Well, my predictions so far have not been as good as I would have hoped. I currently have picked 2 of the 6 series correct. The Mets in the NLDS and the Tigers in the ALCS. Tonight starts the 2006 World Series between the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals. So I feel as though I must make one last prediction for the World Series. Last time the Tigers were in the World Series was 1984. For the Cardinals, this is their second trip in the last 3 seasons. Back in 2004, the Cardinals were swept by the Boston Red Sox. There's a pretty good chance that they may get swept again this year. Detroit's starting pitching for the most part has been lights out. Kenny Rogers, Justin Verlander, Nate Robertson, and Jeremy Bonderman have all pitched very well in leading the Tigers to the World Series. Also, the bullpen has been virtually unhittable. This even with fireballer Joel Zumaya missing most of the ALCS with tendonitis in his elbow. St Louis on the other hand is led by Chris Carpenter and Jeff Suppan. Both have pitched really well in the playoffs. The bullpen for the Cardinals is shaky as evidenced by Adam Wainwright loading the bases in the 9th inning of the NLCS but nonetheless striking out the last two hitters on butt nasty curveballs. Your pitching matchups:

1. Anthony Reyes (STL) vs Justin Verlander (DET)
2. Jeff Weaver (STL) vs Kenny Rogers (DET)
3. Nate Robertson (DET) vs Chris Carpenter (STL)
4. Jeremy Bonderman (DET) vs Jeff Suppan (STL)
5. If Necessary, TBA
6. If Necessary, TBA
7. If Necessary, TBA

My prediction: Tigers in 6 Let me know what you think. no comments

I know it's a few days late for me to post this, but this catch in game 7 of this year's NLCS might be one of the greatest catches all time. I will let you guys take a look at this one and in the coming days I will add a new poll with the three videos I think are the greatest catches of the season and let the readers decide. no comments

In what became official news today, Major League Baseball has entered into an agreement with Eternal Image to allow images of all 30 MLB teams to be placed on urns and caskets. Right now, not all 30 teams are available. Just the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers will be available around the start of the 2007 season. Eventually the company hopes to get involved with other sports. Since death is not taken lightly, funeral director's will have to walk on eggshell's when broaching the idea of having your loved one buried in his team's colors. Also, they urns and caskets will have to be cost effective to the purchaser. Some people choose cremation because of the lower cost. If choosing this with a MLB urn, it has to be cost beneficial to the person buying the urn.

The Phillies urn was the first to be designed. Each urn will feature recognition of the deceased's passionate support, stamped with a message that says "Major League Baseball officially recognizes (person's name) as a lifelong fan of (team)."

Ok enough of the serious stuff here, lets take another fun look at it.

Ian: Honey, when I die I wanna be buried in a Dale Earnhardt, Jr casket Future wife (if that ever happens): You wanna what? Ian: I want my casket to have Dale, JR's colors Future wife: You wanna what? Ian: OK, OK. I'll settle for the Boston Red Sox urn. Future wife: Honey, you already have enough Boston Red Sox crap stuff in our house and now you want me to keep your ashes in a Boston Red Sox urn above the fireplace. Ian: That's right honey. That way my love for the Red Sox is shown. Future wife: Your nuts honey.

How many of those conversations do you think will be had? I will tell you this. Personally, i think it is a great idea. You hear stories all the time of people being buried in their team's jerseys and other memorabilia or having their ashes spread at or near their team's stadium. I wonder how many people will buy the urn just to keep on the mantle. If they have ashes of someone in their house already, will they have the ashes changed to support the departed's allegiance to their team? The thoughts of this are endless. Let me know what your thoughts are on this subject. no comments

Al Bello/Getty Photos

AP Photo

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In baseball news today, the Baltimore Orioles have hired Nicole Sherry to be their head groundskeeper. She comes to the Orioles from the Trenton Thunder. She used to be the Assistant Head Groundskeeper for the Orioles for three years before she went to Trenton.Sherry becomes the second full time head groundskeeper in MLB. The first was Heather Nabozny, of the Detroit Tigers, who is busy preparing her field in Detroit for the World Series. Having spent countless years in minor league baseball, I can tell you being a groundskeeper is hard work. The tarp pulls on your day off. Yes, everyone pulls tarp. And I mean everyone. How would you like to be that guy who had to call people at home saying "get your ass to the ballpark to pull tarp." Well, I was that guy. Not sure how everyone felt about me at the time, but you have to understand one thing. Working for a minor league baseball team isn't actually about the baseball for the front office, its about the all mighty dollar. The corporate sponsors, the season ticket holders, your groups, you name it; if it involved money then you could bet your bottom dollar that the groundskeeper was instructed to do whatever it takes to get the game in. Dealing with the players and coaches on how they want the field to be can be challenging. Some coaches want the grass cut short on the infield so that their speedy bunters can use that their to advantage. Or sloping the foul lines so that the ball will stay far or foul. You name it, I have done it when it comes to that. If there's a bad hop on the field, you can bet it's your fault. All in all though, its a great job to have. Where else can you get a farmer's tan, get paid and enjoy America's Pastime. no comments

After getting out of a first inning jam, John Maine pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings to lead the Mets to a victory over the St. Louis Cardinals knotting the series up at 3. Jose Reyes got things started for the Mets in the bottom of the first, leading off with a homerun. The Mets scored again in the fourth after three singles by David Wright, Carlos Beltran and Sean Green. The latter driving in David Wright with his single. Jose Reyes scored again in the seventh inning on a single by Paul LoDuca after he stole second base on a pitchout. Also scoring on the play was Michael Tucker giving the Mets all the runs they would score that night. Billy Wagner came into pitch the ninth inning and looked shaky again giving up 2 runs. In tomorrow night's game on FOX at 8 PM, the Cardinals will start Jeff Suppan. He will be opposed by Oliver Perez. no comments

Just days after Cory Lidle's plane crash, yet another Yankee has experienced some trouble with a plane flight. Today, the plane which Alex Rodriguez was a passenger on, overshot its the runway at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. There were no injuries reported. Now with this being a sensitive subject, I know there will be a few blog sites which will say that maybe the plane should have gone down. The reason I say this is, there is a lot of anti-AROD sentiment in Yankee land. To me, it's just eerie, being Friday the 13th and all, that two Yankees players have had problems with airplanes in recent days. Maybe the Yankees should take a page from John Madden and start busing around the country. It seems as though it's a lot safer. Once again, I'd like to offer my condolences to Cory Lidle's wife, Melanie, and their six year old son, Christopher, and both of their families. no comments

In today's first playoff game, the Detroit Tigers won 3-0, behind another strong pitching performance by Kenny Rogers, to take a 3-zip series lead. Kenny Rogers has now not given up an earned run in two playoff starts. As history dictates, we know that there is only one MLB team that has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit. And you ask who that may be? It is of course the 2004 World Series Champions, Boston Red Sox, who came back to defeat the Yankees after falling behind 3 games in the series. After watching the first three games of the ALCS, I don't think theres a better team in baseball right now than the Detroit Tigers. Everything seems to be clicking right for them, their starting and relief pitching, their hitting and defense. You name it, it's going right for the Tigers. It looks as though I may not get the total games right for this series as far as my prediction goes, but there's a real good chance I will at least get the team right. no comments

(photo taken from Yankees.com)

This afternoon, a plane that was carrying Cory Lidle and an instructor crashed into a building in New York City killing them both. The crash caused debris to be thrown to the ground and brought back memories of 9-11 to the residents of the city. In talking to a friend who was in the city at the time, she stated NYC was in a complete lockdown with basically every car getting searched looking for god only knows what. But given the past, this was necessary.

My prayers and thoughts go out to the family and friends of Cory Lidle.

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Just reported on ESPN and earlier in the New York Daily News, Joe Torre will reportedly be fired by the end of the day today (October 8th) and be replaced by Lou Pinella. Stay tuned to this as I will post any new developments here.

I know some of you are asking why I would post news about the Yankees firing Joe Torre. Well the reason is even though I am a Red Sox fan, I am a baseball purist. Joe Torre to me is a great manager and he deserves better than this. I don't see it as his fault for the reason why the Yankees didn't advance. As seen by TEAM USA's recent failures in certain sports, a team of all stars usually doesn't win. Anyways, good luck to Joe Torre in his future endeavors.

UPDATE: It is being reported on ESPN and ESPN.COM that Joe Torre will return for a 12th season as the skipper of the New York Yankees. To me, this is big Stein's way of keeping the Yankees on the back pages of the New York papers while the Mets are in the playoffs still.

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