It didn't take long for the Yankees to react to their ouster from the ALCS. They fired pitching coach Dave Eiland today. Somebody had to be the scapegoat. General manager Brian Cashman refused to provide any reasons, but my guess is he wasn't happy with the pitching. The Red Sox also are in the market for a pitching coach after John Farrell was named Blue Jays manager. That's two teams within the division. And Farrell might want to make his own changes. Meanwhile, the Orioles might be...

Can you name every player in the Nats' Opening Day lineup since baseball returned to Washington? Want to prove it? Fellow Nats blogger Harper at Nationals Baseball posted a link to this quiz today on Sporkle. It asks you to name every Opening Day starter from 2005-2010 in eight minutes for a possible 60 points. For what it's worth, I scored 52 out of 60, but I missed two really obvious ones. Take the quiz and let me know how you do in the comments below! Good luck!

In case you skipped last night's Packers-Vikings game, you missed this exchange between sideline reporter Andrea Kremer and Green Bay receiver Donald Driver: Kremer: "What's the team have to do to get back in the win column?" Driver: "Just win." Back to you. Former Ravens cornerback Frank Walker was called for defensive holding. No, seriously. But he didn't climb up a receiver's back and wrestle him to the ground while the ball was in the air, so that's a good thing. It still...

It's not a long list, and it's subject to change, but here is the current list of Orioles' players already playing or soon to be playing in winter ball leagues around the world. Puerto Rico: Pitcher Brandon Cooney with Carolina Venezuela: Pitcher Chad Thall with Zulia Mexico: Pitcher Eddie Gamboa with Mexicali Dominican Republic: IF-OF-C Jake Fox with Licey Australia: Pitcher Cole McCurry Pitcher Brett Jacobsen IF-OF Robbie Widlansky OF Ronnie Welty This group of four will soon arrive...

Nationals hitting coordinator Rick Schu was in Scottsdale this week to coach and monitor Harper and the rest of the Nationals' Arizona prospects, and he recently gave me an update on the number one draft pick's progress. Harper is batting .375, 3-for-8, with a double and 2 RBI in his first two games. His slugging percentage is .500 and his OPS is .875 with no errors in the field. In his first game Wednesday, Harper went 1-for-4 with a bases loaded ground rule double. but Schu said Harper...

O's minor league player of the year Joe Mahoney was really looking forward to the challenge of playing winter ball in Venezuela. He arrived there last weekend, just a few days after getting married and joined the Margarita Island team. But before the first game he played in was even over, he was injured. On the second pitch of his fourth at bat, Mahoney came up with a sprained right wrist. He was replaced immediately. "It happened on a swing. I swung through a pitch and felt, not really...

So much for my Yankees-Phillies prediction. I really liked the Phillies to win it all. Then again, I also liked New Coke, so don't go by me. I'm glad that Aubrey Huff, dubbed the "Happy Slacker" by Sun columnist Peter Schmuck, is getting a chance to play in the World Series. It looked like he could barely choke back the tears last night. You'd be emotional, too, if you spent all those years playing at Tropicana Field before the Rays actually got good. I can't slam the Orioles for...

After another win on Saturday, the Arizona Fall League's Scottsdale Scorpions improved to 8-3 and they have the best record in the league. There are eight O's minor leaguers playing on that Scorpions team. Here are the up-to-date stats on all eight. The hitters: Ryan Adams: .333-1-8.......7 games.....9-27 AB. Xavier Avery: .259-0-1.......7 games.....7-27 AB. Caleb Joseph: .417-0-0......4 games....5-12 AB. Greg Miclat: .333-0-1........7 games......9-27 AB. Adams went 0 for 4 on...

My thermostat says it's 63 degrees. I don't want to turn on my heat yet...but my thermostat says it's 63 degrees. Should we hold a moment of silence for the Yankees? I didn't think so. Alex Rodriguez taking a called third strike to end the ALCS brought a smile to my face. I won't lie. Is there any doubt that the Yankees will throw about $400 million at Cliff Lee this winter? The Rangers are actually in the World Series. Somewhere, Oddibe McDowell is smiling. So is Buck Showalter,...

Ballgame over. Season over. Yankees lose. Theeeeeeee Yankees lose!!! Of course, I had to go there. Jeffrey Maier II could not even save them. When you flaunt winning like they do, like their fans do, like even their play-by-play announcer does, you have to expect some fans to revel in it when you lose. To some, the Yankees represent excellence - To others, all that is wrong with baseball. Checkbook baseball. Right after they lost Friday night, my first thought was this: If they...