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• Fox, either by design or inadvertently, has shown numerous images of various Chevrolet and GM logos in the city. The General Motors Fountain in center field of Comerica has been worth $1.5 million in exposure for the GM brand, Joyce Julius said."The deeper the Tigers go in the postseason, the better it is for us," Caruso said. "It definitely gives us that added opportunity."

• He played for the Cincinnati Reds for 17 seasons, hit 389 home runs and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1989 as one of the greatest catchers ever.

Like a lot of former major leaguers, he wasn't surprised to see pine tar on a pitcher's hand.

"Guys do things like that, trying to get an edge," Bench said. "When I played, there was a rag with pine tar that hitters used in the on-deck circle. Between innings, the batboy would bring it into the dugout and the pitcher would go over and rub it. Just trying to grip the ball better. They have to do something now, especially when it's cold.

• The seams are lower than they used to be."

It's a violation of rule 8:02 (a)(4), which stipulates a pitcher "may not apply a foreign substance of any kind to the ball." Rule 8:02 (a)(2-6) calls for an immediate ejection when a pitcher is caught.

• But the rule is routinely broken, Bench said, which is probably why St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa didn't press to have Rogers ejected after the Detroit Tigers' pitcher was caught with a smudge in the first inning of Game 2. The umpires just asked him to wash it off.

"There's a real good chance some of his guys probably do it," Bench said of La Russa. "Anytime you see real good curveball pitchers like the Cardinals have, chances are they probably have a little bit" of pine tar.

Not that Bench would have complained about the ejection of Rogers, whom he says he knows and likes.

"He claimed it was dirt, which isn't a foreign substance. But come on," Bench said. "He was just so blatant about it. Why didn't he just set off a flare calling attention to it? It was that obvious. I mean, I know he is getting old, but it's like he put it on and just forgot to wipe it off. I'm going to kid Kenny about that."

Bench acknowledged that he would be more upset if Rogers' offense ranked higher on his personal list of baseball subversions.

"It's not cheating. Very few guys really cheat," Bench said. "Cheating is putting Vaseline on the ball. That makes it go absolutely crazy. That's unhittable. That's not a level playing field. Cheating is putting cork in your bat. Cheating is stealing signs from second base. That's not acceptable. And of course, using steroids is cheating."

The latter is a sore subject for Bench, as it is for many former players who dislike seeing their records challenged by players suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs.' From John Eisenberg's column in the Baltimore Sun, 10/28/06

• (Interesting about the seams on the baseball being lower. If you want to identify "eras," do we now add points to today's pitchers for using a ball that's harder to grip?)sm

• Under the new labor agreement, he would lose this privilege, as would all other players in similar situations.

• I don't think it's going to work out for Alex in New York. You can say it's similar to the Kenny Rogers experience--Rogers just didn't do well in New York, and things worked out fine for him elsewhere. So, Alex shouldn't stay here just to stay here. The situation you saw at the end of the season with Joe Torre and the situation with Jeter, I don't think it can ever work out for Alex. Hitting a lot of homeruns won't matter in the regular season. It will only matter if he does it in the post season, but even then I don't think it would work out. His post season batting average as a non-Yankee is 320, but much lower as a Yankee. I think it's best for all concerned if they go their separate ways.

• (Jim Leyritz has a regular shift on MLB radio but is better known to Yankee fans for his super-clutch game-winning homeruns in the post season.)

• Assuming they exercise the option, the Yankees will trade Sheffield out of the American League East, and they won't consider the Mets, either, as a landing point. Potential suitors for Sheffield include the Cubs, Houston, the Dodgers, Philadelphia and San Francisco in the National League and the White Sox, Detroit, Seattle and Texas in the American League.

• "The first came from Ronald Blum, an Associated Press reporter. He wanted to know if Jeter had influenced George Steinbrenner'’s decision to retain Manager Joe Torre. Jeter demurred, the question-and-answer session abruptly ended, and Selig was furious.

As Jeter met later with a small group of reporters, Selig walked by, shook his head and scolded Blum for his question. Yet Selig should not have been surprised. The Yankees are the team that knows no off-season. In some ways, their absence from the World Series only heightens the drama of their story line."

From Tyler Kepner's column, NY Times, 10/28/06

• Towers said he has a list of seven to eight candidates, none of whom are former big league managers. That would exclude Padres coaches Tony Muser and Glenn Hoffman.

By not promoting the World Series as much as it has in the past,...Fox has not fully leveraged any of its other television properties (Fox News Channel, Fox Sports Net, etc.) to promote the World Series. The Foxies have promoted their upcoming BCS coverage more than their postseason baseball package.

So maybe, just maybe, in January, when the Foxies air these college bowl games, they will use them to promote baseball. (When it's too late).

• (And on the wisdom of Fox renewing it's deal with MLB:)

• Selig & Co. cashed in on a new seven-year TV contract with Fox worth about $2.1 billion. Now, Selig can look forward to counting the new-deal dough even if the 2006 World Series hits an all-time low.

Considering baseball's 2006 postseason ratings on Fox are down across the board, perhaps the Foxies should have waited until after the World Series to complete a deal, when they might have had a chance to purchase MLB's TV package at a cheaper price.

• As stated here before, it is totally confounding how MLB could seduce any network into agreeing to a contract extension before the current deal expired. The only league this makes sense for is the NFL, for which the possibility always exists that a nonincumbent network will try to bid on a TV package.

• He hasn't pitched past the sixth inning in any of his three starts,
• with his runs allowed increasing from 3 against the Yankees
• to 4 against Oakland
• and 7 against the Cardinals.

• This is a change every baseball fan can relate to:

• Another recent example is Javier Vazquez, who asked for and received a trade from the Diamondbacks to the White Sox.

• National: 11.5
• New York metro: 11.8

• The Yankee fan contributed $34 million this year in luxury tax, so now they know 1 of the ways in which their hard-earned dollars went flying out the door.

• MLB executive VP of Labor Relations Rob Manfred last night made a clarification regarding Wednesday's exclusive Daily News report that an element of the new Basic Agreement between the owners and players contained a payoff to the union for collusion practices by the owners in the 2002 free agent period. It was reported by The News that some $12 million was paid out to the union from the $70 million luxury-tax surplus to settle 50 grievances. In fact, said Manfred, it was 45 grievances, and while none of them pertained to the collusion charges raised by several player agents with the union, Manfred acknowledged those charges. "Essentially," he said, "we gave them a payment to settle all the grievances and waive the others (collusion) that were never formally filed. I don't know how many there were, but they can divvy up the money as they see fit."

• "In our humble opinion, we think he's the greatest relief pitcher in history, but yet he's such a humble human being," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said before last night's 109-107 preseason victory over the Celtics. "All he talked about was team. He had some great, great nuggets and a message for our guys. It was great that he was willing to share his time."

• "When someone like Mariano Rivera comes in and all he talks about is team, and he's the greatest relief pitcher in the history of the game, that says a lot about his character."

"With the score tied, 4-4, Yadier Molina led off the inning with a walk against Joel Zumaya. A soft grounder by Aaron Miles forced Molina at second, and Miles advanced on a wild pitch as Juan Encarnacion struck out. That brought Eckstein to the plate with two outs.

• Zumaya was struggling with the strike zone of the plate umpire, Mike Winters.

• "I wasn'’t adjusting to the strike zone, so I had to adjust somehow and throw it right down the middle,"” Zumaya said. "“You can'’t go out there and throw a tantrum. You've got to adjust quick. If you don'’t, things are going to turn out like they did tonight."

On a 3-1 pitch from Zumaya, Eckstein drove a liner to the gap in left center. Monroe was playing shallow against Eckstein, who had only two home runs this season. With a runner at second, it was probably the smart move, because it gave Monroe a better chance to make a strong throw on a play at the plate.

"As he watched his ball carry and the angle Monroe took for it, Eckstein said, he thought of his old Angels teammate, Darin Erstad, who once made a spectacular catch at Yankee Stadium on the same kind of hit. Monroe dove, but his glove could only graze the ball and Miles raced in with the go-ahead run.

• In each of the first three games, a Tigers pitcher had made an error. No pitching staff had ever committed four errors in one World Series, but the Tigers made dubious history when Rodney lobbed his throw over the head of Placido Polanco, who was covering the first-base bag.

  Rodney said he threw lightly because he was so close to Polanco. "“I don'’t try to throw too hard, because it came close to him," he said."

• (I heard a pundit Thursday say the outfield wouldn't be slippery in St. Louis even with all the rain, because he was sure it had such great drainage. He might want to revisit that opinion. sm)

"Suppan, who visited Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in 2005, has a locker in the corner of the clubhouse that displays a small statue of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus near a small chain of beads and a tiny crucifix that hang from a hook.

After the game, he refused to discuss his decision to speak out in the commercial.

"“I'’m going to reserve comment,"” Suppan said. "I'’m just going to talk about the game."”

Suppan said there were "“a lot of distractions out there."” He was not specific, but he seemed to be discussing baseball distractions.

"“I wasn'’t fully in command of all my pitches," Suppan said. "“I was trying to change speeds, keep them off balance, and stay in there as long as I could."”

• Suppan'’s appearance in a charged political campaign was unusual for an athlete playing for the championship of his sport, but it was done with his consent.

  A spokesman for the group that produced the ad said Suppan had taped his statement himself recently and told members of the group to come to his home two days ago to pick it up and insert it into the ad. The time to broadcast the ad was purchased specifically for the Series game in which Suppan would pitch.

  Also appearing in the ad were quarterback Kurt Warner of the Arizona Cardinals and Mike Sweeney of the Kansas City Royals."

• I'm against media members being allowed in athletes' dressing rooms. There's no reason for it. I don't appreciate the NY Times' angle anyway, but in this case I'm relaying it. If they can pick and choose inferences from a player's personal effects and beliefs, I need to know how they're doing it. In this case, of course, Mr. Suppan knows that anything in his locker is open for public scrutiny. sm

• Media propagandists wishing to further their career at ESPN, etc., have continued over the past few years to try and keep the notion of all closers as 1 inning performers, and on very rare occasions where they mention Rivera, it's faintly. And they never include his dramatic multi-inning post season performances. At best, they'll say he had "opportunities." (Even though this is easily refutable, most people won't take the time to do so. They also do it for a personal allegiance they have).

• There are many meaningful games into which most teams who want to win are now calling in their closer for more than 1 inning. If it's not a big deal, why is it that at least 1 team never does this no matter how dire the situation, meaning you need an entire other human being to get through the game? Teams who've changed to the Mariano method include the Blue Jays, the Red Sox, the Angels, the Mets, & the Cardinals. There are others as well, but these are the most obvious.

• "The only reason Stan Musial has not been involved on the field is that he is 86 years old and the weather has been horrible."

• "Major League Baseball has to approve those who throw first pitches." and
• "Bruce Sutter was expected to throw out the first pitch last night, before World Series Game 4 was called due to rain, joining other St. Louis luminaries from the past who have thrown out first pitches this postseason - Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Whitey Herzog, Red Schoendienst, Mike Shannon and even Ozzie Smith, who has been openly feuding with Cardinals manager Tony La Russa for years. The only reason Stan Musial has not been involved on the field is that he is 86 years old and the weather has been horrible."

Suppan is one of several athletes who appear in a political advertisement to be broadcast regionally on the Fox network when Game 4 which was rained out Wednesday, is played. The ad urges Missouri voters to oppose embryonic stem-cell research and vote against Amendment 2 to the State Constitution, which will be on the ballot in the election Nov. 7.

In a video copy of the ad, produced and distributed by an anti-amendment group called Missourians Against Human Cloning and posted on the Internet, Suppan'’s face appears in the first 10 seconds. He is not wearing a baseball cap.

“"Amendment 2 claims it bans human cloning, but in the 2,000 words you don'’t read, it makes cloning a constitutional right," Suppan says in the ad. "Don't be deceived."

Other athletes who appear in the ad are Kurt Warner of the Arizona Cardinals, who formerly played with the St. Louis Rams, and Mike Sweeney of the Kansas City Royals. James Caviezel, the actor who played Jesus in the film "“The Passion of the Christ,"” also appears.

• (HERE'S THE REALLY GOOD PART.sm)

Tony La Russa, the Cardinals manager, was asked Wednesday his opinion of Suppan's involvement and his policy about players involving themselves in such causes.

"“Our organization encourages guys to get involved in something beyond just baseball,"” La Russa said. "“I just like the fact that guys make a commitment."”

• La Russa has involved himself in social causes, including the protection of animals.

From Joe LaPointe article, NY Times 10/26/06

(The NY Times considers "the protection of animals" a "social cause." I should think it's a matter of life and death, much more than a social cause. How quaint of the Times. sm)

• Tyler Kepner, an evident sycophant & one of the army of media angels ever on Arod's shoulder, is practically on the verge of tears trying to pound something out of Jeter on the subject of his Roddiness:

• "What would you like me to do?" Jeter said. "“You're there and you support him. Everybody supports all your teammates at all times. I don't really know if there's anything else I can do. Maybe I'm not that smart; maybe you can help me out."

Jeter said he had spoken to Rodriguez since the season ended. "Briefly," he added,— and he said he saw no reason that Torre and Rodriguez would have to clear the air. Torre batted Rodriguez eighth in the Yankees final playoff game; Rodriguez had not hit that low in more than 10 years.

• "Clear what air?" Jeter said. "I don't have anything to do with that. From what I've heard, I haven't heard there's any air that needed to be cleared. I'm not speaking on his behalf or Mr. T's behalf, but that's not something I'’ve heard."

Jeter also disputed the notion that there was tension in the Yankees’ clubhouse, saying that members of the news media were not around enough to make that judgment. As for the pressure on Torre, who enters the last year of his contract, Jeter said it would be a nonissue.

"In New York, it doesn't make a difference if you have a contract or not," Jeter said. "There are expectations every season. I don't think because it's the last year of his deal, the focus is going to be any more on that. It's always on us to win."

This year, of course, the Yankees did not win enough. But Jeter's standout season brought him here anyway, sharing a stage with the National League winner, Ryan Howard of the Phillies, and with Aaron. " From Tyler Kepner's NY Times article, 10/26/06

• Again, Arod's problem is he hired Scott Boras who made a bad deal for him. It has collapsed as bad deals do. Why should this bad deal get special dispensation? If you think he's just a column of stats, well, we all know how to manipulate stats so thanks anyhow. How about this: the media guys are the ones making the situation worse than it is. Not that I'd expect any of you to be honest about that.

• (Now, the guy who wrote this article, "Mark Newman, enterprise editor of MLB.com," WROTE IT WITHOUT APPROVAL OF MLB OR ITS CLUBS (as it says at the end of the article. BUT NEWMAN IS SPITTING MAD THAT JETER WON.)

• Fans broke tradition with their vote of Jeter. In his best individual season since 1999, the Yankees' captain batted .343 in falling just short of the American League batting title won by Minnesota's Joe Mauer, stole a career-high 34 bases, hit 14 homers, drove in 97 runs and provided an important offensive consistency to a team that wound up with its ninth consecutive American League East title.

• There were two phases of fan balloting at MLB.com toward the end of the regular season. In the first phase, fans voted on a ballot that included one representative from each of the 30 clubs, as chosen by Major League Baseball. The fans' vote decided which six players in each league would move on to the final vote. Fans then were asked to choose one player per league from among those six.

  Since 1999, the 25th anniversary of Aaron breaking Ruth's all-time home run record, Major League Baseball has recognized the best offensive performer from each league with this award.

• (I'M DESPERATELY TRYING TO GET NEWMAN'S POINT...WHAT DOES HE MEAN BY 'BEST OFFENSIVE'? DOES HE MEAN 'MOST HOMERUNS? IF SO, WHY NOT SAY SO DIRECTLY?sm) Past recipients besides Jones and Ortiz include Barry Bonds (three times), Alex Rodriguez (three times), Manny Ramirez (twice), Albert Pujols, Todd Helton, Sammy Sosa and Carlos Delgado.

• Howard was the choice from among six National League finalists that included Pujols of the Cardinals, David Wright of the Mets, Alfonso Soriano of the Nationals, Nomar Garciaparra of the Dodgers and Lance Berkman of the Astros.

• The other AL finalists were Ortiz, Vladimir Guerrero of the Angels, Travis Hafner of the Indians, Paul Konerko of the White Sox and Justin Morneau of the Twins. Jeter's 14 homers obviously were a drop in the bucket when compared to those of the other five sluggers, but that's not what fans focused on here. This was also about baserunning, a key figure in an increased number of Yankee hit-and-run attempts, hitting the ball the other way through an open hole at second base.

• New York metro rating: 11+
• National rating: 10+

• Even though the ratings have been disappointing overall, New York has more baseball fans.

""“Do you know how badly I want to manage?"” he said. "“I want to manage so badly. But I don'’t want to move my family a third time in three years."

As Girardi sat in the corner of a coffee shop here, he spoke carefully and, at times, emotionally.

• At first, Girardi was praised for his work. But after his argument with Loria, Girardi was portrayed as a control freak. Three weeks after the argument, The Sun-Sentinel of South Florida, quoting anonymous sources, reported that in spring training Girardi wanted to move Miguel Cabrera from third base to first, shift Dan Uggla from second base to left field, use outfielder Josh Willingham at catcher and send the starters Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco to the minor leagues.

While Girardi refused to discuss what had been internal evaluations, he seemed to express doubt that he made those recommendations by saying: "I don'’t want to get into "He said, he said."’ That doesn'’t do anyone any good."”

• It would be unlikely that Girardi, the Yankees bench coach in 2005, would accept a coaching position with the Yankees. As much as Girardi reveres Manager Joe Torre, he would probably view coaching as a step backward. "I believe I'll manage again,"” Girardi said.

For now, communications may be Girardi's full-time job. Steve Mandel, Girardi's agent, said there could be broadcasting positions available for Girardi, who has worked for Fox and the YES Network and could return to one or both outlets.

• After Girardi agreed to a three-year, $2.1 million contract with the Marlins, he was told they wanted to trade Carlos Delgado and Mike Lowell and lower their payroll to $45 million from $56 million. But they also made more jarring reductions.

Florida shed Delgado and Lowell in addition to Josh Beckett, Luis Castillo, Juan Pierre, Paul Lo Duca and Guillermo Mota. Several other players signed elsewhere. Girardi, who had turned down a better offer from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, was left with a $15 million team filled with youngsters. "“I believe the landscape changed from what it was originally going to be and I was misled a bit," he said. "“But I'’m O.K. with that."”"

From the article by Jack Curry, NY Times, 10/25/06

To get a ticket to a World Series game nowadays, the average fan must do one of three things: own all or part of a season ticket (or have a good friend who does), get lucky on the Internet or pay the premium price from a broker.

• Tickets are particularly tight in St. Louis for the three games in new Busch Stadium this week, an example of the changing environment with smaller stadiums, increased demand and more season ticketholders to accommodate. The Cardinals held an online lottery for 2,000 tickets for each of the three Series games, and 350,000 people registered for it. (Fans could register once per e-mail address.)

The Detroit Tigers made 10,000 tickets for each game available for sale on their website and by phone last week, and they sold out in 30 minutes.

Joe Strohm, Cardinals vice president for ticket sales, provided a breakdown of where the tickets for the 46,500 seats at Busch Stadium went:

•35,000 to season ticketholders. The Cardinals have a season-ticket base of 27,000 this year, plus a long-standing bonus plan entitling season ticketholders prior to 1985 to buy extra playoff tickets. The season-ticket base (which includes partial plans that are added up to full-season equivalents) increased from about 21,000 in the old park.

•8,000 to Major League Baseball for its 30 clubs, licensees, sponsors, broadcast right holders, home and visiting players, umpires and the media.

•2,000 to the public at large in the online lottery. "It's the most fair way of doing it, because everybody has an opportunity," Strohm says.

1,500 for internal use, such as sponsors and "group leaders" who organize group sales of 300 or more tickets during the season.

Vaccaro estimates about 20% of fans at the Series games in Detroit bought their tickets in the secondary market.

• Tickets from brokers ranged from about $380 to $3,500 for Saturday's Game 1, he says. In St. Louis, they're going for $345 to $5,000, depending on location, he says.

Some season ticketholders sell their playoff tickets to pay for the next year's season plan, he says. from USA Today article, 10/23/06