Hermida's A Marlin

(MLB)

And his first major-league at-bat's a GRAND SLAM!! (Sportsline)

Today's Absolutely, Positively Must-Win Games

...with double the fun in Atlanta, Pedro pitching against Philly, and Suppan vs. Vargas in FLA.

(Yahoo)(ESPN)(Sportsline)(MLB)(FOX)(CNNSI)

RECRAP: Fish and Mets lose. Astros and Phillies win. Nats and Braves split.

Ramon Castro Put Marlins on Top...

...(and the Mets within a half-game) with one single swing. "Ramon Castro now has an astounding 36 RBI via his 38 hits this season. Is there any way he doesn't lead the league in "Hits/RBI" ratio?"

Also, a quote from Newsday, "Castro said last night's home run was the second biggest hit of his career, the first coming during Florida's run to the wild card in 2003."

And again, a mention here of Rob Meyer's mention of CoolStandings.com and their tabulations of Wild Card winning probabilities. (Aaaagh! Marlins third???) (AlwaysAmazin'Weblog)

Rick Hummel Sizes Up the Cards' Possible Playoff Opponents

He wonders "how long can (Todd) Jones hold up?", plus other ponderings. (PostDispatch)

Giants Send Deivi Cruz to Nats

... and Jason Christiansen to the Angels. (InsideBayArea)

Morris Vs. Ismael Projected Tonight

(Yahoo)(ESPN)(Sportsline)(MLB)(FOX)(CNNSI)

RECAP: Yeow! Fish win, and share the Wild Card Lead with Philly. Auggh! The Metstros are a half-game up the Pharlins' behind, with the Nats' pushing up the rear.

32 Games Left, Half-a-Game Back

(Yahoo)(ESPN)(Sportsline)(MLB)(FOX)(CNNSI)

RECRAP: Make that 31 games left, one game back.

And Down the Stretch They Come...

Today officially begins the Marlins' trek through what many have called the toughest schedule to finish the season of any of the NL Wild Card contenders. The Fish may be at home, but the Cardinals' road record (42-23) is better than the Marlins' home record (38-28). St. Louis is in the middle of a 13-game road trip, so far winning 3 out of 4 from Pittsburgh and 2 of 3 from Washington - they did lose 3 of 4 to the Cubs at Wrigley August 11-14, but that was after a 3-game sweep of the Brewers at Miller Park. So for the month of August they're 9-5 on the road. The Marlins split their series at Busch Stadium at the start of August, but the Fish's 2 losses were from the 2 pitchers who're supposed to be starting tonight (Carpenter) and tomorrow (Morris). Meanwhile the Nats, who got swept by the Braves in Atlanta last month, return for a 4-game set. Tomorrow Philly and the Mets will smack each other around, and the lucky Astros gets to host Cincinatti (1-5 in Houston this year, 4-9 overall).

MORE FUN FACTS: "Juan Pierre....(is) hitting .406 in the past eight games and has scored six runs and stolen five bases in the past five games....Florida has hit just seven home runs in its past 23 games and all seven have been hit by either Carlos Delgado or Miguel Cabrera. No other Marlin has homered since Aug. 5." (PostDispatch)

Possible Sweep By Team From Last Week's 'Windy City'? Check and See...

(Yahoo)(ESPN)(Sportsline)(MLB)(FOX)(CNNSI)

BLAH-CAP: Fish lose, but so do Nats, Stros, Mets, and Phils. Braves win, but that's as expected.

Update on Viera

Who owns what, who pays who, who plays for who, and who's on first. (FloridaToday)

Vargas the Lawn Sprinkler

"Every whirling pitch from Marlins rookie Jason Vargas sends a speck of juice flying off the back of his locks." (KansasCityStar)

"I Pitched Good Enough To Lose"

Maddux frustrated as hitting Pierre and Willis leads to complete-game loss. (NorthwestHerald)

Today's Games (11/18ths-CAP: Fish Lead Cubs 2-1 in the Middle of the 6th)

(Yahoo)(ESPN)(Sportsline)(MLB)(FOX)(CNNSI)

UPDATE: Fish win!

FULL-CAP: Atlanta also wins. Fish now half-game from the top of the Wild Card.

Yesterday's Games (PRE-CAP: Fish Win Again)

(Yahoo)(ESPN)(Sportsline)(MLB)(FOX)(CNNSI)

9 PM Thursday to 2 PM Saturday

That's how long the 'cane called Katrina knocked the electricity out of my neighborhood. Except for a blown-off branch and a bent rain gutter, things are A-OK over here.

36 Games to Go to Make Up 2-Game Deficit - Hangover Game Today

(Yahoo)(ESPN)(Sportsline)(MLB)(FOX)(CNNSI)

RECAP: Fish win!

Most of Marlins Team Seemed Drunk Last Night

...except for Delgado and a couple of others. They got as many errors as runs. Even the umps had trouble seeing. Fish lose 4 straight road games. (SunSentinel)

No Local TV - Good Time to Go To Conine's...

...and support your not-too-overpayed, actually-somewhat-effective Mr. Marlin.

(Yahoo)(ESPN)(Sportsline)(MLB)(FOX)(CNNSI)

RECRAP: BLECHHH!!!. Conine's error loses the game! Get rid of him!

UPDATE: Okay, slightly calmer now. Wild Card now has Phils 1.5 games ahead of Astros, 2 games ahead of Fish, Mets and Nats.

A Reasonably Complete History of The Complete Game

Featuring Trader Jack, and his oft-repeated opinions on the subject. (JournalSentinel)

Beckett Like a Drunk Against Brewers

Messenger sent the message, "We're gonna lose". (SunSentinel)