Mushnick's surface take on instant replay

By Rick Morris

The New York Post's Phil Mushnick is someone with whom I both frequently agree and disagree. He is always outspoken, but is generally someone whose opinion you can respect even when you think he's wrong because he isn't lazy about backing up a take like a Mike Lupica or Mitch Albom might frequently be.

But I can't at all agree with his reasoning about why instant replay in baseball would be bad. Now, I haven't joined the replay bandwagon yet, but my mind is open on the subject. However, to reject it because of misguided fear that ballclubs could play hanky-panky with the content for replays as Mushnick suggests is ill-conceived.

I don't doubt for a moment that there are many owners who would try to use their TV trucks as an extension of the managerial staff (*cough* STEINBRENNER *cough*). "Sorry Mr. Umpire, we don't have a replay of whether that ball was a home run or not." Unfortunately for Mushnick's theory though, the vast majority of games are televised by both teams. If you're going to use replay, deploy it in the overwhelming number of games where each team has a broadcast team at its disposal. Games that are nationally televised by neutral networks would be exempt from this rule.

That wasn't even a difficult problem to solve.

C'mon, Phil, you're better than this.

MLB power rankings

By Rick Morris

Here's a current assessment, top to bottom, of where the teams in Major League Baseball sit at the moment:

TOP TIER
1. Arizona
2. L.A. Angels
3. Boston
4. Florida
5. Tampa Bay
6. Chicago Cubs
7. Philadelphia
8. Chicago White Sox
9. Oakland

SECOND TIER (playoff also-rans without acquiring additional help)
10. St. Louis
11. Toronto
12. Houston
13. Atlanta
14. Minnesota
15. New York Yankees

THIRD TIER (teams on the verge of falling out of playoff contention)
16. New York Mets
17. L.A. Dodgers
18. Cleveland
19. Detroit
20. Milwaukee
21. Baltimore
22. Texas
23. Cincinnati
24. Pittsburgh

BOTTOM TIER
25. Colorado
26. Kansas City
27. Seattle
28. Washington
29. San Diego
30. San Francisco

2008 MLB Predictions, Take II

By Rick Morris

With the start of the season upon us, I've got an update to my February 3 season predictions. The previous two months have not led me to predict that many changes. Also, I want to recommend for your reading pleasure these end-of-spring training notes from my good friend Russ Cohen of Baseballology.

AL EAST
X-Boston 92-72
Y-New York Yankees 89-73
Tampa Bay 82-80
Toronto 82-80
Baltimore 60-102

Thoughts: Boston is still at the head of the class here, even though the Beckett/Schilling injury issues will keep the team from making a run at 100 wins as they might otherwise. The Yanks are realistically one starting pitcher away from the playoffs, and they'll get him solely through their willingness to take on a bad contract. The Rays and Jays will really surprise some people this season, and may linger on the fringes of the playoff chase through August if everything breaks right. Baltimore has an awesome outfield of the future and very little else.

AL CENTRAL
X-Detroit 91-71
Cleveland 88-74
Minnesota 80-82
Chicago White Sox 78-84
Kansas City 77-85

Thoughts: Both of the top two teams have a flaw, Detroit with their bullpen and Cleveland with their heinous left field situation. The Tigers will win the division because their ownership is willing to pay the price to succeed and the Tribe's is not -- so a deadline deal decides this race, just like it will the wild card. Francisco Liriano is the heir to Johan Santana's mantle as Most Dominant Pitcher in the League, and he'll keep a retrenching Twins team right around .500 all year long. The White Sox won't be as horrible as they were last year, but not nearly as great/lucky as they were in '05. Kansas City will end up with a better record than most folks expect as this nucleus is coming together nicely and is being augmented with free agent signings that Larry Dolan won't shell out for in the form of Jose Guillen.

AL WEST
X-Los Angeles Angels 93-69
Seattle 88-74
Oakland 74-88
Texas 72-90

Thoughts: The Angels will have a great 1-2 punch when John Lackey (my pick for the AL Cy Young Award until he went down) gets back and will have an awesome 1-2-3 combo if Kelvim Eskimo-Bar makes it back. Regardless, their pitching depth is the envy of the division. Seattle played well over their heads last season, but will earn their record this year with two aces atop the rotation. Oakland is rebuilding, but will be a legitimate long-shot for the playoffs if Rich Harden stays healthy for once in his life. Texas needs pitching, not exactly a man-bites-dog story.

NL EAST
X-New York Mets 97-75
Atlanta 88-74
Philadelphia 87-75
Washington 68-94
Florida 60-102

Thoughts: Last year's collapse may never be forgotten, but the Mets will leave their NL near-misses behind this year when the world's greatest pitcher puts them over the top in the Senior Circuit. The Braves are loading up for a run similar to their '90s teams with the young talent on the way. Philly will miss the playoffs because of a dearth of consistent pitching throughout the roster. Even with a spiffy new park, D.C. needs some arms in order to be taken seriously. The Marlins have enough very young talent to be an early NL East frontrunner in 2011, but they will be a joke until then.

NL CENTRAL
X-Milwaukee 88-74
Chicago Cubs 87-75
St. Louis 78-84
Cincinnati 78-84
Pittsburgh 74-88
Houston 70-92

Notes: The Brew Crew and Cubbies will reprise their '07 battle, with Yost getting the most out of his young roster en route to the crown. Times have really changed as St. Louis and Houston, the dominant teams of this decade in this division will lose a lot of ground due to terrible pitching. The Reds and Pirates are on the rise, albeit slowly.

NL WEST
X-Arizona 91-71
Y-Colorado 89-73
Los Angeles Dodgers 88-74
San Diego 87-75
San Francisco 65-97

Notes: Four above-average teams with a flaw apiece (D-Backs/pop, Rockies/starting pitching depth, Dodgers/hammer-atop-the-rotation, Padres/pop) will thrill fans with an epic battle all summer long -- and will abuse the pathetic Giants.

DIVISION SERIES
Los Angeles Angels over New York Yankees in 4
Boston over Detroit in 5
New York Mets over Colorado in 4
Arizona over Milwaukee in 4

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Los Angeles Angels over Boston in 6
New York Mets over Arizona in 7

WORLD SERIES
Los Angeles Angels over New York Mets in 6

AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Ian Kennedy
NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Colby Rasmus
AL MVP: Vladimir Guerrero
NL MVP: David Wright
AL CY YOUNG AWARD: Justin Verlander
NL CY YOUNG AWARD: Johan Santana
AL MANAGER OF THE YEAR: Mike Scioscia
NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR: Ned Yost

In terms of the strength of the different divisions, here's how they rated in 2007 in terms of collective games over or under .500:

1. NL West: +17
2. AL West: +9
3. AL East: +3
4. NL East: Even
5. AL Central: -1 (NOTE: I predicted on many shows all over SportsTalkNetwork.com that the AL Central would be a hugely overrated division in '07).
6. NL Central: -27 (!!!)

In terms of my projected records for teams in '08, here's how the strength of the different divisions would rate this year:

1. NL West: +15 (pretty close to last year, as four very good teams will pound each other and all will decimate Frisco)
2. AL Central: +9 (very improved)
3. AL West: +1 (poorer record, largely as a result of Oakland and Texas being all but out of the race from the start, but general stability collectively from last year)
4. AL East: Even (it will be much the same as the NL West -- with Tampa Bay and Toronto improving and Baltimore waving the white flag by trading their ace, four above-average teams this year will pound a horrible squad)
5. NL East: -5 (Florida's preemptive surrender accounts for most of the division's collective decline)
6. NL Central: -11 (the Brewers and Cubs are the only above-average teams here, but the Reds and Pirates are putting the pieces in place)

And here's the overall Power Rankings:

1. L.A. Angels
2. Boston
3. New York Mets
4. New York Yankees
5. Arizona
6. Detroit
7. Cleveland
8. Colorado
9. Milwaukee
10. Chicago Cubs
11. L.A. Dodgers
12. San Diego
13. Atlanta
14. Seattle
15. Philadelphia
16. Tampa Bay
17. Toronto
18. Minnesota
19. Chicago White Sox
20. Cincinnati
21. St. Louis
22. Kansas City
23. Oakland
24. Pittsburgh
25. Houston
26. Texas
27. Washington
28. San Francisco
29. Florida
30. Baltimore

As always, the ride will be memorable.

Video Clips: Fun Timewasters

By Rick Morris

From time to time, we try to accommodate our Lounge content consumers who just want some fun, light entertainment. Hence this edition of our Video Clips series, entitled "Fun Timewasters."

These are simply some video clips that you can enjoy and consume in the form of good, mindless entertainment. On with the show!

Stephen Curry has been THE superstar of this year's NCAA hoops tournament. Here's a compilation of some of his more impressive plays:



Is this next one in poor taste? Possibly. But watching Hitler vent as a frustrated Dallas Cowboys' fan is some kind of funny!



In the last year, we have seen one of the all-time greatest TV commercials, a classic in its own time: the Peter Frampton Geico spot:




Howard Cosell and Muhammad Ali, nothing more needs to be said:



Here's a segment from the vaults of THE SPORTSWRITERS ON TV, the forerunner of all of the TV talking-head sports shows we see today:



Are you geeked for MLB Opening Day yet? You will be after you see this:



And last but not least, here are some clips from the "Bookie Mom" series online. If these clips don't have you laughing, you're probably a bit too morose to be a follower of The FDH Lounge!

The Super Bowl/To Catch a Predator:



The Coach K/Roy Williams feud:



The NFL Combine:



Making chalk picks:



How Bookie Mom collects from deadbeats:

Baseball’s best players by position

By Rick Morris

This past weekend, during our 4^th annual FDH-produced charity marathon webcast, we utilized as we had during every earlier event bracket-style voting to determine the best players in Major League Baseball at each position. This was a key component of our broadcast and arguably our best one as it so often has been before. The judges may use any criteria: stats, defense, intangibles, being a good or bad teammate – any of these elements and others are equally valid.

The FDH judges were as follows: Nate Noy and me for the entire event, with the role of “third judge” being filled on a rotating basis by Tony Mazur for part of the first round, Mike Ptak for the other part of the first round and Jason Jones for the semifinals and finals.

First, let’s list our winners by position:

C: Victor Martinez

1B: Albert Pujols

2B: Chase Utley

SS: Jimmy Rollins

3B: Alex Rodriguez

LF: Manny Ramirez

CF: B.J. Upton

RF: Vladimir Guerrero

DH: David Ortiz

LHP: Johan Santana

RHP: Jake Peavy

CL: Jonathan Papelbon

NOTE: Players listed in bold won every round of votes by a unanimous decision.

Now, let’s examine the balloting by position:

CATCHER

First Round

Victor Martinez 3-0 over Benji Molina, Jorge Posada 3-0 over Joe Mauer, Brian McCann 2-1 over Ivan Rodriguez (Tony Mazur dissenting), Russell Martin 2-1 over Kenji Johjima (Tony Mazur dissenting).

Second Round

Victor Martinez 3-0 over Jorge Posada, Russell Martin 2-1 over Brian McCann (Jason Jones dissenting).

Finals

Victor Martinez 2-1 over Russell Martin (Rick Morris dissenting).

Notes

This position contained few real surprises, with the possible exception of Joe Mauer getting shut out in the first round against a player we all agreed would have significantly less offensive production this year in Jorge Posada. Russell Martin has to keep producing at a high level if he is to win the bracket next year.

FIRST BASE

First Round

Albert Pujols (3-0) over Paul Konerko, Carlos Pena (2-1) over Justin Morneau (Rick Morris dissenting), Ryan Howard (3-0) over Lance Berkman, Prince Fielder (2-1) over Derek Lee (Nate Noy dissenting).

Second Round

Albert Pujols (3-0) over Carlos Pena, Ryan Howard (3-0) over Prince Fielder.

Finals

Albert Pujols (2-1) over Ryan Howard (Rick Morris dissenting).

Notes

I was greatly surprised that Pena’s one great year was enough to get him past a former MVP in Morneau. Nate offered a very passionate and entertaining defense of Lee, who he sees as the epitome of an all-around player. We all liked Fielder a great deal, but each of us preferred Howard by a slim margin. I took Howard in the finals just because of remaining questions about the health of Pujols’ elbow.

SECOND BASE

First Round

Chase Utley (3-0) over Placido Polanco (3-0), Jeff Kent (2-1) over Dan Uggla (Tony Mazur dissenting), Robinson Cano (2-1) over Brian Roberts (Nate Noy dissenting), Brandon Phillips (3-0) over Mark Ellis.

Second Round

Chase Utley (3-0) over Jeff Kent, Brandon Phillips (2-1) over Robinson Cano (Jason Jones dissenting).

Finals

Chase Utley (3-0) over Brandon Phillips.

Notes

We saw very few surprises at this position. Jason had such respect for Cano that he took him over Phillips in the second round, but that was about it. Utley made it through on three consecutive 3-0 votes.

SHORTSTOP

First Round

Jimmy Rollins (2-1) over J.J. Hardy (Tony Mazur dissenting), Derek Jeter (2-1) over Troy Tulowitzki (Rick Morris dissenting), Hanley Ramirez (3-0) over Miguel Tejada, Jose Reyes (3-0) over Khalil Greene.

Second Round

Jimmy Rollins (2-1) over Derek Jeter (Jason Jones dissenting), Hanley Ramirez (2-1) over Jose Reyes (Rick Morris dissenting).

Finals

Jimmy Rollins (3-0) over Hanley Ramirez.

Notes

This position turned out to be way more fun and interesting than second base. My regard for Tulow’s upside was controversial in the first round inasmuch as it came at the expense of the sainted Derek Jeter, “King of All Intangibles.” The role of defense came up in both second-round matchups as Nate and I voted for Rollins in part because of his superior range and I voted for Reyes because Ramirez is a butcher with his glove. Ramirez lost in the finals because Rollins could trump him on defense but also match him for power.

THIRD BASE

First Round

Alex Rodriguez (3-0) over Mike Lowell, Aramis Ramirez (3-0) over Garrett Atkins, Miguel Cabrera (3-0) over Chipper Jones, David Wright (3-0) over Troy Glaus.

Second Round

Alex Rodriguez (3-0) over Aramis Ramirez, David Wright (3-0) over Miguel Cabrera.

Finals

Alex Rodriguez (2-1) over David Wright (Rick Morris dissenting).

Notes

In a round filled with 3-0 results, the most surprising by far was Wright/Cabrera. Wright’s speed and defense guided him to a narrow win on each of our ballots. I voted for Wright in the finals largely on the strength of getting along with his teammates significantly better than Rodriguez.

LEFT FIELD

First Round

Manny Ramirez over Eric Byrnes (3-0), Carl Crawford (3-0) over Carlos Lee, Alfonso Soriano (2-1) over Ryan Braun (Tony Mazur dissenting), Matt Holliday (3-0) over Hideki Matsui.

Second Round

Manny Ramirez (2-1) over Carl Crawford (Rick Morris dissenting), Matt Holliday (2-1) over Alfonso Soriano (Nate Noy dissenting).

Finals

Manny Ramirez (2-1) over Matt Holliday (Rick Morris dissenting).

Notes

I came close to voting for Braun in the first round, but his poor defense at third base, combined with his position switch, made him too suspect in my book. I preferred Crawford to Ramirez largely because of defensive considerations, as well as the fact that Crawford turns the statistically-significant age 27 this year. Nate voted against Holliday in the semifinals largely because of his home/road splits. I was fairly incredulous that I got outvoted in the Ramirez/Holliday finals. In my personal opinion, too much weight was given to the outcome of the World Series and the length of Manny’s track record and too little weight was given to Holliday’s defensive and team-oriented advantages.

CENTER FIELD

First Round

B.J. Upton (3-0) over Vernon Wells, Torii Hunter (2-1) over Andruw Jones (Nate Noy dissenting), Carlos Beltran (2-1) over Ichiro (Nate Noy dissenting), Grady Sizemore over Curtis Granderson (3-0).

Second Round

B.J. Upton (2-1) over Torii Hunter (Nate Noy dissenting), Carlos Beltran (3-0) over Grady Sizemore.

Finals

B.J. Upton (2-1) over Carlos Beltran (Nate Noy dissenting).

Notes

This position looked like it would be the most wide-open when we started and it did not disappoint. The twists and turns were amazing, from the dubious-about-Beltran Nate Noy voting against him in the first round and for him in the next two rounds (including the finals, when he was on his own on that one!). The battle of emerging young AL Central centerfielders between Sizemore and Granderson was closer than it looked, as all of us narrowly gave Grady the nod and then all of us narrowly voted against him vs. Beltran in the second round! In the end, an unlikely candidate came out on top, as a player who only moved to center field in the second half of 2007 was proclaimed the best in the game at the position – largely due to the matchups he faced in this topsy-turvy bracket.

RIGHT FIELD

First Round

Vladimir Guerrero (3-0) over Brad Hawpe, Nick Markakis (2-1) over Jeff Francouer (Mike Ptak dissenting), Alex Rios (2-1) over Jermaine Dye (Nate Noy dissenting), Magglio Ordonez (3-0) over Corey Hart.

Second Round

Vladimir Guerrero (3-0) over Nick Markakis, Magglio Ordonez (2-1) over Alex Rios (Rick Morris dissenting).

Finals

Vladimir Guerrero (3-0) over Magglio Ordonez.

Notes

The Francouer/Markakis discussion was a lot of fun as we debated the merits of these different but compelling young stars. I felt strongly that Rios and Ordonez might well be ships crossing in the night this season, but I was outvoted. Guerrero did not have a vote cast against him in either of the three rounds, although I really hedged on voting for Markakis.

DESIGNATED HITTERS

First Round

David Ortiz (3-0) over Frank Thomas, Jim Thome (3-0) over Barry Bonds (listed because we felt he would be most likely to play as a DH this year if he signs with anyone), Travis Hafner (3-0) over Jack Cust, Gary Sheffield (3-0) over Sammy Sosa.

Second Round

David Ortiz (3-0) over Jim Thome, Travis Hafner (2-1) over Gary Sheffield (Nate Noy dissenting).

Finals

David Ortiz (3-0) over Travis Hafner.

Notes

This position didn’t have a ton of drama, as Ortiz was not seriously challenged in any round en route to three 3-0 victories and the rest of the first round matchups were not very competitive. Nate cast the only dissenting vote in the entire round in taking up for Sheffield’s ability to hang on at a level higher than Hafner this year. The judges agreed that a year ago, Hafner would have won in the finals given his career trajectory, but that he’d have to have a great 2008 to get within sniffing distance of Ortiz next year.

LEFT-HANDED STARTING PITCHER

First Round

Johan Santana (3-0) over Mark Buehrle, Scott Kazmir (3-0) over Oliver Perez, Cole Hamels (2-1) over Francisco Liriano (Rick Morris dissenting), C.C. Sabathia (3-0) over Jeff Francis.

Second Round

Johan Santana (3-0) over Scott Kazmir, C.C. Sabathia (2-1) over Cole Hamels (Rick Morris dissenting).

Finals

Johan Santana (3-0) over C.C. Sabathia.

Notes

Santana breezed through with 3-0 decisions in every round, although he might not have beaten Liriano on my ballot had he advanced to the finals (and Jason Jones, who was not part of the balloting where Liriano was eliminated, agreed with me on that). I was a bit surprised that Sabathia beat Hamels, but that Cy Young Award apparently carried some weight. In the finals, we all agreed that we had probably seen Sabathia’s high-water mark in ’07, and it was still barely better than an average year by Santana’s standards.

RIGHT-HANDED STARTING PITCHER

Qualifying Round (we added an extra round at this position because of the sheer depth of it)

Josh Beckett (3-0) over Tim Hudson, Roy Oswalt (2-1) over Roy Halladay (Tony Mazur dissenting), Chris Young (2-1) over Brad Penny (Nate Noy dissenting), John Lackey (2-1) over John Smoltz (Nate Noy dissenting), Jake Peavy (3-0) over Felix Hernandez, Dan Haren (3-0) over Erik Bedard, Justin Verlander (2-1) over Fausto Carmona (Nate Noy dissenting), Brandon Webb (2-1) over Carlos Zambrano (Nate Noy dissenting).

First Round

Josh Beckett (3-0) over Roy Oswalt, John Lackey (3-0) over Chris Young, Jake Peavy (3-0) over Dan Haren, Brandon Webb (3-0) over Justin Verlander.

Second Round

Josh Beckett (2-1) over John Lackey (Rick Morris dissenting), Jake Peavy (3-0) over Brandon Webb.

Finals

Jake Peavy (2-1) over Josh Beckett (Jason Jones dissenting).

Notes

We had surprises a’plenty here, from Haren eking out the slimmest 3-0 victory you’ve ever seen from the judges to him being on the reverse end of such a decision in the next round against Peavy. Webb also lost a narrower-than-it-looked 3-0 result to Peavy. Beckett and Peavy both looked like freight trains rolling into their final matchup, but ultimately Peavy’s longer track record of dominance outweighed Beckett’s ascension as the best big-game pitcher in the game.

CLOSER

First Round

Jonathan Papelbon (3-0) over Mariano Rivera, J.J. Putz (3-0) over Francisco Cordero, Joe Nathan (3-0) over Trevor Hoffman, Francisco Rodriguez (3-0).

Second Round

Jonathan Papelbon (3-0) over J.J. Putz, Joe Nathan (2-1) over Francisco Rodriguez (Jason Jones dissenting).

Finals

Jonathan Papelbon (3-0) over Joe Nathan.

Notes

Papelbon just rolled through our competition, destroying even those closers who themselves won 3-0 battles. The only real drawn-out discussion was Rodriguez/Nathan, which was a good one.

Roid-ger's karma sandwich

By Rick Morris

The complete and utter humiliation visited upon Roger Clemens during the Congressional hearings this week vindicates all of us who have long seen he and Barry Bonds as flip sides of the same coin for the Steroid Era. For those like myself who were limited to watching excerpts of it later because we were unable to view it live, Jayson Stark's ESPN.com liveblog really drove home the nature of events all throughout that unique day.

I must say, though, that there seemed a vague note of sympathy shining through in Stark's writing in terms of the degradation being visited upon Clemens. If I was correct in detecting that, it was probably very similar to the sentiments of our Senior Editor Jason Jones, who was able to watch gavel-to-gavel coverage of the hearings. He described to me feeling the emotion that whatever Clemens might have done, it didn't merit that type of virtual anal probe in front of a national audience.

I disagree completely.

I don't believe that anything Clemens experienced this week amounts to anything more than a tiny slice of a karmic repayment for a career of conducting himself as a horse's arse, HGH/roids or no HGH/roids. Go ask Mike Piazza, the recipient of repeated attempted decapitations from this puffed-up bully, if he thinks the committee went too far.

For me, it's not a zero-sum question of whether Clemens is a vile cheater or whether Henry Waxman is a camera-addicted posturing egomaniac. For me, both notions are true.

While I find Stark's overall account to be outstanding and a perfect example of what can be captured both in the moment and for posterity in terms of liveblogging, I do question his belief that Clemens' statements were punctuated by believable intensity. It's all a matter of individual interpretation, but I found his occasional stammering and what I perceived to be a "Forced Angry Guy" manner of speech to be signs of insincerity.

In matters such as these, it's natural to come to the conclusion that nothing has been settled in the absence of any type of conclusive legal finding, but here too I disagree. The predecessor to this circus, the infamous 2005 Capitol Hill hearing, permanently branded Mark McGwire as a cheater in the court of public opinion based on his dissembling before the committee that day. If you glance at the public opinion polls this week, you'll see a similar dynamic at work with Clemens having been unalterably pronounced a cheater by the public based on his pathetic performance before Congress.

So tell me again why nothing was settled with these hearings?

Paul Byrd, you are no Pete Rose

By Rick Morris

By all accounts, there is much to like about Paul Byrd personally in terms of his positive lifestyle and his commitment to his teammates. He's been a career-long overachiever, relying on chutzpah and corner-painting to overcome his lack of any "stuff" whatsoever.

But the emergence of his name on the MLB list of HGH users was a disturbing one and if Byrd wants to continue to be viewed in the same good light he always has been, he owes it to the public to come clean beyond his inane excuse that he was doing nothing but treating a pituitary gland problem. However, it seems that he is disinclined to do so -- at least for free.

In a move reminiscent of Pete Rose's money grab confession in his book, PB is going to hold off on any further statements on the matter pending the release of his book "Free Byrd" at the MLB All-Star break (and may I note also as a huge Skynard mark from way back that I am offended by his appropriation of the greatest drunken sing-along anthem of all time for his tome). It was obnoxious enough when "Charlie Hustling The Spread" threw his weight around in true superstar fashion by making we the public pay to get the true story. It's another thing altogether to have a journeyman like Paul Byrd decide to exploit his newfound infamy to make a few more shekels. I say this as a lifelong Indians fan: Paul, reclaim your honor by coming clean and do so in the only manner legitimately available to you, for free.

Goon Squad/7th Inning Slouch February 14

By Rick Morris

We at FDH are proud to be producing the SportsTalkNetwork.com St. Valentine's Day Massacre, as we roll out our brand new Thursday night lineup this week.

From 7-8 PM EST, THE GOON SQUAD restores hockey talk to STN. Topics o' conversation? We'll break down one of the world's greatest but least-covered tournaments, the just-concluded Beanpot, we'll look back at the NHL Winter Classic, compare and contrast our preseason predictions for the NHL with the present standings and check up on the health of poor Richard Zednik. Thank God he's going to be OK and no, I haven't been able to bring myself to watch the video of his carotid artery being sliced wide open. Any of you who have watched it repeatedly are ghouls, by the way.

From 8-9 PM EST, SEVENTH INNING SLOUCH brings conversation about our national pastime your way. From the Roid-ger Clemens fiasco to offseason transactions to early fantasy Draft Day advice, we'll move through the most relevant material in the game right now.

Don't forget also from 9-11 PM EST, the Thursday night mainstay THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER comes your way with a great lineup that is summed up on our sister fantasy sports blog.

We're very proud of our existing programming with STN, which has endured and grown for almost five years. These new shows will bring our all-around coverage to an entirely new level and we humbly invite you to watch and listen this Thursday night.

What's right and wrong about sports today

By Rick Morris

This past week saw some unbelievable instances of good and bad in the sports world. Leaving aside the major headline stories like the Clemens needle saga on Capitol Hill, there were still some wild sagas raging all over the place.

Take for example Kevin Hart, the dumb kid in a tiny Nevada town who fabricated an entire narrative about being the object of a major recruiting war. This past Wednesday, in front of a crowded gym at his high school and a host of media outlets, he ostentatiously placed a California hat on his head to signify that he was going to be a Golden Bear. One small problem: it was news to Cal! NOBODY was trying to sign this kid, who embellished an entire process culminating in the National Signing Day circus at his high school knowing all along that the bill was going to come due for his shenanigans.

I’m not sure who leaves me more in amazement, this dunce or everyone in the media who believed his story without doing even the tiniest bit of research on him. Having said that, we’ve all done stupid things, albeit probably not on this scale, so hopefully this doesn’t dog this chap for the rest of his days. But it is emblematic of the tendency for impressionable kids to give in to their desire to become a big star at all costs, even for only a short while.

Also on the bad side of the ledger, we saw the perfect storm of miserable conduct as anticipated when Indiana visited Illinois in a Big Ten hoops grudge match. Eric Gordon, the insanely prized recruit who did an 11^th hour takeback on his Ilini commitment last year, was paying his first visit (and what will mercifully likely be his only one, what with the NBA beckoning strongly after this year) to Assembly Hall. For his last minute “yoink,” he was rewarded with dirty play throughout from Illinois and profane chants from the crowd toward his family and himself. The belated apology from the university did little to hide just how much moral squalor the coaching staff, players and drunken bozos in the crowd reveled in this past Thursday.

Finally, there was something to salute over the last week. While the passing of an uplifting figure is never a good thing, it does offer a chance to reflect and revel in what they brought us. Karl Erhardt, the “Sign Man” of Shea Stadium who held up block-lettered messages in support of his home team, passed away this week and has been getting memorialized in appreciation of what he meant to people. Fans like Sign Man and the late “Neutron Man” of Ohio State football fame (but not gravy-training self-promoters like “Big Dawg”) represent the increasingly small corner of sport that is untainted by greed and hate and selfishness. It shouldn’t have to take Mr. Erhardt’s passing to remind us to celebrate the example of pure fandom they set.

2008 MLB Predictions, Take I

By Rick Morris

These predictions will probably be readdressed just prior to the start of the 2008 MLB season. The only proviso below is that the Erik Bedard trade to Seattle is being assumed to happen for these purposes.

AL EAST
X-Boston 94-68
Y-New York Yankees 89-73
Tampa Bay (!!!) 80-82
Toronto 77-85
Baltimore 64-98

AL CENTRAL
X-Detroit 93-69
Cleveland 88-74
Minnesota 81-81
Chicago White Sox 78-84
Kansas City 77-85

AL WEST
X-Los Angeles Angels 95-67
Seattle 88-74
Oakland 73-69
Texas 72-90

NL EAST
X-New York Mets 95-67
Atlanta 86-76
Philadelphia 85-77
Washington 68-94
Florida 60-102

NL CENTRAL
X-Milwaukee 86-76
Chicago Cubs 85-77
St. Louis 82-80
Cincinnati 78-84
Pittsburgh 75-87
Houston 70-92

NL WEST
X-Arizona 88-74
Y-Colorado 87-75
Los Angeles Dodgers 86-76
San Diego 85-77
San Francisco 65-97

DIVISION SERIES
Los Angeles Angels over New York Yankees in 4
Boston over Detroit in 5
New York Mets over Colorado in 4
Arizona over Milwaukee in 4

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Los Angeles Angels over Boston in 6
New York Mets over Arizona in 7

WORLD SERIES
Los Angeles Angels over New York Mets in 6

AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Ian Kennedy
NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Colby Rasmus
AL MVP: Vladimir Guerrero
NL MVP: Albert Pujols
AL CY YOUNG AWARD: John Lackey
NL CY YOUNG AWARD: Johan Santana
AL MANAGER OF THE YEAR: Mike Scioscia
NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR: Ned Yost

In terms of the strength of the different divisions, here's how they rated in 2007 in terms of collective games over or under .500:

1. NL West: +17
2. AL West: +9
3. AL East: +3
4. NL East: Even
5. AL Central: -1 (NOTE: I predicted on many shows all over SportsTalkNetwork.com that the AL Central would be a hugely overrated division in '07).
6. NL Central: -27 (!!!)

In terms of my projected records for teams in '08, here's how the strength of the different divisions would rate this year:

1. AL Central: +12 (very improved)
2. NL West: +6 (poorer record as the good teams will beat each other up and the Frisco offense will drag their last-place status even lower)
3. AL West: +4 (slightly poorer record, but general stability collectively from last year)
4. AL East: -1 (see AL West)
5. NL Central: -10 (slight rebounds for St. Louis, Cincy and Pittsburgh bring this division up from its historically-bad status of a year ago)
6. NL East: -11 (Florida's preemptive surrender accounts for most of the division's collective decline)

How to talk like a blind homer

By Rick Morris

Are you sick of sounding like an intelligent sports fan with well-reasoned, intelligent takes? Do you want to simply repeat and regurgitate the ga-ga from your team, which demonstrably cares way more about saving money than winning a World Series? Well, then we've got the website for you. You can learn every infantile, suck-up-to-the-front-office, know-nothing propagandistic talking point necessary to become a Useful Idiot Par Excellence for the Front Office, such as:

^ "When we don't win championships, the real reason lies with that big ol' meanie Jim Thome, who admittedly left five full seasons ago. But he's just out to get paid. Players chase the last dollar out of Cleveland all the time. I bet that never happens in other cities. Man, our poor unlucky front office just can't catch a break!"

^ "Even if C.C. Sabathia leaves, it's still nothing but blue skies and palomino ponies! We're set up from here until the end of time with athletes even George Steinbrenner would saw off his left nard to have on his team! The only unfortunate thing about C.C. leaving would be those mean fans somehow blaming Larry Dolan for not signing him and Mark Shapiro for letting the situation fester to that point. The nerve of those peons! The Tribe front office is right, these uneducated ingrates don't know how good they've got it!"

^ "The Tribe will sign C.C. Past history regarding franchise players and the Dolan ownership is completely irrelevant! Those who try to learn from history are delusional and can't see what Our Great Benevolent Ownership is doing for us in the glorious struggle against the Infidels of the Central Division!"

^ "Offseason upgrades? Those are for mere mortals! We don't need no stinking offseason upgrades! I can't believe that these uneducated fans are impressed with the acquisition of Miguel Cabera. How many World Series titles has he won? Really? Ok, scratch that last point."

^ "The Indians' mediocre farm system of present is NOT the result of poor drafting! It's a combination, circumstances, bad luck, a lunar eclipse and a curse placed on the minor leaguers by that evil Jim Thome!"

FDH rankings of minor league baseball systems

By Rick Morris

We at FDH recently formulated a beta version list of The Top 100 Minor League Baseball Keeper League Prospects. It's up on our fantasy sports blog, FantasyDrafthelp.blogspot.com.

We will be featuring the final version of this list in our 2008 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide, which will be available shortly. While this list was compiled to illustrate the most valuable baseball prospects for people in fantasy keeper leagues (with emphasis given to upside and the chance of each player reaching their upside), we did see a non-fantasy use for the remainder of our research -- and this blog is our home for anything we do outside of our initial core of fantasy sports content. In rating each organization by how many top prospects they have (and just how good these prospects are), we can at least determine which organizations are rich in terms of projected future superstars.

We need to emphasize that these rankings are a bit different than those you will see from Baseball America or other sources not completely devoted to fantasy or rotisserie pursuits. Those publications and websites give more credence than we do (as well they should, by the way) to players with amazing defensive upside but less potential at the plate. So the hitters on our list are awarded their placement purely on the basis of all-around offensive upside. As you might imagine, pitchers are ranked by pretty much the same criteria as Baseball America or other sources.

Our methodology for our organizational rankings was pretty simple: 100 points for the top player in the Top 100, 99 points for #2, 98 points for #3 and all the way down to one point for #100. We have listed below each organization with the total number of points they accrued as well and in parentheses the point totals of the various players that added up to the final score). Again, this is not a means of determining total organizational depth like you might find from a Baseball America or USA Today Sports Weekly, because they attempt to grade each system's top prospects, next-level prospects and dark horse candidates for success. Our list grades on purely the studs: the quantity and quality of potential future All-Stars that each organization presently possesses.

1. Tampa Bay: 396 (83, 81, 80, 78, 74).
2. Los Angeles Dodgers: 377 (98, 85, 55, 52, 46, 30, 11).
3. Cincinnati: 374 (100, 94, 93, 87).
4. Seattle: 270 (77, 69, 64, 40, 20).
5. Colorado: 265 (71, 68, 66, 51, 9).
6T. Oakland: 228 (75, 70, 34, 27, 22).
6T. San Diego: 228 (89, 82, 50, 7).
8. Atlanta: 225 (86, 72, 48, 16, 3).
9. Texas: 222 (65, 57, 44, 41, 13, 2).
10. Los Angeles Angels: 199 (63, 61, 58, 17).
11. New York Yankees: 194 (88, 53, 45, 8).
12. Pittsburgh: 192 (92, 90).
13. San Francisco: 147 (54, 49, 39, 5).
14. Washington: 144 (76, 43, 25).
15T. Chicago Cubs: 133 (60, 38, 35).
15T. Florida: 133 (97, 24, 12).
17. Philadelphia: 132 (62, 37, 33).
18. Arizona: 130 (99, 21, 10).
19. St. Louis: 127 (96, 31).
20. New York Mets: 122 (67, 29, 26).
21. Boston: 114 (95, 15, 4).
22T. Cleveland: 112 (84, 28).
22T. Milwaukee: 112 (79, 32, 1).
24. Toronto: 105 (91, 14).
25. Detroit: 92 (56, 36).
26. Minnesota: 83 (42, 23, 18).
27. Houston: 73 (73).
28. Baltimore: 66 (47, 19).
29. Kansas City: 59 (59).
30. Chicago White Sox: 6 (6).

A cursory glance of the individual player rankings themselves seemed to indicate that the National League might be poised to regain some badly-needed ground on the Senior Circuit in terms of franchise players, since 14 of the top 20 on our list are NL prospects. But only five of the top ten teams on our organizational rankings are NL squads, proving that the road back to parity cannot be traced purely through strength of top prospects.

More thoughts on the Mitchell Report

By Rick Morris

^ It was pretty funny to see George W. Bush accepting the Mitchell Report pretty much without reservation -- not because of Dubya's former ownership of the Texas Rangers -- but because George Mitchell more than any other one man pretty much ran George H.W. Bush out of office. An insanely committed partisan, Mitchell constantly ran rings around the naive first President Bush, who was bipartisan to an extreme fault. Mitchell convinced Bush Senior to break the "no new taxes" pledge during budget negotiations, then used the capitulation as a battering ram to send the old man back to Maine in November of '92. So there was a lot of history between Mitchell and the Bush family that went unnoticed this week.

^ The idea of a "Rogues' Wing" at the Baseball Hall of Fame appears to be an idea whose time has come. Excluding Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and many others for their misdeeds seems a bit over the top inasmuch as we are likely to eventually find that a great many players transgressed against the game at one time or another. Put the players in a separate "shamed" part of the Hall of Fame and retroactively move Ty Cobb (for the scores of his antisocial acts), Cap Anson (for bearing such great responsibility for enforcing the "color line" in baseball), Gaylord Perry (proud admitted cheater) and other jerks and miscreants to this area. Problem solved.

^ The notion that the period from about 1994-2001 (give or take a bit on either end) is unique in the history of baseball -- with these numbers sticking out like a sore thumb in terms of the all-time record -- is historically illiterate. This period of time is much like the 1930s, the days of Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and the Phabulous Philadelphia As in terms of the offensive explosion. The game has also gone through periods of extreme pitching dominance. The superlative 1968 season for Bob Gibson and for pitchers as a whole helped to bring about the lowering of the pitchers' mound for the 1969 season and a period in baseball with more balance between pitching and offense. In short, something like "500 home runs" has never meant exactly the same thing in every era. Now, this is not to minimize the effects of PED cheating, merely to point out that the damage done to the game in this respect is not irreversible. We must simply view the numbers of this era through a different prism than for previous times in terms of ascertaining how players fit into the all-time history of the game.

^ Whatever else can be said about the failings of the Mitchell Report and Major League Baseball's handling of it (reliance on informants working for the federal government, acceptance of information with differing standards of accuracy), Major League Baseball is to be commended on a huge scale for embracing the need to thoroughly cover the story on their own website. We saw the opposite end of the spectrum recently, when we felt it necessary to chastise the NBA for initially squelching all mention on their website of the civil verdict against Isiah Thomas and the New York Knicks, and so our appreciation for MLB.com's coverage (including a blog completely devoted to all aspects of the story) is sincere.

Goodness gracious! It's Roid-ger Clemens!

By Rick Morris

EDIT: Updated to provide a link listing the players involved in the report without combing through the entirety of the Mitchell Report.

The Mitchell Report has been released (you can read it here) and one note of the conventional wisdom appears true: everyone was at fault in the steroid era.

^ The players engaged in a macabre arms race which will see many of them end up deceased at an early age from their self-destructive, short-term conniving.

^ The owners and the commissioner counted the dollar receipts from the home run happiness and turned a blind eye to the issue.

^ The union has a lot of blood on its hands since it was their fanatical enabling that allowed the players to poison themselves. The association had the most power in the situation, but the owners put more importance on almost every other issue that was being collectively bargained.

We have also seen what I have always suspected about those frauds known as Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds: there is no true fountain of youth. In the entire history of baseball, players have not shown the dramatic improvement that these two "icons" posted in their late thirties and early forties. Although he was not a good general manager, maybe now history will be a bit kinder to Dan Duquette for letting Clemens walk out of Beantown. Duquette suspected that Clemens was washed up. It turns out that his best days weren't behind him -- but his best honest days were behind him.

While Shapiro sleeps

By Rick Morris

EDIT: For the benefit of those Stockholm Syndrome types in Cleveland who sympathize with the Dolans, here's the Forbes Magazine report showing the Indians fourth in baseball in operating income in their most recent rankings.

Being an Indians fan just got more depressing. Now even the Houston Astros are more serious about succeeding.

D.C.'s new ballpark shows the possibilities

By Rick Morris

For the benefit of anyone like myself who is interested in how ballparks and stadiums are built, we bring to your attention this blog posting from Engineering News Record that shows you how the new baseball park for the Washington Nationals has been progressing. Given a short timeframe by the ballclub and the municipal managing authority (for the record, I am still opposed to the corporate welfare that publicly managed stadium/arena firms represent, although that is not especially germane to the story of how this is proceeding), the various design and construction entities came up with a gameplan that can only be deemed revolutionary for its use of computer models (saving two months on the structural steel work alone) and other vastly efficient methods. Check out the account of how this park is coming together as it is a very interesting read.

Sorry Larry Dolan, facts are facts

By Rick Morris

The success of the Cleveland Indians in 2007 has obscured, in the minds of many, the fact that the organization has put greater emphasis on its bottom line than winning on the field. Fans have waited in vain for the team to make it somewhere into the middle of the bell curve since Mark Shapiro and Company instituted the payroll slash-and-burn in 2002.

We always make mention on FDH programming of the fact that analysts can speak with the most knowledge about situations closest to home. Therefore, I can speak with more authority on Cleveland sports than on any other market because I have observed it up-close my entire life. Nevertheless, it's always nice to be reinforced by something noticed by an observer of the national scene. Such was the case with this column by our friend Russ Cohen of Sportsology. As he notes, the correlation between payroll and World Series titles is undeniably strong. The Tribe obviously has a strong core in place, but as previously noted here, it wasn't nearly strong enough to beat Boston minus a strong overachieving scenario. A few impact moves are still necessary to give this team a legitimate chance at a world championship. The Dolans must change their policy and give the go-ahead for at least a mid-level payroll in order to maintain credibility with non-homers moving into 2008.

Expansion and player supply in sports

By Rick Morris

In a recent conversation with FDH analyst Jon Adams, we spoke of the likelihood that the NFL would expand in the coming years rather than relocating an existing team to meet their goal of placing a franchise back in Los Angeles. I mentioned that I could see this happening in tandem with an expansion of the schedule, as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell seems to have successfully floated the trial balloon of a 17th game played overseas by every team. Jon rightfully expressed displeasure at the notion of a move to 34 teams accompanying a 17-week schedule, since we can already see how the league's talent base was watered down noticeably by expansion in 1999 and 2002.

Goodell, a sharp operator, is probably pushing the league's global presence at least in part because the league does not have a strong enough global presence long-term to staff the number of teams they want to have. But they are putting the cart before the horse a bit if they intend to expand the league also in the next decade.

Expansion in other sports was initially accompanied by cries that it had come too soon and too dramatically -- and would later trigger calls for contraction. But as the talent pool caught up to the number of jobs available, equilibrium returned in these situations.

In baseball, the 1960s triggered a wave of expansion that continued into 1977, then resumed in 1993 and 1998. While it used to be fashionable to speak of how the game had become watered down, this talking point has become muted, even in terms of pitching. The international expansion of the game has brought players from all corners of Latin America, the Pacific Rim and even a few other corners of the world. Besides, baseball historians from groups such as SABR have disabused thinking people of the notion that players such as Babe Ruth had it harder because they faced only a handful of teams and therefore, the "best of the best on a daily basis." None of those teams included players of color and as such, the greatest players in the world were subdivided into three groups that played against only themselves: the American League, the National League and the Negro Leagues (except for the AL and NL in the All-Star Game and the World Series). But the overall talent level of top players wasn't much different back then if we think beyond Major League Baseball and take the top Negro League teams into consideration. As such, any advantages Babe Ruth may have had in not having to face 13 other AL pitching staffs were negated by not having to face Negro League hurlers.

The winter sports of basketball and hockey likewise faced troubling questions when they expanded rapidly from the late 1980s onward. Both clearly moved far beyond the pool of worthy talent available when they placed franchises far and wide and the NHL in particular faced much criticism for their "Sunbelt Strategy" of putting down roots in sunny markets completely unaccustomed to their product. But those complaints have quieted in recent years, as both have benefited from a global talent pool now available to them. Even traditional hockey fans in Canada inclined to believe that the game was never better and tighter than it was when there were only half as many teams must admit that the lack of players available back then from Iron Curtain countries worked against the advancement of the sport. And in the NBA, the international players have led the charge back towards fundamentals and away from the disturbing drift towards "streetball" and in so doing, have pushed it in the right direction. Proving that a blind squirrel really does find an acorn now and again, ESPN columnist and mighty self-parody Bill Simmons opines this week that the NBA talent level is at its highest point since the early 1990s -- and he's right.

Now, the NFL truly is the biggest and the baddest of the American sports leagues. It seems truly bulletproof in terms of continued viability at this level. But Goodell should ponder the lessons of other sports before deciding to bump the league up to 34 teams. Continued overseas games, while aggravating to many jingoistic, chest-thumping, Neanderthal football fans, are a necessary evil in terms of developing a global talent base. The 17th game on the schedule may prove unavoidable with this being the case. Because football takes such a back seat to soccer internationally (inexplicably, I might add!), the product must be exposed at a micro level to people all over the world so that the league can cultivate young fans who aspire to play on Sundays. While the NHL, NBA and MLB trail the NFL in popularity and clout, at least they can truthfully state that their leagues are fully stocked with players who deserve to be there, thanks to the integration of top talent all over the world. The NFL won't be able to say the same, much less consider further expansion as a viable consideration, until they begin to feature talent from Asia, Europe, Africa and all areas of the world.

World Series recap and a look ahead

By Rick Morris

As a sworn enemy of the Red Sox "nation," I take no pleasure whatsoever about my forecast of their World Series victory coming true. The difference in the strength of the two leagues alone made that a foregone conclusion. Not in my lifetime (and I'm in my thirties) has the disparity between the American and National League been as stark as it is right now. FDH Lounge Dignitary Nathan Noy told me that he heard somebody cracking that the Rockies had advanced to the World Series by winning the NIT bracket. Sad but true, and it points out the opportunities present for more than half the teams in the NL to advance to the Series next year with just a few upgrades. Winning once they get there, though, will be problematic to say the least.

To use the gambling parlance for a moment, Boston is certainly the "chalk" for the 2008 world championship as well. Ellsbury, Pedroia and Youkilis still have a long ways to go to reach their ceilings and there's a ton of fine young arms in the rotation and pen, making Curt Schilling expendable. Surely they won't let money get in the way of resigning Mike Lowell if they want him back. ManRam and Big Papi probably have less prime years left than most folks think (Ortiz in particular seems a fine candidate to become the next Mo Vaughn with a steep falloff thanks to matters of conditioning, although my best guess for that is no sooner than three years away), but ownership will continue to augment their excellent core with marquee free agents. Oh, and Josh Beckett is the best postseason pitcher going right now and arguably the best since Bob Gibson. So it's almost inconceivable that any other team could make enough moves to keep Boston from being a consensus pick to repeat next year.

World Series preview

By Rick Morris

Remember the days when the Red Sox were a fuzzy, lovable underdog whom America nuzzled to its soft bosom? Back then, the team was the whipping boy in a very one-sided “rivalry” with America’s Most Hated, aka the New York Yankees, and they hadn’t won a World Series since 1918 and the trade of Babe Ruth.

Those seem like distant memories.

Now, Boston has become “Yankees Junior,” an unlovable, huge-spending behemoth that has left the Yankee organization firmly in the dust, won a World Series title and become the bane of a nation with a spoiled, self-entitled, obnoxious fanbase cheering its every move. They’ve achieved the success they never thought possible, while becoming all that they hated. I’m sure the irony is lost on Chowd Nation.

And now, Boston is on the verge of becoming the “leader in the clubhouse” for the title of Team of the Decade, since no other franchise has won a second championship this decade. Standing in their way: a “magic” team outmatched on paper much like the one they just dispatched in the ALCS: the 21-1 in their last 22 games Colorado Rockies.

The national media will spin this series as the empire against the ragamuffins, but in reality, it’s the most star-studded World Series since 1999 with the Rocks definitely holding up their end of the bargain. Although Matt Holliday, Brad Hawpe, Troy Tulowitzki, Garrett Atkins and Todd Helton toil in relative anonymity, that does not negate what they accomplish between the lines. Holliday is probably The Baddest Man on the Planet right now and is probably the only player who could legitimately reduce Manny Ramirez to being the second best left fielder in the World Series.

So the Rockies are almost as top-heavy as the Sox in terms of superstar power, but as they did in the ALCS and the ALDS, Boston should be able to win with superior depth of starting pitching, relief pitching and the starting lineup. Additionally, the Red Sox’s path to the final stop in October is probably more impressive than Colorado’s insane hotness, given the absolutely huge disparity in talent between the American and National Leagues. Boston has already beaten two teams that probably would have won the NL if they were in it.

I have maintained all along that the winner of the AL would steamroll to win the World Series. There are a couple of caveats I have grown to accept that do make me feel the Fall Classic will be closer than I had previously thought.

^ I picked against Colorado twice and they have defied my expectations. Again, the Phillies and Diamondbacks are supremely inferior to the Red Sox, but credit must be given where it is due for exceeding expectations already and proving pundits like myself wrong repeatedly.

^ David Ortiz or Kevin Youkilis at Coors Field? We won’t see both.

^ Colorado won two of three from Boston at Fenway in interleague play this year, including a game in which they took it to Josh Beckett.

^ Rookie starters Franklin Morales and Ubaldo Jimenez are wildly inexperienced, but also unknown commodities to the Red Sox. Young pitchers can buffalo even great hitters unfamiliar with them.

^ In addition to excellent performances from their core players, Colorado has had timely hitting up and down the order – and they are one of the best defensive teams in baseball, if not the best.

^ While the Rocks will have to deal with the atmosphere at Fenway, the Red Sox must play the middle games of the series at Coors Field. Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball might not be dancing on a cold October night at altitude.

^ There is at least a surface similarity I see, albeit with great irony, between this Series and the 2003 one. Then, an upstart team led by, you guessed it, Josh Beckett, punched the favorite Yankees in the nose and continued their Cinderella run all the way to the top. But the crucial difference I see is that the Sox are not in the decaying-dynasty mode New York was in back in ’03 and that the speed and slightly-more-established power arms of the Marlins were custom-made for pulling off the upset in a way that the Rockies are not.

Notwithstanding these factors, I pick the Red Sox to win in 6. I sincerely hope that I am as wrong about the Rockies as I was in the first two rounds, and moreover, everyone in this country outside of the noxious Red Sox Nation wishes the same.