...AND ONE TO GO!

Picasner has a lot of burrs under his saddle today, so let's get to it.

**After reading all the sportswriters blogs and columns, I often look thru the comments made by other readers, just to get a feel for what other fans are thinking. Last night (or rather this morning), the theme has been Philly fans claiming the Yankees have "bought" a championship (What? Are the Philly Fans giving up already?). Instead of spouting sour grapes, why don't those same fans look at the mistakes (no one covering third, Utley trying to be spectacular and just being dumb, etc.)) their team has made instead. And while we're at it: Aceves, Coke, Hughes, Pettitte, Rivera, Robertson, Posada, Cano, Jeter, Cabrera, Cervelli, Ramirez, Wang, Pena and Gardner all made significant contributions this year and are all home-grown.
**To be fair, the Yanks did make some important pickups this year: Sabathia, Burnett, Teixeira, Swisher and, last but not least, Kate Hudson.
**Again Girardi takes a rap for the bad decisions he's made. Granted, some have not worked out, but how many other teams have 113 wins so far this year? Couldn't have been that many bad decisions.
**One writer has castigated Chamberlain, saying he's been babied all year and he still is doing lousy. I guess he watched a different game. I saw Joba locate ONE pitch poorly and the Phillies were fotunate enough to hit it out. This coming as he was striking out the side, making 3 batters look like they've never seen a fastball before. I'll bet the Phillies would have traded Chamberlain's inning for Lidge's inning, even up.
**If you want to point a finger, Lidge is your man. A double steal (Damon's Dash) on one pitch blew him away completely. Thank heavens Manuel (He, of the perfect decisions, according to Philadelphia papers), had the temerity to leave Lidge in there, without even going out to calm him down, allowing the Yanks to beat him up. Thank you, Charlie.
**By the way, Jimmy Rollins now predicts the Phillies will win it in 11 games. (Vod, you tell him, I can't stop laughing!)
**Gene Wojciechowski (writing his name takes up half his column) of ESPN, was very outspoken yesterday, saying that Girardi sending ALL his starters out on three days rest was positively crazy. That was yesterday. Today, he says the Yanks are "taking the fun out of the Series." No, that's a good thing Gene. You'll have fewer chances to look silly.
**Did anyone else notice that Ryan Howard did NOT touch home plate in the fourth inning? Or was it just Picasner and the umpire. The ump never called him safe until Posada threw the ball back to the pitcher and Howard was in the dugout. Can't believe the umps got one right.
**Rob Neyer thinks Cole Hamels is "underrated." Yeah, right.
**I can understand the Phillies confidence after beating up the Tampa Bay Rays last year. The Rays were a fluke and the Angels, Red Sox or even the Yanks, would have been a better AL representative.

***WRITING TO SELIG***
I'm sure you read Vod's letter to Bud 'The Dud' Selig. Attached is Picasner' comment to Bud:
Mr. Selig: how can you possibly welcome a steroid user back into baseball (Mark McGwire) after giving people like A-Rod & Andy Pettitte such a hard time about their steroid use? McGwire made a mockery of Senate hearings and you call him "a fine young man." What kind of a commissioner are you?