Happy Halloween!

Exploding head batter and baserunner

I've been lax with the posts, but I've been simultaneously enthralled with the postseason and uninspired to write about it. I suspect I'll get back to the blogging after the World Series is over.

But for now, here are a few pumpkins my wife and I carved in previous years. I don' think I've posted them here before, so here they are.

(If I remember correctly, the "exploding head" effect of the batter in the above photo was from some animal nomming at the pumpkin before I could take the picture.

The new Topps

2010 Topps 1 front

Every year, I buy myself a pack or two of the new Topps cards to see what they've come up with, and this year I may be buying quite a few more. The new design is one of the best in recent memory, and their cards of late haven't even been that bad. Compare that to 20 years ago, when the 1990 set looked like something out of the '70s (though the '70s sets weren't even that garish) and couldn't even coordinate colors for the same team.

This Prince Fielder card happens to be No. 1 in the set, starting the collection off with a bang by using a great photo from Fielder's walk-off shot on Sept. 6 last season. This card didn't come in my first pack; after that initial purchase, I bought a small box -- I think it was the "cereal box," the one with Gehrig on it, it turns out -- and when I got home to open them, I noticed that each one contained a Gold Refractor card. "Hope I get Seaver," I thought.

And then I got it. Sweet!

I also found Jeff Samardzija, Carlos Delgado('s last card/last card as a Met), Victor Martinez and Andrew McCutchen, among others. The team logo -- taken from the jersey front, it seems -- as a means to ID the club is unique and one of the first things that jumped out at me, especially on the McCutchen and V-Mart cards. The backs are sharp, too, with the hat logo and a clean, easy-to-read design, especially on one loaded with stats like Delgado's.

But these days, it seems the point of collecting isn't the cards of current players; it's the subsets and bonus cards in each box. The Seaver in the "cereal box" was a good start. As I went through the cards, I found Peak Performance cards of Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, History of the Game featuring Cal Ripken and Bill Mazeroski, Tales of the Game reminding us of Wade Boggs' chicken infatuation, Legendary Lineage linking Roy Halladay (thankfully in a Blue Jays uniform) with Seaver and pairing Frank Thomas with Fielder, and something called the Turkey Red subset (from which I got Mark Teixeira and Johnny Bench). My favorite is probably the When They Were Young group, depicting today's stars as children -- and it's not even limited to Little League photos.

The big subset/promotion/gimmick this year, though, is The Cards Your Mother Threw Out. My first one? A 1993 Chuck McElroy! Score! At least, that's the first one I got with the code, allowing me to have the actual card sent to me if I choose. (I suspect I'll pass.) But in the "cereal box," I did get two replicas. The cool one was a 1974 Dave Winfield, his first card. The front is a high-def reproduction of the card itself; the back, which I didn't scan, describes the history of the card and/or player that year. The second I opened wasn't as exciting -- a 2008 Tim Lincecum. I mean, those cards are two years old! I bought some that year. I think I may have this actual card. I understand the idea of including every year in this historical promotion, but it just seems funny to me. Though, I shouldn't complain (and I'm not, really); that '08 Lincecum is still better than a '93 McElroy.

Unfortunately, I don't know how many of these cards I'll eventually get. The price today is just too prohibitive. I can't imagine being a kid today and finding myself that interested in baseball cards. Unless allowances have kept up with the rate of inflation, how can a kid afford to collect cards on a summer-lawn-mowing income? And for the completists, how can you ever feel satisfied about collecting an entire set when sets these days include so many rare and valuable cards, from autographs to relics and the like, that anyone who manages to legitimately collect a full set probably spent as much money doing so as the most valuable piece in the set is worth. Still, I'm sure I'll buy a few more packs, another box or two. I'll keep the purchases to extra additions when I'm at Target or some place for another reason -- no more walking down to the corner drug store for the sole purpose of buying baseball cards. Sadly, those days have gone the way of my dirt bike and, well, the corner drug store not named CVS or Walgreens.

All the right moves for the Yanks ... for once

The thing that strikes me about the Yankees' signing of Johnny Damon is that they needed him. Not for leadoff, necessarily, because I think the Yanks are just fine with Derek Jeter batting first and Alex Rodriguez or Hideki Matsui or, if he could develop into a decent contact and doubles hitter, Robinson Cano batting second. But they needed a centerfielder and at this point they weren't going to find much in free agency if they didn't get Damon. Based on their policy this offseason of hanging onto Cano, Chien-Ming Wang and prospects like Eric Duncan and Philip Hughes, the Yankees weren't going to get a centerfielder through a trade. In that scenario, Juan Pierre was probably the most likely, but when he went to the Cubs, he was out. I suppose they could've explored a deal for Texas' David Dellucci, Seattle's Jeremy Reed (and the rumors of him heading to Boston will only intensify until the Red Sox get someone to fill Damon's spot) or the Cubs' Corey Patterson.

But the most important acquisition this offseason for the Yankees was not Damon or any one player. It was all the players because they filled the needs in center and the bullpen. You can see the difference this winter: Brian Cashman was spearheading the signings this time, not anyone in the Tampa braintrust. These moves fill holes and help the Yankees first and foremost. In recent years, the moves have been more for the wow factor, to make a splash, to grab the headlines. If the Yankees were going to deal a catching prospect and a good young pitcher in Javier Vazquez for a left-handed pitcher, they might've been better off going after a younger, healthier guy like Barry Zito or Mark Mulder (who was available last winter) instead of Randy Johnson.

Instead, the Yanks went after need:

Damon. As has been pointed out in so many places, this deal not only helps the Yankees, it hurts the Red Sox. More than one pundit has moved the Blue Jays up as the second-best team in the AL East and slid Boston down. That may change if the Sox fill Damon's hole with Ken Griffey Jr. or Andruw Jones (HA! Kidding.) and find a shortstop in Miguel Tejada. But for now, Toronto may be closer to wild-card contention than we had a right to expect a few days ago.

Now, I don't know if Damon is a better leadoff hitter than Jeter (and the numbers favor Jeter), but he's one of the best in the game today and it certainly doesn't hurt to move everyone down a spot to accommodate Damon. You think Damon will get some good pitches to hit with Jeter and Rodriguez coming up after him? There's no way pitchers want to walk Damon and risk leaving a hole on the right side for Jeter to slap that ball through, or to create a situation where A-Rod is batting with two men on base. It'll be sad to see the hair go, however. Yankee fans will want to hope that his powers aren't tied to his long locks.

Mike Myers. Another signing that takes from the Red Sox to give to the Yankees (robbing from the super-rich to give to the mega-uber-rich). The left-handed specialist will come in handy in the late innings against some big (or at least capable) bats both in and out of the division: David Ortiz, Aubrey Huff, Lyle Overbay, Carlos Delgado, Jim Thome, Mark Teixeira and Travis Hafner to name a few. Myers is often a one-out guy, but he's one of the best.

Kyle Farnsworth. Fantasy owners keep wanting Farnsworth to be a closer, but it appears that Farnsworth keeps wanting to get out of it. Without going back to look at reports, I don't know why the Cubs traded him to the Tigers last year, but Chicago struggled to find a closer in 2005 until they moved starter Ryan Dempster there and they could've used him. Then the Braves acquired him from Detroit last year and used him as a closer, a job he seemingly would've kept had he re-signed with Atlanta. Instead, he took a setup role, more money and a perceived better chance at a championship ring to be a Yankee. But when you look at Tom Gordon's age and the uninspiring careers of New York's other potential right-handed setup guys, Farnsworth stands out as perhaps the best option.

Octavio Dotel. After major arm surgery last season, it's not clear when Dotel will be available. But just as they did with Jon Lieber when he was coming off Tommy John surgery (and a 20-win season), the Yankees made an investment for the future, knowing that if Dotel can be healthy by July, it will be like acquiring a setup man in a trade before the deadline. The Mets were trying to sign Dotel for the same reason, a move that would've been just as important for them as it is for the Yanks.

So rather than going out and bringing in Brian Giles to move him to centerfield (a move that would've been more for the wow factor than need), the Yankees didn't look for the splashiest move this winter. They seemed to consider more options and evaluate more players and then make the move that was the best fit for them. (I left the re-signing of Hideki Matsui out because it's a slightly different situation when you're talking about a capable, All-Star you already have. Besides, the "need" in left field would have only been there if Matsui signed elsewhere.)

And I'm sure George Steinbrenner didn't have to be convinced too much to steal the Red Sox centerfielder.

ALCS Game 7: Evil Empire crumbles

Yesterday's games:

Red Sox 10, Yankees 3

Cardinals something, Astros less

Red Sox win series 4-3

Let's face it, this was the game of the year. Sure, my prediction from the start of the postseason turned out to be wrong, but as I said then -- I couldn't see myself calling it until it was proven possible. That is, I couldn't foresee a Red Sox victory, either in the division during the season or in the postseason, until they managed to pull it off once. And now they have. Is this the start of the Curse of A-Rod? It's been 86 years since the Red Sox won a World Series, and 1986 was the last time they even got to one. If they manage to win it all, we'll know one thing: to break the curse, Boston had to go through New York. Knowing that, Red Sox Nation would've been calling for the wild card in 1965. It figures it would take something as monumental and historic as becoming the first team to win a playoff series after losing the first three games. And the Yankees just looked defeated last night. Not physically, on the field, but emotionally, because they knew they had it, and they blew it. Several times.

It had to be clear that the Yankee mystique, that all those ghosts, would fail them this time. Yesterday was Mickey Mantle's birthday, after all. Maybe that's the Yankees' problem (or at least their fans') -- they did not go into yesterday's game saying, "I think they'll win tonight because Brown's due to come up big and Lowe's been horrible all year." They -- particularly New York radio host Mike Francesa -- were saying, "We're not going to lose tonight because it's Mickey Mantle's birthday." That kind of reasoning only holds up for so long.

I wonder at what point last night George Steinbrenner started firing people. You know he wanted to during the game, that's for sure, but is he the kind of guy who decides to sleep on a decision rather than making a knee-jerk move? And is Brian Cashman in trouble because Fox showed him on camera after Damon's grand slam screaming, "Fuck!" from his suite?

There are only so many hours in the day, and I have to work during many of them, but it would've been fun to sit at home all day and listen to the New York talk radio shows. But I'm not going to try to say this any better than Tyler Kepner, who ended his game story in the New York Times with this paragraph:

It was actually happening. The nerd was kissing the homecoming queen. Paper was beating scissors; scissors were beating rock. Charlie Brown was kicking the football. The Red Sox were beating the Yankees for the American League pennant.

And no one can put it better than ESPN.com's Bill Simmons. Well done.

Cardinals-Astros series tied 3-3
I think, in a way, it's good that the Astros didn't clinch yesterday, because today is all about the Red Sox. We'll deal with this outcome after tonight's game.