Kuzul

You know those amazing final days of the regular season when multiple teams still had their playoff dreams alive? Well expect more of that from here until eternity.

Traditionalists can weep into their handkerchiefs, because the game that moves like molasses is about to switch things up. That is the hope at least. 

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig was tickled hopeful that expanded playoffs could start as early as this season. 

Bud Selig spoke with reporters on the state of baseball and issued that the upcoming playoff changes could come sooner rather than later. Via Yahoo Sports. 

I really believe we’ll have the wild card for 2012, this year. Clubs really want it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an issue that the clubs want more than to have the extra wild card this year. We’re working on dates right now. That’ll all take place. It looks to me like we’ll have it because I’ve told everybody we have to have it. It’ll be exciting. One-game playoff, it will start the playoffs in a very exciting manner. 

The changes don’t just affect the wild card race, first-place ties will now be settled automatically with a play-in game. 

Head-to-head record was the tiebreaker in the past, but as the Yahoo Sports report states, “the difference between first place and a wild-card berth is too important to decide with a formula and a tiebreaker game would be played.”

That means a whole bunch of playoff baseball could be on the way this coming fall. If it takes effect in 2012, the two teams with the best record that do not win the division will be the wild cards and play in a one-game playoff. 

I have to agree with Selig that this is an amazing way to begin the postseason. We only have to look to the end of the 2011 season to illustrate the point that the more is really the merrier. 

Wild Card Wednesday is now what the last day of the 2011 regular season is known as. Where four teams were vying four two spots, merely by chance and fate. 

Now that kind of excitement could be brought to the playoffs each and every year. We get the “anything can happen” aspect of a one-game playoff, and the added emotion of more teams vying for the postseason. 

Major League Baseball is proving they can change things up in a big way, and that will guarantee the fall belongs to baseball once again. 

Follow @gabezal

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Philadelphia Phillies may want a word with their star pitcher Roy Halladay, who is apparently off saving lives in the Amazon. 

The 700 Level reports Halladay was in Brazil for a fishing trip when he went all Superman and saved a little boy from a dangerous anaconda. 

Now for the reality portion of this tall tale. Doc Halladay was allegedly on a fishing trip with buddies and the group towed home a boy in need. 

The local boy had been bitten by an anaconda but was able to fight of the extremely dangerous snake. The report comes from a blog entry written by fishing legend Skeet Reese. His photo can be seen below.

Halladay just finished off another fine year. I mean, it’s not saving lives, but a 2.35 ERA and 19 wins is pretty substantial pitching. Now we have to bring the fairy tale of Halladay with a machete in his teeth playing Indiana Jones to an end.  

Reese goes on to describe what is neither gruesome nor scary. It may be that Reese is such a bad ass that seeing a boy fending off an anaconda is no big deal. Trust me, if we ever needed to describe such an event, it would be littered with four-letter words. 

“We had plenty of wildlife encounters though. Along with the fishing, we decided to go hunting one night…Me and Doc Halladay even came across a local, sitting bare naked on a tree by the river. What we were able to figure out is that he was fishing in the river for tropical fish to sell for aquariums when he got attacked by an anaconda.

The snake apparently bit him on the ass but he was able to free himself before the snake wrapped him up. Instead the snake wrapped around his motor on the back of his little 14 foot dugout canoe and tore it off the back of his boat. Doc and I helped him gather his gear and flip the boat back over and then towed him home. You could definitely see the bite mark on his ass, but he was able to fight it off; amazing.”

So the story that began with a boy fighting off a killer beast has now grown into Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay tearing off his clothes and showing his superhero costume. 

I have no doubt that Halladay and his buddies played a crucial part in all this, but let’s get an award for this local that just thwarted death. I get squeamish when there is a spider on my wall. 

I am sure the Phillies front office considers this story a real hoot. All they need is for one of their best players to get eaten by a large animal. I think they are getting an email to send to Halladay that reads, “Stay away from Anacondas.” 

That will probably include watching the movie Anaconda. Which is just good life advice, actually. 

Follow @gabezal

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Who the hell is Chad Gaudin? That must have been the question running through most of a TLC-loving nation. Well, the answer is simple—and quite hot, actually. 

You see, Chad Gaudin is married to Syndal Gorden. The blushing bride was originally featured on an episode of Say Yes to the Dress back in January. 

The couple was then wed in March, giving Gaudin his only glimpse of notoriety. To say that he is forgettable is an understatement. You have to rack your brain as if one were asked a brain teaser to recall he was a meager middle reliever for the Yankees. 

He is currently under a minor league contract for the Toronto Blue Jays. That’s like leaving the job you now have to go clean toilets. If you currently clean toilets, it’s like you leaving to become Chad Gaudin’s arm. 

Here is a tweet sent when Gorden showed her gorgeous figure on TLC once again in a re-run. 

Here is another tweet that made me laugh…then chuckle. 

Simply put, Gorden is gorgeous, and it takes you just a few short moments of watching her to know that Gaudin is a lucky man. 

He can forget his lifetime ERA, which is on the wrong side of 4.50. He can push aside the recollection of his record, which obviously contains more losses than wins. 

He has a gorgeous wife and a lifetime of bliss ahead of him. I look forward to now forgetting the names Chad and Gaudin until TLC, in their infinite wisdom, give us a replay of Gorden picking out a dress that costs way too much. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Jerry Seinfeld is a huge baseball fan, but an even bigger New York Mets fan. I can’t say the same for David Letterman, though. 

Seinfeld stopped by Letterman’s show recently and dished on his pets, one of which is a dog named Jose. Without any prodding, Seinfeld offered why the pooch’s name is Jose. 

It seems that Seinfeld and his wife can’t bear to see the less-than-amazing Mets lose Jose Reyes. So they guaranteed at least a Jose will stay in the family by naming the dog after him. 

Now that’s a fan. 

There is so much more that I wanted to know, but Letterman let the bomb Seinfeld drop to just waft over his head. You live in New york, ask the man if his dog is prone to injury. Does his dog have to go on the shelf every 15 days or so?

These are all important questions that Letterman fails to swing at, and so the interview misses. For Reyes, he is currently a hot commodity on the free agent market. The New York Daily News reports the Miami Marlins are hot to trot for his services. 

They also state the Mets are still in the race to keep the star shortstop they groomed. There is just one thing that we know for sure, though: Reyes is about to get paid. 

I encourage everyone in the New York area to name their dogs Jose. If you are partial to “Reyes” or “Disabled List,” those would work fine as well. 

Now we need to find out if Reyes is even a fan of dogs. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Cliff Lee was just offered a seven-year contract by the New York Yankees. This comes on the heels of this morning’s announcement that the Boston Red Sox had nabbed Carl Crawford. 

So it seems it is good to be a fan of baseball in the East. It really is trying for us in the rest of the country. But my qualm is that the Yankees are throwing money down the tubes because Cliff Lee will never live up to his big contract.

How could anyone? No one can meet the standards of a contract that is surely to be more than their original $140 million offer. 

Here are the reason why Cliff Lee is not worth the money. 

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Kiana Kim, Pete Rose’s super sexy girlfriend, is releasing her newest calendar. So why not take this opportunity to stare at Charlie Hustle’s lady in a purely appropriate manner. Thy shall not covet thy neighbor’s chick. Unless of course my neighbor is serving a lifetime ban from baseball. 

So as Kiana Kim drops her latest calendar so you can keep your appointments while looking at a hot woman, I am releasing my opus. A slide show dedicated to the hot, vivacious, Ms. Kim. 

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Cliff Lee is one of the bigger stories coming out of the baseball winter meetings. The word is that he wants a ton of cash as well as the security of a lengthy contract. 

The cash is one thing. Teams have shown they don’t mind throwing money at the problem, just as long as they can guarantee that their prized athlete is at or near their top of their game for the duration of the contract.

The latest word is the the Nationals are prepared to offer the pitcher the seven year contract he craves at $20-25 million a year. Can the left handed hurler be considered a value at such a lengthy and expensive contract? Let’s take a look. 

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Derek Jeter won the Gold Glove yesterday. The man that has it all just got another gift given to him. Here I will break down the recent award and whether the Yankee shortstop deserved it. 

I will play devil’s advocate and play both sides of the argument. Because as I have noticed there is no need for the outrage that has come on the heels of this announcement. There are plenty of reasons that Jeter should be lauded with praise. 

Here are some of the reasons for and against his recent win. 

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Sparky Anderson Dead read the headlines this morning. The baseball world has lost one of it’s most prized possessions. 

Sparky Anderson was the prototypical manager for me. He was a no nonsense, hard nosed, motivator that was beloved by fans and his players.

He started his managerial career in Cincinnati in 1970 and then moved onto become the Tigers skipper in 1979. While manager, he compiled over 2,000 wins and three world series titles. He will be missed for his love of the game and for the lives he has shaped. 

That latter is what I would like to concentrate on here. Anderson was manager of the Big Red machine of the 1970’s and of the Tigers that won it all in 1984. Throughout his years he has touched the careers of many fantastic ball players. Here are the best. 

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Manny Ramirez has made some interesting comments recently concerning his future in baseball.  It seems he has taken quite a liking to the Toronto Blue Jays.  

The Blue Jays hired Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell.  The former Red Sox slugger has taken note and has offered his services.  Canada should be happy and a bit afraid at this news—you never know what you are getting with the flighty outfielder.  

As with any acquisition, there are pros and cons.  With Manny Ramirez, the difference between the two is canyon-esque.  So here we have reasons for and against a possible Man-Ram trip to Canada. 

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