I’m wondering if Alex Rodriguez is now considered a “true Yankee� by the Bombers’ Jeter-worshiping fan base whose judgment seems to be based solely on post-season success. My question to them, using the same barometer: Given his lack of playoff participation, is Don Mattingly a true Yankee?... Joe Torre may have four World Series titles and fourteen straight playoff appearances but his decision to start Hiroki Kuroda in Game 3 of the NLCS is the single, biggest reason the Dodgers are playing golf this weekend...Wanted to give credit to umpire Jerry Davis for refusing to give Angels’ shortstop, Erick Aybar, the old “neighborhood call� when he failed to touch second base while turning a double play in Game 2. Wanted to point out that the logic of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver that he should have called him out was ridiculous, if only because Davis would have been skewered when replay showed the miss. Wanted to, that is, until Tim McClelland blew up at third base in Game 4.

Ironically, McClelland is thought by many, including old Moonlight, to be the best in the game. His positioning on both blown calls, however, would have gotten him a scolding at a High School umpires clinic. Unfortunately, the blown calls throughout these playoffs has refueled the ridiculous notion that replay should be used in baseball. Here's a better solution. Let's have actual umpires handle the training, evaluation and assigning of MLB’s men in blue and make sure that current umps submit for retraining each off-season... I don't care how cold it gets, those hats with the ear flaps have got to go... Throw out all of the stats. The most glaring evidence of the Yankees’ dominance to this point is that both the Twins and the Angels, two of baseball’s most fundamentally sound teams in the game, suddenly started making mistakes you wouldn’t expect from Little Leaguers once the pinstripes showed up in the other dugout...

Have to give credit to Phils’ GM Ruben Amaro. Even though his team was desperate for starting pitching at the trade deadline, he refused to overpay for Toronto’s Roy Halladay, turning instead to Cleveland and Cliff Lee. Is there anyone in baseball who’d trade Lee for Halladay straight-up right now?... Say what you will about Joe Girardi's overmanaging in Game 3 but you can’t deny he followed the same, safe, course most managers choose in today’s game. It seems that many would rather have a reason for failure than risk trusting their instincts. While it’s true that Alfredo Alceves may have been the better matchup on paper, Girardi’s eyes just saw Dave Robertson mow down two Angels without breaking a sweat. How about managing to your own players’ strengths rather than the other guys?...

Get used to these young Dodgers; Loney, Ethier and Kemp. They’ll be the core of a perennial contender for a long time... I know that TBS must be very proud of its expensive toys but I really don't need a silly box to tell me that the low, inside pitch I just saw was, in fact, low and inside. Same goes for FOX and the graphic that tells me “NYY lead 3-2.� Even in the unlikely scenario that I didn’t know that before tuning in, I’d remember after someone mentioned it... No surprise that Mariano Rivera is one of just two closers that haven’t blown a save this post season but who'd have guessed Brad Lidge would be the other?... Gotta love C.C. Sabathia taking the mound on three days rest in Game 4. His “I’m the ace, gimme the ball,� mentality is a refreshing change. Somewhere, Sandy Koufax was smiling...

Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel, who had current Dodger Jim Thome in both Cleveland and Philadelphia, signaled to his former player that, “This is the guy we want,� just before Jimmy Rollins doubled to win Game 4. Nice call, skip... Most relieved man in the world Thursday was Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia. After pulling John Lackey despite Lackey’s strong objections and watching his bullpen throw batting practice, Scioscia was spared a very uncomfortable press conference by the Angel bats... Was anyone really surprised that Manny Ramirez was in the shower when the Phils came back to beat the Dodgers in Game 4?

For more Fantasy Sports insight, visit Moonlight and company at FantasySportsDirt.com

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