Catching up on some stuff that’s been sitting on the proverbial desk for awhile. Yeah, it’s a little old, but so am I. Get over it:

Chris at Capitol Punishment examines the Nationals’ least clutch plays of the 2007 season.
Speaking of the Nats, Harper at Oleander and Morning Glories explains why Manny Acta didn’t get serious consideration for NL Manager of the Year.
Erik at Philliesflow wonders why Jimmy Rollins won the NL Silver Slugger at shortstop over Florida’s Hanley Ramirez. Remember, this is a Phillies blogger asking the question.
Will at Chop-n-Change looks at the best ever to play left field for …read more

Just time enough for haiku today…
Glavine returns home
Will one year in Atlanta
Erase his last start?
White Sox ship Garland
To Angels for Cabrera,
Have no pitching left
Three years of Lowell
Only in Red Sox Nation
Is he a bargain
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In theory, Tom Glavine should have been the perfect pitcher to start against Florida in the finale. In practice, he failed to make it through the first inning for just the second time in his career.
The Mets are down, 7-1, after two innings. They are running their third pitcher of the morning out there now.
[Update: This game is now a final: Florida has won, 8-1, and the Mets' season is finished.]

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

Not as catchy as “Two For Tuesday,” but it will have to do. Real quick like, here are your games for today:

Tigers at Yankees, 12:55 p.m. PT — Two teams fighting for a playoff berth, Roger Clemens pitching… Clemens’ career ERA by team: Tor, 2.33; Hou, 2.40; Bos, 3.06; NYA, 3.99.
Angels at Red Sox, 4:05 p.m. PT — Same as above, but with Curt Schilling instead of Clemens.
Cardinals at Cubs, 12:55 p.m. PT — Take the NL Central, please. Nobody wants it, and here come the Cards. Gee, I sure hope another 83-win team wins the World Series this year.
Diamondbacks …read more

Another milestone? Really. It’s becoming almost cliche.
First Alex Rodriguez hits his 500th homer, then Barry Bonds hits his 755th, now Tom Glavine wins his 300th game. The veteran left-hander beat the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Sunday evening to reach his milestone.
As impressive as Glavine’s accomplishment is (and it certainly is), what blows my mind is that if he’d managed to pick up one more victory in 2003, he now would have 19 consecutive seasons of 10 or more wins. That is insanely consistent. Glavine also is the first 300-game winner since Warren Spahn (1942-1965) never to crack the …read more

The Baseball Crank examines Tom Glavine’s march toward 300 victories in the context of those who have gone before him. I didn’t realize that only four left-handed pitchers in the history of MLB have reached that hallowed mark.
The Crank digs deep, back into the 19th century, and finds that early southpaws weren’t particularly effective. He cites the creation of the American Association in 1882 as the first breakthrough for lefties, noting that “startup leagues are often quicker to process innovation.” The second key point came two years later, when pitchers began throwing overhand.
Fascinatingly, in 1919, there were eight right-handers with …read more

Hey, did you notice that I hyped some pretty decent games on Wednesday? Will miracles never cease…
Not that it took a genius to figure out that Felix Hernandez/Daisuke Matsuzaka would be a great matchup, but a one-hitter from Hernandez? Against that lineup? Yesterday I said, “…and if something should happen to Johan Santana, Hernandez could garner some Cy Young support.” I’d like to remove the qualifier from that statement. You dominate the Red Sox in their house, and you’re something special.
And the Justin Verlander/Adam Loewen matchup turned out to be a dandy as well. Both struggled with control a bit, …read more

It’s here. Finally. The New York Mets start the ‘07 baseball season at St. Louis to take on the defending World Series champion Cardinals. Tom Glavine goes against Chris Carpenter. We’ll be here all night, covering the game as it happens.
Baseball is back. Everything feels right again.