Dodgers even series with Phils.

Vicente Padilla, seen here on his 2007 Upper Deck First Edition card, pitched 7.1 innings tonight in L.A. and only gave up one run. Amazingly enough he also hit no batters. What's wrong with this guy? Anyway, that performance was enough to get him a no decision as the Dodgers rallied in the eighth inning to down the Phillies 2-1. Chan Ho Park gave up the winning Dodger run. I wonder if the team is rethinking his addition to the NLCS roster. The series is now tied at one game apiece and the teams will be heading to Philly tomorrow.

On the other coast, the Yankees are currently leading the Angels 4-1 in the seventh inning. Anaheim has to win one in New York if they want to take the ALCS.

Last minute roster moves for the NLCS.

So Chan Ho Park, shown here on card number CP of the 2004 Topps set, made the NLCS Roster. The Phillies dropped Brett Myers from their roster to make room for Park. Apologies to Ranger fans for today's card but coming up with game-used or auto cards of former Rangers' players involved in the post-season is not always easy.

Heading into the game tonight the Dodgers added Hiroki Kuroda and Scott Elbert. Jeff Weaver and Jon Garland got the axe to make room.

Not being a regular follower of either team I am unsure about these moves. On the surface I question dropping Meyers for Park but have no idea on the Dodgers' moves. Any fans of the clubs care to add their thoughts?

Help wanted.

So hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo turned down the Rangers offer for next year and will be leaving the organization. Rudy has been with Texas for 15 seasons and is regarded by many as one of the best hitting coaches in the Bigs. He wanted a multi-year contract though and Texas only offered one year so he is hitting the road.

Now comes the sweepstakes as to who might replace him. Current first base coach Gary Pettis has been mentioned, as have former MLB hitting coaches Thad Bosley (a Ranger in 1989 and 1990) and Gerald Perry.

It seems that Scott Coolbaugh might also be a possibility. Coolbaugh, seen here on card number 612 of the 1990 Score set, is currently the OKC Redhawks hitting coach. Some credit Scott with turning Chris Davis around when he was sent down to Triple A this season. Others say it was just the change of pressure that did the trick.

Two things are certain. One is that the Rangers need a new hitting coach. The other is that it will be interesting to see what happens and who ends up with the job.

Say what?

The Phillies website is reporting that Chan Ho Park will be traveling with the team to L.A. and is a possibility to be added to the roster prior to the NLCS. No word on who will be dropped if Park makes the team. Didn't Park get shelled by the Phillies last year when he was playing for the Dodgers? I'll leave you to look at this 2002 Topps All-World Team card, number AW-25, of Chan and consider the possibilities.

Then there were five.

The Twins and the Red Sox joined the Cardinals at home on Sunday night. Literally and figuratively. Both teams were back at home in their series and both were eliminated at the end of sweeps. This leaves five teams still alive in the playoffs. Three sweeps in four series. Been kind of a boring post-season so far.

So now the Yankees are slated to face off with the Angels in the ALCS while the Dodgers still await the outcome of the Phillies/Rockies series. Philly managed a win last night to take the lead in the series 2-1 and are leading the Rockies 2-1 in game four right now. Anything could happen though.

As the Yankees finished up their sweep of the Twins Jerry Hairston was sent in to pinch run for DH Hideki Matsui. Jerry, shown here on card number 222 of the 2007 Upper Deck set, didn't do anything spectacular. He didn't even score a run. What he did do was make his post-season debut. After 14 Big League seasons and over a thousand games played he finally made it. Sorry you had to do it as a bad guy Jerry.

So, who are you liking in the League Championship Series? For the ALCS I am going to have to pull for the Halos. Hope they have the juice to down The Evil Empire. Seeing them win and the Dodgers take the NLCS would be cool it seems. A freeway series for the first time would be something to see.

One down...

It pains me to post this 2007 Topps Texas Rangers card of Vicente Padilla. To post card number TEX6 in this set is to post a card of one of the former Rangers that I was least upset to see go. I have to do it though in order to give credit where credit is due.

Vicente pitched seven scoreless innings tonight to send the Dodgers to a first round sweep of the Cardinals. Amazingly Vicente didn't hit any batters and seemed to cause no problems with his teammates. If he could have done that for Texas he might have been in the playoffs with a different team.

One team out of the playoffs but there should be three more joining them soon. Just too bad the Cardinals had to go first.

As an aside, the Phillies/Rockies series is tied up at one win apiece and game three was delayed until tomorrow due to snow. That means that the Dodgers will have to wait several days before their opponent in the next round is decided. It also means that opponent will likely have a shorter layoff between series. Will this lull work to the Dodgers' advantage or disadvantage? Why?

Twins, Cards on edge of going home.

So the Twins and Cardinals are dancing on a razor edge right now. Both are two games down in their best of five series. At least both are headed home rather than to their opponent's parks.

New York's win tonight over the Twins was almost all former Rangers. Alex Rodriguez picked up three RBI while Mark Teixeira picked up the fourth to conclude the Bombers' scoring. Teixeira, pictured here on card number LC-18 of the 2006 Fleer Lumber Company subset, managed to knock a walk-off homer for the Yanks in the eleventh inning. Final score, 4-3 in favor of The Evil Empire.

Right now the Angels have just taken a 2-1 lead over the Red Sox in the seventh inning of game two of their series. With their first game win it seems that the Halos have finally figured out how to handle the BoSox in the post-season.