Cleveland Rocks Chokes!

Well, the Cleveland Indians completed their choke job last night by losing game 7 at Fenway Park, after holding a 3-1 series edge.

Granted, the Red Sox played well, but it comes down to Cleveland giving the series away. 3-1 series lead and all they had to do is win one game out of three. Their two aces were pitching games 5 & 6, and they came up short.

Travis "Pronk" Hafner what happened to your bat? You are the DH and cannot go 1-for-19 in the final five games of the ALCS. This young team either ran out of gas at the wrong time, or they got ahead of themselves with a 3-1 series lead.

I hope it is the latter because you have to man up and bring your game to take your team to the World Series. Actually, both reasons are unacceptable, but they happen. Just ask Tracy McGrady.

The Indians had a great season and may be there again next year, but you never know. A long season and injuries can make anything crazy happen. This may have been their only shot, and that is not good news for Kenny Lofton. Another lost chance at his first ring.

World Series predictions coming tomorrow.

In the mean time, enjoy this classic sound bite from Major League which includes an "F" bomb from Pedro Cerrano: You no help me now. I do it myself.

Three dreams broken for me in these MLB playoffs: the Philly Phanatic getting his spotlight in the playoffs, the Angels getting to the World Series, and the chance to hear, "the Indians win it, the Indians win it. Oh my God! The Indians win it! AHuhhahamwahaha!"

Dealing...

It is never a bad thing to have Josh Beckett pitching for your team in the postseason.

Beckett pitched eight innings of one-run ball last night, helping the Boston Red Sox win game 5 and move the series back to Boston in hopes of extending the series to game 7.

Beckett improved to 3-0 in the this postseason and dropped his ERA to 1.17. He now has a career playoff record of 5-2 with a 1.78 ERA.

Like I said after his ALDS start, you can put the AL, NL, and Japanese all-stars in the batter's box and they still would not manage more than one run off the guy. If, and I really mean if, the Red Sox somehow win this series, Beckett is the sure-fire MVP of the ALCS.

But, that of course will not happen because I picked the Cleveland Indians to win in seven games.

There was some drama in this game of course:

· Beckett did not take kindly to Kenny Lofton flipping his bat, after what Lofton thought was ball four. Beckett got Lofton to fly out on the next pitch and yelled something at him as he ran to first base. Lofton chirped back and jogged towards the mound after the ball was caught. No punches were thrown and Beckett continued to dominate the Indians. Respect your elders Beckett.

· Manny Ramirez was up to being Manny again. He turned a near home run into a 390-foot single because he was slow to get out of the box. Well at least you looked good getting that single Man Ram. To his credit it was a mere inches from being a home run, but that still does not excuse him from trotting around the bases, or base in this case.

· Another Manny being Manny? Why yes of course. In the first inning, Manny tried to score from second base in the first inning on a single to right field. Indians' right fielder Franklin Gutierrez gathered the ball and threw home, but the throw was high to catcher Victor Martinez. The good thing for the Indians was that Manny was running the bases, because instead of sliding home, he came in standing up and was tagged out by Martinez. Weird dude.

Game 6 will be tomorrow, Schilling v. Carmona.
No word yet on whether Schilling will bring his red Sharpie marker for his sock.

Joe Torre Out

Joe Torre will officially be out of a Yankees uniform, as he turned down a one-year $5 million contract that included a possible $3 million in bonuses, and a $8 million option in 2009 if the Yankees won the AL pennant.

This has to be a pride thing for Torre. At $5 million, he still would have been the highest paid manager in the bigs, and probably would have made it $6 million since the Yankees have reached the playoffs for 12 straight years. Not only that, I think the Yankees wanted to save face by offering Torre a contract he would not accept.

The contract negotiations could have gone on for a couple of days but instead, they offered, he declined, thank you for the great years. Who would want to be in Torre's situation anyway?

He led the Yankees to 12 straight postseason appearances and four World Series championships, yet faced scrutiny from George Steinbrenner on the daily. Why would Torre take a one-year deal after all the years he put into the Yankees?

Basically that is telling Torre, "you better perform in 2008 or you will be out of here." Why would Torre want to go through a full season with that hanging over his head? The worst part about this whole thing is that Steinbrenner gave Torre an ultimatum during the ALDS. That is no way to treat a manager.

Some say that the door is still open for Torre to return, but I doubt that will happen.

Those considered to be the top candidates to replace Torre:
Don Mattingly, Joe Girardi, and Tony La Russa.

Stay tuned for more.

Nice move by the Yankees though: keeping the attention on them on the day that the Boston Red Sox can be eliminated in the ALCS. Touché.

Game 5, ALCS 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
The ex-girlfriend of Red Sox starting pitcher Josh Beckett, Danielle Peck, will be singing the national anthem at tonight's game. No word yet on whether she will give him a kiss of death before he pitches tonight. Double touché.

"No, No... it's too high, it's too high"

This guy just does not get it. Really. He really is on his own planet... or better yet, he thinks he is the center of the universe.

Manny Ramirez did not get the memo in the sixth inning, but his TEAM, the Boston Red Sox, were down 7-3 after his solo shot that he posed for in the picture shown. He posed like his home run made a difference in the game... like it was a walk off home run.

Well Manny, in case you forgot to check the scoreboard, the Indians were up 7-3 at the time, thanks largely to a THREE-run homerun (not a solo shot) by Jhonny Peralta in the fifth inning.

Paul Byrd gave up two runs over five innings, on the way to a 7-3 victory over the Red Sox, leaving them one victory away from their first World Series appearance since 1997. That is right, Byrd has done it again. He proved all the naysayers wrong by handling the Red Sox lineup.

Memo to ESPN: you should have never proclaimed that the series was in Boston's hands after ONE victory.

Manny seems to forget that this is not about posing for meaningless home runs, but to reach the World Series. WOW. You hit a home run and your team is still down four runs. You have a reason to pose on national television. You did it, guy... you did it.

I hope that pitchers around baseball are taking notice of this guy's antics, because he should be beaned by each team next year... including interleague play. You know it is bad when my grandmother even takes notice and hates the dude... and that is coming from the sweetest lady on Earth.

C.C. Sabathia, do the nation a favor and knock the Red Sox out of the playoffs on Thursday. Do it for Harry Doyle and Monte... even Monte has hit the Jack Daniels in the press box waiting for the Red Sox to be eliminated (ten points if you know who Harry and Monte are).

League Championship Series

The Colorado Rockies completed the sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks last night at Coors Field. They now face an eight-day layoff as they await the winner of the ALCS.

I picked them to win the NLCS, but I did not expect them to sweep the Dbacks. They are playing at an insane level right now. Every move that they Rockies are making are the right ones. Rockies Seth Smith pinch hit in the pitchers' spot in the bottom of the fourth inning and drove in two runs with a bloop hit.

Who is Seth Smith? Exactly. He does not even have a player profile on the ESPN website.

I do not like the eight days off for the Rockies, even though they assured the nation that they would be alright. It just reminds me of the Detroit Tigers last year, and how their bats went cold as they waited for the Cardinals.

Onto the ALCS...

Jake Westbrook and the Cleveland Indians took a 2-1 lead over the Boston Red Sox and their $100 million investment, Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Kenny Lofton continued to be the ageless wizard for the Indians, hitting a two-run home run off of Dice-K in the second inning after taking his time getting into the batter's box, much to the dismay of Jason Varitek. That'a'boy Lofton.

The Red Sox proved me right too... one of my keys to this series was to stay out of double plays. The Red Sox drove into three, including one each by David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez.

I read a recap on ESPN in which it proclaimed that the "Indians, who haven't won it all since 1948, are in control of a best-of-seven series that seemed to belong to Boston after the opener."

So Boston was in the driver's seat after just one game? Ridiculous.

Game four is tonight with my buddy, Paul Byrd, pitching for the Indians.
Do that Byrd flap.

American League Championship Series 2007

The ALCS starts in a few hours between the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. The Red Sox will throw potential Cy Young winner Josh Beckett against his biggest competition for that title, Eddie Harris C.C. Sabathia.

Both are rock solid this season and look to get their respective teams out to a great start. It should be a low-scoring game with the wind blowing into the park today at Fenway.


Josh Beckett v. C.C. Sabathia
Curt Schilling v. Fausto Carmona
Daisuke Matsuzaka v. Jake Westbrook
Tim Wakefield v. Paul Byrd

Everyone is making a big deal about the bats of Boston and Cleveland, but the real story is about both teams pitching. Cleveland has a nice 1-2 punch of Sabathia and Carmona, and Boston counters with Beckett and Schilling. Both tandems were stellar in their ALDS starts.

I think the format of 2-3-2 favors the Indians because I see a split in the first two games of the series. Allowing the Indians to go home tied at 1-1. From there they would essentially have to win two games at home and bank on one of their aces when the series shifts back to Boston for the final two games.

Analysts are doubting game four starter, Paul Byrd, even though he had a good outing against the Yankees. Like I said before, this guy is the realness.

Both lineups are solid and get men on base all the time. Its going to be all about staying out of the double plays for each squad. Ladies somehow always pick the series winners correctly, and Grady Sizemore is a ladies man. Listen to the women.

INDIANS in SEVEN

Major League is on the all-time best movies ever list.

Do Not Knock The Byrd Man

I hardly followed Paul Byrd prior to the 2005 baseball season, the year the Angels signed him.

Did you know? He went 17-11 for the Kansas City Royals in 2002, when the team lost 100 games? A poor mans Greg Maddux. Poor in accolades, yes. Poor in fan love, no.

Byrd immediately became one of my favorite pitchers on the Angels pitching staff. Down-to-Earth, excellent control, no over powering stuff, hardly walked anybody, great teammate, the list could go on... He is the real deal.

I remember watching him pitch a shutout in Boston in September. The whole time I was watching I was thinking to myself, "this guy needs to stay with the Angels forever. Why did it take so long for me to follow this man?"

Poor guy, his son does not even think he is a stellar pitcher.

I bet you his son is happy to gloat about his dad at school now.

Now everyone do the Byrd flap. Get them Red Sox!

The Truth Comes Out

This video was brought to my attention at a wonderful tailgate party this past weekend. For all his showboating after hitting home runs, Manny Ramirez sure looks a little too comfortable playing the woman role with Julian Tavarez.

Here is the link to the video . I love how the Red Sox fans are apologetic to the video: "HILARIOUS! Manny being Manny", "thats my boy manny!"

I am disappointed in the Angels pitchers for not beaning one of the Red Sox hitters, especially since Manny posed after his home run on Sunday, and more importantly, since Vladimir Guerrero got hit in the previous game.

*UPDATE* Julio Lugo was spotted getting a manicure and pedicure to pretty up for the ALCS. Maybe Manny can paint his nails too. Source.