I watched SportsCenter after the Raiders-Chargers game tonight, and about ten seconds into “Plays of the Week,” Chris Berman stopped and said, “Let me do it again.” On live television. So the visuals switched to the “coming up on SportsCenter” sequence and Karl Ravich did the voice-over for it. Then about ten minutes later Chris Berman did the plays of the week like nothing happened.

Did anyone else see this and/or think it was strange?

I just read this story on Fox Sports.com: Rangers might want to trade for Ramirez. Are they crazy? Do they remember what happened when they got A-Rod? Nothing, that’s what. They lost financial flexibility (even though A-Rod deferred money every year) and they sucked each of those three years.

Sure, Texas might make a deal with Boston that leaves the Red Sox responsible for, say, half of Manny’s pay. Let’s say that happens, and they still have reasonable financial flexibility. But the deal reportedly would send Alfonso Soriano to Boston in exchange for Ramirez. I don’t like this deal on paper or on the field.

Manny’s got better numbers than Soriano. But Manny bats right in the heart of that monstrous Boston lineup (see: David Ortiz). Put him in a no man’s land like Texas, and teams will pitch around him. On the other hand, Soriano might blossom in Boston, even more than he already has.

Manny is also four years older than Soriano. Sure, we’ve seen hitters like Barry Bonds go crazy after turning 36, but Manny Ramirez doesn’t appear to take care of his body the way Barry Bonds does (steroid speculation aside). Manny in Texas would likely experience an offensively-depressed transition year, followed by one or two years in which he finds some of the magic from his glory years in Boston (but still won’t reside in a Boston-caliber lineup), then sees his stats drop off. At that point you’ll see more “Manny being Manny” clips on Sportscenter and/or Ramirez will ask to be traded in July.

Meanwhile, Soriano would also likely experience a transition year after going to his third team in four years. After that, he would at worst be a solid lead-off hitter, and at best move to third in the lineup if he develops into more of a power hitter.

If I were Texas’s GM I would avoid this deal. But it’s Texas, and they’ll probably go for it. If I were Boston’s GM (Why not me?), I’d jump at this deal — to rid myself of the annual Manny headache and to get a younger player with talent and speed.

ESPN Soccernet has an article up about a new $1 million exception the MLS is likely to approve. This exception would give each team the ability to sign a high-profile, foreign-basesd player. It’s called the “David Beckham Exception,” although $1 million would not be enough to land Beckham today. I enjoyed the article not only for its depth, but its analysis of the league’s future and development into a money-maker from its roots and current status as a money-loser. Read the article here.

The Sports Guy’s latest column at ESPN.com deals with GM Theo Epstein’s departure from the Boston Red Sox.

Maybe I’m biased — I’ve gotten to the point where I look for a new Sports Guy column every day, even though I know it’s not daily (but I don’t know how often it is produced) — but I think this is the best Sports Guy column I’ve ever read. For just a moment it transcends sports, yet barely avoids becoming sappy or turning into an after-school special.

I watched game three of the Red Sox – White Sox ALDS this year and I didn’t feel elation. (Did I write about this already?) I felt somber. I noticed my own feelings and thought that I should feel a kind of manic satisfaction over the Red Sox loss. Certainly I’m not happy to see Epstein leave the Red Sox. Maybe I just root for a guy who’s roughly my age doing one of the most interesting “average joe” jobs in my favorite sport. Or maybe somewhere along the way I developed a healthy amount of respect for the Red Sox. Sure, I don’t like Manny or Ortiz — but I don’t laugh at them anymore.

Maybe I’m sad to see Theo go because I read Moneyball. Maybe I’m sad because his departure is indicative of an epidemic ravaging not only the sports world, but this whole country — young people with genuinely new and good ideas, pushed aside by wealthy old men.

The White Sox won. In a sweep. Postseason record of 11-1. Very impressive.

Some notable stats that I read at ESPN.com: Chicago is the first ever World Champion from the Central Division, AL or NL. The Central Divisions have only existed since 1994. The Cleveland Indians lost the World Series in 1995 and 1997, and the St. Louis Cardinals lost the World Series last year.

Also from ESPN.com, Chicago breaks a three-year streak of Wild Card teams winning the World Series. The last three years we had the Aneheim Angels, the Florida Marlins, and the Boston Red Sox.

A fact I pointed out in a past post, in different terms: for the first time since 1998, the championship did not go through the Bronx.

In other news, for a week or so the Around the Horn crew has nothing to talk about except football, and then there’ll be the NBA, too … and I guess maybe hockey. Mark April 1, 2006 on your calendar.

I guess I forgot to do this post. The White Sox beat the Angels and the Astros beat the Cardinals. So how does this stack up against my initial predictions? Oh yeah.

I picked both of these teams to lost in the first round.

So at this point the White Sox are now up one game to none on Houston. I’ll go ahead and retroactively make my pick as Houston in seven, although honestly before this series I had no idea who to pick.

Now that Chicago is up one game, I’m thinking that the White Sox will win in five or six.

How did this happen? Six weeks ago the White Sox were about to finish off the most monumental collapse in regular season history. Yet now, after four straight complete game wins in the ALCS, they seem poised to steamroll their way through the 2005 Playoffs. They’ve lost one game so far this postseason. The answer is that not only have they won 8 out of 9 playoff games, they’ve won 13 out of their last 14. The White Sox played poorly in August and most of September, then turned it on when it counted. Since late September, they’ve been playing like a Wild Card team. And as the last three years have indicated, Wild Card teams have done well in the postseason.

Of course, the Yankees made a late charge to win the AL East, so I figured they were playing like a Wild Card team …

Now to change topics — to the 2005 World Series logo. I did a screen capture of WorldSeries.com and cropped the following image out of it:

Note the red, white, and blue batter logo that is next to the WS05 text. First — and this is what I noticed — the red and blue are inverted. Second, there white border is replaced with a gold border. Third, the colors are modified slightly … the red and blue are a little darker and a little bolder. Perhaps that gold was mixed in a little bit.

I don’t dislike the modified logo. I just wonder why baseball decided to put a different logo out there for the World Series.

The Chicago White Sox have beaten the Los Angeles Angels of Aneheim in five games to win the 2005 American League Championship Series and now move on to the World Series. I have three points:

1. In September, I thought the White Sox were dead. They were ramping up for the biggest regular-season collapse in baseball history. The Cleveland Indians cut the lead to 1½ games. I expected the Indians to pass the White Sox and win the division. In stead, the White Sox swept the Indians in the final three games of the season, then swept the defending World Champion Boston Red Sox in three games in the ALDS, and now have taken the final four games of the ALCS to win in five.

2. The Yankees did not lose to the eventual winner — or win the World Series — for the first time since 1998. Every year since then the Yankees have either won the WS, lost the WS, or lost to eventual Champion Angels (2002), or lost to eventual Champion Red Sox (2004). This year the Yankees lost to the Angels again, but the White Sox have eliminated the Angels.

3. It’s a conspiracy to sell Cubs merchandise. I said this last year. By winning the 2004 World Series, the Red Sox shed their “loveable loser” status. That left the Chicago Cubs as the biggest loser in baseball. This year, the White Sox are poised to not only shed the stigma of perennial failure, they are poised to separate themselves from their crosstown rival Cubs.

The 2005 Division Series are over, and my picks went one for four.

I never thought the White Sox would sweep the Red Sox. I watched game three of that series, and although I was rooting against Boston, I didn’t feel elated at their defeat … instead, I felt kind of somber resignation. Maybe I wanted them to lose to the Yankees. Maybe I’ve seen the Red Sox players’ faces on Yankees players in years past. Like two years ago, when New York lost to the Angels.

I was in attendance at Turner Field for Houston-Atlanta game two. It was a lot of fun, and I think it turned me into a Braves fan. I’ve never really liked the Braves, although over the years I have developed a healthy amount of respect for Chipper Jones, John Smoltz, and departed Braves Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine. I knew I had turned when I stood up while Brad Ausmus’s ninth-inning shot hung in the air — and felt deflated when it was called a home run. I thought the Braves would get by the Astros. When they were up by five runs I almost got on the Internet and got a ticket for game five in Atlanta.

The Cardinals swept the Padres. No surprise there.

And that brings us to the Angels-Yankees series. The New York Baseball Yankees … let me down again. I can sum it up with one word: FACK! If Bubba Crosby and Gary Sheffield don’t collide on that deep fly … two runs don’t score … and Jeter’s home run in the seventh ties it …

So I don’t know if I’ll watch any of the remaining series. I should watch the World Series, but we’ll see. Damn those Angels.

Just got back from the Braves game. I’ve got pictures, but I’ll put them up in a future post. The Braves beat the Astros 7-1. There was a very light rain throughout the game — not even a drizzle. I brought a jacket, and I put it on around the sixth inning, but I’d guess the temperature never got out of the high sixties. About one minute after I got out of the parking lot, though, the rain let loose. For the rest of the ride home it alternated between pouring and sprinkling. At least it held out until after the game.

I can’t believe how many empty seats there were. There were a lot in the highest deck, but there were about ten seats around me that were empty. I took a picture of them.

There were two fights in seats behind me. The first involved an old lady. Some beer went flying. She got kicked out.

I looked around for a store that had AA batteries in stock (I hate my digital camera), and somebody yelled “Yankees suck!” I didn’t really notice, but then he said it again and pointed at me, and I noticed. He had a Red Sox hat. Then he pointed at his chest and said something about his shirt, which also said, “Yankees suck.” So I went up and talked to him. He was on his way moving and stopped in Atlanta for the Patriots game and was taking in a Braves game, too. Before I left he said, “Yankees suck” again and I countered with “Red Sox are down 2-0 — Gonna lose!” So I think I got him.

I got a free red fluffy tomahawk, which makes the ticket worth its price.

There was a guy with his like, eight year old kid behind me. He kept telling him to keep his glove on and “play the field.” He wouldn’t let him touch their red fluffy tomahawk unless the big screens said, “Chop Rally.” Or whatever it was the screens say when they want you to do the tomahawk chop. He asked the kid who Andy Pettitte plays for. The kid answered, “The Yankees.” Dad said, “No! … he hasn’t been there for two seasons … He’s on the Astros.” I think he was pissed. I think the kid wanted to leave after about two innings, because the dad was going on about how much he paid for the tickets.

I was in the second row, but still only about 4 feet away from the third base line Ball Boy. A couple balls came pretty close to me, but nothing was in my reach. And the Ball Boy kept giving balls to kids! Dammit!

Everybody around me spotted Roger Clemens throwing some balls in left field before the game started. The visitors’ bullpen is off left field at Turner Field, so he went in before the start of the game. We were all expecting him to walk by us in the middle of the first, but there must be a tunnel between the bullpen and the dugout, because he slipped by all of us.

Pics tomorrow. Probably.

So I’m watching the Astros-Braves game on TV today, and it’s not a sellout. So I think to myself, “I wonder if tickets are available for game 2.”

They are.

I got a ticket. That’s singular. I’m pathetic. But anyway, it’s supposed to rain tomorrow. And tomorrow night. The game is scheduled for 8 PM. Roger Clemens is starting. And John Smoltz. My seat is up the third base line, near the left field corner.

Because of the rain, I actually expect a rain-out. But they’d have to play the game Friday, which is fine with me. Although rain is in the forecast for Friday, too. And Saturday. Maybe they will play it Thursday.

I hope to score one of those red foam tomahawks.