Singing praises of Carroll

Thanks to a revolving door at second base, Jamey Carroll got a chance to play in over 100 games for the Indians this year. The team rewarded him by picking up his $2.5 million option for 2009.

Fantasy Update: The 34-year-old Carroll is hardly a viable fantasy option, or is he? He hit .306 this past season, and he might get to play again in 2009. Follow him, but don't think he's worth starting next season.

BoSox on the bubble: ALCS game five preview

One of the most misleading stats in baseball comes to the forefront tonight as the Rays and Red Sox fight for the final time at Fenway this year. That stat? Team wins in a pitcher's start.

Scott Kazmir tosses for the Rays in game five, with Tampa Bay on the verge of clinching the A.L. pennant. He got shelled in game two, giving up five runs in less than five innings in a 9-8 Rays victory. Long have pitchers been revered for keeping their teams in games even if they don't win. In this case, however, Kazmir kept a pulse and little else as Boston hit him all over the field, including three home runs. Kazmir's team won, but he lost his battle badly.

The reason Kazmir is starting tonight at Fenway has little to do with the Rays feeling confident that they beat Boston in Kazmir's latest start. Kazmir is much worse on the road (4.10 ERA vs. 2.90 at home), and with the right-handed hulks in Boston's lineup, the BoSox should be taking aim at the green monster. The reason Kazmir is pitching is so James Shields doesn't have to. The Tampa right hander carries a 2.59 ERA at Tropicana Field and just a 4.82 mark on the road. Getting him back to the Trop might be the death knell for the Red Sox. Pitching a serviceable Kazmir tonight gives Tampa a better opportunity if the series returns home.

Pick Boston tonight. Daisuke Matsuzaka has pitched brilliantly in the postseason, and the Rays are gearing up for a one- or two-game fight back home. Sure, they'd take the win tonight, but sometimes stockpiling an arsenal means losing a battle to get ready.

What's your name?

Lost in the fray of a Dodgers five-game meltdown in the NLCS was the story that Dodger Stadium might, for the first time, hand out naming rights in 2009. Alas, that won't end up happening, although everything else in the ballpark is up for sale.

Available canvases include the bullpens, dugouts, base lines, outfield pavilions, parking gates, press box, Stadium Club, luxury suites and clubhouse. The team's newly adopted spring training facilities in Arizona are also up for grabs.

The Dodgers said Monday that they had formed a partnership with the William Morris Agency of Beverly Hills to identify opportunities to rename parts of the stadium and its planned $500-million addition. The expansion is intended to transform the ballpark into a year-round destination for dining, shopping and recreation -- and could also serve up numerous branding opportunities.

That brings us to this little piece on stadium naming rights. It's very interesting, especially if you've ever tuned into a broadcast and wondered why you always thought Bank of America stadium was actually called Ericsson Stadium. It was.

All the changes make it really tough on bulletin board warfare; especially for fans visiting another team's message board.

Rockies fan: "We're gonna wipe you out at Pac Bell!"
Giants fan: "It's AT&T Park."
Rockies fan: "Seriously?"
Giants fan: "Yes."
Rockies fan: "Not for long!"

Everyone is right, and everyone is wrong. One more note, why wasn't Fenway ever called "Yankees Suck Stadium?"

Political delay for game six

Forget rain delays, we'll potentially experience our first political delay for this year's World Series. Barack Obama's campaign has a deal with Major League Baseball in place for a 15-minute ad that will push back the start time of game six of the World Series from 8:22 p.m. to 8:35 p.m., or later.

This massive hypothetical inconvenience to the world of baseball fans is notable for a few reasons. First, this would be the first time a network has moved the start time for an event back due to political advertising. Second, the World Series will likely involve the Phillies (already in) and the Tampa Bay Rays, both of whom sit in key swing states in this election; whether the Obama campaign will be willing to take the marginal risk of offending the public of either state in exchange for "roadblock" coverage on all four major networks for their ad is a legitimate question. ("Roadblock" meaning on all four majors at once, meaning you'll have to flip to the Food Network for a few minutes to get away from it.)

I have to say, this is probably a good move on Obama's part, especially considering that a very small segment of the audience will be upset by a later start time. Game six is no guarantee, however, so John McCain should work on snapping up games one through five, asap.

Does a bad economy affect sports? Youbetcha

USA Today publishes this article, which deals with sports and money across the spectrum. It's a pretty interesting read. Baseball receives a blurb just short of halfway down.

Major League Baseball: Attendance fell this season after four straight record years, proving commissioner Bud Selig was wrong when he estimated the sport could break 80 million in attendance for the first time. But the economic slowdown is felt beyond the turnstiles: Team coverage in many newspapers has been cut back, leading to a decreased presence in print for teams. And MLB expects a decrease in car ads - long a major sponsor - forcing clubs and networks to search for other advertisers.

Sales of licensed goods - such as jerseys and caps - is flat when compared with last year. It would be down factoring out the All-Star game at Yankee Stadium, which produced extra revenue.

Imagine that, Bud Selig was wrong. Never!

Don't worry, Bud, Spitting Seeds will always write articles on you and baseball; there will be no shrinking column inches here. That's perhaps good for baseball, but not for you, Bud.

If you build it close, they will come

Some major moves occurred in the minors this September with parent club affiliation changes. Among the most notable: Columbus changes from Nationals Triple-A affiliate to the Cleveland Indians. Buffalo, the Indians former Triple-A team, won a battle with Syracuse to take over as Mets Triple-A club.

As the article points out, teams are attempting to tap into proximity with regard to fan base. Columbus, just a few hours drive from Cleveland, should benefit from the close ties between the two ball clubs, including the buzz of showcasing soon-to-be Indians. While Buffalo is closer to Cleveland than New York City, there are still tons of Mets fans across the state of New York, and it certainly doesn't hurt to bolster the fan base in the western edge of the state.

Just look at how the Toledo-Detroit, Iowa-Chicago and Sacramento-Oakland do it. Close proximity tends to build a winner, or at least a lot of fan interest.

Clemens unlikely to pitch in '09

Roger Clemens says he has "no desire" to play baseball in 2009, but the only reason he's not interested is he can't guarantee that he can survive a full season at the MLB level. He did leave the slightest amount of wiggle room, but this sounds like a player who doesn't want to quit knowing he has to head toward the sunset.

“I don’t know if I will ever say no. I would have to know that I could perform at a high level and that my body would be able to hold up.”

Clemens, an 11-time All-Star and seven-time Cy Young award winner, said he did not feel he could play any longer.

“I think I said a long time ago that I’m not a quitter,” Clemens said. “I’m never going to quit. I think I’m just going to walk away. I think I will never be too far from the game.”

There's some poetic justice in that first statement. You know, the part about having to perform at a high level and a body breaking down. Clemens seemed to find the fountain of youth as an older player, and now with his name forever attached to steroids the comments contain an ironic twist.

Good luck, Roger, and good bye.

Phils clinch, 5-1

Congratulations to the Phillies, who did everything right in clinching the National League pennant with a 5-1 win over the Dodgers. The Dodgers did nothing right. For the second straight outing, Chad Billingsley failed to pitch into the third inning. Rafael Furcal made three errors, and only Manny Ramirez brought the offense, knocking his 28th career October homer out to right field when the game was already out of reach. 5-1, the Phils win game five and win the series, 4-1 behind another stellar outing from Cole Hamels.

Now the Rays need to hurry up and beat Boston if they want equal rest in time for the World Series.