In a better effort to figure out who will win the upcoming championship series in baseball, I’ve decided to size up identifyable icons with each team.  Starting in the National League, lets take a look at Philadelphia’s famous mascot versus the Dodgers most identifyable figure (no, it’s not Mexicans) Tommy Lasorda.

Height/Weight:
Phanatic: 7 foot, no idea how much that suit weighs or how fat the guy inside is.
Lasorda: 6 foot, 280 lbs.  (weight is a rough guess, we know he likes cream puffs)

Origins in Major League Baseball:
Phanatic: Debuted in 1978 in a game against the Chicago Cubs.
Lasorda: Took over as Dodgers manager in 1976 after the retirement of Walter Alston.

Stake to fame:
Phanatic: Aside from obnoxious and ridiculous dancing night in and night out, the Phanatic was rated sports’ best mascot by Sports Illustrated.
Lasorda: Was dotted by Vladimir Guerrero’s bat during an All-Star game while coaching third base.  Also won two world championships with the Dodgers.

Notable feats:
Phanatic: Could fit a handful of baseballs inside of his awkward beak while doing pelvic thrusts in front of the opposing team’s dugout.
Lasorda: HAS eaten a handful of baseballs while doing pelvic thrusts in front of Raul Mondesi during a game.

Able to defeat Kimbo Slice in a fight?:
Phanatic: Possibly.  The Phanatic is huge, so size wouldn’t be an issue against Kimbo.  However it’s entirely possible the Phanatic could knock Kimbo down, spend too much time dancing around like a mascot, and get blindsided by Slice while not paying attention.
Lasorda: Doubtful.  Lasorda has his mind on the post-fight buffet.

How do they roll:
Phanatic: On an ATV
Lasorda: Probably in some ballin Mercedes or BMW.  I’ve never seen Tommy driving around, but I assume he settles for something highbrow.

Series history: The Phanatic once stomped out a lifesize doll of Tommy Lasorda during a Dodgers Phillies game while Lasorda was managing.  Tommy responded by running out of the dugout and kicking the Phanatics’ ass.  The game was nationally televised.  Nice.

Outcome: Though I like the Phanatic’s ability to hang around like an STD, I don’t think his Phightin Phils will be able to do the same.  Tommy Lasorda has been personally giving Manny Ramirez massages since Manny’s arrival in Los Angeles.  The result has been a superhuman effort.  Lasorda and the Dodgers will take this in six.

The deadline trade that brought Manny Ramirez to Los Angeles is looking more and more brilliant with each home run he hits.  Manny has been flat out unconscious since coming to California, hitting .400 in that span with 19 home runs and over 50 rbi’s.  The Dodgers have transformed from a middle of the road team that may have had more expectations on its new manager than a postseason berth into a hitting machine, bruising through the final month of the season and currently standing with an all but guaranteed playoff series win versus the Cubs after two convincing beat downs at Wrigley.  Give the credit to Manny.

Believe what you will, but this stretch that Manny has put together is hardly a fluke.  Ramirez is one of the greatest hitters to ever play the game, and is evidencing that now more than ever in Los Angeles.  At 36 years old, Ramirez is proving that when he tries on a consistent basis, he’s damn near unstoppable.  Now that he’s become united with a much more laid back region of the country, it appears as if Manny has found a match made in heaven.  He can get away with being a lazy and off the wall character because he fits right in with half of Southern California.  The guy wears #99 for Gods’ sake.  He doesn’t have to deal with the tight-assholed pricks in the Northeast who couldn’t stand his antics and let him hear about it everywhere he went.  This is Los Angeles.  These are people who show up to games in the 3rd and leave in the 7th.  Theres ten thousand more important things to do than let Manny know about what a horrible game he had the other night or why he didn’t run out a grounder.

The NL West took a lot of heat during the season (and rightfully so) for being the worst division in baseball.  However, it’s becoming more and more evident with every bomb Manny hits that the Dodgers are one of the strongest teams in the playoffs.  I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen someone play this dominant for this long of a stretch since I began watching baseball.  Manny is unconscious, and until he wakes up from his California dream, there’s no reason to think the Dodgers are going to slow down.

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.

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.

It’s the beginning of the second half of the Major League Baseball season, a time to reflect on the incredible moments of the first half and to look ahead to what will unfold come August and September. We’ve talked about the All Star Game, both good and bad. What we haven’t talked about, however, is the first half that Dodgers center fielder Andruw Jones had. Jones is on pace to have one of the worst offensive seasons in baseball history, and yet nobody has spent time acknowledging his faults. Lets rewind…

It’s December 5th, 2007 and mastermind GM Ned Colletti agrees to terms with Jones on a two year contract worth approximately $36 million. Genius, Ned. Jones was coming off the worst offensive season of his career and had scraped and clawed his way to a .222 average in the 2007 season. Nothing screams $18 million a year like hitting .222 with an OPS of .724. Jones celebrates his robbery of the Dodgers franchise by packing on the pounds and showing up to Spring Training noticeably overweight, slower, and not in what most people call “ideal” shape for a center fielder. His off-season weight training combined with his philosophy that apathy is the best attitude result in Jones’ swing breaking down and he struggles to start the season. Lets fast forward to current day….

July 17th, only 11 weeks left in the baseball season, and Andruw Jones is tearing the cover off the record books. In 165 at-bats this season, Jones has compiled a batting average of .165 hitting as many home runs (2) as he has eyes and driving in as many runs (10) as he has phalanges. All you have to do to find out how many strikeouts he has this season is take the number of hits he has (27), double it, and add a few more for good measure. We’ve come to the Sexson paradox. How can you possibly afford to have a player worth that much money struggle as bad as Jones has and justify running him out there every single night. Joe Torre can’t sit $18 million on the bench next to the other reserves and pinch hitters. So instead, Jones atrocious efforts have taken Torre and the Dodgers hostage.

I can think of 36 million better ways to spend the money Andruw Jones will make over the next two seasons. And if the Dodgers don’t make the playoffs this year, they know one of the main places to look. But hell, what does Andruw care? He’s getting paid. Instead of getting frustrated, let’s just sit back and enjoy nights like these when his line in the box score is good enough to put a smile on anyone’s face.