Check back at 8 pm EDT, as I’ll be hosting a live chat during Game 2 of the World Series.

Jorge Posada’s absence was expected with Jose Molina having caught A.J. Burnett in each of the right-hander’s three previous postseason starts, but Yankees manager Joe Girardi made the surprising decision Thursday to remove Nick Swisher from the starting lineup for Game 2 of the World Series and replace him with Jerry Hairston Jr. in right…

Prior to tonight’s Game 2 start, Pedro Martinez spoke about playing and living in New York, his well-documented history at Yankee Stadium, how the media has used him to hype up games, and why he admires Mariano Rivera:

Exactly how great was Cliff Lee’s performance last night? Well … Years ago Bill James invented a metric called Game Score that assigned a numerical value to every start based on the following criteria: – Start with 50 points. – Add 1 point for each out recorded. – Add 2 points for each inning completed…

* Cuban left-hander Aroldis Chapman had what agent Edwin Mejia described as “a very good visit” with the Red Sox yesterday at Fenway Park. In addition to the Red Sox, Pete Abraham of the Boston Herald lists the Yankees, Mets, Tigers, Cardinals, and Mariners as having interest in the 21-year-old free agent. Earlier this offseason…

Perhaps a pair of homers off CC Sabathia last night will end Chase Utley’s reign as the most underrated player in baseball, although even his big night was overshadowed by Cliff Lee’s complete-game victory. Despite playing for a highly successful big-market team Utley’s excellence has somehow managed to fly under the radar, as many media…

After hiring Jed Hoyer as their new general manager earlier this week the Padres fired vice president for scouting and player development Grady Fuson and reassigned scouting director Bill Gayton. Those are two of the front office’s most important positions and it’s understandable that Hoyer would want to fill them with his own choices, but…

If last night’s World Series opener was a football game it could have been called the Mark Shapiro Bowl, as both Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia were traded away by the Indians general manager during the past 18 months. Lee was phenomenal and Sabathia also pitched very well when not facing Chase Utley, as the…

There’s not a ton of actual news this morning, so let’s talk broadcasting: As the game ended last night, I said to myself “hmm, I just watched over three hours of a FOX broadcast, and I’m not annoyed.” I was able to mostly ignore Buck, and, in an unlikely twist, McCarver didn’t say too terribly…

FOX’s Ken Rosenthal is generally pro-Phillies in this column and likes them to win it all, but he’s got a good point here: Hey, I love Pedro. It is foolish to bet against him. But no one has any idea how he will pitch in cool weather against an American League club using a DH,…

ESPN’s Howard Bryant, taking a page out of Joe McCarthy’s playbook, on baseball’s response to recent steroid stories  (i.e. David Ortiz) and the hiring of Mark McGwire: Baseball responded curiously, if not brazenly. The league and the union both enthusiastically defended Ortiz without providing any evidence that could lead to his exoneration; and now, as…

It may not happen right now, but according to Jon Heyman’s sources, the Mets are putting people in place with the intention of ensuring a smooth transition in the event Minaya is fired early in the 2010 season. Indeed, the source refers to it as “setting the stage” for his firing.  The moves: going out of their way to…

Here’s the situation: your team is unable to do anything against a Cy Young caliber pitcher.  Your ace gave up two home runs to the same guy on the other team.  Your bullpen was less than stellar. You’ve now lost the homefield advantage and you have an often erratic starter going in Game 2.  Time to…

Well, not quite officially done because Selig basically tells the teams not to announce these sorts of things during the Series, but as Aaron said on Monday, the Braves and Tim Hudson were talking, and now they have all but agreed to a three-year, $27 million deal. Good deal for the Braves, as Hudson could…

In the wake of an impressive showing by the Phillies in Game 1 of the World Series, let’s take a stroll around the nation and see what’s going on … In New York, they were actually eating cheesesteaks. And no, that’s not some kind of euphemism for what Cliff Lee did to the Yankees. Speaking…

The winner of Game 1 has prevailed in each of the last six World Series It’s a streak that started when the Marlins upset the Yankees in six games in 2003. But the truth is that none of the series since have been close. In fact, three were sweeps and the other two ended in…

Despite some heavy rain in the New York area earlier today, Game 1 of the World Series will be played tonight. It’s the Phillies vs Yankees. Lee vs CC. The Fightin’ Phils vs The Bronx Bombers. The defending champs vs the Evil Empire. The team that Mets fans really hate vs the team that Mets fans…

*Cliff Lee needs to work deep into the game in order to match CC Sabathia. The Phillies will likely have to rely a great deal on their pen during Games 2 and 3, so it’s important that Lee provide them with at least seven strong innings. The chances of Chad Durbin, Chan Ho Park and…

Earlier this week a 43-year-old Philadelphia woman was arrested for allegedly trying to trade sex for World Series tickets. If you missed the story, here’s a video with all the details: Police arrested her before she could make the sex-for-tickets swap, but it turns out that Susan Finkelstein will be going to Game 3 of…