E.K. NATION

This just in, beep-beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep:

SBC Park will be the site of the 2007 All-Star Game, according to a report on ESPN.com.

We wonder, though. We don't see Barry Bonds playing in 2007. Do you? It would be nice to have him play in the game in his home park. Why did Pittsburgh get to host the 2006 All-Star Game? It last hosted in 1994.

One Babe Ruth trade, one League of Nations, one Prohibition, two grandparents of E.K., one Great Depression, two parents of E.K., one Second World War, one Ebert, two atomic bombs, one Siskel, one CIA, one NATO, one Korean War, one Elvis, two new U.S. states, four Beatles, two Kennedy assassinations, two Darren Stephenses, one Vietnam War, nine Brady's (counting Oliver, ten if you count Tiger), one E.K., one Watergate scandal and one resignation of a president, one Iran hostage crisis, one MTV, one collapse of the Soviet Union, ten "Friday the 13th" movies, two exploding space shuttles, nine amendments to the Constitution, two Coors Light twins, twenty Summer and nineteen Winter Olympics, two World Trade Center buildings, sixteen U.S. presidents and eighty-five World Series later, the Boston Red Sox are once again champions of baseball.

Since the Sox last won the World Series in 1918, the Yankees have won it twenty-six times; Cardinals nine times; A's and Dodgers six times; Reds five times; Giants, Tigers and Pirates four times; Orioles and Senators/Twins three times; Indians, Braves, Blue Jays, Mets and Marlins twice; Phillies, Royals, Diamondbacks and Angels once.

Congratulations, Boston. Play that Hallelujah Chorus in the churches of New England once again, drink up some of that Boston lager, and celebrate: Your team is, at long last, superjacent once again. ("Superjacent" brought to you by Merriam Webster's Word of the Day)

It's not just the lack of offense (two runs in the last two games), and not just ridiculously stupid base-running decisions (paging Messrs. Walker and Suppan)...

Could this be the baserunning blunder that finished off the Cards?

...it's also that message the Busch Stadium scoreboard had on it. I saw it last night. Now, I don't know if it was a live shot, but I think it was. It said something to the effect of, "Thank You For A Great 2004 Season."

Guys, it's not over yet.

Or maybe it is.

I think it is. E.K. Nation's prediction of St. Louis winning in five games guaranteed that the Red Sox would sweep--as we even mentioned when we did the prediction--and that sweep will be completed tonight. The Red Sox will win in a laugher, and the Curse, if you believe in curses--will be gone for good. Derek Lowe has been money in a couple of series-clinching games the last couple of years, finishing off the A's in the ALDS last year and holding the Yankees to just one hit in Game 7 this year. And the Cardinals just haven't shown up, man. It's going to be a nondescript Yankee-like sweep.

...said one Boston Police Department official about potential hooliganism if Red Sox fans act up in the city of Boston.

Yeah, like you did Victoria Snelgrove?

Is this what you would say to her parents, buddy? That you "took her out"? If some man came to her parents' door asking, "Hi, is Tori here? I'm here to take her out," is THIS what they should expect? (WARNING: Don't click on it if you don't think you can handle it.)

Or how about THIS (from another angle)?

And she was just minding her own business.

Imagine what they'll do to troublemakers.

If any of you plan to be in Boston when the Red Sox are close to winning the World Series, GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE.

Now, I'm certainly not condoning rioting or violence, especially as a way to celebrate a sports victory, but just know, this is the mentality these hot-headed cops have now. They're going to "take you out."

Can we just go back to "Take Me Out To The Ball Game", for cryin' out loud? What happened to it? Where did it go?

What's up with this non-stop "God Bless America" stuff? Did we forget what country we're in all of a sudden? I've had enough. It's baseball, not a funeral.

One way to explain the Cardinals' not showing up over the weekend, giving the Red Sox a 2-0 lead in the World Series, is that it was either a technical glitch or confusion on the part of the Cardinals' band, that led to the wrong song being played, and the Cards, to lessen the embarrassment suffered, simply ran off the field.

2004 WORLD SERIES

vs.

It looked like an Astros evening, after Craig Biggio hit the first-ever Game-7 lead-off home run, and then Carlos Beltran manufactured a second run in the third for a 2-0, stealing second and then going home on a sacrifice fly coupled with a throwing error. But Jeff Suppan executed a perfect squeeze bunt to score Tony Womack, and the 2-1 Astros lead vanished in the blink of an eye in the sixth inning, as Albert Pujols doubled in a run and Scott Rolen followed with a line drive home run for a 4-2 lead. Final score, 5-2 Cards, they go to the Series.

We here at E.K. Nation mourn the passing of our predicted two World Series teams, the Yankees and Astros, both in seventh games of the LCS, but we certainly welcome a classic-style Cardinals-Red Sox matchup.

The E.K. Nation World Series Prediction Dinner Party: St. Louis in 5, with Albert Pujols the MVP. Boston's only win will be in Game 2. (Last year we predicted a Yankees sweep of the Marlins, so get ready for an actual Red Sox sweep.)

# posted by E.K. and Big Smooth @ 7:58 AM

It was already the greatest comeback in baseball playoff history--recovering from a 3-0 deficit to even force a Game 7 had never been done--but the Red Sox weren't done, trouncing the Yankees in that decisive game last night 10-3 to become the unlikely champions of the American League.

Boston's win is not, however, the greatest upset in baseball history, as some people have said. Boston won 98 games this year to the Yankees' 101; the Red Sox victory can hardly be described as an upset.

And, despite what some think--if one believes in curses--the Curse has not been lifted. I thought the Curse prevented the Red Sox from winning the World Series, not beating the Yankees. The Sox have finished ahead of New York many times over the years, and advanced to the World Series without having to beat them in the playoffs. The Sox still have a World Series to play.

On to Game 7 in the Senior Circuit tonight, after Jim Edmonds' walk-off home run--the second in two NLCS games--beat Houston 6-4. With Roger Clemens going against Jeff Suppan, the pitching matchup seems to favor the Astros. But I just have this gut feeling Clemens won't have enough tonight. And the Cardinals' having won every single best-of-7 series in their history in which they trailed 3-games-to-2 points to a Cards win. It will be at least 5-0 Cardinals by the third inning, and St. Louis will hold on for a 9-6 win.

One minute we were watching the game at The Stockpot in relative peace, the next minute Alex Rodriguez knocked the ball out of Bronson Arroyo's glove and suddenly everyone was loudly voicing his opinion: "Hey, he can't do that!"..."Yes, he can! Can't he?"..."Hey, he's out! Once the fielder touches the runner with the ball, he's out, no matter whether he drops it or not!"

Well, that last one we knew was wrong.

Here is the rule that applied to the play:

Section 6.1 (Offensive Interference):

While contact may occur between a fielder and runner during a tag attempt, a runner is not allowed to use his hands or arms to commit an obviously malicious or unsportsmanlike act such as grabbing, tackling, intentionally slapping at the baseball, punching, kicking, flagrantly using his arms or forearms, etc. to commit an intentional act of interference unrelated to running the bases.

This rule is from the MLB Umpire Manual, and we at the bar lacked the secret decoder ring apparently necessary to have access to it. More than one of us figured, hey, you can knock the catcher over and dislodge the ball that way. But apparently you can't actually slap at the glove to knock the ball out. I had no idea. (We couldn't hear the announcing crew of Buck, McCarver and Leiter say almost immediately that a runner is not allowed to do that and the call was correct.)

Thankfully, the umpires got the call right in the end, letting the Sox keep their 4-2 lead while recording an out instead of having A-Rod stand on second as the potential tying run. That ruling, coupled with the near-blown home-run call in the fourth inning that also wound up--rightfully--going Boston's way, the Red Sox are now one win away from becoming the first team in Major League Baseball history to recover from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-7 series. They're already the first team to even force a Game 7 after a 3-0 deficit. And I really think they're going to win it tonight.

In the National League, the Astros are one win away from their first World Series ever. They travel to St. Louis today for Game 6, holding a 3-2 lead. They, like the Sox, have serious momentum, and if momentum means anything, and I'm not so sure it does, because you're only as good as today's starting pitcher, we could very well see a Houston-Boston World Series, after LCS's in which St. Louis had a 2-0 edge and New York had the until-now insurmountable 3-0 lead.

On a different note, we here at E.K. Nation are also excited that our pre-season World Series pick, Yankees vs. Astros, could come to fruition today. In any case, we're trying to imagine what sort of crazy stuff is going to happen in a Bronx Game 7 tonight. What sort of crazy comebacks or silly plays are going to unfold?

Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night.

AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES:

I'll stay with my pre-season pick, the Yankees, to win in seven games. Derek Jeter will be the MVP, and I know Game 1 has already taken place but I thought Boston would win Game 1 so here's the game-by-game for the Yankees, as Kenny Lofton ends Game 7 with a home run: Yankees in 7 games (L*-W-W-L-W-L-W).

NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES:

I have to stay with my pre-season pick, the Astros. Hey, my two World Series picks are still in it! This revised LCS prediction entry hasn't particularly required much thought or analysis, so to all those looking for such, you're welcome! Roy Oswalt for MVP. Astros in 6 games (LLWWWW).

With three series in the books and one almost done...

The Twins, namely Ron Gardenhire, fell victim to that old ruse: Take out your starter, who's doing superbly, and put in relievers who will undoubtedly save the ballgame for you. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Dude, why pull Santana after only five innings of Game 4? If you were worried that he was going to wear his arm out going on three days' rest, why didn't you just save him for Game 5, a game you would have had to play anyway in order to win the series? It makes no sense whatsoever. Managers need a reality check: Your starters are key. If they are doing well, leave them in, for cryin' out loud. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Santana deserved more national attention than he got this year; a World Series would have done wonders. Instead, he gets screwed by his manager. Nice work, Ron. Yankees win, thuh-uhhh-uhhh Yank--zzzzzzzzzz.

Wow. I don't know whether having Jose Guillen would have helped Anaheim in this one. Save for a grand slam by Vladimir Guerrero, making Game 3 a bit tense, this was a no-doubter. The Sox bats came alive, scoring nine, eight and eight runs in the three games. Yeah, that could lead you to a sweep.

True story: The night before Game 3, I had a dream David Ortiz would hit the game-winning walk-off home run in Game 3. Except in the dream he hit it into the bullpen in right, not over the Monster in left. Still, close enough. Sox and Yankees set to go at it again in the ALCS.

Didn't see Game 4--kept up with it via cell-phone internet service on the way back from the Seahawks-Rams game--but I understand Phil Garner is on the hot seat right now with some odd managerial decisions. I'll have to look at the tape to see what the announcers said about it. Meanwhile, Game 5 tonight. I said the Astros would win in five games. I don't think so now. Braves take it tonight in a rout.

Pretty much went as expected, except for the Dodgers' shutout of St. Louis in Game 3. Silencing those bats for nine innings can't be easy.

What is this Kobe-Bryant's-accuser's-identity-must-be-revealed nonsense? It's already been revealed.

Her name is Kate Faber.

Now, let's move on.

Sit right back, tap that Black Butte Porter, and let the baseball playoffs, sans* Giants, roll.

AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES:

Johan Santana is the bomb. He will not lose to the Yankees--which makes this prediction difficult. If I hadn't picked the Yankees to win the World Series at the start of the year, I'd be saying the Twins will finally overcome them. And the presence of Santana makes the Twins a huge pick here. But I will stay with my pre-season pick. Which means Santana would have to win Games 1 and 4, not 1 and 5. YANKEES in 5 games.

Anaheim is hot, hot, hot. And Pedro has been melting down lately. The Sox will win Game 1 behind Curt Schilling, and then roll over for the bats of Vladimir Guerrero et al. I look for Vlad to hit four homers in this series. ANGELS in 4 games.

NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES:

The Astros are another Team On Fire™. There is no reason to think they won't keep their sick streak going--they had to go 36-10 down the stretch to overtake the Giants by one measly game, another stat to keep me awake at night this winter--and it's the Braves. Win the division, tank in the playoffs. ASTROS in 4 games.

Who's pitching for the Dodgers? He better wear a helmet. CARDINALS in 4 games.

AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES:

N.Y. Yankees vs. Anaheim: Thus sets up another instant classic ALCS. It will go seven games, with the Angels outscoring the Yanks 50-49, but Kenny Lofton will take on the Aaron Boone role, stepping up to the plate and winning Game 7 for New York with a walk-off home run. Series MVP: Derek Jeter. YANKEES in 7 games.

NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES:

St. Louis vs. Houston: Both teams have hot bats, but the Cardinals don't have scary enough pitching. The Cardinals will need their offense to be flowing if they want to win this one. Matt Morris/Woody Williams vs. Roy Oswalt/Roger Clemens? You can't help but think the Astros have the edge here. After that the 'Stros' staff is a mystery; the Cards will need to take advantage when those two aren't pitching. Series MVP: Roy Oswalt. ASTROS in 6 games.

WORLD SERIES:

New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros: So this was my pre-season World Series pick, and I must stay with it. I said that very same sentence last year when staying with the Bosox and Giants, and I'll do the same again here. But seriously, folks, the Twins have just as much shot of getting here as any team. If Minnesota makes it, there should be no surprise. Just want to make it clear. Have I done that yet? If the Twins win, you heard it here first. I don't want top stay with my pre-season pick, but I am going to. Did I mention the Twins? Series MVP: Johan Santana (I don't have a pre-season World Series MVP pick to stay with here, so screw it. I want to get something right). YANKEES in 6 games.

E.K. Sports 2004 MLB Awards: Barry Bonds, N.L. Most Valuable Player...Vladimir Guerrero, A.L. Most Valuable Player..Randy Johnson, N.L. Cy Young...Johan Santana, A.L. Cy Young...Jason Bay, N.L. Rookie of the Year...Bobby Crosby, A.L. Rookie of the Year

*unnecessary use of French word

It would have been a lot easier to take if the Giants had lost 12-1, like they did in 1993.

But the Giants don't lose games like this anymore. They lose them in heartbreaking fashion. They're ahead, close to victory, and then it suddenly falls apart. Six outs from a World Series title in 2002, a Jose Cruz Jr. dropped fly ball away from a likely NLDS victory in 2003, and now a blown 3-0 ninth-inning lead that, if held, would have probably forced a playoff game today in San Francisco against the Dodgers, with a backup playoff game for the wild card in San Francisco against the Astros. And how could they lose two one-game playoffs at home in a row? Just hang on to the lead, and that's pretty much the situation.

Seven runs in the ninth inning. Granted, they haven't lost a game like this before. Unbelievable.

They simply have to lose games this way, don't they? Saturday afternoon I was feeling fantastic. Just get this win, and then we have Jason Schmidt going in L.A. on Sunday with a chance to force a one-game playoff for the division.

But no.

We have no choice but to look back on games like this one, an April affair in San Diego where the Giants blew ninth- and tenth-inning leads and lost. We've said before here that games in April mean just as much as games in October. And I had a sinking feeling, somehow on that day, that this loss was going to come back to haunt us. Little did I know.

So the playoffs go on without the Giants for the first time in three seasons, and it sucks.

Let's make some changes over the winter. Half these guys should not be Giants next year. We need a bat behind Barry Bonds, we need another starter, and if we're going to be bring in closers to try to lock down wins, we might as well get someone who can actually do the job. I'm not even thinking about who's on the market right now. I'm too busy reminiscing about the glorious time we had, holding a 3-0 in the ninth inning against the Dodgers on Saturday.

The Across The Seams site directed me to this screed about Barry by Fox announcer Joe Buck, whom I have respected a great deal up until this point. I can say right now that a huge dent has been made in that respect.

One passage in the column, isolated on the site, is as follows:

Barry evidently made up his mind long ago that he did not need any help from the media to live life in the big leagues. That is well within his rights. But when you make that choice, you cannot expect those same people to paint a rosy picture about your amazing athletic ability or, more important, give you the benefit of the doubt.

I agree with the site's Marty Cortinas when he says:

Oh how brilliant. In other words, kiss our "journalist" ass or get screwed. That, my friends, is pathetic.

Another reason Buck doesn't admire Barry is

the public's skepticism regarding Bonds' possible use of performance-enhancing drugs. That accusation is unfortunate but understandable. It is hard to ignore the transformation his body has undergone over the past 10 years.

First, the public gets a lot of its information and opinions from journalists like you, Bucko. The public doesn't know motherfuck. And when it hears tripe like this, it only exacerbates the problem.

Ask the schmucks sitting next to you at the sports bar to explain specifically what they don't like about Barry Bonds, and they are hard pressed to give you an answer. They just say, "Aww, he's just a jerk." Why do they think that? Did they hear from some hack writer that Barry has a lounge chair in front of his locker, and they assume he's a jerk because of that? Tell them that there is no rule in the Giants' clubhouse against anyone from having a lounge chair in front of his locker, and see what they say.

For all this talk about how much of a jerk Barry Bonds is, I don't see it. I've seen Barry act questionably precisely once: Before one of the games of the 2002 World Series, he went straight to his spot on the first-base line when being introduced, instead of going down the line to give high fives to everyone. I admit, that was off-putting.

That, my friends, is it.

I don't have personal access to Barry Bonds on his off-time, so I can't tell you a thing about his private behaviors. And quite frankly, do I care if he's a jerk off the field? Not really. Unless he's committing crimes, lay off the guy.

Buck also says

As I watched the highlight of that monumental moment, I wondered if Bonds was going to hug the home plate umpire after he finished his trot--because nobody else was there to enjoy the moment with him.

Maybe Bonds requested that his teammates not go out there and mob him. Maybe he didn't want to hold up the game. After the 71st homer at Pacific Bell Park in 2001, Barry took his congratulations, and then exhorted everybody to get the game back on. Maybe Barry doesn't care about 700 as much as he might care about 715. I can almost guarantee you, that since Barry seems to really want to break Babe Ruth's record, when he hits 715 sometime next spring, his entire team will be out there.

But here's where Buck really goes off the deep end--he addresses the steroid issue:

Having a new hat size the same as Mr. Met's can lead to questions. His body keeps getting bigger, and age does not appear to be a factor as his bat seems to get quicker every year. It is totally wrong to say that he is guilty of anything before the final chapter is written, but there is no doubt that his association with BALCO has damaged his reputation forever.

Amazingly, he says this in the same column in which he praises--actually, he ejaculates onto--Mark McGwire. Mark McGwire! Who also had allegations of steroid use hit him firmly on the forearm. Anyone seen a picture of Mark McGwire from the late 1980's? The guy was a fucking beanpole, and now he looks like he could hold his own in a WWE ring. I'm not saying McGwire used steroids. I'm just saying that as people get older, they tend to get bigger. (I was a stick in college. Now I'm back under two bills, after having been 210 at one point. And I'm sure many men have the same experience.) Why, Joe, do you believe Mark McGwire, but not Barry Bonds, when they tell you they don't use steroids? Because he was nice to you and Barry wasn't? Isn't it your job not to take things peronally in this business?

Buck wraps it up by saying

The nights over the next season or two leading to Barry's official crowning as baseball's heavyweight champ will be fun, but imagine what they could be if not for his perceived arrogance.

"Perceived"? Buck's mitigating his own claims now. He's saying maybe he's not actually arrogance, he just seems that way?

Yeah, no wonder Barry has a bad rep. He gets flogged daily by journalists like you, Buck. Get over yourself, dude.

Yes, it is. It's a magic number.

No, three is not the actual magic number for the San Francisco Giants. What with all the possible wild card and division title implications, I won't be doing any math at the moment to find out exactly what a magic number might be for them. But I do know that there are three games left, and the Giants, in order to win the last bastion of purism, the division title, have to sweep three games from the Dodgers starting tonight in Los Angeles.

If that do that, then it's back to San Francisco for one game to determine the N.L. West champion. (After that, there might or might not be a playoff game for the wild-card spot, but let's stay focused.) I want the Giants to win the division first. It just looks better on the postseason resume, even though four of the last eight World Series participants have been wild cards. We'll settle for the wild card if it comes to that. Win the West first!

Daunting task? Maybe so. Then again, we look at the three starters slated to go for the Dodgers this weekend: Jeff Weaver, Edwin Jackson, and Kaz Ishii. Not exactly Spahn, Sain, or two days of rain. You wouldn't guess this would be a part of a playoff team's rotation. The Giants, meanwhile, are going with Rueter, Tomko and Schmidt. These are winnable games. Throw in a Monday playoff with, say, Noah Lowry going, and you may have yourself a division winner. We just need to be patient at the plate and make sure we have the lead before Eric Gagne comes in.

All this being said, I think the division title is our only shot. Houston, the team the Giants are tied with for the wild-card lead, gets to play Colorado to end the season. A bunch of rolling-over misfits against the hottest team in the National League? This doesn't leave a lot of room for error for the Giants, who are plenty capable of throwing a game away. Congrats, Houston. We here at E.K. Nation think you've made the playoffs, keeping E.K. Nation's preseason World Series pick of Yankees-over-Astros alive. Then again, stranger things have happened.

A.L. West: It's come down to a three-game set in Oakland, where the Angels and A's will in effect play a best-two-out-three series to see who advances to the "next" round. The pick here is the Angels, who will win tonight and tomorrow to take the flag. Sunday's game won't matter, although they will win that one too to take the second seed (and the BoSox in the first round). The Angels seem to be catching fire just at the right time (paging Dr. Guerrero), and the A's are just sluggish right now, struggling to get out of the Seattle series with their jugular still intact.