With blazing fastball and ruthless attitude, Beckett owns October  —  BOSTON —Josh Beckett takes some imposing tools to the mound.  Blazing fastball, baffling curve — and an unmistakable mean streak.  —  Maybe that's the reason he owns October.  —  "He's got some presence out there with him …

Floyd wants to end career playing for Marlins again  —  Free-agent outfielder Cliff Floyd said he is thinking about retiring after 15 seasons.  But first he wants to take a swing at ending his career where he had some of his best years - in Florida.  —  "I would love to come to the Marlins.

Canada is embracing native son Francis  —  Legend growing north of border for Game 1 pitcher  —  BOSTON - Jeff Francis was a Canadian rarity.  He didn't grow up playing hockey.  —  "I played street hockey when I was young, but nothing competitive," he admitted.  —  Baseball was his passion.

World Series Notebook for Tuesday, October 23  —  BOSTON (Ticker) - Does anybody remember the Colorado Rockies?  —  You know, the team that won an unprecedented 21 of 22 games to reach the Fall Classic?  The first team to start the postseason with seven wins since the 1976 Cincinnati Reds?

Much To Learn About Mattingly the Manager  —  Yesterday, Don Mattingly received his official interview with the Yankees brass in Tampa.  Like one of those internally posted positions at your company that you have to interview for even though you've worked there for a decade and everyone knows you well …

Mailbag: Will Teixeira re-sign?  —  Braves beat reporter Mark Bowman answers fans' questions  —  What are the chances the Braves will be able to re-sign Mark Teixeira?  If they can't sign him before the Winter Meetings, should the Braves trade him immediately for a starting pitcher?

Rangers' Wakamatsu hired as A's bench coach  —  rdurrett@dallasnews.com  —  Rangers third base coach Don Wakamatsu accepted the position of bench coach with the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday.  —  Wakamatsu, 44, was the Rangers' bench coach for four seasons under former Rangers manager Buck Showalter …

Pearce earns Spinks Award honors  —  Topps names Bucs slugger outstanding Minor Leaguer  —  PITTSBURGH — Steve Pearce began the 2007 season playing first base at high Class A Lynchburg, finished it playing right field at PNC Park, and had an unbelievable season in between that continues to earn him national accolades and awards.

actober.com winners announced  —  Filmmaking trio to be honored at Game 3 of World Series  —  Dating back to the All-Star break, we asked baseball fans to tap into their inner Steven Spielberg and capture their version of baseball's best playoff moments for the actober.com contest.

Mailbag: Will A's go after free agents?  —  Beat reporter Mychael Urban answers A's fans' questions  —  I think the A's are in a good position to make a run at the American League West next year with the current roster.  What are the chances of signing Torii Hunter or Andruw Jones?

MLB International and Shanghai Media Group bring World Series to China  —  Landmark cable television deal extends through the 2009 season  —  Major League Baseball International (MLBI) and Shanghai Media Group (SMG) reached a groundbreaking, three-year agreement this season …

Mattingly: I'm ready to manage  —  Don Mattingly was not as polished as Joe Girardi was yesterday.  But I personally thought he was very earnest about what he wants to accomplish.  —  Certainly none of the candidates know the team as well as he does given that he's been on the staff the last four seasons.

Boras Says He's Not Ready to Talk About Money Yet  —  The search for a new manager is taking up most of the Yankees' time this week, with Joe Girardi meeting with team officials yesterday in Tampa, Fla., Don Mattingly on deck for today and Tony Peña set for tomorrow.

Mitchell investigation raises questions  —  LIKE THIS STORY?  —  When I interviewed Paul Byrd about his use of human growth hormone, he had a question of his own for me.  —  "Isn't George Mitchell with the Red Sox?"  —  Yes, I replied, he is.  —  And the mere fact that Byrd raised …