MLB's original 16 meeting in the World Series

What a run for these Giants, playing six games in which they faced elimination, and winning each one. In their long and storied history, they'd never won a Game 7 until last night (not counting Game 7 of the 1921 World Series, which was a best-of-nine).

In the 108th World Series, they'll face the Tigers -- another of the original 16 franchises from 1901 -- for the first time. That seemed surprising to me, but it's pretty common, especially when you consider that of the Cubs' infrequent appearances, four were against Detroit, or that while the Dodgers have 18 World Series visits -- ALL of which were against one of the AL's original eight -- 11 were against that team from the Bronx.

But all of this is more easily digested in table form, so here's the breakdown:

TEAMS	Braves	Cardinals	Cubs	Dodgers	Giants	Phillies	Pirates	Reds
A's	1	2	2	2	4			2
Browns/Orioles*		1		1		1	2	1
Indians	2			1	1
Red Sox		3	1	1	1	1	1	1
Senators/Twins	1	1		1	2		1
Tigers		5	4		1		2	1
White Sox			1	1	1			1
Yankees	4	5	2	11	7	2	2	3

*The Browns/Orioles franchise played one season, 1901, in Milwaukee as the Brewers before moving to St. Louis and then, in 1954, to Baltimore.

What I didn't know about the DH

I know a lot about baseball. I'm not saying that to brag, just as a piece of background information. I'm not claiming to be all-knowing or a trivia savant (off the top of my head, I can't tell you who won the 1962 AL Cy Young Award or '63 World Series), but I do have a firm grasp of a lot of history, especially that which took place since I was born in 1976.

But this one stunned me: The designated hitter, introduced in '73, wasn't used in the World Series until 1976, and then only in alternating years -- regardless of ballpark -- through '85. I learned this from a Joe Posnanski post written nine days ago that I only read today. (Some of the numbers he has in there are interesting.) So yeah, even in '73, the first year of the DH, when the Mets opened the Series in Oakland, starter John Matlack took a turn at bat (and walked). And in '76, when Cincinnati hosted Games 1 and 2, Lou Piniella and Elliot Maddox of the Yankees and Dan Driessen of the Reds stood in at bat for the pitchers.

So the first National League park to experience the DH -- something that has been offered up as a way to spice up Interleague Play, by swapping the DH rule -- was Riverfront Stadium in '76, and Dodger Stadium ('78), Veterans Stadium ('80), Busch Stadium ('82) and Jack Murphy Stadium ('84) followed suit. The 1985 World Series was the last no-DH Fall Classic, and the Mets' win over the Red Sox was the first to use the current format, which uses the rules of the league of the home team.

This is fascinating to me. In 1973, when the American League -- back when the leagues were truly separate entities -- altered its rules to have a designated hitter for the pitcher, Major League Baseball decided (or refused?) that this affront to the game could not be used to decide that year's champion. It took four seasons before it was allowed. And then, when MLB decided to allow it in the Series, it chose to do so arbitrarily, alternating its use by year, just as it did with home-field advantage back then. However, it implemented the DH rule opposite the American League's home-field schedule. That is, it began use of the DH in the World Series in '76, a year in which the National League team would host Games 1, 2, 6 and 7. Why it was decided to use the DH throughout the Series or not at all for the first 10 years, instead of based on the home team in each game, is a curious choice, for sure -- and, as Posnanski touches on, perhaps had as much as an impact on the games as where it was played. For those who thought alternating home-field advantage each year was stupid and arbitrary, how about alternating DH use? Crazy.

There's always something to learn about this game. And there's always something to see. This has been an amazing World Series, a thrilling and exciting postseason, starting with the last day of the regular season. I've been watching it all and hope to take some time to write out some thoughts after it's over and I've had time to recover and digest it all.

One more game. Let's see what this season gives us for a finale.

From ND to MLB: Craig Counsell

The hit came just in time. Forty-five at-bats is a long time to go 0-fer -- especially when you're coming off the bench. For a starter, it's a bad week, maybe 10 days. For a backup, it can be a rough couple of months.

For Craig Counsell, it was 57 days, stretching from a three-hit game on June 10 until he singled in the ninth inning on Friday, an 0-for-45 slump. With that hit on Friday, Counsell was spared immortality by an at-bat -- or two.

The record for a single-season 0-fer is either 45 at-bats -- according to the Brewers, citing the Elias Sports Bureau -- or 46, according to research conducted by the Society for American Baseball Research and cited in an article in last Thursday's New York Times (also mentioned on The Colbert Report). Counsell's streak included one walk, a hit-by-pitch, two sacrifice bunts and a sacrifice fly, meaning he went hitless in 49 plate appearances, though he did reach base twice, drove in a run and twice gave away his at-bat in order to move the runners up on the bases. He also scored twice, and in seven of those 32 games in between, he did not come to the plate, serving instead as a defensive replacement or pinch-runner.

When I saw the Brewers play at Yankee Stadium on June 28, Counsell was hitless in his lone at-bat, extending the streak to 0-for-13. I didn't take notice of the 0-for-12 coming into the game, and wouldn't have thought anything of it if I did. And I certainly wouldn't have asked him about it. But I did ask about his role with the Brewers now, how he sees himself as a 40-year-old utility infielder on what was then a team in contention in the NL Central and now is the division leader and the club best poised to lock down the division over these final two months.

"I think your age makes people look at you because you've done this for a while," he said. "But of course, that's part of my job, to -- especially I think when you're not playing -- you try to help everybody and what everybody's doing and help if you can. I've always thought that the leadership thing is that everybody helps each other, so that's everybody's job."

Counsell debuted nearly 16 years ago, on Sept. 17, 1995, when his youngest current teammates -- Yovani Gallardo and Jonathan Lucroy -- were just 9 years old. He's one of 11 players 40 or older who have appeared in a game this season but one of only five hitters, and one of them -- Matt Stairs -- has since retired. The others are Omar Vizquel, Jason Giambi and Jim Thome, but only Thome sees regular starts these days. Vizquel, at 44, occassionally sets accomplishments for his age, and with 2,835 hits would probably need to play until he's 47 to have a shot at 3,000. Giambi hit three home runs for the first time in his career back in May and was mentioned in trade rumors leading up to last month's deadline, but is currently on the DL with a left quad strain. And Thome, of course, is two home runs away from 600 -- a feat that hasn't been celebrated as much as it perhaps should be.

Counsell, though, has more World Series rings than those other four combined. Stairs came to the Phillies for the final 16 games of the 2008 season and helped them win it all, but the other three are 0-for-3 in the Fall Classic. Thome and Vizquel were teammates on the 1997 Indians squad that lost when Counsell came home on Edgar Renteria's hit in the 11th inning of Game 7 in Miami and Giambi played for the 2003 Yankees team that fell to the Marlins.





Counsell's journey actually includes several overlapping routes, from South Bend to Wisconsin and back, from Phoenix to Milwaukee and back, and then back to the Cream City once again.

"I was actually born in South Bend," said Counsell, who played for Whitefish Bay High School in Wisconsin. "My dad coached there for a little while [1969-72] and used to play there, and I always kind of wanted to go to school there. I was just happy to get in. Playing baseball, Pat Murphy had just gotten there. He had been there one year. From what I understood, they'd come pretty close to dropping baseball the year before. We were kind of like starting over."

When Counsell arrived on campus in the fall of 1989, the Irish were coming off their first winning season since '82. Murphy guided them to a 39-22 record in his first year and quickly built a solid program. In Counsell's four years, beginning in 1989, Notre Dame went 48-19-1, 46-12, 45-16 and 48-15, reaching the NCAA Tournament in '89 and '92 -- the first time the Irish had played in the tournament since 1970.

2011 Notre Dame baseball media guide, p. 23

Craig not only followed his father, John ('64), to South Bend, but they are the only father-son pair to captain the baseball team. For his career, Craig batted. 306 with 18 home runs and 166 RBIs as a four-year starter, earning second-team all-MCC honors in '90 and '91 and first team in '92, when he was the Irish team MVP. The Rockies drafted him in the 11th round and he began his career in Bend, Ore., in the Northwest League.

"You're drafted, excited to have a chance to play professional baseball," Counsell said of starting his pro career. "You're not really exactly sure what to expect. It took me four, five years, I had a bunch of injuries, but I finally kind of made it and stuck. It took a while, but I made it."

He progressed each year through the Rockies' system, jumping from short-season Bend in '92 to Advanced Class A Central Valley in the California League in '93 to Double-A New Haven in the Eastern League in '94. In 1995, he reached Triple-A Colorado Springs and, that September, made his Major League debut, playing three games and going 0-for-1 with a walk. In spring training 1996, Counsell was under consideration for the Rockies' starting second base job (because regular starter Eric Young opened the season on the DL with a broken hand) and utility infielder role, but he spent the year at Colorado Springs -- playing just 25 games because of injuries.

In late June 1997, Counsell was hitting .332 with 45 RBIs in 60 games at Triple-A on a strong Colorado Springs club; he would finish with a .335 batting average, .409 on-base percentage, .489 slugging percentage, 77 runs, 31 doubles, six triples, five homers, 63 RBIs and 12 stolen bases in 96 games. Called up to the Rockies, he appeared as a pinch-runner against the Cubs on July 26. The next day, the Marlins acquired him for Australian right-hander Mark Hutton. Two days after the trade, Counsell started at second base, batting eighth, at Pro Player Stadium against the Reds. In his first at-bat, leading off the second inning against right-hander Mike Morgan, he lined a single to right field for his first Major League hit. Since then -- with the exception of 50 games at Triple-A Tuscon in 2000 and some rehab appearances in subsequent summers -- Counsell has been a Major Leaguer.

In 51 games (47 of them starts at second base) for Florida over the final two months of the '97 season, Counsell batted .299/.376/.396 with 20 runs, nine doubles, two triples and 16 RBIs. He struck out 17 times but walked 18. His lone home run -- the first of his career -- was a grand slam off Todd Stottlemyre of the Cardinals on Aug. 24 in a 7-1 Marlins victory.

But it was that October that Counsell really established himself. In seven plate appearances in Florida's three-game sweep of San Francisco in the NLDS, he had two hits (one a double), a walk, a sac bunt and an RBI. Then in the Marlins' 4-2 NLCS victory over the Braves, Counsell started four games at second base, batting .429 (6-for-14) with two RBIs, three walks (all intentional, to get to the pitcher) and three strikeouts. He assisted on the final out of the series when Kevin Brown induced a ground ball from Chipper Jones to second base. Counsell scooped it up and tossed it to Renteria, the shortstop, to clinch the pennant.

Counsell started every game of the seven-game World Series against the Indians, batting .182/.345/.227, going 4-for-22 with a double, four runs, two RBIs and a stolen base and drawing six walks -- none intentional -- against five strikeouts. He went 1-for-3 with a double and a run in Game 1, 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI in Game 3 and 1-for-4 in Game 6. Though he was 0-for-3 in Game 7, he made perhaps his biggest contributions to the club that season late in the game.

In the bottom of the ninth with the Indians leading, 2-1, Jose Mesa came on to close out the game and the Tribe's first World Series championship since 1948. Moises Alou led off with a single, but then Mesa got Bobby Bonilla swinging. Charles Johnson followed with a single to right field that sent Alou to third. Up stepped Counsell, batting eighth in the order. Mesa just needed to retire Counsell and pinch-hitter Jim Eisenreich, who was on deck; that, or a double play from Counsell would do. On Mesa's third pitch, with the count even at 1-1, Counsell swung and drove a line drive deep down the right-field line. Manny Ramirez glided over to make the catch and Alou broke for home to score the tying run. Mesa then retired Eisenreich on a ground ball to second to end the inning and send Game 7 of the World Series to extra innings.

That fall, Counsell returned to Notre Dame during the final football weekend, Nov. 22, 1997, against West Virginia. He met with the baseball team in the clubhouse of Eck Stadium and I was sent to cover it for the South Bend Tribune, for which I was interning that semester. I dug up that article -- on a 3 1/2-inch floppy disk -- which included this unused comment at the top:

"I didn’t think about it too much," Counsell said of his ninth-inning at-bat. "You just think to get the job done. You know it’s the seventh game of the World Series, but you don’t htink about that. It was a long fly ball, [a home run] would have been a little too much to ask for."

The game, of course, wasn't over. Florida closer Robb Nen, who had come on to get the final two outs in the top of the ninth, pitched the 10th, allowing a one-out single to Tony Fernandez but otherwise struck out the side. In the bottom of the 10th, with Mesa still pitching, Renteria and Gary Sheffield hit one-out singles, but Mesa struck out John Cangelosi and Charles Nagy came out of the bullpen to get Alou to fly out to right.

Jay Powell came on to pitch the top of the 11th and walked Matt Williams to open the frame. Sandy Alomar tried to bunt him over, but Powell pounced on it and threw to second to force out Williams. Thome then grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. On to the bottom of the 11th.

Nagy, who had started and lost Game 3, returned to the mound. (I love elimination games in the postseason, when everyone but the previous night's starter is available to pitch.) Bonilla fell into an 0-2 hole but then singled up the middle. Gregg Zaun tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but popped an 0-2 pitch up to Nagy. Counsell then reached on an error by the second baseman, Fernandez, sending Bonilla to third. Eisenreich was intentionally walked to set up a forceout all around, and the plan worked when Devon White grounded to second and Bonilla was forced out at home. Counsell advanced to third base.

Up stepped Renteria, who was 2-for-4 with a walk and had entered the game batting .213/.304/.246 in the Series. He took the first pitch for a strike, but the second was sent back through the box and into center field, driving in Counsell with the winning run.






Counsell's cleats on display at the Hall of Fame"It was pure joy," Counsell told me in 1997. "That's the best way I can describe it. I've been telling people my life is all downhill from here. I don't know if I'll ever feel anything like that again. It's unbelievable."

I asked him what he planned to say to the Irish players he was about to address.

"I'm going to tell them there's no magic formula," he said. "I'm going to tell them my story, that it's not out of the realm of possibility for them. I was in these shoes five years ago, so it can certainly happen to one of them."

One of the players on that Irish team -- and I can't say for sure if he was in the room that morning until I talk to him -- was a junior pitcher who would be drafted in the first round by the Astros the next June: Brad Lidge, who would have his own World Series-clinching moment 11 years later.

Counsell's career, of course, didn't go downhill from there.* He returned to the Marlins in '98 and '99, when the Dodgers acquired him in June for a minor-league left-hander who topped out at Double-A, Ryan Moskau. Counsell finished the season in Los Angeles but was released during spring training the following year. Five days later, he signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks, where the Notre Dame connection played a role. Arizona GM Joe Garagiola Jr. had been coached by Counsell's father on the Notre Dame freshman team. (See the story from the July 3, 2000, issue of The Sporting News at left.)

*The fortunes of the Marlins did, however, when owner Wayne Huizenga put the team up for sale and slashed payroll, trading away most of the stars. "It's unfortunate," Counsell said then. "I think if everybody had the choice, we'd bring back the same team to go for it again. But we still have a solid core, and a lot of good young players. If we don't do it again next year, we will soon in the future." They did, of course, in 2003, though despite just the six-year gap, the only player on both teams was "Original Marlin" Jeff Conine, who had been traded away in December 1997 then reacquired for the '03 pennant drive.

From the May 28, 2001, Sporting News.
All three were teammates on the 1997 Marlins.

In 2000, Counsell played 67 games for Arizona at second, third and short, starting 33 of them. In '01, he earned a utility spot on the roster and started 113 of the 141 games in which he appeared. Over the course of the season, Counsell's stock rose. In May he was praised by manager Bob Brenly for his play while filling in at shortstop for Tony Womack, who missed a week following the death of his father. By late June, Counsell had taken over the leadoff spot from Womack and was starting at second base over Jay Bell because of his range (Bell was moved to third with Matt Williams sidelined). In late July, when Williams returned and speedy young second baseman Junior Spivey was in the mix, Counsell was still getting regular playing time as Brenly chose his matchups based on stats and history against the opposing starter, using the glut of infielders to give Williams, Bell and Womack a day off each week. At the end of August, the Diamondbacks notes in The Sporting News led with an item on Counsell supplanting Womack as the regular shortstop because of his consistency at bat and steadiness in the field.

In the postseason, Counsell's contributions were highlighted. In a Ken Rosenthal feature in the Oct. 29 edition of The Sporting News, Brenly called Counsell "the smartest player I've ever had the fortune to be around." Jim Leyland, the manager of the '97 Marlins, described him as "kind of a manager's dream, not a scout's dream." Those qualities would be on display again in the World Series.

Counsell batted just .188/.278/.375 in the five-game NLDS against the Cardinals, then came alive in the NLCS against the Braves, the team the Marlins beat in the '97 NLCS. He had two hits and scored twice in a Game 1 win, then after a Game 2 loss he put up back-to-back three-hit games in Atlanta in two Arizona victories. In Game 5, Counsell's squad was once again victorious on the Turner Field soil, eliminating the Braves and Tom Glavine (who also lost Game 6 in '97) with a 3-2 victory. Counsell was named NLCS MVP after batting .297/.333/.459 with three doubles, five runs and four RBIs in the five games.

In the World Series against the Yankees, he had just two hits. The first was a home run off Mike Mussina in the first inning of Game 1, a 9-1 Arizona victory. The second was a third-inning single in Game 7 off of Roger Clemens. But Counsell's bigger contribution came in the ninth, an inning all too familiar to Yankees fans -- and joyously recalled by fans of the D-backs, who are celebrating the 10th anniversary of that title this year and making a surprising run at the postseason to boot. With the Yankees leading, 2-1, Mark Grace led off with a single to center off Mariano Rivera. Damian Miller laid down a bunt to sacrifice pinch-runner David Dellucci to second, but Rivera's throw to second sailed into the outfield. Bell then tried another sacrifice, but Rivera's throw to third was true, forcing out Dellucci. Womack then doubled down the right-field line to score Midre Cummings (pinch-running for Miller) and send Bell to third. Counsell was up next with one out and runners on second and third; Rivera hit him with an 0-1 pitch, loading the bases for Luis Gonzalez. And then, well ...






When I asked Counsell, standing in the visitors clubhouse at Yankee Stadium in June, if any one moment stands out in his career, it was that championship that he recalled.

"I think the 2001 season, for sure," he said. "We were playing the World Series in New York six or eight weeks after 9/11. Actually, I haven't been here [the Bronx] for 10 years. Clubhouse guys here were saying, 'Hey, I haven't seen you in 10 years.' We spent a week in New York, lost three games basically in our last at-bat. Three incredible baseball games, with everything that was going on in the city. I'd say that week, even though we lost the baseball games, but it was pretty memorable that we came here for that. And then we came back to win it."





The Diamondbacks won the NL West again in 2002, but were swept in the NLDS by the Cardinals. They finished third (84-78) in '03, and after the season, Counsell was traded (along with Chris Capuano and Lyle Overbay, among others) to the Brewers in a nine-player blockbuster that sent Richie Sexson to Arizona. Counsell came home to Wisconsin -- for one season. In December 2004, he re-signed with Arizona and stayed for two more seasons.

A free agent again in the 2006-07 offseason, Counsell then made the decision to head home, signing a two-year deal with the Brewers. In '08, and each winter since, he's re-upped with his hometown club.

"I wanted to come back to Milwaukee because ... the franchise had struggled for quite a while and it was 2007 when I came back here," he said. "It was just kind of the right time. The young players were coming and I wanted to be part of the teams that kind of turned around baseball in Milwaukee again and made it important. It's a baseball town. We're going to draw 3 million people this year, and that's saying something. I think that was the reason why I really wanted to play here -- I wanted to be part of those teams that made baseball important in Milwaukee."

So far, so good. That 2007 team ended what had been a run of 14 non-winning seasons in Milwaukee, then the '08 club was the first to reach the playoffs since the 1982 AL championship squad. The Brewers slipped to third -- and under .500 -- in '09 and '10, but as of this posting, they are 17 games over .500 and five games up on the second-place Cardinals in the NL Central. Perhaps at least one more postseason is in store for Counsell, who will turn 41 on Aug. 21, a week from Sunday, when the Brewers will be in New York finishing a three-game series against the Mets. Back in June, he understandably wasn't yet ready to predict what may come following this year.

"We're a little too soon [to think about the next step]," he said. "We have a good team. Obviously, when you're 40 years old, it's not going to last forever. One of these years will be the last year. I'll stay in the game for sure, I don't know -- I couldn't tell you exactly what, but it will be in baseball for sure."

After spending half his life playing at a high level -- four years at Notre Dame followed by 20 in the professional ranks -- Counsell won't be able to walk away from the game so easily, even after an 0-for-45 slide.

"Everybody looks back on their life and maybe thinks there are some things they could do differently," he said. "But it goes how it goes. Two World Series is -- there's not many people out there who have done that. Still playing in the big leagues at age 40 ... I'd be kind of nitpicking if I was looking to change things."

And my mom wondered why I saved so many newspapers

As a guy who once thought being an investigative journalist or baseball beat reporter was his ultimate dream job, I kept a lot of newspapers. I thought about the historical value they might have and dreamed of some large game room or memorabilia display in the sprawling house I would have based on my book profits as a well-known author (in addition to my reporting duties, of course).

After Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris' single-season home run record, I asked my friends around the country to send me a copy of their local newspapers from the next day. One college friend -- also a newspaper and baseball buff -- happened to have been visiting his girlfriend in law school in St. Louis at the time and sent me the next day's (if not the EXTRA! edition distributed at the ballpark after the game) Post-Dispatch. I then did the same thing with friends in Knoxville and Austin the morning after the Bush-Gore election, which of course wasn't decided until a month later.

I still have some of the papers from those and other events, though I sorted through them a few months ago and recycled quite a few. At this point, do I really need to see how the Los Angeles Times covered McGwire's feat, especially now that it has lost so much of its luster? But I still have papers commemorating the Mets' 2001 NLCS clincher (which I attended), their World Series Game 3 win over the Yankees, the deaths of Joe DiMaggio and Harry Caray, the Nationals' first game in Washington (which I also went to), the first day-night doubleheader played in both New York ballparks, Tom Seaver's Hall of Fame induction and some significant moments in Lakewood BlueClaws history (as much because I wrote a lot of it).

There is also an assortment of non-baseball and non-sports events: Notre Dame football in Hawaii and the Fiesta Bowl, the women's basketball national championship, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and the Devils' second Stanley Cup. Most of the papers are The New York Times and Asbury Park Press, but there are a few issues of the Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News, Orlando Sentinel, Arizona Republic, Washington Post and maybe even a New York Post.

Of course, the oldest of these events is the 1992 Seaver induction. Somewhere (I might not have come across it yet, or I might have ditched it because of the condition it was in), I think I have at least one of the New York tabloids from the 1986 postseason -- I believe it was Lenny Dykstra's Game 3 walk-off home run. I'm just not old enough to have anything as cool as the Daily News covering Don Larsen's perfect game. Who knows how many copies of that paper were burned up, used to wrap up fish for trucking uptown or dishes for a move, or used to cover someone's head during an unexpected downpour. But Gary Sangastiano saved his copy and soon will loan it to Montclair's Yogi Berra Museum to be put on display (Yogi, of course, caught Larsen that day).

I'll make a point to drive up Valley Road to see it, but I also hope they scan or photograph the inside pages, too. As a news nut, I'll be as interested in reading the coverage as I will be in seeing the cover in all its yellowed glory.

ND to MLB: Billy Sullivan Jr.

I hadn't intended to go this long between my first and second post looking back at Notre Dame baseball players who reached the Majors, but other things -- other posts, other interests -- kept pushing it back. I do hope to take some time to work ahead on a few to have in written and in reserve to keep things fresh around here.

These "ND to MLB" posts won't have any particular order to them. I'll choose who to feature on a whim, or if something leads me to a certain player or inspires me. That's the case with Billy Sullivan -- actually, that would be Billy Sullivan Jr., as it turns out.

Somehow, when I first searched eBay for a Billy Sullivan item, I neglected to double-check the years involved. Most of the lots available are for the elder Sullivan, the catcher who made his name for the early-20th Century White Sox. So without cross-checking, I went ahead and bought a 1961 Fleer card showing Sullivan in a blue Chicago uniform, arms reaching out as if awaiting a hug, catcher's mitt on his left hand.

Somewhere along the line, though -- and after I'd received the Fleer card -- I realized that the famous Sullivan of the early 1900s was not the one who played at Notre Dame. Both played catcher, and both had stints with the White Sox, but the son debuted, with Chicago, in 1931, while his dad played his last game in 1916. Thankful that the Fleer card wasn't too expensive, I shrugged it off and came across a reasonably priced autographed index card to serve as my Billy Sullivan, ND '31, artifact. There was nearly another Sullivan for whom I would have had to track down a card or photo: Billy Jr.'s brother, Joseph (which is also the middle name of both Billy Sr. and Jr.), turned down a contract offer from the White Sox to pursue a law career (as noted in the penultimate paragraph of this bio).

Sullivan bounced around during his career, playing for the White Sox, Reds, Indians, Browns, Tigers, Dodgers and Pirates, with his longest stint the three years with Chicago to begin his career. With St. Louis in 1938, he had the lone hit (a bunt single, according to Cappy Gagnon in Notre Dame Baseball Greats) in the first of Bob Feller's 12 career one-hitters.

What prompted me to go with Sullivan now was a recent post on Seamheads discussing Sullivan Sr.'s curved bat, which had been passed down to Junior. It's a fascinating read, so I encourage you to check it out. I also learned from that post that the Sullivans were the first father-son duo to play in the World Series, Billy Sr. in 1906 with the White Sox, Junior in '40 with the Tigers. And because that bit of trivia couldn't happen until the offspring reached the Fall Classic, it was Billy Jr.'s accomplishment that established the precedent -- another notable Major League moment for a Notre Dame man.

Finally, just as I was finishing up this post, I went searching for a photo of Billy Jr. to include and came across an amazing collection of artifacts obtained at an estate sale after Sullivan's death in Sarasota, Fla. (scroll down below the photos or search for "Billy Sullivan Jr." for the beginning of the archive).

Among the highlights:

If I ever needed confirmation that the index card I bought was signed by Billy Sullivan Jr., I think this contract provides a pretty strong case.

Billy Jr. had a copy of the same Fleer card of his father that I bought.

A letter from Hank Greenberg.

A new phone number announcement from Hank Greenberg's wife, Caral (nee Gimbel, of the Gimbel's Department Store family).

There's so much more to look at it could take all afternoon. It's amazing, some of the things you can find when you're least expecting it.

Billy Sullivan, 1942, from Crosley-Field.com

The Giants' Jersey roots

Something occurred to me on Monday night as I watched the Giants celebrate their first World Series championship since moving to San Francisco. I looked over at my blue Jersey City Giants cap, the white "JC" outlined in red, and thought about the two minor league affiliates that used to play in Trenton and Jersey City. (The photo at right shows Hall of Famer Gabby Hartnett and his son in 1944. Hartnett managed the Jersey City Giants from 1943-45.) I then realized that the last five World Series winners all have or had minor-league ties to the Garden State:

• The Yankees' double-A affiliate is currently the Trenton Thunder.
• The Phillies' low-Class A affiliate is currently the Lakewood BlueClaws.
• The Red Sox' double-A affiliate used to be the Trenton Thunder.
• The Cardinals' short-season affiliate used to be the New Jersey Cardinals.

The Giants' connection isn't solely from the '40s, however, because their starting second baseman, Freddy Sanchez, played for the Thunder back when he was a shortstop in Boston's system. In fact, each of these past five champions have had significant contributions from someone who spent a season in New Jersey on his way to a World Series ring: Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano (2003-04 with Trenton); Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz (2001 with Lakewood), first baseman Ryan Howard (2002 with Lakewood) and World Series MVP Cole Hamels (2003 with Lakewood); Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis (44 games with Trenton in 2002) and Cardinals shortstop and World Series MVP David Eckstein (1999 with Trenton).

But the Giants may have the earliest New Jersey connection of any World Series champion (aside from the fact that the entire game itself was born in Hoboken): they held spring training in Lakewood back in 1897. I had known that they trained on John D. Rockefeller's Lakewood estate from 1943-45, when teams were restricted in their travel during World War II. But in searching for some articles on that, I came across a few in the New York Times archive describing the club's 1897 preseason preparations. I've included one here as an example.

New Jersey may not have a Major League team of its own, but it continues to make significant contributions to the game 164 years after its birth on the bluffs overlooking the Hudson.

Diving into Mets history

'69 pins

Earlier this week, I went to the Mets' website and searched for tickets to last night's game on Stubhub. I considered two seats in the front row of the Pepsi Porch -- I can't wait to sit there, hanging over right field -- but then when I checked the weather and saw 50 degrees and a chance of rain, I thought better of it. Instead, I bought Promenade Club tickets that also gave us access to the Acela Club -- providing us with three options (they had Caesar's Club access, too) to get out of the cold, rain and/or wind.

Smart planning, if I do say so myself, but I'll get to that. We arrived early to walk through the new Hall of Fame and Museum in the rotunda. Unlike Opening Day, there was no line, so we could take our time without being crowded. It's a great display of the team's history and a nice touch going into the club's 49th season, giving them some space to work with next year for any 50th anniversary exhibits they may consider.

I particularly enjoyed the uniform displays. There's a timeline that shows examples of each style worn throughout the team's history, plus more jerseys in the front to highlight various players and moments in the last 48 seasons. Looking at the sizing tags gives some idea of the evolution of ballplayers' physiques -- David Wright wears a 48 jersey, Tom Seaver wore 44, Jerry Grote caught in a 42 and Bud Harrelson sported a 38. Manufacturers and technology probably play a part in jersey sizing over the years, but I can't imagine there's a Major Leaguer today who wears anything smaller than a 44. And those who do go that low are the likes of Alex Cora (I checked on one of his game-worn jerseys for sale on the concourse, $200 for a white Coolbase version), not any pitchers of Cy Young ability.

I also dug the World Series press pins. The four from 1969, '73, '86 and 2000 are on display, and the '69 and '86 ones are also mounted at the center of the Commissioner's trophies. Compared to the sparse Yankees trophy in Trenton on Thursday night, these are blinged out. Of course, press pins are probably a thing of the past anyway.

Another historical touch comes as the result of the lineup's new display at the top of the escalators in the rotunda. Above a field level concession stand on the first-base side are nine Topps reproductions of former Mets: Keith Hernandez, Rusty Staub, Cleon Jones, Wally Backman, Ron Darling, Tug McGraw, Bernard Gilkey, Bud Harrelson and Robin Ventura. It's a fun collection to look at, both for the card designs and the players themselves ... except for Gilkey. Really? He's one of the nine Mets chosen for this display? The obvious question is, Why not Piazza? But there are a host of other candidates for the spot: Koosman, Matlack, Carter, Alfonzo, Garrett, HoJo, Mookie, Gooden, Strawberry, Knight, Olerud, even Hundley. Or even Nolan Ryan.

I didn't dwell on it much. From there, we went on to a pregame dinner at the Acela Club and watched the game from the Promenade Club, out of the wind, until the eighth, when we decided to split a Shackburger and didn't have to wait in line for it -- though did have to wait for them to make it. It was there as we waited when Jeff Francoeur hit his second home run of the game, establishing two interesting marks. It was the first four-homer game for the Mets at Citi Field and the first time two Mets hit two home runs each at home since Shea's first year, 1964. Earlier, while in the Promenade Club, I noticed a graphic on SNY that showed visitors hit 79 home runs at Shea in 2008 and 81 at Citi in 2009 -- perhaps another indicator that the Mets' lack of power in '09 was not because of their new ballpark but more an indication of their depleted lineup and, hopefully, a change in approach for the one constant in the lineup through the season, namely David Wright. So if Rod Barajas and Francoeur can hit two apiece and Wright can pound one off the wall on a chilly, windy night, I'm hopeful there's a rebound afoot this season.

Most valuable losers

When Chase Utley hit his second home run in Game 5 of the World Series, giving him five against the Yankees, the discussion began about who had been named Series MVP from the losing team. Since the award was first given (in 1955 to Johnny Podres), only one player had ever earned the honor but not a championship ring: the Yankees' Bobby Richardson in the 1960 Fall Classic.

Of course, that's the year that Bill Mazeroski ended the Series at Forbes Field with the only Game 7 walk-off homer in history. Mazeroski's numbers in the seven games were decent: .320 batting average, two homers, five RBIs, two doubles, four runs. But Richardson's topped that: .367, one homer, 12 RBIs, two doubles, two triples, eight runs. In fact, Maz's somewhat pedestrian numbers were the best across the board on a Pittsburgh team that lost the Series in pretty much every category other than games won.

The Bombers outhit the Bucs, .338 to .256; outscored them 55-27; outhomered them 10-4; outslugged them 27 extra-base hits to 15; outpitched them 3.54-7.11 in ERA; and outWHIPped them 1.18 to 1.76. The Pirates won their four games by scores of 6-4 (Game 1), 3-2 (Game 4), 5-2 (Game 5), and 10-9 (Game 7). The Yankees' winning scores were 16-3 (Game 2), 10-0 (Game 3) and 12-0 (Game 6).

Mazeroski's five RBIs led the Pirates alongside Bill Virdon, but his five came with just a .241 average on seven hits. For New York, Richardson wasn't a one-man show, and if anyone in the press box kept track of the voting that year, I'd have to think that Mickey Mantle lost by one vote. Mantle hit .400 with three homers, 11 RBIs, a double, eight runs and eight walks. One way or another, the MVP of the 1960 World Series was going to a Yankee.

The Pirates' best candidate for MVP would have to be right-hander Vern Law, who started and won Games 1 and 4 and allowed one run in five innings after starting Game 7. In 18 1/3 innings, he allowed seven earned runs for a 3.44 ERA. The only other mark below 4.00 for Pittsburgh was Harvey Haddix's 2.45 (two earned runs in 7 1/3) that he accumulated by starting and winning Game 5 (6 1/3 innings, both runs) and pitching the ninth to win Game 7. (He came in with runners on first and second and no outs, gave up a single to Mantle that allowed Richardson to score and move Dale Long to third, then blew the save and allowed Long to score the tying run on a groundout to first by Yogi Berra.)

The most dominant pitcher in the Series was Whitey Ford, who won Games 3 and 6 by pitching 18 scoreless innings, allowing just 11 hits and two walks and striking out eight -- certainly MVP-worthy numbers. It makes you wonder why Casey Stengel, whose Yankees won the AL by eight games over the Orioles, pitched Ford for two innings in relief in the season finale on Oct. 2 and didn't use Ford until Game 3 on Oct. 8. Ford's last start had been on Sept. 28, five days before Game 1 of the Series on Oct. 3. For the season, Ford was 12-9 with a 3.08 ERA and an 85-65 K:BB ratio in 192 2/3 innings. Stengel's Game 1 and 2 starters were Art Ditmar (15-9, 3.06, 65-56 in 200 IP) and Bob Turley (9-3, 3.27, 87-87 in 173 1/3 IP). Had Ford started Games 1 and 4 and been available had it gone to seven, it may have been a different story.

In this year's Series, I think any chance Utley had of winning the award hinged on the Phillies forcing Game 7 -- especially if Utley played into a Game 6 victory in even the smallest sense. I think even to consider a player from the losing team, the Series has to go seven games. The most common simple way to evaluate whether a player is the valuable to his team may be to consider the team's fortunes were that player removed from the lineup. Take away Utley's solo homers in the third and sixth innings of Game 1, and it's scoreless into the eighth -- maybe Cliff Lee changes his approach in some situations in a scoreless game as opposed to having a 1-0 and 2-0 lead. And in Game 5, Utley's three-run shot in the first inning kept the crowd at its fever pitch from the start and pretty much gave Lee the freedom to pitch his game. (And, of course, Lee's performance in the Series would've earned him consideration for MVP as well, especially since he almost certainly would've had some role in a Game 7.)

So Utley fits the definition of a player most valuable to his team, but with just a six-game Series, it's hard to seriously consider someone from the losing side. For one thing, the Phillies never found themselves one win away from the title. And though they won Game 1 on the road, once the Yankees took Game 2, it was clear the momentum had shifted and remained on the Yankees' side through Game 4 and their 3-1 Series lead. The Phillies got it back to an extent in Game 5, but only for the first seven innings. After Utley's second home run of the game to lead off that inning and Raul Ibanez's shot three batters later, the Yankees fought back with three runs in the eighth and another in the ninth and had the tying run at the plate in the form of Mark Teixeira before falling, 8-6. In my mind, any shot the Phillies had of forcing Game 7 hinged on their jumping out to a moderately comfortable lead (in Yankee Stadium against these Bombers, that would have to be at least three runs) with Pedro Martinez starting Game 6 for them. It didn't happen -- Hideki Matsui's two-run homer in the second put the Yankees ahead for good, and though the Phillies got one back in the third, Matsui essentially put the game away (and earned his MVP) in the bottom of the third with a two-run single.

Since the MVP was introduced in 1955, a total of 59 players have won the award in the 55 Series that have been played. Those numbers account for three Dodgers -- Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager -- and two Diamondbacks -- Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson -- sharing the award in 1981 and 2001, respectively; they also account for the absence of a Fall Classic in 1994. Out of those 59 players, 23 have been starting pitchers, or 40 percent. Of those 55 Series, 23 have gone seven games, and in seven-game Series, the MVP has been a starting pitcher 14 times, or 58 percent. (Three relief pitchers have won -- Rollie Fingers in 1974, John Wetteland in 1996 and Mariano Rivera in 1999 -- but none of those Series went seven games.) So when the Series goes the distance, giving starting pitchers a chance to have an effect on three games instead of just two, they seem to have a greater chance of winning the MVP award.

Here's the list MVPs from World Series that went seven games:

Year	Player	Pos	Team
1955	Johnny Podres	SP	BRK
1956	Don Larsen	SP	NYY
1957	Lew Burdette	SP	MIL
1958	Bob Turley	SP	NYY
1960	Richardson	2B	NYY
1962	Ralph Terry	SP	NYY
1964	Bob Gibson	SP	STL
1965	Sandy Koufax	SP	LAD
1967	Bob Gibson	SP	STL
1968	Mickey Lolich	SP	DET
1971	Roberto Clemente	OF	PIT
1972	Gene Tenace	C	OAK
1973	Reggie Jackson	OF	OAK
1975	Pete Rose	3B	CIN
1979	Willie Stargell	1B	PIT
1982	Darrell Porter	C	STL
1985	Bret Saberhagen	SP	KC
1986	Ray Knight	3B	NYM
1987	Frank Viola	SP	MIN
1991	Jack Morris	SP	MIN
1997	Livan Hernandez	SP	FLA
2001	Randy Johnson & Curt Schilling	SP	ARI
2002	Troy Glaus	3B	ANA

But I think the other obvious choice for an MVP on a losing team was another slugger, and one who played in the last seven-game Series, in 2002. Glaus won the award for hitting .385 (I'm using batting average because it's likely that most -- if not all -- of the voters in the press looked at that instead of OPS) with three home runs, eight RBIs, three doubles and six runs scored. He doubled in the tying and go-ahead runs in the bottom of the eighth of Game 6, when the Angels were down to their final six outs of the season. He then went 0-for-2 with two walks and two strikeouts in Game 7.

Yet the most valuable player of that Series had to have been Barry Bonds. He hit .471 with four homers, six RBIs, eight runs and two doubles. Six of his eight hits were for extra bases (1.294 slugging percentage) and he was walked 13 times (vs. three strikeouts) for a .700 on-base percentage and a 1.994 OPS. He reached base via hit or walk in every game, and Game 4 was the only one in which he did not get a base hit. He went 0-for-1 with three walks, all intentional, and did not score in the game. The first two free passes worked; the Giants were held scoreless in those innings. But in the fifth, with the Angels leading 3-2 after two runs had scored in the frame, Mike Scioscia ordered John Lackey to walk Bonds with one out and Rich Aurilia on second. Benito Santiago then singled in Aurilia to tie the game. Anaheim got out of the inning, but San Francisco won, 4-3, with an unearned run in the eighth, an inning in which Bonds did not come to bat. (Bonds had batted in the seventh against Francisco Rodriguez and grounded out to first on a 2-2 count.)

That Series was at the height of Bonds' influence on how the game was played, evidenced by all of those walks -- he had an impact simply by forcing the opposing manager to take the bat out of his hands. Clearly, no one was more valuable. Had the Series ended in six games, he would've won the MVP (he went 1-for-3 with a walk, no runs or RBIs, in Game 7), and he probably should have anyway. No pitcher on either team was worthy.

We're overdue for a seven-game Series. There have been seven played since the last one went the distance, easily the longest drought in history. Compare that to 1955-1965, when eight of 11 Fall Classics went the distance. And maybe our next seven-game season finale will come with another MVP debate. Imagine the postgame trophy presentation on Fox if the winner played for the losing side.

Sox appeal

There it is. 12:06 a.m. on the East Coast and Jonathan Papelbon has just struck out Seth Smith to end the 2007 World Series and the baseball season. As I have every year for as long as I can remember, I made sure I stayed up to watch the final out, to see the last pitch of the season, to watch the celebration and to wrap my head around "Boston Red Sox, World Series champions," or whoever the team has been.

Man, the Rockies gave them a ride these last two nights, cutting both games close before Boston pulled away and put it away.

I love how Jason Varitek already has the championship hat on during the on-field interview. I love how Jamey Carroll gave that ball a ride to the wall in left field and how his brother, Wes, whom I covered in Lakewood in 2002 and must've had a moment of unbelievable excitement. I love how it was Jon Lester who started this game only a year after chemotherapy treatments for Hodgkin's disease. I love how wonderfully enthralling and engaging Roger Angell's season wrapups are and how we'll get to read another one in a week or two.

I love how Bud Selig still looks like a car salesman even as he's presenting a Tiffany trophy to the Red Sox ownership. I love how John Henry can sound so genuine in recognizing the Rockies and their 21-out-of-22 stretch. I love how Jeannie Zelasko seems to be wearing M.C. Hammer's pants.

I love how Alex Rodriguez -- or Scott Boras, or both -- planned his opt-out announcement for tonight, to steal some thunder, to start the process right away, to try to make it all about him. I love how he didn't show up in Denver to accept his Hank Aaron Award alongside the NL winner, Prince Fielder. I love how Mike Lowell is the Series MVP and is a free agent and that the Red Sox will probably re-sign him rather than spend the money for A-Rod. I love how the Rangers are off the hook for their remaining $21 million on A-Rod's contract. I love how the Yankees say they won't negotiate with him now that he's opted out and how this can only end one of two ways: 1) He leaves, or 2) they lied.

I love how they run the credits along with highlights of the Series all set to music and how that song was Van Morrison's "Golden Autumn Day" in 2004. I love how that song was Bruce Springsteen's "Radio Nowhere" tonight, followed by U2's "Walk On" for the extra minute.

I love how Jacoby Ellsbury stole us a taco.

I love how there's only one October, meaning we won't have to see Dane Cook yelling at us anymore.

And I love how everything starts anew again in four months when full squads report to spring training.

Time to choose a bandwagon

OK, it's been two weeks since the season ended, since the Mets' collapse was complete. Time heals all wounds, and while they may not yet be healed, they are at least sufficiently scabbed over so as not to cause wincing upon being touched.

Throughout those 17 days of September, we kept reminding ourselves that the Cardinals and Tigers struggled last September, yet they ended up in the World Series. "We just have to get there," we thought.

Not so easy.

The Mets choked; they simply gave up and gave away the NL East. Instead of setting up their postseason rotation during the final week of the season against the Marlins and Nationals, they were still trying to get into the postseason. The never got there.

It wouldn't have mattered.

Is there a more amazing story in sports right now than the Colorado Rockies? This is the autumn of upstarts, where South Florida is No. 2 in the AP and BCS rankings, where Kansas is among the final handful of undefeated teams, where Arizona State is the Pac-10 team that finds itself in the "controlling its own destiny" position for a BCS berth. Yet the Rockies may be the most amazing story of all.

After a last-place finish in 2006, the Rockies weren't expected to contend until next year at the earliest, but they tore through September, compiling a 10-game winning streak and winning 13 of their last 14 to force a tie with the Padres for the NL Wild Card. Getting the one-game playoff at home, Colorado came back to defeat Trevor Hoffman in extra innings -- whether or not Matt Holliday touched the plate didn't matter when the umpire signaled that he was safe -- and entered the NLDS on a roll.

That train continued to steamroll the Phillies and the Diamondbacks -- the team with the NL's best record, and one that finished a mere game (after the Rockies' extra win in their playoff with the Padres) ahead of Colorado -- in seven straight.

Now Denver will host its first World Series, on the last weekend of October. If the NL had home-field advantage in a Series that goes seven games, the Rockies would've been playing at Coors Field in November. Frankly, I'm pulling for snow -- or maybe just a blizzard from the Rockies on an off-day.

Should the Indians win one more game against the Red Sox, they'll enter the Fall Classic as the likely favorite, with a chance to win their first championship since 1948. You can expect to see Bob Feller at Jacobs Field for Game 1 on Oct. 24. But no matter the matchup, I can find reasons to pull for any of these teams. Can Colorado keep up its insane pace? Will the Tribe break its title drought? Can the Red Sox pull of yet another ALCS comeback and then win their second title in three years after going 0-for-86?

In a you-had-to-see-it-to-believe-it year like this one, it's fitting that those are the options we're left with.

Eyeing the rest of the postseason

ALCS
Twins vs. Yankees
Whether or not the Twins need Johan Santana to close out the ALDS against the A's will have a lot of bearing on this series. If Santana can go in Game 1 -- and potentially give the Twins three starts, if they need them -- the Twins can have a better shot at knocking off the Yankees.

New York, of course, has that formidable lineup, but the problem in the postseason -- as Alex Rodriguez learned last year -- is that slumps are magnified, and for good reason. A player can overcome a bad week or a 1-for-15 stretch and still have a good season, still be an All-Star, still win the MVP. Do that in the postseason, and your team could be going home. I think the Yankees will. Jason Giambi's wrist injury will keep him from playing first base, meaning Gary Sheffield gets that assignment after playing about a week there in September. Giambi's wrist could affect his hitting, and Sheffield's defense will be a liability.

The Yankees are on the verge of becoming the Giants, a team of aging stars. GM Brian Cashman won't let that happen, of course, but it could catch up to the Yankees in the postseason. From Randy Johnson's back to Mike Mussina's groin to Mariano Rivera's forearm/elbow to the wrists on Giambi, Sheffield and Hideki Matsui, there are any number of potential injury time bombs.

If the Twins' rotation lines up right -- and I think it will -- the Rangers' Michael Young will have not only won the All-Star Game for the American League, but he'll have put Game 1 of the World Series at the Metrodome on Oct. 21.

Twins in seven.

NLCS
Padres vs. Mets
The Shea Stadium fans will not cheer Mike Piazza as loudly this time around. And he certainly won't get a curtain call after a home run, unless it's a solo shot with two outs that cuts a Mets lead to 10-2 in the top of the ninth in Game 7.

Today's news about Orlando Hernandez's potential calf injury is a bigger blow than Pedro Martinez's because the Mets were already preparing themselves for a postseason without Pedro. El Duque was the primary reason, Exhibit A of Plan B. If Hernandez cannot pitch in Game 1 of the NLDS tomorrow, that puts Steve Trachsel in Game 1 -- Tom Glavine had already pitched his bullpen session and cannot take the spot -- and puts John Maine (unless he gets Game 1) as the Game 3 starter in Dodger Stadium. And what the heck is a 44-year-old Hernandez doing running sprints the day before he's to pitch in the postseason? He's a veteran; he should just be left to pitch.

When I sat down earlier this afternoon to run through my thoughts for the postseason, I was all set to tab the Mets for their third world championship. Yes, it's a bit of a homer call, a bit of a heart pick, but the Mets have the pieces and have had the good fortune -- and talent, ability and depth -- to get through the season with the best record in baseball (tied with the Yankees). Only the 1998 Yanks have won the World Series after compiling the best record in baseball during the regular season. A Subway Series would guarantee that one of the teams with this year's best record would become just the second one to do so. With Hernandez's injury muddling things, I'm going to have to amend my thoughts. I believe the Mets can overcome the loss of one starter, but I'm not sure about two.

I hope I'm wrong.

Padres in six.

World Series
Padres vs. Twins
The idiocy of awarding Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 of the World Series to the representative from the league that wins the All-Star Game is, as I've said, insane. It's no different from awarding home-field advantage to the team with the best spring-training record, because both are exhibition games largely decided by players who will not benefit from that which they helped to win. None of the American League's seven hits, three runs or three RBIs in the Midsummer Clunker came from a player in the postseason. At least Trevor Hoffman, who took the loss for the National League, may get to see what his ineffectiveness has wrought.

The Twins would've had home-field advantage anyway -- the American League team had it in even-numbered years under the old alternating system -- but their home crowds at the Metrodome surpass all but a few in baseball, and probably match up evenly with the likes of Boston and the two New York stadiums. In a Twins-Padres series, I see the Minnesota pitching edging out that of San Diego -- not a bad staff in itself -- and doing more to neutralize the opposing offense. If the Mets manage to find their way to the Series, I give them as good a chance as any team to win it. Without them representing the National League, I think the AL retains the crown ... for this year.

Twins in six.

Counting down to pitchers and catchers

I know I've got a lot to catch up on. I still haven't finished the attendance comparison between the Nationals and Orioles and I have yet to go through my preseason predictions for each division to hold myself accountable for my rights and wrongs. That will come. For now, a few thoughts on the end of the season. And yes, the Yankees are still the last AL team to lose to an NL team in a game that "counts."

I hate Fox. I always will. They can give us crappy pregame blather, start the games at 8:30 and refuse to move up weekend games any earlier than 8 p.m. (after the pregame) and then they can take their horrendous ratings and deal with them. Fox has dumbed down baseball and it hasn't worked to draw in the viewers. Don't insult us with Scooter and over-the-top graphics and shameless promos of your own TV shows through the use of pointing out which stars who have no interest in the game were given prime seats and told to be in them in the fourth inning for the on-air shot and then allowed to go back to their hotels. It's bad enough that the network killed off the true game of the week and forces us to watch our own hometown teams on Saturday afternoons when we'd otherwise be able to do so when, sometimes, I'd just rather see Oakland and Anaheim rather than the Yankees and Blue Jays.


Bobby Valentine has a point, and I think it would drum up a lot of worldwide interest to see the champions of the two major international leagues face off in a true world series. I'd certainly watch, and I'd probably have more interest in seeing the White Sox and Marines than I did in seeing the White Sox and Astros in Games 3 and 4. A game between the Marines and White Sox that had more meaning than the untelevised exhibitions played by the Yankees and Mets on their respective trips to open the season in Japan recently would be more interesting than seeing the Mets and Cubs or Yankees and Devil Rays play games that count in the standings under the Tokyo Dome. Bob Klapisch is for it too, and he correctly posits that Bud Selig won't make an effort to at least explore the possibility. And yet, they think everyone wants to see a World Classic. It might be interesting, and I'll probably tune in, but if you were to give me the choice between an international competition every four years and a face-off between the champions of two nations every fall, I'd take the annual showdown.


Speaking of Selig, was there anything more revolting than seeing Jerry Reinsdorf fauning over his "Buddy" (Reinsdorf's term, not mine) after taking the World Series trophy during the awards presentation? Reinsdorf spewed some drivel about "the game" or whatever, and Selig stood there extending his lower lip over his upper, hands clasped behind his back, rocking on his no-doubt tassled loafers. (Speaking of the way this guy dresses, does he ever wear a suit, or does he always go with the khakis and contrasting sportcoat? No commissioner of the four major sports -- and I'm even including Gary Bettman here -- would present the championship trophy in anything other than a fine tailored suit, or at least something that looks like one.)

The owners put one of their own, Selig, into the commissioner's office the way George Bush nominates his cronies for political appointments. It's amazing how Bush runs the country so similarly to the way Selig runs baseball. Both chiefs come from the rich elite, protect their own, care more about the bottom line for themselves and their friends than the health and safety of the masses, and try their best to rule as a monarchy instead of a democracy. Between Fox and Selig, watching the All-Star Game and World Series can be as grating as it is enjoyable.


The free agents have begun to file. It's sad to see Mike Piazza on his way out of New York, but it's for the best. He was good, and maybe he'll do one of those one-day contracts, so popular in the NFL, to retire as a Met in a year or two.

Some random and not-so-thought-out predictions for free agent and other movements we'll see between now and late February:

Paul Konerko:Angels
Billy Wagner: Phillies (though I'd love to see him in blue and orange)
A.J. Burnett: Orioles (imagine him with Leo Mazzone?)
Jim Thome: Trade to White Sox
Ramon Hernandez: Mets
Manny Ramirez: Trade to Mets (something just tells me this one's going to happen this time)
B.J. Ryan: Mets or Phillies, depending on where Wagner ends up (I think he wants to close, not take closer money from the Yankees to set up Rivera)

Maybe I'll throw out more later.