Ed Wade-watch (cont.)

Although, I will say about Ed Wade, that this is a welcome bit of news from Astros' home base on the web:

"Under [Wade's] watch, the Phillies drafted future All-Stars such as second baseman Chase Utley, left-hander Cole Hamels, and 2006 National League Most Valuable Player and 2005 NL Rookie of the Year Ryan Howard."

Central		W	L	GB
CHC		81	73	---
MIL		79	74	1.5
STL		71	82	9.5
CIN		71	83	10.0
HOU		68	86	13.0
PIT		66	88	15.0

The race to 86 wins wages on.

At 8-2 in their last ten games, the Cubs are finishing strong. Momentum! The Hardball Times probably has fifteen articles about how little momentum matters to a playoff run.

Ed Wade is the new Astros GM. Find some lively Ed Wade debate, circa 2003, here. Screw minority hirings, or SABR-metricians like Theo Epstein. We'll take the old white guy who built mediocre teams somewhere for awhile.

The Pennant Race that Wasn't

If we were living in a year before 1968 then we would be witnessing one of the greatest pennant races of all time in the American League. Boston, New York, Cleveland and Los Angeles would all be within 1.5 games of first.

As it stands there is no pennant race at all because due to the evolutionary inversion of the baseball season all of these teams will make the playoffs and the final week of the A.L. season will be a total bore. Of course if were living in a year before 1968 there would be a much greater chance that a person could die of polio so I guess it levels out.

Marc Ecko, a clothes-maker, will let the internet determine the fate of Barry Bonds' 756th home run ball, with a simple online voting mechanism. Cooperstown, branded with an *, or shoot it into space. What I can't figure out is whether shooting into space is a good thing or a bad thing. Good: getting shot into space is the coolest way of going out that I can conceive of, and can only hope that my ashes will be as worthy as those of, say, Scotty. On the other hand, the ball would not be on earth any longer, which is a pretty serious kick in the nuts.

Let's just hope that we don't see a repeat of the 1999 Rafael Palmeiro Gold Glove debacle.

There is not, sadly, a write-in option for the Bonds ball. There are an unlimited number of images that Ecko could mark the ball with beyond the mere asterisk. Hasty sample:

so you're saying there is a chance

more fallout from one of the greatest upsets in history last week (see below): The AP Top 25 College Football poll will now be open to FCS (or I-AA)teams; meaning that theoretically Elon can be ranked in the top 25 each week; in theory it could work and in theory Communism worked Marge in theory

enjoy the AP story on this development which is of course about the AP

just like upstairs

those who wax poetic about the Wild-Card style playoff format in baseball like to point to all the exciting pennant races this multi-playoff format supposedly creates;

well this year with three weeks to go in the stretch-run of the season there is exactly ONE interesting (or depressing) race left to decide: the NL Central - the rest of baseball is officially in a run-out the clock situation

but wait you say what about that thrilling N.L. West race - well the loser of that division is almost certainly going to win ....wait for it.....wait for it....the Wild Card!!

so in reality the Wild Card helped kill exciting pennant races in baseball this year; but at least in consulaton of the unfolding joy of a classic pennant race we get a random extra playoff tier