I'm really glad that Zimmerman got that infield hit off Wacha. I didn't want to add another five links talking about a Cardinals pitcher throwing a no-hitter. But it's laziness that made me cheer for a base hit, not hatred of the Cardinals.
- The Rangers are in serious danger of missing the playoffs, and the finger pointing has started. The first target is someone who probably deserves it, suspended outfielder Nelson Cruz, of whom GM Jon Daniels said "We'd be in better shape if he wasn't suspended. It's a choice Nelson made."
- But Ken Rosenthal says that the Rangers should have seen the Cruz suspension coming and that they needed another bat even if he weren't suspended. Few of the Rangers moves this season have worked, in Rosenthal's opinion, so you can't just blame this all on Cruz.
- There may be plenty of blame in Texas to go around, but it's Ron Washington who is probably going to take the fall for this, writes Will Leitch.
- David Schoenfield believes the Rangers sacking Washington would be fully justified and that it's time for him to go after four straight seasons of heartbreak in Arlington.
- At least Alex Rios hit for the cycle against Houston.
- The Orioles faint playoff hopes took a bad blow when Manny Machado suffered a knee injury when he stepped on first base wrong. Fortunately for the Birds, as gruesome as the play looked, the damage to Machado's knee was far less that what they feared. He's expected to be back running in six to eight weeks.
- Jay Jaffe points out that while Machado's second half of the season was a disappointment, at least at the plate, he was still having a season at age 20 that ranked alongside some of the all-time greats at that age.
- Jon Heyman examines the possibility that Joe Girardi ends up managing the Cubs next season. The Yankees do want him back and will offer him what he wants to stay. That's usually enough for the Yankees. Emphasis on "usually."
- Heyman also thinks the Yankees getting Alfonso Soriano was the in-season pick-up of the year.
- Alex Rodriguez has assembled an all-star team--of lawyers.
- With the Yankees sliding out of playoff contention, Jay Jaffe looks back at the trio of pitchers, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, that were supposed to be the future in the Bronx. None of them worked out as planned. At least Kennedy had a couple of good years in Arizona.
- Your daily "Mike Trout is awesome" article.
- The Oakland Athletics aren't content to just be in the playoffs. They're pushing for the best-record in the AL to gain "home-sewage" advantage throughout the postseason.
- Gwen Knapp writes that the A's have earned a little respect this season through their play on the field. She goes beyond just saying they've earned respect to actually proposing some rules to show respect, one of which mentions limiting the number of sewage jokes writers can make. Ooops. Sorry. I guess I've used up one of my allotted two jokes already.
- Chris Cwik checks out the numbers behind A's MVP Josh Donaldson and marvels at just how unique a player he is in baseball history. He says that history provides little guidance as to whether Donaldson will be able to sustain this level of production.
- The Cardinals have made the playoffs and look poised to go a long way. So no worries, right? Wrong. A football game between Southern Illinois and Southeast Missouri completely destroyed the turf at Busch Stadium. You couldn't have scheduled a football game for November? More on the situation at HardballTalk.
- The Pirates have made the playoffs, but David Schoenfield thinks the Buccos are looking at a quick exit as their offense and bullpen have both struggled lately. It's a great story, but they do look like the weakest team in the playoffs this season.
- In any case, Danny Knobler believes Pittsburgh making the postseason should win their front office some time to continue to improve the Pirates. He says there was a lot of talk around baseball early in the season of "tension" between ownership and the front office.
- The Reds made the playoffs with an "AL caliber" lineup, writes Mike Axisa. You mean they used the DH? Is there really that much difference between the style of play in the two leagues anymore?
- Dusty Baker has a lot of decisions to make to get the Reds ready for the postseason. Be afraid, Reds fans. Be afraid.
- Mat Latos revealed that he's been pitching hurt since June 30. And his ERA has been 3.46 over that time. I'd take that from a healthy pitcher. When asked about it, Dusty Baker responded "I don't know." Seriously. Read the link.
- Just for all you pessimists out there, Joe Lemire breaks down the weaknesses of every postseason team.
- Nobody in Houston watched the Astros game on Sunday. Or at least no one that was measured watched.
- Danny Knobler says that there's no guarantee the fans will come back when the team starts winning again after this historic losing streak.
- In an ESPN Insider article ($), Buster Olney says that the Astros losing streak is threatening to make a mockery of the game. He doesn't so much blame the Astros for losing but the problem is rather that nobody in the game thinks that the Astros are making a mistake by not trying to win more games. He asks what would happen if six teams decided to do what the Astros are doing? (I'd argue the Cubs are already doing it to a slightly lesser extent. They just add a "pump and dump" strategy for free agency.) He feels there need to be fewer incentives to tank.
- My own rant. A lot of people have been calling for MLB to institute a "draft lottery" like the NBA as an incentive to win. I guess I'd have to ask them when has the draft lottery in the NBA ever dissuaded a team from tanking a season? I'm not an NBA expert, but it seems tanking is rampant in that league, especially at the end of the season. It seems all it does is keep really bad teams really bad for a long time. It also brings forth charges of shenanigans as whenever there's a really top player in the draft, the draft always seems to be won by a team, against all odds, that the NBA would want that player to go to. A bigger issue is that the signing bonus caps and free agent compensation rules that Bud Selig insisted upon cranks MLB's incentives for losing up to 11.
- Roy Halladay exited his start on Monday after just 16 pitches, none of them faster than 83 mph. Halladay and the Phillies blamed "arm fatigue" but I don't think anyone is buying that, are they?
- Maybe it's related to this. Halladay is dealing with an undisclosed diet-related illness.
- Tom Verducci thinks their workloads have finally caught up with Halladay, C.C. Sabathia and other veteran pitchers. He even coined a new baseball aphorism: When it comes to pitchers, "never trust anyone over 30."
- Phils manager Ryne Sandberg wants Ryan Howard to be more prepared and in better shape next season. What? All those meals at Subway didn't help?
- With the Pirates, Royals and Indians all posting winning seasons this year, the Astros and the Mets have the current longest losing-season streak. I would have thought it was the Cubs.
- Joe Posnanski looks at that FanGraphs article that polls writers on the three players most deserving of induction into Cooperstown that I linked to last time. He says that while he'd vote for Tim Raines for the Hall of Fame, he's not even close to being one of the best three players eligible for Cooperstown not currently in.
- Posnanski also wonders why more hitters don't try to bunt against the shift and says it's likely pride that gets in their way.
- Nationals coach Randy Knorr thinks he'd made a very good manager for the team. He's been with the organization since joining the Expos as a player in 2001.
- Marlins President Larry Beinfest finally defends himself and discusses what it's like to work for Jeff Loria. Beinfest won't be out of work long.
- Jim Bouton gave a long interview to the Sporting News about the Yankees, Free Agency, the Seattle Pilots, Ball Four and Twitter. Definitely worth reading.
- And finally, I'm beginning to think that baseball is just more fun in Korea. Here's a Korean slugger who pimps out a bat flip after a tremendous blast. Only problem? It was about 40 feet foul. But hey, just making contact is good, right?
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.