Top News:
Mark Feinsand / MLB.com:
Yanks celebrate ninth straight East title — Bombers fall to Jays, but clinch division with Red Sox loss — TORONTO — It's not very often that you will see the Yankees whooping it up in the clubhouse after a loss. In fact, it's not very often that you will see the Yankees whoop it up after a win.
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Sports Illustrated:
Despite loss to Blue Jays, Yankees clinch ninth straight AL East title — TORONTO (AP) -Derek Jeter poured champagne over Joe Torre's head. Johnny Damon swigged whiskey from a bottle. Robinson Cano ambushed teammates with beer. — The New York Yankees celebrated their ninth straight AL East title like they'd never won it before.
Amalie Benjamin / Boston Globe:
Ortiz launches No. 50; Twins blast Red Sox — Just a single raised fist, rounding first base, accompanied David Ortiz on his historic run. Just that fist, up for no more than a second, before he made his solitary way around second, around third, across home.
Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
A Ninth Consecutive Division Title for Yankees — For Johnny Damon, it was the perfect convergence of joy and duty. — The Yankees' game had ended with a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night, but the scoreboard told the players that the Boston Red Sox were also losing.
Michael Silverman / Boston Herald:
Papi lights up dark night — Ties Foxx, but loss helps NY — David Ortiz did it again for the Red Sox last night. — And, wouldn't you know it, the Yankees did it again to the Red Sox as well. — On the same night the Yankees won their ninth consecutive AL East title, Ortiz …
Discussion:
Boston Sports Media Watch
Rich Radford / Virginian-Pilot:
Tide turns in favor of Orioles — With each passing day, odds that the Norfolk Tides will affiliate with the Baltimore Orioles increase. — On Wednesday, one of the Tides' main suitors opted to go elsewhere. — Seeing the Orioles as frontrunners in a perceived two-horse race to land Norfolk …
Discussion:
District of Baseball
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NY Daily News:
Yankees pick Scranton, Mets beg to turn Tides — The Mets asked David Wright to place a late-night call to Triple-A Norfolk owner Ken Young after their loss to Florida last night. But the last-ditch effort to prevent the Mets from losing Wright's hometown team as their affiliate appeared unlikely to work.
Evan Grant / Dallas Morning News:
Rangers eliminated with 6-3 loss — ARLINGTON - There is only one hitch in the Rangers' desires to etch Robinson Tejeda into their starting rotation for 2007: He has yet to win a game in Texas. — That's a pretty significant issue. — In a 6-3 loss to Seattle on Wednesday …
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
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Paul Hagen / Philly.com:
Philadelphia Phillies — If Phillies fans were as casually vicious or as unthinkingly, unblinkingly negative as their stereotype suggests, Pat Burrell would have been booed as soon as he stepped to the plate in the first inning. — Heck, if Phillies fans were going to live up to their spit …
Discussion:
The Good Phight
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Paul Sullivan / Chicago Tribune:No rest for weary Cubs' bullpen in loss
Discussion:
Bleed Cubbie Blue
Michael Silverman / Boston Herald:
Clement not too open to closing — Of all the tasks facing the Red Sox this winter, finding a closer will be near the top of the list. No incumbent pitcher has been ruled out, according to club officials, so it is not a big surprise that Matt Clement is a candidate.
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Jayson Stark / ESPN:
Why Santana isn't the AL MVP … Johan Santana is the most talented, most charismatic, most dominating pitcher in this hemisphere. And that's something we should all be able to agree on, except perhaps for certain members of Roy Halladay's immediate family.
Discussion:
SBG, The World's …
Mark Newman / MLB.com:
Relive all the magic with Clinch Time — Download playoff-assuring games for free at MLB.com — The first celebration scene happens on the field, where giddy players release all of that pent-up emotion from a marathon Major League Baseball season and pile on top of each other after clinching a championship.
Discussion:
The Griddle
Shaun Powell / Newsday:
Wilpon deserves all the credit — A wealthy, genteel and proper gentleman who's probably used to drinking his bubbly from a crystal flute instead took it straight from the bottle, and had it all dumped right on his head. Don't be misled; Fred Wilpon was not drunk the other night, at least not from liquor.
Discussion:
Always Amazin'
Kevin Cowherd / Baltimore Sun:
Aparicio ready to lead chagrined O's fans in protest — You say you've had it with the Orioles this time. — You've had it with nine straight losing seasons. With another meaningless September. With a jewel of a ballpark that sits empty and forlorn, except when it's invaded by thousands …
Corey Brock / MLB.com:
Notes: Washburn will miss final starts — Starter diagnosed with a strain or tear in his right calf — ARLINGTON — Jarrod Washburn immediately knew he was in trouble on Tuesday when he heard something "pop" in his right calf after he landed awkwardly after delivering a pitch.
Baseball America:
Gulf Coast League Top 20 Prospects — Subscribers can read scouting reports on all 20 players (Click here to subscribe) — Though major league owners contemplated dissolving both complex-based Rookie leagues, the Arizona and the Gulf Coast, that proposal was tabled and the circuits operated as usual in 2006.
Discussion:
Pending Pinstripes
Soraya Nadia McDonald / Associated Press:
Royals manager takes medical leave of absence, return indefinite — KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Royals manager Buddy Bell is taking a leave of absence to treat a growth discovered near his left tonsil. — The Royals announced the move during the ninth inning of their game against …
Discussion:
The Griddle
Jack Curry / New York Times:
Rapping to the Oldies — Peter J. Nash, a baseball author, historian and filmmaker, can eloquently describe players from 2006. What makes him different from many other fans is that he can also smoothly discuss players from 1846. Nash knows exhaustive details about the earliest days of baseball …
Discussion:
Off Wing Opinion
