World Series Buried Lead: Can We Have Vintage Pedro Back For One Night Only?

Tonight's Game 6 match-up is being branded as a barn-burner already.  The Yankees will send Andy Pettitte (28-22 over the last two years) to the mound in search of a title clinching win.  The Phillies will counter with Pedro Martinez, the Phightins' No. 3 starter and  he who has the most wins in playoff history, to the mound in search of one more win and one more World Series title. 

If allowed to go into an actual time machine, I would probably screw up that entire space-time continuum beyond repair.  I would invest a significant amount of money in something called The Facebook, warn Jim Hendry about why it would be a terrible idea to sign Milton Bradley to a three-year, $30 million deal and get on board and attach my bandwagon to Gawker Media and Deadspin.
 
I would also bring back a gift for baseball fans everywhere.

We'll start with classic Pedro -- the greatest pitcher to survive the Steroid Era.

World Series Buried Lead: FOX Sports Chicago

(The Big Dead Sidebar will try to provide readers with a buried lead before each and every World Series game.  This is the second installment in a series.)

In an effort to pull in a third large market for the World Series, FOX Sports will present the World Series through the eyes of some of Chicago's most popular players and managers.  At least, that's my theory ... and I'm sticking to it.

World Series Buried Lead: The Cleveland Factor

(The Big Dead Sidebar will try to provide readers with a buried lead before each and every World Series game.  This is the first in a series.)

Unless you're totally oblivious to playoff baseball, you know that former Cleveland Indians pitchers CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee are the Game 1 starters for the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, respectively.  The fact that they are no longer members of the Tribe could be one of the primary reasons Manny Acta has a job in Cleveland and Eric Wedge is somewhere in an unemployment line.

Lee went 22-3 with a 2.54 earned run average in a little more than 223 innings en route to a Cy Young.  In eight seasons with Cleveland, Lee posted an 83-48 record including 14-win seasons in 2004 and 2006, sandwiching an 18-win season in 2005.

Then there's Sabathia, who wile he was in Cleveland was known as C.C. Sabathia.  (Yes, he took out the periods after being traded to Milwaukee.)  Watching Sabathia start a World Series in a Yankees uniform has to be painful for fans of the mistakes by the lake.  It would have been different had Sabathia returned to Milwaukee, gone west to be closer to home, stayed in the National League or went west and stayed in the National League.  Instead, he took the money and pressure that comes with playing in the Bronx.  And he performed.

Sabathia went 106-81 in his eight year career in Cleveland, but really didn't put it all together until his 2007 Cy Young season.  He went 19-7 with a  3.21 ERA while making a league-most 34 starts and pitched a league high 241 innings.  Those numbers aren't eye-popping enough for you?  How about the ridiculous amount of hitters he faced, 975 in total.

After struggling in the playoffs, and out of the gate in Cleveland, Sabathia regained the magic touch in Milwaukee (I'm convinced it was the bratwurst) and went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA while racking up 128 strikeouts in a little more than 130 innings.  Sabathia single-handedly carried the Brewers into the playoffs.

Honestly, how often does a team develop two true aces who end up bringing home Cy Young Awards in consecutive seasons and then are traded away in consecutive seasons?  Not often?  How about not ever.  But if was going to happen anywhere, it would be in Cleveland.

But it doesn't stop there.  The Tribe could field a team of players they've cut ties with that happened to reach the playoffs this season.

The Indians could have had Manny Ramirez (Dodgers) in left, and Ryan Ludwick (Cardinals) in right field.  Casey Blake and Ron Belliard (Dodgers) could have been playing third and shortstop, respectively, with Mark DeRosa (Cardinals) at second.  Jim Thome (Dodgers) could have handled first with Victor Martinez (Red Sox) at catcher.  Out of the bullpen, Acta Wedge could have called upon Rafael Betancourt out of the bullpen.  Heck, they could have thrown Ben Francisco as the designated hitter.

Did I mention a healthy Grady Sizemore would have made the Indians an elite American League team?  It would have. 

Instead, Cleveland is back in rebuilding mode, even though they probably shouldn't be.

Pitching Pushes MLB Playoffs In Post-Steroid Era

There has been a paradigm shift in the post-steroid era of baseball.  Other than the Cubs, who always seem to be behind the learning curve, no longer are teams shelling out large contracts to older sluggers.  Instead, a lot of that money has been put toward younger talent.

And rather than seeing bulky boppers age in front of your eyes, the remaining teams in the League Championship Series are primed to take the next step because of their young pitchers.

Why I Hate Your Playoff Baseball Team

Confession: I am a baseball nerd.  Really.  When I was younger, I found myself watching playoff baseball despite the fact that my favorite team had been eliminated from playoff contention for a good chunk of those years.

But now, after back-to-back soul crushing playoff sweeps, my favorite team failed to make the postseason altogether.  I thought about latching myself to the bandwagon of one of the remaining teams.  Upon further review, I couldn't find it within me to do it.

And this is how "Why I Hate Your Playoff Baseball Team" got started.

The longest (and arguably most offensive to those of you who take your favorite team way too seriously) post in TBDS history after the jump.

Cubs Interested In Shipping Zambrano? Here's Your Irresponsible Blogger-Turned-GM Post Of The Day!

The story of the day in Chicago baseball was the Cubs' 2-0 win against the Milwaukee Brewers.  The win would have meant something a year ago at this time as the Cubs and Brew Crew were duking it out for NL Central supremacy.  Right now, the Cubs' biggest battles are against themselves and mediocrity.

And now we bring you to the buried lead in the story brought to you by Chicago Tribune Cubs beat writer Paul Sullivan:

Now that Hendry is assured of returning in 2010, he'll have to decide which players to bring back. Dempster, who signed a four-year, $52 million deal last winter, is assured of returning. [Carlos] Zambrano, who signed a five-year, $91.5 million deal in August 2007, is not.

Despite the fact that Zambrano has a full no-trade clause, the Cubs plan on shopping him this off-season, sources said, believing he'll waive the clause to go to the right team, as Jake Peavy eventually did when the Padres consummated a deal this summer with the White Sox.

According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, Carlos Zambrano has $53.75 million coming his way from 2010-12, with a vesting option worth $19.25 million in 2014.

Let the record show that despite a mediocre season by Zambrano (8-6, 3.77 ERA), pitching has not been the Cubs' downfall.  The North Side staff ranks in the top-5 in strikeouts, ERA+, WHIP, H/9 and K/9.  But with a weak free agent market awaiting, now might be the best time to move Big Z.

But where?

Wang Yanked Early ... Oh, And He Didn't Pitch Well Either

Wang doesn't last long as Red Sox wear him out after another short appearance. Think Joe Girardi regrets re-inserting Wang?

Probably much as Chien-Meng regrets his last name being symbolic for a penis.

And that, my friends, is as close as I am getting to analyzing Red Sox-Yankees.

The New York Yankees Are A Joke; And I'm Laughing At Them, Not With Them

In news that doesn't involve Manny Ramirez or Brett Favre ...

(I'll pause while you cheer your little hearts out.)

OK, time to resume.

The Team America Loves To Hate has fallen on hard times. Its billion dollar ballpark with $2,500 seats has become a punchline as it seems as if people are cautious upon entering The House That George Built. What? Is he a bad host? I don't know, I'd have to ask George Costanza about that one ... but there is one thing I know, America is enjoying the struggles of the Yankees.

Since 2004, the Yankees have been nothing short of a disappointment. They have been the best division winner money can buy in the mold of the 2007 and 2008 Chicago Cubs, but on a larger scale.

So after winning 80something games and missing the playoffs altogether, the Steinbrenner Bailout Plan that helped ink CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Texiera help put the Yanks into the spotlight.

But when spring training opened up, none of it mattered as a dark cloud rained all over Alex Rodriguez. And all Rodriguez (A-Roid, A-Fraud, A-R*d, etc.) has done is become a gold mine for journalists, bloggers and media types in search of gimmicky nicknames that attach him to performance enhancing drugs.

Then Nick Swisher comes on board, starts palling around with A-Rod and some dudes (no homo?) and eventually Swishers manager Joe Girardi into him pitching in a blowout.

Headlines of Wang getting banged around don't get old. Neither have CC Sabathia fat jokes.

And while A-Rod returns to the lineup tonight against the Orioles, the only team with a record worse than the Yankees' 13-15 in the AL East ... this game will eventually boil down to a battle of the AL Least.

As long as balls fly out of The New Yankee Stadium, unless Rodriguez developed a 95 MPH fastball and a wicked breaking pitch, it won't be worth much.

Except another laugh, of course.

Image Credit: Deadspin