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Baseball Today: Tuesday, October 9

TWO DOWN, TWO TO GO? Since we last spoke on Friday, the Red Sox enjoyed their second champagne celebration of the year (above, Riverside Press-Enterprise photo) by completing a three-game sweep of the Angels that, writes Sean McAdam, was easier than you'd expect it to be in the playoffs. The only problem now, says McAdam, is the long wait until the ALCS begins. But, as Mike Lowell noted, ''I don’t think we wanted [the series against the Angels] to go five games, just to have less days off.''

VIEW FROM THE INSIDE: Kevin Youkilis says ''it's a great feeling to sweep the Angels'' and praises Curt Schilling for his seven shutout innings Sunday. (kevinyoukilis.mlblogs.com) Schilling himself gives one of his fascinating, detailed breakdowns of the game on 38pitches.com.

VIEW FROM THE OUTSIDE: Baseball Musing's David Pinto says the Red Sox ''are as close to a flawless team as you'll find in the playoffs . . . All the arrows are pointing up for the Red Sox right now.''

HE WAS RIGHT: The day after Roger Clemens signed with the Yankees, the Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy took Schilling to task for saying ''we don't need'' Clemens; Dan called it ''a comment of stupefying arrogance that is sure to come up a couple of million times between now and the 2007 postseason.''. (It prompted Schilling to fire back the next day in one of the more interesting sideshows of the 2007 season.) But it turned out Schilling was right. FoxSports.com's Mark Kriegel compares Schilling with Clemens -- Schilling's sterling performance came on the same day Clemens' career may have come to an end -- and wonders, ''Which aging pitcher would you rather have in October?''

THE PERSONAL SIDE: The Globe's Jackie MacMullen has an interesting feature on Jonathan Papelbon, who reveals for the first time that he suffers from migraines and that one may have contributed to his Sept. 14 meltdown against the Yankees.

THE REAL MR. MAY: Vladimir Guerrero has a .183 lifetime postseason average after going 2-for-10 against the Red Sox. (Los Angeles Daily News)

UP NEXT: The Indians, who finished off the Evil Empire (much more on them in a moment) last night at Yankee Stadium. (Akron Beacon Journal) The Indians were the pictures of satisfaction in their locker room afterwards. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Meanwhile . . .

IT'S OVER: What's over, you ask? Virtually everything in the Bronx, it appears. The season, for sure. Joe Torre's reign as manager, almost certainly. Alex Rodriguez' days in pinstripes, perhaps. But what's really over is this moment in Yankee history, the run of glory that began with such a delightful surprise -- to those of the Yankee persuasion -- in 1996. Because no matter what, it's going to be very different next year. Maybe it'll still be good. Maybe it'll be better. But there's an excellent chance Derek Jeter will be the only remaining link to that past when the team reassembles in Tampa next February.

COMING APART: The team is disassembling as we speak in light of a a 6-4 loss to the Indians last night (New York Post) that eliminated them from the playoffs. Considering that George Steinbrenner had already told Ian O'Connor of the Bergen Record ''I don't think we'd take him back if we don't win this series,'' the odds are overwhelming it was Torre's last game as manager. (New York Daily News) The well-connected Bill Madden ''believes'' Steinbrenner will be "reaching out" to Tony La Russa to replace Torre, and it's reasonable to think this isn't baseless speculation on Madden's part. Torre has his defenders, from journalists (the New York Post's Jay Greenberg) to politicians (New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg) to his coaches (Don Mattingly) to his players (Derek Jeter). He has his detractors, too; there's the cabal that the Journal American's Peter Abraham refers to as the jackals in Tampa, and the Daily News reports there were ''moans of consternation, even outrage, in the owner's box'' Sunday over the way Torre used Joba Chamberlain. But the Yankees' postseason recent postseason failures -- they haven't won a series since the 2004 ALDS and are 4-13 in their last 17 playoff games -- shows starkly that the magic is gone for Torre and the Yanks (New York Daily News), and Steinbrenner obviously believes it's time for a change.

WHAT A RUN IT WAS: SI.com's Alex Belth chronicles Torre's amazing record as Yankee manager.

WAIT FOR IT: SI.com's Jon Heyman reports Steinbrenner ''was quite upset'' during last night's game but he had nothing to say as he left Yankee Stadium, looking extremely frail as he was helped out by his daughter. (New York Post) Still, I'm sure we'll be hearing something from him -- or his spokespeople -- very soon.

KEEP THE ENGINE RUNNING: Torre isn't the only one who may not be back. Mariano Rivera's contract is up (New York Daily News), and he has no idea if he'll be returning. Ditto Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte. (New York Post) Not to mention Roger Clemens (The Journal News). FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal gives the outsider's view of it all.

And, of course, there's the saga of . . .

YOU KNOW WHO: Alex Rodriguez appeared red-eyed, according to both the Post and the Daily News, as he met with the media after the game. His postseason wasn't the disaster that others have been -- he hit .267 against the Indians, and broke a streak of 57 straight postseason at-bats without an RBI by hitting a late solo home run last night -- but it's going to end without a ring, as have all four of his postseasons in pinstripes. And now we wait to see if he and agent Scott Boras will exercise the opt-out clause in his contract within the 10-day window they have at the conclusion of the World Series. He, of course, gave no clues as he spoke with reporters. But as we've seen in this postseason, there are plenty of talented and well-heeled teams -- the one the Red Sox just played leaps to mind (there's already A-Rod-to-Anaheim speculation from the Daily News' John Harper); so does the one that lost to the Diamondbacks -- that desperately need a hitter of Rodriguez' caliber. Scott Boras' dream scenario is to create a market where rich and talented teams that believe they're one player from the promised land are bidding against one another for one of his clients. His dream may come true next month.

HOW TO FIGURE IT? SI.com's Tom Verducci says that if he goes, A-Rod will leave behind a baffling legacy.

ROLL OF DISHONOR: The New York papers spread the blame around for the Yanks' loss, starting with Chien Ming-Wang (he caught it from both the the Daily News and the Post) to Hideki Matsui to -- gasp! -- Derek Jeter. But playing the Blame Game in the wake of defeat is the natural progression to a fan base and a franchise that considers anything less that a World Series championship to be a failed season.

THE TOTAL CHANGE: Who knows? Maybe Mark Cuban is just what the Cubs need to end their 100-year World Series drought. (Daily Southtown)

WRAPPING IT UP: The Philadelphia Inquirer's Phil Sheridan looks back on a thrilling but ultimately unsuccesful season for the Phillies.

GEARING UP: The Chicago Sun-Times examines what's looming on the Cubs' horizon.

WHAT'S THERE TO SAY? Jim Tracy didn't say a whole lot after being fired by the Pirates. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) Meanwhile, the Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that Indians coach Joel Skinner is a candidate to replace Tracy.

WHISPERS: The Cubs may be shopping third baseman Aramis Ramirez (Daily Herald) . . . The Tigers may be interested in Seattle's Raul Ibanez (Detroit Free Press) . . . If Johan Santana doesn't finish in the top three in the Cy Young voting this year, he will have a partial no-trade clause that will allow him to pick 12 teams he can't be traded to. If he finishes in the top three -- though he most likely won't -- he'll have a complete no-trade clause (St. Paul Pioneer Press) . . . The Brewers' Chris Capuano needs surgery, but on his right (non-throwing) arm (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).

OLD FRIENDS: Anibal Sanchez is upset because he thinks the Marlins are questioning his integrity in a dispute over whether he was injured before or after he was sent to the minors on May 4 (Miami Herald).

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 5:43 AM | Permalink