Free Republic

Joe Maddon selected an adjective usually applied to a gallon of milk. Then again, for all the romance that surrounds the sport, baseball is a consumer product too. “Once you eradicate National League rules, then everything becomes homogenized,” the Angels manager said. With the adoption of the designated hitter in both leagues this year, and with the expansion of interleague play next year, Major League Baseball is giving their consumers what the league believes they want. The National League dates to 1876, the oldest surviving professional sports league in the world, according to MLB historian John Thorn. The American League...

First in war, first in peace and now champions of the National League. The Washington Nationals defeated the visiting St. Louis Cardinals, 7-4, on Tuesday night to complete a four-game sweep of the NL Championship Series and bring the nation's capital its first pennant since 1933. Washington will play American League champions, either the New York Yankees or Houston Astros, in the 115th World Series, which starts next week. The newly crowned NL champions broke open Tuesday night's game early, plating seven runs in the first inning before a raucous partisan crowd at Nationals Park. Washington faced a threat from...

ESPN host Bomani Jones wore a "Caucasians" t-shirt mocking the Cleveland Indians' "Chief Wahoo" logo during the "Mike & Mike" show on Thursday. The shirt includes the word "Caucasians" in the Indians' font, with a character based on "Chief Wahoo" that has white skin (instead of red), a basic nose (instead of a large, hooked nose), blonde hair (instead of dark hair parted, and held down by a head band), and a dollar sign (instead of a feather). Here are the two logos side-by-side:

The change: Implement the designated hitter rule in the National League. How it would work: The DH rule would be in effect for all professional games in every league at all levels -- with no exceptions. I spent most of my front-office career in the National League, and have always preferred the game played without the DH rule. I like the late-inning strategies, the double-switches and deciding whether to take out your best pitcher when you're tied or down a run. I also like the fact that the bench and bullpens are more important in game strategy without a DH....

The Chicago Cubs have clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2008. The Cubs were assured of at least an NL wild-card slot Friday night when San Francisco lost to Oakland 5-4, eliminating the Giants from playoff contention. The sign outside Wrigley Field lit up with "Cubs Clinch Postseason Berth'' after it became official late Friday night. Fans gathered around to take pictures and mark Chicago's return for the first time since 2008.

Curt Schilling took on the Internet – and the entire Muslim world – on Tuesday and lost. Badly. The two-time National League strikeout king took to Twitter to voice his concern over Islamic extremism. He posted a photo of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler with the words, “It's said only 5-10% of Muslims are extremists. In 1940, only 7% of Germans were Nazis. How'd that go?” The 48-year-old also tweeted, “The math is staggering when you get to true (numbers).” Schilling, who won three World Series championships during his 20-year MLB career, deleted the post after 10 minutes. Currently working with...

If you’re not ready for the designated hitter to be part of National League baseball, your time to get ready is getting shorter by the day. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when, and more than that, it’s a matter of how.

Major League Baseball has expanded its pool of postseason teams to 10 -- up from four just 19 years ago -- and next year will re-align into 15-team leagues that make for at least one interleague series all season long. But the biggest change of all may be around the next corner: the end of baseball as it was originally designed. "I would be shocked if 10 years from now there's not a DH in both leagues," said one influential baseball source.

The Astros offered arbitration to Valverde, who is classified as a Type A free agent, on December 1st. "It would have been nice for the certainty aspect if Jose had accepted," Wade said. "That being said, we still have the ability to see if we can get something done. We’re not closing the door on that opportunity."

LOS ANGELES -- It's a real shame the Dodgers have no more games scheduled with the Padres this year, because after finding all sorts of ways to lose to San Diego while dropping 13 of the first 17 games between the two teams, it looks like they've finally found a way to win. The Dodgers hit seven home runs Monday night and needed every one, overcoming four-run deficits twice in a remarkable 11-10 victory in 10 innings that put them back into first place by one-half game and had to be seen to be believed. "This will be a game,"...

HOUSTON -- Albert Pujols simply was not ready to call it a season. Even after struggling through an ugly 0-for-4 on Monday night and leaving four runners on base, Pujols knew he needed just one more chance. One more at-bat, and he could turn around the game, the National League Championship Series and the Cardinals' season. He got the chance, and he did what great players do -- he seized it. Pujols obliterated a hanging slider from previously impenetrable Brad Lidge, depositing it 412 feet over the train tracks in left field at Minute Maid Park to give the Cardinals...

Linda W. Cropp, the newly fashioned woman of the people, is drawing kudos from certain corners of the city, which is understandable. That is not the work of a populist. That is just another politician motivated by self-interests.

Braves' Old World by Jeff Kallman Familiarity breeds indifference when not breeding contempt. Exhibit A, the Atlanta Braves; exhibits A-1 and A-1a, Mr. and Mrs. Greg Maddux.Maybe securing the division clinch on their day off had something to do with it. Make no mistake of thinking the Braves earned nothing; they just earned it too soon. They turned a rickety April and a game but grinding May into a June prune, shearing to the hilltop and planting enough thorny thicket behind them to obstruct anyone even thinking about trespassing. It meant Maddux getting to spend what proved clinching day...watching Monday...