A Rose by Any Other Number

When two players on the same team have the same last name, why does the team add the first initial to the jersey? Isn't that what the number is for, to tell the players apart?

MLB: Screw Dodger Fans, and NL players come to think of it

Riddle me this, Riddler: Why is ALCS game 1, which features two East Coast teams, starting at 8:37 Eastern time, while NLCS game 2, which includes a West Coast team, starting at 4:22? MLB seems to be saying Tough Crap to Dodger faithful who hold regular jobs and won't get to watch Big Blue's game, which should conclude by 4:30 West Coast time.

I'm sure some TV executive made this choice, thinking the Red Sox garner a wider viewing audience, but I doubt that's true in SoCal, the second largest TV market in the country, when the Dodgers are playing.

This bizarre scheduling choice also screams F-YOU to the NL players, who concluded a game at 11 Eastern and now have to play on short rest. The AL players were off last night and could start an early game with no problem.

Shea It Ain't So

Rally Cap made a road trip to scenic Flushing, NY last night to catch the Amazin's and the Cubbies, and more importantly to say goodbye to Shea. A remarkable walk-off ending gave the Mets an improbable come-from-behind win over mostly second-team Cubs. It made for a memorable way to say goodbye to one of the first "modern" multipurpose sports stadiums. It was this writer's first and last visit to Shea and I am so glad I made the effort. Next up are Wrigley and Fenway, but that will have to wait til next season.

The photo is Shea as it looked when it opened in 1964. There's a great history of Shea posted on the Mets web site that I urge you to read. Great stuff for any sports (not just baseball) fan, especially trivia nuts. (1975 - Giants, Jets, Yankees and Mets all share Shea while Yankee Stadium is renovated. It's the only time four pro sports teams have shared one venue in the same season.)

If you want a piece of history you can buy pairs of seats for $869, with all the profits going to charity. The one thing you can't buy is Shea's home plate. That's already accounted for.

Can't buy me love (or can you?)

Baseball, more than other major pro sports, is filled with whiney ownership complaining about small market revenues and an inability to compete. And yet almost every year one (or more) team(s) blows the market/payroll/revenue theory all to hell either by losing with a big payroll or winning with a small one. (It's one of the reasons that I personally don't think fans should ever finance stadiums with taxes, but that's a whole other blog.)

The Florida Marlins disproved the complaint twice, with World Series wins in 1999 and 2003. The second championship cost the club just $48.75 million. More recently, the Rockies made it to last year's World Series on just $54.4 million.

And, as is the case in so many years, the Yankees this year are one of the teams proving the converse, that payroll doesn't equal championships. The team hasn't won a World Series since its payroll topped $100 million. Does its $209 million payroll for 2008 mean that the club is two times less likely to win it all?

This year the team with the largest payroll increase over last year: Detroit, giving them the league's third highest payroll. Silly Tigers, 64-67 isn't getting it done when it's costing you $137.7 million. Two other teams clearly overpaying for wins – Atlanta and Seattle.

This year's payroll surprise winners are the Tampa Bay Rays ($43.8 million) and the Minnesota Twins ($56.9 million) – although the Twins aren't really much of a surprise because they seem to compete most seasons. They're just 1 game behind – but $62 million ahead of – the White Sox. The Marlins, sporting the league's lowest payroll, are competing in the NL East, yet the team salary is less than half that of the Rays, MLB's second lowest payroll.

Here are the total payroll figures for all 30 MLB teams for 2008 (as reported by USAToday).

Team	Total payroll
New York Yankees	$ 209,081,577
New York Mets	$ 137,793,376
Detroit Tigers	$ 137,685,196
Boston Red Sox	$ 133,390,035
Chicago White Sox	$ 121,189,332
Los Angeles Angels	$ 119,216,333
Los Angeles Dodgers	$ 118,588,536
Chicago Cubs	$ 118,345,833
Seattle Mariners	$ 117,666,482
Atlanta Braves	$ 102,365,683
St. Louis Cardinals	$ 99,624,449
Philadelphia Phillies	$ 98,269,880
Toronto Blue Jays	$ 97,793,900
Houston Astros	$ 88,930,414
Milwaukee Brewers	$ 80,937,499
Cleveland Indians	$ 78,970,066
San Francisco Giants	$ 76,594,500
Cincinnati Reds	$ 74,117,695
San Diego Padres	$ 73,677,616
Colorado Rockies	$ 68,655,500
Texas Rangers	$ 67,712,326
Baltimore Orioles	$ 67,196,246
Arizona Diamondbacks	$ 66,202,712
Kansas City Royals	$ 58,245,500
Minnesota Twins	$ 56,932,766
Washington Nationals	$ 54,961,000
Pittsburgh Pirates	$ 48,689,783
Oakland Athletics	$ 47,967,126
Tampa Bay Rays	$ 43,820,597
Florida Marlins	$ 21,811,500

Spending the night at the park

Rally Cap spent Sunday night at the local ball park -- Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia -- watching the Dodgers and Phils go at it. Phillies needed a win to move with 1/2 game of the division leading Mets. At the moment, it's 2-2 in th 11th with Victorino on second and none out.

Tickets to the game came courtesy of a friend of Rally Cap -- MOD. Any time you give RC a free ticket, you're a friend. But MOD and his beautuful bride, are long time friends who came up with a late afternoon offer that could not be refused. So thanks! It's always good to see everyone. The game is a bonus.

Update 12:20 am: Feliz - yeah, who? -- smacks a three run home run to win it in the 11th. Phils win 5-2 and Feliz has 4 RBIs for the night. Go figure!