Will Ned Yost's Firing Save The Season For The Brewers?

*Truth be told, I had to delay commenting on this development because I had to finish cooking

a lasagna.
**Yes ladies, not only am I a writing genius and great lookin', but I can cook too. Drool at will.
***And if anyone's getting any ideas, my fiancee just started to learn kickboxing.

The Brewers must have felt as if they didn't have a choice and it's better late than never. Had they let Yost manage the rest of the season, it's highly unlikely that they would've been able to navigate their way out of this tailspin and Yost would've been fired after the season anyway, so it makes sense to do it now and try someone else to save the season.
It's water under the bridge to continually second-guess Brewers GM Doug Melvin for keeping Yost after last season (and signing him to an extension!) and not firing him earlier in

this season. In all fairness, Yost didn't build that bullpen, but he did allow the players to get away with fistfighting in the dugout and openly disrespecting him by challenging his handling of the players (that was August, 2007 after which it would have been a better idea to dump Yost). With the deal they made for C.C. Sabathia and the likely last two weeks in a Brewers uniform for not only Sabathia, but Ben Sheets as well, something had to be done. Bench coach Ted Simmons was re-assigned in the organization along with Yost's firing and I'm going to guess that Simmons (a quirky intellectual, and a very smart and loyal guy) was asked to take over as manager and refused, so that leaves them with Dale Sveum.
Sveum was a journeyman player for twelve seasons before managing in the minor leagues for the Pirates and accumulating a 213-211 record over three seasons. He coached third base for the Red Sox (I vaguely remember complaints being lodged about his penchant for

waving runners home to get thrown out and his lack of skill at the job); then left to be the bench coach and later third base coach for the Brewers. He's in a no-lose situation taking over for Yost because it's either going to work and the team is going to make the playoffs; or it won't. If the team makes the playoffs and Sveum doesn't make any egregious strategic gaffes, he'll get a contract to manage the team next season; if they don't make the playoffs, they're going to be looking for a new manager with a vastly different and weaker team next season.
Will this work? It's impossible to speculate. It's now on the players' shoulders because the manager they weren't playing for is gone. Yost had to go and twelve games remaining or not, the Brewers had to do it now; but will the players respond to Sveum and turn things around in this short time frame? It's convenient that Yost was fired now just as Sabathia is scheduled to pitch tomorrow night against the Cubs, but I don't believe that there was any pretense to the firing; it wouldn't have mattered who was pitching against whom after this non-competitive debacle that the past weekend was for the Brewers in Philadelphia against the Phillies. The players are either going to feel liberated from the constant speculation about Yost's managing skills, or they're going to continue to mail in the rest of the season playing as embarrassingly bad as they did over the weekend.
Their schedule has three games with the Cubs in Chicago starting tomorrow night; three

with the Reds in Cincinnati; then back home for three with the Pirates and the final three games of the regular season with the Cubs. This favors them after the next three days because the Reds----as dangerous as they are and even though they're still playing hard----are a team the Brewers should handle; then the Pirates are playing out the string and the Cubs will have clinched everything they can clinch by the final weekend; their manager Lou Piniella will be resting his regulars for the playoffs at that point. Worrying about what the Phillies and/or Mets are doing won't help the Brewers one way or the other if they don't take care of their own business and win some games. Even though it was six to twelve months too late, firing Yost was the correct move and the only chance the Brewers have to turn things around while there's still time. And they are tied for the Wild Card lead, so if they win, they'll get in. If not...

Brewers Fire Manager Ned Yost

The Brewers have fired manager Ned Yost and replaced him with third base coach Dale Sveum. I'll have more on this later.

One Realm In Which The Phillies Will ALWAYS Win And The Brewers Will ALWAYS Lose

• A gut check separates the Phillies from the Brewers:

The main difference between the Phillies and the Braves is that the Phillies, for all their

mouth-flapping and obvious flaws, are never going to quit; they're never going to let a small bit of adversity stand in the way of fighting to win. It was what led them past the Mets in 2007 and provided the catalyst to steamroll the Brewers this weekend and into a likely playoff spot.
The tone of the series was set on Thursday when Ben Sheets allowed five runs and nine hits in six innings and the Phillies won the game 6-3. It was as if the Brewers, knowing that they didn't have C.C. Sabathia pitching in any of the four games and already having lost with their secondary ace pitching, simply accepted the fact that they were overmatched and went through the motions knowing they were not only going to lose the series, but that the foundation of 2008 was crumbling beneath their feet. This is the fault of the manager Ned Yost and, by proxy, the front office for keeping Yost after last season and during this season.
For all of his strategic mishaps, overuse of his relievers and ill-timed ejections, Charlie

Manuel's players have never quit on him; if the Phillies take a punch, they always hit back. The Brewers on the other hand have a glass jaw; they're fine when Sabathia and Sheets are making hitters look like little leaguers; when their potent offense is piling up huge run totals or they're rolling along like a sure lock for the playoffs, but when they face any adversity, they collapse; this, like the public in-fighting and lack of hustle when things look bleak, stops directly at the manager's front desk.
The onus for this could be placed on the clubhouse leaders for the Brewers. They do have some players who are respected and well-liked by their peers like Mike Cameron, Sabathia and Jason Kendall, but if star players like Prince Fielder (who sulks and throws tantrums when things aren't going his way) are jogging out ground balls instead of trying to prevent

double plays, what are the rest of the players supposed to think? What can Cameron, Sabathia or Kendall do with Fielder other than to try and get him to take an active role as a leader and set an example by running hard to first base? There's only so much a player can do to get his teammates to behave appropriately; Derek Jeter is respected throughout the league and revered in his clubhouse, but the lack of hustle by both Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera has proven that there's only so much even Hall of Fame players can do. This is the responsibility of the manager.
Charlie Manuel has publicly benched his MVP shortstop Jimmy Rollins because of such transgressions and the rest of the team supported him without fail. What would happen if Yost said that he was benching Fielder for two games because of his attitude and lackadaisical behavior? Would they stand behind him, or would the dissension permeate the clubhouse and make the obviously poisonous teamwide attitude even worse than it is?
My guess is that Yost is being openly mocked by certain players as he tightens his already stifling grip on his team and they know that despite the fact that they're still in position to make the playoffs that they won't. They know that things are coming apart at the

seams in the clubhouse and on the field and their window is closing rapidly because they're going to lose both Sheets and Sabathia to free agency. What makes things worse is that the front office is quite probably ruing the fact that they kept Yost when they could've fired him at anytime dating back to last season, but didn't. They have to live with the decision knowing that they're unlikely to have this opportunity----a weak National League, two dominating starting pitchers and a run scoring lineup----again for quite awhile, if ever. The pieces were in place for a run at a World Series, but that's disappearing into the abyss of Yost's rage and inability to control his team. The elapsed time between Brewers playoff appearances is repeatedly mentioned in the press at 25 years; it's about to be 26 and the front office needs only to look into the mirror to understand why.

• The Barry Zito article by Pat Jordan in the NY Times sports magazine Play:
  

For anyone who hasn't seen the story, here's a link----Article----it makes Barry Zito look like a real jerk

By Monday, Both The Mets And Phillies May Be Heading For The Playoffs

• Phillies 6-Brewers 3:

The one game the Brewers had to win was last night's; everything else for the rest of this

series was built on that. They had Ben Sheets going; they were facing a gutty, smart, but hittable pitcher in Jamie Moyer; and the Phillies were desperate and reeling knowing that they'd just lost two straight games to the Marlins and were in danger of falling five games behind the Mets in the loss column, which, last year aside, would have likely sealed their fate. Now it's official, the Brewers are in the midst of an implosion and they're going to miss the playoffs.
Despite the obvious flaws of the Phillies, they never quit. As was proven last year, they're going to fight until every last ounce of blood and sweat is left on the field; is the same true with a Brewers team that is taking on the same tight, petrified countenance of their manager, Ned Yost? After last night's favorable pitching matchup, the rest of the weekend is probably going to have at least two games in which the scores resemble something that would be analyzed on ESPN College GameDay instead of Baseball Tonight; and with the way the Brewers bullpen has detonated so many games, they're going to be in big trouble if it's close going past the seventh inning.
If Sheets wasn't able to hold down the Phillies lineup, what chance do the likes of Manny

Parra, Dave Bush and Jeff Suppan have in Citizens Bank Park? The Phillies pitching isn't all that much better, but with Cole Hamels going tonight, they have the advantage; and Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick aren't going to just give in to the Brewers bashers; plus this is a case where Phillies manager Charlie Manuel's quick hook and overuse of his bullpen will be an advantage because the Brewers won't be able to win a battle of the bullpens.
The Mets have a Braves team that doesn't have the manpower or wherewithal to be able to win more than one game this weekend; if both the Mets and Phillies take care of business, both are going to be ahead of the Brewers and both are going to be in great position to make the playoffs.
And what of the Brewers? They're going to have some tough questions to answer after the deadline deal for C.C. Sabathia; after they were rolling along and looking not only like a team that was going to make the playoffs, but a team that was primed to do serious damage in the

playoffs. I don't know any team that would want to have to deal with the prospect of Sabathia and Sheets in a short series as both are looking to pad their resumes to make even more money in free agency this winter. At this rate, with the Phillies and Astros right behind them and closing fast, they need their back of the rotation pitchers and powerful lineup to step up and carry them home; considering the way they're playing, it doesn't look like it's going to happen and this is to the advantage of both the Mets and Phillies, for whom the road to the playoffs may not have anything to do with one another after all.

• I got the skillz to pay the billz and Canada's Most Wanted:

I suppose I'll take it as a compliment that so many Blue Jays fans who've gotten all riled

up over my cold-blooded and accurate assessment of their team of the past and future think I'm an embittered Yankee fan. If anything's an indicator of my writing skills and an ability to stay neutral, it's that. To adjust a quote Larry David from Curb Your Enthusiasm (before it got really annoying), "I do hate myself, but it has nothing to do with being Jewish!"; I'm embittered, but it has nothing to do with being a Yankee fan; in fact, I'm a Mets fan, for which I think I have an ingrained right to be embittered. Good thing I didn't say anything about the Maple Leafs. (Be on the lookout for the man on the right, he's extremely dangerous and devastatingly good looking.)

• Governor Sarah Palin's interview with Charles Gibson:

The interview hasn't played yet, but the main points are already out in the media. The objective truth about the interview and Gov. Palin herself is that the country is running the risk

of electing as the Vice President for a 72-year-old man what amounts to a pretty version of George W. Bush from the year 2000. Charming, likable and ingratiating herself to the religious right with conservative values, references to God and vague populist talking points, Gov. Palin stays on message to a remarkable degree while clearly knowing very little in depth of what she's talking about.
Those main points----war with Russia is an option to protect Georgia; she was quoting Abraham Lincoln during that speech in her church about God and the Iraq war; she hadn't the faintest idea what the "Bush Doctrine" is and what it entails----are frightening to those that are in stunned disbelief of the idea that she's capable of taking over as the President of the United States on a moment's notice.
Does she really believe that a war with Russia, which was avoided during all those years of the Cold War, is an option while this country's military is trapped in the Middle East? Is she suggesting military action to protect a small republic that is, in truth, of little import to the United States? Does John McCain believe that?
Is she expecting the public to think that she was studying the speeches of Abraham Lincoln to find quotes when referencing God as she discussed the Iraq war?
The sheer look of panic as her brain was searching for a way to stickhandle (let's use a hockey term for the hockey mom) her way around the question without having a viable answer or even a passing knowledge of what the "Bush Doctrine" is was frightening and painful to watch.
The slogan for the McCain/Palin ticket is "Country First". Is it in the country's interest to put a 72-year-old man into the oval office with another version of George Bush as his VP? As

Barack Obama says, it's enough. Enough with the bullet points; enough with the populist speeches designed to attract the masses; enough with someone who doesn't know what they're doing and tries to pass off being able to "see Russia" from the Alaskan soil as foreign policy experience. And for those that are ready to say that she has as much experience as Obama, she doesn't. Obama has been running for president for almost two years now and, with all due respect, I find it very difficult to believe that Gov. Palin is as smart and skilled as Obama. There's a very real possibility that she'll have to step in and be president very quickly and that is something that cannot be risked.
I'm very concerned that the Obama campaign is not hitting back as hard as they should against the republican campaign strategy for fear of being labeled as "sexist". If anything should awaken the voting public of the danger of having someone with no experience whatsoever as a possible commander-in-chief, it should be the anniversary of September 11th.
Amid all the remembrances should be the scene of President Bush, sitting in that school classroom for seven long minutes after being informed of the attacks and not having the faintest idea of what to do. As much as it's been spun with varying stories of the president not

wanting to alarm the children; of deliberating what to do next; of whatever reason they give for his lack of action and look on his face of sheer confusion and panic, does this country want to run the risk of putting another person of flimsy qualifications and questionable knowledge in that position? This has to be pointed out for what it is and the democrats have to take a page from the book of the republicans and point out these hard facts that the interview Gov. Palin hammered home.
The same mistake that the Gore campaign made against Bush cannot be made again. All along, I think the Gore people looked at then-Gov. Bush and thought that the public can't be taken in by this; they can't think that the Bush name recognition, support of the republican base and his likability will mask his complete

inadequacy and unpreparedness for the job. They were outhustled; they underestimated the message of Bush as it was presented in simple and easy to understand well-articulated bullet points that were designed to attract swing voters who were sick of the Clintons. They shook their heads, shrugged their shoulders and thought, "no one's gonna buy this crap", and they lost. The Obama campaign is still in a great position, but they can't repeat the mistakes of the past by being gentlemanly, because if Hillary Clinton were on the ticket, the republicans sure wouldn't.

In A Daze, In A Malaise, The Tampa Bay Rays

• Red Sox 3-Rays 0:

The Rays are staggering and stumbling toward the finish as teams who've had a smooth

season-long ride sometimes do; occasionally it costs them, occasionally it doesn't. I don't see this sudden rash of losing as affecting the team one way or the other once the playoffs start. Right now, it looks like the Red Sox are going to overtake them for the division, but all that's going to do is change the matchups in the first round. Simply because a team has an awful close to their season doesn't mean they're going to continue that in the playoffs.
The Tigers and Cardinals of 2006 looked like expansion teams over the last month of that season and both wound up in the World Series; once the playoff spot is clinched (and the lead the Rays built up will ensure they're going to make the playoffs no matter how many more games they lose), they should relax and get back to playing as well as they did earlier this season. Given the lead they built up, some adversity and guidance from the leaders in the clubhouse, how to overcome it and return to the solid baseball that got them into this position in the first place isn't a bad thing whether or not they win the division title; making the playoffs is the most important thing and the Rays have that sewn up.

• Angels 12-Yankees 1:

The statements uttered above about the Rays may not have been so clear cut had the

Yankees and manager Joe Girardi acted more quickly to prevent Darrell Rasner from blowing the game up last Thursday----Blog 9/5. It would be interesting to see what position the Rays would be in and how much panic would be going on if they were in the midst of a seven game losing streak.
The scuffle between the Yankees and Angels last night looked like it stemmed more from frustration on the part of the Yankees than any real animosity between the teams; it's a bad sign that the benches cleared and the Yankees, instead of getting fired up and playing better, looked like they packed everything in and let the Angels blow them out afterwards.
Hank Steinbrenner was quoted yesterday as saying that Girardi will be back next season----ESPN Story----but I don't think that's as guaranteed as the Baby Boss implies in his statement. What happens if the Yankees collapse completely over the final eighteen games and go 6-12 or somewhere in that area and end the season at 82-80? It's seen as almost a sure thing that Brian Cashman returns, but what happens if the Washington Nationals job opens up and the Philadelphia Phillies job is offered to him and he decides on his own to abandon ship? It's likely that the Yankees would promote from within with Damon Oppenheimer to replace Cashman, but if they go elsewhere for a replacement, what if the new GM doesn't want Girardi?
If George Steinbrenner were still running things, there's no question what the end result of

this season would be; neither Cashman nor Girardi would return and the money coming off the books with the departing free agents Jason Giambi, Carl Pavano, et al would be going into the pockets of C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira. People mistake Joe Torre's unprecedentedly long reign as Yankees manager as evidence that the Boss mellowed in his old age; maybe he was slightly more patient than he would have been fifteen-to-twenty years earlier, but Torre survived for one reason----he kept winning the World Series; other than that, he would have joined the long list of Yankee managers who were fired with or without their success and loyalty to the organization.
It's conveniently forgotten that Torre was days (perhaps hours) away from being fired in 1998 when the team started out at 1-4; he was able to right the ship in time to save himself and make history with a team that is widely regarded as one of the best in baseball history. Will Girardi be back next season? I'd say probably, but it's not a definite thing because if Hank gets angry enough and realizes that his bluster and threats are met with widespread skepticism and outright ridicule, he might just turn around and fire Girardi. It's at least in the realm of possibility.

• Billy Wagner out for the rest of 2008, 2009 and perhaps for his career:

Here's one thing I don't understand about this diagnosis, did he tear the ligament while he was pitching that simulated game on Sunday, or was it already an undiagnosed tear? And if

it was already torn, why did it take until Monday to diagnose it after he'd seen all of those doctors to try and find out what was wrong initially? That's neither here nor there I suppose, because it doesn't sound like rest and rehab were going to do much good; if the ligament was going to go, it was going to go. Wagner throws very, very hard and has been durable for much of his career, so it's no surprise that he's got a serious arm injury as his career winds down. The thing the Mets now have to decide is what to do about a closer for 2009.
For 2008, they're in the same position they were before Wagner was officially out for the season. I don't think they were expecting him back when he first went on the disabled list and were looking at it as a bonus is he was going to be able to return. Luis Ayala is going to close for the rest of this season as long as he's getting the job done and I have no problem with that. Ayala has handled the pressure, he throws strikes and has very good stuff. There are voices in the media, notably Mike Francesa on WFAN, who are implying that the Mets are walking the tightrope this season with Ayala, but in order to prove his point, he's twisting reality to suit himself. On Sunday for example, Ayala gave up a run and it was seen to be a struggle for him to record the final three outs against the Phillies in the Mets 6-3 win. Looking at the box score and taking the situation out of context makes it appear that way, but it's not the case.
Ayala did give up a deep drive to Andy Tracy that Endy Chavez caught by the left field wall; and he gave up a run, but the two hits he allowed traveled about a combined total of 75 feet with swinging bunts by Shane Victorino and Matt Stairs; they were lucky hits and no reflection on how well or poorly Ayala might have been pitching. From what I can see, Ayala is pitching very well and is handling the job better than anyone else the Mets have right now.
As for next year, the immediate speculation will center on the possibility of signing the impending free agent Francisco Rodriguez from the Angels or trading for Huston Street of the

Athletics. I would not pony up the $60-70 million it's going to require to get Rodriguez. As gaudy as K-Rod's stats are, he walks a lot of hitters; has a stressful, over-the-top motion and history has proven that importing big money closers is a wasted effort much of the time. While I don't believe the closer-by-committee strategy can work in today's game, I do believe that teams can develop a closer of their own inexpensively. I wouldn't touch Street either given how shaky he's been and the concern about his health; plus Athletics boss Billy Beane is like a predator waiting for a team like the Mets to panic if they look like they're desperate to make a splash and bring in a recognizable name.
What I would do is sign a veteran stopgap like Todd Jones or keep Al Reyes just in case the designated closer falters. If they try to move forward with Ayala or use one of their youngsters like Eddie Kunz or Robert Parnell, then this is the correct strategy; I would also seriously consider shifting John Maine into the role next year. Spending more money or prospects on a different closer would be a big mistake because there are other viable options that would work just as well, if not better.

• How does this affect Wagner's Hall of Fame candidacy?

This doesn't affect Wagner's candidacy at all because he wasn't getting in one way or the other. Rob Neyer wrote this in his blog yesterday:

And what of Wagner? This year he's been just about as good as ever, when he's been able to pitch. But how good will he be in 2010? I think he'll be pretty good. John Smoltz certainly was, when he came back. But Smoltz was only 34, and Wagner will turn 39 in 2010. Even if he's pretty good, we can't assume he'll be great. Which I'm afraid puts a real damper on his Hall of Fame candidacy.

Billy Wagner is not a Hall of Famer. Hall of Fame voters elect closers under

protest to begin with. If the truly great closers of yesteryear like Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage and Rollie Fingers had to wait for election, what would it say about a pretty good, but not great closer like Billy Wagner if he were even to receive serious consideration? In today's era, Dennis Eckersley was the first of the "one-inning save" closers who got in, but that's in part because he won a load of hardware as a closer (Cy Young Award, MVP, ALCS MVP); was a top six finisher in the Cy Young/MVP voting three other times; and was also a great starting pitcher early in his career. Mariano Rivera will get in on the first ballot because of the championship teams for whom he was an indispensable linchpin, but as for the others, it's a big question mark.
Trevor Hoffman is often referred to as a "future Hall of Famer", but I'm not so sure. I would have to think long and hard about voting for Hoffman because he has no hardware, has struggled in big games; he has finished in the top six of Cy Young voting four times (twice coming

in second). Hoffman has a better shot than Wagner does, but if these closers get in, it opens up a bunch of other names that would have a legitimate argument for their own induction. Those guys, including names like John Franco and Lee Smith, are not Hall of Famers. And Franco has something that Wagner doesn't since he recorded a huge save in the playoffs by striking out Barry Bonds as the winning run at the plate in game two of the 2000 NLDS. Wagner has failed miserably in big situations time after time. This injury and the possible end to Wagner's career doesn't hurt or help his candidacy because he ain't gettin' in either way.

• Reds 5-Brewers 4:

Strategically, there's no way to blame Brewers manager Ned Yost for this loss. He could

have left starter Dave Bush in to pitch the ninth given how shaky the Brewers bullpen has been; how well Bush pitched; and that Bush had only thrown 99 pitches, but Salomon Torres has been mostly reliable as the Brewers closer; there was no reason to think he wouldn't be able to hold a two run lead.
That being said, the Brewers are gagging again as the season winds down and it is very possible that neither the Mets nor Phillies are going to be left out in the cold in this year's playoff race because the Brewers are a likely candidate to collapse down the stretch. It's indicative of Yost's tightness that after Torres was hit with Corey Patterson's line drive and Yost ventured onto the field to watch Torres make a couple of warm up tosses to make sure he was okay, Yost's jaw muscles were contracting with such ferocity that he looked like he might spontaneously combust right there on the field.
Yost is eerily similar to another tightly wound manager whom the players tolerated and eventually mutinied against, former Astros and Angels manager Terry Collins. Off the field, Collins is said to be a very nice guy, but his tempestuous nature wore on the veterans in both of his

managerial stops and frightened the young players to the point that they were petrified to make a mistake. He was moderately successful because he had some talent to work with, but his teams were winning in spite of him and not because of him. In both of Collins's managerial stops, the players let management know that enough was enough with him and his temper. In his case, as with Yost's, a change was needed for the talented teams to make it to the next level from potential contender to true contender. If the supremely talented Brewers falter again, it will be partially because of their bullpen, but predominately because of their manager and a change is going to have to be made to someone more temperate if they want to win when it counts.

Santana Comes Up Big With A Lot Of Help From Delgado

• Mets 6-Phillies 3:

This was why the Mets needed Johan Santana; this was why they paid the amount of

money they paid to get Santana to agree to come to the Mets; and this is why no matter what happens the rest of the way, there won't be a collapse like there was in 2007.
The entire game could've blown up in the first inning, but because Santana's Santana and the truly great pitchers have that ability to reach back for that little extra bit of greatness to get themselves out of trouble, he wriggled his way through the first inning. (The old-timers used to call it "pitching in a pinch".) Any of the greats----Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson----it was always said that if you're gonna get them, get them early in the game because once they get into a groove and get their mechanics and focus down, you can pretty much forget about it and that

was how it was with Santana last night; after the Mets got him a lead, there was even more reason for the Phillies to be start hacking because he was going to start challenging them and, most likely, beating them with pure stuff.
A couple of other interesting notes on this game: Why did Charlie Manuel get so bent out of shape in the first inning? Why was Cole Hamels allowed to hit for himself leading off the fifth when he'd already thrown 90 pitches and clearly wasn't at his best? And Jerry Manuel showed a gambler's mentality in the eighth inning when he used Brian Stokes to pitch to Pat Burrell over Joe Smith.
As soon as Charlie Manuel walked out to discuss that catcher's interference on Chris Coste in the first inning, I could see he was going to get himself ejected; but why? The most telling thing about the call was that Coste himself didn't even utter a peep in protest, so that should've been good enough for Charlie Manuel to come out, ask what happened and go back to the dugout. David Wright immediately started going to first base and pointing after his bat

hit Coste's glove; umpire Jerry Meals sent Wright to first because he heard the bat hitting leather and Coste didn't say anything; why all the histrionics and combativeness in the first inning? It made him look like he was panicking over a call that wasn't going to cost the Phillies the game one way or the other.
With the score 4-2 in the top of the fifth; Hamels having thrown 90 pitches and clearly not being on his "A" game and leading off the inning; and Carlos Delgado locked in at the plate, batting second in the bottom of the fifth and crushing everything Hamels threw at him, why not send a pinch hitter up to try and start a rally? They pulled Hamels after the fifth anyway; why let the pitcher, even though he's a pretty good hitter (for a pitcher), bat? This isn't second guessing even though Delgado's second homer...hold on a second...yes,

okay. It juuuuust nooowwww....yeah...it just landed in Whippany, New Jersey.
Jerry Manuel showed that he's willing to take chances because when he pulled Pedro Feliciano after striking out Ryan Howard, I was expecting to see Joe Smith come trotting in from the bullpen to face Pat Burrell, but instead the increasingly dependable Brian Stokes was called in; Stokes threw one pitch and shattered Burrell's bat in getting him to ground to shortstop. Stokes throws extremely hard, but that took guts to go with him in that situation. I probably would've gone with the sidearming Smith.

• The upcoming Phillies-Brewers series is now the matchup to watch:

While the Phillies are still harboring thoughts of overtaking the Mets (after last season, how could they not?), they're probably not as self-assured about their chances as they're implying in

public. With that, I'm sure they're going to try and put a dent in the Wild Card lead held by the Brewers when the teams play four games this weekend.
Just like last year, the Brewers are staggering toward the finish line and taking on the personality of their tightly wound manager Ned Yost. One would think that with all of his experience as a coach under Bobby Cox during much of the Braves streak of division titles, Yost would be able to compartmentalize his feelings and focus on what's right in front of him. Instead, after C.C. Sabathia's disputed no-hitter/one-hitter, the person who was most affronted by the call was Yost himself and he let it distract him from the playoff chase his team is currently on. If the Phillies are within striking distance of the Brewers starting on Friday, I'd be concerned that Yost's propensity to explode will permeate the Brewers clubhouse and they'll turn into this year's version of the Mets and have the Phillies batter them out of the playoffs.
This is when a manager earns his stripes and if Yost's reactions both last year and this year are any indication, if his team makes the playoffs, it will be in spite of him and not because

of him. For all of his faults, Charlie Manuel has control of his clubhouse, the players like him and never let the gravity of the situation affect them adversely; can the same be said for Yost?

• Dodgers 5-Diamondbacks 3:

The Diamondbacks are in a lot of trouble.

Sabathia's Latest Masterpiece---A No-Hitter Or Not?

• Should the official scoring be changed in C.C. Sabathia's no-hitter/one-hitter?

In case anyone missed it, C.C. Sabathia pitched a one-hit shutout over the Pirates yesterday in which the sole hit was a little dribbler in front of the plate by Andy LaRoche that

was ruled a base hit----ESPN Story and Video Clip. The Brewers were livid after the game with manager Ned Yost being the most vocal about wanting the scoring changed so Sabathia is awarded a no-hitter. I don't see any way possible that this can be done and still have it considered a genuine no-hitter. There's a big difference between a pitcher going for a no-hitter and going for a one-hitter with or without a big lead on the scoreboard.
So what's the etiquette here? Is the MLB commissioner's office supposed to make the change on an official scorer's judgment call and "award" Sabathia a disputed no-hitter? If the change is made, what's going to happen? Before the next game immediately following the scoring change, are the Brewers going to gather on the field with Sabathia on the mound, pause for a moment and have Sabathia jump into the air as some sort of continuation of the game as it should have been with a canned celebration for the highlight reels?
Never mind the fact that the official scorer, Bob Webb, has twenty years experience in official scoring and made the call immediately; or that the no-hitter would forever be disputed as to whether or not it was a legitimate no-hitter; is this even that big of a deal? A no-hitter, as great an accomplishment as it is, isn't seen as a huge career highlight for most pitchers

who've had great careers. Tom Seaver has always said that the no-hitter was way down on his list of milestones. Sabathia's not some journeyman who'll have nothing else to look back on in his career; the guy has a Cy Young Award and is putting himself into contention for the award this season in the opposite league based on his dominating work since joining the Brewers; and he didn't even seem all that bothered about the scoring himself, so why are his teammates and management going so crazy?
Truth be told, in watching the replay of the call, I would've ruled it as an error, but it's a call that the official scorer is responsible for and he said it's a hit, so it's a hit and should stay that way; and if it was such a problem the umpires have the power to make the change in scoring if they deem it necessary, so why wasn't that change made by the umpiring crew if it were such an egregious call? I don't know how this is going to turn out, but if I were in the MLB front office, I would save all the grief that comes along with making such a change and awarding a post-game no-hitter by standing by the official scoring because it was a call that could have gone either way with a justifiable argument for both sides. What's done is done.

• Could Sabathia steal the Cy Young Award from Brandon Webb?

A more fascinating debate is going to be held if Sabathia continues his current dominance over the last month of the season and ends with a record of 14-1 or 15-0 for the Brewers and if

Brandon Webb continues to struggle----could Sabathia, based on a half-season of work win the National League Cy Young Award?
Such an occurrance (a pitcher traded at mid-season and being so brilliant that he wins the Cy Young Award for half a season) isn't unprecedented. Rick Sutcliffe went 16-1 after being acquired by the Cubs from the Indians in 1984 and won the award over other qualified candidates like Dwight Gooden and Bruce Sutter based on his flashy record, brilliance and that he carried the Cubs to their first playoff spot in 39 years.
Even if Webb goes, say 2-2 the rest of this season, he'll end with a record of 21-8 and will

get some votes based on that and because he was so brilliant early in the season; but he's been awful over his past two starts (lending credence to the implication that he's not 100% healthy). If Sabathia is as great as he's been so far and leads the Brewers into the playoffs and Webb continues to pitch poorly and the Diamondbacks miss the playoffs, Sabathia might steal the award from him and there would be good reason to give it to him. It's one thing for a pitcher to win back-to-back Cy Young Awards and to even do it in different leagues with different teams, but for a guy to win the second of the awards only after joining the new team in mid-July would be unbelievable, but it's becoming more possible by the day.

• From this week's Joe Morgan files of "What is he talking about?":

I used to live in an apartment near the elevated trains in Brooklyn and people would ask how we used to deal with the noise, but after so many years, we didn't even notice it. I've gotten to the point where Joe Morgan is like background noise that I hear every day and has turned into something that is easy to ignore as if it doesn't even exist, but he still has that

uncanny ability to say something that is so completely absurd that I have to stop, scrunch up my face, shake my head, look around and say, "What?!?"
Morgan and his partner Jon Miller (who must have the patience of Gandhi) were discussing the Sabathia no-hitter/one-hitter and Morgan came up with a new interpretation of the rules that I'd never heard before. Morgan's asserted that there was a "rule" that the official scorer was required to make sure that the first hit recorded is a "clean" hit. By that logic, the Andy LaRoche grounder to Sabathia would've been recorded as an error whether it was an error or not; by that logic, if a guy like Jose Reyes leads off the game with a bunt, then it's not allowed to be a base hit because it was the first hit of the game and the scorer is under the edict that the first hit of the game has to be a line shot to center field or something of that nature; by that logic, if a guy takes a home run cut, hits the ball off the end of the bat and has it bounce thirty times down the third base line and stay fair, it's not a base hit no matter the inning or situation whether it's the first inning, the fifth inning or the eighth inning.
I have no response to this. There's really nothing to say other than perhaps Joe Morgan

should consider moving to the broadcast booth for professional wrestling because he's starting remind me of the late former wrestler/broadcaster Gorilla Monsoon who would say things like "Hulk Hogan has literally been on the shelf for the past month" meaning that Hogan was physically sitting on a shelf. I don't know where or what to say or do with Joe Morgan other than shake my head in bewilderment and laugh because the man's in a world all his own.