Opinion

Winning for the second night against the Tampa Bay Rays, the New York Yankees are 2 ½ games ahead in the AL East; in addition to lowering their magic number for playoff spot to three and winning the division to 10.Yankees can thank the Boston Red Sox for helping those numbers falling to the Baltimore Orioles for the second nigh tin a row.

In the winter before the Phillies' 2010 season, most of the talk revolved around Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay, but one of the most exciting moves made by Ruben Amaro Jr. this off season was the acquisition of Placido Polanco.

Eric Byrnes/Miguel Olivo - August 2006 

Don Long/Nate McLouth - April 2008

Todd Helton/Susan Rhodes - April 2008

Miguel Olivo/Brian O' Nora - June 2008

SPORTS IRREVERENCE AND MORE FROM THE OTHER TIP OF THE GOLDBERG

WAR: What’s it good for:  absolutely nothing?

Confession #1:   This was going to be a "power ranking" (Bleacher Report-style) of the AL Cy Young candidates, sparked in part by a discussion I had yesterday with a (fellow featured) columnist; he writes for the Mariners, and I write for the Phillies.  That companion piece of sorts is forthcoming.

Let's start with a serious question today: Should Monument Park be renamed STEINBRENNER SHRINE (& Assorted Other Dead Guys)?

I'm not even joking. Babe Ruth has been dethroned as the biggest star in the cave tucked beneath Mohegan Sun's bar, and he's been replaced by a guy who a) never played a game, b) had a male F.U.P.A., and c) exclusively wore white turtlenecks.

This actually happened.

The Cincinnati Reds have slept walk through the National League for much of September, but it really doesn’t matter.
 
The magic number for clinching a playoff spot is down to six. If the Reds go 6-6 in their 12 remaining games, the Cardinals would have to go 13-0 to tie. Pop some bottles.
 
The biggest surprise of the season is just a few days away from calling themselves “NL Central Champs." Sounds pretty good huh?
 
Now it’s time to start thinking about postseason play.
 

I've got some bad news for you, Cole Hamels.

You might be known as Hollywood to your teammates, you might be married to a Survivor star that got naked for some chocolate (not that I watched, of course), and you may have even spent the better part of 2009 posing as a Comcast spokesperson.

But to me? You're boring.

Have you ever looked at an actor and thought how much he looked like a baseball player, football player or boxer?

Some bear such striking resemblances to a sports star that it is almost freaky.

I know in the movie Billy Crystal did for HBO called "*61", I was overwhelmed with how much Barry Pepper looked like Roger Maris. It was just incredible.

That got me to thinking about which stars looked quite a bit like which actor.

Take a look with me and see if you agree about the resemblance.

On the night that the New York Yankees unveiled a seven-foot tall monument of their late owner George Steinbrenner, the American League leaders won their 91st game of the season by beating the Tampa Bay Rays.

With 12 games to play, New York leads Tampa Bay by 1.5 games in the A.L. East and leads the Minnesota Twins by one game for the best record in the league. 

New York leads the league in runs scored, is third in homers, second in walks, first in OBP, and second in OPS.

Last week, Joe Torre announced that he was stepping down as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers and will not seek an extension from L.A., leaving his protege and former Yankee great Don Mattingly the task of managing the Dodgers during the messy Frank and Jaime McCourt divorce proceedings.