ONE AND DONE

Well, it was quick and painless. NY probably wasn't going to go past the next round anyway, so it was good to get it over with fast.  Not so for the Pirates, who had a more than decent chance to go all the way.
As always in a short series, it's better to be the hot team than the better team.

You can learn a lot by watching.  -- Yogi Berra 
It's Deja Vu all over again.  -- Yogi Berra

Two 'Yogi-isms' that fit well here.

Chase Utley takes out Miguel Tejada on a tough slide, breaking up the double play. This happens all the time and occasionally, someone gets hurt. David Schoenfield, ESPN, usually takes the controversial side in any discussion so that he can appear to be relevant.  He just comes off as not understanding the game. If you listen to the former players, now analysts for ESPN, you'll get the real understanding of the play. It was completely legal. That Tejada got hurt is unfortunate but not unusual. If the pivot man gets hurt on this play, he probably didn't handle the play properly. In this case he didn't. He has to know the runner is bearing down on him, he's facing him. Instead of catching the ball and making the throw quickly, he tried a fancy pivot on the same side of the bag that the runner was heading for. Utley was very close to the bag, did not go in spikes up and slid into the fielder.
The fielder has options, too. He can come down on the runner with his spikes (not intentionally, of course), he can throw the ball right at the runner (again, not intentionally) and he can learn how to avoid the contact. Tejada didn't do any of these things. It only becomes a "dirty" play if someone gets hurt.

Actually, nothing was good about this play: 
1) The runner was called out initially.
2) After review, they called the runner safe because Tejada did not touch the bag.
3) Watching a replay turned up the fact that Utley never touched the bag either and ran off the field after the play ended.
The replay system has made nitpickers of everybody.  Without it, nobody would have known that Tejada just missed the bag. In the old days (there, I've said it), this would have been the old "neighborhood play" and Tejada would probably not have tried so hard to touch the bag.
Here's the other problem. Why was Utley brought back out to the base? Sure, the fielder never touched the bag, but neither did Utley. The other part is, that safe or out, if a runner leaves the field HE IS OUT. Automatically.
Maybe we should eliminate replays completely - or just limit it to fair or foul and home run or not.  Lets go back to the fallible umpires. If you watch them call balls and strikes, you know they're fallible.

Joe Girardi says he made the best decisions he could all year. He thinks the Yanks can win it all next year with the same team he has now. INSANITY: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Hey Joe, I understand the George Washington Bridge is for sale.

Now this is a good story.  Because of the severe flooding in South Carolina, the Gamecocks moved their football game against LSU to Baton Rouge. LSU turned over the income from tickets and concessions to South Carolina. In addition, since S. Carolina band couldn't make the trip, the LSU band learned Carolina's Alma Mater and fight song and played them both during the game. Way to go, LSU.
(From Janice Hough's column)

***THEY SAID IT***
"Nebraska leads the nation in penalties. Saturday, there were two flags thrown during the Tunnel Walk."  -- Brad Dickson

"Eagles RB DeMarco Murray — who’s rushed for 47 yards on 29 carries this season — says he’s not getting the ball enough. At his current rate of 1.6 per, Murray would need 62 carries for a 100-yard game and seven carries just to get a first down."  -- Dwight Perry

" According to the crew on TSN, “everyone in Canada” has Blue Jays fever. Which prompted my wife to ask: “Who are the Blue Jays?”  -- RJ Currie

"It’s only the first week of the postseason, and I am so over playoff beards."  -- Janice Hough
"The goal for the new Werner Park party patio is to make fans feel as if they’re in their own backyard. In my case, that will require letting the infield grass grow two feet and planting a thousand dandelions."  -- Brad Dickson
"The late Yogi Berra, as quoted in SI.com, when Kirby Puckett landed a record $3 million-a-year contract in 1990: “If Branch Rickey was alive today, he’d roll over in his grave."  -- In Dwight Perry's Column
"Browns coach Mike Pettine said his squad “looked like a scout team” in a 27-20 loss to the Raiders: “Girl or Cub?”  -- Reader Chas K (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

"I have a few tickets left for the game Sunday,” tweeted owner Jed York of the bedraggled 49ers. “Let me know if you can make it. Tweeted  in response: “I can’t give my tickets away either, Jed.”  -- Jake Echanove, 49ers fan

"London-born British chancellor George Osborne said he hopes to have an NFL team in his city within the next five years. “Me too,” said the mayor of Cleveland"  -- RJ Currie

"The Nobel Peace Prize has just been awarded. In a mild upset it went to the Washington Nationals pitching coach who broke up a dugout fight."  -- Brad Dickson

" NFL refs to wear No. 12 at all Seahawks home games.”  -- TC Chong

"Singer Justin Bieber drew the ire of UFC star Ronda Rousey by refusing to pose for a picture with her little sister: “Bieber’s funeral is tomorrow.”  -- Conan O'Brien

CP-