Group A
South Africa
Mexico
Uruguay
France

Group B
Argentina
Nigeria
South Korea
Greece

Group C
England
United States
Algeria
Slovenia

Group D
Germany
Australia
Serbia
Ghana

Group E
Netherlands
Denmark
Japan
Cameroon

Group F
Italy
Paraguay
New Zealand
Slovakia

Group G
Brazil
North Korea
Ivory Coast
Portugal

Group H
Spain
Switzerland
Honduras
Chile

 

What do you think of our group?  Any matchups you're excited to see?  How much does it suck to be North Korea?

---

---

The MLB Postseason goes on, despite this judge's choice of Matt Holliday in "Man Getting Hit in Groin by Baseball" as most outstanding work this postseason.  The scrappy Twins try to win their first game all year against the Yankees behind Nick Blackburn.  The Yankees counter with third-biggest free agent acquisition A.J. Burnett, making his postseason debut.  This season's statistics would indicate that New York is the favorite, but bear in mind that the Yankees have not been up 2 games to none in a division series since 1999.  Twins in an upset, sez I!

Continue reading this post »

via 4.bp.blogspot.com

This is an open thread as the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins battle for dominance of the AL Central.  Scott Baker takes the mound for the Twins in the Stay-of-Execution Bowl at the Metrodome.  Rick Porcello is pitching for the Tigers.

 

Go team that will beat the Yankees!

Here are three things you should know about the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who won the AL West by ten games and had the second best record in baseball.  Two of these things are true, and one of them is a lie.

1. The Angels used to play at Wrigley Field.

2. Nick Adenhart had the highest ERA+ on the team.

3. The Angels retired the number of Gene Autry, who never played.

Which one of these factlets is bold-faced fabrication?  Tell me now, and share all other Angels related arcana in the comments below.

Let's cheer on the Angels as they square off against the Boston Red Sox.  They are 0-4 in playoff series against Boston, and have lost 12 of the last 13 postseason games to the Red Sox, but this year, they feel lucky.  It could happen.

Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Brandon Phillips.  The quest for 100 RBI came up just short, but The Franchise did have two doubles, 3 RBI, and a run scored.  Honorable mention for Drew Stubbs (three hits, two runs) and Homer Bailey (six shutout innings, fourth win over the Pirates).

Key Plays

• The Reds struck fast in the first inning.  Drew Stubbs led off with a single, and Paul Janish sacrificed him to second.  Joey Votto walked, then Brandon Phillips launched a double to score Stubbs.  Scott Rolen and Jay Bruce made weak outs to end the threat.
• The Stubbs-Phillips connection paid off again in the third inning, as Stubbs and Votto singled, advanced on a wild pitch, and Phillips got his second RBI of the game with a ground out.  Get 'em on, get 'em over, get 'em in.
• Homer Bailey was pretty solid all afternoon, but in the fifth inning he gave up a leadoff triple and a walk.  Then he struck out the side.  Bad. Ass.
• The Reds put the game to bed in their half of the fifth inning.  Paul Janish walked with one out, then stole second.  He went to third on Joey Votto's infield single, and came around to score on Phillips's double to the wall.  Scott Rolen then slammed a triple, bringing in Votto and Phillips, before scoring himself on a single by Jay Bruce.  It hasn't seemed like it most of the time this season, but we've got the makings of a pretty solid offense.
• Juan Francisco walked!  ROAR.  Then Stubbs and Votto singled to load the bases with Phillips up, trying hard to reach 100 RBI.  Sadly, he grounded into a double play instead.


via www.fangraphs.com

 Other Notes

• The Reds finished with 78 wins, and in fourth place in the NL Central.  That's an improvement of four wins and one place over last year.
• Brandon Phillips was the only member of the Opening Day lineup that didn't spend time on the disabled list... and even he had "fractures."
• Phillips wound up just short of 100 RBI, and Francisco Cordero was just short of 40 saves.  Yes, they're two of the most worthless stats, but round numbers are always exciting.  Incidentally, Phillips's 98 RBI were the second most by a Reds second baseman.  Joe Morgan had 110 in 1976.
• Drew Stubbs had three hits and a walk today to finish the season with a .267 average and .323 OBP.  Big deal.  Joey Votto had three hits and a walk today to finish the season with a .322 average and .414 OBP.  Big deal.  Juan Francisco finished the season with a .429 average and .520 OBP.  ROAR.
• Final attendance at Great American Ball Park was 1,747,919 this year, the smallest number since 1986.
• The Pirates only committed 73 errors all season, a franchise record.  It led the majors, and provides a clear correlation between defense and winning. 
• Of course, the Pirates were also shut out a major league-leading 17 times, which provides a clear correlation between not scoring runs and losing.
• The Reds finished the decade with one winning season.

---

Final - 10.4.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh Pirates	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
Cincinnati Reds	1	0	1	0	4	0	0	0	X	6	11	0
WP: Homer Bailey (8 - 5) LP: Jeff Karstens (4 - 6)

Complete Coverage >

---