You have the Philadelphia Phillies, who have lived with high expecations for years only to see it come to fruition this season. Then there are the Tampa Bay Rays, who dropped the “Devil” from their name and have advanced to third first World Series after losing every previous year of their existence.

Musa took longer to make this pick than others. Perhaps he understands the magnitude. Or maybe he was worried about the tape worm he contracted from a flea some three weeks ago.

Hey, come to think of it, maybe the tape worm had been giving him tips. Maybe they aren’t bad at all. Maybe they have predicting powers, too.

Maybe not. And you can be sure I won’t ask a tape worm its thoughts on college football. The tape worm is gone by the way, poor Musa. Man, he’s had a lot of medical issues but keeps ticking.

After much deliberation and false alarms on both teams, Musa came to a conclusion. He picked the Rays.

I think the Phillies will win. I decided this because I think they are a better team. Plus, being a Cubs fan, I don’t want to see another fresh Florida team win a world title while Chicago toils in mediocrity.

It could happen, but I’ll just live with it.

Our football picks will come later this week.

Musa’s football record last week: 2-3 (he slumped in the college picks this week)
Musa’s baseball record: 3-3
Musa’s football record: 17-13
Musa’s overall record: 20-16

My football record last week: 2-3 (did better in college, but missed both NFL games)
My baseball record: 4-2
My football record: 16-14
My overall record: 20-16

Post from: Organized Chaos

He picked the Chicago White Sox to upset Tampa in the first round. That’s not the problem.

The problem is he picked the Los Angeles Dodgers to defeat my favorite team, the Chicago Cubs.

That’s OK. He’s entitled to his opinion. And I don’t think he really understands what he’s doing. Or does he?

Refresh yourself on the method to this madness if you need.

Anyway, here are his picks for the first round of the MLB playoffs: White Sox, Angels, Dodgers, Brewers.

My picks: Rays, Angels, Cubs, Phillies.

I’ll post his weekend football picks later this week. Last week was rough for both of us.

Musa’s overall football record: 9-6.

My overall football record: 12-3.

Post from: Organized Chaos

———————- (original post follows) 

Wanna know why Manny Ramirez is often such a pill? Yes, it’s in his makeup, but the major factor is money.

Manny, who the Boston Red Sox have apparently grown sick of Manny being Manny, might be traded to the Florida Marlins on Thursday. The trade deadline is four hours away as I write this.

Manny said the Red Sox don’t deserve him. He said he’s better off without being a member of the team. Sound familiar (see Favre, Brett).

He’s forcing the team’s hand and unlike in the past, it appears likely this deal will be made. The Red Sox want to wipe their hands of him, but in doing so they may jeopardize their playoff standing.

Because let’s get one thing straight. Manny is a difference maker (though he’s been average for my fantasy team). He changes games when he wants to play. He also can be quite the cancer if he’s upset.

The problem isn’t so much Manny it’s that professional athletes are paid way too much to play a child’s game. Manny makes $20 million or so. he’s going to get paid if he plays for Florida or Boston or the Pawtucket Red Sox.

He doesn’t care because his well being isn’t threatened. I bet he wouldn’t be so mouthy if he were like the rest of us in our 9-to-5 jobs that force us to find ways to push our paychecks to the fullest to avoid losing our houses, cars and cable television.

We’d be pretty scared if we lost our job. Manny isn’t. And it shows.

And I don’t mean to sound like a whiner. If I had millions of dollars I’d feel pretty bulletproof, too. I’d probably have a new outlook on life and maybe I’d think for a second I was more important than someone else.

But alas, I don’t. And I don’t think I would get too big-headed over the deal. It would mean I’d have more money to stock my Gamer’s Den at my new house.

I wouldn’t be like Manny. Sometimes Manny shouldn’t be like Manny and he should respect the fact the Red Sox have given him so much. And he should respect his teammates, but again, that’s just me.

I’ll be checking in throughout the day on the MLB trade deadline. You never know when one of our local prospects is shipped off in a deal.

Post from: Organized Chaos

The Wewahitchka native and Tallahassee Community College baseball standout is playing exceptionally well with the Atlanta Braves since being called up on June 11. Through Saturday he was batting .379 with one home run, four RBIs and four runs scored in nine games and 29 at-bats.

His first career homer came on June 14 off Ervin Santana of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Jones was 3 for 5 in the Braves’ 9-3 win. He’s had two or more hits in four starts.

This is a great start for Jones, who could be with the Braves for some time if he keeps hitting. Early speculation was that the Braves were auditioning him for possible trade bait, but it’s also quite possible they just want to see if he is up for the challenge of playing every day at this level.

He had a stellar minor league season in 2007 and he was poised to start this season in at least a platoon with Matt Diaz. But Jones struggled in the spring and was optioned to Triple-A.

Now he has an opportunity to stay. It will be interesting to see if he does.

Post from: Organized Chaos

The latest news links Clemens with country singer Mindy McCready, as a New York Daily News article reported the two carried on a decade-long affair. Clemens claimed they were simply friends (and it’s even more creepy if a then-28-year-old was “friends” with a 15-year-old kid). McCready has said otherwise, and was unable to refute any of the facts in the story.

There is another report of an affair with John Daly’s ex-wife. Both parties are mum.

The bottom line is Clemens is a guy who is not to be trusted. This is only a bad thing for his ongoing defamation law suit against his former trainer. All of these issues also will be used to build the potential perjury charge that could be coming.

I feel for Clemens if all these stories are false. If true, I also feel for him, but it reinforces that he was shady character in a sport that seems to be filled with a lot of them. And if he did use performance-enhancing drugs, all of this could have been avoided if he just came clean

He will be forever remembered for the bad things, rather than as a great pitcher. But, he has no one to blame but himself for that.

Dishonorable mention: The guy or guys who feel the need to leave a big duke pile in the toilet at work without flushing. It’s not difficult to flush a toilet. But they choose to let someone else do the work for them.

Do they do this at home? If so, I’d hate to smell their bathrooms. Oh, and I’ve also been told it happens in the women’s restroom at work. It’s gross and ridiculous.

Post from: Organized Chaos

Mr. Castignoli, a Boston Red Sox fan, thought this would put a curse on the Yankees. Instead, he put a curse on his own guy, Big Papi, who started the season with the lowest batting average among players with enough qualified at-bats. (It was even worse than Andruw Jones, yikes.)

Castignoli was bold enough to wear the jersey to the contruction site and proceeded to put it into the concrete in front of everyone. What he should have done is hid the jersey, or done it under the cloak of darkness with a buddy. They could have taken pictures and taped the incident to throw it up on Youtube the day of the opening.

Now that would have been funny. But now the jersey has been unearthed and Big Papi had two hits. Interesting.

There’s talk of legal action. And it would be extra funny if he went down for this.

He’s not the Jerk of the Week because of his actions, just how he went about it. Now the curse is nothing but a footnote in history. It could have been something even bigger.

Dishonorable Mention: The Detroit Tigers, after spending all that cash in the offseason for the best offense in baseball, started 0-7 and are now 3-10. Entering Sunday’s game the Tigers had been outscored by more than 40 runs.

The Tigers’ pitching staff is weak and the bullpen leaves much to be desired. The offense was supposed to carry them. It’s hurt them big time.

Post from: Organized Chaos

First, here’s a glance at area players and their salaries (these do not reflect any performance bonuses which may be included in their contracts)

Jeff Mathis (Marianna): Will make $415,000 this season for the L.A. Angels, up from $327,000 a year ago.

Russell Martin (Chipola): Will take in $500,000 playing for the L.A. Dodgers, an increase in nearly $120,000.

Jose Bautista (Chipola): Will rake in $1.8 million as an infielder with Pittsburgh. He made close to $400,000 last season.

Adam Loewen (Chipola): Will snag $816,000 with Baltimore, down $150,000 from last season.

Clete Thomas (Mosley): Penciled in for the league minimum $390,000, which will probably be prorated should he return to the minors in a few weeks. Also of note, Thomas is owned by 0.1 percent of all the ESPN Fantasy Baseball leagues.

Of course, A-Rod is the highest paid player in baseball. The Chicago Cubs have the highest median salary and the New York Yankees the highest payroll by more than $72 million over the New York Mets and Detroit.

You can search salaries by player and teams by clicking here.

Post from: Organized Chaos

The 409-page report also is online and ready for viewing. If you’d like to read the entire report, click here.

The ESPN story summarizing some of the key points of Mitchell’s address can be found by clicking here.

Some of the current and former players’ names in the report include Kevin Brown, Troy Glaus, Lenny Dykstra, Chuck Knoblauch, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds (duh), Andy Pettitte, Erig Gagne and Paul Lo Duca. Each of the 30 MLB teams had someone implicated.

This is only the tip of the story. There are news conferences planned throughout the day and this will have a lasting impact for weeks to come.

We’ve come a long way since hot dogs and beer were the only competitive fuel.

ESPN has a detailed list of the players in the report. You can view it by clicking here.

Post from: Organized Chaos

Some say the report will be a major step in finally cleaning up the sport. Others are saying the report will only point fingers.

In any case, it will be a good read. But it won’t be a major shock, since we all know the steroid era was huge in MLB and many of the top players were probably juiced.

As a fan, I’m not up in arms over steroids. Yes, I’d like to see a clean game, but there’s little chance of that, even today with advances in masking technology. So you just have to deal with it.

You can read the ESPN story on the Mitchell report here. It also has a timeline of events and other interesting links.

Post from: Organized Chaos

Marc Ecko, the clothing guy, purchased the ball for more than $700,000. Now he’s started a Web site where there are three choices to vote on.

The first is send the ball to the MLB Hall of Fame. The second is to stamp it with an asterisk then send it to the Hall. And the third, and potentially more intriguing if he could actually pull it off, is to send the ball hurling into space.

I’ve already voted. You can, too.

Have any other creative ways to dispose of the ball?

Post from: Organized Chaos

The villified poster child for the steroid era, Bonds has gathered as much bad press as Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Lionel Richie’s pencil-thin daughter. Rumors have flown about Bonds for years, especially after he became twice the man (literally) he was in a span of months.

Soon he’ll be the all-time home run king, supplanting a man who did it with hard work. That’s not to say Bonds hasn’t worked hard, and he proved that he could be a big-time player well before his hat size increased.

But it’s the period of time when he hit a billion home runs at an advancing age that has everyone raising their eyebrows.

There may never be any proof to condemn Bonds. Then again, maybe there will be. 

He claims to have taken flaxseed oil during those good years. I’m taking flaxseed oil right now and I have not shown the same remarkable results. If I grow 7 inches in the next year or so I’ll believe Bonds.

The only good thought in all of this is that Alex Rodriguez, if he chooses to play as long as it takes, will be the home run champ when Bonds is long gone. Then again, the other poster child in the steroid era, “whistle blower” Jose Canseco says he has the good on Rodriguez.

Sure, and we’re to believe Canseco ran a 3.9 40-yard dash when he was with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as he told in his book.

We’ll have to wait until Bonds is No. 2. Until then he’ll be No. 1, looking into the camera with that same old scowl he’s worn for years.

The best thing that can happen is for Bonds to retire. Then we won’t have to see or hear him whine about how everyone has beaten him down.

And even when he is doing that the world doesn’t care. And because of him, most of the world doesn’t care about one of the greatest records in all of sports.

Way to go Barry.

Post from: Organized Chaos

He ended his media session with gusto, calling out reporters who wrote negative accounts of his comeback. Heaven forbid a journslist should do his job, Mr. Clemens. Heaven forbid you should take some heat, because, contrary to what you may think, your millions of dollars don’t give you a free pass.

In fact, it sets you up for a higher level of scrutiny. You are on a level that not many players have reached. But, at the same time you are no different from any other ballplayer. 

I agree that some journalists go out of their way to dig the dirt and create a stir. But the majority of us, especially beat writers, have a strong enough sense of what’s going on and it’s their duty to tell the public, good or bad.

If you pitched poorly, it won’t be sugar-coated. If you pitched well, it will be equally lauded. If you flop, it will be noted.
Clemens pounded his fist, as if to make a point, and left the room. He’d rather not associate with negative people, he said.

He’d rather remain positive.

But when he doesn’t help the Yankees back to prominance, despite a move that was designed to do so, he better be ready to take the heat. Criticism is nothing new to him, and it won’t change.

You’re a grown man playing a child’s game. Get over yourself, Mr. Clemens.

Post from: Organized Chaos