loss and a two game lead in the Central. It's like they knew what was coming.

During a visit to the concessions earlier in the game, a fan and his buddies were looking at my attire and said, "So what's with the Marlins and Cardinals stuff? Which one is it?" loading up for either one. I just looked back slyly and said, "Does it really matter?"

It doesn't. The Cardinals won the World Series last year and the Marlins in 2003, knocking off the Cubs on the way. Bear in mind, the Marlins were down 3-1 in that series and won the last two games at Wrigley Field against Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.

I drove out of the parking lot heading toward the Upper Deck in Hallandale Beach to join Marshall, Karsten and Rich for a post game drink. While driving through the parking lot, I could see Cubs fans scoping out my Cardinals plate on the front and staring at it like an evil ghost was laughing at them on their way out.

The Florida Marlins played the game like champions tonight. They took on a hostile crowd at home and a team on a mission and turned the tables. They won their crowd and didn't allow themselves to get down in the Cubs overwhelming support. They fought for their house and their pride as ballplayers. For this night, they put the glitz and glamour of being a Major League ballplayer on the backburner and played the game for the very reason people start playing the game, because they love it. They were the underdog and fought their way out with everything they had.

I found myself holding on to every pitch, every out, every decision made by Fredi Gonzalez and it was fabulous to experience a playoff atmosphere game at the end of the season.

Guys like Logan Kensing, Matt Lindstrom, Lee Gardner, Matt Treanor, Jeremy Hermida and Todd Linden played to their full potential and showed people why they were in the big leagues in the first place. Stars like Miguel Cabrera came through in the clutch and in a big way.

It was downright inspiring to watch and reminds you why you love this game.

Tonight and the previous night, the Marlins were Big Game Fish!

When Bonds Isn't the Worst Barry in San Francisco...

2007-07-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- A lot of people don't like Barry Bonds. Whether it's his arrogant attitude (while articulate, it can still upset a lot of people), his treatment of the media or the suspicion of performance enhancing drugs to break home run records, Bonds still has one redeeming quality... he performs.

You never question that he's not performing, unlike another highly paid player named Barry in San Francisco. The 42-year old Bonds is making 15.3 million this season (/295, 17 HR, 42 RBI, .512 OBP), while the 29-year old Zito (6-9, 4.90 ERA, 11 HR allowed, 104.2 IP), who sucks more than the horniest sorority girl on a Saturday night, is making 18 million a year and for the next six after this.

Zito has no one to answer to except himself. His agent, Scott Boras, whored Giants GM Brian Sabean and the entire organzation, which sent up a signal of desperation to make this move for 126 million over seven years. Essentially, Zito doesn't have to perform until his contract year (the last one). Regardless of what happens in the next six years, as long as he has a solid seventh year, he's going to rake again. Not like investing 126 million over seven years won't pay its dividens.

Bonds, meanwhile, is at 751 career home runs, just five home runs short of breaking Hank Aaron's and Major League Baseball's career record. People say that Bonds probably wouldn't have been on the way to breaking the record if he wasn't on performance enhancing drugs. Well, let's be honest here. Bonds was a hell of a player even before when he was going 30-50 for the Pirates. The guy began his career hitting lead-off and was a threat to steal 50 bases a season. He was the ultimate weapon. If a team walked him, chances were he could turn it into a double rather quick.

I remember an 11th inning walk-off home run against the Cardinals in 1990 that was his signature home run. It was a big moment then. Now, it's a bigger moment if the pitcher strikes out Bonds in that same situation.

However, despite his personality and the enhancements, Bonds performs. He hits like an all-star and while his comments are often rude and critical, he does have an intelligent and articulate was of relaying them. Oh, by the way, he's also 42-years old.

In my opinion, he's the most feared hitter in Major League Baseball history. Maybe that wouldn't be the case if he didn't use performance enhancing drugs, but he'd still be an all-star.

However, unlike Zito, there's one thing you can't say about Bonds, and that would be that he doesn't earn his paycheck.

Enjoy last place San Francisco! This is what you paid for, right?

The G-D Cubs Won Again?! How The Hell Are They Doing This?!

2007-06-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO, IL -- And the damn Cubs win again! I can't figure it out. Even though there are many positive to take from this most recent Cubs win:

1. The Cardinals are a half game closer to the Brewers
2. A demoralizing loss to the Cubs could send the Brewers into a tailspin
3. The Cubs are still the Cubs, so chances are they're going to blow all of this eventually).

I sat there and watched the game as Yovanny Gallardo was spotted a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning off Rich Hill. Hill either is solid or gets hammered. Today was the latter.

The Cubs scratched a run back here and there, but it had to end somewhere. The ninth inning comes along and the Brewers bring in Francisco Cordero. Cordero's been automatic all year. No matter the opponent, who is up or whatever, Cordero is going to close it down.

Somehow, some way, I had this eerie feeling that Chicago was going to come back. I hate that feeling, especially since the Cubs are doomed for eternity anyway. A couple hits and soon they had first and third with one out and Derrek Lee at the plate. A home run could win the game, but Lee flew out to right field to score a run making the game 5-4.

Aramis Ramirez was up next. I had the feeling that Ramirez would knock one out. I wasn't sure how or where, but soon it wasn't a question any more. Ramirez took the first pitch and launched it to left field. I knew it was gone and so did almost 40,000 other fans at the corner or Sheffield and Addison.

Watching the ball sail into the bleachers and seeing all those Cubs fans going crazy and beer cups flying in the air everywhere, you would have thought the Cubs won the World Series. I have to admit, it did look really cool. My one year working for the Cubs, I have somewhat of an appreciation for the Cubs, but that quickly diminished when I started with the birds on the bat.

A walk-off home run for Ramirez and a come-from-behind win for the Cubs, who had now won seven in a row and move within 6.5 games of the first place Brewers. St. Louis is now 10 games back and can make it 9.5 with a win against Cincinnati tonight.

Cubs fans can take this one of two ways. They can be gracious and enjoy every moment of this and hope the momentum rides them as far as it can, playing as the underdog, or they can cock off and talk like they're the best and it's all coming around, that the talent has been there all the time and when Wood and Prior get healthy...

Well, I got news for you. I've known Cubs fans all my life and No. 2 always seems to prevail for them. They can't help being cocks. They don't know how to handle success, because most of them weren't alive the last time the Cubs made the World Series.

Even the Cardinals, who had been in the playoffs for the last three years and several since 1982, relished the underdog role in the playoffs and World Series and took it to every team that stood in the way.

Enjoy it while it lasts Cubs. Cardinal Nation thanks you for the win against the Brewers and hopes for two more this weekend so we'll have an inspiration to start winning.

In the meantime, I have to listen to "Here Comes the King" about 10 times to get Steve Goodman's "Go Cubs Go" out of my head.

Chasing the Cubs is motivation enough.

Deja Vu in Omaha!

2007-06-22T08:29:00.001-07:00

OMAHA, NE -- Didn't we just see this a year ago? How did North Carolina bust through the elimination bracket and make it to the NCAA Championship. Better yet, how did Oregon State make it look so easy?

I sat there on selection day and saw Oregon State get shuttled off to the Charlottesville Regional, probably as a courtesy for the defending champion before Jacob Thompson and Sean Doolittle pounded them into submission and sent them back to the northwest with nothing but 5,000 frequent flier miles.

North Carolina, on the other hand, was one ninth inning, two-out single away from getting knocked out of their own regional by an upstart Western Carolina team, seeded No. 4 in Chapel Hill.

The Tarheels got smashed in the second game of the World Series by Rice, but came back and knocked off the Owls twice. The second game was a critical mistake by head coach Wayne Graham when he pulled his starting pitcher in the third inning to bring in middle reliever Bobby Bramhall. Bramhall's numbers are good including the 1.79 ERA he brought into the game, but I was thinking the starting pitcher didn't need to be pulled considering two of the three runs scored via errors.

As it was, North Carolina's Seth Williams annihilated Bramhall's first pitch into the left field bleachers sending Graham into a tirade in the dugout. Somehow, this was amusing to me. Here's Rice, with this pitching staff, of which half were drafted, and Graham can't stop North Carolina. He did have Joe Savery, the 19th overall pick in the MLB first-year player draft standing at first base on four days rest, but that thought never occured to Graham. It was either that, or he figured winning the championship wasn't that important. I mean, hey, Rice won the title a couple years ago, why stress yourself to win another?

Graham screwed up and he knows it. The worst part is, he did it in front of 22,000 fans in Omaha and now the Owls look like they can't handle the pressure of a big time elimination game. They really didn't have to play in one in the first two rounds prior to Omaha.

Now, North Carolina will attempt to break the 51-year jinx in which an ACC team has not won the National Championship in baseball. Considering the baseball-rich south, that concept is hard as ever to contemplate. Miami has won several titles, but none as a member of the ACC. Wake Forest's win in 1955 was the last.

Oregon State probably shouldn't be here. However, the Beavers blew threw their bracket in Omaha like the team that should have come through this side of the bracket. Vanderbilt had everyone expecting them to run through the Nashville Regional, Super Regional and first couple games in Omaha. Maybe they would hit a tough team like Texas or Arizona State on the way in their side of the bracket, but nothing the Commodores or All-American pitcher and first overall pick David Price couldn't handle. That was, until a seldom used pinch-hitter from Michigan hitting .188 stepped to the plate in the 10th inning of an elimination game and walloped a Price pitch over the fence for a game-winning home run.

The Big Ten is not known for its baseball. In fact, Ohio State, Michigan and Minnesota are often the only three teams to have a chance to make the NCAA Tournament on any given year. However, Penn State made the Super Regionals in 2001 and Indiana went to the Wichita Regional before falling to Rice in 1996. Big Ten teams have actually won five College World Series titles (Minnesota won three) since the ACC won its last in 1955.

Honestly, I could care less to see the same two teams play again. I wouldn't mind seeing Florida State or Miami play again. Even an appearance by LSU would be a welcome sight. Yet, I sit back and say, "I'm damn glad Texas isn't there!"

I think a lot of people wanted to see Louisville or UC-Irvine make it to the finals. UC-Irvine had the starting pitching, but once you get in a rut in Omaha, it's tough to break out if you don't have the sticks. Louisville, on the other hand, didn't have the pitching to hold off Rice, which hurt them mightily in the first game.

I'll be pulling for the Beavers to become the first back-to-back champions since LSU in 1996 and 1997. The Pac-10 has owned the College World Series winning a total of 24 titles since 1947, largely in part to Southern California and Arizona State, so what's another trophy for the mantle?

However, the one sight I will always remember is the picture taken from the top of the zoo across the street from Rosenblatt Stadium when UC-Irvine knocked off Arizona State. When the game-winning hit shot through the right side of the infield, the crowd shot you saw was everyone standing up and going crazy for the Anteaters.

That's the underdog winning. That's the crowd associating with a team of college kids they didn't even know existed before this week. That's the thrill. That's Omaha!

Oh, So Close! Palm Beach "Almost" Comes Back From 12-run Deficit

2007-06-12T12:13:00.001-07:00

JUPITER, FL -- Oh, so close! When Mark Hamilton drilled a one-hopper to the Brevard County second baseman for the third out, you had to question who won the game and who didn't as Brevard County sheepishly walked out to congratulate their pitcher, while Palm Beach hustled into the clubhouse.

The final score was Brevard County 12, Palm Beach 9, and to say the game was high scoring and exciting was an understatement. For five innings, no one wanted to be there for the Cardinals. We sat through a first inning that saw Brevard County post seven runs off starting pitcher Trey Hearne and reliever Donnie Smith. I kind of figured that bringing in Smith at that time was only going to throw gas on the fire because Smith throws heat and they just got done with batting practice off Hearne.

To compound the issue, Brevard County's general manager brought 10 of his staff to the game armed with big kazoo like horns and cow bells. It was not a good night to be down 7-0 after one-half inning.

I was beginning to think that my choice of music during batting practice had something to do with this. We're not big fans of anyone who challenges us for first place over here. However, going into the series with Brevard County, Palm Beach was 1.5 games back with three games head-to-head. On Monday, the visiting team gets to take batting practice on the field. Before they took batting practice off Hearne and Smith, they were hitting to the sounds of the female rock stars of the 80s. In other words, any annoying song you could think of from a teenage girls' 13th birthday party was being played over the loudspeakers.

I received a note this morning from the lateshift front desk manager, "Tunes, The Florida Chapter of 'Men Who Love Girly Music' called and want to thank you for Monday night. Thanks from Lance, Biff and Pierre. XXOOXXOO."

Granted, the second Brevard County left the field for the locker room, we kicked the music back up for the grounds crew to prepare the field. It's a little bit of BP Warfare I learned during a college series at Louisiana-Lafayette.

I couldn't help but think the Manatees came out swinging in retaliation. Palm Beach came right back out as James Rapoport singled hard through the right side. Nathan Southard whacked a line drive heading through the left side of the infield, but a diving catch killed that opportunity. Allen Craig, the Florida State League leader in home runs drove a ball deep to right-centerfield, but right fielder Lorenzo Cain came out of nowhere to make a diving catch. It just wasn't our night.

The lead was extended to 12-0 before Palm Beach finally broke through with a solo home run from Brandon Yarbrough to lead off the sixth inning. The string of zeroes on the Palm Beach side of the scoreboard was halted and as the air raid siren followed "P.O.D.'s" home run anthem, the Cardinals had a bit of life. Now I know what you're thinking, "It's 12-1 in the sixth! What life?"

Even though Palm Beach's plan of attack since the first inning was "swing for the fences", you just never know what can happen when you come out swinging when you're backed into a corner. You just might land that hit that can turn things around. I'm not going to say that Yarbrough's home run was that hit, but it gave you a sense that "We can hit these guys!"

I never let up on the sound bites, rally music and keeping what was left of the 199 in attendance, in the game.

Jose Contreras, a seldom used middle infielder, yipped a double off his hands down the right field line just barely fair. Following a pop-out from Rapoport, Danny Nelson came up. Nelson isn't very big and doesn't always hit in your average situations, but for some reason in clutch situations, he comes through. Whether it's offense or defense, the kid has talent and he can make you do a double-take on occassion. Nelson stung a fly ball to centerfield, but the ball kept carrying. Despite being down 12-1, we're all thinking the runner has to tag up from second. Right as Darren Ford is under the ball, someone yelled out, "He dropped it!" He sure did! Nelson was on his horse and almost on Contreras' ass when he pulled up at third as Contreras crossed the plate. Okay, now that's more like it! The scoreboard read 12-2, but that was another run and Brevard County invited us to it.

Up came Craig and he didn't waste anytime unloading his 14th home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field. "Click, click...BOOM!" Both Yarbrough's and Craig's home runs were no doubters. I didn't even have to see them land over the fence because you knew they were gone the second they left the bat and that's rare for Florida State League ballparks with single-A talent.

Mark Hamilton struck out and Ian Church rifled a ball, but it was right at the second baseman for out number three.

Meanwhile, Scott Vander Weg had come on in relief of Smith and was posting goose eggs on the scoreboard for the Cardinals, allowing the offense the chance to break back into the game.

The Cardinals tried to score again in the seventh, but were cut down after Jose Martinez walked and stole second. Martinez took third when the Manatees catcher threw the ball to an unoccupied second base allowing Martinez safe passage to third. I couldn't help but play the clip from anchorman, "I immediately regret that decision!" Yeah, we're down 12-4, but I wasn't going to miss an opportunity to get in my shots as well. Contreras grounded out to second base and the inning was over. However, it wasn't a 1-2-3, which let Brevard County they hadn't nailed down anything yet.

Vander Weg put down the Manatees in the top of the eighth and back came Palm Beach as Rapoport led off doubling into right field. A wild pitch from Vince Perkins moved Rapoport to third before Nelson screamed a line drive to centerfield to make the score 12-5. Perkins was a loose cannon on the mound. He could throw hard, that was easy to tell, but it was obvious that he had no idea where the ball was going.

Craig was up next and we're all cheering for a two-run homer. With his big size and sporting No. 5 on the back of his jersey we're all seeing Albert Pujols. The big guy from Cal-Berkeley unloaded on a pitch that screamed by third baseman Mat Gamel, probably thankful to be alive considering the infield gave a vicious first hop allowing the scorekeeper to rule it a single.

Now the Cardinals trailed by seven and had two runners on and none out with Hamilton up. You could tell Perkins wanted no part of Hamilton. With little control and a high velocity fastball, the next pitch could end up off the backstop or in the Atlantic Ocean. Hamilton walked and up came Church.

Ian Church didn't have a home run this year, but the former Stetson Hatter outfielder had some pop in his bat. He was the Independent League's Player-of-the-Year last season, and despite a batting average in the .240s and no home runs, he was crushing line drives. The only reason he didn't have a home run was because he wasn't elevating the ball and you can't get a home run by driving the ball through the fence. With Perkins unloading fastballs this was Ian's chance.

I don't remember the count, but Perkins' fastball came in and Church unleashed a mighty hack. The next thing you heard sounded like a thunder clap. You didn't even need to watch the flight of the ball after the swing, it was gone! I don't know what woke up the residents of Abacoa more at that point, the sound of the crack of the bat, Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Jump On It!" blaring at the highest level on the sound system or the air raid siren following.

The ball rocketed deep into left-centerfield and the only thing to stop the ball from hitting (or clearing) the Marlins clubhouse was the light tower, which hadn't been hit that hard since Hurricane Frances in September of 2004.

The scoreboard read 12-9, which was hard to believe considering the game was 12-0 just a half an hour ago. Brevard County made a pitching change, but that didn't stop Palm Beach from raking. A.J. Van Slyke slammed a ball down the first base line, but a great backhand stab by Chris Errecart kept it from being extra bases. Isa Garcia beat out an infield single with one out. Yarbrough rifled a ball up the middle, but Mike Bell made a backhand stop and began the inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. Brevard County escaped the inning leading 12-9, but you could see relief instead of the confidence they displayed a few innings earlier.

John Mikrut replaced Vander Weg, who may have just had the best outing of his season, and put down the Manatees 1-2-3 in the ninth. Palm Beach had 9-1-2 due up.

Contreras pulled a surprise bunt to lead off with a single. You can't put a value on the lead-off batter getting on when you're trying to rally from any kind of deficit in the ninth inning. This was big because, unless the Cardinals hit into a double play, Craig was now going to bat this inning. Rapoport made sure of that when he got struck by a pitch putting runners on first and second and Nelson stood at the plate representing the tying run.

Despite fighting off a couple pitches, Nelson went down swinging. It appeared he was swinging awfully hard, leading me to believe he was trying to launch one out of the park. It was possible, but we just needed to keep the inning alive and a single would have been better, or even a gap shot.

No worries though, Craig was up and if he couldn't do it, Hamilton and Church were right behind him. Craig fell behind in the count, but fought off a couple pitches and worked the count full before slamming a one-hopper to third. Gamel knocked it down, but lost his grip for a second. Fortunately for Gamel, his closest play was a couple feet away as he stepped on third base for the force and second out of the inning. Yet, we still had Hamilton, the reigning FSL Player-of-the-Week, and well on his way to Player of the Month for the league and the Cardinals organization.

Hamilton wasn't going down easy and by the mound conference that took place before he got to the plate, you knew he wasn't going to get anything that good. On a 2-2 pitch, Hamilton stroked a one-hopper to second base for the third out of the inning and ending the game.

Brevard County's staff was cheering, but it wasn't a positive, excited, everyone's having a good time kind of cheer. It was one of those end of horror movies kind of relieved cheer when you just escaped the villain or monster that kept coming after you no matter how many times you shot, stabbed or hit it.

Palm Beach is trailing the Manatees by 3.5 games with seven to play. While most people are certain this half is over, Easy and I can relate from a different side. We were with Palm Beach in 2004 when they blew a 5.5 game lead with 11 to play by dropping 11 straight games to end the first half.

It's possible and a scare like the one the Cardinals put into the Manatees just might be the ticket to have Brevard County second guessing themselves. We have one more game tonight and that could bring us 2.5 back before a doubleheader with Jupiter on Wednesday to erase the extra half game. From there, who knows. It's even possible to go into the All-Star break even with Brevard County if they lose the next three.

Anything can happen in baseball... even 12-run leads getting erased. Palm Beach went from trailing 12-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning to having two shots at tying the game in the ninth inning! Who would have thought that could happen after the top of the first inning?

You don't always have to win to be part something special, and even though it was a loss, I think Palm Beach gained more than Brevard County last night.

That's why I love this game!

The Umpires Strike Back!

2007-06-08T20:02:00.001-07:00

CHICAGO, IL -- Things are starting to become right in the world. Paris Hilton is getting sent back to jail, players are getting suspended for half the season as the iron fist of Roger Goodell has come slamming down on the NFL and the umpires are banding together to show the players how to respect authority.

Let's take Lance Berkman for instance. Berkman was ejected a couple days ago on the North Side of Chicago for essentially making an ass of himself. When a bench clearing incident occured innings later, Berkman was spotted back on the field, also known as a place he shouldn't have been. Are we going to have to start locking these guys up?

Let me tell you this about Wrigley Field. If you are in the visiting clubhouse, you have to go out a door, down a flight of narrow steps and down two walkways and then up the steps from the dugout to the field. Berkman was on the field in record time. He shouldn't have been.

Of course, like all players with agents who are bored and waiting for their client's next payday to collect 10 percent, Berkman appealed being an idiot, so he could play until the appeal went through.

Since he's on a stay of execution for a two-day suspension, that's right two days, he can play and Phil Garner put him back in the Astros lineup.

In his first at bat, he gets rung up on strikes by home plate umpire Sam Holbrooke. Essentially, by appealing, Berkman is saying he feels he has the right to be an ass and the umpire is wrong. Why? Because he's god's gift to the Astros, essentially a celebrity, so the rules shouldn't apply. Well, guess what Lance? The umpires really don't care about being shown up on or off the field. When the pitch is close with two strikes, you better be hacking!

Berkman had a few words for Holbrooke, then Garner came to get him. Like a lot of players, Berkman was being walked away and he, or Garner, likely said something while walking away. Despite the packed stadiums, you'll be surprised all you can hear on the field. The two geniuses walking away probably thought that they could insult Holbrooke, but because they weren't talking directly to him, as in looking at him eye-to-eye, they were going to get away with it. WRONG! Good-bye Lance! Holbrooke ran him and I swear I wanted to cheer. Not because it was an ejection or the fact I don't particularly like N.L. Central opponents, but it's about time the umpires start using their authority to let the players know, they don't own everything and their contract doesn't mean a damn thing as long as the men in blue (or black) are on the field. I'm sure that will help his suspension appeal.

In a related story, I began umpiring fastpitch softball tonight. If there's one thing you don't like doing in softball it's eject someone, and you certainly don't do it on a Friday of the tournament. Chances are, you're going to see that team again, and the way fate works these days, you'll usually get them in an elimination game.

So a team was up 4-0 and there was enough time for an inning to go. The winning team had a runner on first and there was a ground ball to the shortstop. She threw the ball to the second baseman and that girl caught the ball coming over the ball. I called the runner out and looked to first for the throw, which was late.

Okay, one out, winning team still up 4-0. The coach asked to appeal the play. I said, "She's out, it's a force play." This coach obviously wasn't impressed as he kept coming out on the field. I said, "She's out, play ball." The coach said, "I know you want to get out of here, but..."

"YOU'RE OUTTA HERE!" Yep, cock the arm from the four o'clock position and end at the 10 o'clock and point to the sky. Man, I haven't tossed someone in a while, but damn did it feel good!

First off, I had another game after this. Secondly, we have a time limit. Lastly, he was winning by four with three outs to go. The bastard deserved to be run and maybe he'll think a second before trying to be cool with his comments.

They say kids emulate what they see on TV today, but you can add adults to that list. Recently a lot of managers have decided to take on the umpires. Well, the umpires have struck back. That coach wanted to be big league, so I was the first to welcome him to the big leagues.

His third base coach came over after the inning all concerned and said, "What did he say?!" I looked at him and said, "He was arguing a judgment call. That's it."

The coach had a few words for me afterwards and said I had a quick trigger. I told him. "All you had to do was say you disagreed with the call. By making that comment you questioned my integrity and honesty and pretty much called me a cheater." He didn't see it that way, but then again, it really doesn't matter how he sees it.

I am really starting to like the fact that authority is starting to regain control and 'special treatment' is starting to go out the window. It's a good start on the recovery of this country. Everyone has to play by the same rules and someone's got to enforce them. If we have to start with Paris Wilson, Pacman Jones and some weasel manager from Port St. Lucie, so be it. But as Twisted Sister said, "We're not going to take it... No! We ain't gonna take it! We're not going to take it... anymore!"

ESPN Kills the Draft... How Else Can We Screw Baseball?

2007-06-08T07:24:00.000-07:00

ORLANDO, FL -- Major League Baseball did it this time. They fell into the pitfall of commercialization by putting the first round of the first-year player draft on national TV. As if we didn't give agents enough reasons to expose clients to mainstream media to jack up their possible signing bonuses.

If there was any justice in MLB it was Mark Prior's representatives telling the Minnesota Twins they couldn't afford their client so the cash-loaded Chicago Cubs would pay a king's ransom to add the high and mighty instant gratification pitcher to their rotation.

Who got the last laugh? The Twins, as Joe Mauer (aka, the guy they had to 'settle' for) was the first catcher ever to win a batting title, smacking .347 in the American League in 2006.

More and more, it seems teams are straying away from anyone with Scott Boras' name stamped to their credit in the early rounds. While Boras blows sunshine up his clients' ass, MLB teams blow them to the second round unless they are truly desperate.

Back to the draft...

If anyone is like me who religiously follows the draft, listening to every pick on MLB.com, they would know how ridiculous televising the picks are. The MLB draft goes rapid fire for about four to five hours per day. The teams don't want to wait around because they don't trade picks and let's face it, the beauty of the game is there is no Mel Kiper, Jr. to tell us about every pick and how they are going to progress even though most of his lines are taken verbatim from college football sports information directors.

No, baseball has made Steve Phillips their Mel Kiper, Jr., who reads verbatim from Baseball America instead. Add to that the squeaky and annoying voice of Casey Stern, which you normally have to listen to for 50 rounds on the phone repeating every pick in the teleconference, and it drives you batty. Some people are better off heard and not seen.

I was hoping MLB teams were going to flood Bud Selig with picks the second one was made. Evidently, ESPN encouraged teams to take the alloted five minutes when most teams don't even need five seconds to make a selection. The picks were coming rapid fire in the second and third rounds. By the time they ended the fifth round a little past 7:00 p.m., the draft was over five hours old. Last year, 20 rounds would have been completed.

All Major League Baseball did by moving the draft to Thursday and Friday and showcasing the first five rounds is keep scouting and player development personnel from watching any of their prospects and draft picks during the College Baseball Super Regionals today.

Baseball's draft is special and sacred because of how it's played out. Some people thought this was a great idea. They're morons, plain and simple. Ask any person in player development, even the media and they'll tell you what a horrific idea this was.

Hopefully they learned their lesson and will go back to the previous format from years past. Thus, it will keep us from having to hear Steve Phillips talk up the instruction in the professional ranks over the college ranks, even though two pitchers were taken from Vanderbilt in the first eight picks overall. Evidently Vanderbilt just magically got the best players over a three year period and Tim Corbin and Derek Johnson had nothing to do with their development.

Keep the baseball people doing baseball stuff and the Hollywood BS out of the game. There's a reason Phillips is on ESPN and not a GM of a Major League team. This guy ran the Mets into the ground and traded away most of their prospects to other teams. Omar Minaya has done a pretty good job repairing the damage with a little help from Fred Wilpon's checkbook.

I will attempt to watch the College Super Regionals and listen to the draft at the same time, all well doing my job today, in a ballpark of course. Now that's multi-tasking!

Arizona Wins Again and Tennessee's Four Year Dynasty

2007-06-07T08:39:00.000-07:00

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK -- Usually I pay attention to the Women's College World Series. It's not like it's that exciting, but sometimes they have a good game or two, but for the most part it's the usual suspects playing once again. Women's sports have very little parity at all. The cream rises to the top and it foams in Tucson, Ariz.

Arizona knocked off Tennessee for the second consecutive day to win another title. There's so many trophies on Arizona's mantle, it's ready to fall. UCLA used to be the national power, but ever since Jennie Finch, the Wildcats have taken the top seed in the Pac-10 and nation.

The worst part is, softball is so pitching dominated that one good freshman pitcher can create a four-year dynasty. However, when she is gone, usually the team goes with it. Without great media coverage and several publications, it's a "What have you done for me lately?" world and mid-majors usually get shuffled to the back.

Monica Abbott, the 6-foot-something giant that occupied the mound for Tennessee took the lost in blowout fashion as Arizona won 5-0. Abbott was just two days removed from winning a game in which she struck out 17 batters. Evidently, Arizona's batters can adjust rather well.

I think they should have a new rule in college where the same pitcher cannot throw consecutive days or games. That would make the game a lot more interesting.

Who knows how good Tennessee will be next year? I saw Abbott get in trouble earlier in the tournament and the cameras panned to the bullpen where Megan Rhodes was warming up. I don't know if Rhodes logged any innings during the NCAA Tournament, and I'm sure that will help out down the road a lot. In fact, when she got the call to warm up, she had this, "What the f---?" look on her face.

It was kind of like Texas this year, who dropped off significantly after Cat Osterman graduated. They were decent. They had a good pitcher and made regionals. But a 2-0 win over Stetson, a first year regional team to write home about? Come on?

Let's face it, dynasties in softball are created by one recruit for four years. There has to be some other way to make this sport one where everyone can compete on some level and playing for Arizona or one of seven other teams isn't the only way to go home with a ring.

Northern Exposure: Louisville Hosting a Super Regional?

2007-06-06T12:20:00.001-07:00

LOUISVILLE, KY -- Did anyone else look at the NCAA Super Regional brackets and see Louisville and check to see if you were looking at basketball?

I saw Louisville this year and they play a good team game, exposing weaknesses and using their strengths to hit and hit and hit that weakness until something gives, similar to when the British went after the Bismarck. Except Louisville didn't have to sink the Bismarck to get to the Super Regionals.

All they had to do was whack an overrated Miami Hurricanes team, then take out host and overrated Missouri Tigers. I know Mizzou had the high upside sophomore staff led by Crow with an 8-0 record. Wait, was that 8-0? Yeah, that's the first thing I saw. I have yet to see a team with a dominating ace that didn't have 10 wins or an ERA below 2.00.

(I know, Greg Reynolds had sub-par numbers last year for Stanford heading into the regional, but it was questioned if they should have ever been in the tournament before they kicked in the front door of the Austin Regional and left the Longhorns giving themselves the shocker.)

Another question I had was with the choice of Patterson Field, the home field of Louisville. It's actually a pretty good facility for a northern school, leaving me to wonder if Louisville should host over Oklahoma State's Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (a stadium named after a guy who could barely break 80 MPH).

Hey, let's send Oregon State out to Fisher Stadium in Ann Arbor. I guaruntee the Maize and Blue won't have a problem selling out that joint, and when boosters have to actual come and pay there, you'll see a parking garage and 30 luxury suites within a year (provided they have stopped the funds to buy out Jim Tressel from his Ohio State contract... which at last count, the going rate was just a tad above the national debt).

I can't fathom how close schools like Michigan and Louisville are to making the trip to Omaha. Has it really been three years since Missouri State upset Nebraska in the regionals, knocked off Ohio State (on one of the biggest hose job calls to Tony Piazza on a 2-2 breaking pitch that surprised everyone including the umpire), then got to Omaha, realized they didn't belong there and got run by Miami and LSU. Welcome to Omaha, Bears!

Take your typical southern school. Whether it's ACC/SEC or mid-major conference, southern schools actually get respect for being there, mostly because people have heard of them. Northern schools have a reputation, but it's provided by the name of their football school. It's quite rare to see Louisville, Michigan, Penn State, etc... in Omaha because the southern expansion has taken them out of it.

Now, the NCAA Committee is doing everything to even out the field including making almost all northern regionals so the regionalization will almost have to include northern schools. Some are up to it, others prove it's a big mistake. Take for example Penn State, who won the Rutgers-hosted regional in 2001. Rutgers barely made it past Army, the No. 4 seed that year, only to see Penn State upset a sketchy North Carolina squad. Next up for the Nittany Lions, Texas. That was 2-and-done, faster than you can imagine.

The marquee teams from the north in college baseball are Ohio State and Notre Dame. They built the better facilities and had the better teams for a couple years. In fact, Baseball America was so infatuated with Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish could lose to almost anyone and still retain a Top 10 position as long as they won a game that week, even if it was a midweek against Valparaiso. All dreams came true when the Fighting Irish went into Tallahassee in 2002 and knocked off Florida State behind a stunning performance by pitcher (and Florida native) Chris Neisel in the third game of a best-of-three. This allowed Notre Dame to go to the College World Series where they had a comeback win over Rice, but lost a pair to Stanford in the battle of snootiest alums.

Ohio State is the marquee team representing the north and midwest. The Buckeyes blew through everyone back in 1999, hit a grand slam to beat Cal-State Fullerton in the first game of the Super Regional and then dropped two straight to a Titans team that didn't do much in Omaha that year.

Now what? Top seeded Vanderbilt is out, along with Florida State and Texas. Rice practically has a police escort to the National Championship. The odd thing is that No. 1 was bounced by Michigan, while Louisville wasn't going up against a National Seed, but have the equivalent of the No. 10 seed bracket. Since Oklahoma State knocked No. 7 seed Arkansas, that means one of these two teams is expected to get slobberknocked in the first round of Omaha by the winner of Rice and Texas A&M (nice try, but it's going to be Rice). Thanks for coming, enjoy the sights and sound of Omaha.

But here's a thought, maybe the yankees have a shot. Not the New York Yankees, they always have a shot (usually a couple if they're out in Toronto with hot blonde Iowa strippers), but the northern teams. Could this be the year Michigan or Louisville makes a run?

Oklahoma State has been to Omaha before. In fact, the entire field could be expected to show up in Omaha or has in the recent past. But what if? What if Louisville or Michigan won the college World Series?

The NCAA would be on its high horse and moving the start date up to the last weekend of February would look like a marvelous decision. Northern people might take an interest in college baseball as well, which has been mainly a southern and west coast dominated sport over the decades.

I can tell you this, the South won't take kindly to this. This is the same region that hasn't seen an ACC team win the College World Series since 1955, and the ACC seems somewhat okay with this as long as they represent every year. But a northern school? Say it ain't so!

Michigan and Louisville have brought a new dimension to the College Baseball playoffs. They make stir the pot or they make get blown out of the water after achieving all-time highs in the regionals. Either way, I know which brackets I'm watching come Friday (well, okay, I'll be watching UCLA because I've actually seen them play this year), and they involved teams on the Ohio RIver or north of it.