This is it. The final day of the regular season. Four teams are fighting for the final two playoff spots in the National League. Baseball Prospectus is tracking the odds as each game finishes this weekend, while David Pinto keeps us posted on his massive tie scenario.
Meanwhile, here are the games that matter:

Marlins at Mets, 10:10 a.m. PT — Dontrelle Willis vs Tom Glavine. I can’t think of a better pitcher to make this start for New York than Glavine. To say the guy is well prepared for this situation is to make a colossal understatement. He’ll face a tough …read more

Or, more to the point, what should it be? That’s the question David Pinto asks at Baseball Prospectus [tip o' the Knuckle Curve cap to reader Didi]. After running through a brief history of the save’s evolution as a baseball statistic, Pinto drops this little bomb:
It’s time to decouple the save from the person who finishes the game, and start awarding it to the reliever who does the most to increase the chance of his team winning. This should encourage managers to use their best pitchers in game situations, and still allow these pitchers to gather saves to use to …read more

Our friends at Gaslamp Ball have pointed to a story claiming that Curt Schilling’s infamous bloody sock from the 2004 playoffs may have been staged. David Pinto at Baseball Musings used to work at ESPN and knows Gary Thorne, the announcer who made the claim. Quoth Pinto:
Having seen Thorne screw up on the air many times with ESPN, I have no doubt that the Red Sox are right here. I try very hard not to dislike people, but I have strong professional dislike for Thorne.
And further down:
So I’m biased about Thorne. In my opinion, he’s sloppy. And in this case …read more