it may pay off for the cardinals we just have to see...personally i hope they fall on there faces. the phillies is probably the second best behind the dodgers (the giants are third).

I wouldn't say the Giants are third. They have been playing over their heads this year, but have stumbled since the all star break. I would love to think they are good, but their offense is still horrible. The only reason they are tied for the wild card is because they have pitching coming out of their ears. Pablo Sandoval is awesome, after that you just hope someone comes through each night. I think the Cardinals are awesome with their pitching staff as well as a really good offense with Pujols and Holliday as their center pieces. I'm sorry to say that BAM. I know you hate the Cards, but it's just like you telling me the Dodgers are better than the Giants. I agree... unfortunately.

i know i know they probably will win the series, and it wont surprise me...what would surprise me is the the cubs coming back (7-2 since the all-star break, and the offence is starting to turn around).

hey blib who is competing against the giants for the wild card?

Colorado right now, but there are several teams 2-4 games back so it could be anyone by the end of the season.

yea i know the cubs are one of them.

Holliday will help the Cardinals' lineup and decrease the number of intentional and unintentional walks to Pujols.

I'm waiting for Halladay to get dealt. The price Toronto is asking is very steep, and I think the will eventually be willing to part with both Happ and Drabeck, but substitute another prospect for Dominic Brown in a potential deal.

I can't imagine Toronto allowing him to stay in the AL, so I'm thinking your boys in Philly have the advantage over NY. Also, I heard that the Blue Jays fans started a petition, threatening to boycott the stadium if he's dealt to the Yankees.

ill be happy if its the phillies, and not cardinals or brewers.

Toronto would be reluctant to trade him to a division rival, but I hear the Red Sox are putting together an impressive package to get him.

Off topic: I'm guessing Omar Minaya will be fired as Mets' GM by the end of the weekend. What a bizarre situation. I hope he's bounced at 2 am on the West Coast as he did to Willie Randolph.

That was so disgusting, what they did to Willie. However, he's home at his McMansion in Franklin Lakes, NJ (home of that NJ Housewives show on Bravo), collecting his millions, appearing at Yankee Stadium, and laughing his a** off! And more power to him!!!

Well, congrats to your Phillies for getting Lee. After losing Santana to the Mets (one of the biggest boneheaded moves in baseball), I can't see the Yankees letting Halladay go to Boston. It would be a HUGE mistake.

The New York Times is reporting that both David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez are on the list of players who tested positively for performance enhancing drugs in 2003.

I'm not TOTALLY shocked but I am disappointed.

i am dissapointed as well, and i wonder if pujols is on the list as well. hopefully not, but right now they need to show the rest of the list because this thing will continue on.

Kly, will you be watching any of the Phillies/Giants games the next four days? I know these games on the west coast are late for you. I'm dreading these games. The Giants have been hit with the injury bug, and the Phillies are such a good team. With the addition of Cliff Lee, your team scares me! I'm hoping the Giants can win at least one of the four.

The Cliff Lee deal was a major coup for the Phils. The fact that they didn't have to trade any of the players that the Jays wanted was huge. They got the reigning Cy Young winner, and didn't have to trade their top 3 prospects (plus JA Happ). Now Drabek can go into the rotation next year, and Dom Brown and Mike Taylor can replace Werth and Ibanez when their contracts are up.

And I'm really looking forward to seeing Pedro Martinez pitch, maybe as soon as next week. At least from what I'm reading, he is healthy for the first time in 3 years and is very motivated to prove he still has something left. I'm hoping he can rekindle some of that Pedro magic for the next 3 months.

With the news of Ortiz and Ramirez on steroids, I wouldn't be surprised if Pedro was apart of that roids team. Why did he suddenly break down? It's typical of players who abuse steroids. Eventually their bodies can't handle the enhancement and they start to have other health issues.

Ask him who his Daddy is!

I hope he does well. There were a lot of people who were pissed when he went to the Mets and not the Yankees, but it would have been a big mistake for him to try to fit in at Yankee Stadium. He never would have survived the heckling. It turned out to be a good thing re: his health, but that certainly wasn't my concern at the time.

You bet I'm watching. Tonight Lee makes his Phillies debut, and I'm hoping the team gets him a lot of early runs. Giants looked good yesterday, and they didn't even pitch Lincecum or Cain.

I enjoy the west coast games, especially on weekends. With start times at 10:15 pm it's a relaxing time to see a game. I cut up a watermelon and put it in the fridge and my daughter and I will eat it during the game.

i hear that lee and licuem will be pitching on saturday...if thats a case then this will be a rare sight of reiging cy youngs facing each other.

Lee is pitching right now against the Giants and look awesome. The Giants had a rookie going, Sadowski. It looks like this will probably be his last start as a Giant, for this year anyway. Lincecum pitches tomorrow.

The Phillies are definitely the best team in the NL. They have such an incredible offense, plus good pitching, especially with the addition of Lee.

Goombah mentioned Garko as being a "mediocre-at-best" hitter. Giants fans are happy to have him. That just shows how bad the Giants offense is .



That sounds like a great thing Kly, and something I'm sure your daughter will think about the rest of her life. Eating watermelon late at night with Dad and watching a ball game. Very special!

The Giants were the better team last weekend, blibble. Lincecum is establishing himself as the gold standard of pitching.

Texas, Baltimore and Pittsburgh have some incredible minor league talent right now.

One of the more overlooked tradeline deals was George Sherrill going to the Dodgers. He's a lefty reliever, who has incredibly good success getting lefties out. I'm sure the Dodgers were thinking about Utley, Howard and Ibanez, as well as turning around Rollins and Victorino in a possible post season matchup.

I like the Cardinals to outlast the Cubs in the NL Central. Carpenter, Wainright and Piniero are the best trio of starters in that division.

It is officially time for teams to start looking at wild card standings.

The Phillies have opened up the biggest division lead in baseball, but they are facing an interesting decision soon. Pedro Martinez struck out 11 in his AA outing, and reportedly is showing better velocity and command than he had in years. He's certainly not the pitcher he was 10 years ago, but he'll be joining the rotation withinin a a week or two. The Phillies are hoping he can give a good 6 innings each start.

However, the Phillies current rotation has Lee and Hamels, who won't be touched, Blanton, who is perhaps their most effective starter since July 1, Moyer, who, despite an ERA over 5, leads the team in wins, and the rookie J Happ, who is actually having the best season of all of them.

My guess is that Lee and Hamels will continue to pitch within a five man rotation framework with the four others getting regular work. The Phillies have only 2 off days in September and a couple of double headers. Also, they probably are thinking about Happ's innings as this is his first full year of MLB.

If the Phils hold on and make the postseason, I'm guessing their 4 man rotation will be Hamels, Lee, Blanton and Moyer.

I saw a film clip of Kevin Youkilis charging the mound and tackling the pitcher after getting plunked by a pitch.

I have a sudden desire to reply to all of Blibble's Farmville requests on Facebook.

That's FarmTOWN, not that cartoony FarmVille ripoff

I don't blame Youkilis for getting steamed, but it's going to cost him. Usually after a guy charges the mound, he doesn't get buzzed as much by opposing pitchers.

Pedro takes the mound in less than an hour. Moyer was sent to the bullpen, pending the Pedro experiment. He's far from thrilled about it, but that's baseball. I think Moyer will find his way in the rotation again somehow.

TRIVIA TIME

1. Chuck Finley of the Angels performed this feat three times in his career. No other major league pitcher did it more than once. What is the feat?

2. Bob Meusel is not one of the most celebrated Yankees, but he has done this on the field more times in his career than anyone else in baseball history. What is it?

3. Hall of Famers Rickey Henderson, Nellie Fox and Pud Galvin, have this in common with present players, Hideki Okajima and Willy Taveras. What is it?

The following is a complete list of Hall of Famers that share something in common: Ernie Banks, Rogers Hornsby, Eddie Matthews, Joe Morgan, Frank Robinson, Nolan Ryan, Tris Speaker and Ross Youngs. What is it?

They're all in the Hall of Fame!!!

All Texans.

Struck out 4 men in one inning.

SC nailed the first and last ones. That last list is all 8 Texans in the Hall and Finley is the only guy to strike out 4 in an inning multiple times.

Bob Meusel's feat was hitting for the cycle 3 times. About twenty guys have done it twice but Meusel did it three times.

The answer to #3 is that all of these guys were born on Christmas day.

Quite a feat! That Murderer's Row lineup was unbelievable... a fact like this would have ordinarily been REALLY known but it's lost in that lineup. I'm surprised that Gehrig didn't do it more often.