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Ralph Houk, a third-string catcher for the Yankees who went on to win three straight American League pennants and two World Series championships in his first seasons as their manager, died Wednesday at his home in Winter Haven, Fla. He was 90.

 East W L Pct GB Home Road East Cent West Streak L10 New York Yankees 50 31 .617 -- 28-13 22-18 20-11 10-7 9-6 Won 2 6-4 Boston Red Sox 49 33 .598 1.5 29-17 20-16 18-17 10-9 8-2 Lost 1 6-4 Tampa Bay Rays 48 33 .593 2.0 20-19 28-14 19-10 11-6 11-6 Won 2 6-4 Toronto Blue Jays 41 42 .494 10.0 21-19 20-23 13-14 11-9 10-8 Lost 2 2-8 Baltimore Orioles 25 57 .305 25.5 16-25 9-32 9-27 4-6 5-13 Lost 1 5-5  Central W L Pct GB Home Road East Cent West Streak L10 Detroit...

A Massachusetts lawmaker is calling tonight’s planned demonstration outside Fenway Park to protest Arizona’s new immigration law “ridiculous.” A coalition of immigrant-rights groups, labor unions and interfaith organizations plan to protest the law, which would compel Arizona police to question anyone if the officer has a “reasonable suspicion” the person is an illegal immigrant. The Sox battle the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight. “We want to send a message that Arizona’s anti-immigrant law will have a very negative impact on our community,” said Patricia Montes, executive director of Centro Presente, a statewide Latin-American immigrant organization. “This law increases the anti-immigrant sentiment in...

Right handed Red Sox 3rd baseman Adrian Beltre hit one out of Fenway Park Friday afternoon, striking Nutmeg squarely on the forearm. X-rays revealed a fractured radius. Nutmeg is in good spirits today. Beltre, with a .335 average and 44 RBI in 2010, was unavailable for comment. Adrian Beltre Nutmeg

“If the Yankees had an ounce of common sense, they would have at least sat down and heard his side of things. But I’ll tell you one thing, New York’s loss is Boston’s gain."

Reviewing the late donations to Martha Coakley's campaign -- the checks that came in as she collapsed -- I note the same drug company PACs and Washington lobbyists, but I also note that Larry Lucchino, president and part owner of the Red Sox, cut a $2,000 check to Coakley's campaign on January 13. She probably would have benefited more if he had given her a lesson in recent Sox history -- namely, that Curt Schilling is not a Yankees fan. Also, Sox chairman Tom Werner gave Coakley $2,000 on January 14. Her Schilling diss was on the 15th. Some other...

In such a close race, anything could tip the balance, and Massachusetts is devoted to its baseball team. Martha Coakley, the Democratic candidate in Tuesday's special election for Massachusetts senator, didn't do her campaign any favors Friday by dismissing Boston Red Sox hero Curt Schilling as a "Yankees fan." In such a close race, anything could tip the balance, and Massachusetts is devoted to its baseball team, especially after it reversed years of bad fortune in 2004 by defeating the Yankees in the playoffs and going on to win the World Series with Schilling's help. The gaffe came in a...

Senate Candidate Martha Coakley has joined the Twitter revolution in the last week and seems to be enjoying the interaction, especially for a gal who rarely talks to the media other when she is awake. (This is a post about politicians and Twitter and we won't even go on about Drew Rosenhaus.) Coakley has jumped right in,with her prediction for the Lakers: "this is about to be a superbowl winning season fareal." In other comments, Coakley was looking forward to watching Larry Bird and Pele play against Manchester United. "Defence wins championships," declare several other posts

On the talk radio show, "Nightside With Dan Rea," Coakley labels Rudy Giuliani as a Yankee fan, then goes on to bizarrely describe Brown supporter Curt Schilling, the great former Red Sox pitcher, as a Yankee fan as well. Hear the audio here: Link For those who don't know who Curt Schilling is, he is a famous Red Sox pitcher. This woman seem intent on insulting Mass citizens.

If she hasn’t done it yet, Martha Coakley may have just killed her campaign. She’s apparently been trying to win the title of Worst Political Campaign Ever, and she might have just clinched it with her little dig at Scott Brown over Fenway Park. [2] The appearance characterizes Coakley’s approach to this truncated race. Aware that she has little time for the hand-shaking and baby-kissing of a standard political campaign, she has focused instead on rallying key political leaders, Democratic activists, and union organizers, in hope they will get people to the polls. … Despite that, there is a subdued,...

Oddly quiet all off-season, the New York Mets finally made their long-awaited answer to the significant moves of their crosstown and divisional rivals -- that would be the Yankees and Phillies, respectively -- agreeing to terms with free agent left fielder Jason Bay on a four-year deal believed to be worth around $65 million.

Now that the dust has begun to settle on a slim free-agent market with slim pickin's, it appears Johnny Damon and Jason Bay are going to wind up with teams they never would've dreamed of playing for, while Matt Holliday will have to settle for considerably less than the $18 million-$20 million per year his rep Scott (Avenging Agent) Boras asserted to be his worth. We start with Damon, a terrific guy for whom there will be no sad songs sung here over his self-imposed exile from the team he loved, the Yankees. It wasn't as if the Yankees deceived...

How Sweep It Is: Angels Exorcise Demons, Defeat Boston in Playoffs by Johnathan Kroncke Scribe Written on October 11, 2009 BOSTON - OCTOBER 11: The Angels were beaten. They had to be. Down 5-2 in the eighth inning and facing two stellar relievers lined up to close the game, they could only look to tomorrow and a Game Four match-up between Joe Saunders and Jon Lester. Or at least, that's what it looked like. But appearances can be deceiving. Once again, I must defer to the great linguist Yogi Berra who famously declared, “It ain't over 'till it's over.” Unbelievably,...

Top 9th: LA Angels - B. Abreu doubled to left, E. Aybar scored, C. Figgins to third - V. Guerrero singled to shallow center, C. Figgins and B. Abreu scored, T. Hunter to second

Sox prolonging the inevitable embarassment. Good for TBS, I guess.

Join in here to talk about today's playoff games. All times Eastern: Angels at Red Sox 12:07, Yankees at Twins 7:07 pm, Phillies at Rockies 10:07 Dodgers won entry to the NLCS yesterday.

OK, I'll start this one, too, just in case it gets interesting.Josh Becket vs. Jered Weaver.

Ted Williams' frozen head for batting practice at cryogenics lab: book BY Nathaniel Vinton DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Updated Friday, October 2nd 2009, 10:44 AM Head of Ted Williams was abused by employees at Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, Ariz., whistleblower says. AP Ted Williams, who spent his entire career with the Red Sox, died in 2002 at the age of 83. 'Frozen,' by former Alcor exec Larry Johnson, makes shocking claims about how employees treated Ted Williams' frozen head. Take our PollCryonics: Critical or near-criminal? In "Frozen," Larry Johnson, a former exec at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation...

Workers at a cryonics facility mutilated the frozen head of Hall of Fame baseball player Ted Williams, the author of a new book alleges. In "Frozen," Larry Johnson, a former executive at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, Ariz., describes how Williams' frozen head was repeatedly abused, the New York Daily News reported. The book due out Tuesday alleges gruesome behavior at the facility, where bodies are kept suspended in liquid nitrogen in case future generations learn how to revive them. Johnson writes that in July 2002, shortly after the legendary slugger died at age 83, technicians with no...

Just saw the tail end of the Sotomayor throwing out the pitch to Molina. I wonder if she underhanded it? Any video?