King - One minor correction, you mention the Indians rebounded and were in the Wild Card spot in the strike-shortened season. The wild card and 3-division format didn't start until 1995, the season after the strike.

Nope. 1994. The strike, and the cancellation of the postseason, could be seen as retribution from the angry baseball gods, if you were inclined to see things that way.

1995 was the first time the wild card was actually used, but it would have been in 1994 had the season continued. Check the 1994 standings on Baseball Reference, Retrosheet, etc. if you don't believe me.

What about the regular-season series?

How did the A's/Tigers and Cards/Mets do in their regular season face-offs? Is this a good prediction of how they'll do now?

Don't you people get the Internet? The Mets took 4-of-6 from the Cardinals and the Tigers took 5 of 9 from the A's.

And no, that's not very predictive. Not enough games.

I agree with those who find 119 losses as far more significant than 100 losses.

I didn't write that 119 losses isn't somehow worse or more significant or whatever you want to call it than 100 losses. My point was that rebounding from those two levels is pretty much the same thing. You have to start over. Even though a 119-loss team is way worse than a 100-loss team, my position is it's no harder to come back from 119 than from 100. They're both hard, but one isn't harder than the other.

Think of it this way: My brother, my sister and I all want to buy a house, and we've all figured out that if we save $1,000 a month, we'll each be able to afford a down payment within a couple years. My sister's already able to save abouut $900 a month. I'm able to save $50 a month. My brother loses about $100 a month.

I'm in much better shape than my brother. He's going broke and I at least have $50 in my pocket at the end of the month. But I'm no closer to buying a house than he is. Just as he does, I have to completely change my life around if I want to save $1,000 a month. My sister's almost there. She needs to adjust a few things here and there is all.

She's, let's say, this year's Phillies or Angels. I'm the Royals. My brother is the '03 Tigers. My brother and I have the same task ahead.

I found myself thinking a lot more about the two people who were killed in the building,

There were no such people. Early reports that four people had died, two on the plane and two in the building, were in error. Just the two in the plane, Lidle and a flight instructor named Tyler Stanger, were killed.

DanPepper: '77 Bucs -- Didn't they also lose 14 in a row before winning the last two games?

No, they lost 12 in a row, then won their last two. The 16-game schedule came in the next year, 1978.

spike24: Al Leiter -- Why is he not calling games?

He calls Yankees games for the Yes Network now. Don't know if he's doing radio for the playoffs or what, don't feel like looking it up. When Leiter and Jim Kaat are part of the rotating cast of announcers on Yes and they get to talking about pitching, it's pretty good. Or it was. Kaat's retiring.

3pointshooter: Maybe it's about time to put to rest, once and for all, the issue of momentum in baseball.

Yes, please! There's no such thing.

Freddie deBoer: I'll enjoy watching football, a sport that isn't dying, slow, boring, and full of insufferable nostalgia and self-glorification.

How nice for you.

BeachBum: So turn down that TV sound and enjoy the game!

I just can't stand to watch a game in real time. I start at least a half hour late so I can skip through the commercials and the "Game Breaks." TiVo's ruined me. It's torture for me to watch a game in a bar or at someone else's house now.

nathanrudy: Long time Diamondback? didn't know that animal existed. 

He's been there for eight years. And some of those were LONG years.

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I love those super slo-mo cams. They've had them for several years. I agree pointing one at first base would be pretty smart, though I don't know how many they have, how expensive they are, etc.

If you like those dirt cameras -- I thiink they're called lipstick cameras, because they're about that size and shape -- in the dirt in front of home plate and think they're nasal cams, check out the similar cameras sometimes embedded in the key for NBA games. Guess what you get a view straight up with those!

I find that dirt/lipstick cam useless too.

Harvey: You're a sportswriter and you don't play fantasy football? Do you just not like fantasy football?

I just don't like fantasy football.

Aaron, I've read that Brennaman apologized, though I didn't hear it myself. I haven't heard or read that Lyons did.

And it was one of those "if I offended" apologies, pretty much, though it was closer to being genuine than most.