If he does come back though, Maine-Glavine-El Duque is a stronger front 3 than El Duque-Glavine-Trachsel.

If the AL series are both completed by Saturday, they might want to move the Sunday game to 5pm for TV purposes. But then if there's a game 5 on Monday, that would cut into their travel time.

But what's more important, TV scheduling or the teams' travel schedules?

WWSH

WWSH

Furcal, SS
Lofton, CF
Garciaparra, 1B
Kent, 2B
Drew, RF
Martin, C
Anderson, LF
Betemit (vs. a righty)/Lugo (vs. a lefty)
Lowe/Kuo

Pretty much as expected, no news on final roster.

oh i hope i hope i hope that the weekend games start later in the afternoon...

Of course, A-Rod hasn't been up to bat yet.

Lowe vs. Scrubeeni -- If Lowe stays hot, and Scrubeeni fails, as expected.

Kuo vs. Glavine -- Kuo is the kind of pitcher this Met team doesn't hit well, and he's full of vim and vigor, whereas Glavine is tired. Mets have a good shot here, but a Dodger win wouldn't be a shock.

Maddux vs. Maine -- At home, Maddux is pitching at a level seldom seen in our lifetimes. Nobody's perfect, but he has to be the favorite.

The deeper into the series we get, the more the odds shift to the Mets. So the Dodgers should be thinking very opportunistically.

And nobody told me?

Anyway, I don't think they're looking for input from a Yankee-hating troll like me.

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/home_mlb.aspx

Beimel on the injury:

"I got up, went to the faucet in the bathroom, got the drink, was going to set down the glass, and it slipped out of my hand and I tried to catch it and wound up just spiking it into the sink," said Beimel.

"I thought it was just a cut, but when I looked at it, it was really deep. I wish I had a better story, like I was trying to save a baby or something. This is just crazy how it happened."

Hello? Bottled water? Who drinks tap water in a hotel?

Heck of a double play there.

Warning about Oliver Perez. He was channeling Kuofax in the last game of the season v. the Nationals. Now, the Nats were clearly distracted and flat, but then again, they've been a strong offensive team since the Queen City Massacre.

I haven't read the earlier threads yet so sorry if this has been worked over already.

Here it is.

I'm rooting for the Yankees to make it to the World Series. And if it's not the Dodgers, I'll probably be rooting for them to win.

Why? Because I think they're way the best team. And I really like watching their high-PPA good-eye hitters grind through opposing starting pitching. And then, on the personality front, they've got Bobby Abreu and A-Rod, two really great yet sort of weirdly unloved and maligned players.

Finally (and I know this is the one that has you guys petitioning Ken to revoke my credentials), I've always loved watching Gary Sheffield hit. Even though he's rather a prig.

Sorry, I just couldn't keep it in any longer.

I would have expected better from a Prius owner...

PS: I don't care for the Yankees

Nothing is regulated these days. Regulating is anti-American. Regulators hate our freedom.

60 That's the first time I've seen Sheffield described as a "prig." That's a term I usually see applied to colonial-era ministers.

Actually, I drink tap water too. My point was, hotel glasses are dangerous. Didn't Kobe Bryant cut himself on one...somebody in the NBA?

That could be uncomfortable. Perhaps I will just my hand. I don't think I could cut my hand on running water.

You might be thinking of OJ Simpson. He cut his finger on a hotel glass the night his ex-wife was murdered.

Presented without commentary.

I didn't think a person could cut their hand while shaving, until OJ came along...

And a pay TV.

Hey, tell it to OJ!

He's tough to reach, what with his ongoing search for the "real killer" and all

Which pitcher was that?

I guess the next time I cut my hand in some bizarre spastic manner I'll say I "pulled a Beimel."

I hope Hendrickson can fill in adequately and that Kuo can be effective. El Duque's more important to the Mets than Beimel is to LA, but this still could come close to counterbalancing the earlier news.

I found this interesting especially the part about who paid the bill, its long so I will edit, to see the whole thing go to today's notes in Dodgers.com.

NEW YORK -- Management's theory on what turned around the Dodgers' season has less to do with home plates and more to do with dinner plates.
The season's low point was the 13th loss in 14 games coming out of the All-Star break, a July 26 game in which center fielder Kenny Lofton lost a first-inning fly ball in the sun at Dodger Stadium and cameras caught pitcher Brad Penny and Lofton in a finger-pointing dugout spat.

"We lost that game on a Wednesday and came into the clubhouse," recalled third-base coach Rich Donnelly, "and [manager] Grady [Little] says, 'We've got a day off Monday when we fly to Cincinnati, and we're all going to dinner. All of us. Everybody. It's mandatory.'"

Maddux had not yet joined the club when it was being bussed to the world famous Cincinnati barbeque rib emporium, Montgomery Inn, where acting traveling secretary Billy DeLury, who began working for the Dodgers in Brooklyn, had arranged reservations for 40.

Every player showed up. Little kept the mood light with a brief welcome, then it was slabs of ribs, bottles of beer and a collection of frustrated ballplayers becoming a team.

"I think it did a lot for us," Little said of the team dinner. "I wanted everyone there and I think it told everyone exactly what I thought about somebody pointing fingers: Don't do it. Penny picked up the bill, like $5,000. And the same day, Maddux showed up, so it was a big day for us."

Derek Lowe said the dinner was a turning point.

"We were struggling, and there was the mishap with the two players, and Grady thought it would be good to get everyone together," said Lowe. "I'm a fan of team dinners. You can come closer together in ways you can't do just being on the field. I'd say it definitely helped."

I didn't get ribs as I don't like them much.

The tab for $5000 doesn't surprise me.

I think dinner for 40 in most Manhatten restaurants would cost around the same with drinks and service.

In any case, not good news. Beimel, along with Broxton and Saito, are the only relievers in whom I have trust, notwithstanding the LA Times' effort to get us to believe that Tomko adds "solid middle relief."

I just can't take the chance of the Padres winning.

Jeff Weaver is starting a playoff game this year. That's hard to believe.

I'm not sure what that means as far as the importance of closers, the team had a losing record for games when they were tied after 8 innings, 6-8.

If they weren't in the game, nothing else mattered.

On second thought....

http://tinyurl.com/nnwbm

at least in the NL they've given up the fewest HRs. didn't bother to check in the AL.

Must have been talking about motocross

"I didn't ask," Beimel said. "I didn't look and didn't want to know."

Denial!

Actually, having once broken a ring finger and having the painkillers injected between it and the pinkie, I can understand his lack of interest.

It's really not comparable anyway. Pedro was a superstar that Little deferred to when deciding what to do in that Yankee game. Lugo is nobody's idea of a superstar; he's a role player, but in short series, a role player can be decisive.

You can't really argue too much about Little's use of Saenz this season. It's always been said that playing the field too much would wear him down. Tracy ignored that advice-probably out of necessity. Little took that advice to heart and made him a great situational pinch hitter, and in that role, he won several games for us.

In short, I think Little deserves the benefit of the doubt going into the series. We can always Monday morning quarterback him to death if they lose.