Bleed Cubbie Blue

Cubs Baseball In Vegas... Stays In Vegas

2009-11-10T20:09:20Z

While the entire Cubs' spring training schedule has not yet been made public, today the Cubs announced that again in 2010, they and the White Sox will travel to Las Vegas during the spring campaign to play a pair of exhibition games. From the press release:

The Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox will play two exhibition games in Las Vegas next March for the 2010 Big League Weekend at Cashman Field, home of the Las Vegas 51s. The clubs will play on Friday, March 12, 2010 and Saturday, March 13, 2010. Games times are to be determined. The Cubs and White Sox will both feature split squads.

Ticket information is available by calling the Las Vegas 51s at 702-798-7825 or visiting www.lv51.com. The Cubs and White Sox will play a pair of spring training games in Las Vegas for the second year in a row.

2009 SBNation Awards: Rookie Of The Year

2009-11-10T14:00:40Z

by Nam Y. Huh - AP

Randy Wells had a fine rookie year and finished sixth in SBN rookie balloting.

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Count me as one of those surprised at the SBN Rookie of the Year balloting. Neither J.A. Happ nor Chris Coghlan, the two players named at the top of the BCB ballots, won. Tommy Hanson is a deserving recipient, no doubt, but I was sure that Happ was going to win. The third-place vote I gave Randy Wells is, admittely, a homer pick.

The AL balloting, for which BCB had no vote, was very close, with only two points separating the top two. If I did have a vote for the AL ROY, it would have gone to Gordon Beckham.

BCB ballots:

Me: 1) Happ 2) Hanson 3) Wells      
Mike: 1) Coghlan 2) Happ 3) Hanson

National League

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Tommy Hanson	Atlanta Braves	9	9	6	78
2	J.A. Happ	Philadelphia Phillies	6	9	7	64
3	Andrew McCutchen	Pittsburgh Pirates	8	3	5	54
4	Chris Coghlan	Florida Marlins	7	5	4	54
5	Dexter Fowler	Colorado Rockies	-	3	1	10
6	Randy Wells	Chicago Cubs	-	-	6	6
7	Garrett Jones	Pittsburgh Pirates	1	-	-	5
8	Casey McGehee	Milwaukee Brewers	-	1	2	5
9	Seth Smith	Colorado Rockies	-	1	-	3

American League

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Elvis Andrus	Texas Rangers	6	9	6	63
2	Andrew Bailey	Oakland Athletics	11	1	3	61
3	Jeff Niemann	Tampa Bay Rays	3	5	3	33
4	Rick Porcello	Detroit Tigers	2	7	2	33
5	Brett Anderson	Oakland Athletics	5	1	3	31
6	Gordon Beckham	Chicago White Sox	1	2	8	19
7	Nolan Reimold	Baltimore Orioles	1	-	1	6
8	Matt Wieters	Baltimore Orioles	-	1	3	6
9	Brad Bergesen	Baltimore Orioles	-	1	-	3
10	Ricky Romero	Toronto Blue Jays	-	1	-	3
11	Travis Snider	Toronto Blue Jays	-	1	-	3

Cubs GM Jim Hendry says Milton Bradley may be back in 2010, and called the outfielder's '09 season a "major hiccup"

2009-11-10T03:22:46Z

Cubs GM Jim Hendry says Milton Bradley may be back in 2010, and called the outfielder's '09 season a "major hiccup"

Via Twitter from Carrie Muskat

2009 SBNation Awards: Manager Of The Year

2009-11-09T14:00:43Z

by David Zalubowski - AP

Rockies manager Jim Tracy shares a laugh with Lou Piniella. SBN voters named him the NL Manager of the Year.

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At the end of the regular season, all the SBN blogs cast their ballots for the same awards given out by the BBWAA. To make the vote comparable to the BBWAA vote, each site was given two votes, and NL blogs voted only for NL teams, AL blogs for AL teams. (And yes, I'm as puzzled as you will be to see a second-place vote for John Russell.) For Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Cy Young, we voted for the top three and points are given as 5-3-1. For MVP, we voted for the top 10 and points are awarded as follows, 1st through 10th: 14-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. Ballots were due the day after the regular season ended, so playoff performances and team results have no bearing on this voting.

As has been the case the last three years, I gave the second BCB ballot to Mike, who draws all the cartoons here. Today, I present the SBN Managers of the Year; after the jump you'll find the results for both the AL and NL balloting, and here are the two BCB ballots:

Al: 1) Jim Tracy 2) Tony LaRussa 3) Bruce Bochy
Mike: 1) Jim Tracy 2) Tony LaRussa 3) Charlie Manuel

The schedule for the rest of the week is:

Tuesday 11/10: Rookie of the Year
Wednesday 11/11: Cy Young Award
Thursday 11/12: MVP

National League

Rk	Manager	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Jim Tracy	Colorado Rockies	24	1	2	125
2	Tony LaRussa	St. Louis Cardinals	3	7	10	46
3	Fredi Gonzalez	Florida Marlins	2	6	5	33
4	Joe Torre	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	9	2	29
5	Charlie Manuel	Philadelphia Phillies	-	3	5	14
6	Bruce Bochy	San Francisco Giants	1	1	1	9
7	Bobby Cox	Atlanta Braves	-	1	4	7
8	Bud Black	San Diego Padres	-	1	1	4
9	John Russell	Pittsburgh Pirates	-	1	-	3

American League

Rk	Manager	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Mike Scioscia	Los Angeles Angels	9	8	3	72
2	Ron Gardenhire	Minnesota Twins	9	5	1	61
3	Don Wakamatsu	Seattle Mariners	6	3	8	47
4	Joe Girardi	New York Yankees	2	4	2	24
5	Ron Washington	Texas Rangers	1	4	4	21
6	Terry Francona	Boston Red Sox	1	1	3	11
7	Jim Leyland	Detroit Tigers	-	2	4	10
8	Joe Maddon	Tampa Bay Rays	-	1	1	4
9	Ozzie Guillen	Chicago White Sox	-	-	1	1
10	Trey Hillman	Kansas City Royals	-	-	1	1

The First Step To The Cubs' New Triangle Building

2009-11-08T15:06:41Z

BCB photo by David Sameshima, Saturday, November 7, 2009

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Demolition barricades surround the former Yum Yum Donut Shop on Clark St. next to Wrigley Field. The building has been used for Cubs offices in recent years; it will soon be demolished, the first step toward clearing the site for construction of the Triangle Building.

The Future Is Now: Arizona Fall League Rising Stars Showcase Preview, Saturday 11/7, 7:15 CT

2009-11-07T19:00:30Z

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The 2009 baseball season has just ended, and in a way, you could say that tonight, the 2010 season begins.

While we are not going to see the most-hyped prospect, Stephen Strasburg -- he was scratched due to a strained neck muscle -- or Cubs prospect Josh Vitters, also scratched with a minor injury, there will be plenty of players in tonight's game who you'll see in the major leagues next season.

Among them are Giants prospect catcher Buster Posey, who played in two games against the Cubs last September; Hank Conger, who may be the Angels' next catcher; and, of course, the Cubs' own Starlin Castro, who we have been talking about here all throughout the AFL season. Castro enters tonight's game leading the AFL in batting average (.424). Castro probably isn't quite ready for the major leagues -- he won't turn 20 until March and has played only 31 games above A ball -- but he'll likely get into some spring training games next March and could get a September callup in 2010.

Andrew Cashner, also in the AFL, won't play tonight either, so the only other Cubs prospect who might participate will be Blake Parker, who had 22 saves for Iowa last year and who might have a shot at the major league bullpen in 2010.

There were a number of players from the 2008 AFL who made significant impacts on the 2009 major league season, including Tommy Hanson, Gordon Beckham, Matt Wieters, Bud Norris and Phil Hughes. I figure enough of you are interested in, and will be watching, this game, that it deserved its own game thread.

Broadcast and other detailed information after the jump.

MLB.com article about tonight's game, which will begin at 7:15 CST.

MLB Network will carry a live broadcast of the Rising Stars Game with Diamondbacks announcer Daron Sutton and MLB Network's Tony Clark in the broadcast booth. A live video feed will also be available on MLB.com.

Building A Cubs Champion: 2010 Edition

2009-11-06T15:15:22Z

by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Like it or not, one of the keys to the Cubs' success in 2010 is a resurgence by Alfonso Soriano. Here, he launches his game-winning grand slam vs. the Astros last July 27.

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Last year about this time, I made this post discussing what I thought should be the makeup of the 2009 Cubs.

Brave, isn't it, of me to post that link when I'd just as soon forget about it. I was shouted down and laughed at (people are still giving me grief for the Kevin Millar thing, and they were absolutely correct), and had the Cubs put that 25-man roster on the field last April, they'd undoubtedly have had a much worse season than they did in real life (case in point: Alex Hinshaw, who I thought was an up-and-coming LOOGY, threw only six major league innings in 2009, posting a 12.00 ERA).

So let me go about this project this year in a different sort of way. A year ago (actually, October 20, 2008 was the date I wrote the post about my proposed 2009 roster) we were all still stunned and angry that the 97-win team that had dominated the National League all season went three-and-out in the playoffs. This was before Lou's "we've gotta get more lefthanded" mantra led us to the Milton Bradley disaster, before popular favorites Kerry Wood and Mark DeRosa were let go, and a lot of us were wondering, "How can we make a team that good into one that will win 11 games in October?"

Jim Hendry and Co. were asking themselves the same question, obviously, but came up with the wrong answer. Without rehashing what we've rehashed all summer long, clearly, it didn't work -- and not just because of Hendry's moves, but because players like Alfonso Soriano, Geovany Soto and Mike Fontenot seriously underperformed their 2008 numbers by considerable margins and for various reasons, and because Aramis Ramirez, who is the Cubs' best hitter, missed 50 games with a dislocated shoulder and wasn't at full strength the rest of the season, eventually playing in only 82 games.

I believe in what new owner Tom Ricketts said at his introductory press conference: that the Cubs already have the talent that can win the World Series, and only need a few tweaks to bring the club back to pennant-contending level. I'm also going to assume that what we've heard about player payroll is correct: that it will be increased, if only "slightly", from 2009, and thus will wind up at (approximately) $145 million. That will rank third in baseball, behind the Yankees and Red Sox.

Thus, instead of trying to build a roster simply by picking pieces from here and there, let's use that $145 million to put together a winning team.

Let's begin with players we know will be with the team next year, and their payroll figures (all numbers from the excellent site Cot's Baseball Contracts). These players are under contract for 2010 and will definitely be on the team, followed by their contract amounts:

Alfonso Soriano, $19,000,000
Carlos Zambrano, $18,875,000
Aramis Ramirez, $16,500,000
Kosuke Fukudome, $14,000,000
Ryan Dempster, $13,500,000
Derrek Lee, $13,000,000
Ted Lilly, $13,000,000

That's $107,875,000 for seven players. The Cubs also owe Jeff Samardzija $1,000,000 on the major league portion of his deal (whether or not he throws a major league inning) and $500,000 to the long-ago-released Luis Vizcaino, who pitched 3.2 innings in a Cub uniform. We're now at $109,375,000, leaving "only" $35,625,000 for 18 more players to fill out the Opening Day 25-man roster. That means there are going to be a fair number of minimum-wage players in 2010, because among the players remaining, a number of them are arbitration-eligible, meaning they will be in line for raises.

The first order of business is to remove Milton Bradley from the premises. We have had many long debates about whether and for whom he should be traded, but I believe this is top priority for Jim Hendry and will happen sooner rather than later. Disagree if you wish, but I think the best of many not-so-great scenarios is to send him -- and Aaron Miles -- to the Giants for Aaron Rowand. Between Bradley and Miles, they are owed a total of $23.7 million; Rowand is owed $36 million. Since in doing a deal like this, you would be relieving the Giants, essentially, of $12 million (approximately) by taking the third year of Rowand's contract, Hendry should ask the Giants to split the difference and pay half of Rowand's 2012 contract, which would split the total dollars (approximately $60 million) between the two teams, about $30 million each.

This would also accomplish equalizing the 2010 payroll -- or come close -- to what Bradley and Miles would have been owed ($11.7 million) and what Rowand is owed ($12 million). I think the Giants would be willing to do this, because you are taking $6 million off their 2012 payroll, while leaving their 2010 and 2011 payrolls where they are now, since Bradley is owed $12 million in 2011.

I concede that Rowand has had two pretty poor offensive seasons in San Francisco (at least in part due to injuries). But in 2007, he had a fine hitting year in Philadelphia, and I believe that he has at least a chance to return to that level in Chicago. If you were looking at the possible acquisition of Rowand in a vacuum, you wouldn't do it -- but the necessity of removing Bradley from the team makes this probably about the best way to accomplish that. At best, this could turn into a Hundley-for-Grudzielanek-and-Karros sort of deal.

So, now the Cubs have a center fielder (with Fukudome moving back to his original position, right field, improving the outfield defense at two spots), but we are now at eight players and have only $23,625,000 left. They're fortunate that Geovany Soto is not yet arbitration-eligible, so let's say the Cubs bump him up to $825,000 from the $575,000 he made in 2009. That's a pretty good raise, given the bad year he had. Now we're at $22,800,000. Backup catcher Koyie Hill made $475,000 in 2009 and had a good year for a backup. Let's move him up to $600,000, leaving $22,200,000.

I'm going to leave the double-play combination alone for 2010. It's likely that by 2011, Starlin Castro will be the Cubs' starting shortstop -- but for now, because Lou and Jim like them, Jeff Baker and Ryan Theriot will return. Baker made $415,000 in 2009 and had a good run after he was acquired from Colorado -- one of Hendry's best moves last year. Let's pay him $500,000, and Theriot $700,000, both up from 2009. That's 12 players, and $21,000,000 remaining for the other 13 -- we're getting to the point where we can actually think about signing a free agent or two or making a deal.

Among our 12 signed players so far are nine hitters -- so, given the current fad of having 12 pitchers on your staff, we have room for four more offensive players. I like Andres Blanco and Sam Fuld -- both performed well in backup roles in 2009. Neither hits much, but both play outstanding defense and neither is going to be expected to start more than a handful of games. Fuld made $401,500 and Blanco $400,000 (the minimum) in 2009, and let's give them both raises to $425,000. We are at 14 players and have $20,050,000 left. We'll need one more outfielder and also a guy who could fill the role that was filled in 2007 and 2008 by Daryle Ward, and in 2009 by Micah Hoffpauir.

Sad to say, I'm non-tendering Micah. He's 30 in March and didn't really do well most of last year -- he's a one-dimensional player, since he's really not a very good outfielder, and didn't do well in the dimension (hitting) he was supposedly good at. Since we're no longer locked in to the "lefthanded" mantra of a year ago, the Cubs can put the minimum-wage Jake Fox -- bumped up to $500,000 for his good performance of a year ago -- in this slot, and re-sign Rowand's close friend Reed Johnson for $3 million to fill in when his buddy hits the brick wall at Wrigley too many times.

So, we now have $16,550,000 left for nine pitchers -- which means we're going to have to fill most of the bullpen with minimum-wage guys. That's actually fine with me -- look at the disaster that was Aaron Heilman last year (in my opinion, Heilman should be non-tendered) -- and the Cubs have a couple of real good prospects, in my opinion, to fill middle-relief roles in Justin Berg and Esmailin Caridad. They get the minimum $400,000 each, leaving $15,750,000 for seven more pitchers. It was reported earlier this week that the Cubs are negotiating a two-year deal with John Grabow; reported figures are "between $6.5 and $7.5 million" for the two years. Let's assume for this post that it's in between, and Grabow gets $3.5 million for 2010. We've got $12,250,000 left and six spots to fill on the pitching staff. Carlos Marmol is going to close; he made $575,000 in 2009, so let's bump him to $800,000. Angel Guzman will be his primary right-handed setup guy (Grabow's the lefty setup guy, or should be, if Lou would ever use him right). Guzman made $421,500 in 2009; he could be renewed at $500,000.

Our payroll drawer is nearly empty (you can almost count the remaining Benjamins, right?); we have $10,950,000 remaining and still need to fill three spots, one in the pen, and two in the starting rotation, and here's where it gets a bit dicey (and this is why I left this part for last). First, you can fill one of the starting spots with Randy Wells, who made the minimum last year and certainly deserves a raise; let's put him at $750,000 (or maybe even a bit less; he's renewable, meaning you don't have to give him that much of a raise until he's arb-eligible next year), leaving $10,200,000. The Cubs have five free agents: Rich Harden, John Grabow, Kevin Gregg, Chad Fox and Reed Johnson. I already re-signed Johnson and Grabow above; Gregg and Fox, thanks for your service, see you in another uniform next year (and please, Jim, not another minor-league invite for Chad Fox. He's done).

But what to do with Harden? If you offer him arbitration, he'll almost certainly accept. To paraphrase Longfellow's nursery rhyme, "When he's good, he's very, very good; when he's bad, he's horrid". If Harden accepts arbitration, he's likely to get pretty close to all the remaining dollars in the drawer -- so reluctantly, we say goodbye to Rich, without the arb offer, unless you can somehow agree ahead of time to get him to sign for $8 million or so. That's not unreasonable given his $7 million salary in 2009 and his mediocre performance.

For the sake of argument, then, let's say we have this $10,950,000 available for our two remaining spots. One of those spots is going to go to Sean Marshall, who, I believe, deserves another shot at the starting rotation after doing a good job as a swingman in 2009. Lou misused him as a LOOGY -- Marshall can clearly do better than getting one LH batter out -- and I'd like to see Sean, now 27 and with four major league seasons under his belt, get a shot at starting. Sean made $450,000 in 2009, and could be paid $600,000 in 2010. In this scenario Samardzija makes the team, likely because the Cubs are paying him the $1 million whether he makes it or not. Otherwise there are other possibilities, including Arizona Fall Leaguers John Gaub and Andrew Cashner, or maybe someone else who will have a good spring (and please, let's not have another David Patton scenario), for this final spot.

That leaves $10,350,000 (or just under $10 million if you use Gaub or Cashner, who would make the minimum). You could consider signing someone like Jon Garland, who just got his option declined by the Dodgers and is a free agent. Garland made $7.25 million in 2009 and had a "typical" Garland year, which is as an inning-eater; you could probably get him for about $8 million for 2010. Garland has made at least 32 starts for eight straight years, and has pitched no fewer than 191.2 innings in any of those eight. Doing that would take the pressure off the staff, especially if Ted Lilly isn't ready for Opening Day, and would let Marshall play the "swingman" role again. Or you could give that last rotation spot to Tom Gorzelanny, who made $433,000 in 2009, and save the money for a midseason acquisition.

Note that I haven't gone all DeRomantic here and proposed bringing back Mark DeRosa, although I think he'd still be a solid addition, even at age 35, for the right price, and a note in this St. Louis Post-Dispatch article indicates the Cubs may indeed make DeRo an offer. I also haven't retained Mike Fontenot, who could probably be traded -- I mentioned above non-tendering Heilman, but it may be possible that both Fontenot and Heilman could be dealt, even for low-level prospects. In fact, my 2010 team as proposed above has only two players (Rowand and Garland) who were not with the Cubs at some point in 2009 -- unless they decided not to go with Jake Fox in the bench role and instead signed a free agent (or one who soon will be) such as Ross Gload or Chad Tracy, whose option was declined by the Diamondbacks yesterday. Still, despite all the travails, injuries and bad performances in 2009, the Cubs won 83 games. With performances returning to career norms, better health and a little luck, just a few tweaks could have us returning to the postseason in 2010.

Ted Lilly Gets Scoped - Updated

2009-11-04T21:32:18Z

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Ted Lilly had arthroscopic surgery today. He'll be ready in April.

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Well, here's a bit of a surprise. Ted Lilly had shoulder surgery today, per Carrie Muskat's blog:

Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly underwent a left shoulder arthroscopy and debridement on Tuesday by noted orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles. During the surgery, Yocum found no major damage to Lilly's shoulder and the procedure consisted of a washout and clean up of the shoulder. The procedure took approximately one hour to complete.

Lilly will immediately begin an aggressive range of motion and strengthening program. A timetable for a throwing program will be set when he's re-examined after Jan. 1. Typically, recovery time for a procedure such as this would place Lilly's return to the Cubs rotation within the month of April.

UPDATE: More after the jump.

More details from Bruce Miles this morning:

Both Lilly and the Cubs said the surgery, performed by Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles, was a "cleanup," or debridement, and that Lilly has no significant structural damage.

Although Lilly won't be ready for Opening Day, the Cubs expressed confidence Wednesday he could pitch sometime in April. Lilly will begin a rehab process with range-of-motion exercises, but he said he won't begin throwing for four months, or until early March.

"I initially wanted to try to avoid it, go into the off-season without having to do anything," Lilly said Wednesday by teleconference. "I figured it would get better. It did not, even after all the rest. I just didn't want to go into the season kind of doing what I was doing at the end of the year where I was missing starts."

Take a look at the Cubs' April 2010 schedule -- with off days each of the first two weeks, the Cubs won't need a fifth starter until April 19, the 13th game of the season -- so Ted could have a couple of extra weeks to get ready and perhaps start that day, or later that week.

Will The Yankees Choke? World Series Game 6 Preview, Phillies vs. Yankees, Wednesday 11/4, 6:57 CT

2009-11-04T17:09:15Z

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

Check out the ominous looking sky behind Derek Jeter. An omen?

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This is the first World Series that's gone this far in six years, since 2003 -- also involving the Yankees, who lost to the Marlins in six games that year.

Joe Girardi, whose management of his pitching staff has come under justified criticism during the postseason, will roll the dice and have Andy Pettitte start on three days' rest tonight -- something Pettitte hasn't done since 2007, and that was a strange circumstance where he threw four innings in a start, pitched an inning of relief with two days' rest, then started again with one day off. (See Pettitte's 2007 game log for details; it happened in April.)

Pedro Martinez will go for the Phillies. Pedro pitched well enough to win in game two; that day, A. J. Burnett shut the Philly offense down. Meanwhile, the Phillies hit Pettitte pretty hard in game three on Saturday; Jayson Werth homered off him twice and Pettitte also issued three walks in six innings, throwing 104 pitches, a Zambrano-like outing. If the Phillies are patient tonight, I believe we'll see one last 2009 game tomorrow, and Girardi will have to go with yet another pitcher on three days' rest, CC Sabathia, going on three days' rest for the second time in this series after having not done that all season. Sabathia is approaching 270 innings pitched this season; that might be too many even for a "horse" like him.

It'd be nice to see a seven-game World Series, no matter who wins. We don't get to see enough winner-take-all games in baseball; in the last ten seasons, going back to 2000, there have been only 13 such games in all the playoff rounds, out of 70 postseason series.

Phillies at Yankees, 6:57 pm CDT. Yankees lead series 3-2. TV: Fox. Announcers: Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Phillies site The Good Phight and Yankees site Pinstripe Alley.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

You May Notice Something Different About BCB This Morning

2009-11-03T15:02:59Z

"Hmmm. BCB is different today!"

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Early this morning, the SB Nation tech team rolled out some layout and font changes to BCB and the other SBN sites.

I'd like your feedback on how it looks, and I'll make sure the tech folks have a look at your comments.

Note: they are already aware of the spacing -- or, non-spacing -- issue between paragraphs in comments, and are working on a fix.

Cubs Negotiating Multi-Year Deal With John Grabow

2009-11-02T23:25:51Z

More photos » by Al Behrman - AP

As you might guess, left-handed setup relievers don't get many photos taken. So, this one in a Pirates uniform is the best one available of John Grabow.

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Per Bruce Levine, the Cubs and John Grabow continue to discuss a possible multi-year contract:

Agent Paul Kinzer represents Grabow, who would be the team's left-handed set-up man and a possible back-up closer in the event Carlos Marmol is injured or needs a day off.

The two sides are talking about a two-year deal for anywhere between a total of $6.5 million and $7.5 million. Grabow's people would like a vesting option for a third year added to the contract.

This may be a pretty good indicator, actually, of where the new ownership is heading. In the past, Jim Hendry was pretty open about throwing such vesting options into multiyear deals. If he doesn't give one this time, it may show that the Ricketts ownership group may not be so amenable to such deals.

On the other hand, giving one to a middle reliever might mean the pocketbook is open. Grabow did, though, make $2.3 million in 2009, so a raise to around $3.5 million would be pretty significant.

We, as always, await developments.

The Season May End Tonight: World Series Game 5 Preview, Yankees vs. Phillies, Monday 11/2, 6:57 CT

2009-11-02T19:00:49Z

More photos » by Joseph Kaczmarek - AP

Look carefully... you may not see a major league baseball game again after tonight, until 2010.

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Grudgingly, I give the Yankees credit. Every time they've needed to come up with a big hit in a key situation in this series -- in fact, in the entire postseason -- they've done so. George Steinbrenner & Sons have bought themselves a championship this year, if they win tonight, by buying CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira, two of the most important components of this Yankee team.

Still, they have to get past Cliff Lee tonight first -- and Lee has been the best pitcher in the 2009 postseason, winning three of his four starts, throwing two complete games, and allowing only two earned runs in 33.1 innings. I think we'll have at least one more game after today, game six in New York on Wednesday, because I think the Phillies will win tonight. And after that, who knows? Both Andy Pettitte and CC Sabathia would have to pitch on short rest in games six and seven -- unless Joe Girardi wants to give Chad Gaudin a start, something I'd think would be about on par with Joe having both his arms sawed off.

Coming back from a 3-1 deficit in the World Series has been accomplished five times: 1925, 1958, 1968, 1979, and 1985. There have been 36 seven-game World Series that ended up four games to three, so based on history, there's about a one-in-seven shot for the Phillies to pull off the comeback.

I hope they do -- not only because I've been rooting for them, but because there hasn't been a seven-game series in seven years and I'd like to see one.

Yankees at Phillies, 6:57 pm CDT. Yankees lead series 3-1. TV: Fox. Announcers: Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Phillies site The Good Phight and Yankees site Pinstripe Alley.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Replay Review, Your Table Is Ready: World Series Game 4 Preview, Yankees vs. Phillies, Sunday 11/1, 7:20 CT

2009-11-01T17:00:28Z

More photos » by Eric Gay - AP

Ryan Howard and Alex Rodriguez wait for the umpires to rule A-Rod's hit a HR via replay. Wouldn't you love to have heard this conversation?

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In a roundabout way, perhaps we can thank Fox-TV for the latest evidence that replay review is not only useful, but necessary in modern-day baseball.

Last night's hit to the deep right-field corner by Alex Rodriguez, correctly ruled a home run after replay review, hit a TV camera that would not have been there during the regular season. The umpires had discussed this before the game had even begun:

Umpiring crew chief Gerry Davis said that the umpires had already determined while inspecting Citizens Bank Park prior to the game that a ball hitting the camera would be a home run. "Because we cannot control what the cameraman does with the camera, one of the specific ground rules is when the ball hits the camera, home run," he said.

And that made it easy. Four of the six umpires left the field; Fox showed all of us the monitor (geez, could they have made it any smaller?) on which the umpires review the play, and after a delay shorter than the ones in which Fox shows us those endlessly repetitive and ridiculous Blackberry ads, they returned, correctly calling it a home run. The Gordon Edes Yahoo column linked above quotes baseball's fearful leader:

Even as his umpires have come under unprecedented fire this October, baseball commissioner Bud Selig said he is reluctant to expand the use of replay.

"The more baseball people I talk to, there is a lot of trepidation about it and I think their trepidation is fair," Selig said in New York Tuesday. "I don’t want to overreact. You can make light of that but when you start to think you’re going to have more intrusions, it’s something that you have to be very careful about. Affecting the game on the field is not something I really want to do."

You don't want to affect the game on the field? You mean, you'd rather have your umpires make wrong calls, take hits and possibly runs and wins away from teams, and apologize profusely later, than get it right with a minimum of fuss? What kind of idiotic thinking is this?

Replay review is used in the three other major sports, with zero ill effects and, generally, praise for getting calls right. There is NO reason not to use it in baseball for everything except ball and strike calls (mostly because doing that would slow the game down untenably). This is particularly true since the current system of home run replay is not only used as it was last night, but also to determine, if questionable, whether a ball that has HR distance is fair or foul. How is this different than reviewing whether Joe Mauer's hit in Yankee Stadium in the division series is fair or foul? Why do one and not the other?

My proposal, which I know has been echoed or expanded on by many others here, is after the jump.

Each manager gets two "red flag" challenges to rulings on the field, which would be limited to: home runs, fair/foul calls, safe/out rulings, and trapped/caught fly balls or line drives. The red flag must be thrown before the next pitch; managers would have to make sure they pay close attention to questionable calls so they could throw the flag quickly. A fifth umpire would be stationed in the press box for review; this umpire would be part of the regular rotation of the crew, giving every umpire an every-5th-game break from field duty, and would also serve as official scorer. After the 7th inning of every game, the red flag system is eliminated and all close plays of this type are subject to mandatory review (similar to the NFL's mandatory review in the last two minutes). Just as in NFL review, replays would have to show conclusive evidence to overturn the ruling on the field.

I just don't see how anyone could be against a system like this. It gets things right; it does not unduly delay games (most games would have none of these, and even if all four manager challenges are used, you're talking about maybe two minutes per delay, eight minutes a game); it provides 15 more full-time umpiring jobs; and it would virtually eliminate manager ejections and suspensions (the time wasted in manager/umpire arguments has to be longer than any time that would be spent on review).

Wake up, Bud, and get it done. It's way past time.

Yankees at Phillies, 7:20 pm CDT. Yankees lead series 2-1. TV: Fox. Announcers: Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

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Same Time, Next Year: World Series Game 3 Preview, Phillies vs. Yankees, Saturday 10/31, 6:57 CT

2009-10-31T20:00:35Z

More photos » by Rob Carr - AP

The World Series moves to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia tonight.

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With the new hope engendered to Cubs fans after the Ricketts family was introduced as new owners yesterday, perhaps we can be forgiven if we dream -- just a bit -- about the potential for the Cubs to be in the World Series a year from now.

Meanwhile, there's a chance of rain in the Philadelphia area this evening -- as if there haven't been enough weather problems with the postseason already this year. The Good Phight wonders if this will change the Philly rotation.

And in addition to the World Series going on at Citizens Bank Park, Pearl Jam is appearing at the nearby Spectrum (in the final event at that arena which hosted the Flyers and 76ers for decades), with their show scheduled to begin at the same time as the game. Not only that, there's still a chance that Philadelphia transit workers will go on strike tonight at 6 pm.

Meanwhile, here's an article looking at the Cubs' ownership change from a business standpoint that gives us a first idea on how much Wrigley Field renovation and debt service might cost:

Thomas Ricketts spent $845 million for, among other assets, a baseball team that in a good year will record a profit of around $30 million.

The new owner of the Chicago Cubs will have to repay loans of $425 million he obtained for the purchase. That's an expense the Cubs' seller, Tribune Co., never had.

He'll have to look at costs of Wrigley Field renovation to facilities that sorely need improvement -- and to create revenue. Ricketts said he's looking at work spread over five to seven years and costing "significantly less" than $200 million.

Jeff Passan at Yahoo keeps the pressure on, calling again for replay review to be instituted. Couldn't agree more, after two more bad calls on Thursday night.

Finally, don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour before you go to sleep tonight. Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 am in your local time zone (if you are in the USA or Canada, except for Arizona, Hawaii, Saskatchewan and a handful of other areas).

Yankees at Phillies, 6:57 pm CDT. Series tied 1-1. TV: Fox. Announcers: Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

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Milton Bradley: Destination Toronto?

2009-10-31T15:26:48Z

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

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The Toronto Sun reports this morning on a potential Milton Bradley for Vernon Wells swap:

The Chicago Cubs would like to -- have to -- deal disgruntled outfielder Milton Bradley. And one player they are eyeing as a target destination is the Blue Jays, with centre fielder Vernon Wells going to the Cubs in return.

"It's early on, but we think this one has some legs," said one Cubs official. "But they aren't the only team we are talking with."

Yes, "centre" is correct. Remember, the quote's from a Canadian paper. Vernon Wells signed an enormous contract with the Blue Jays before the 2008 season and there are six years left on the deal. How would the Cubs deal with that huge amount of money, given Tom Ricketts' statement yesterday that payroll would go up "slightly" next year, as well as Alfonso Soriano's remaining deal?

The Cubs' idea is to split the difference on monies owed -- Wells' $107 million and Bradley's $21 million for a difference of $86 million. Each team absorbs $43 million.

I was told there would be no math here, but if I have calculated this right -- and correct me, please, if I haven't -- that puts the Cubs on the hook for (approximately) $10.67 million for each of the six remaining years of Wells' deal. According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, Wells has a full no-trade clause that would have to be waived, and he can opt out of the deal after 2011.

Since the departure of Milton Bradley was only going to be made possible by taking on someone else's bad contract, this might be a possible "best of the worst". Wells is about six months younger than Bradley and had a big offensive season as recently as 2006. He can play center field, which would allow the Cubs to move Kosuke Fukudome back to right field, a better position for him. I'm not completely sold on this deal, but remember, the Cubs aren't exactly in the best bargaining position, either. The article concludes:

The Cubs have to deal Bradley. Other possible landing spots: The San Francisco Giants for lefty Barry Zito, who has four years remaining at $83 million; the Indians for Travis Hafner, three years for $40.25 million, Giants' Aaron Rowand, three years at $36 million, the Dodgers for Juan Pierre, two years at $18.5 million, and Tampa Bay's Pat Burrell, one year at $7 million.

Well. There's no way the Cubs ever, ever, EVER take Juan Pierre back. The Burrell possibility has been rumored before; Burrell's a bad outfielder, but at least the Cubs would only be stuck with his deal for one year; we've discussed the Rowand possibility also, I doubt the Giants are dealing Zito now since he had such a good second half, and there would be absolutely no point in acquiring Hafner, who hasn't played a game in the field since 2007 and can only play first base -- the Cubs already have one of those.

We, as ever, await developments.

New Cubs Boss Tom Ricketts: "We're Going To Win The World Series"

2009-10-30T19:35:01Z

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

New Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts (standing) and his siblings (left to right) Pete, Todd and Laura, the new Cubs board of directors, at today's news conference.

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Years from now, maybe we can say that "next year" arrived on October 30, 2009.

Tom Ricketts is the new chairman of the Cubs, and with his two brothers and sister, will comprise the board of directors of the team. But it's more than just a few names you've heard of -- the Ricketts really are a large extended family; their parents Joe and Marlene and quite a number of small children were in attendance at today's press conference. Even more so than the Wrigley "family" ownership (which was really just one person at a time, William Wrigley Jr., then P.K. Wrigley after his father's death, and then William Wrigley III for the last few years), this team really is owned by a family, not just one person.

And during today's news conference, they not only emphasized their own family, but the Cubs family -- a family you and I are part of as Cubs fans. For lack of a better term, they "bleed Cubbie blue" just as all of us do. Each one of them told the story of having come to Chicago from Omaha for college and, at various times, falling in love with the city, the Wrigleyville area (where several of them lived) and the Cubs. The story you've heard about Tom meeting his wife in the bleachers -- true, corroborated with smiles from all three siblings, who were there on that day. They used to sleep out for bleacher tickets in the early 80's, went to nearly all the weekend games, and said that being a Cubs fan is "a special feeling", and that "we know owning the Cubs is an honor, and we intend to respect it".

Tom's sister Laura perhaps put it best: "The Cubs are bigger than us as owners, bigger than Wrigley itself. It's a matter of family pride for us."

But that's not what you guys want to know about. You want to know what these new owners are going to do to make our team -- their team, and I truly believe that they are "one of us" -- a winner.

The most important thing Tom Ricketts said, I believe, about his philosophy of ownership is this:

We're going to hire people we trust, give them the opportunity to succeed, and hold them accountable.

Now isn't that refreshing? Isn't that what we've wanted to hear? No Steinbrennerian overlord tactics from Tom Ricketts (although when asked whether he would be an "active owner", the response was, "Todd will coach first base and I'll coach third". Wow -- a sense of humor!). He -- and Crane Kenney, who has the new title of team president -- will bring in the best people and let them do their jobs. If they don't, they'll be replaced. For the short term, that means leaving Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella in their place. Tom Ricketts said that he thinks Lou is one of the best managers in baseball and the right guy for 2010. From my standpoint, I hope Lou gets some rest this winter and returns in March re-energized, because as we all know, Lou seemed oddly disinterested at times in 2009.

I didn't get a chance to ask any questions -- but that's because nearly all of the questions you posted here yesterday eventually did get answered. (Well, everything except the blue jersey question. I figured that could wait till later.)

Ricketts first thanked fans for sending emails and letters of support for their effort to acquire the team and then gave this three-pronged message:

First, to strive to be the best in baseball every single year and to win the World Series. To accomplish that, invest in world-class facilities and the best personnel, and (as noted above) hold them to a high standard of accountability.

Second, they love Wrigley Field and will do everything they can to improve the Wrigley Field experience for future generations.

Third, they love Chicago and intend to be good neighbors, giving back to the city and neighborhood.

The key to winning the World Series, Ricketts said, is to "make the playoffs every year", and thus to build an organization that's "playoff worthy every single year". He called that "very doable".

For lack of a better term, I'd say Tom Ricketts "gets it".

For the short term, Ricketts said there may be "slight" ticket price increases in 2010. Personally, if he asked me, in this economy and coming off the tough year the Cubs had, I'd advise him to hold the line for one year. He also said payroll would be "slightly" increased, but didn't name a specific figure. Other things that he said he'd look at right away would be improvements in the Wrigley Field concourse, restrooms, and food options. He made it clear that the Triangle Building is a top priority, "the key to bringing Wrigley to modern standards", and I believe he meant this not only for the fan amenities it might contain, but for the new and upgraded player facilities (workout rooms, batting cages, etc.) it is likely to have.

Ricketts was asked why he was going to succeed where other owners have failed. His response, again, had three parts:

First, there are no multiple agendas. The only agenda is to win.

Second, they are going to reinvest in the team, the stadium, and the organization.

Third, there are no "quarterly results", they're in it for the long term: "Our shareholders are our fans."

They mentioned, as has been stated by Kenney before, that they look to the Red Sox as a model of how a team both renovated an old ballpark to be a thriving new stadium (and added that the Red Sox did this without ever moving out, and there has never been any discussion about moving out when renovations begin. There have also been "no discussions" about selling naming rights and he "hasn't considered it". When asked what the timetable was for getting to the World Series, he said (not unexpectedly) that he thought this team could make it next year, but made no promises, and said it would be up to Jim Hendry to make the team better; he wouldn't answer a specific question about eating salary.

Only one player -- Ryan Dempster, who is living here in Chicago all winter -- attended the news conference. For his part, Dempster seemed impressed with Ricketts and his commitment to Chicago, the team and the ballpark. Dempster himself -- one of the few Cubs in recent years to live year-round in Chicago -- also "gets it". If you're looking for a clubhouse leader for 2010, Dempster might just be the guy.

There's a lot more -- and I will post the entire transcript of the news conference here early next week -- but the bottom line is this: after 28 years of ownership that was on occasion good (getting the Cubs twice to within a few outs of the World Series), on occasion bad (seven 90+ loss seasons), and often frustrating, cheaping out for bottom-line corporate reasons when divisions were there for the taking and getting rid of people (Dallas Green, for one) who could have led us to the promised land, we at last have an owner who lives and dies with this team just like we do. We haven't had such an owner since 1932, when William Wrigley Jr., the first of the Wrigleys to own the team, died. Incidentally, there will be a half-hour special with the four siblings on CSN Chicago tonight at 11 pm CDT.

Go get 'em, Tom. Build us a winner, and you'll celebrate along with the rest of us. There will be much rejoicing. I, for one, can't wait.

Sneak Preview Of Tom Ricketts' First Comments As Cubs Owner

2009-10-30T14:57:36Z

I'm off to Wrigley Field shortly, but wanted to share with you several quotes that I just received in an email from NPR -- there is going to be a full-length interview with Tom Ricketts on NPR News' Weekend Edition tomorrow at 9 am CDT.

You can find out more here and below the fold.

I'll have a full story posted late this afternoon after the news conference, which can be seen live on CSN Chicago at 11 am CDT. Some of the questions you wanted me to ask are at least partly answered in the quotes he gave NPR.

On why he wants Piniella to stay on as manager, Ricketts says: "We think Lou is one of the best managers in baseball. He has an option to return next year, and from what I understand, I think he is planning to."

Asked about the future of Wrigley Field, he states: "First of all, we want this to be the best franchise in baseball, and you can’t be a world-class franchise and have third-class facilities." He goes on to say that "there is land that is just adjacent to the stadium, along Clark Street, that the team owns and we intend to develop that into a part of the stadium, that will give fans more options on game day, but as importantly free up space inside of the stadium to build in some of the clubhouse functionality that other teams enjoy."

Even if park improvements cause higher ticket prices, Ricketts says one thing fans "should keep in mind is that with family ownership now, we intend to reinvest all the profits that we can get on the team and put that back into preserving Wrigley Field and to putting a better team on the field. So it's not like it's going away to some kind of corporation and never will be seen again."

On how he wants to build the team, Ricketts says: "Undoubtedly the way to build the long-term winner is through player development. You got to draft the right people and you got to have scouts and coaches that are coordinated and working together to turn the right players into real producers at the major league level. Free agency, I think, is something you look at when you got a hole to fill or when you haven’t been able to produce a player from your own system. The real key for consistent performance and trying to win the division every single year is developing our own players."

Asked whether any other sports franchise is a model for the Cubs, he responds: "I think obviously what they've done with Fenway is a good thing for us to look at in terms of how to improve the stadium. Because we really do want to preserve and keep improving the special experience that Wrigley Field is. On the field we also wouldn’t mind copying the Red Sox. I think it's time for the team to push forward and to win a World Series."

Cubs AFL Update

2009-10-30T07:35:00Z

I hadn't done anything with the Arizona Fall League so far. I thought that the fanposts you all were doing was handling the situation pretty well. But the AFL is a little over two weeks old now, so it's probably time for an update.

Just some few basic information to start. The Arizona Fall League is a post-season league for minor leaguers. mostly from AA and AAA teams. The six teams play in the Spring Training complexes in the Cactus League. The Cub prospects are on the Mesa Solar Sox, a team that is also stocked with players from the Angels, Red Sox, Marlins and Twins.

Generally, the AFL is considered a hitters league. Usually teams don't send their top pitching prospects to Arizona, preferring to let them rest their arms. This year the pitching is a little better, with hurlers such as the Yankees' Ian Kennedy, the Reds' Mike Leake, the Rangers' Tanner Schleppers, our Andrew Cashner and some guy who plays for the Nationals named Stephen Strasburg. Still, the league continues to favor offense by a large margin, so take that into account when looking at the stats.

Also, don't forget that the Mesa Solar Sox have 37 players from six teams (they've got one lone Blue Jay for some reason) on their roster. So if it doesn't seem like a Cub player is playing much or playing out of position, don't forget that other teams want to get their players into the game as well.

So having said that, the Cubs prospects are mostly having a strong Autumn down in the Valley of the Sun. I'll summarize all seven players' season after the jump.

Starlin Castro: 12 Games. 18-43 .419 AVE. 2 2B. 2 SB 3 BB 3 SO.

Castro is making it tough to determine who the top prospect in the Cubs system right now. He's turning the heads of a lot of scouts down in Arizona. Even more important, he's only made one error in Arizona after making a bucketload of them in the minors this past season. There is very little doubt now that he'll play SS in the majors one day soon. No, not this April. The only question is whether he'll develop either the power or the OBP skills to be an all-star.

Josh Vitters: 9 Games. 13-37 .351 AVE 3 2B. 2 BB 5 SO.

While Castro is showing some impressive talents in Mesa, Josh Vitters is showing that the wrist problems that hindered him in the second half of the season are behind him. He still isn't walking much, which is troubling, but he is there to work on his swing and testing his wrists. If Castro has passed him as the #1 prospect in the system, it's not because Vitters is disappointing anyone in Arizona.

Welington Castillo: 4 Games. 5-14 .357 AVE 1 HR. 2 BB 5 SO.

Castillo hasn't played much, but he's been fine when he gets into the game.

Andrew Cashner: 3 starts. 1-2 record 3.72 ERA. 9.2 IP 6 Hits. 3 BB 7 K.

Cashner has made three starts. In the first one, he got rocked for three runs in two innings, including a home run. In the second game, he allowed only one run in 3.2 innings and didn't walk anyone. In the third game this past Wednesday, Cashner threw four no-hit innings, walking two and striking out four. He reportedly hit a high of 96 mph on his fastball and was throwing a wicked slider. Someone is going to call Cashner the top prospect in the system this off-season, too.

James Russell: 5 Games 0-1 2.57 ERA. 7 IP 8 Hits. 2 BB 6 K

The lefty has been pitching out of the bullpen in the AFL and has been effective. After his first appearance when he gave up thre runs in two innings, he's thrown five shutout innings.

Blake Parker: 5 Games. 1-1 5.40 ERA. 5 IP 7 Hits. 2 BB 3 K

Parker's been going in the opposite direction of Russell, having started out the season strong but he's given up three runs total in his last two relief appearances. He gave up two solo home runs last Saturday in the one inning he pitched.

John Gaub: 5 Games. 1-1 14.40 ERA. 5 IP 10 Hits. 1 BB 8 K

Gaub is the one Cub having a really miserable AFL experience. He's given up at least one run in four of the five games he's pitched, including one game where he allowed four runs on four hits in his one inning. At least the strikeout-to-walk ratio is nice.

If anyone actually cares, the Mesa Solar Sox are 5-10, which is the worst record in the AFL. All I can say is that it's not the Cub players fault.

History Is Not On Their Side: World Series Game 2 Preview, Phillies vs. Yankees, Thursday 10/29, 6:57 CT

2009-10-29T16:00:43Z

More photos » by Julie Jacobson - AP

Hey, look! The umpires got one right this postseason!

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Chris DeLuca in today's Sun-Times tells us what the Yankees are up against in trying to win the World Series:

The last six teams to win Game 1 -- and 10 of the last 11 -- all went on to win the Series.

The last team to win Game 1 and not win the Series? Dusty Baker's Giants in 2002.

More history: as you likely know from watching the game last night, Cliff Lee was on target, before Jimmy Rollins' bad throw, to throw the first CG shutout in a World Series since Josh Beckett's clinching shutout in Game 6 of the 2003 World Series. That was also the last CG of any kind in a World Series; to show you how rare such events now are, since the division series round was added to the playoffs in 1995, there have been only two other complete games thrown in a World Series: by Randy Johnson in Game 2 of the 2001 World Series and by Greg Maddux in Game 1 of the 1995 World Series, in which he gave the Indians only two singles and both runs he allowed were unearned.

So the Yankees have an uphill climb, and I think Pedro Martinez is an inspired choice to start tonight for the Phillies; a similar choice was made by Connie Mack in the 1929 World Series against the Cubs for another Philadelphia team, with excellent results (for Mack's team, not for the Cubs).

Phillies at Yankees, 6:57 pm CDT. Phillies lead series 1-0. TV: Fox. Announcers: Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

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A Tale Of Two Franchises: World Series Game 1 Preview, Phillies vs. Yankees, Wednesday 10/28, 6:57 CT

2009-10-28T16:00:57Z

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

Jimmy Rollins warms up during a practice for the World Series on Tuesday in New York.

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Historically, you couldn't come up with two more different franchises than the Yankees and Phillies.

The Yankees have been, by far, the winningest team in American League history -- their .568 winning percentage puts them almost 2300 games over .500, and 855.5 games ahead of the second-place Boston Red Sox, if you were keeping an all-time major league standing. Put it another way: say the Red Sox started winning 100 games a year, every year, and the Yankees suddenly got bad and started losing 100 games a year, every year (that would make a 38-game difference between the two teams). It would take 23 consecutive seasons of doing that before the Red Sox could catch them. The Yankees' pennant is their 40th; to date they have won exactly two-thirds of the World Series in which they have appeared, and they have appeared in at least one in each decade since the 1920's.

Meanwhile, the Phillies have, up to very recently, been the sad sack team of the National League. Much was made of the Pirates recently breaking the Phillies' record of 16 consecutive losing seasons from 1933-48. But had the Phillies not won the last game of the 1932 season to finish 78-76, they would have had thirty-one consecutive non-winning seasons from 1918-48; in 12 of those 31 years, they lost 100 or more games. The franchise won two pennants (1915 and 1950) in its first 97 years of existence, and won only one World Series (1980) until last year. The Phillies are the only major league franchise to have lost over 10,000 games (10,167), despite the fact that the Cubs and Braves were around for seven years before the Phillies were created in 1883. The Phillies stand 1129 games under .500 -- put that another way, too: if they started winning 100 games a year, every year, it would take 30 consecutive seasons to put the franchise over .500.

(That ought to also give you a little perspective on Cubs history. Doesn't look quite so bad now, does it?)

History lesson over, I'm picking the Phillies to win in seven. The Phillies can match the Yankees' CC Sabathia with their own Cliff Lee (and Indians fans must be sighing big-time, watching their former pitchers face off tonight), and if Philly wins one of the two games in New York, stealing home field back, that will make for a tight and competitive Series.

Late in the year as it is (the "November Classic"?), it's still the World Series. Even the weather will cooperate, with rain ending before game time and temperatures cool, but not cold, in the lower 50's at game time. Enjoy, because after it's over... no baseball for three months.

Phillies at Yankees, 6:57 pm CDT. TV: Fox. Announcers: Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

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Please visit our SB Nation Phillies site The Good Phight and Yankees site Pinstripe Alley.

Discuss amongst yourselves.