Five keys for the Red Sox  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Think the Tampa Bay Rays are going to be an easy opponent for the Red Sox [team stats] in the American League Championship Series?  —  Think again.  —  Get beyond all the cute modifiers - plucky and upstart, for two …

Los Angeles at Philadelphia  —  The acquisition of Manny Ramirez spurred the Los Angeles Dodgers into the playoffs and his offense helped get them into the NL championship series.  —  The big bats for the Philadelphia Phillies might need to get on track if they are to go any further.

Burrell turning jeers to cheers  —  THERE IS a guy who sits 12 rows back in the leftfield bleachers who has, over the years, embraced Pat Burrell like a brother, kicked him around like a dog, and now loves him like an old army buddy again.  Anyone who has sat back there on Sunday afternoons has heard him …

Women getting Mohawk-style bikini wax to support The Rays  —  Talk about team spirit.  —  The latest style to sweep the west coast, home of the Rays, is a bikini wax.  Mohawk style.  —  Try waving that around at a game!  —  Michelle Foster of Skin Deep Spatique says she was inspired by her son's Mohawk, reports

Rays' numbers game  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Nine equals eight.  It's true.  —  Mathematics professors at Michigan State University say so.  They can prove it.  —  So can the Tampa Bay Rays.  All season they've worn T-shirts with what seemed a mathematically impossible message: 9 = 8.

Bucs' Moss should be ready for camp  —  Arthroscopic procedure replaces microfracture surgery on knee  —  PITTSBURGH — It looks as if Pirates outfielder Brandon Moss should be ready to take the field with no limitations in Spring Training after all.  —  Moss traveled to Vail, Colo. …

Baseball players suspended in match-fixing probe  —  Former US major league baseball player Cory Bailey and two Taiwanese players were suspended yesterday because of their alleged involvement in match fixing, baseball authorities said yesterday.  —  ¡

Baker to manage son's youth team  —  Dusty Baker is going back to youth baseball.  —  This weekend, Baker will be the fill-in coach for 9-year-old son Darren's 10-and-under traveling tournament team, Hard 90 Pastime out of Roseville, Calif., near the Bakers' Northern California home.

The ‘smart’ choice to win the Series?  Tampa  —  If you value money management, root for the Rays to go to World Series  —  Pitcher Grant Balfour celebrates with catcher Dioner Navarro after the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.  —  Rays party up

Ex-big league pitcher, coach Dal Canton dies at 66  —  CARNEGIE, Pa. — Bruce Dal Canton, a former high school teacher who turned a good showing at a tryout camp into a lengthy career as a major league pitcher and coach, has died.  He was 66.  —  Dal Canton died Tuesday of esophageal cancer.