The Little League World Series (LLWS) was held this summer, as usual, in Williamsport Pennsylvania.  The LLWS gets full coverage on ESPN and ended happily for the network with a team from Georgia winning the title.  Charles Euchner’s new book  “Little League, Big Dreams, the Hope, the Hype and the Glory of the greatest World Series ever played” examines the LLWS from the perspective of the teams in the 2005 series, and provides an in depth look behind the scenes of the biggest show in kids baseball.

According to the occasionally-reputable New York Daily News, Joe Torre is about to be removed, by his choice of resigning or being fired, as manager of the Yankees. This would not be the first in a series of off-season managerial changes, but would certainly be the most noteworthy so far. Reportedly, Lou Piniella would return for another go-round as manager in the Bronx.

So, if this is in fact what happens, what does that mean ...

Hi Gary,

Off the top, I want to say a couple of things. First, the timing of this letter is not designed to disrupt opening day for the NHL -- I decided not to wait a few days before writing and posting it because I think that this is a really urgent issue that needs to be dealt with right away. Second, I'm not sending this to you privately because I'm pretty certain that you'd never see it. I'm hoping that by putting it out here on the internet it draws enough attention for this matter to be dealt with immediately.

What's the issue? I went to NHL.com yesterday and I saw something that thoroughly disgusted me:

The incomparable Sean Forman of Baseball-Reference.com has released the 2006 statistics.  Remarkable speed!

This link will take you to the 2006 Blue Jays statistics.  A few things that jump out at me...

The Jays 2006 season was quite a ride.  Here are a few of the dizzying highs and the devastating lows from the perspective of pinch-hitter Joanna, who has put together her perspective on the 2006 season.

So that was 2006, eh?

Here's an almost-end-of-season overview of the 2006 Blue Jays season. Executive summary: it hurts more when you care more.

So Adam Lind looks good.

The modern division of labour among the various members of the pitching staff puzzles me. You know the division I am speaking of- five starters whose role it is to throw 6-7 innings, a closer who takes the ninth inning with leads of 3 runs or less, and six other relievers who fill in between the starters and closer. I suppose it is not too bad if a team has four or five starters who can fulfil the role well. The Angels and White Sox of 2005 certainly made it work, but what if a team doesn’t have those starters on hand?

Auburn and Dunedin both received superb work from their starters, but all three farm affiliates lost in playoff action.

Anibal Sanchez threw a no-hitter tonight against the Diamondbacks. This was the first no-hitter since Randy Johnson threw one in May, 2004.

So naturally the Unit isn't happy about it and is throwing a no-hitter himself. The Royals are hitless through 6 innings.

Going through Jesse Barfield's double plays on Retrosheet for a research project, Craig B came across this now-forgotten gem in the game log...

What difference does September really make? How often does a team get to play in the post-season who would not have had the opportunity if the season had ended on August 31? Does it happen regularly?

Often enough.

Love him or hate him -- I admit, I tend to the latter -- Curt Schilling has been one of the truly great (and I don't use that word lightly) pitchers of this generation. He's won World Series rings with more than one team, including a legendary melodramatic contribution to the Red Sox' first title since the Last Supper was being cooked. (Incidentally, Schillng is 8-2, 2.06 in 15 post-season starts. Nice Cooperstown bullet point, that.)

Today, Schilling became the 14th pitcher in major-league history to reach 3,000 career strikeouts. So here's my question ...

When and why did this Formerly Huge Milestone become basically an oh-by-they-way No Big Deal (not even the lead story on ESPN.com!) number?