Kuzul

Good evening baseball fans! Welcome to Game Four of the NLCS between the visiting Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants.

Bleacher bum Evan Adrian here, taking you every step of the way through this pivotal matchup.

Philadelphia decided not to send Roy Halladay out on short rest, so Joe Blanton will take the mound for Philadelphia the first time this postseason. San Francisco trots out 21-year-old rookie Madison Bumgarner, who pitched six solid innings against the Braves, giving up just two runs in the series-clincher.

Philly is desperate for a win, which would tie this NLCS at two games a piece. Can Blanton come through? Keep it here to find out!

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The preseason favorites. The favorites after 162 games. The favorites after Game 6 in 2009.

These titles refer to the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Yet they stand on the wrong side of the win-loss hyphen.

Both are losing to unproven teams with little postseason experience who were considered World Series long-shots before the season—the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants.

Here’s some advice to both teams on how they can turn things around.

Yankees

The Yankees need the most help, looking up at a 3-1 deficit. On top of that, they have to face Cliff Lee again and play two games in Arlington, Texas. Ouch. The Yankees’ to-do list is long. Or it’s a singular item, depending on your approach.

The Yankees still have to face this guy—in Texas—if they want a chance to repeat as world champions.

The List:

• Turn the pressure around. Even though the pressure is on the Yankees right now to win three straight, they can’t allow themselves to be enveloped by that pressure. Take some, use it for fuel, and turn the rest onto the Rangers. Prove to them you aren’t out of it. If nothing else, make them fear you just because you’re the Yankees.
• Make the Rangers work for their last win. That means taking pitches and getting to the bullpen. It means driving the ball hard, even if it’s for an out. It means not giving them easy outs. They still need 27 outs.
• Jump on the starters early. You’ve now seen CJ Wilson and Colby Lewis in the series. You know what they’ve got. Know what pitch you can hit, and jump on it.
• Play perfect defense. A good team makes you pay for giving them 4 (or more) outs in an inning. A team like the Rangers uses it to put you away.

Then there’s the short list:

• Play Yankees baseball.

Phillies

The Phillies are in a better position. Down 2-1, they still have the best pitching trio in baseball set to pitch in three of four games. Not coincidentally, three wins will get them to the World Series. The problem is, the Giants have a pretty good trio of their own.

The List:

• Stop helping the Giants. You can’t give a team extra outs and expect to survive. The Phillies almost suffered that fate against the Cincinnati Reds in Game 2 of the NLDS, but luckily the Reds defense turned around and gave those outs right back…and then some.
• Get a strong outing from Joe Blanton in Game 4. Winning Game 4 would be huge, and the key is staying in the game early on. With the Philly offense sputtering (okay, more like breaking down a few miles from home), the pitching needs to be extra sharp.
• Take Cody Ross out of the game. This is not a call for head-hunting, but you have to do something to keep this guy from hurting you. Pitch around him.  Don’t let anyone on base in front of him. But most importantly, don’t throw the ball down and in.

Cody Ross has killed the Phillies through three games. Limiting his opportunities is a key to the Phillies’ comeback attempts.

• Shake up the lineup. Charlie Manuel has to find a way to jump-start this offense. After hitting .212 against the Reds, they are under .200 in the NLCS. Maybe you put Jimmy Rollins back in the lead-off spot. Maybe you sit Raul Ibanez against the lefty in Game 4, going instead with Ben Francisco. Maybe you completely change the lineup—the Phillies have five guys in their lineup who have led-off for this team in the past, and another with the OBP to do so.
• Hit home runs. Ryan Howard is hitting the ball hard, but not out.  He needs to launch one to energize this team. A home run out of the lead-off spot would set the tone for the offense as well.
• Capitalize on opportunities. You know why Cody Ross is killing you? It’s because he’s doing what you’re not—taking a mistake pitch, or his pitch, and jumping on it. Don’t let opportunities—like lead-off base-runners and belt-high fastballs—go to waste.
• Know when to be patient and when to be aggressive. Guys like Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain don’t give you much to hit, so when you get a fastball, swing. You handled Sanchez perfectly. Knowing his tendency to be wild, you were patient early and were rewarded with walks. But as the game wore on, Sanchez tried harder to throw strikes, and you jumped on fastballs thrown early in the count.

That might seem like a lot, and frankly, it is. But it’s nothing that these teams haven’t done for years with roughly the same group of guys. A Phillies-Yankees rematch is still a possibility, and until a team has been beaten four times, don’t count either of them out.  This should be one heck of a finish.

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The star-studded staffs of the Giants and the Phillies have been largely dominant in the series so far, despite Roy Halladay’s ho-hum performance in Game 1; but Game 3 has the potential to become an offensive shootout even though a pair of elite pitchers are involved. 

Matt Cain (13-11, 3.14 ERA in the regular season) has to face a veteran Philadelphia lineup that is looking to reverse a growing trend of stranding runners on base. The Phillies can find solace in the fact that opposing hitters are batting, an unusually high, .267 with RISP and two outs against Cain (compared with fellow teammate Tim Lincecum’s .228 in similar situations) and that he has the propensity to give up home runs, a specialty of the power-laden Phillies lineup.

In his only start against Philadelphia this year, the Giants right-hander gave up a three-run homer to Jimmy Rollins that was set up by a Mike Fontenot error three plays prior. Cain would give up five runs (two earned) on the day en route to an 8-2 Phillies’ drubbing at Citizens Bank Park August 18th. 

Though the circumstances may be a bit different this time around for Cain, the Phillies offense has too much firepower to stay quiet for another game. The Giants’ right-hander is prone to the occasional pounding (he gave up six or more runs three times this season) and the middle infielders of the Phillies seem to have his number.

Rollins and Chase Utley have hit .600 and .467, respectively, over their careers against Cain, and the Phillies’ shortstop has had five of his six hits go for extra bases, including the aforementioned blast from earlier this year. 

On the flip side, Cole Hamels has been lights-out this postseason, as he looks to return to form since a rough performance last October

Hamels, though, has been historically sub-par against the Giants, especially at AT&T Park where he sports a 6.12 career ERA.

This year, the former World Series MVP, has been roughed up both times he has faced San Francisco, squeaking out a no-decision in their first meeting (he went 6 IP, 4 ER, but SF went 5 for 21 with RISP) and losing in their most recent matchup after giving up five runs in five innings pitched.

The scorching-hot Cody Ross murders Hamels with four home runs in his 30 at-bats against the lefty, and Buster Posey hit him hard in their first meeting with two doubles and two RBIs in the Giants’ 5-2 win.

Hamels’ penchant for giving up the long ball bodes well for a Giants’ offense that hit the sixth-most home runs in the National League and with 26 homers allowed on the season, the Phillies’ left-hander was tied for seventh in the NL, just in front of the WPIB (Worst Pitcher In Baseball) Zach Dukes. 

Game 3 will no doubt be a must-watch affair, whether the offensive fireworks are set off in this NLDS mathcup looks to fall on the shoulders of the game’s starting pitchers.  

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Due to timely hitting and a dominating pitching performance by Roy Oswalt, the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the San Francisco Giants 6-1 in Game 2 of the 2010 NLCS.  

Cole Hamels and the Philadelphia Phillies now need to focus on how to defeat the Giants in San Francisco in Game 3.   

Matt Cain will get the start for the home team, as he will try and lead the Giants to a 2-1 series lead. 

With the series tied 1-1, Game 3 may determine the winner of the series.  The losing team will face some daunting questions.  

If the Phillies lose, will Roy Halladay get the start in Game 4?  If the Giants lose, will Tim Lincecum get the start in Game 4? 

If the San Francisco Giants can defeat another member of “H2O”, the series may take a turn for the worst for the Phillies.  

Here are five keys for victory for the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 of the NLCS.  

Begin Slideshow

We panicked every year that they wouldn’t win the division, but they did. We panicked during their July slump, but they overcame this by having a hot August and September.

Who were they?

The Philadelphia Phillies.

The panics have already started again in Philadelphia after a 4-3 loss to the San Fransisco Giants in Game 1 of the NLCS.

For some reason, this loss has made fans start to doubt the Phillies, and even forget about Roy Halladay‘s no-hitter.

Let me be the first to tell you not to panic.

If you watched closely to Halladay’s outing last night, it really wasn’t that bad. Although he gave up four runs, he pitched well.

He kept his velocity throughout, and racked up seven strikeouts.

Those two solo shots were just two out of his 105 pitches that he left hanging, something Halladay never does.

Don’t expect Roy to stop the engine in the playoffs.

In Games 2 and 3 we have Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.

Two experienced playoff starters, and Hamels is a NLCS and World Series MVP.

On to the Phillies offense, there’s no need to panic there either. Does anyone realize we scored three runs and hit two homers off of Tim Lincecum?

Chase Utley and Jayson Werth combine for 22 postseason home runs.

Carlos Ruiz has been our most clutch and consistent hitter. His double off of Lincecum last night proved it.

Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino have good postseason pasts.

The only player to panic about is Jimmy Rollins, and I think he will come around.

This 2010 Phillies team is probably the best team the franchise has ever had.

Our pitching staff is loaded, and we are the most experienced postseason team along side with the New York Yankees.

The Phillies have won and lost a World Series, so they know what it’s like to be on both ends of the stick.

Why are we doubting experience?

We’ve seen what this team can do when they are down in the count. They have overcome many obstacles in years past, so why can’t they overcome this one?

I’m not sure if it’s Philadelphia fans in general, but the panicking needs to come to an end.

Don’t ever doubt the Phightin’ Phils.

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Greetings everyone, baseball addict Evan Adrian here, live blogging game one of the NLCS between the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies. We’re in for quite a showdown tonight, as both teams trot out their aces for Game 1 in Philly.

Tim Lincecum is on the mound for the Giants, fresh off his brilliant, 14 strikeout, complete game two-hitter over Atlanta. Meanwhile, Roy Halladay toes the rubber for Philadelphia. All he did in his first career playoff start last Wednesday was throw the second ever no-hitter in MLB playoff history.

Both clubs are hoping for repeat performance for their aces. Lets find out which Cy Young winner brought their A-game tonight.

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After dismissing the Cincinnati Reds in the NLDS, the Phillies will face off against the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS. 

Will the Giants be a minor speed bump on the road to another National League pennant, or do they have a legitimate shot at sending the Phillies home early?

Here are some arguments for both cases:

Fear the Giants

In theory, the teams in the NLCS are the two best the league has to offer.  Not only does a team have to survive the regular-season gauntlet to earn a playoff berth, but they must also defeat another playoff worthy team just to advance. 

The Giants won a competitive NL West division, and then dismissed the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS.  That alone marks them as a good team.  And the main reason for their success is their pitching staff.

The staff is led by Tim Lincecum, who is one of the best starters in the majors, having won the 2008 and 2009 Cy Young Awards.  By his standards, 2010 was a slightly off year, as he struggled in August leading to some “What’s wrong with Lincecum?  Is he injured?” talk.

He quickly dismissed that speculation with an outstanding stretch run, and a sterling effort in his start in the NLDS.  If he is on his game, he can be near unhittable.

The rest of the staff is impressive as well: Jonathan Sanchez is a tough left-hander, who has given the Phillies trouble in the past.  Matt Cain had an excellent year and features a good fastball.  It isn’t clear if the Giants will use a fourth starter, but if they do, it will be rookie left-hander Madison Bumgarner.  (Now that’s a great name!)  Bumgarner had a strong rookie season and excelled in his NLDS start, so he is far from a weak link.

The Giants bullpen has also performed well this year, led by closer Brian Wilson, who led the NL in saves.

Considering that the Phillies had trouble scoring runs (or at least earned runs) off of the Reds’ good but not great pitchers, what kind of success can they expect to have against the Giants pitchers?  They can’t depend on a complete breakdown by the Giants’ fielders similar to what happened to the Reds.

The long layoff between playoff series isn’t going to help the Phillies’ chances either.  Ryan Howard (one of the few Phillies who has had past success against Lincecum) didn’t have a strong NLDS, and tends to suffer after extended time off.  They’ll need him to start hitting like he did in last year’s NLCS in which he was named MVP.  The extra rest probably won’t help guys like Jimmy Rollins, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez find their stroke either.

There’s a good chance that these games are going to be low-scoring affairs.  Games will likely come down to one or two plays, and in that type of situation, one fluke play can make a huge difference.  The Phillies are the better team on paper, but in close games, that doesn’t mean anything.

Start Planning for the World Series

While the Giants’ spot in the final four may prove that they are a good team, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are a great team.  They won a West division in which their two closest competitors (Padres and Rockies) both collapsed badly down the stretch.  In the NLDS, they were matched against a beaten up Braves team that seemed to find ways to lose. 

So while it is nice that they have gotten this far, at some point they’ll have to prove themselves to be more than just opportunistic.

They’ll also have to find a way to hit better than they have.  If the Reds—the highest scoring team in the NL—couldn’t hit against the Phillies’ starters, what chance do the weak-hitting Giants have?

While the Giants were the only team in the majors to have beaten the Phillies starting trio of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels this season, there’s no indication that they’ll be able to do so again.  Even they don’t seem to like their chances, as I’ve heard quotes from Giants players about “needing to scrape out some runs,” and “wanting to keep things low scoring.”

If we give the Giants the edge in the potential Game 4 matchup of Fat Joe Blanton vs. Bumgarner (By the way, people need to give Blanton more credit.  He didn’t have the the greatest year, but he was solid down the stretch, and has had postseason success in the past), will the Giants be able to score enough runs in three out of six starts by Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels? 

I can’t see the Giants scoring enough runs to win the series.  Who in the Giants lineup seems like a real threat?  Buster Posey had a great rookie season, but is he capable of carrying their entire offense?  Aubrey Huff and Andres Torres are solid hitters, but once again, not exactly the type to make a pitcher worry too much.

Former Phillie Pat Burrell has played well for them, and could provide some power, but as any Phillies fan can tell you, Burrell can be pitched to.

Maybe in a close game the Giants will be able to score some runs against the Phillies relievers.  But the way that the Phillies starters have pitched, their relief pitching doesn’t often even come into play.  And unlike the Braves, the Phillies late-game relief combo of Ryan Madson (MADSON!!!!) and Brad Lidge are healthy, and have been extremely effective in the second half of the season.

The Giants are also far weaker than the Phillies defensively.  Sure, their numbers might look OK because they don’t commit a lot of errors.  But that is partially due to the horrendous fielding range showed by many of their fielders.  Are the Giants capable of making the game saving defensive plays that would be necessary to win a close game?  It seems doubtful.

As for the Phillies hitters, I think they’ll do just enough damage to get the job done.  Unlike most lineups that the Giants face, the Phillies have strength all the way through.  Which means that even if Rollins and Howard are slumping, Chase Utley and Jayson Werth are capable of carrying the team.  And while the layoff might hurt the Phillies’ hitting timing, it can only help with Rollins’ sore hamstring.  If he can run at near full speed, that adds yet another element that the Giants will have to deal with.

My Prediction

The Giants seem like a tougher opponent than the Dodgers of 2008 and 2009.  And I don’t think that the Giants will play scared like the Reds seemed to.

But in the end, the result will be the same.  The Giants’ starters are too good for them not to win a couple games, but in the end, the Phillies will capture their third consecutive pennant.

Phillies in six.

Originally published on my blog: Stranger in a Strange Land

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A rollercoaster ride of a season saw the Phillies at 48-46 in the middle of July, seven games behind the Atlanta Braves and fading quickly. Fast-forward two and a half months, and the Phillies have been crowned National League East Champions for the fourth consecutive season, thanks to an incredible 49-18 surge at the end of the season.

The 2010 Philadelphia Phillies are without a doubt the strongest Phillies team I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m 20. I don’t remember the 1993 Phillies, and even if I did, I would pick our current team as better. This might be the strongest Phillies team in the history of the franchise. True, the 1976 and 1977 Phillies won 101 games, but the pitching staff on this year’s team, particularly the Big Three, ranks with Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz as among the best in the history of baseball.

Twenty-eight players made enough of a contribution, or received enough playing time, to warrant a grade for their performance. From worst to best, I rank the players on the 2010 Philadelphia Phillies.

Begin Slideshow

With the Phillies’ postseason sweep of the Reds, I thought it was time to pay homage. I’ll start:

When it comes to Phillies pitching, there’s definitely something in the H20.

Mike Sweeney is so generous with the hugs, I applied for a job as bat-boy.

The Phils successfully steal so many bases, they gave away EPTs at the last game.

Wilson Valdez is such a great backup, I’m tempted to call him when my husband’s out of town.

A close examination of Chase Utley proves he definitely deserves the nickname “Chase Buttley.”

And on a scale of 1 to 10, Jayson Werth should just take his pants off.

Speaking of compliments, here’s some comments from the wonderful people who have endured my blogs and can write in complete sentences:

“Lots of mental pictures there, some I may not be able to shake.”

“You are by far one of the most self-deprecating columnists that I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading.”

Another said, “I haven’t seen so much sex intertwined with baseball since Meat Loaf’s, Paradise by the Dashboard Lights.”

And a fan recently told me, “You have the first R-rated Phillies blog ever!”

I feel so special. Just this morning my husband paid me another. He said, “No one’s ever stretched cleaning products like you.”

It’s true. My dust bunnies are so thick my cat caught one and knitted a sweater.

To save space I put my vacuum cleaner in storage.

My Swiffer dry rotted.

And my windows are so dirty people think I had them tinted.

Hey, it saves opening and closing those bothersome blinds.

That twisting action will give you carpel tunnel.

My husband and I learned that complimenting each other can bring a couple closer.

Watch. “Hey honey, I love how you grow hair on every part of your body.”

He says, “Yeah, but you do that better than me.”

See? We’re really getting the hang of this.

Let me try again. “Honey, if you drank more beer, I could stop stuffing my bra.”

He says, “If it weren’t for childbirth, you’d have no stretch marks to prove you have boobs.”

I know what you’re thinking—I’m spoiled.

Actually paying each other compliments was something we learned to do at a couples retreat. It wasn’t exactly what I expected to do there. I mean, it’s a bunch of couples connecting with other couples to improve their love lives.

Wait. My husband has something to say. “You’re thinking of swingers.”

“What are those?”

Hold on—he’s gotta whisper something.

Oh my gosh! I didn’t know that! Why wasn’t I informed?! I just thought of the next promotion at Citizens Bank Park—Swingers night.

Now that’s a way to connect with those with similar interests.

Gives new meaning to the term, “Rotation.”

Where was I? I’m so sorry. I have no idea how a post proclaiming my love for Jayson Werth ended up being about my marriage.

Trust me, there’s absolutely no segue there.

Now, I know I failed to coax Cliff Lee back but I think I’ll be effective running a campaign to keep Jayson here.

Hold on. My husband says, “Remember what happened when you were the Girl Scout Ambassador to the French Foreign Legion.”

That wasn’t my fault! I’m from Iowa. The only Frenchman I saw up to that point was Pepe Le Pew. And I thought the vapor that rose from his tail was musk.

Hey, maybe I could speak with a sexy French accent to tempt Jayson to stay:

“Hi, my name’th Flattith. I have a thong. It’th called, ‘There’th Thomething Up My Ath’.”

My husband says, “That’s not an accent, it’s a speech impediment.”

“I thought they were the same thing.”

He says, “You also thought ‘the clap’ was just another way to ‘high-five’.”

“No, I thought they were both signs that you’d had a good time.”

He says, “They are.”

Well, back to the drawing board.

They rejected my application for Phillies Phantasy Camp. Apparently “Tattooing Jayson Werth’s face on my ass,” isn’t an acceptable camp expectation.

Some people are so uptight I wonder how they fart.

I guess I’ll just accept that he’s leaving and find something else to dream about in the off season. I could always resort to Fantasy Baseball. Maybe I’ll join and share mine.

I heard they’ve even expanded to Pro Fantasy Rodeo. I could write about my night with that bull rider in Allerton, Iowa. Wait, he broke his collar bone. I told him to take two Viagra and call me in the morning.

Maybe I’ll write my memoir. I’ll call it something like: “Ode to the Phillieth from an Ath in the Making.”

Remember, capitalize first, last, and all important words.

My husband says the memoir will never sell. He thinks I need a good, strong shtick. The problem is small breasts just aren’t as marketable as they were before Kate Hudson got a boob job.

Hey, Hanes has a new t-shirt—they claim it lays flat no matter what.

I have a chest like that. I could be their poster girl.

Where’s my agent?

A better question is, “What’s an agent?”

My husband says, “It’s used for cleaning. That’s why you’re not familiar with it.”

“Hey, that wasn’t a compliment.”

He says he’s sorry. Now he’s trying to make it up to me. He says he’ll race me in a breast self-exam.

That’s no fun. He knows I’ll win.

Even if I give him a head start.

Well, I think I’ve caused enough carnage for one blog. Who knows? Maybe someone will leave me a really special comment.

My husband says, “Not possible. No one else knows you can eat hot dogs with your feet.”

Whoops, I guess they do now.

Now that’s a picture for Phanavision.

Hey, maybe that will entice Jayson to stay.

My husband says, “Right. Drop him a line that says, ‘Hi, my name’th Flattith. I eat hot dogth with my toeth and I’m flat like a Haneth t-thirt.’”

Hey, you never know—maybe he likes Daffy Duck.

It’th worth a try.

Thee you at the ballpark.

Copyright 2010 Flattish Poe all rights reserved.

Catch life one-liner at a time on Twitter.

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Admit it, you’re enjoying these baseball playoffs. The excitement. The do-or-die nature of every game. Brian Wilson’s epic beard-mohawk combo that makes him look like a guy begging for change outside McDonald’s.

The—

Wait, what’s that? You’re not enjoying these playoffs? Really? Maybe I’m the only one.

It’s true. Despite everything that’s happened so far—Roy Halladay’s no-hitter, the Rangers winning three games in Tampa, the Twins…well never mind, the Twins just suck- these are the least talked about baseball playoffs that I can remember; maybe of my entire lifetime.

Chatting with friends on the phone and communicating with people on Twitter, it seems like most of America has the same interest in the baseball postseason that CC Sabathia does for fruits and vegetables. None.

Now, we all know the reasons why. The games are too long. Our attention spans are too short. The same teams win every year. The new ones aren’t compelling. And with all that, I’m starting to wonder, is baseball losing steam as a mainstream sport?

I’m afraid it might be, considering that the most talked about thing from the first week of the playoffs (other than Halladay’s no-hitter), were those lousy Conan O’Brien blimp commercials. America just doesn’t seem to care about baseball.

Which is a shame, because I love baseball. As I mentioned last week, I grew up around the game, and played it all the way through the end of high school. I probably understand the intricacies of it as well as any sport. Yet even for me, Aaron Torres—a guy who writes about sports for a living—some of these games are a tad bit boring. Which isn’t good.

It’s also why I’m here to make some suggestions on how to improve the product.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to give you anything stupid, like, “We should have Brett Favre and Jenn Sterger call games together,” or “Let Pauly D from Jersey Shore throw out the first pitch of the World Series.” As much as like that second idea, even I’m not dumb enough to think it could actually happen.

Nope, these are 10 real suggestions. Ten ways to hopefully appease old fans, cultivate new ones, and maybe in the process, pump a little life back into a dying sport. Baseball might not be able to change the product on the field, but they can change the way they produce and present it.

Here’s some food for thought. And as always, I encourage you to share your ideas.

Because of length, this is just PART of Aaron’s 10 Ways To Spice Up The MLB Postseason. To read the remainder, please click here or visit www.aarontorres-sports.com

No. 1. Have the Two Highest Finishing Non-Division Winners Play a Three-Game Series To Earn the Wild Card:

I’ve heard other people mention this, and couldn’t agree more. And you know why? Because you can never have too much playoff baseball! It doesn’t hurt that in the process, it would keep a lot of teams playing hard down the stretch.

Take this year for example. The Yankees ended up winning the American League Wild Card instead of the AL East, in large part because they lost nine of their last 11 games.

Since there was no real threat of missing the playoffs (they clinched a postseason berth sometime around Memorial Day), they essentially treated the last two weeks of the season like an additional, glorified spring training session. They rested guys up. Their starting pitchers only threw a few innings per outing.

The Yankees might as well have been playing split-squad games against college teams those last few weeks. Again, it felt like spring training.

But think how differently those few weeks would’ve played out if the Yankees had to play two or three extra games if they didn’t win the division. Think Joe Girardi would’ve spent the last two weeks of the regular season spitting sunflower seed shells on himself, instead of actually managing? Of course not.

The Yankees would have been playing hard down the stretch, trying to get the division title and the first round bye. In the process, those last few regular season games in Boston would’ve been the most entertaining baseball of the year, than just an excuse to get Marcus Thames some extra at bats, and Joba Chamberlain an extra inning or two of work.

And speaking of Boston, if the Yankees didn’t win the division, guess who they would’ve played this year for the Wild Card berth? Yep, that’s right, the Red Sox. Who’s opposed to three more games of those two playing? Besides the Red Sox, the “Wild Card Round,” (as I’ll call it), would’ve had teams like the Cardinals, Blue Jays, Tigers and Rockies playing hard until the last game or two of their season as well.

Sure the season would take a few days longer, but again, who cares? Especially when you’ve got five or six more teams involved in the playoff race every year.

No. 2 The Winner of the Wild Card Plays The Team With The Best Record In Each League:

Essentially, this is in-line with the first rule. After all, isn’t the goal to have more teams playing for something down the stretch? With this rule in place, even the top teams would have reason to play hard all 162 games, with the opportunity to play the Wild Card winner—coming off an extra series—in the first round.

Also, shouldn’t there be incentive for a team to finish with the best record? Because, whoever came up with the current rule—that the Wild Card winner can’t play a Divisional opponent in the first round—is an idiot. Yes, I’m looking at you, Bud Selig.

With the system that’s currently in place, teams are, in a way, rewarded for winning the Wild Card and punished for winning their division. If you don’t believe me, ask any Reds fan. They won their first NL Central title in 15 years, and what did they get to show for it? Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels in back-to-back games, that’s what.

How is that fair? Think they would’ve preferred the Giants instead? And even though they ended up losing in the NLDS, don’t you think the Braves were much happier getting San Francisco in the NLDS rather than getting Philadelphia? Again, why reward the Braves that way.

Finally, having Divisional opponents face off in the first round would only add to the drama of the playoffs. This year we would’ve gotten the Rays and the Yankees in the first round, two teams that know each other like an old married couple, and have the same disdain for each other too.

If those two had played, that would’ve been the must see matchup of the first round. Instead we got the Twins-Yankees laugher, and the Rays-Rangers series, that drew the lowest ratings of the playoffs on Sunday afternoon.

Speaking of which…

No. 3 No Games On Sunday’s:

Ever. This is non-negotiable.

Again, for Major League Baseball, the goal here is to get your product out to as many fans as possible. And with America as a whole going into a catatonic state any time the National…Football…League is even mentioned, it’s just stupid to try and compete against it. Really, why bother. You will lose.

My suggestion to baseball is simple: Take Sunday’s off. Sunday is the Lord’s Day, and it’s Peyton Manning’s day. Don’t ever forget that.

No. 4 Let Fans Vote For the LCS and World Series MVP:

This is absolutely, positively my favorite idea (mainly because I haven’t heard anyone besides myself mention it).

Here’s why: We’re Americans. To a degree, we’re self-absorbed. We want our opinions to be voiced, and our voices to be heard. Why do you think thousands of bozos like me create sports blogs and spend countless hours on message boards? It’s because we’re dumb enough to think that people actually care what we have to say! Crazy, I know.

But it is that sense of self-centered jingoism that makes shows like Dancing With The Stars a hit. Believe me, 20 million people aren’t tuning in to see “The Situation,” do the samba in a sequined shirt. Most people have things to do with their time. Granted, I’m not one of them. But still.

No, the reason people watch Dancing With Stars, American Idol, America’s Next Top Model (I swear, I’ve only heard of that one, never seen it. What? I swear!), is because we like knowing we have a say in something. That our opinion matters. That no matter how little our voice is, it’s getting heard.

Why couldn’t this work for the LCS and World Series MVP’s? It’s not like any of us care who wins the stupid award anyway. Or even remember who wins for that matter.

Actually, here’s a quick pop quiz: Who was last year’s World Series MVP.

…

Don’t you dare look it up!

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The answer is Hideki Matsui. If I had given you 25 guesses, would you have ever gotten that? I wouldn’t have.

But, if you’d stayed up until 2:30 in the morning after Game 6 of last year’s World Series voting for Matsui, would you remember then ? I thought so.

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