Opinion

By keeping Cliff Lee in the game in the ninth inning after losing his shutout bid, Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel may have hurt the Philadelphia Phillies chances of winning a second straight World Series. 

Top of the eighth, Yankees lead 3-1. Jimmy Rollins at first, Shane Victorino at second, and one out. The legendary Mariano Rivera toes the rubber, then delivers the payoff pitch to Chase Utley.

In a move so bad that even the Fox broadcasters lampooned it, Charlie Manuel did not send the runners on the pitch. The Yankees turned an easy, inning-ending double play, and Ryan Howard was left hanging in the on-deck circle.

But that wasn’t the stupidest decision Manuel made last night.

Los Angeles Angels pitcher, John Lackey stands to make a lot of money this winter.

Lackey, who won one game and posted an ERA just a shade above 2.30 in L.A.'s playoff run, will enter the free agent market as the top starting pitcher available.

I am so sick of ESPN telling me how football is better than baseball. Recently I read Bob Costas' book, Fair Ball . I have to say, it made me ill.

No, that would have been that of Paul DePodesta, in 2005. As a Moneyball fan, I was sorry to see DePodesta go. And in fact, it may have cost the Dodgers the 2009 World Series, as discussed below.

Shortly after taking the reins, DePodesta angered Dodgers fans with a trade that at its heart was Paul Lo Duca for a pitcher, Brad Penny.

Despite being a catcher, Lo Duca was a "league average" hitter, that is to say, one of the better batters on a light-hitting Dodgers team.

In a way, it’s like watching the dude you went to high school with that always had something smart to say walk across the stage at graduation.

You spent most of your time convincing yourself not to punch him in the mouth, but you remember the times where he actually said something funny.

An in-his-prime Cy Young Award winning pitcher was making the start in Game One of the World Series on the hill at Yankee Stadium (one of the few stadiums left that does not receive money for naming rights). He completely dominates the Bronx Bombers power laden lineup, and out dueled the Yankees ace left handed pitcher.

The year was 1995.  I was 12-years old.  And I fell in love for the first time.

Hard. 

And anybody who was living in Seattle in the time can tell you who I fell for, because 1995 is perhaps the fondest year remembered in the modern Seattle era. 

If you are a catcher prospect, please contact the New York Yankees today. Immediate position available. Looking for a regular catcher starting 2012. Maybe before.

This is an employment ad you will not find in The New York Times. The word is traveling around all Yankee Stadium.