MLB

A couple weeks ago, with the 90th anniversary of the 1919 Black Sox Series having just past and this year's World Series coming up, I went through the Chicago Tribune archives and put together a post on their coverage of the end of that series and the gambling rumors that were circulating around it.

As the World Series winds down and baseball gets ready for its winter break, all eyes will soon turn to 2010. Mine will too, as I'll be watching to see how Mark McGwire will be welcomed back into baseball.

Let me state for the record right now, I am NOT a Cardinals fan, never have and never will. I just had my half-century birthday and as for long as I can remember I have, and will always be a Chicago Cubs fan.

“Brad Lidge and Cole Hamels have cost us the Series.”

Those are the words coming out of many of the Philly Phaithful’s mouths just a day after the Yankees put the Phillies in a 3-1 World Series hole.

Is that REALLY the reason?  Can you blame Lidge and Hamels for the hole?  After all Lidge did give up 3-runs in the ninth inning of a game four loss after Pedro Feliz tied the game at four in the eighth inning.  Plus Cole Hamels gave up five runs in the Phillies game three loss.

The only thing I could think of after watching Game Four of the 2009 World Series last night, was something so obvious, that I'm surprised no one brought it up.

Haven't we seen this before from the Bronx Bombers?

Who is a White Sox fan supposed to root for during this World Series?

Do I root for the Yankees because they represent the overall strength of the American league? Or do I root against them because they’re the “Evil Empire” and represent what’s wrong with salary cap-less baseball?

On the other side there’s the Phillies. Do I root for the defending champions and their fan friendly trio of Rollins, Utley, and Howard? Or do I root against the National league purely out of spite for their brand of baseball.

With the Yankees on the doorstep of another championship, it appears the end of the World Series will once again be reason to celebrate for those dressed in pinstripes.

For the Red Sox and their fans, though, it simply sets the clock in motion.

Any Cleveland fan with a decent short-term memory knows that, for the past several seasons, the Tribe has experienced consistent inconsistency at third base.

Since Travis Fryman hung up his cap, the Indians have had a revolving door at the hot corner. The Indians have had four different Opening Day third basemen in the last seven seasons, none of them for more than two years in a row.

The San Diego Padre fans are done losing, they're done with empty promises that have yet to be fulfilled. Could things possibly be changing with a new regime coming into their first official off season?

As the baseball season wraps up, with the New York Yankees just one game away from walking away with yet another World Series championship to add to their trophy case, Padre fans watch and wonder when that's going to be their team.

Every Yankees championship season in recent memory has had a signature moment that defined that particular postseason run.

Let's take a look back, shall we?

1996: The One With Jim Leyritz (World Series, Game Four)

The Yanks were down two-games-to-one against the defending world champion Braves and trailing by three runs in the eighth when Leyritz stepped into the box with two on against closer Mark Wohlers.

Charlie Manuel says his team is resilient. He points out the fact that the team has lost 22 games this season in which they led after the seventh inning. That sounds like the 2008 New York Mets to me. But, it was the Phillies and not the Mets who ultimately wound up winning the 2008 World Series. (ouch)