Top News:
Jim Caple / ESPN:
Stunned Rays can only hope to put brutal loss behind them … BOSTON — So how do you put THAT behind you? — How do you overcome blowing a seven-run lead when you're just seven outs from going to the World Series? How do you stuff a monumental, historic collapse …
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Adam Kilgore / Boston Globe:
That just happened — If you didn't turn the TV off or go to sleep or leave the yard early, you witnessed something like a miracle tonight, something that wasn't impossible but wasn't quite possible, either, but somewhere in between. — In an effort to make sense of Boston's 8-7 Game 5 victory …
Bob Nightengale / USA Today:
Notes: Padres interested in Maddux as a player/coach — The San Diego Padres have talked to Greg Maddux about the possibility of becoming a player/coach in the organization, general manager Kevin Towers said Thursday. — Maddux would become the first player/coach in recent history.
Steve Buckley / Boston Herald:
Somehow, Red Sox get magical — Somehow, out of nowhere, it became a game screaming and begging for a Dave Roberts moment. — Here were the Red Sox [team stats] last night and into the early morning at Fenway Park [map] trailing the Tampa Bay Rays 7-0 in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series …
St. Petersburg Times:
HEARTBREAKER — Rays first baseman Carlos Pena, left, and relief pitcher J.P. Howell leave the field in the bottom of the ninth inning as Boston's J.D. Drew rounds the bases after driving in the winning run. Boston came back from a 7-0 deficit. — Times] — BOSTON — Time was, your mouth might be dry.
Discussion:
ShysterBall
Joe Posnanski:
Unbelievable — I had another post more or less ready to go, a congratulatory post to the Tampa Bay Rays. It dies in the same trash bin where my Yankees win the 2001 World Series column, my Memphis wins the national championship column and my Greg Norman wins the Masters column now have book club meetings.
Discussion:
Vegas Watch
Martin Fennelly / TBO Rays:
Seven Outs From The Series, The 2007 Rays Show Up — BOSTON - As incredible as this season has been, this was more incredible. — As amazing as the 2008 Rays have been, this was more amazing. — And stunning. — And shocking. — And unthinkable. — Seven runs ahead.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, Boston Globe, Sports Illustrated, Babes Love Baseball, The Big Lead, SOX & Dawgs, Oriole Post and The Bottom Line
Dan Graziano / New Jersey Online:
Yankees express interest in Padres' Peavy — The Yankees are one of several teams that have had preliminary discussions with the San Diego Padres about a possible trade for 2007 National League Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy. — According to a person familiar with the substance …
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Buster Olney / ESPN:
Sources: Padres lining up suitors for shot at Peavy … The San Diego Padres have begun to exchange names with teams interested in All-Star pitcher Jake Peavy, in what appears to be an aggressive effort to maximize return on the right-hander, who is signed to a contract that keeps him under a team's control through 2013.
Kat O'Brien / Newsday:
Pettitte, Joba likely to be part of '09 rotation — BOSTON - The Yankees' front office met in Tampa yesterday to begin hashing out the club's offseason plan of action. — Yankees co-chairmen Hal and Hank Steinbrenner, general manager Brian Cashman and president Randy Levine headed the meetings at Legends Field.
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George A. King III / New York Post:
HANK: CHAMBERLAIN WILL BE IN ROTATION — BOSTON - Yankees honchos gathered at George M. Steinbrenner Field yesterday in Tampa to hatch a plan they hope will make sure this past season when they didn't make the playoffs for the first time since 1993 was a one-year glitch instead of the beginning …
Ronald Blum / Associated Press:
Union says teams colluded against Bonds — NEW YORK (AP)—The baseball players' union says it has found evidence teams acted in concert against signing Barry Bonds but it reached an agreement with the commissioner's office to delay the filing of any grievance.
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Jay Jaffe / Baseball Prospectus:
A Dream Season Ends, a Nightmare Continues — No lead is safe. — If there's one thing I've learned from rooting against the Red Sox over the past decade or so, it's that in Fenway Park a ballgame is never as over as it seems based merely on a lopsided score.
ESPN:
Report: Boston gives Manny partial playoff share — Manny Ramirez spent the playoffs in Dodgers blue. But he'll still get a share of Boston Red Sox playoff green. — The Boston Herald reported that Red Sox players last month voted Ramirez a two-thirds share of playoff money …
Tom Haudricourt / Brewers Blog:
Tossing some names out — Boston - As I reported earlier today, Brewers general manager Doug Melvin told me he has a “short list” of former big league managers he's going to talk to regarding the team's managerial position, beyond the interview he already had with interim manager Dale Sveum.
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Adam McCalvy / MLB.com:
Zduriencik reportedly an M's finalist — Brewers' draft guru one of four vying for general manager post — MILWAUKEE — For the second straight year, the Brewers appear at risk of losing their highly regarded scouting director. — Jack Zduriencik, Milwaukee's amateur scouting boss since 2000 …
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