red sOx win

you saw that coming, dint ya? if not, then (in parlance of david letterman) you might be one of them "dumb guys" people talk about! wow was that a shtoonking. wayward O isn't sure if rockies even knew what they were up against. clint hurdle managed poorly but it probably wouldn't have mattered even if he'd run his team with a sense of urgency.

rockies are so fraudulent, not even mascot is real deal. to wit:

REAL DINGER


FAKE DINGER


dinger the dino, probably drunk, pops a hammy on coors field dugout while dinger the rivercat busts out the classic jamzzz! the colorado rockies are definitely buggin'.

changing subject slightly -- it was very silly to see Alex Rodriguez' mug on the TV show as Red Sox were on cusp of winning WORLD SERIES. yes. wayward O imagines scott boras engineered all of it with crisp timing. leave voice mail on cashman's phone. call ken rosenthal next. give ken big scoop for broadcast. get more publicity for very famous baseball player!!

does everyone remember how kenny boy used to work at Baltimore Sun? and how he had BIG DREAMZ of scoops during world series? he must feel like a MAN IN FULL this quiet tuesday. but wayward O still thinks it was silly. wayward O wonders if ROCK will follow in K.R.'s footsteps.

and then during postgame scrum -- was it fox's own chris myers? -- somebody asked red sox owner john henry -- he of the leather glove held in the air like a fascistic fisticuff -- so what about a-rod? but john henry is a nice man, or so is the image he cultivates, and he said, 'we're enjoying a championship right now.' or something to that effect. oh sure!

meanwhile, a-rod continues to gulp all available oxygen ... for example check out mlb trade rumors. i mean how many a-rod stories can you write?? he's the britney sprears of MLB. nobody even reads about RENTERIA TRADE ... see below.

and wayward O thinks big offseason baseball story is CROP of CENTER FIELDERS ripe for signing shiny spanking new free agent contracts...

andruw jones, corey patterson (yes, indeed sir!), aaron rowand and torii hunter all are likely to be on merry-go-round! where she stops, nobody knOws ...

jones, once thought to be among the top four or five players in MLB, put together a hideous 2007 on offense (please don't mention steroids). patterson has never been known as a legit power threat (he once was known as potential power threat) but he is absolute vaccuum cleaner in center and he gets on and steals bases. rowand had career year in phillydelfia and one would think he'd stay but who knows? and hunter merely drove in 107 runs this year and may be premier center fielder in baseball.

if a-rod is worth $30 million per year -- which he's probably not but nevertheless if -- then what's torii worth? wayward O isn't sure what andruw jones is worth, either, but apparently braves are fully embracing youth movement; they've already traded edgar renteria to detroit for two prospects, including a guy who might be the next andruw jones in the ATL.

will leave you with following THOUGHT: wayward O has mentioned this too many times but he remains stunned by the accuracy of his new "certainty points" playoff ranking system.

you're not, you're not .... you're not good

what should one expect when the top seed in the NL is the No. 5 seed overall?

but last night when matt holliday got caught off first base to end the 8th inning ... well that was just unappreciated.

Caught! Can I get a witness?

not just nicked ... BUSTED.

matt hit .340 with 137 ribs and 36 HRs. guess how many stolen bases he had?

eleven.

so ... a situational stealer. by "situational" wayward O means, "once every two weeks when the moon is at just the right angle or on a cheap double-steal."

terrible to get hung up like that. reminds me of Orioles Magic. and we've seen enough of that for one year.

C'MON ROCKIES! Yeeshus. wayward O thinks it's kind of funny and endearing how the rockies skipper writes his thoughts down on a note pad each time one of his players gets pwned.

somebody head over to office depot. clint's going to need some more notebooks and pencils.

anyway, after that holliday play wayward O went night-night, hoping for a morning surprise regarding 9th inning.

not bloody likely.

maybe a change of scenery will help the colorado rockies get back into contention over the weekend.

not that wayward O is rooting for da rox; more like rooting for a bit of drama in the world series.

as for the david ortiz situation ... the answer is: sit him and give him an at-bat for the pitcher when daisuke matsuzaka gets into trouble, which will be in the third inning saturday, when he coughs up a chilly four-spot.

tOp seeds advance

wayward O watched boston defeat cleveland last night with great interest. most of baltimore diaspora clearly was rooting for tribe, but wayward O watched impassively.

nor would wayward O call the series outcome a "great comeback." it's not really comparable to the 04 ALCS for example, which continues to set the all-time bar for comebacks. indians needed to stop red sox in either game 5 or 6; and couldn't do so. boston took down fausto carmona -- maybe the biggest pitching surprise in all of baseball this year -- and once that was done the sox had a bead on the series win with their deeper pitching.

here are some notes about the game:

-- casey blake had a terrible game both at bat and in the field. why didn't he bunt with one out and runners on the corners in the 7th? if he can do that correctly, indians have a tie game with a man on 2nd and their leadoff hitter coming up. everyone will talk about the play before, where kenny lofton was held up by third base coach joel skinner. the announcers were sanguine about how lofton would have scored but wayward O isn't so sure. blake also had a terrible night in the field, booting a grounder and getting in jhonny peralta's way on a pop fly. also, shouldn't blake have fielded kevin youkilis' ball down the third base line that went for a double earlier?

tough night at the office
click pic for more photos from sportsline

-- in the first inning, jake westbrook looked terrified. he bent but did not break and when he finally settled down, the indians could not capitalize. daisuke matzusaka looked good -- good -- not great. take it easy, boston fans, with the dice-k coronations

-- all of boston's players seemed to be relaxed and playing their game; if they bring a similar attitude toward the world series, they should be able to overcome what they're about to face in colorado: three games in arctic conditions

-- all the millionaires in that boston clubhouse and they can't do better than bud lite? yeesh. that beer is hideous. pabst is far more drinkable and guzzle-able and delicious. oh wait. even the beer they drink is sponsored. sad

-- wayward O's "certainty points" playoff formula seems to have correctly predicted the world series contenders. boston, the top seed overall, advanced, as did colorado, the no. 5 seed overall and top NL seed. of course, the entire concept of the "certainty points" theory is that the mlb playoffs are very uncertain; but it was nice to have some predictive success on the first go

-- as for predicting a world series winner. it's unpickable. it's boston's star-studded roster and talented kids vs. colorado's even more talented kids and mojo. and the weather

sO far

wayward O has watched baseball playoffs so far with much interest. however here in BIG APPLE we're inundated with JOE TORRE DRAMA and also A-ROD SAGA. want to see yankee fan sweat? just say with a big ol' smile, "ahhh ... the mattingly years."

most amazing person in playoffs is boston red sox left fielder MANUEL RAMIREZ. manuel is quite a character. he does not care if boston loses and it's not just idle talk. he does not care so thoroughly that he cannot be bothered to run past first base on a 400-foot ball off outfield wall in cleveland. nor can he be bothered to play defense. nor will he slide. and yet his wily brand of not caring seems to stoke other red sox with motivation. in addition, red sox have JOSH BECKETT who is the money-est pitcher in MLB right now.

Who's on first? Manny!

even tim mccarver got to shout.

then there are the seemingly DESTONIUS colorado rockies, keyed by big names such as holliday, tulowitzki, spilborghs and torrealba. when wayward O says "big names," what he means is, "long names." wayward O wonders though if FALL CLASSIC will be WINTER WONDERLAND with big ol big ol sierra clipper heading east AS WAYWARD O TYPES THIS.

meanwhile, cleveland indians are a nice baseball bunch. they hit. they field. they pitch and they play hard. they eat their greens and always call home on mother's day. how can you not root for tribe to bring home first world series ring since 1948? you can't... nor can you IGNORE SIMILARITIES between 07 and 97 indians, as roar from 34 adroitly observes.

but wayward O wishes tribe had shtoonked the bostonshteins whilst still on home field because he fears fenway will be site of WEDGE's LAST STAND -- for this year, anyway.

on an Os related note, wayward O has been visiting new online buddy .... the birds of prey forum. if between t.w.O, roch, the l.c., etc., you STILL HAVEN'T HAD FILL OF ORIOLES PAIN, the b.o.p. forum is for you, friend.

mazzOne

i guess if bedard doesn't like you, you are a goner.

so long, dood.

go play golf with sammy p.

put a fOrk in him

memo to the traitor re: defecting to yankees for ring

dear mr. mussina. no soup for you. thanks for playing.

have nice life counting your loot pile.

-- the wayward O

cc: orioles fans

ranking the playOffs

wayward O will rank the playoff seeds based on the following formula: each of the eight teams involved has at least a 10% chance at the outset of winning the world series; so 80% of world series uncertainty is tied up at the outset. the remaining 20% will be alotted in the form of "certainty points" on a point-by-point basis to teams with one or more:

a) certified money pitchers (1% per)
b) position players capable of taking over a game (1% per) *
c) manager capable of dominating an outcome (1 %)
d) tangible home-field or other stated advantages (1%)

here's how wayward O doles out the added points:

angels: 10% + lackey 1% + escobar 1% + guerrerro 1%
cubs: 10% + soriano 1% + piniella 1%
diamondbacks: 10% + brandon webb + 1%
indians: 10% + sabathia 1% + best overall lineup 1%
phillies: 10% + rollins 1%
red sox: 10% + ortiz 1% + ramirez 1% + beckett 1% + fenway 1% + rest of lineup 1%
rockies: 10% + holliday 1% + coors field 1%
yankees: 10% + rodriguez 1% + rest of lineup 1% + yankee stadium 1 %

here are the raw seedings:
1) boston 15%
2, 3 - tie) yankees, angels 13%
4, 5, 6 - tie) cubs, indians, rockies 12%
7, 8 - tie ) phillies, diamondbacks 11%

and here are the adjusted seedings, using regular season records as tiebreakers for raw seedings above:
1) boston
2) angels
3) yankees
4) indians
5) rockies
6) cubs
7) diamondbacks
8) phillies

here are your division series winners, based on this formula:
boston,
new york,
chicago,
colorado.

here is your world series winner, based on this formula:
boston

please place your bets accordingly.

* player must have a league-top batting average, minimum .295 and power to boot to earn a standout percentage point

the rOster, part 2, pitchers

and, as promised (hey -- it's still not october yet -- padres and rocks are in extras!) here's Wayward O's take on Oriole pitchers. "keep," "get lost," or "neutral."

keep:
rob bell: wayward O liked him, what little he saw. maybe a good last man in 'pen
chad bradford: he done did good this year
brian burres: same. anyway Orioles will need starters once 08 goes off the rails too
daniel cabrera: i guess Orioles gotta give him another year to shine. he really has potential.
jeremy guthrie: he's going to be a good starter. no doubt about it. lucky pick up for Os.
jim hoey: throws hard
radhames liz: maybe he'll be good.
adam loewen: i have a feeling he's going to be a few more years in the making.
jamie walker: yeah. he's a bright spot.

get lost:
kris benson: not with the extension money for a beat-down retread
kurt birkins: mleh. fleh. bleh. whatever.
hayden penn: sorry, but wayward O has seen enough
chris ray: see penn, hayden

neutral:
danys baez: won't be playing till 09 anyway. stupid waste of money
erik bedard: flashes of brilliance. fakes injuries. also has repaired elbow. trade value high.
jon leicester: trade him? or play him? i think he's a mediocre talent.

wow. wayward O shouldn't have done that. that was incredibly depressing. wayward O skipped about four of five doods just because there's no answer for them. no answer at all.

the rOster, part. 1

before wayward O transitions into October mode (still waiting on padres and rockies anyhow) wayward O will take a look at Os roster, sort of -- not going to bother with alberto castillo -- and without getting too involved in where contracts stand, will say whether each position player is a "keep" or a "go away" or a "neutral" for 2008:

keep:
C ramon hernandez: slow. faked an injury. keep him anyway. to split time with wieters.
2B brian roberts: he's a real ballplayer. we need him. does he need us?
CF corey patterson: with tike in LF and nick in RF. works for wayward O
RF nick markakis: this kid is the future of the organization.
1B / DH aubrey huff: young. talented. due for a big year in 2008.
IF chris gomez: please come back!
OF tike redman: tike earns himself a spot on the '08 roster. see scenario above.
SS luis hernandez: he may be the future at SS for orioles.
3B scott moore: showed enough to keep him on roster for next year.
C gustavo molina. fine for 3rd catcher.

go away:
1B kevin millar: if it weren't for aubrey huff i'd say keep him. thanks for playing hard.
3b melvin mora: can we get rid of this guy? doubt it. brightest spots are behind him.
OF jay payton: please please go away. just. go. away.
1B / DH / OF jay gibbons: steroids, can't hit, can't field. can't stay healthy.
C paul bako: stink. no more .205 hitters, period.
IF brandon fahey: i like him on a personal level. but i just don't see it.
C jr house: trade him for a reliever or something.

neutral:
SS miguel tejada: obviously he's a great player. what can we get for him?
IF freddie bynum: freebie is a fine bench player for orioles to keep, or trade.

as you can see, you've got a core of keepers that could make the team fun to watch next year. unlike last year, Orioles just need to re-sign corey and they've got a semi-viable 2008 outfield. not a championship-winning outfield (unlike tike develops as a power hitter, which is possible) but an intriguing, young, speedy, talented group.

however, team also had a garage-ful of junk and spare parts and that will present major challenges for struggling franchise.

Wayward O will look over the pitchers next.