Tired of the incessant "$5 Footlong" Subway commercials, with their double entendre and stupid, catchy jingle? Maybe you're lucky you don't live in Taiwan, where Hong-Chih Kuo sells NT$69 subs (that's about two dollars in the States) with a 180-km/hr (111-mph) fastball that literally catches on fire and moves the catcher two frictionless feet backwards. In my book, there's only ever been one better Subway commercial.
Hat tips to Diamond Notes and BBTF for giving me an excuse to make a Happy Gilmore reference.
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.
Meet the ... Eventual landing spot for Manny Ramirez. Seriously, it's going to happen sooner or later, so we'll just assume it's already happened for the purposes of this post. Obviously, if he either signs elsewhere (unlikely) or sits out this season (as unlikely as the holier than thou media embracing A-Rod), we'll have to re-fantasy-spin the entire offense. He's that important to the lineup.
When drafting in fantasy baseball, I often find rankings are a lot less useful than using the tier system. Simply group guys together with others who will perform similarly, and you won't focus on single players. Being frazzled when that single player is taken immediately before your pick is a good way to ruin your draft.
We're definitely not proponents of drafting closers high, but getting the last member of a tier at good value could work in the right situations.
In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.
These aren't your daddy's Dodgers, you know the franchise that had one playoff win in the last 20 years. Heck, these Dodgers barely resemble the team that was lagging behind the Diamondbacks and below the .500 mark in the NL West three months ago.
The Cubs found that out the hard way in the NLDS, and the Phillies (or Brewers) could be in for a similarly rude awakening in the next round.
Los Angeles won 84 games this season -- the fewest of any postseason team. It's worth noting that the last playoff team to win so few games -- the 83-78 2006 Cardinals -- went on to the World Series. But that team had Jeff Weaver and Anthony Reyes in the rotation and hit an extraordinary hot streak at the right time. This Dodgers team does not need to go on a fluke hot streak to win it all. It is much better than its 84 wins would suggest.
It will be all too easy to point to the Manny Ramirez trade as the key turning point in Los Angeles' season. His impact is undeniable. He hit close to .400 over the final two months of the regular season and he had two home runs in the three-game sweep.
But Ramirez is only part of a radical in-season makeover that has turned the Dodgers from an expensive flop into an NLCS team.
Every four years, Major League Baseball's postseason intersects with a presidential election. This is one of those years. In the spirit of the season, we here at MLB FanHouse have divided the playoff teams up for a series of debates.Matt Snyder and Will Brinson discuss the NLDS between the Cubs and Dodgers.
We'll run through different aspects of each team -- starting rotation, bullpen, defense, starting lineup, bench, manager, and end with a prediction. We'll do it with numbers and snarky commentary (most of which was used by Brinson), and we'll get right to it after the jump.
The Jacksonville Suns did that thing where they pull a stud prospect pitcher early even though he is fine and pitching well. I say "that thing" because such a manuever is usually followed by a call-up to the major leagues. And that's the news coming out of Dodger-land as well, with Clayton Kershaw dealing and the Dodgers making a run in the NL West.
Beginning with Tuesday's game in Chicago, the Dodgers will need a fifth starter on almost a traditional five-day rotation through the All-Star break. The last time the spot came up Saturday in Anaheim, manager Joe Torre went with a tag-team of Chan Ho Park for four innings (one earned run), followed by Hong-Chih Kuo for four scoreless innings in a 6-3 win.
Bear in mind that a few weeks ago, when we thought Kershaw was getting the call, the Dodgers were not as hot on the heels of Arizona as they are now. The team was inconsistent, except for Andruw Jones, who stunk all the time. Suddenly, they are surging, just three games back. And they have a prospect that their manager has likened to Sandy Koufax (whether that's accurate or not is beside the point).
So a call-up coming seems pretty likely. Or at least pretty reasonable. So, um, welcome to the Kershaw-dome. And any other number of horrible Public Enemy jokes I will be slinging your way.
Fantasy Spin: If you haven't burned through your transaction cap listening to me on Kershaw advice, go ahead and run back out there and grab him. He's a phenom with an otherwordly curveball and tons of strikeout potential. Non-keepers want to be trying to move him as soon as he gets up, if not earlier, because of his innings cap and the hype involved.
On Deck is The FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups.
Minnesota Twins (40-37) at Detroit Tigers (46-31)- 7:05 PM EST What can I say, I'm a sucker for pitching matchups and pitching matchups just don't get much bigger than Justin Verlander vs. Johan Santana right now. Verlander is having an awesome June (4-0, 1.92 ERA, 35 Ks in only 29 innings, one no-hitter thrown) and Santana has been his typical awesome self this year, even if his 8-6 record doesn't show it (he's still got a 1.05 WHIP and he's striking out more than a batter per inning). If Verlander keeps his season up, this could be a Cy 2004/2006 vs. Cy 2007 pitching match tonight. Throw in the Twins needing to get some wins to start erasing their six game deficit to Detroit, and you've got yourself tonight's #1 game.
On Deck is The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups
Oakland Athletics (38-32) vs. Cincinnati Reds (28-44)-3:35PM Est.
Mullet just finished telling you about Dan Haren and his microscopic ERA, so maybe today is the day you finally take the time to watch the guy pitch. Haren starts this afternoon for the Athletics, and he'll be facing one of the hottest hitters in baseball when he does. Ken Griffey Jr has hit seven home runs in the last 12 games, including one last night in Cincy's 5-3 victory. If just watching a good pitcher or baseball isn't enough for you, there's another fun side game you and your friends can play. Grab an empty solo cup, and during each inning you and your friends put a dollar into the cup. One person holds the cup per inning, and passes it on to the next friend every three outs. Then, whoever's holding the cup when an Athletic gets injured gets to keep all the money! Is there anything more fun than making money off of the pain of others? Yes, making money off of your friends thanks to the pain of others.
Kuo was on Tawain's pitching staff for the Asian Games in Doha this past December.
Kevin Chen, secretary general of Taiwan's Olympic Committee, said samples taken from Kuo, as well as two other members of the baseball team, Yeh Chun-chang and Lin Yi-chuan, tested positive for banned drugs before the December competition.
The three players said they had taken either cold or pain medications containing a banned substance, Chen said. All three competed at Doha but received verbal warnings and were asked to clear their medications with the team doctor, Chen said.
"The situation is quite innocent,'' Chen said in a phone interview.
Now, from that blockquote, everything seems all well and good. But where the situation gets quite shady is when Kuo didn't pitch in the championship game against Japan - a game Tawain won 8-7. His manager said he didn't pitch because he "didn't fell well."
But him not pitching prompted the China Times newspaper to investigate, (I hear they are like Sherlock Holmes with their investigatory skills) and boom, they found out the dude tested positive for some stimulants. So, was Kuo suspended from the game and they decided to keep it under wraps? Or, was he simply not "feeling well" as his manager put it and didn't play because of it?
What mystery! What intrigue! I'm sure if we combine the China Times, Dick Tracy, James Bond and the kids that chased around Carmen Sandiego, we just might come up with the answer.
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through 
The Jacksonville Suns 
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