Top News:
Ian Browne / MLB.com:
Manny, Sox unfazed by pressure — Slugger says team is confident despite trailing, 3-1, in ALCS — CLEVELAND — How is Manny Ramirez holding up amid the pressure of his Red Sox trailing, 3-1, to the Indians in the American League Championship Series? — So well that Ramirez held …
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Leitch / Deadspin:
Here's Your Ex: See, Now This Is Just Being Mean — Imagine you're facing one of the most important moments of your career, a moment in which you must be on top of your game and perform at your peak capacity. Everyone is counting on you; the whole world is watching. Concentration is paramount.
Discussion:
FanHouse
Gordon Edes / Boston Globe:
Survival test — Sox call on Beckett to keep them alive — Is Terry Francona pointing the way toward victory to Game 5 starter, Josh Beckett? The Sox certainly hope so. Beckett knows how to overcome 3-1 deficits - he did it in '03 with Florida. (BARRY CHIN/GLOBE STAFF)
Jeff Goldberg / Hartford Courant:
Red Sox Downplay Report That Beckett Is Hurt — CLEVELAND - The great debate over whether Josh Beckett should have pitched Game 4 on three days' rest took an unexpected turn Tuesday night. — Ken Rosenthal, working the Fox broadcast, reported that Red Sox sources indicated Beckett …
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
Paul Meyer / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Remaking Of A Team — Red Sox's Farrell strong candidate for manager's job — John Farrell's candidacy for the Pirates' manager's job seems to be picking up some momentum. — And it could be that, if Farrell's the man, he could have a hand in hiring the Pirates' next scouting director, too.
Murray Chass / New York Times:
A Family Divided Against Itself by the A.L.C.S. — Linda Goldman, fervent Red Sox fan and Boston-area resident, came home yesterday to visit her parents and her sister, Bonnie Bernstein, fervent Indians fan and Cleveland-area resident. — "She's supposed to come here for dinner Thursday night …
Jordan Bastian / MLB.com:
Boston turns to Beckett to save season — Righty shut out Cubs in 2003 NLCS to keep Marlins alive — CLEVELAND — Josh Beckett has been here before. The fate of Boston's season is being placed upon his shoulders, and history would appear to indicate that the pitcher is up to the task.
Tim Brown / Yahoo! Sports:The Manny diaries — CLEVELAND - If this American League …
Discussion:
Blogging Baseball
John Harper / NY Daily News:
Indecision on Joe Torre makes clear that Boss Era is over — CLEVELAND - So the newly formed Yankee hierarchy hasn't made a decision on Joe Torre after two days around a conference table in Tampa, not to mention the week the various bigwigs had to consider their positions?
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George King / New York Post:
OPT IN THE AIR — YANKEES 'WILL NOT PARTICIPATE' IF A-ROD CHOOSES FREE AGENCY — TAMPA, Fla. - The Yankees ended two long days and a lot of cholesterol intake at the Capital Grille yesterday without deciding Joe Torre's fate, but they did emerge with a warning to Alex Rodriguez: Opt out and your Yankees career is over.
Discussion:
MLB Trade Rumors
Mark Feinsand / NY Daily News:Cashman confirms: If A-Rod opts out, he's done as Yankee
Discussion:
NJ.com
Marty Noble / MLB.com:
Mets' collapse weighs heavily on Green — Missed opportunity at playoffs continues to haunt right fielder — NEW YORK — Survivor's guilt it isn't. The Mets don't qualify as survivors. It is a full-fledged guilt, a guilt that weighs on Shawn Green these days, a heavy and unsettling sense …
Maury Brown / The Biz of Baseball:
Interview - Eric Fisher - Sports Business Journal — If you're interest lies in anything that has to do with sports outside the lines, then the trade magazine the Sports Business Journal and it's counterpart, the Sports Business Daily are indispensable resources for keeping up with all manner of sports business.
Ted Berg / SNY.tv:
Help from the Far East — Scoping out the Japanese free-agent market — A reader e-mailed me a question yesterday that I planned on holding for an upcoming offseason mailbag post, but after watching Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima pitch in Monday night's ALCS Game 3, I decided this would be as good a time as any to answer him.
Tom Smith / TimesDaily.com:
Three arrested in connection with copper theft cases — Last Updated:October 17. — Three Colbert County men, including a former Major League baseball pitcher, have been arrested in Muscle Shoals in connection with separate cases of copper theft, police said.
Spencer Fordin / MLB.com:
Orioles name Kranitz pitching coach — Veteran instructor spent 22 years working in the Cubs' system — BALTIMORE — The Orioles filled one of their few remaining high-profile coaching slots on Wednesday when they reached a deal with former Florida pitching coach Rick Kranitz.
Discussion:
Oriole Post
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Jim Caple / ESPN:
Extra off days are not good for baseball … There is only one October ... but there are nine potential days with no postseason games whatsoever. — Thanks to the new playoff format, baseball gave the American League teams everyone's dream holiday: a full day off in Cleveland in October.
