NL East

10) Well, that was fun. If you like the Yankees, or rectal pain. Otherwise, not so much.


9) One of the reasons why baseball will never be football: hitting The Centaur, Alex Rodriguez, with a pitch might make you feel good, but not nearly enough, since it's really not a help for your team. And he's potentially just two games away from having a World Championship. I think I should be drinking more, really.

If you believe Dave O'Brien, Mark Bowman, and the ever-so-unreliable Ken Rosenthal, Tim Hudson is set to sign a three-year extension with the Atlanta Braves in the neighborhood of $27 million.

I don't know about you, but that's a big relief.

Locking up an elite (provided he looks like his seven starts at the end of '09) two or three starter for under $10 million is always good.

When you add in the fact that he's locked up for under the salary of two of your potential off-season trade chips (Derek Lowe and Javier Vazquez), it's even better.

In his press conference today, Philadelphia Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel announced that RHP Joe Blanton will start Game Four of the World Series. Cliff Lee will start Game Five.

When asked why he will go with Blanton in Game Four, Manuel said, "I think Blanton fits for us because I think we want to keep [J.A.] Happ right now in the bullpen, especially kind of in the middle where he could do some innings, and also Joe pitched last year in the World Series, and he’s got a little bit more experience."

It doesn’t matter who he says is his daddy.

Pedro Martinez is a first ballot Hall of Famer.

The 38-year-old from the Dominican Republic may not have the mid-90s fastball he once displayed, but he still has the prowess on the bump to take over a contest on the game’s biggest stage.

Just look at the way he navigated through Game Two against the New York Yankees on Thursday night.

All the bright spots and the warts have been exposed after two games in the 2009 World Series.

Mariano Rivera, perhaps the brightest of all stars, pitched a two-inning save to preserve a 3-1 Yankees victory over the Phillies on Thursday night in New York.

The World Series is now tied, at one win a piece.

Hideki Matsui hit the go-ahead solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Yankees their first lead of the series, 2-1.

Philadelphia Phillies lefthander Cliff Lee took the mound to begin Game 1 as Yankees stadium bustled, anticipating the start of the World Series. The relaxed 31-year old looked in at catcher Carlos Ruiz, nodded his head yes, and pumped in a fastball that New York Yankees captain and leadoff hitter Derek Jeter fouled off. His outing was underway, and what an outing it would be for Lee.

So the guy that brought in Esmailyn “Smiley” Gonzalez was unjustifiably fired ?

A Dominican Republic tribunal has ordered the Washington Nationals to pay US$40,000 in damages to a scout who was fired after signing a prospect who lied about his age.

Jose Baez, the Nationals’ former director of operations in the Dominican Republic, sued the team for what he said was an unjustified firing. The court issued its order last week.