Ballbug: Yankees aim to sew up playoff berth in double-dip with Rays (TSN.ca)

Moneyball still relevant for MLB today — The night the San Francisco Giants won the World Series, one of the team's senior advisers, Tony Siegle, told Kevin Kernan of the New York Post, “we've shown Moneyball is a bunch of garbage.” — Not exactly. — The Giants, to an extent, were playing Moneyball, too.

Discussion: MLB Rumors, baseballmusings.com, HardballTalk, Bronx Baseball Daily and Lone Star Ball

The Ballad of Bill James — OAKLAND — Bill James bought a new sports coat for the occasion. It is a nice jacket, sensible design, the sort of thing college literature professors might wear, and it allows him to do exactly what he wants to do: Blend into the scene. He and his wife Susie fly into the Bay Area for the day.

Bill Plaschke / Los Angeles Times:
Paul DePodesta is captured to a T in film ‘Moneyball’

Discussion: Dodgers Blog

TSN.ca:

Yankees aim to sew up playoff berth in double-dip with Rays — The Sports Network — (Sports Network) - The New York Yankees try to secure their 16th postseason berth in the last 17 years today, when they play a day/night doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium.

Discussion: Pinstripe Alley and Yahoo! Sports

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Pete Caldera / Boston Herald:
Playoff picture: Super Nova as No. 2 for Yankees?

Discussion: Over the Monster, Boston Globe and Associated Press

Associated Press:
Yanks, Nova stymie Rays

Discussion: Associated Press, Boston Herald, Boston Globe, DRaysBay and Pinstripe Alley

Mike Fitzpatrick / Associated Press: Rivera congratulated by President of Panama

Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:

Royals Designate Kila Ka'aihue For Assignment — It wasn't long ago that Kila Ka'aihue seemed like a promising piece of the Royals' future. But the Hawaiian first baseman doesn't appear to fit into their long-term plans any more, despite the career minor league on-base percentage of .390 …

Bob Dutton / Kansas City Star:

Royals designate Ka'aihue for assignment to clear space for Herrera — First baseman Kila Ka'aihue's 10-year tour with the Royals' organization came to a likely end Wednesday afternoon when he was designated for assignment in order to clear roster space for reliever Kelvin Herrera.

Discussion: HardballTalk

Mike Fast / Baseball Prospectus:

Spinning Yarn — Removing the Mask — I Was Framed — Catchers play a central role in the game of baseball through their involvement with every pitch that their pitchers throw. One of their key tasks is receiving borderline pitches without discouraging the umpire from calling strikes.

Discussion: HardballTalk, Where Have You Gone … and Tedquarters

Chris McShane / Amazin' Avenue:

Transcript of Sandy Alderson's Interview on SNY — During the top of the third inning of the Mets' series-opener in St. Louis last night, Sandy Alderson joined Gary Cohen and Ron Darling in the SNY booth to talk about the organization's prospects, offseason plans, and potential changes to Citi Field.

Discussion: Kranepool Society and Baseball Nation

Discussion: Tedquarters, Deadspin and MetsBlog.com

Jayson Stark / MLB:

Stark: MVP award isn't just for position players — That's right! Why Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander deserves to win the AL award — ESPN.com — Justin Verlander (24-5, 2.29) is 16-3 after a Tigers loss this season. — He's been on the field for fewer games this year than Alfredo Amezaga.

Discussion: MLB Rumors

Discussion: THE BOOK

Paul Sullivan / Chicago Tribune:

Quade believes he will return to manage Cubs in 2012 — Before the final home game of the season Wednesday, Chicago Cubs manager Mike Quade said he believes he will return in 2012. — “I haven't thought about, don't think about it, don't believe it,” Quade said when asked about this possibly …

Discussion: Yahoo! Sports

Discussion: Brew Crew Ball and MLB Daily Dish

Matt Eddy / Baseball America:

2011 Appalachian League Top 20 Prospects — Several Rookie-level Appalachian League prospects had high pedigrees in 2011. A dozen players selected in the first two rounds of the last two drafts played enough to qualify for this prospect list and 10 cracked the Top 20, led by righthander Tyrell Jenkins of league champion Johnson City.

Discussion: DRaysBay

Craig Calcaterra / HardballTalk:

So those great 1990s Braves teams were doctoring baseballs? Awesome! — Maybe this is fun, b.s. banter. Maybe there's truth to it. Maybe everyone did it. Maybe only the Braves did. But former Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone was on SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio with Evan Cohen …

Discussion: Tedquarters and Talking Chop

Tim Bontemps / New York Post:

Red Sox pitcher served papers by Yankees fan before start — BOSTON — Hours before taking the mound for the reeling Red Sox against the Orioles Tuesday night at Fenway Park, pitcher Erik Bedard was served with papers in a child support case, The Post has learned.

Discussion: The Big Lead, Seattle Mariners blog, HardballTalk and Fenway West

Mark J. Miller / Yahoo! Sports:

MRI coming for Phillies' Pence — When Hunter Pence(notes) showed up in the Philadelphia Phillies' clubhouse in late July after a trade with the Houston Astros, there had been lots of complaints around town about how awful the offense had been for the team.

Discussion: The Good Phight and Brew Crew Ball

Associated Press:

Cecil Doesn't Last Long as Angels Beat Blue Jays — TORONTO (AP) — Having waited 11 days between starts, Toronto left-hander Brett Cecil wasn't too happy when his night ended after only three innings. — Mark Trumbo hit a three-run homer, Vernon Wells added a solo shot …

Discussion: Bluebird Banter

Discussion: baseballmusings.com

Associated Press:

Adrian Beltre's three-run homer carries Texas to 7-2 win — OAKLAND, Calif. — Adrian Beltre hit a three-run homer in the first that held up for 15-game winner Derek Holland, and the AL West-leading Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics 7-2 on Tuesday night.

Discussion: Yahoo! Sports