Do you really have to ask?

Steve Melewski of MASN asks:

We start games all year at 7:05 p.m., so why does MLB and the networks insist on start times of 8:00 and 8:30 in the playoffs. And its hard to ask any fan to sit through any game in any sport at any time that last 5 ½ hours.

Actually, that's a question in statement form, Steve, and you'd think someone representing a cable outlet like MASN would get it that baseball is trying to raise ratings by getting the games on television while a bulk of the US audience (four time zones) is in prime time. That just makes sense, no?

Maybe Steve's just complaining because he's on the East coast, and he expects everything to be regionalized for his viewing pleasure. I'm guessing Steve, even if he's a Boston fan, has a New Yorker hanging on his wall. There's more than the East out there, pal. 5 1/2 hours ain't a problem for die-hards, if that's what you really are.

Cal Ripken for a day

Jeff Conine completed the Ironman triathlon today with a time of 14 hours, 43 minutes and 45 seconds.

Manny, just be you

L.A. Batchelor says the media and Tim McCarver must get off Manny Ramirez's back. This is nothing new, but Batchelor brings up the McCarver-Deion Sanders saga of yesteryear, and you have to wonder if Manny could get mad enough to enact a little payback himself.

Didn't McCarver not learn from ripping Deion Sanders back in 1992 when he called him selfish for playing in the NFL and MLB and got a champagne shower when Deion finally had to see this judgmental coward?

Where does he get the audacity to criticize Manny Ramirez for the last two months in Boston and accuse him of dogging it and faking injuries. Was he in the clubhouse with Manny?

I had a friend who covered the Boston Red Sox when Nomar left. My buddy called Nomar a "cancer" in Boston's clubhouse. Similar things were said about Manny this year, but the Dodgers certainly experienced a resurrection once he arrived in Chavez Ravine. I say more power to Manny. He's had a very good year, if not a great one. I'm not sure why this has happened a couple times now with the BoSox and their star players, and I'm guessing we never get the whole story on either player.

Hitting from one side

Ryan Theriot is on the Tim McCarver show tonight. He said his path to the majors was a complicated journey, complete with a failed attempt at switch hitting.

"I think it slowed me down," Theriot said, "but one thing it did do, is it showed me how to fail -- how to effect the game in another way. I learned to come out the next at bat or the next day and make an impact."

Theriot said he had never even considered to switch hit until it was proposed to him in the low minors. He said he didn't want to say no to the proposal as he wanted to do everything to make it to the big leagues. Theriot feels he might've mad it to the majors sooner if he hadn't dabbled with batting from the left side.

I'd say Theriot figured things out from the right side alright. He hit .307 in his second full season with the Cubs.

Big Dodgers win for everyone but Philly

Certainly a good win for the Dodgers tonight, who blow by the Phillies 7-2 for a must-win game three victory. The Phillies might be up 2-1 in the series, but Los Angeles has the next two at home, and the Dodgers looked strong at home.

Jaime Moyer's regular season magic vanished in just 1 1/3 innings. He gives up six runs, all of them earned, as the Phillies never stood a chance. Blake Dewitt's two-out, three-run triple blew the game open in the first. Moyer only lasted for two batters in the second, watching Rafael Furcal lead things off with a home run.

This Dodger win might matter most for the American League champion, whomever that may be. With the ALCS tied at a game apiece, the Phillies could've clinched as early as Monday night with a win. That would've set their pitching staff up nicely for the World Series. Instead, the Dodgers can now even the series at two-up.

Benches clear responsibly

It is rare in baseball to see benches clear and then cooler heads prevail. That was the case Sunday night in game three of the NLDS. After Jaime Moyer hit Russell Martin in the first, Clay Condrey fired one up and in on Martin in the second.

The Dodgers retaliated with Hiroki Kuroda lifting a fastball up over Shane Victorino's noggin in the third. Victorino shouted at Kuroda, telling the Dodger starter to hit him in the body if he had to hit him, not to hit him in the head. Victorino grounded out to end the inning, and with Kuroda covering first the two started jawing again. The benches cleared, with Manny Ramirez appearing as animated as anyone. Nobody lost their cool, however, and the game played on rather calmly the rest of the way.

Afterward Victorino said he would "squash" the dust up, and it wouldn't be a factor for the remainder of the season. Martin said Kuroda acted on his own after the game, but he seemed to think it was the right course of action to retaliate. "The passion causes the emotions," Joe Torre said. "I don't look at it as bad blood."

It's hard to blame Martin for his feelings. It was good to see no ejections in such a big game. Torre mentioned in his postgame comments that baseball's had a history of policing itself in these sorts of incidents. In this case, it worked.

Cleaning up after the Cubs

This has been documented elsewhere, including their own blog, but after last week's Cubs debacle it deserves another play. When the Cubs win a World Series might be the best punk rock song ever dedicated to the Chicago National League ball club. This hits it on the head.

Free Agents

MLB Trade Rumors has an updated list of 2009 free agents available. I think Ken Griffey, Jr. will be too expensive for the White Sox to retain.

Rays win game two

Forget about the Rays heading to Boston down 0-2. In a classic test of will, Tampa Bay got a shallow sacrafice fly out of B.J. Upton to score a speedy Fernando Perez in the bottom of the 11th. Tampa wins 9-8 at 1:35 a.m. to send the series to Boston knotted at 1-1.

If the Rays had lost, things would've looked really bad.