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This from ESPN.com: White Sox GM considered Paul Konerko as player/manager before hiring Robin Ventura

I wonder if he tried to hire Billy Martin first?

The last player/manager in MLB was Pete Rose, who did it from 19084 to 1986 with the Reds.

Other player/managers include Frank Robinson in 1975-76 with the Indians and Joe Torre with the 1977 Mets.

It's always neat to look at the scoreboard and see that the home team won an extra inning game by 4 runs. There's only one way for that to happen--a walk-off grand slam.

Indeed Nelson Cruz did it yesterday, ending the game on his second homer of the day.

Cruz's walk-off homer was the first in a playoff game since 2009:

And it's the first grand slam to end a post-season game, ever. The best we'd seen before that was these 3-run homers to end a playoff game:

The full list of 42 post-season walk-off homers is here.

ALso, you might think Cruz's shot was "the ultimate" when it comes to clutch hitting. Do you know what the WPA was for his hit? Only 0.06, because the game was tied with the bases loaded and no outs. By the time Cruz stepped to the plate, the likelihood that the Rangers would win was exceptionally high (94%).

It was his earlier homer that was the money shot, as he tied the game in the bottom of the 7th with a solo homer. That was worth 0.21 WPA.

In fact Cruz's game isn't even the top WPA game in 2011. Here are single-game performances worth at least 0.4 WPA in the last 3 years:

Ryan Howard has the best game so far in 2011.

In game 2 of the NLCS, Albert Pujols went 4-5 with a HR and three 2Bs, driving in the first 4 runs in the Cards' series-tying rout (and 5 RBI total).

He tied the record of 4 extra-base hits in a postseason game, done thrice previously:

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There have been 3 games in post-season history in which one team had at least 3 players get at least 4 hits apiece:

All 3 games involved the Boston Red Sox.

Sixty-five years ago today, the Cardinals racked up 12 runs on the Red Sox to even the World Series at 2 games each before going on to win in 7 games. The Cardinals had a hit from every play and 4 each from Enos Slaughter, Whitey Kurowski, and Joe Garagiola.

Twelve years ago today, the Red Sox score a playoff-record 23 runs against the Indians, evening the ALDS at 2 games each before going on to win in 5 games. The Red Sox got 4 hits and 7 RBI from 3B John Valentin, 5 hits and 1 RBI from 1B Mike Stanley, and 4 hits and 3 RBI from C Jason Varitek, who had just played his first full season in the majors.

Seven years ago (but not today), the Yankees pounded the Red Sox 19-8 in Game 3 of the ALCS. New York went up 3 games to none but it was the last game they'd win in 2004, and the last game the Red Sox would lose. In this game the Yankees got 4 hits and 4 RBI from Gary Sheffield, 5 hits and 5 RBI from Hideki Matsui, and 4 hits and 3 RBI from Bernie Williams.

Who said that the AL East underperformed this season? Two different AL East teams might meet in the 2011 World Series. How is that possible, you say? Especially given that the Yankees and Rays have already been eliminated and two teams from the same division can't meet in the Series anyway?

Well, from 1972 to 1993, the Brewers were in the AL East, and from 1969 to 1997 the Tigers resided in that division as well.

The Brewers switching leagues opens up all kind of unusual possibilities like this, including the '82 World Series rematch in the 2011 NLCS.

(This concept of this post was brought to you by Raphy.)

Here are the top players by position to play in the majors for both the Tigers and the Rangers:

C: Ivan Rodriguez, Mickey Tettleton
1B: Phil Nevin, Carlos Pena
2B: Dalton Jones
3B: Dean Palmer
SS: Scott Fletcher
LF: Willie Horton, Frank Howard, Frank Catalanotto
CF: Johnny Grubb
RF: Juan Gonzalez, Rusty Staub, Ruben Sierra
Utility: Matt Stairs
Starting pitchers: Kenny Rogers,  Joe Coleman, Frank Tanana, Denny McLain, Doyle Alexander
Relief pitchers: Doug Brocail, Mike Henneman, Dave Rozema, Francisco Cordero, Ugueth Urbina, Joaquin Benoit, Mike Marshall

In honor of the rematch of the 1982 World Series that will occur in the 2011 NLCS, here is a stab at the all-time team of players who appeared in the majors for both the Cardinals and the Brewers:

C: Ted Simmons, Darrell Porter, Mike Matheny
1B: Tito Francona
2B: Fernando Vina, Ronnie Belliard
3B: David Bell, Russell Branyan
SS: Royce Clayton, Ducky Schofield
LF:
CF: Jim Edmonds, Jose Cardenal
RF: Sixto Lezcano, Bernie Carbo, Tom Brunansky
Utility: Mark Sweeney

Starting pitchers: Pete Vuckovich, Jerry Reuss, Cal Eldred, Reggie Cleveland, Ray Sadecki
Relief pitchers: Ray King, Tony Fossas, Jesse Orosco, Mike DeJean

I limited myself to fairly well-known players even if they didn't play a lot for both the Cardinals and Brewers. I couldn't find anybody to put in left field thought!

Anyway, this isn't exactly a stellar team, although it's pretty deep at C and CF!

Is it just me, or it the list of October 8th birthdays really fun?

A few things that caught my eye:

• Doc Crandall played more than 300 games as a pitcher and nearly 100 additional games as a position player.
• Best names: Johnny Lush and Charlie Manlove
• Other great names: Ping Bodie, Tom Colcolough, Bob Mabe, Bob Skube, Doug Neff, Don Pepper, Ed Wingo, Monte Pfeffer
• Two first names: Jerry Reed, Mike Chris, Rex Cecil, Keith Reed, and of course, Wally Moses
• #15 and #16: Little Peoples

It seems rare that professional sports games live up to the hype. Super Bowls come to mind, as do baseball matchups of ace pitchers. But last night's Cardinals-Phillies game was simply awesome, and a fitting low-scoring battle as we come down off the Steroids Era scoring high.

Anyway, we've seen lots of interesting ways to end a game or a season:

• Walk-off balks
• Walk-off hit-by-pitch
• Walk-off game-losing hits
• Game-ending triple plays and walk-off double plays
• Walk-off cycle
• Walk-off sac bunt
• Walk-off mystery hit
• Game-ending reaches on error
• Season-ending walk

We've also seen tons of athletes end their season with a torn ACL or Achilles--however that usually happens in the middle of a game and in the middle of the season.

But did you see this last night? Ryan Howard apparently (pending MRI results) tore his Achilles on the final play of the game, crumbling to the ground as the Cardinals rushed the field to celebrate their NLDS victory.

I cannot recall any team's season ever ending with a serious injury to a player. What a terrible shame for Howard and the Phillies--if indeed the injury is serious, it's tough to imagine him being ready for spring training in 2012.

In a classic pitcher's duel, Chris Carpenter bested Roy Halladay in game 5, shutting out the Phils on 3 hits and 1 HBP. Only two runners reached scoring position against Carpenter. The game's only run scored on hits by the first 2 batters.

Congratulations to the Cardinals. Condolences to the Phillies. Sadness for our Philly friends, who had such high hopes for this season.

Notes on postseason 1-0 games:
(Advance apologies for any errors; for obvious reasons, this research is rushed.)

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