Belichick's 4th Down Decision vs the Colts  —  New England coach Bill Belichick is taking a lot of heat for his decision to attempt a 4th down conversion late in the game against the Colts.  Indianapolis came back to win in dramatic fashion.  Was the decision a good one?

New York Mets hire Wally Backman to manage Brooklyn Cyclones  —  NEW YORK — Wally Backman has been hired as manager of the New York Mets' Brooklyn Cyclones farm team in the New York-Penn League.  —  A member of the Mets' 1986 World Series championship team, Backman was hired to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks in November 2004.

As A.L.-N.L. Gap Widens, General Managers Tread Cautiously  —  CHICAGO — His shoulders shrugged.  His lips pursed.  But Kenny Williams bit his tongue one syllable too late.  —  “A guy going from the American League to the National League, no disrespect, but. ... ”

The Yankees Didn't Buy the World Series  —  Since 2004, 20 of baseball's 30 teams have made the playoffs.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Judging from the media coverage, it seems that the only thing the Yankees didn't do on their way to buying the 2009 World Series is ask the federal government for a bailout.

Inbox: Riggleman right man for job?  —  Beat reporter Bill Ladson answers Nats fans' questions  —  What did you think about the Nationals making Jim Riggleman the permanent manager?  —  It was a great move, because there is going to be discipline and accountability on the team …

Book excerpt: Evaluating Baseball's Managers, 1876-2008  —  For the next few weeks, THT will publish excerpts from my new book Evaluating Baseball's Managers, 1876-2008, which is scheduled for release in December, but can be ordered now.  Please note, as an added bonus, and for a special limited time only …

Clone Wars: Jonathan Sanchez and Clayton Kershaw  —  This doesn't follow my normal comparison as I usually have two players with similar stat lines and try to explain why one player might be better or more surprising.  This time I found two players who couldn't have looked more different in 2009 …

The free agent do-call list  —  The free-agent signing period begins four days from now, and we know that Matt Holliday, John Lackey and Jason Bay are going to be paid the most money.  But other free agents might draw more interest, in terms of the total number of teams that get involved in the discussions.

Former Yankees pitcher Ron Klimkowski dies at 65  —  Ron Klimkowski, a former pitcher  —  for the Yankees and the Oakland Athletics, has died at the age of 65.  —  Klimkowski died Friday of heart failure at Plainview Hospital, said his brother, Gary Klimkowski, 53, of Westbury.