JUST A COUPLE OF QUICKIES

##  Joe Girardi is back. Four million a year for four years, plus incentives. Gee, I hope he wasn't 'insulted' like the previous manager was.

##  I had to reread this twice before I was convinced it wasn't a joke. Paul O'Neil is interested in becoming the manager of the Cincinnati Reds. It seems he was contacted by owner Bob Castillini about his interest in the job. O'Neil is a native of Cincinnati, so I can see why such an offer would interest him, but I can't see him as the manager. He is fun to listen to in the booth, but I don't think he could handle the statistical part of the job that has become mandatory in the last few years. I think he just wants in on the post-game buffets.

##  Detroit and Oakland play tonight to determine the final member of the championship series. Those series will start Friday, and if all goes well - no serious rain-out delays - the World Series would end on October 31st if it went seven games. Whew, just made it.

##  Hated to see the Pirates lose, the fans were so happy and appreciative. Hopefully, this wasn't a one shot deal.

##  What Yankee manager has the most career wins as the manager? Most people would guess Casey Stengel (1149 wins), but it's not him. Billy Martin, by comparison has only 556 wins, 8 less than Joe Girardi. And it's not Joe Torre (1173) either. It's Marse Joe McCarthy, who ended up managing the Yanks for 16 years and totaled 1460 wins and seven World Championships. He might have even lasted with George Steinbrenner at the helm.  Nah!

##  This little item appeared in Janice Hough's blog today:
"When interviewed for local radio and asked for his NLDS prediction, Chipper Jones had predicted LA would beat Atlanta in 4 games.  So the entire Braves team boycotted his throwing out the ceremonial first pitch for game 1, and Chipper had to throw to the mascot. Sounds like Atlanta is just as classy as their fans’ Tomahawk Chop."  Boy, if that isn't a reason to root against the Braves, I don't know what is.

***THEY SAID IT***
"Cowboys owner Jerry Jones called his teams loss to the Broncos a moral victory. Translation: they beat the spread and I made a shitload of money."  -- TC Chong 
"Mark Sanchez had season-ending surgery today, and said “I’m very disappointed that I can’t be out there to help my team on the field.” Many NY Jets fans are thinking that he’s doing a great job of helping his team by staying OFF the field."  -- Janice Hough
"Darko Milicic, the 7-foot former NBA draft bust, told CorriereDelloSport.it that he spends a lot of his time fishing these days. So just call him The Big One That Got Away — with about $52 million."  -- Dwight Perry
"The Chicago Cubs are looking for a new manager. The job comes with the salary set high and the bar set low."  -- RJ Currie

It ain't sports, but...
"Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who's 80 and the second-oldest member of U.S. Senate, is running for re-election. He will be traveling the state in a bus with its left turn signal on the entire way."  -- Brad Dickson

CP-