• After the game, the Mariners hugged for a solid six or eight minutes. This was all quite lovely, but I couldn't help wondering ... Why are these guys saying goodbye on the field? Won't they soon be in the clubhouse for an hour or so? And won't they soon be showering together? It was an odd thing.
• Felix Hernandez picked up the win and, as expected, he's finished with a slight lead over Zack Greinke in the Cy Young Predictor. I think the Predictor's going to miss this year, though. While Greinke did nothing to help his candidacy on Saturday, I don't believe that Hernandez did quite enough to help his. Greinke's your Cy Young Award winner.*
* Oh, and about the Cy Young Predictor ... Best wishes to Predictor inventor Bill James, who was born 60 years ago today, in Kansas.
• It was disappointing, that Ken Griffey Jr. didn't play even an inning of center field (or any other field). But the game was close and Franklin Gutierrez is the best center fielder in the majors and Griffey did stroke a single into center field before being replaced by a pinch-runner and he was carried from the field by his teammates after the entire took a victory lap around the field, tossing souvenirs to the fans left in the stands. All in all, it was a grand afternoon for the fans of a team that lost 101 games last year and somehow won 85 games this year. Speaking of which ...
• This doesn't have much do with the game, but Geoff Baker goes a ways toward explaining why the Mariners (brilliantly) acquired Franklin Gutierrez.
• Wow. Our third tiebreaker playoff game in three years! Here's the whole list.
• Bill Baer -- who you'll see a lot more of around here this month (more on that in a moment) -- offers J.P. Ricciardi's top three blunders. I can't argue with any of them, except to say that some of the blame for the Vernon Wells contract might belong to ownership, who by some accounts pressured Ricciardi to lock up Wells no matter the cost. I'm sure someday we'll know more.
• This is just plain old good news (unless you're a Braves fan).
• OK, here's Intallment 1 of "Getting to know the Blue Jays' new GM!"
• Oh, and speaking of Boy Wonders, Joe Posnanski, likes the Red Sox, he likes J.D. Drew, and he especially likes Theo Epstein.
• It's thrilling for a guy like me to know that a guy like Aronold Hano is still kicking.
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ABOUT THIS BLOG
Rob Neyer
Neyer is a senior writer at ESPN.com. He began his career with legendary baseball author (and now Red Sox executive) Bill James, then joined Stats Inc. and wrote about MLB, the NFL and the NBA. Neyer joined ESPN.com in 1996, and it's believed that he's written more words for the site than anybody.
Neyer moved to Kansas City in 1976, just in time for the Royals' first division title, and fell in love almost immediately. He attended the University of Kansas the same four years as Danny Manning, and is now happy to wait another 20 years for the Jayhawks' next championship.