SEASON'S END

***A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE SEASON***
Surprises:
Bautista hits 54 homers - It's either a break out season for baseball's newest slugger, or maybe somebody had help. I hope there was nothing funny about his season, we need some legitimate performances.
The Mariners go into the tank - In the beginning, they looked like they had a realistic chance at a division championship, with 2 potential pitching aces: Cliff Lee & The King, plus a supposed decent lineup. It didn't work. They traded Lee and there was no lineup. I don't know if management made poor choices or some players just didn't perform the way they should have.
Boston Red Sox - We should say "Boston Medical." Too many injuries and not enough recognition for the job Francona did.
San Diego challenges for the NL West - Teams do come from out of nowhere sometimes, but the Padres hung on a lot longer than anyone thought they would.

No surprises:
Minnesota wins the Central - And they did it without Morneau. Of course, Jim Thome filled in admirably. Gardenhire did his usual great job and he IS getting the recognition.
Philly comes through - But it did take them a while.
Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Kansas City didn't - But you knew that.

***PICASNER'S EARLY PLAYOFF PICKS***
One and out:
Atlanta
Texas
Minnesota
Cincinnati

***AND THE LIGHTER SIDE***
I guess it depends on your viewpoint. 3 headlines in the Rochester paper today:
YANKS TAKE WILD CARD (the emphasis is theirs)
Yanks Settle For Wild Card
Yanks Stumble Into Playoffs
Something for everybody there, I guess

From Dwight Perry:
"Ten players got kicked off Nashville's Hunters Lane High School football team for smoking or possessing marijuana. Coaches figured something was amiss when just six players hogged all the postgame brownies."
From Brad Dickson, Omaha World-Herald:
"An East German sports official admitted in a book that the E. German athletes used performance enhancing drugs in the 1970's. I believe the book title is, 'Well, Duh.'"
Another from Dwight:
Cowboys rookie receiver Dez Bryant was forced to pay his veteran teammates' $54,896 restaurant tab, his agent said, "unless he wanted to wash dishes for a month."
"If that's what restaurants are paying dishwashers these days," noted David Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "it's time for a career change."
From CJ Currie, Sports Deke:
"Not only is George Steinbrenner's memorial at Yankee Stadium about three times larger than those around it, I just read it weighs 760 pounds! And my dentist thinks I have a problem with plaque build-up?"

Picasner & Annie-O head to Cooperstown till Thursday. I'll let you all know if Dwight Perry has a plaque there.

CP-