Roy Throws a No-Hitter

Roy Halladay is probably wondering why he didn't get out of Toronto sooner if this is what playoff baseball is for him.  A no-hitter to open the NLDS, including driving in a run, as his Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-0.  Not sure one hitter really had a hope yesterday.  Having a laugh at the Twitterverse putting him up there with Don Larsen.  Didn't know that throwing a no hitter in the divisional round was the same as throwing a perfect game in the World Series.


The New York Yankees rallied from a 3-0 deficit and ultimately were 6-4 winners after Mark Teixera broke a 4-4 tie with a 2-run Tex Message into the right field stands.  If you're in to patterns, last year, Alex Rodriguez opened game one of the divisional series with Minnesota with a fly to right field, then a strikeout, before getting on his third at-bat and going on to dominate the playoffs.  Last night?  Opened with a flyout to right field and then a strikeout, then worked a walk into a stolen base and scored the Yanks second run.  If September's AL Player of the Month stays hot, could get real interesting for the Yanks.  The Yanks have to be salivating over facing former teammate Carl Pavano tonight at 6:07pm.



Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon has set himself up for some serious second guessing going with James Shields in Game 2, especially after losing the opener 5-1 led by a dominant Cliff Lee. Shields allowed 246 hits this year, tied with Mark Buehrle for most in the bigs.  The Rangers will send a hot CJ Wilson to the bump.  One reason to cheer against the Rays: Maddon, who I generally like, is encouraging Rays fans to show up to the park in plaid.  As if the cowbells weren't annoying to one sense, now they're aiming to assault your vision, too.

The New York Islanders top line has John Tavares earning $900k, $800k to Blake Comeau and $600k  to P.A. Parenteau for a total of $2.3 million.  By way of comparison, the New Jersey Devils have eight forwards making more than that individually.


Seriously, I have a hard time believing that the New York Yankees (1) create (2) sell and (3) have any of their fans buy this stuff.  I generally don't buy gear with dates on it, and certainly don't buy it for a Wild Card for a team that has won 27 World Championships and has been a playoff fixture since 1995 save for one year.

On the heals of the Randy Moss deal back to Minnesota, Moss will become just the 6th player to play 17 games in a season since bye was instituted in 1990.  That assumes, of course, that he stays healthy.  For the record, the Pats won no rings with Moss in the lineup.  Jason Whitlock says that the move reeks of desperation for the Vikes.

There are five NHL games on tonight to open their far-too-long schedule, including the Montreal Canadiens visiting the Toronto Maple Leafs, which can only mean one thing: Facebook is about to be inundated with a lot of ridiculous posts about how the losing team sucks based on one game.  Watch baseball tonight people, at least that actually means something right now.


Merely the latest best thing ever...



A ridiculous goal scored in Northern Ireland.  Be sure to watch closely.