Arm and hammer  —  Beckett dominant as Red Sox attack buries the Rockies  —  Never mind that cute business of putting baseballs in a humidor.  If the Colorado Rockies hope to make the 103d World Series competitive, they may have to stuff the Red Sox in a meat locker and throw away the key.

Sources: Girardi might have shot with Dodgers  —  Joe Girardi might have an opportunity to manage in the majors in 2008 — even if he doesn't get the Yankees' job.  —  Officials familiar with Girardi's job prospects told Buster Olney of ESPN The Magazine if the Yankees do not hire him to succeed Joe Torre …

Twins Hot Stove: Hunter, Nathan  —  It'll be an interesting offseason for the Twins, who have a new GM and two coveted free agents in Torii Hunter and Carlos Silva.  Here's the latest.  — Charley Walters quotes Hunter as saying he hasn't had any contract offers from the Twins since the end of the season.

O'Neil finds his place in Hall of Fame  —  Late Negro League icon honored with statue and award  —  BOSTON — Buck O'Neil may be gone, but he's certainly not forgotten.  —  The acclaimed late Negro League icon will be honored with a statue and an award in his honor, the National Baseball Hall …

CROWDER LEARNS HE WON'T NEED TRANSLATOR IN LONDON  —  Maybe he was joking, but gregarious Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder confessed today he didn't know until Tuesday that people spoke English in London.  —  Crowder, a former Florida Gator and Atlanta native, apparently isn't sure …

Schrodinger`s Bat: Free Stuff and the Men in Blue by Dan Fox  —  Free Stuff and the Men in Blue  —  "When you get right down to it, no corner of American culture is more precisely counted, more passionately quantified, than the performance of baseball players."  —Alan Schwarz, from the introduction to The Numbers Game

HOW COLORADO'S FIELDING WIZARDRY WILL CHANGE BASEBALL FOREVER.  —  Baseball is usually seen as a clash between pitchers and hitters—a test of wills between the guy on the mound and the slugger at the plate.  The defense, on the other hand, is praised and scorned in extreme circumstances …

Twins plan to pick up Nathan's option  —  Reliever has had 35-plus saves in four straight seasons  —  MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins are going to pick up Joe Nathan's $6 million option for the 2008 season in the coming days, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported on its Web site on Wednesday night.

The Exaggerated Legend of Kaz Matsui  —  Posted on Thu Oct 25, 2007 at 11:18:12 AM EDT  —  Several hundred people outside of New England tuned in last night to watch the puck drop for Game 1 of the 2007 World Series, and each was treated to the inimitable broadcasting team of Joe Buck and Timmy McC.

Luis Castillo, Duaner Sanchez on mend  —  BOSTON - The Mets' Luis Castillo had his troublesome right knee cleaned during a recent surgical procedure, and should be 100% by Jan.1.  The Mets are expected to make a strong push to re-sign him, although they will wait to at least explore what second basemen are available via trade.

2007 Net Win Shares Value  —  Greetings from the bowels of the Hardball Times publishing house!  Yes, our army of writers, editors, typesetters and elves are working overtime to make sure the 2008 Hardball Times Annual is on your doorstep the first week of December.

Have pitchers become more fragile?  —  Are today's pitchers all pansies?  There are a lot of people that seem to think so.  As the number of innings a starter is expected to pitch has gone down over the past few decades, many critics have piled on to what seems like some serious coddling.