SweetSpot Weekend Roundup 10/4

By The Common Man and Bill

Pro Ball NW (Mariners): 61-101
"I absolutely love this game, and even in a bad season for the team that I support, it’s still baseball, and it’s still spectacular."

Baseball Times in Arlington (Rangers): ALDS Things
Nobody in Texas is going to get to watch the ALDS because of early start times, some unexpected names are left off the postseason roster, and the wittle Angels got their feelings hurt.

The Ray Area: This is so ridiculous...
"Don’t get obsessed with the World Series.  Just remember this moment.  The worst franchise in the history of sports just went toe-to-toe with King Kong and Godzilla for three straight years.  That doesn’t happen all the time.  I don’t know what is going to happen in 2011, 2012, or beyond.  But I know that right now, this club gave us a magical summer that we need to savor.  Everything from here on in is just gravy."

Fire Brand of the American League (Red Sox): Resigning Adrian Beltre should not be a priority
An interesting take on the Sox' 3B position that hinges on Youkilis being able to hold down the Hot Corner for a full season.

Royals Authority: Almost Vintage Greinke
"There is just no way you could have watched any of Greinke’s starts over the last two months and not come away extremely frustrated.  Thankfully, Thursday was different.  And that’s what we’ll carry with us into the winter."

The Daily Fungo (Tigers): White Sox Season Series Recap
Mike with a nice reminder of how the Tigers knocked the Sox out of postseason contention.  That makes me feel warm all over.

Nick's Twins Blog: What, me worry?  Maybe a little
"I'm going to be grasping desperately for positive signs, because -- regardless of what the historical data says -- there's just no way I'm going to feel very confident heading into the playoffs with almost the entire team playing like absolute trash."

Sox Machine (White Sox): Pierre benefits from long scope
"This is one of my chief problems with the White Sox philosophy: their overemphasis on means instead of ends. You see it here with the sidestepping of Pierre’s production at the plate, and you’ll see it when they discuss how hitters strike out too much. It’s almost puritanical, like they believe runs count more if they have to work harder for them."

It's About the Money, Stupid (Yankees): The Grandy Man Can
Brien looks at Curtis Granderson, who quietly put up a very good season in The Bronx.

Capitol Avenue Club (Braves): Celebration Thread
Useful links for Braves fans to check out between the celebration hangover and NLDS Game 1.

The View from the Bleachers (Cubs): Three Reasons Why I Believe Mike Quade Should Get the Job
Quade certainly did about the most a guy can do to earn the job in 37 games. I'll add #4 -- the blind, drunken rage in Wrigleyville when anybody but Sandberg gets the job could be kind of fun.

Redleg Nation: Titanic Struggle Recap: how does 91 wins sound to you?
The final recap of the regular season ends with a win, a red-hot Jay Bruce, and zero negatives. Good time to be a Reds fan.

Austin's Astros 290 Blog: Astros go out on a win
"Because of the success of young players like Chris Johnson, Jason Castro, Angel Sanchez and Tommy Manzella, I don’t think the problems will be quite as drastic as in the past.  However, it does leave concern that there’s still a belief in the front office and dugout that what the teams needs to win is not an infusion of youth, but the grit of old age."

Dodger Thoughts: Looking back on 2010
Revisiting the best reader predictions from back in March.

Disciples of Uecker (Brewers): The text-to-vote MVP poll
Jack parses a Fox Sports poll offering four choices for team MVP, and gives you his choice. Then he helpfully points out that FSN somehow left off all three of the most obvious candidates.

Mets Today: Game 162: Loss to Nationals
"Finally, it’s over. Meaning, the game — which lasted 14 wretched frames — the season, and the Omar Minaya / Jerry Manuel regime."

Crashburn Alley (Phillies): During Playoffs, Phillies Need Both Romero and Bastardo
Two kind of marginal lefty relievers that Bill thinks can help the Phils in different ways this postseason.

Ducksnorts (Padres): Second Verse, Same as the First
We'll skip the letdown of Sunday and appreciate the exhilaration and bewilderment of Saturday. "If I were a fan of the Braves or Giants, I would be livid. The Padres have no business being in this race, but they won’t take the hint. Even if the Padres don’t pull off yet another miracle, one senses that the prevailing emotion among the survivors will be one of relief and not of triumph."

Bay City Ball (Giants): Magic Happens, Giants Win NL West
Back in July, Chris didn't think they could do it. He's very happy to have been wrong.

Fungoes (Cardinals): Reds' title doesn't validate Jocketty's "system"
Murray Chass (and evidently some other people, but has anyone else ever agreed with Chass?) is saying that the Reds' success proves that Jocketty's "'evaluate over analyze' system" works better than the Cardinals' (I presume) geeky moms'-basement style. Pip finds all sorts of problems with that.

Nationals Baseball: World War Lannan 2010: The Aftermath
"If this isn't just a half-season fluke it would mean Lannan has completely changed his recipe for success. He's gone from keeping righties from hitting the ball hard, to dominating lefties. He's gone from being the odd duck, to winning with more traditional southpaw skills."

Today on The Platoon Advantage: Bill looks at how his random 2010 predictions turned out. The best ones both involved sticking it to the anti-Theo, run-prevention-mocking Red Sox media.