"I have to give credit to my teammates," Rodriguez said. "I'd be really, really selfish if I said I set it by myself. But that's what I get paid for. That's my job right there."

Mike Scioscia, that old softy, got downright misty over Rodriguez's accomplishment.

"When you're sitting on a seven-run lead, really the furthest thing from your mind is, when do you get your closer up?'' Scioscia said.

More significantly, however, the Angels now have 89 wins; giving them a one-game lead over Tampa Bay in the race for best record in the American League, and the home field advantage therein. Although with the kind of crowds the Rays draw, home field advantage isn't going to do them much good anyway.

Freeway World Series, he were come?

Angels' Francisco Rodriguez Ties Record For Saves [Los Angeles Times]

In his new book The Cheater's Guide To Baseball, Derek Zumsteg looks at all the different ways baseball players and managers have cheated (or tried to cheat) throughout the years. It's a highly entertaining book; our favorite part is "Tips For Doctoring Bats For Amateur Players."

Zumsteg has set up a blog for the book, and he thinks he caught Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez messing with the ball a couple of nights ago.

4-2-2007, against the Rangers, K-Rod put something on the ball repeatedly during the 9th inning, and wasn't even subtle about it. First, I'm going to admit these are bad pictures. ... Compare the movement on those pitches to the movement on the fastballs where he clearly doesn't go to the hat brim. Also, watching the video, it's a lot more striking than stills can easily convey — it's clearly not a cap adjustment, but something else entirely.

Honestly, we kind of want to hire Zumsteg to watch all games and point out all the little cheats. We don't really mind cheating — everyone cheats, at everything — but we think it's fun when someone points out something that we miss but should be obvious.

Francisco Rodriguez Doctoring The Ball [The Cheater's Guide To Baseball]

(UPDATE: MLB says the substance was "resin.")

Well, he's got this pattern, you see: He takes the player who was responsible for the Yankees being booted from the playoffs, and he gives them the number 666. So two years ago, it was the Marlins' Josh Beckett, last year it was Boston's Keith Foulke and this year it's LAofA's Francisco Rodriguez. We will ignore the irony of a Yankees fan giving the sign of the beast to someone else and simply point out that when the year comes that the Yankees don t make the playoffs, and end up six games out with a week to play, whom does he choose then? Cashman? Michael Kay? We d go with Michael Kay.

Unwelcome Honor [Houston Chronicle] (via Baseball Musings)