The play-by-play I gave was incomplete, only the second part of the play. Here's the whole thing:

"# C.Jones safe on failed fielder's choice, Bourn to third. # C.Jones was out advancing, pitcher H.Rodriguez to shortstop Desmond to third baseman Zimmerman to first baseman Marrero to second baseman Espinosa, Bourn scored, C.Jones out."

So Bourn was on second, got hung up on the play but got back to second when the third baseman dropped a throw. But at that time Jones was already at second, and headed back to first. They threw to first and Jones was tagged out in a short rundown, as Bourn took third.

Reminds me of one of D. Drysdale's saying about intentional walks: "Just hit the guy, why waste 3 more pitches?"

But they do it for the same reason they kick the PAT in football. Besides, an IBB is probably the quickest play in baseball. No pitcher-catcher conferences. No pitcher pawing around the mound and holding the ball until the stars come into conjunction. No batter stepping out to readjust himself after every pitch. Even Mike Hargrove could usually finish an IBB in less than five minutes.

First, a stock market tip. Buy champagne futures. With three teams clinching divisions last night, there's bound to be a shortage by Monday.

The divisions are now all decided, and we're down to wild card races and playoff seeding.

AL Wild Card: Boston by 2.5 over Tampa Bay, 3.5 over Angels.

Boston: 6 games left; 3 at Yankees, 3 at Baltimore. Yankees may not be trying their hardest, but the rivalry with Boston is such that they won't roll over and die. Baltimore has been finishing strong.

Tampa Bay: 5 games left; 2 vs. Toronto, 3 vs. Yankees, all at home. May still be in it; the Yankees won't have the motivation against them that they'll have against Boston.

Angels: 5 games left; 2 vs. Oakland, 3 vs. Texas, all at home. Very faint.

NL Wild Card: Atlanta by 3 over St. Louis, 5 over the Giants, and a magic number of 1 over SF. Ain't gonna happen.

Atlanta: 5 games left; 2 at Washington, 3 home to Philadelphia. May be a couple of losses in there.

St. Louis: 5 games left; 2 home to Cubs, 3 at Houston. A hot streak is very possible, but they've been staggering of late.

Seeding: with the Wild Card team almost surely coming for the #1 seed's division, #2 vs. #3 seed becomes important. #2 is home vs. Wild Card; #3 plays at #1.

AL: Detroit and Texas tied, with Detroit holding the tiebreaker.

http://seattle.sbnation.com/seattle...

The Cubs' closer then proceeded to issue three walks tying the game, and a wild pitch giving St. Louis the win. Two game margin now, and the Giants remain on life support.

Just imagine, if you are Detroit, Lions are playing well, Tigers are in the playoffs, Red Wings are looking good as they usually do. U of M and Mich St. are playing. Too bad, the Pistons don't want to join the fun.

Then only let 12 teams into the playoffs, give the top four teams a bye for the first round.

Then only let 12 teams into the playoffs, give the top four teams a bye for the first round.>

Great minds think alike, <Jim> - this is almost exactly how I would run the NBA. The only thing different I would do is keep the schedule unbalanced - 50 games in conference, just 10 against the other conference.

I like championships wherein the finalists didn't face off during the season. Adds a dash of mystery to the event.

<This old-timer remembers when only six teams made the playoffs. Of course there were only nine teams in the league.>

As it stands, if you're a fan of either Knicks or Rangers, I've got a helluva sweetheart deal for you, if you want season tickets!

Up front, besides the expected 41 home dates, you're forced to pay for all your preseason games, as well as the maximum number of possible games in the postseason.

Oh, yes-for any postseason games those teams don't play, you'll eventually get a refund-after the Dolan family has sucked the interest off it all those months.