Coming apart at the seams is the new stadium, which isn't a very extended metaphor if you choose to look at it that way.

You could view it as nothing more than cracks in the stadiums ramps, which were built by a company with mob ties that is under investigation for using substandard materials.

Or you could view it in the larger picture of a franchise in nominal command of a series, but with the omnipresent concept of choking clouding the fanbase's anticipation.

Game 6 is tonight. The Yankees win, and this worry is all for naught, and our World Series is set. But should the Angels pull it out, we've got a game 7 tomorrow with Lackey vs. Sabathia. So basically: don't call me tonight. I'll be busy having a nervous breakdown.

Cracks Emerge in Ramps at New Yankee Stadium [NY Times]

•••••

I'm sure you'll want to check in tomorrow. Could be some interesting odds and sods to deal with.

Have you heard? Alex Rodriguez is the new Mr. October because he's all about baseball now. He's not about Madonna or money or Scott Boras or steroids or any of those other things he was supposedly all about before he was all about baseball. Joe Buck says so. Joe Buck can read body language, and right now Alex Rodriguez's lower lumbar is telling Joe Buck, "Alex Rodriguez is all about baseball."

Which is more than we can say for any of these others guys, especially Nick Swisher. Right, Steve Politi of the Newark Star-Ledger?

The number was illuminated for everyone to see in bright Hollywood lights.

There it was, dead center on the scoreboard, and Nick Swisher had to stare at it as he stepped to the plate. .107. His postseason batting average.

He had not just been a little bit bad in the postseason. He had been epically bad, dumpster-out-in-the-hot-sun-smelling bad, and the way his teammates were hitting, he was adding a lousy lounge singer to this rock-star of a lineup.

[...]

How many more at-bats can manager Joe Girardi possibly give this guy to turn it around?

Girardi has shown faith in his right fielder, rewarding his 29-home run, 82-RBI regular season. He has been a popular figure in the loosey-goosey clubhouse, one of the reasons the Yankees went from button-down to pie-in-the-face during this 103-win season.

"Guys are going to struggle during the course of the season and you just don't give up on a guy if he is struggling because the flip side of that is they are due to get hot," Girardi said before Game 5. "We feel good about Swish."

But everything has his limits, and now the manager should play somebody else - anybody else - to try a different look. Put in Brett Gardner. He might not be an upgrade, but could he possibly be worse?

(Yes.)

Nick Swisher is hitting .103 in the postseason in 29 at-bats. Maybe, like his famous teammate, he'll be all about baseball over the next couple of games and go 3-for-5 in each. His batting average would then jump 130 points, and he'd be, in Politi's terms, no worse than an average-smelling dumpster in a cool sun.

Or I suppose Girardi could heed Politi's advice and, on the basis of 29 at-bats, bench a guy who hit 29 home runs and walked 97 times in 498 regular-season at-bats. Sometimes you just have to make a move, small sample be damned. This is the big time, the limelight, the show of shows, and as we all know, some guys just don't have what it takes.

Politi: NY Yankees can't afford to give struggling Nick Swisher another at-bat [Star-Ledger, via Rob Neyer]
Hughes blows it again [New York Post]
Girardi moves let Angels rally back into ALCS [New York Post]
Instead of finishing off Los Angeles Angels, A.J. Burnett fails New York Yankees [New York Daily News]

We've seen some great baseball this October...and no one's talking about it. That's because we've seen so many egregiously wrong calls that, really, who can talk about anything else?

Already in tonight's game we've seen one of those runners up top get called safe somehow, Nick Swisher erroneously being called safe sliding back into second, and Swisher then getting erroneously nailed for leaving third too early while tagging up. Video evidence only confirms what millions of human eyes saw.

What's the deal here? These haven't been bang-bang calls by any means. They're not calls that we'd expect our worst umpires to miss, so it's not a matter of having the wrong guys working the game.

Is this like a batter's slump? Has one blown call affected the confidence of the entire postseason staff, and they're trying too hard? And more importantly, when are we getting instant replay?

[Much love to The Replacement Refs for help with the screengrabs.]

The Angels won last night, incidentally, though you wouldn't know it from the vast persecution complex on display among their fan base this morning. Watch the video. Rivera, having come on in the bottom of the 10th, finishes his warmup tosses and spits somewhere in the vicinity of his ball. Anaheim fans believe this is conclusive evidence that Mariano Rivera is a fraud and a cheat and a wretched human being all-around, one with whom Fox producers are evidently in deep cahoots. Playing the role of Jim Garrison here is someone at Halos Heaven calling himself "Quinlan's Goofy Swing." Quinlan's Goofy Swing has posted frame-by-frame evidence that Rivera spat on his ball, complete with helpful captioning:

spit landing, as fox realizes what it is broadcasting and quickly cuts to scioscia (can still see the spit halo on top of the ball)

Elsewhere, someone with the handle "Rev Halofan" seems to think Rivera's peculiar success as a one-pitch pitcher has at last been explained. Rev Halofan writes:

Personally, the video you are about to watch is pretty amazing: I would say this is pretty conclusive evidence of why Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera is able to throw only one pitch that has unpredictable, yet precise movement.

He has mastered the Angels so far in the ALCS but has Major League Baseball gotten a look at how he "warms up" for his appearance on the mound? You be the judge...

* With a tie game in the bottom of the 10th, the Yankees bring in Rivera.
* After warming up, he has his back to home plate so the home plate ump can't see.
* He looks down at the ball, then up to see if the 2nd base ump is watching.
* He then looks back at the ball and appears to spit on it.
* And when he tests clean for steroids they say he is not a cheater.

Watch for yourself and consider first of all the sheer improbability that the game's greatest closer would doctor a ball in the same artless way that a kid would hock a loogie from a 10th-story window. Consider, too, that Rivera would've had to do this repeatedly — right there, as I say, in front of God and Joe Buck and 45,000 fans — to gain any real advantage. And finally, consider this: Unlikely as it is, the idea that Mariano Rivera, the Hammer of God himself, might throw some old-fashioned outlaw stuff to escape a tight spot is, to be frank, just about the coolest thing ever.

Mariano Rivera Spitball: Video Evidence? [Halos Heaven]
Mariano Rivera caught doctoring the ball ALCS game 3, 10th inning [Halos Heaven]

Now before the conspiracy theorists get all bent out of shape, everyone should just chill out. The idea of some orchestrated cabal working behind the scenes to create a Phillies-Yankees World Series is ridiculous. Obviously the umpires will throw the NLCS to the Dodgers. Torre vs. the Yankees? A-Rod and Manny? They can't pass that up.

But the defending champs getting an assist from the Illuminati? Gimme a break. Next you're going to tell me JFK wasn't replaced by a robot in early 1961 and is still living comfortably at a hacienda in Cuba. Let's try to be reasonable, huh?

[Screenshot via MLB.com]

* * * * *

Barry P. is up later to take you home, but make sure you're here bright and early tomorrow morning. Big update a-comin' that I'm sure you'll have no problem dealing with in a polite and orderly manner. (Don't worry, it's not as bad as you think. Probably. Maybe. It might be worse.) Sweet dreams.

There's already been talk of expanding instant replay to more situations beyond home run calls, but as Jonah Keri of the Wall Street Journal points out shouldn't we be able to get rid of the umpires altogether? The technology used at major tennis tournaments has pretty much put line judges out of business (although they still let them sit in those prime seats so Serena Williams has some to talk to), so that solves all those fair/foul questions. Balls and strikes are even easier to handles since every Major League park already has the "Pitch-f/x zone evaluation system" that the league uses to assess their umpires' ability at the plate. If the Pitch f/x machines are the ones telling the humans what is and isn't a strike, then why do we need the meatbag standing behind the catcher? Just cut out the middle man.

All that's left is tag plays and force out on the base paths. That's simple—radio-transmitting baseballs and pressure activated base alarms that will determine if the ball hits the glove before the foot hits the bag. (Also works for trapped fly balls in the outfield.) And for the occasional rundown, pickoff play, or hit batsmen, we just make everyone wear those Laser Tag sensors. We've had the technology since 1986. What's the hold up?

Or we could just make sure that the best people umpires work the biggest games and also fire those that suck at their job, but that seems a lot less fun. The robots are going to enslave us anyway, so what's the use in fighting it?

Does Baseball Need Umpires? [Wall Street Journal]
Palermo wary of more replay in baseball [Kansas City Star]
Blown calls in playoffs? 5 ways to break ump slump [AP]

These are culled from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's coverage, Cards Clubhouse, Viva El Birdos and Twitter.

1. DENIAL

Mulliganstew:

I... can not believe that happened

I just can't

glamberson:

asdgkf;ghfd;ljgsf;hghjdgjd

prophetjohn:

mother fuck

glamberson:

Shitsticks!

cloistermaximus:

WHAT THE
FUUUUUCK

Paulspike:

Fuck this shit…. I cannot believe Holliday did not make that catch… MY FREAKING GOD… you send Franklin out there to get two outs… TWO FUCKING OUTS…. ugh… year is over, this is what a crappy september causes…

2. ANGER

Paralaranoid:

MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alxfritz:

Crap! Boobs!

Power Slurve:

Ryan Franklin: Fuck you; Matt Holliday: Fuck you.

rencelas:

Fuck my ass two ways from tuesday

jxmetal1:

eat my dick franklin

glamberson:

I hope it really got him in the nads.

Grrr.

Paralaranoid:

Choke yourself, Matt.

Evilfrog:

FUCK!

YOU SUCK FRANKLIN!!!!

Power Slurve:

FUCK YOU HOLLIDAY!! FUCK YOU!!

king geedorah:

holliday played that

like a swedish girlscout

Holliday road to the AL:

Matty won't lose his focus in the lights on trying to get a fat contract next month. I'm sure he just pissed away $20 mil a year. He looks like he could care less. He dropped a ball a Little Leaguer coulda caught. He was daydreaming of how he would look in pinstripes. He can't wait to get out of STL. Bos/NY can have him!

LSH0905:

Mark it something is not right in this dugout and I suspect Holliday is a dark horse put in play to foal the playoffs for Cards…So much for the big pay day except for the team that put him in the cards dugout. Check the bank accounts of Holliday..something smells fishy - ChiSox remind you of anything???

Still Puking:

There once was a poser named Matt
Who came to town with his bat
But missing that catch
He made us kavetch
And showed he sucks, worth nothing flat.

Don't dare sign this DH, and I mean it both ways– designated hitter, and d#%K HEAD

twhetsel:

I never want to see him again

darkvenom1972:

Holliday i never want to c him again, and now i have to c him in person, GREAT

PujolsFan4Life:

GO AWAY HOLLIDAY, GO AWAY

jimmy ballgame:

I think he choked on sunflower seeds while trying to catch the ball with his stomach.Sickening loss. Adios, Matt.Thanks for the one good month of baseball.

williamfleitch:

Anyone have a screengrab of Holliday popping those sunflower seeds in his mouth seconds after the error? I hope he enjoyed those.

Cards_Champs_47:

To keep the posting clean, screw Holliday. This was all on him. Bottom of the 9th, two outs. You're looking for $18-$20 million a year and I wouldn't give you crap for you now. After your blunder, you have the Audacity to roam out there bagging sunflower seeds. How does a pitcher recover from that kind of error in a playoff game with EVERYTHING on the line? It's not on Franklin. Let Holliday go to the Yankees next year. He's dead to me.

vivaelpujols:

He's just a retard.

Mulliganstew :

I hate Franklin

I can't respect anyone who doesn't like creamsicles

Mulliganstew:

Fuck Franklin

dcfcblues:

what a fucking terrible baseball team

i fucking hate you Ryan Franklin and Matt Holliday

Grizzled Vet:

Thanks Tony

thanks for taking out Wainer you fucking overthinking overmanaging fucking fuckwad fuckhead.

king geedorah:

I would apologize

but I'm not really sorry. Yet, in order to hopefully remain un-banned, I promise after this post to never mention a pl#ne cr@sh on here again.

I would also like to convey that by mentioning a pl#ne cr@sh could potentially occur, thereby placing the Cards automatically in the next round, I was not saying that I wished it would happen; call it an observation. If the Dodgers tonight visit a local watering hole and an escaped Plaxico Burress drops a bazooka down his pant leg and it goes off repeatedly, this could also place the Cards in the playoffs. I will once again reiterate that this is an observation, not a wish.

It is also in no way a death threat, seeing as how I have no psychic abilities that could down a pl@ne. Nor am I God; what I say does not magically occur. Sleep well.

3. BARGAINING

RollBirdsRoll:

At least college football season gives me hope, since the redbirds decided to shit themselves the last three weeks.

VolsnCards5:

At least the colts are 4-0

jd is legend:

I want Brett Wallace back

CodyG:

Refund!!!!

williamfleitch:

On the bright side, maybe this makes Holliday cheaper to sign? Uh ... [aims gun at brain]

4. DEPRESSION

TBender:

Forfeit Game 3

jxmetal1:

kill me

cardfan124:

i fucking quit

Mulliganstew:

I quit

I seriously quit

joker24:

I fucking quit

5. ACCEPTANCE

hr:

see you all later in 2010

•Adam Wainwright blamed Matt Holliday's oopsie on him "losing it in the towels." (Seriously.) Cole Hamels could have, but didn't, blame it on the baby. Boston has no excuses.

•The SEC Commish says he sees no reason for a "public hanging" when officials make bad calls. Instead he prefers the Soviet style, in which they are taken into a soundproof room and shot behind the ear.

•Tony Romo says he won't let his critics beat him with words. He did not say he won't let his critics beat him with game-changing interceptions.

•The US's World Cup qualifier against Honduras tomorrow won't be seen on American television. If Jozy Altidore scores, and no one would be watching it anyway, does it make a goal?

•Just when the Patriots find a solid number one RB — bam! Torn ankle ligaments for Fred Taylor. Any disappointment is mitigated by the fact that the standard Fred Taylor contract is for four games.

•J.P. Losman finally lives up to the hype; too bad he did it in the UFL. He threw for two touchdowns and (Super Bowl champion!) Dede Dorsey rushed for two as the Las Vegas Locomotives win the inaugural UFL game.

•Courtesy of the Global Sports Fraternity, fullbacks are born, not made:

•Did you hear Lopez Tonight is coming to TBS? Day 1 of the playoffs went just as planned, with the Phillies, Yankees and Dodgers all winning. Wait, back up. The Dodgers? I guess whoever said they have no pitching was mistaken. Getting 3.2 innings from Randy Wolf is more than they could have hoped for.

•Dez Bryant is ruled ineligible not because he met with Deion Sanders, but because he lied about meeting with Deion Sanders. Let this be a lesson to our younger readers: if your parents ever catch you doing something bad, it's best to be honest and tell them you were with Deion Sanders.

•Allen Iverson may miss the Grizzlies' season opener as he recovers from a hamstring injury, but let's get real here: if you're counting on Allen Iverson in 2009 to be a crucial part of your team, you're probably not shooting for the stars anyway.

•Your injured quarterbacks update: Donovan McNabb probably, Tim Tebow maybe, Eli Manning maybe not. JaMarcus Russell isn't injured, but is listed as doubtful to play "football."

•Phoenix pulls out a win and forces the WNBA Finals to a deciding fifth game. This was exactly what the league didn't need; there's no way anyone will be paying attention to the WNBA once the UFL starts up tonight.

•Stars broadcaster Daryl Reaugh predicts Dallas will win their opening game. They don't. Now Reaugh's springing for free tickets for all in attendance. Let's hope he doesn't make the guarantee again; have you seen Marty Turco lately? Reaugh may have to spring for season tickets.

•We close with a link to the top ten hits in youth football. Does it make it sadder or funnier that they're children? We say funnier. A highlight:

That screaming that you hear is baby Jesus crying. I thought they established the FCC to prevent this sort of thing.

Rick and I thank you for hanging with us this weekend. The regular crew comes back tomorrow.

Later on.

Please don't quit your day jobs [Sox and Dawgs]

"J.D. is physically doing pretty well," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "I know normally you get to this time of year and you send eight or nine guys out there and just stay with it. I don't know that, the way we're built right now, that's the best way to do it."

Considering that tonight isn't a must-win for Boston, it's not really a risky move. It is, however, do or die for the Angels who face elimination tonight.

The White Sox were enjoying a 5-1 lead, but those pesky Rays have scored a couple of runs to keep themselves in contention. A win by Tampa Bay today puts them in the ALCS against the winner of the Boston/LA series and sends the White Sox home to play golf with their city brethren, the Cubs.

It's been a busy weekend and you all have been wonderful as usual. Thanks for sticking around and I'll see you in a few weeks. There isn't a live blog tonight, so consider this your open thread. Enjoy!

The Brewers had their own offensive worries, though [Joe] Blanton can take credit for most of those. The burly right-hander, acquired in July from Oakland, hadn't pitched since Sept. 26 and was making only his second career postseason appearance. But he was in a groove from the minute he took the mound, thanks partly to Rollins' leadoff homer.

"From the first batter, it really set the tone. It allowed me to get comfortable," Blanton said.

Both the Phillies and the Dodgers are in a good position with their early wins, allowing them to start their ace pitchers and rest their rotation before Thursday when they meet up for the NLCS.

Game 1 is Thursday in Philadelphia.

• The Rays and White Sox had their 4:05 start delayed. The tarp is currently off of the field, so play should begin shortly. Tampa Bay is looking to sweep Chicago for their first trip to the ALCS. Tampa Bay has never been to the playoffs before but have done well this year, winning the division and showing what happens when you build intelligently with youth. UPDATE: The game is now underway.

"Dodger fans, you are very special," Joe Torre said. "The way you supported us all year when we struggled, when we couldn't get out of our own way ... I can't tell you how much we appreciate it. Just don't go away, we'll be back next week, because we still have eight more games to win."

I remember when he used to talk to Yankees fans like that. It breaks my heart a little. The feel good story has become Torre and Manny, a couple of east coast cast offs who have silenced their critics. I'm officially shoving aside my American League allegiance and rooting for the Dodgers to go all the way.

•The Brewers were able to hold off the Phillies, and playoff elimination, with a 4-1 win over the Phillies. Three hits from J.J. Hardy and a strong 5.1 inning performance by Dave Bush. Milwaukee had a brief scare when Philadelphia loaded the bases with no outs and Pedro Feliz hit a double-play grounder to shortstop that scored Ryan Howard. But Shane Victorino was called for interference when he didn't slide into second, sending the runners back. A short grounder to Torres ended the game.

• Phillies at Brewers, 6:35 pm ET on TBS
"Later today, the Phils will look to close out the divisional series with the Brewers. Up 2-0 in a best-of-5, there are still some questions about the hitting, with all of the Phillies' runs coming in two of the 16 innings they've come to the plate. I'm still falling on the side of, 'they're winning, and the pitching has been great, so there's no need in bitching.'" [The 700 Level Club]

"Those who wanted Brewers interim manager Dale Sveum to shake up his lineup for Game 3 of the NLDS against Philadelphia in an attempt to get the bats going can forget it. Sveum told us before the team's workout today at Miller Park that he plans no shakeups for the must-win game against the Phillies tomorrow. Other than substituting Bill Hall for Craig Counsell and Rickie Weeks for Ray Durham, which Sveum always does against lefties (Jamie Moyer is pitching), he said he is planning no changes." [Brewers Blog]

• Cubs at Dodgers, 10:05 pm ET on TBS
"If Lou Piniella is referred to the skipper of the team, the Chicago Cubs might as well be a ship.And that ship is sinking fast. Much like the feeling in our hearts. Since the beginning of the Wild Card era, sixteen teams trailed 0-2 in the NLDS. Only three teams were able to force game four and no one was even able to force a fifth game, let alone win it." [My Thoughts on the Cubs]

"Is this happening? Are the Dodgers really up two games to none against the Cubs in the National League Division Series? It’s hard to believe, but we are just one game away from advancing to the NLCS after Thursday night’s 10-3 win. The Dodgers used the same ingredients to win game two that they used in the game one victory: hitting, pitching, and some help from the Cubs." [Rockin' the Ravine]

• The Rays topped the White Sox to pull within one game of the ALCS. A year ago there would have been multiple things wrong with that sentence. As 'Duk put it in such a classy way, "Like a puppy trailing us home from the corner market, you figure these Rays are eventually going to trail off, back away, lose interest or get flattened by a car." [Big League Stew]

• The Red Sox topped the Angels in the best game of the post-season so far. A ninth inning homerun by JD Drew opened the game up and Los Angeles couldn't recover. "The Red Sox have continued their merciless beatdown of the Angels in the postseason tonight, but not without another short outing from Daisuke on the big stage and a blown save for Papelbon." Yeah, stay proud Boston. [Cursed to First]

Citing network policy, ESPN says it does not accept advertising that promotes competitive programming on other networks unless it is contractually obligated to do so - and it states that it's not obligated to under its new media deal with MLB. It says other networks have similar policies.

The good news is that there will be less Dane Cook on ESPN. The bad news is that Peter Gammons and company could be banned from setting up their "Baseball Tonight" remote shoots inside the stadium.

By the way, here are those TBS broadcasting teams:

Chip Caray-Tony Gwynn (Craig Sager on the field)
Ted Robinson- Joe Simpson (Marc Fein)
Don Orsillo-Steve Stone
Dick Stockton-Bob Brenly

We don't know who some of those people are, which immediately makes them improvements on Joe Morgan.

ESPN And MLB Feud Over Playoff Promos [The Fanhouse]

The series is tied at one all now, and if you're looking for a goat for the evening, look no further than Billy Wagner. He came on in the ninth inning with the game tied, and before he left, the Cardinals pounded out four hits and three runs, courtesty of a So Taguchi three-run longball that sealed the deal. Guillermo Mota's also a pretty solid candidate for junior goat, as he gave up two runs in the seventh inning that allowed the Cardinals to tie it.

The Cardinals almost had to win the Chris Carpenter start, even if it wasn't because of Carpenter himself. Had they gone down 2-0 with their best pitcher already having thrown, it might've been time to turn out the lights.

And speaking of turning out the lights, earlier in the day, Kenny Rogers was once again a bad ass, completely locking up the A's, and giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead in the series. The Roaster allowed just two hits, two walks, and no runs in seven and a third innings of work. Bonderman's on the hill for Detroit tomorrow, and the champagne and broomsticks will be in the house.

The highlight of the evening for me, though, was immediately after the win when Jim Leyland had to share the moment with his wife and his daughter. Leyland was on the field, they were in the stands, and if they were going to kiss, it'd have to be through the foul ball netting. Leyland kissed his wife through the netting, then his daughter ... and then saw a young male Tigers fan run up to the net, and ask for a kiss of his own. Leyland gave it to him. God bless that man. I hope they're still making out.

(By the way, if you do a Google Image Search for "jim leyland kiss," you get this.)

With much less fanfare, the Mets finished off their annihilation of the Dodgers last night, too. The Mets got less than 14 innings from their starting pitchers through three games, and still won handily. That is some very masculine bullpen work.

And all of this leaves the Cardinals/Padres series as the only one still going on. They'll play tonight at 8 on Fox, with Woody Williams going up against Chris Carpenter.

MLB Scoreboard [MLB.com]