Okay, the 2009 season is over for the Marlins, and there’s a bitterness to that statement that is real, but not relevant. The squad this past year seriously disappointed only those who didn’t recognize they were playing above themselves the entire year.

Alex Rodriguez connected on his fifth home run of the postseason and CC Sabathia dominated the Los Angeles Angels on short rest as the Yankees won 10-1 to move one win away from a trip to the World Series. 

A-Rod tied a postseason record with his eighth consecutive game with at least one RBI, and Sabathia handcuffed the Angels through eight innings of one-run ball to take a 3-1 series lead.

The Los Angeles Dodgers announced today they will extend general manager Ned Colletti's contract. After speaking with the team's P.R. department, I was informed that while they will not release the exact number of years in the agreement, the word is it will be a long-term deal.

If you want to know what Jimmy Rollins's walk-off double looked like from the Dodgers’ bench, don’t ask Manny Ramirez for his vantage point.

"Actually, I was in the shower," Ramirez said. “I only saw the highlight.”

This was the gross response of Ramirez when asked what his thoughts were about Jimmy Rollins' walk-off double.

Highlight?

You do realize that hit sealed your team's defeat and put them one game away from elimination, right?

Can someone take their finger off the replay button? Last year is over.

Sure, it was a great run. We get it. It was a run even Dr. Seuss couldn't have conjured up in his wildest dreams.

The golden left arm of Cole Hamels, backed by the indelible offensive onslaught pushed the Phillies to a level unseen in Philadelphia in over a quarter century.

The clincher was magical. The parade was dizzying. The feeling was indescribable.

Larry LaRue from The News Tribune is reporting that Kenji Johjima has opted out of the final two years of his contract with the Mariners:

Right now Yankees and Phillies fans are feeling good about their World Series chances. As for Dodgers and Angels fans, they’re slightly less hopeful.

In any case, one of those four teams will be the 2009 World Series champion, and players and fans alike will feel like champions—but only for a few months.

In honor of the recent birthday of one of the greatest men every to be affiliated with sports, John Wooden, it seems appropriate to use his words to start off a piece about myth and reality.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

That’s good advice, for anyone at anytime, but especially for the Minnesota Twins this offseason.

The Yankees outlasted the Angels in Game Two of the ALCS on Saturday, taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The series continues this afternoon in Anaheim. River & Sunset takes a look at some of the subplots orbiting Yankee Universe.

We're not close to the celebration yet