Talk about a great series, wow.  To me, this Boston Tampa Bay series epitomized a great matchup of two teams with great pitching and timely hitting.  You look at the Boston Red Sox, a team I picked to win this AL Championship, and you scratch your head.  To me, Josh Beckett clearly didn’t pitch like the Josh Beckett I know and John Lester struggled in both starts he made.  And if you look at Big Papi, it’s obvious that he’s not 100% healthy.  I think that really had an impact on this series.

Then you look at a team like the Tampa Bay Rays.  To me, this team epitomizes a young, exciting, motivated baseball team.  You look at a guy like BJ Upton, a guy who only had a handful of home runs all year, and you look at how many clutch home runs he’s had so far this post season.  To me, Upton is a guy who has really matured in this post season, especially when you consider the motivation problems he had earlier in the year.  Then you look at a guy like Evan Longoria who has become an MVP type player in his first season.  To me, these are some of the reasons the Rays were able to overcome the powerful Boston Red Sox in this series.

Looking ahead to the World Series it’ll be a tough matchup for both teams.  But I like the Philadelphia Phillies.  I’m looking to get my first prediction right this post season and I think the Phillies match up well with what the Rays bring to the table.  To me, Ryan Howard is about to take his game to the next level and Chase Utley will show why he should be the MVP that I predicted.  Nevermind that the Rays have better pitching and arguably a better lineup top to bottom, to me this series will come down to the middle of the Phillies order hitting.  When you have a lineup like that, it’s tough to pick against.

As a continuation from the National League tale of the tape, let’s take a look at the two remaining American League teams; the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays.  More specifically, lets take a look at the obnoxious Red Sox nation and how they compare to the fierce rays that swim around in the tank in right-center field at Tropicana Field.

Height/Weight:
Red Sox Fan: Usually like six foot brah, weighin in at a hefty 230 but it’s 230 pounds worth of Red Sox blood.  GO SAWX.
Rays: Can grow up to 25 feet in width and can weigh up to 5,000 lbs.

Introduction to baseball:
Red Sox Fan: Came in around 2002 with the rise of the Red Sox in the AL East division standings.  Followah of Kevin Millah, Big Papih, and, of course, the Caaaap, Jason Varitehk.
Rays: Came into the league in 1998 but didn’t matter (unless you gave a shit about who finished last place or reaped the benefits of acquiring one of their countless talented young players in a steal of a trade) until this year.

Typical Friday night:
Red Sox fan: Goin to the Sawx game, of course.  Then aftawards, headin’ down to McGillicutty’s, O’Houlihans, or the Blarney Stone fah a few rounds of Sam Adams and spendin’ the night talkin’ bout the Sawx win.  Love that shit, brah.
Rays: Swimming around a glass tank.

MVP of the team:
Red Sox Fan: DUSTIN PEDROIAH THE DESTROYAH BRAH.  Nawt just MVP of our team, MVP of the world.
Rays: Blub blub, Evan Longoria, blub blub.

Notable feats:
Red Sox Fan: Annoying the shit out of everyone in the United States who isn’t a Red Sox fan.
Rays: Taking down Steve Irwin, someone who was previously thought to be fearless and a superhuman.  RIP.

Yankees?:
Red Sox Fan: Nothin’ I hate more, brah, than tha Yanks.
Rays: We justify our spring training fight as standing up to the man, but the Yankees couldn’t give two shits about it.  We’re still the Rays.

Series History: Up until this year, there wasn’t much of one.  But the Rays have stood up to the Red Sox all year, and I’m sure that, over the course of this season, some stupid ass Red Sox fan got stung by a sting ray at a beach somewhere (Red Sox Nation is everywhere brah).  Likewise, the Rays have battled back and forth with the Red Sox all season, including a sweep in Tampa Bay late in the year.

Outcome: The Red Sox are still the Red Sox, and they’ll put up a fight.  But this year seems to be the year of the Rays.  Tampa seems more confident and more energetic, and I think that’ll translate.  And I also like Tampa’s pitching more than Bostons.  Rays in seven.

How many times have we heard Curt Schilling fire off blasts at teammates, former teammates, and even athletes from different sports on his stupid ass blog and on radio shows.  Schilling is the pretentious dick who takes it upon himself to weasel his way into everyone elses business while he’s sitting on his ass rehabbing one of his age-induced injuries.  Well he’s at it again, this time with former Chowdah star Manny Ramirez.

Schilling alleges that Ramirez was not only a bad teammate but also disrespected everyone in the Red Sox lineup by acting like a seven year old.  Schilling called Ramirez’s disrespect to his teammates “unfathomable.”  Okay Curt, we get it.  Manny didn’t give a shit at times in Boston.  He’s gone now, so get over it.  Good to hear that “The Captain” Jason Varitek really had a hold on that clubhouse.

While what Schilling said has some validity to it, what’s the real point of him saying it?  Is this shocking news that nobody knew about?  No.  This is just another case of Curt Schilling waking up, burning his eggs, not being able to find two matching socks, and calling into a Boston radio station to blast a former teammate to vent his anger.  Fix your arm before you start fixing the teams problems, asshole.

Boy, Manny looks like he’s giving up on his team in LA.  He’s really been apathetic since he got there, not trying hard or anything.  Oh wait, he’s hitting .400?  He’s single-handedly led the Dodgers into the division lead?  He’s revived baseball in LA?  Huh, who would have thought.  I guess such is life on Planet Man-Ram.  Oh and Schilling, I’ll give you a six-pence to shut the hell up.

Woods and Nike, Beckham and Adidas, Favre and Wrangler. These are just a few athletes forever linked with the products they endorse. Well, it’s time to throw the Red Sox’ Dustin Pedroia into the endorsement mix. According to The Big Lead, the annoying scrappy 2nd baseman can now be found in your local grocery store pimping…salsa?

Pedroia Salsa is available in both “mild” and “medium”, but not “hot.” If you want hot, you’ll have to eat buffalo wings or chowdah. A jar of this gringo black bean and corn concoction is available at PLB Sports for just $2.94, plus $4 shipping. Hardly worth it, but what other opportunities will you have to double dip with the reigning American League Rookie of the Year?

The salsa can be purchased through the PLB Sports website, which offers a hilarious variety of athlete-endorsed grub. If salsa ain’t your thing, then why not pick up some Ed McCaffrey Rocky Mountain Mustard, Horseradish, or, my personal favorite, Eddie Mac and Cheese? If you still want the salsa without the honky pitchman, you can nab Freddie Sanchez Salsa, guaranteed to raise your batting average all the way to .253!

If the Major League Baseball season continues to shake up like it has we could be in for a very special treat. Many Major League teams are adding to the excitement that we see night in and night out, but it remains to be seen what teams will have enough to withstand the tough month of September and stay alive. Let’s take a look at this year’s pretenders and contenders for the upcoming dramatic playoff race.

A.L. Pretenders:
Tampa Bay Rays- I feel really bad for putting the Rays in this spot, but I don’t see them making it out alive in the A.L. East. The Red Sox will find some way to make this thing close before September comes. If stud third baseman Evan Longoria and closer Troy Percival can get off the DL sooner rather than later the Rays could have a chance, but putting everything on Carlos Pena and Australian Grant Balfour is a tough thing to ask.

Minnesota Twins- Tip your hat to the Twins for staying in it this long. Losing Santana and Hunter gave the image of a losing year back in Spring Training, however the emergence of young pitchers such as Nick Blackburn and Kevin Slowey have kept the Twins floating. The main problem with the Twins lies with the lineup outside of All-Stars Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer. The Twins will take on the Mariners and Oakland this week in a 7 game west coast swing; games in which they need to play well in to stay on top of the division.

N.L. Pretenders:
Philadelphia Phillies- The Phillies leader in wins is Jamie Moyer. Ouch. This squad has no pitching outside Cole Hamels and Moyer. And please don’t sit here and tell me that fat ass Joe Blanton was the answer to the Phillies pitching problems. They made a weak push for Rich Harden and are quickly learning that Blanton’s cheese curd fastball can’t hold much to Harden’s dominance. Their lineup is stacked, but their rotation isn’t. Balanced teams make the playoffs. The blue collar working class of Philadelphia will once again have to hope the Mets collapse in a New York minute (or seven games in seventeen days like last year).

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We’ve wrapped up our live blog coverage, but 30 minutes after the trade deadline officially passed, we’re finally getting some information about Boston’s Manny Ramirez, who appears to be on his way to Los Angeles. More information as we get it.

According to the MLB.com Trade Deadline Blog:

Just when it seemed the Red Sox weren’t going to be able to find a deal for star slugger Manny Ramirez, they have reportedly dealt the right-handed hitting run producer to the Los Angeles Dodgers. SI.com reported the news. The Boston Globe also reported that the Red Sox had traded Ramirez, but didn’t say where. Rumblings are that Jason Bay is in fact going from Pittsburgh to Boston to make it a three-way deal.

Update 1:33 PM PST: It sounds official. SI.com is reporting the following:

The Red Sox traded Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers late Thursday afternoon, SI.com has learned.

Jason Bay is headed to Boston as part of the deal, SI.com has learned. The Pirates will get four minor leaguers in the three-way trade.

Update 1:42 PM PST: The Pirates received Bryan Morris and Andy LaRoche from Los Angeles. They also received Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen from Boston.