A lot of stories are coming out of the American League Championship Series this year. Alex Rodriguez has shunned his one major downside -- an inability to deliver in the clutch -- to destroy everything in his path. Joba Chamberlain is pitching out of the bullpen for fear that his presence will summon a collection of animals that will be the Yankees' downfall. And, most importantly, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are turning into Mr. Bean every time the game is on the line.
Tonight we switch gears and spotlight the OTHER championship series going on between the Angels and Yankees. Tonight's Dugout is after the jump.
The Dominican Republic was considered one of the favorites to win the World Baseball Classic, but Felipe Alou's squad was shockingly eliminated in extra innings on Tuesday night by the Netherlands.
The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday morning.
For a second there in the winter of 2007, it looked like the Yankees were truly reformed. They told Alex Rodriguez to get lost after he shamefully opted out of his mega-contract during the final moments of that year's World Series.
And though Hank Steinbrenner couldn't resist reversing course and welcoming Rodriguez back into the fold a month later for a jaw-dropping $275 million, they went to the Winter Meetings in Nashville and resolutely refused to deal any of their prized arms for very much available two-time Cy Young-winner Johan Santana.
From the Windupis FanHouse's daily, extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.
The World Series cannot possibly live up the ALCS.
Please don't misconstrue the above statement and assume I'm being negative. It's actually the complete opposite. That was one incredible ALCS. If you are a baseball fan, but a fan of neither the Rays nor the Phillies, you are bound to be disappointed by the World Series. Don't expect an encore. Obviously, I can't accurately predict the future and tell you who is going to win and in how many games. I can tell you that while this upcoming series excites me, I also realize it just can't reach the lofty bar which was set over the past week by the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays.
Let's just revisit some of the drama we witnessed over the course of seven stellar games.
They didn't make it easy, but they did it. After letting a seven-run lead slip away late in Game 5, and losing at home in Game 6, the Rays beat Boston's best pitcher to advance to the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The star of the game was Matt Garza, who allowed just two hits and one run over seven innings. Garza walked three and struck out nine, giving up only a Dustin Pedroia solo homer in the first. That performance, combined with his Game 3 win, was enough to win him the MVP.
After the Rays went ahead on a Rocco Baldelli single in the fifth, and added an insurance run when Willy Aybar homered in the seventh, the Red Sox had a chance in the eighth. But with two outs and the bases loaded in the eighth, Joe Maddon brought in 23-year-old lefty David Price. The 2007 No. 1 pick out of Vanderbilt, who didn't make his first major league appearance until September 14, struck out J.D. Drew, and then retired the side in the ninth.
Game 1 of the World Series will be Wednesday night, with Scott Kazmir being the likely starter for the Rays. The Phillies have already announced that Cole Hamels will be on the mound in the first game.
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. Tom Fornelli and Eamonn Brennan discuss the ALDS between the Rays and White Sox.
Eamonn and I took a look at this series and broke it down into six key areas: Starting rotation, Bullpen, Defense, Lineup, Bench, and Manager. Then for good measure we throw in our five-star lock of the week predictions, because we're psychic mediums in our spare time.
He's one of the most hated players around the league, and I understand the the thought process behind every fan that boos him when he steps to the plate or is introduced to the crowd. He is A.J. Pierzynski and he may have just saved the White Sox season on Sunday afternoon.
The Sox were on the verge of being swept at home for the first time this season and possibly falling even further behind the Twins when some heads up thinking by Pierzynski saved the day. After Paul Konerko singled home Brian Anderson with two outs in the ninth inning and sent the game into extra innings, A.J. led off the bottom of the tenth with a single.
That's when the odyssey of A.J. began. First he showed once again that he's the smartest base runner the White Sox have by tagging up from first on a deep fly to center by Carlos Quentin, and getting into scoring position with one out. Then a few seconds later he became the dumbest base runner in the world when he took off for third on a Jermaine Dye grounder to short.
A.J. was quickly caught in a rundown when the gears in his brain began grinding. There's no way a slow-footed catcher was going to be able to outrun a bunch of middle infielders, so he needed a new plan.
When does 13 days equal a year? The answer will come at the end of the 2013 when the Tampa Bay Rays will not have to worry about losing Evan Longoria to free agency. Instead, because they had him spend a couple of weeks in Durham, he'll be their property through 2014. All that future planning didn't really hamper them in the present, either. Longoria will be in the lineup today and should remain there through 2014.
The spot on the roster opened up thanks to a well-timed hamstring strain from stopgap Willy Aybar. Andrew Friedman, the Rays head of baseball operations, feigned a forlorn attitude about Longoria's arrival.
"Obviously we've been decimated by injuries a bit and it's not necessarily the ideal way that we wanted to call him up but we're confident in his ability to adjust at the plate and what he brings to us defensively is something that we felt was very important where we're going. We'll see what happens and reassess when Willy is ready to come back.''
Now that they've ensured another year under their control, its time for the Rays to turn Longoria loose on the American League and take whatever bumps come along. Unless Longoria is a bust of New Coke proportions, Aybar will become the utility man upon his return to health. It's always exciting when a big-time prospect makes his major league debut but Longoria's arrival has been so anticipated that Tampa police may need extra tasers to keep everyone under control.
When Willy Aybar was suspended for three games from the Braves for failing to show up for work without letting the team know, you knew this was a fork in the road. Either Aybar would be exposed as an enigmatic flake who needs an alarm clock or a cell phone (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), or the incident would expose a more troubling problem.
The agent, Luis Valdez, said the distraught player was dealing with 'drinking and drugs' and that he drove alone from Atlanta to Boston to be with his brother, Francis Aybar, who lives there. Minutes later, Valdez backpedaled a bit and said he didn't know if Aybar, 24, was involved in anything other than alcohol.
The agent said Aybar was too shy and embarrassed to reach out to anyone with the team. The Braves suspended him for three days after he failed to show up for injury-rehabilitation sessions Saturday and Sunday, then suspended him indefinitely on Wednesday when he failed to show up for a meeting with manager Bobby Cox.
Aybar is on the disabled list with a sprained right hand, which he hurt during winter ball and aggravated during spring training. "It's a situation where he doesn't want anybody to help him," Valdez said. "He's embarrassed for himself, for his family."
Bad enough that Aybar is dealing with whatever he's dealing with, but no points to the agent for mentioning drugs in one breath, and then taking it back in the other. If it turns out that drugs aren't involved, the agent just made sure that his client is guilty in the court of public opinion before being proven innocent. If drugs are involved, then the agent looks like he's trying to cover it up and that makes Aybar look bad too. Heck, now I have a twinge of doubt if Aybar even has an alcohol problem the way this agent changes his story.
Do you ever wake up in the morning and get the feeling that you're supposed to be doing something? That you're pretty sure there's some kind of appointment or meeting you're supposed to attend but you can't remember quite what it is? Well, if you're reading this and your name is Willy Aybar, let me clue you in: YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE AT THE BALLPARK!
Willy Aybar's enigmatic career took another unwelcome turn Sunday when the Braves infielder, already on the disabled list with a sore hand, was suspended without pay for three games for violating a team rule.
Team officials declined to specify the infraction, but several Braves said Aybar failed to report to Turner Field on Saturday and Sunday for treatment and didn't call to explain his absence.
"We have every intention of speaking to him but have not as of yet," general manager John Schuerholz said Sunday afternoon before the Braves boarded a charter flight to Washington for a two-game series with the Nationals. "He violated team policy, and that's what he was suspended for."
Aybar, 24, wasn't on the flight, and several Braves couldn't recall seeing him since Thursday. His suspension began Sunday, though it was unknown if anyone had reached him to let him know.
"I didn't even know he was still on the team," third baseman Chipper Jones said after Sunday's 8-4 win against Florida.
Personally, I think starting his suspension on Sunday is letting him get off easy -- what if he doesn't even realize until today that he's doing something wrong? Suspend him indefinitely until he finally shows up, and then start the three-day suspension.
A lot of stories are coming out of the American League Championship Series this year. Alex Rodriguez has shunned his one major downside -- an inability to deliver in the clutch -- to destroy everything in his path. Joba Chamberlain is pitching out of the bullpen for fear that his presence will summon a collection of animals that will be the Yankees' downfall. And, most importantly, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are turning into Mr. Bean every time the game is on the line.
The 
He's one of the most hated players around the league, and I understand the the thought process behind every fan that boos him when he steps to the plate or is introduced to the crowd. He is 
When does 13 days equal a year? The answer will come at the end of the 2013 when the Tampa Bay Rays will not have to worry about losing 
When Willy Aybar was suspended for three games from the Braves for 
Do you ever wake up in the morning and get the feeling that you're supposed to be doing something? That you're pretty sure there's some kind of appointment or meeting you're supposed to attend but you can't remember quite what it is? Well, if you're reading this and your name is Willy Aybar, let me clue you in: YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE AT THE BALLPARK! 
