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September 27, 2007
END IN SIGHT: Almost there. The Red Sox' magic number for clinching the A.L. East is down to two after last night's 11-6 win over the A's (projo.com), a victory fueled by three-hit performances from Dustin Pedroia (above right, Journal photo by Kris Craig), Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and Mike Lowell, not to mention a five-RBI contribution from Lowell. And suddenly, the postseason picture is falling into place, as well. Sean McAdam notes that, thanks to Los Angeles of Anaheim's three straight losses to the Rangers, the Red Sox are all but assured of playing the Angels in the first round, with the series opening at Fenway Park next Wednesday or Thursday, followed by Game Two on Friday. (The teams will play on the West Coast on Sunday, Oct. 7 and, if necessary, Monday, Oct. 8, with a fifth game, if needed, in Boston on Wednesday, Oct. 10.) The only unanswered question is whether or not the Sox or Indians will finish with the best record in the A.L. and thus earn home-field advantage throughout the postseason. That race, at the moment, is tied; details to come.
ALSO DECIDED . . . is which series -- the seven-day or eight-day -- the Sox will choose if they finish first overall. (The top seed gets to pick which series it wants to play.) But Terry Francona isn't telling the Sox' choice, at least not yet. (Boston Herald)
ALSO DECIDED AS WELL . . . is the postseason roster, or just about. Today's projo.com journal, written by McAdam, Steven Krasner and Joe McDonald, notes that 24 of the 25 roster spots are solidifed (and, yes, Jacoby Ellsbury is on it). With Javier Lopez apparently assured of a position, the only decision is who to pick for the last pitching slot: Julian Tavarez, Kyle Snyder, Clay Buchholz or Bryan Corey. Someone who won't have a slot, at least in the opening round: Jon Lester. (Boston Globe)
ONE FOR THE BOOKS: For 30 years, no Red Sox third baseman ever had more RBI in a single season than Butch Hobson, 1977. No one, that is, until Mike Lowell, 2007. Steven Krasner has the details in Inside The Game. The Boston Globe's Bob Ryan says you can't put a value on what Lowell has done this year.
AND ONE FOR THE ROAD: Rotoworld.com put together its list of projected 2008 American League rosters, and it has Eric Chavez at third base for the Red Sox. Lowell is nowhere to be found, which must mean Rotoworld thinks he's National League-bound. As for Alex Rodriguez, Rotoworld says he's returning to the Yankees.
MANNY BEING MANNY: He missed a month because of the strained oblique, but Manny Ramirez is 4-for-5 with two walks in his first two games back in the lineup. (Boston Herald)
HERE'S THE FASCINATION, HERE'S THE FASCINATION, HERE'S THE FASCINATION WITH J.D. DREW: Seth Mnookin chronicles J.D. Drew's continuing offensive resurgence. (sethmnookin.com)
'MORE WOLF THAN SHEEP': That's how SI.com's Tom Verducci describes Jonathan Papelbon in his fascinating profile of the Red Sox closer.
AND MANY MORE: Happy birthday, Johnny Pesky; he turns 88 today. (Boston Globe)
WE'LL GO: While many of the Red Sox aren't enthusiastic about opening the 2008 season in Japan with two games against Oakland -- no decision's been made, but the option is still on the table -- the A's players are more receptive. (Boston Herald)
WAY TO GO, ROOK(S): FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal hands out his postseason awards and Dustin Pedroia is his Rookie of the Year, with Daisuke Matsuzaka third. David Ortiz is third and Mike Lowell ninth on his MVP ballot, and Josh Beckett is second to C.C. Sabathia in the Cy Young race. Terry Francona didn't make the top three on his Manager of the Year list.
THEY MADE IT: The Yankees completed their rise from the grave by clobbering Tampa Bay last night and clinching a playoff position. (New York Daily News) Most pundits are saying they overcame the 14 1/2-game deficit they faced on May 29 (New York Post), but that's only true if they win the division; if things stay the way they are, the deficit they erased was the one they faced in the wild-card race, which peaked at 9 1/2. Even so, it's an impressive accomplishment . . . and now it's on to the postseason, where Alex Rodriguez -- sounding very much like a man in his last days in pinstripes, according to the New York Post's Kevin Kernan -- says it's World Series championship or bust.
I WAS WRONG: Give the Daily News' John Harper credit. Most people try to bury their mistakes. Instead, today he's owning up to it. Don't feel badly, John; you weren't the only one who declared the Yankees dead. In fact, you weren't even the only one that day.
HE WAS RIGHT: My friend Lou DiLullo (projo.com) is a pariah -- with reason, I have to admit -- in some corners of Red Sox Nation; he's a consumptive Yankee fan who views the world, indeed life itself, through a rosy, the Yankees-can-do-no-wrong pinstripe prism. (If he doesn't actually feel that way, he hides it beautifully in his writings.) But when he was saying throughout the summer that it was too early to bury the Yanks, he was absolutely correct. It's a long, long season, and the notion that a team -- any team with talent -- is out of it with four months to go, or three months to go, or even a month to go, is foolish. That much of Lou's Yankee optimism goes hand-in-hand with blind, irrational hatred of the Red Sox is the reason no one pays much attention to him around here; his magic-numbers screed was just the latest in a series of anti-Boston fatwas that he issues from time to time. But if he was off the mark in declaring the Yankees would conjure up a repeat of 1978 just because the 2007 deficit happened to hit the same 14 1/2-game benchmark it hit in '78, he was on target when he declared, over and over, that the Yankees weren't done. I would imagine no one in Yankee Universe is happier, or more satisfied, this morning than Lou DiLullo; it's a wonderful feeling to know that you are right and the world is wrong. Congratulations.
And I can only imagine what's coming next in Louie's Lines.
THE GREAT UNKNOWN: The Yankees have no idea if Roger Clemens will be able to pitch in the postseason. (New York Daily News)
PRETTY LAME: Despite having lunch with George Steinbrenner, Joe Torre is still a lame-duck manager heading into the playoffs. (New York Post)
A.L. RACES: It's all for positioning now, and the Angels lost a game, maybe a shot at finishing with the A.L.'s best record, and perhaps center fielder Gary Matthews Jr. yesterday at Texas. (Los Angeles Daily News) The Indians, meanwhile, split a doubleheader at Seattle and now are tied for the top spot with the Red Sox. (Cleveland Plain Dealer) More worrisome for the Indians: Closer Joe Borowski blew his second save chance in as many nights.
N.L. RACES: The Mets' lead in the N.L. East is down to one as they blew yet another multirun lead and lost to the Nationals (New York Daily News) at the same time the Phillies were beating the Braves (Philadelphia Inquirer) . . . In other games with playoff implications, the Cubs lost to the Marlins (Chicago Sun-Times) . . . the Brewers lost to the Cardinals (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . the red-hot Rockies won their 10th in a row, beating the Dodgers (Denver Post) . . . the Diamondbacks lost to the Pirates (Arizona Republic) . . . and the Padres beat the Giants (San Diego Union-Tribune).
To see how all those games affected the races, check out the divisional standings and wild-card standings. (Projo Stats)
DUQUE TO THE RESCUE: The New York Observer's Howard Megdal says the Mets need a save from Orlando Hernandez.
THE MASSIVE TIE SCENARIO: As of yesterday morning, Baseball Musing's David Pinto noted there was a chance for a six-way playoff tie in the National League, which would have resulted in two days of single-elimination play-in games. As of today, Pinto reports it can still be a five-way tie.
THE VOICES OF NEW YORK: ESPN.com's Jeff Pearlman says that, in stark contrast to the pap you hear on the Yankee television and radio broadcasts, the Mets' television team, which includes Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez (with ex-voice of the PawSox Gary Cohen), is the best in baseball.
GO ALL THE WAY: MLB has suspended umpire Mike Winters for his role in the Milton Bradley fiasco of last weekend, but Foxsports.com's Ken Rosenthal says that's not enough: ''Mike Winters should never umpire another major-league game.''
END OF THE LINE: The Giants and Barry Bonds are preparing for their farewell weekend. (USA Today)
NOW THIS IS A GRUDGE: Bruce Froemming's 37-year umpiring career will end this weekend, but Milt Pappas is still bitter about not getting a 2-and-2 call from Froemming during a perfect-game bid in 1972; he wound up walking the batter and lost the perfect game, though he did finish the no-hitter. (ESPN.com) ''I still feel in my own heart that he robbed me of a perfect game,'' said Pappas. ''I wish him nothing but the best. I just wish he had retired 37 years ago."
QUICKLY: Skip Caray won't be part of WTBS' baseball playoff broadcast team and he's not happy about it (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) . . . A Johan Santana-for-Matt Kemp-and-others trade rumor is floating around cyberspace (cbs2.com).
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 6:56 AM | Permalink
Unassisted Triple-Play | September 30, 2007 1:15 PM link
I saw the film. Umpire Bruce Froemming was indeed caught smirking after calling the walk that cost Pappas his perfect game. Smirking, clear as day, but Froemming says, "It's stuff that he's made up in his mind. I don't derive any pleasure if he got a perfect game or a one-hitter. It doesn't mean anything to me." What a liar! The pitches were very close but the catcher Hundley, who says the 3-2 ball was called correctly, says the 2-2 "ball" was a strike. Seems almost certain that Froemming shafted Pappas out of a perfect game.