Red Sox being Red Sox, even minus Manny

August 30, 2008

They're wounded. They're weary. They're Manny-free. Yet the Boston Red Sox are still the reigning champions, and they aren't going to go down without a fight.

Recent columns

• Sox are Cubs' worst nightmare

  August 28, 2008

  Beware the sneak attack.

• White Sox are Cubs' worst nightmare

  August 28, 2008

  Beware the sneak attack.

• Sox are Cubs' worst nightmare

  August 28, 2008

  Beware the sneak attack.

• Homer? D'oh!

  August 27, 2008

  Here's an idea for an office pool: Which umpire will be the first to have a home run call overturned by instant replay?

• Limited replay begins for Major League Baseball

  August 26, 2008

  Here's an idea for an office pool: Which umpire will be the first to have a home run call overturned by instant replay?

• New look in AL playoffs

  August 23, 2008

  They have won six of the last 13 World Series. They have combined for 20 postseason appearances since 1995 and always rank among baseball's biggest spenders.

• Rays are for real

  August 22, 2008

  That's the wrong question. Stop asking it.

• Rays are for real

  August 22, 2008

  That's the wrong question. Stop asking it.

• Expect Cubs, White Sox to seal playoff bids

  August 17, 2008

  Three of the six division races are about as tight as they can get entering the last six weeks of the season. A fourth finds the Tampa Bay Rays, of all teams, trying to hold off the Boston Red Sox.

• Winning division is not child's play

  August 11, 2008

  You can win a division title with inexperienced pitching.

• Winning division is not child's play

  August 11, 2008

  You can win a division title with inexperienced pitching.

• Winning division is not child's play

  August 11, 2008

  You can win a division title with inexperienced pitching.

• Playoff pressure mounts on both sides of Chicago

  August 10, 2008

  Suffocating.

• Rays learn, but tests loom

  August 10, 2008

  Joe Maddon helped Mike Scioscia become the best manager in the big leagues. But Maddon, the longtime Angels organization man, is having an even bigger impact on the American League this season than Scioscia, whose team has the best record in baseball.

• Pressure will intensify for Cubs

  August 10, 2008

  Suffocating.

• Red Sox and Cardinals both come to Chicago

  August 8, 2008

  Is this the year?

• Red Sox, Cardinals both come to Chicago

  August 8, 2008

  Will Ferrell, among others, says it is. So do the standings at the moment, which find the Cubs with the best record in the National League and the White Sox leading the American League Central.

• Manny Ramirez a big boost for Dodgers

  August 2, 2008

  How happy is Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt to have Manny Ramirez in left field?

• Cubs wise to sit out; Griffey, Sox odd fit

  August 1, 2008

  Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers in a three-way deal for Jason Bay?

• Cubs do not need to make any more moves

  July 31, 2008

  Do something! Come on, guys, please do something! For the love of everything sacred, do something! Right now!

• Cubs, Brewers both good bets for postseason

  July 30, 2008

  Take that.

• A Yankee's pride

  July 28, 2008

  COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Some weekends are better than others when you are the New York Yankees' general manager. This was one of the good ones for Brian Cashman.

• A Yankee's pride

  July 28, 2008

  Some weekends are better than others when you are the New York Yankees' general manager. This was one of the good ones for Brian Cashman.

• Off to flying start

  July 27, 2008

  COOPERSTOWN, N.Y.—A 20-year-old country boy in the big city, Rich Gossage was as lost as a man can be when he arrived in Chicago in 1972 to start his major-league career. But it didn't take him long to find a friend and baseball advisor, and in one of the most unlikely of packages.

• Kuhn a bad choice for Hall of Fame

  July 27, 2008

  Bowie Kuhn in the Hall of Fame?

• Kerry Wood still suffering discomfort

  July 24, 2008

  PHOENIX—Kerry Wood's blister remains bothersome, if not yet disabling. He had to ease his way through a scheduled bullpen session Wednesday, throwing only changeups, as the Cubs studied ways to replace him for the next week, if not longer.

• A's become an easy sell

  July 20, 2008

  In or out? Buyer or seller?

• Phil Rogers' midseason baseball awards

  July 17, 2008

  Baseball fans who double as numerologists don't need to be told about the wonders of Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler. The Texas Rangers' duo has been to the 2008 fantasy baseball season what Joel and Ethan Coen were to the Academy Awards.

• Long All-Star night worth remembering

  July 17, 2008

  NEW YORK — There's no clock in baseball but there is one at Yankee Stadium. It read 12:47 when Scott Kazmir started to warm up for his All-Star Game appearance.

• All's well that ends AL

  July 16, 2008

  This time it means something.

• Hendry a star searcher

  July 15, 2008

  NEW YORK — Eight isn't enough for Aramis Ramirez. He believes the Cubs' All-Star roster extends beyond the players who will be introduced with their National League teammates on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

• Simply a star searcher

  July 15, 2008

  Eight isn't enough for Aramis Ramirez. He believes the Cubs' All-Star roster extends beyond the players who will be introduced with their National League teammates on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

• Getting run of the House

  July 14, 2008

  NEW YORK — Chris Getz had himself quite a day.

• Getting run of the House

  July 14, 2008

  Chris Getz had himself quite a day.

• Sabathia deal provides hope of parity

  July 13, 2008

  It's always significant when a reigning Cy Young Award winner is traded. But there never has been a trade like the one that sent CC Sabathia from Cleveland to Milwaukee, and — begging the indulgence of the most provincial Chicagoans — if it's a new trend, it will be good for the sport.

• Sabathia's debut as Brewer a big deal

  July 9, 2008

  No, that didn't take long.

• Phil Rogers' column On baseball

  July 7, 2008

  ST. LOUIS — Looking like the cat that ate the canary, Lou Piniella sat behind his desk in the visitors' clubhouse Sunday and downplayed the significance of a 16-hit attack that had just pulverized the St. Louis Cardinals.

• Money can't buy All-Stars

  July 7, 2008

  Talk about embarrassing All-Star snubs.

• Only July, but it's still a big win

  July 7, 2008

  Looking like the cat that ate the canary, Lou Piniella sat behind his desk in the visitors' clubhouse Sunday and downplayed the significance of a 16-hit attack that had just pulverized the St. Louis Cardinals.

• As usual, La Russa finds a way

  July 6, 2008

  ST. LOUIS—Tony La Russa's decisions are generally better than most. So, for that matter, are his teams.

• As usual, Cards' La Russa finds a way

  July 6, 2008

  Tony La Russa's decisions are generally better than most. So, for that matter, are his teams.

• More Cubs than Sox likely to be All-Stars

  July 6, 2008

  There are three kinds of All-Stars every season: the truly deserving, the ones who go based on name value and the ones who are having All-Star seasons but get squeezed off the team for one reason or another, usually either the fan vote or the rule requiring every team to be represented.

• American is beautiful in interleague scuffles

  June 30, 2008

  Jim Leyland never looks happy, but you would imagine his creased, weathered frown is starting to turn upside down. Ron Gardenhire, among other American League managers, is practically giddy after a steady diet of National League competition.

• As bosses go, these are keepers

  June 29, 2008

  When Bill Bavasi finally was kicked to the curb as the Seattle Mariners' general manager, it didn't take long for the Kevin Towers rumors to surface. It never does.

• What if Fukudome had landed on South Side?

  June 28, 2008

  Kosuke Fukudome finally played a game at U.S. Cellular Field on Friday. Judging by some of the monstrous swings he took, it was a big day for him.

• Patterson's pop quite the bargaining chip

  June 23, 2008

  So even Eric Patterson has a little pop?

• Manuel, Riggleman finally get another shot at managing

  June 22, 2008

  Jerry Manuel needed five seasons to get a second chance. That's a long time to wait, but Jim Riggleman would have taken it. He needed nine seasons to escape the managerial graveyard.

• Guillen makes right moves with Danks

  June 21, 2008

  Kosuke Fukudome took an outside pitch the other way, lining a single to left field. There was one out in the sixth inning, and this was the first hit John Danks had allowed since the second inning.

• Class act Griffey deserves shot at big stage

  June 15, 2008

  Ken Griffey Jr. hit his first 600 home runs playing for only two teams. Will he move to a third after nine seasons in Cincinnati and 11 in Seattle?

• Class act Griffey deserves shot at big stage

  June 14, 2008

  Ken Griffey Jr. hit his first 600 home runs playing for only two teams. Will he move to a third after nine seasons in Cincinnati and 11 in Seattle?

• Next save could be biggest

  June 8, 2008

  Nothing scares scouting directors and general managers more than the thought of investing huge money in high school pitchers.

• White Sox need a minor-league miracle

  June 3, 2008

  Brad Eldred is 27 and a mountain of a hitter. He is listed at 6 feet 5 inches and 275 pounds, and he's leading the Triple-A International League with 52 runs batted in—15 more than the heralded Jay Bruce had when Cincinnati promoted him a week ago.

• Cubs' return to playoffs under construction

  February 13, 2008

  It was a cold January night, and the Cubs' starting shortstop had something to do.

• White Sox try for turnaround in '08

  February 13, 2008

  Nine players.

• White Sox Triple-A skipper Shines razor-sharp

  July 5, 2006

  Evaluating?

• Examination of bats proves little

  June 5, 2003

  About halfway through ESPN's two-hour, "Say It Ain't So-sa," special, the broker who owns the authenticated bat that Sammy Sosa used to hit his 498th career home run, did something remarkable. He and another man held the ends of the bat while a third man used a hand saw to slice through the barrel.

• No need for Sosa to cheat

  June 4, 2003

  Talk about overkill.