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The squirrel seen dashing around Busch Stadium has its own Twitter account right here.

Ten days ago, the AL East was on everybody's mind. The Yankees were the top team in the AL and the Red Sox and Rays were battling for the final playoff spot.

Now? All three teams are home for the winter.

This is probably a good thing for MLB at large, demonstrating that the field has evened some and other teams have a good chance. Perhaps we'll still see that all-midwestern Detroit-Milwaukee World Series?

The Chicago White Sox have named Robin Ventura manager....

...huh?!?!

In game 4 of the Phillies-Cardinals NLDS, Albert Pujols threw across the diamond to cut down Chase Utley, the potential tying run.

1. Was it a smart play by Pujols?
2. Was it a smart play by Utley?

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On Tuesday, each NLDS game 3 featured an intentional walk that was followed by a big home run. The situations:

1. Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the 5th, Brewers skipper Ron Roenicke ordered Shaun Marcum to walk Miguel Montero and pitch to Paul Goldschmidt with 2 out and 2 men in scoring position.
2. Tied 0-0 in the top of the 7th, Tony LaRussa had Jaime Garcia walk Carlos Ruiz to face Ben Francisco with 2 out and a man on 2nd.

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Moments ago Ryan Roberts hit the 52nd grand slam in post-season history. Click through for the full list before him.

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Shane Victorino is a great player but I couldn't help but mention this "incredible" throw he made in tonight's game. Everybody slips sometimes.

Just a few random thoughts to put out there:

• I rarely think all that much about race in baseball, but my gut says that it's good for the Miami Marlins to have a Latino manager, given the large Latino population in southern Florida. I hope that Ozzie Guillen does lots of interviews in Spanish with the local media. The Marlins have had a Latino manager for most of the last 5 seasons and have several good Latino players, plus Gaby Sanchez who is from Miami. I like the strong cultural link and hope the Marlins find some firmer footing in Miami.
• Kevin Youkilis likely needs hip surgery this offseason. The last time a third baseman for the Red Sox needed hip surgery, his career was pretty much over. Youkilis may never play third base again, and first base is not an option any more. So that means Youk takes over as DH or gets traded. I heard a few Boston media members complain in the last week about all the bad big contracts (Lackey, Crawford, Beckett, Drew, Matsuzaka, Jenks, ) and why they don't give a long-term contract to a guy like Adrian Beltre instead of signing him for just one rebound year. And that was before Beltre's 3-HR day yesterday. (For what it's worth, it was tough to predict Beltre having a good year in 2011 given his track record.)
• If Theo Epstein becomes Cubs GM and the Cubs go on to win the World Series, will he go down as one of the best general managers ever, having ended two different historically-long title droughts? That's a lot of "ifs" but I'll say this much--Epstein to the Cubs is intriguing. I don't see Theo and Larry Lucchino continuing to co-exist in Boston.
• Jim Leyland knows how to manage. Check out his comments about the schedule problems caused by the rain. In particular note "I think when the manager makes a big deal about something like that, it affects the players. It is what it is." This is in pretty stark contrast to how some other managers have handled things recently, including Tony LaRussa saying on air he knew he'd get fined for criticizing the umpires, when he was making excuses for his players.
• Love or hate the Yankees, you gotta read Jerry Crasnick's column about A.J. Burnett's start last night. It's a gem. On that link, check out the video to watch Granderson's TWO awesome catches.

We still have two polls, but since the AL vote is a lock, I decided to make it more interesting by adding multiple entries for Verlander. This should keep him from running away with it!
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Ben Francisco just hit a pinch-hit 3-run homer in the 7th inning against the Cardinals. Very few guys have ever hit a post-season pinch-hit homer with at least 2 runners on in the 7th inning or later:

Welcome to the club, Mr. Francisco.