FYI: Erstad is chasing George Sisler's 1920 record of 257 hits. Thought you could sneak a Philadelphia A in on me, heh?

The season had been a trying one for the Texas Rangers up until last night but they were only 4 games under .500. Now the season is over; they can turn out the lights. Ivan Rodriguez fractured the base of his thumb when his hand hit Mo Vaughn's bat as he tried to throw a runner out at second base. Surgery is today and the healing time is a minimum of 10 weeks before any rehab can start. Look for Texas to tank the season and begin to offer players to other teams for prospects beginning about noon today.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers have quietly begun to play the way you would have expected a team with that payroll to play since the beginning of April. They are 6 games over .500 and are only 3 1/2 games behind the D-Backs who have been in a free-fall for a month. They are 8-3 in their last 11 games and Kevin Brown seems to be reincarnated as the "monster" that he was two years ago.

The Cincy Reds re-signed Barry Larkin to a 3 year deal when the Mets thought that they had a deal for him. With all the turmoil in Cincy about trading Nagle and maybe losing Larkin, the Reds have closed from 9 games behind the Cards to 5 1/2 back. Maybe chaos is the fuel for this team?

The Mets need a shorstop; they should have wanted Larkin badly but did not. Now they are talking about a Mike Bordick trade where they give Rey Ordonez to the Orioles. Bordick is a free agent after this year and says he wants to play in Baltimore; Ordonez is a spectacular fielder who can't hit a lick (he batted .188 in 45 games this year until he got hurt); Ordonez has 3 more years to go on his contract at about $5M per year and he ain't worth that. So this trade makes no sense from any perspective and that means it will probably get made. The Mets salivate at the thought of - let alone the mention of - Alex Rodriguez. That is their motivation for the Ordonez/Bordick trade. The Mets get to offload a big contract that makes no sense and they then go after A-Rod without a lot of money invested in a shortstop and let Bordick go wherever he wants.

One other motivation for the Mets could be that Ordonez has feuded with Bobby Valentine but I don't think that is a big deal because if it were, there would not be enough players on the Mets to field a full team. Or if they could field a team, there would be no one on the bench to pinch-hit.

Supposedly, the Yankees are looking for yet another outfielder - Justice and Hill have been added in the last week or so but that is not enough. They are supposedly interested in BJ Surhoff. If the Phillies are not offering Ron Gant to them then everyone in the Phillies front office needs to be fired - today.

In the NFL, the Carolina Panthers signed Eric Swann to a one year contract at the league minimum for veterans. Assuming the injury bug stays away, the Panthers have a nice DL coming together here even if Reggie White is only a specialty pass rusher.

The odds on Jax going to the Super Bowl just went up. Leon Searcy tore a tendon that connects the quadriceps muscle in the thigh to the knee and it will require surgery and the projected rehab time is 6 months. Meanwhile Tony Boselli is still doing rehab on his knee reconstruction from last year. They were a dominating pair of tackles and now the Jaguars are considering moving one of their guards out to tackle and then …

Translation: The OL for the Jags used to be one of their strongest units. Now it is going to be held together with spit and baling wire.

Memo to Mr. Berthelson: You have to be kidding. Even Eric Swann's one year deal at the league minimum of $400K is favorable to him compared to what he would earn doing what he is prepared to do outside football and that is mowing lawns.

Ben Wallace will be leaving the Magic to play for Detroit. He was one of four players traded by the Wizards to the Magic for Ike Austin last year. Wallace has limited skills - particularly on offense. But he plays hard every minute he is on the floor and he rebounds very well and plays hardnosed defense. Ike Austin on the other hand is as useful as a screen door on a submarine.

Finally, while soccer in the US continues to be a minor sport desperately seeking to break into the ranks of "second tier sports", it remains the world's game. A player named Luis Figo was sold by the Barcelona team to the Madrid team for $56M. And unlike NFL signing bonuses which are now paid off in several installments, this payment is already in the Barcelona Bank and Trust.

But don't get me wrong, I love sports...