Yanks remove Rocket from playoff roster  —  NEW YORK —Roger Clemens was removed from the New York Yankees' division series roster Monday, replaced by left-handed reliever Ron Villone.  Under a new rule, Clemens now is ineligible for the AL championship series if the Yankees advance.

How Rockies, Diamondbacks match up … Two unexpected sweeps give us a four-day respite before the start of the NLCS, which is in its first year with a new schedule (including a new off day between Games 4 and 5).  —  Although the Diamondbacks had the better record and will have home-field advantage …

Mailbag: Looking back on 2007  —  Beat reporter Bill Ladson answers fans' questions  —  What was your biggest disappointment and your most pleasant surprise in 2007?  —  My biggest disappointment was the Nationals' offense, which I thought would be good enough despite losing Alfonso Soriano and Nick Johnson.

Schilling the toast of the town again  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. - Trailed by his wife, who was toting a small video camera to preserve a few more memories for a lifetime, Curt Schilling walked into the postgame interview room wearing a champagne-soaked T-shirt that read, "The Season Begins Now."

Fox Considers Joe Buck for Late-Night Show  —  With Jay Leno Likely to Remain in Play if and when Conan O'Brien Takes Over The Tonight Show, the Late-Night Scene Promises to Get Interesting  —  Could Joe Buck be the next name to enter the late-night world?

What a series.  —  They may have been banged up, no denying that, but regardless of the 3-0 result that's a good team.  To say anything else diminishes the incredible job done by a lot of people, some not wearing uniforms.  —  Regular season or post season the guy that starts a series …

Piniella, Cubs could seek an upgrade at third base  —  Congrats John McDonough.  —  Nice going Jim Hendry.  —  Heck of a job Lou Piniella.  —  Now what?  —  The Cubs won a division, which gave the fans something to enjoy but not much for which to be proud.

Cook, Hirsh may be ready for NLCS  —  Pair of Colorado pitchers working back from injuries  —  DENVER — The Rockies thought starting pitchers Aaron Cook and Jason Hirsh were out for the season.  But they didn't realize their season would extend to the National League Championship Series, and now the two starters are ready to return.

Jose Mota said wha??  —  By and large, this whole experiment of having playoff baseball on TBS has been interesting... and not all that great.  How not all that great, you ask?  Well, if you can transcribe what reporter Jose Mota says in this clip, I'll give you a dollar:  —  Uh, so tripping over his tongue, or what?

Can Freddy Sanchez hit a wiffle ball?  —  Recently, Construda found a sick wiffle ball pitcher over on the YouTubes.  —  When this guy throws, the ball dances all over the place before hitting the strike zone almost every time.  I'd say it was unhittable.  —  Here's the clip.

Ibanez may fill Tigers' needs  —  Could there be a better solution to the Tigers' leftfield needs than Raul Ibanez?  —  Detroit president/general manager Dave Dombrowski acknowledged last week that he will look for a left-handed hitter this winter.  Ibanez was among the top outfield run producers …