Yankees strike back behind Pettitte. Series tied, 1-1. (Yahoo!)

Alex Belth: "Unable to contain themselves, the Yankee Stadium crowd chanted 'We want Pedro,' at the end of the game. Be careful what you wish for: the Yanks are going to get him. (Surely, Red Sox fans remember Game Three of the 1999 ALCS: it was the one raucous highlight of that series for them.) Martinez, the ultimate villain, was smiling in the dugout. (Cue cliffhanger music.) Pedro is an archtype---the baddy who ties the girl to the train track. He will pitch the pivotal Game Three against another archtype bad guy---Rocket Clemens, the 400 lb gorilla. Game Three is essential for Boston; Game Four (Hello, John Burkett) is crucial for the Yanks. Should be a thrilling weekend." (Bronx Banter)

Dave Barry: "I'm a huge Marlins fan. I've been following this plucky team ever since they beat the San Francisco Giants, which was, what, nearly a week ago. I live and die by this team! When they win, I drink champagne and dance all night. This is also what I do when they lose, because there is no point in wasting champagne. But I dance in a more subdued manner." (Miami Herald)

Jeff Shain on the differences between Wrigley Field and Joe Robbie. (Miami Herald)

Brian: "I know I'm biased, but seriously, does anyone honestly love the Cubs unis? They're not terrible (we gave our picks for the worst uniforms last June) -- in fact, those blue pinstripes are even pretty snazzy. But that Cubs logo looks like an '80s-era merit badge, and those royal blue tops reek of batting practice jerseys worn by Ivan DeJesus and Tim Blackwell. I'll take the classic birds on the bat anyday." (Redbird Nation)

Twins skipper Gardenhire rewarded with two-year extension. And I don't mean Alexander Graham Bell's invention. (CBS Sportsline)

Reviewing 2003: the Painful Memories. Shawn Weaver looks back on the Reds' season, focusing on the offense. (Cincinnati Reds Blog)

Reviewing 2003: the Painful Memories Part II. Pitching. (Cincinnati Reds Blog)

Reviewing 2003: the Painful Memories Part III. Defense. (Cincinnati Reds Blog)

Prospectus Q&A: Kevin Towers, Part I. Jonah Keri interviews the Padres GM.

BP: Has the new park influenced some of the personnel moves you've made this season, in particular acquiring Brian Giles?

Towers: I mentioned that the park is going to favor left-handed hitters. I'm a big believer that you can never have enough left-handed hitters or left-handed pitchers. Players with pull power should get the biggest advantage out of the new park; somebody like Kotsay with gap power may struggle a bit more. But Giles and Klesko, it should favor them because they have pull-type power. I'm a little concerned with moving Klesko to a corner spot though because of how difficult we expect it to be to play outfield defense in left and right. What we'd like to do is get into the park in December, see which outfield position is more difficult, put Giles in that corner, Klesko in the other.

Overall I think we've improved our outfield defense with Kotsay and Giles out there, but with Klesko, left field or right will be tough--it'll be a struggle for him defensively. An option would be to trade someone like Klesko, but we don't want to give up that offense from our lineup. With Giles-Kotsay-Greene-Burroughs we're a much-improved ballclub (defensively). With Loretta-Nevin-Klesko we're below-average there, so hopefully our pitchers will try to prevent opposing hitters from pushing the ball to the right side.

(Baseball Prospectus)

Prospectus Q&A: Kevin Towers, Part II. (Baseball Prospectus)

Prospectus Triple Play: Diamondbacks, Royals, Phillies. "The heady days of a September pennant race in Kansas City are already receding into memory, leaving the Royals with their most difficult task yet: defying the Plexiglass Principle after their 21-game jump this season to show even more improvement in 2004." (Baseball Prospectus)

New weblogs:

     Clifford's Big Red Blog (Yankees)
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Next scheduled post: October 17.