As I posted earlier, I'm hoping for a Reds-Orioles WS.
2nd choices are Oakland and Washington.

What a mess in ATL! Infield fly rule, even though the ball was in the outfield. Late call. Objects thrown on the field. Game played under protest...

I'm rooting for the Reds also JR although my second choice would be the Nationals. I like Harper. American League, I'll be rooting for Oakland. I like Cespedes.

Chipper Jones with his last AB now?

And he breaks his bat, hits a grounder, but the throw pulls the 1B off the bag!

Infield HIT!

Braves lose, as their classy fans throw more stuff onto the field.

And now the Orioles waste no time in jumping out to a 1-0 lead.

Tigers' interest in Cespedes was more than passing

DETROIT --

What if the Tigers' worry about Yoenis Cespedes was where to hit him, instead of how to pitch to him?

What if the offensive catalyst of the A's had become a Tiger?


It was closer to happening than many might have figured. And it would have had a big ripple effect on the offseason market.

In the end, though, the Tigers didn't run out of interest so much as they ran out of time.

After Cespedes defected from Cuba last summer and set up camp in the Dominican Republic, the Tigers not only scouted him heavily, but sent top decision-makers to the Dominican to watch him. Team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski saw him at one point, as did assistant GM Al Avila.

At that point, however, the Tigers couldn't sign the outfielder. Nobody could, until Cespedes got his paperwork in order.

A report out of the Dominican in January quoted Cespedes as saying the Tigers were one of six teams showing the most interest in him. The report, however, didn't cite the Athletics, who kept their interest quiet before swooping in late once he was declared a free agent.

By then, the Tigers had signed Prince Fielder, and they couldn't afford Cespedes' terms.

"Once we signed Prince," Dombrowski said Friday, "we weren't involved."

Until then, however, Detroit was quite involved, which raises the question of what would have happened had Cespedes received his visa and been declared a free agent sooner.

Had the Tigers been able to sign him, their hole in left field might well have been filled. But the hole left by Victor Martinez's season-ending knee injury in January might never have been filled, depending on how they would have handled their payroll.

As the Tigers prepare to face Cespedes -- who went 4-for-10 with two RBIs in three games against them last month at Comerica Park -- and the A's in the American League Division Series, it's fun to wonder.

Dombrowski said he has been impressed by how well Cespedes has performed in his first Major League season. The skills were evident, Dombrowski said, but the adjustment to the big leagues was expected to be a process.

[The other teams Cespedes said he drew interest from were the Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs and White Sox. The Athletics were never mentioned.]

Could the Cleveland Indians have signed Yoenis Cespedes? Hey, Hoynsie!

Hey, Hoynsie: How close did the Tribe come to signing Yoenis Cespedes? On so many levels I think that he would have been a good fit here, plus we wouldn't have wasted money this year on Grady Sizemore and Johnny Damon, who will be gone in 2013. -- Brian Jenkins, Cleveland

Hey, Brian: The Indians did a lot of background work on Cespedes. They worked him out a couple of times in the Dominican Republic and liked his talent. When it became clear how much the A's were going to pay him ($36 million for four years), the Tribe quickly withdrew.

And that's just the way it is sports fans.

I'll be interested to see if the Braves organization offers any public criticism of their dumbass fans.

What a way to criticize the umps on the infield fly rule. They got it right. The rule book doesn't say immediately. Doesn't say not past the infield dirt. It says a reasonable effort by an infielder. Good call. Granted the mechanics do say the call should be made when the ball is at it's highest point. Doesn't happen all the time for a variety of reasons. In fact if the call hadn't been made the defense could have appealed to umps & the call would result with runners on 2nd & 3rd & the batter-runner at 1st would be called out. You would THINK that major league players would have a clue what the rules say & what they mean. Tell them to look it up in the rule book - knotty problems--

Reasonable effort by an infielder. Easy to understand. Didn't realize it was appealable by the defense if not called.

VT'er wrote:I'll be interested to see if the Braves organization offers any public criticism of their dumbass fans.

Just blame it on Jimmy Carter, and maybe Jane Fonda.

I hope all these 2nd tier wild card teams get quickly tossed out.....as I wish would have happened in 1997.

Mark Shapiro was in a key role with The Cleveland Indians in 1997, just for historical perspective.

Visiting teams looking to sweep in this new "one game to move on, one game to go home" playoff format.

Baltimore in position to close out the reigning AL Champs of the past two seasons, up 5-1 in the 9th and still batting.


Please......no Baltimore versus Washington match up in The World Series as the first Tuesday of November approaches.

As it turns out, Oakland.....of all "small market teams".....seemingly ripped the guts out of the Texas Ranger season, with Josh Hamilton, et al.

TX had bases loaded, but the O's prevailed.