Fresh off my surprise last-minute addition to TGP's Playoff Breakfast link roster (gosh, thanks Skipper!), I must pause to marvel at and congratulate the Minnesota Twins on their remarkable hunt-down of the Detroit Tigers. I'm sorry I missed this game, but local coverage is worth a look. Did it remind you of another 1-game playoff? If only to spite this MLB/TBS/FOX evil empire, I'll be rooting for them to smite the Yankees. And this nerd-ready, endearing-yet-cliche-ridden William Rhoden piece with Joe Girardi is not going to change my mind, no matter how much it made me giggle thinking about this.

  

 

via www.fangraphs.com

More linky-linkys below.

 

 

 

So: GO PHILLIES! Go CLIFF LEE! On to the postseason! We've done our fair share of series analysis here, and sure as shootin' the mainstream media's tired of it too, so Marcus Hayes zigged hardest when everyone else zagged with a magazine-length piece on a Bensalem guy who bought Cole Hamels' World Series MVP car. And, like many of us on the site, Scott Lauber reports that some Phillies applauded Ruben Amaro in the clubhouse after the Lee deal. And if you missed yesterday's Frank Fitzpatrick piece on the 1976-78 era, well, I would have to turn in my moniker on this site if I didn't link to it. For a subscription fee of $9.99 per ellipsis, I'll clue you in on the missing words in this Larry Christensen quote:

"Bull used to have a real simple approach: 'See the . . . ball. Hit the . . . ball.' "

Aaanyways, out in Denver, here's a nice synopsis of the behind-the-scenes hand-wringing from the other dugout. Looks familiar, no? I'll also refer you to Purple Row, with some nice posts, and VERY EXCITED POSTERS!!! who use EXCLAMATION POINTS A LOT!!! Oh, and don't think I didn't notice that some Denver-area ski resorts are opening early this year. The weekend weather looks like an adventure. There is also a wind advisory for today. Prediction: balls flying out to right. Hope we hit way, way more. Again and again I say: GO PHILLIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(take that, Purple Rowers!)

For those of you alligator-armed wiki-heads out there unwilling to pay MLB's playoff ransom of $9.99, or employees of organizations with aggressive I.T. departments that screen out video streaming content to minimize game-playing, you may be able to get away with a live blog of this afternoon's game here (augmented by our robust stable of game-chatters here, of course).

I do pity the Tigers, not just for their location in the epicenter of our every economic downturn, nor for the temporary fan alliance we formed during the Bran-Torino all-star campaign, but just because they give off such a Fatal Flaw kind of vibe that reminds me of, oh, some other team I know. For instance: if you, like me, missed the Miguel Cabrera weekend drama, it read to me like a prototypical Philadelphia athlete controversy. Well, the guy did go 2 for 5 yesterday with 2 RBI, and Tigers president Dave Dombrowski may have hit upon a new profit center for the club with his personalized taxi service. Someday, Tigers fans, a real rain will come and wash this scum off the streets.

via mos.totalfilm.com