MOST VALUABLE METS AS EXPRESSED VIA THEIR BEVERAGE EQUIVALENTS
1. Pedro Martinez is Jolt Cola: Twice the sugar. All the caffeine. Not only can't you close your eyes, you won't want to. The hum in your head is unmistakable. Your senses are tingling. Gotta have another blast of that stuff. A sprinkler could come on and you wouldn't notice. A sign could get stuck in the wrong position and you'd just dance. That you might come crashing down at the very end of the night and not be able to do very much of anything before finally going to sleep shouldn't detract from how this was everything it was promised to be. A more sudden Jolt to the doldrums was never felt.
2. Cliff Floyd is Miller Lite: Hits Great! Less Illin'! Hits Great! Less Illin'! It's a new and improved formula that doesn't leave you feeling weighed down by unmet expectations and isn't so heavy that you can't move around with surprising litheness. Yet it's full-bodied. Now we're living the high life. And there's no doubt why we asked it to be on this list.
3. David Wright is Strawberry Quik: Quicker than Strawberry, actually. No milk drink had ever produced so much so immediately and this, unlike that, appears to be a genuine milk drink. Wholesome. Pure. Smooth. The only additives are the promise of getting even better and the hope that it will be served for another decade or two.
4. Jose Reyes is SoBe Adrenaline Rush: Need a burst of energy? Open it up, pour it down and get ready to run, not walk. Grab one every day. It's available that often. Works fast. Side effects: You won't want to stop; you'll want to make things happen; your body may get ahead of your head. But is that really so terrible?
5. Roberto Hernandez is Old Forester Bourbon: Dates back to the 1870s, but can still deliver when called on. A rich, reassuring, robust flavor that won't let you down when everything else has. Because it came with such a deep heritage, it was easy to dismiss at first in favor of trendier drinks. But there were days when this spirit that came out of the woods was all that stood between you and a terrible hangover. Quite a kick after all these years. Aaaahhhh...

MOST ENIGMATIC MET AS EXPRESSED VIA FIVE COCA-COLA BEVERAGE EQUIVALENTS
1. Carlos Beltran is OK Soda. Just OK. And what's that supposed to taste like anyway?
2. Carlos Beltran is Fresca. They keep changing the labeling (a leader; quiet; moody; religious; disappointed; disappointing; injured; three-hitter; two-hitter; bound to break out), but it generally tastes the same. It has its fans but it's not that popular.
3. Carlos Beltran is TaB. A $119-million tab. And in the hole for $17 million.
4. Carlos Beltran is Minute Maid. At least he was.
5. Carlos Beltran is Surge. At least we hope he will.

I JUST WANT TO CELEBRATE ANOTHER DAY OF LIVING IN 2005
1. June 11: Marlon Anderson does not stop at third. Cliff Floyd does not strike out. The Mets do not lose to the Angels in the best non-Subway Series Interleague game in the history of Shea Stadium.
2. July 14: David Wright makes a ridiculous diving catch. Cliff Floyd makes another one. David hits two homers. Mike Piazza hits an even bigger one. The Mets beat the Braves and the second half gets off to an awesome start.
3. April 10: Pedro Martinez assures us and the world that the Mets won't go 0-6 to say nothing of 0-162.
4. August 30: Is that an explosion? No, it's RA-MON! Watch out Phillies -- we're just a half-game behind!
5. August 24: What, you've never seen a team score 18 runs?

I JUST WANT TO REGURGITATE
1. July 9: Get me to a Pittsburgh hospital.
2. April 4: Ba Pen Drooler! Wouldn't be the last time our easily anagrammed closer would leave the door ajar.
3. August 11: Ouch.
4. May 23: Every loss at Turner Field is discouraging. This one was outWright absurd.
5. July 28: You're booing Beltran now, Houston, but let's see you get to the playoffs without him.

THINGS THAT WOULD HAVE MADE YOU PLOTZ FROM NACHES IF YOU HAD BEEN TOLD IN ADVANCE
1. Aaron Heilman would pitch a one-hitter early and be the closer late
2. Jose Reyes would play 161 games
3. Jae Seo would go 8-2
4. Mike Jacobs would hit 11 homers
5. Tom Glavine would turn into Tom Glavine in the second half

THINGS THAT WOULD HAVE MADE YOU PLOTZ FROM SHREK IF YOU HAD BEEN TOLD IN ADVANCE
1. Kaz Matsui would have half as many stolen bases as Miguel Cairo
2. Doug Mientkiewicz would play 87 games
3. Kaz Ishii would go 3-9
4. Carlos Beltran would hit 16 homers
5. Tom Glavine would turn into Tom Glavine only after continuing to be Tom Filer in the first half

SPECTACULAR UPGRADES FROM 2004
1. Ramon Castro over Vance Wilson
2. Marlon Anderson over Karim Garcia
3. Chris Woodward over Joe McEwing
4. Juan Padilla over Ricky Bottalico
5. Willie Randolph over Art Howe

WHAT WILLIE DID WELL
1. Kept pressure off his young players
2. Connected with Cliff Floyd
3. Dropped Mike in the batting order
4. Experimented with the bullpen in September
5. Got everybody to run hard

WHAT WILLIE DIDN'T DO WELL
1. Play the alleged Willieball he was credited for
2. Connect with Kaz Matsui
3. Move Beltran out of the three-hole
4. Choose an opportune spot for Shingo Takatsu to throw his first Major League pitch in many a week
5. Act

FRESH VILLAINY
1. Joe Randa
2. Ryan Langerhans
3. Antonio Perez/Chris Burke
4. Chase Utley
5. Dioner Navarro

SUSTAINED NOTORIETY
1. Marcus Giles
2. Alex Rodriguez
3. Vinny Castilla
4. John Thomson
5. Derrek Lee

MOST DISCOURAGING INDICATORS
1. 11-19 in games west of the Mississippi
2. 1-8 at Turner Field
3. 3-15 from August 31 through September 15
4. 0-5 to start season
5. 0-79 in games when the other team scored more runs

GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME
1. A Met led the National League in steals for the first time
2. Four Met outfielders reached double-digits in home runs (as outfielders) for the first time
3. The Mets increased their winning percentage for at least two consecutive seasons for the first time since 1986
4. The Mets were eight games above .500 (on August 26) for the first time since 2000
5. Two Mets were elected to start in the All-Star Game for the first time since 1988

2005 METS PITCHERS WHO WILL ELICIT A "THEY WERE?" IN ALL BUT THE SAVVIEST QUARTERS BY 2010
1. Felix Heredia
2. Mike Matthews
3. Tim Hamulack
4. Manny Aybar
5. Jose Santiago

2005 METS WHOSE PRESENCE WILL AT LEAST SERVE AS A CAUTIONARY TALE AGAINST HAVING GUYS LIKE THEM ON THE TEAM IN 2006, ONE CAN ONLY HOPE
1. Jose Offerman
2. Danny Graves
3. Shingo Takatsu
4. Mike DeJean
5. Brian Daubach

2005 METS WHOSE PRESENCE DIDN'T DISTURB ME NEARLY AS MUCH AS IT DID MANY OTHER METS FANS
1. Gerald Williams: His teammates can't all be wrong about what a great guy he is.
2. Miguel Cairo: He just wound up playing too much was all.
3. Victor Zambrano: "Uncle!" on the trade that brought him here, however.
4. Kaz Ishii: He was worth a shot, if not such an endless one.
5. Dae-Sung Koo: The double and two bases on a sacrifice against Randy Johnson made his otherwise mysterious tenure here worthwhile.

2005 METS WHOSE ATTRACTION ALMOST COMPLETELY ELUDED ME
1. Heath Bell: I hope he deserves the kind of adulation he received in absentia real soon.
2. Anderson Hernandez: We could have gotten the same production from Anderson Cooper.
3. Steve Trachsel: If we're intent on cleaning most of the pre-2005 bric-a-brac out of our closet, I'd sooner toss Trachsel than Piazza. Mad props for coming back from disc surgery, but the guy gave off vibes that a team in contention existed solely for the purpose of giving him starts when the five men in the rotation were doing all right without him. Sign him at his low option, but trade him as soon as you can. He really is a reminder of a crappy era.

CATS AND THEIR ROLES REGARDING THE 2005 METS
1. Bernie (1992-2005): Ensured we'd eat up the Fish the night after he ascended to his Skybox. There's never a bad time to give him a click.
2. Hozzie: Couldn't handle the celebration spurred by Cliff's game-winner off Brendan Donnelly nor the ruckus attendant to what Floyd did to the Skanks' upper deck two weeks later. Every time I cheered Cliff loudly, Hozzie hid under furniture. Like pitchers everywhere, I guess he's more than a little intimidated by Monstas.
3. Avery: His September arrival coincided with the Mets rising from four games under to four games over. There's a lot of magic in that kitten.
4. Casey (1990-2002): The first member of my All-Angel team.
5. Andres Galarraga: Didn't make it out of Port St. Lucie, but having him around for a month classed us up by association.

GONE AND SORT OF FORGOTTEN
1. Al Leiter: He seemed so vital for so long. His final 2005 destination indicates how much pitchers must really like to pitch.
2. John Franco: I don't think he ever officially retired. Good for him.
3. Eric Valent: Had one big hit in Chicago and then melted into the Norfolk crowd. I could think of worse guys off the bench.
4. Jason Phillips: I'd be more excited about Mike Jacobs if I hadn't been so excited about another catcher turned first baseman who hit really well when given the chance.
5. Matt Ginter: Wasn't he going to be our fifth starter?

BLOGS A BLOGGER ADORES
1. Metstradamus: He sees the future.
2. Mets Walkoffs And Other Minutiae: He sees happy endings.
3. Mets Guy In Michigan: He sees DET people.

CO-BLOGGER'S CHOICE: MY FAVORITE JASON POSTS
1. No Scrubs
2. Greetings, Shame Brother
3. Conversation With My Son, Circa 2014
4. The Clubhouse of Curses
5. Hands Across America

NOTES FROM THE LOG
1. Passed 300 games lifetime (167-134)
2. Attended three consecutive shutouts (2 for, 1 against) for the first time ever
3. First year since '95 with at least one win yet no losses versus Atlanta
4. Holding a .500 or better record against every N.L. opponent except Atlanta
5. Space for no more than 99 games remain before I have to buy a new steno pad -- been using this one since 1981

FAVORITE GAMES ATTENDED
1. July 24: Benson shuts down the Dodgers while Alex Wolf meets the Mets.
2. July 14: In addition to the victory over the Braves, I meet FAFIF's first recurring commenter whom I didn't already know; no knives were pulled.
3. April 14: Pedro's first home start, Al's return and a lot to shout about.
4. August 6: Seo sunny, Seo surreal.
5. October 2: I won't remember the loss -- I'll remember the bye.

CULTURE AND BASEBALL YIELD MIXED RESULTS
1. April 14: Aaron Heilman pitches a one-hitter while Stephanie and I are at the Matt Bianco featuring Basia concert at Westbury. We manage to catch a half-inning between sets.
2. May 8: The umps screw up a sure caught-stealing in Milwaukee after Glengarry Glen Ross
3. May 29: Mister Koo gives up the game-changing homer to Carlos Delgado just as the curtain is rising on Spamalot.
4. June 12: David Wright misplays a grounder against the Angels before intermission at the ballet.
5. September 22: Carlos Beltran shuts up the heckler I had just been mocking for insipidly heckling Carlos Beltran. Dat'll teach da joik some cultcha.

I CAN STILL SEE
1. David's one-handed catch against the Padres
2. Cammy sticking his glove out against the Diamondbacks
3. Carlos fully extending himself against the Nationals
4. Woody morphing into a leftfielder against the Marlins
5. Jose standing at third seconds after standing at home against the Dodgers

I CAN'T BEAR TO PICTURE
1. Victor in right
2. Kaz at second
3. Looper in the ninth
4. The Mets in Oakland
5. The calendar for the next several months

ENCORE!
Fastball driven in the air toward right-centerfield...chasing back is Finley...on the track, reaches out...CAN'T GET IT! Kicks it away! It's rolling toward the corner! Anderson around second! He's on his way to third! Finley's tracked it down! Anderson is being...WAVED AROUND! He's comin' to the plate...the relay throw...he slides…SAFE! It's an inside-the-park-home run! And it ties the game! Marlon Anderson with an inside-the-park home run...he is shaken up...Jose Molina arguing the call, Mike Scioscia out as well, but Marlon Anderson has tied the game at two and two with an inside-the-park home run. Finley tried to field it on the warning track, kicked it toward the corner, and Anderson came all the way around ahead of the relay throw by Adam Kennedy...Anderson still down on his knees as Mike Herbst and Willie Randolph look after him, but with his FIRST home run as a New York MET, Marlon Anderson has tied the game, and as he gets to his feet, he gets a ROUSING ovation from the crowd at Shea Stadium!
—Gary Cohen, 6/11/2005

ENCORE! ENCORE!
Bell is the lead run. He's on second. Alfonzo at first with two out. Eight to eight, bottom of the eighth. Incredible. Mulholland ready to go. The pitch to Piazza...swing and a drive deep down the left field line...toward the corner...IT'S OUTTA HERE! OUTTA HERE! Mike Piazza with a LINE DRIVE three-run homer! Just inside the left field foul pole! The Mets have tied a club record with a ten-run inning! And they've taken the lead...eleven...to eight! Piazza drives in a run for a thirteenth straight game, and the first time in twenty-one years the Mets have put up a ten-run inning. They've done it against the Atlanta Braves, they've come from seven runs down...here in the bottom of the eighth inning. They lead it eleven to eight. Incredible!
—Gary Cohen, 6/30/2000

In 1992, Jimmy Breslin was grumpy. He was covering the Iowa caucuses and wandered into a candidate's headquarters. The volunteer at the front desk didn't know who he was. He harumphed that if Mario Cuomo were running for president, everybody in the room would know him.

And if things had gone about one game per month better, you'd be reading an intense, impassioned, incisive, insightful dissection of the National League Division Series right here, right now. But our candidate isn't on the ballot, so, like Breslin, we're just strangers from Queens covering a contest in which we don't really have a horse.

Therefore, it is with fleeting interest and shallow depth that Faith and Fear in Flushing presents its first annual visceral and uninformed playoff preview. I'll skip the National League because, quite frankly, I don't much care for any of the combatants, and concentrate on the circuit where our attention is forced to be focused.

Welcome, fellow NL'ers to the league where almost nobody wanted to integrate, where baseball hasn't been played as it's meant to be played since 1972 and where boatloads of Orioles and Blue Jays throw themselves at the feet of the most vile franchise in the history of professional sports after calling up and asking, "how many would you like against us in September and by what means would you like us to lose them to you?" Fortunately, there are three American League teams we can look to in the somewhat reasonable hope that one of them will rescue us from a fate worse than snow -- a blizzard of goddamn ticker tape.


LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM

Should We Care? We have to. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are our de facto favorite team of all time starting Tuesday night and continuing for three to five games.

Have I Had A Spiritual Relationship With This Team, The Los Angeles Angels? Yes. As mentioned here from time to time, the Angels are my nominal favorite American League team, attributable to two events. The first game I ever saw at Yankee Stadium (after my dad took my tiny hand in his enormous mitt and secured us box seats behind home plate through his friends in the music business and Gus Mauch gave my tiny body a rubdown after which Mickey Mantle autographed my prepubescent coccyx...oh wait, that's Billy Crystal's life story) featured the Angels bashing the Yankees in 1986. And in October 2002, the Angels sent the Yankees home quicker than any post-season opponent since the 1980 Kansas City Royals. No matter how stupid their name, the Los Anaheims of Angel won my lifelong affection with that series.

Have I Been Where The Angels Play? Yes. I visited what was then Anaheim Stadium in 1996, before it was shrunken and faux-beautified. It reminded me of Shea but without the spit. I considered both qualities a plus. I took a picture of Stephanie with the Angels' bearlike mascot, genEric.

Have I Worn An Angels Cap? Yes. In 1986, I bought an adjustable mesh model at (genuflection alert!) The Stadium and wore it at (genuflection alert!) The Stadium without consequence. Yankee fans were pretty well beat down that year. I brought it out of mothballs in 2002. That's just an expression. There are no moths in this house.

Metigating Factors? The Angels beat us two of three in June but the one we beat them was quite possibly the best game the Mets played in 2005, a.k.a. The Marlon Anderson Game. Vladimir Guerrero, not Shane Spencer and Karim Garcia, was supposed to be our rightfielder in 2004, but that's all right for now because he's where he can do us some good. The ex-Mets on the '02 world champions, Alex Ochoa and Kevin Appier, are long gone. I don't think we have any reformed Mets in Anaheim at the moment. I'm a little annoyed that Chone Figgins edged Jose Reyes for the Major League stolen base crown but Chone Figgins is one of my favorite players in the American League to the extent that I keep such a list. It's pretty much him and Papi. That's the list. They stuck us with Fregosi, but 2002 wiped away that sin. Who did we trade to get him anyway?

Can They Do What We Need Them To Do? Knowledgeless afternoon radio host, national spokesperson for the unabashedly ignorant and vocal Yankee propagandist Mike Francesa fears the Angels most of all. This is the same media powerhouse who a week ago was pretty much guaranteeing the White Sox couldn't beat the Indians because the Indians needed those games and the White Sox would have nothing to play for. The White Sox swept the Indians. Despite that, the Angels can beat the Yankees. It is what our world has come down to. That and addressing Get Well & Get Lost cards to Braden Looper.


BOSTON RED SOX

Should We Care? It's hard not to. The Red Sox are, after all, one half of the greatest rivalry ever. Ya got that? It's the greatest rivalry EVER. It's better than the Giants and the Dodgers even if the Giants and Dodgers have been going at it relatively evenly for more than a century. It's better than the French and the English, who fought a mere Hundred Years' War with a North American rematch in the 1750s. It's better than Pringles, which are stackable, and those bagged chips that are always broken and greasy, according to the Pringles commercials. The Red Sox and Yankees have been going at it tooth and nail, mano-a-mano, eyeball to eyeball as perfectly matched opponents since 2003. Now that's a rivalry.

Have I Had A Spiritual Relationship With This Team, The Boston Red Sox? Yes. In the summer of 1978, with the Mets on administrative leave, I picked up the cause of the Boston Red Sox in my little nook of Long Island. I became known to people I was just meeting for the first time as That Red Sox Fan. I was very cocky, very confident. Obviously, I read the bandwagon wrong. Absconded with to a Catskills resort on October 2, 1978 for a Rosh Hashanah weekend special, I walked by a group of Yankee fans watching the one-game playoff on a TV in the lobby while I was wearing my Red Sox cap. One of them pointed me out and I gave them the finger. So there's a little something there that goes beyond mere enemy-of-my-enemy stuff. 1986 kind of obliterated that, but I bled with them in 2003 and reveled in them in 2004. It smacked of frontrunning, but it was sincere frontrunning (besides, what's October for but to frontrun?).

Have I Been Where The Red Sox Play? Twice. The first game I ever saw that wasn't at Shea was at Fenway in 1985. It was me and Joel and Joel's friend Rich, White Sox at Red Sox. Tom Seaver pitched for the White Sox, which put me in a bind, finally getting to see a team I had always liked versus a pitcher I had always loved. I reluctantly went with the visitors. Back then, there were tolls every five miles on the Connecticut Turnpike. So tired had I become of tossing quarters into the machines that at one stop, I faked the toss and sped off. No authority chased me, but Rich wondered why I bothered with the fake. Fourteen years later, Stephanie and I saw the same two teams. Pedro pitched for the home side. The Red Sox scored 17 runs on his behalf. A townie woman behind me kept cursing out Lou Merloni anyway. What's not to love?

Have I Worn A Red Sox Cap? That was part and parcel of my 1978 identity. I was overjoyed that you could actually find a Red Sox cap in New York for purchase. It was at Herman's in Roosevelt Field. It was five bucks. I think it cost me a letter grade in social studies. The cap found its way to the top of our living room television last October. I refused to wear it, though. I wore it in 1978 and you see how well that went.

Metigating Factors? Olerud right now. Any team with John Olerud is to be respected and quite possibly revered, unless it's the Yankees (though Oly was thoughtful enough to come up with an oweee at a most opportune moment). Last year erased the offense I took that Red Sox fans rooted against the Mets in 1986. We got the Mookie ground ball back and Ken Burns could take a hike. When I visited a friend in Boston in the spring of '87, I ducked into a bar where some guys were watching the Mets and the Expos in the game of the week. "Who's winning?" I asked. "Who cares?" I was told. "It's only the Mets." Ahhhh…to be ruefully dismissed with a purpose. Mo Vaughn was a Red Sock before he was an Angel before he was a Met. I hold all three teams responsible. Manny Ramirez won't be traded to us this week. One of our intermittent but valued commenters is a Red Sox fan. There is common ground to be had.

Can They Do What We Need Them To Do? Of course they can. But there's the possibility they won't. Either way, Red Sox-Yankees III is a perilous and numbing possibility. Too many demented Bill Gallo cartoons ("Boston? Derek's BEAN there and WON that!") can come of it. I wish them the best if push comes to evil, and I wish them well in any event.


CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Should We Care? Only in theory. The last World Series they won came at the expense of the New York Giants, so it's been a while. Their cult keeps quiet, which is to their credit. A White Sox championship would serve to make the Cubs look even more ridiculous. Do we not like that? This is a team stocked with players who mostly haven't bothered to make their identities known to me. They knocked out the slightly less anonymous Cleveland Indians after being written off from first place, so something tells me they're not dead yet.

Have I Had A Spiritual Relationship With This Team, The Chicago White Sox? A little. I've always liked the way they're not the Cubs. They did have the good taste to pluck Seaver from us in '84 (less mad at them than the Blue Jays for signing Dennis Lamp from the White Sox, thus allowing Chicago to pick from the short-lived compensation pool, the one Cashen flung Seaver into so carelessly). Every time they're in the playoffs, they're new blood and I almost always root for new blood. But they never circulate for very long, so I've never gotten to know them well.

Have I Been Where The White Sox Play? Yes. On my first business trip to Chicago, I had it in mind to get to Wrigley Field, but the timing didn't work for me and they were a sizzling hot ticket. As it happened, the Sox were at home that same week, so I skipped the NutraSweet party at which I was supposed to be gladhanding and hopped into a cab at my hotel. "Comiskey Park," I said. The driver asked me if I was a sportswriter. I get the feeling very few guests went out of their way to find the South Side of Chicago. But boy am I glad I did. Plenty of good seats available. I loved Comiskey Park, the original Comiskey Park, then in its second-to-last year of existence. The place just reeked of baseball with the green and the arches and the history (and the fuh-GLAY-vin). It became my favorite ballpark ever. The driver had warned me that cabs didn't idle outside Comiskey, so I left the game early to ensure I could call a taxi and not be stranded there alone. Had to wait a couple of innings for one to arrive. I don't think it was mine, but I commandeered it. Comiskey was immortalized in the wonderful Baseball Palace of the World by Douglas Bukowski, a serious fan's diary of the joint's final season. The author promised to never step inside the next place to call itself Comiskey, a temptation I gave into twice in 1994 and 1999. It was depressing the first time given what had stood across the street for 80 years. The second time wasn't so bad. I nabbed my only foul ball ever, off the bat of Carlos Lee, for whom I carried a torch until this season when he started kicking the crap out of the Mets.

Have I Worn a White Sox Cap? One of the things that I loved about Comiskey was its intimacy, the way the upper deck wasn’t cantilevered all the way back to the 'burbs. The thing I (and actual White Sox fans) hated about the second Comiskey when it opened was the way the upper deck reached for the clouds. Stephanie and I not only had very high, very steep seats on a sold-out Sunday afternoon, but it was hot-hot-hot, and Stephanie forgot to pack any headwear. So I was compelled to spend 15 bucks on a white White Sox cap with black pinstripes. She wore it that day, I wore it once in a while thereafter. I used to be into wearing caps from other teams just for the hell of it. I have a hard time doing that now with a clear conscience.

Metigating Factors? Timo Perez and Carl Everett are on this team, right? Good luck, Ozzie.

Can They Do What We Need Them To Do? Should it come down to White Sox-Yankees, well, that would be kind of disappointing because I'd hate to think the Angels can't do what we need them to do. But these Sox played those Skanks pretty well this year. I'm always wary of writing off teams the likes of Mike Francesa write off. On the other hand, I don't trust teams that rely on ex-Yankees like Orlando Hernandez and Jose Contreras. It's the same reason I don't put a lot of stock into David Wells with the Red Sox. Jim Leyritz made like he was the king of San Diego in 1998 and it didn't help the cause greater than ourselves one bit.


TEXAS RANGERS

What The Fuck Are They Doing Here? Though not a playoff team and not even a recent Yankee opponent, Joe Torre and Alex Rodriguez had the gall to blame Buck Showalter for pulling several of his regulars from the Rangers' last game against the Angels. By not beating the Angels, the Rangers, to Yankee logic, were responsible for taking away the Yankees' home-field advantage on Sunday. Holy fucking shit. This organization knows no shame. The Yankees, I mean. The Rangers told Kenny Rogers to get lost. They're OK by me.


PREDICTION

Yankees Suck. They shouldn't be here but they are. Yankees Suck. They will be tough. Yankees Suck. None of these four teams is overwhelming. Yankees Suck. I sure as hell hope the Angels beat them in the first round. Yankees Suck. If they don't, I sure as hell hope the Red Sox or the White Sox beat them in the ALCS. Yankees Suck. If that doesn't happen, there's a TBD National League team that will become my new favorite team of all time. Yankees Suck.

An easily overlooked October institution celebrates its tenth anniversary starting this afternoon. Toast the LDS at Gotham Baseball.