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The Lead Item
Two Words For You:
WASHINGTON. BASEBALL.
Three ways the new D.C. Expos can
succeed:
1. Buy some talent. An ownership group can't lobby
for a team, then cheap it up (see: Nets, NJ). Go
"Moneyball" crazy, but shade closer to the Red Sox
than the A's on the spending spectrum.
2. Live in luxury. Create MLB's most unique
stadium: 75 percent luxury boxes (for huge revenue
from wealthy lobbies) and only 10,000 "regular" seats
(to inflate demand among a fan base of still-TBD
interest).
3. Change the name. There's still some
cachet left in the "retro" movement, so MLB should
pressure the Rangers to give up the rights to
"Senators," the only name this team should
consider.
(Wild) AL West
In baseball's lone remaining division
race (sorry, Giants fans, but at least you've got the
wild card), don't worry about paying attention until
Friday.
Now that Anaheim and Oakland are tied for first,
nothing that happens the next two days will do
anything to change the weekend's playoff showdown series between them.
NL Wild Card
Ranking the contenders, now that SF is
tied with Chicago for the lead, with Houston a
half-game back:
1. Giants: Well, they better win the WC,
because trailing L.A. by 3 with 5 to play means the NL West looks
just barely out of reach, even with those 3
season-ending games vs. L.A.
2. Astros: With a legacy of postseason problems
every bit as sorry as the Cubs -- but with none of the
cachet -- Houston has beaten NL standard-bearing St.
Louis two straight. Earning it; what's not to like
about that?
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CHECK OUT THE QUICKIE EVERY WEEKDAY MORNING! |
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| WHO'S GOT THE MOMENTUM ... |
Ichiro Watch: Tuesday: 2 hits; needs: 4; games to go: 5
Vlad Guerrero: 2 HRs, 5 RBI in big win over Rangers
"Monster House?": 49ers stadium name rights to audio co. |
| ... AND WHO'S GOT NO MO' |
A.J. Feeley: Benched for Fiedler, but really will it matter?
Kellen Winslow II: Out for season; *now* here's sympathy
Detroit Shock: Defending WNBA champs bounced by N.Y. |
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3. Cubs: With every loss to a team they should
be thumping, the Cubs make it harder to root for them.
Chicago has the least mo' of the three WC contenders.
Kobe Tattles
Kobe may be playoff-clutch, but under
police pressure, he squeals like an extra from
"Deliverance."
According to an emerging story about his interview
with cops after The Incident, he compared his
situation -- favorably -- to Shaq, who Kobe accused of
paying off women in "situations like this."
Shaq found out about this last September; still
wondering why they seemed to hate each other last
season?
NFL Trade Rumor
In a league where trades are as scarce
as KC's defense, here's the latest: Bucs holdout WR
Keenan McCardell to the Chiefs for doghouse RB Larry
"Take the Diapers Off" Johnson. (Hold on: Does
McCardell play D?)
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Streak Ending!
447 consecutive days. Not counting
weekends and a handful of national holidays, that's my
Quickie-writing streak, as of Wednesday morning. Not
exactly Ripken or Favre, but hey ...
Who would put up with that kind of deviant
behavior? The early mornings? The TV addiction? The
obsession with awk. abbrev.? That would be devoted
Quickie reader Margery, who -- assuming the rally caps
work -- I'll marry on Sunday.
So Thu, Fri and Mon, for the first time since
-- well, ever -- I leave you in the capable
hands of pinch-hitter David Schoenfield. As the
Quickie editor, he's the counter-balance to my
instant-histrionics. (He'll also guest-host the
Morning Quickie, live from 9-10 a.m. ET on
SportsNation.)
Next week, left typing ring finger a little
heavier, look for the start of a new streak.
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Milton Bradley:
Loses his temper, gets tossed, rips off jersey as he walks off the field. Will the Dodgers pull a "Guillen" and suspend him? (Don't count on it.)
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Today on ESPN.com
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| Page 2: Simmons on the Red Sox |
| Morning Quickie! |
| Gammons: Final-week issues |
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| Top Five All-Time Expos |  Vlad Guerrero
| Hit .300 all seven seasons
|  Pedro Martinez
| Won Cy Young in '97
|  Gary Carter
| Team's lone HOF'er
|  Tim Raines
| Most underrated of '80s
|  Andre Dawson
| | 5-tool player with 'Spos |
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Watch this decision: Francona says BoSox will use
4-man rotation (not 3) in ALDS, saving arms for the
ALCS. Hope they get that far ...
Not that we're paying attention: The Red Sox are 2.5
GB New York for the AL East, with 5 to play. Said it
before: Out of reach ...
Why Ron Artest rules: Switching to No. 91, both to
honor Dennis Rodman (!) and continue quest to wear as
many numbers as he can ...
Even if an arbitrator rules that Jose Guillen must be
reinstated to the Angels, the team says they have no
intention of playing him ...
50 years ago today: Willie Mays' transcendent World
Series catch (what were they doing playing the W.S. in
September?) ...
In Wednesday's Morning Quickie: MLB in DC, AL West,
marital advice and more. *LIVE*, 9-10 ET or read the
transcript. (See Q It Up.)
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