1.  Joe Sheehan raised an interesting point in his column at Baseball Prospectus -- why not start Kiger in lieu of Jimenez at second today? The offensive contributions are likely to be a push and Jimenez hasn't exactly distinguished himself with his glove.

2.  I'm not sure I'd buy that Kiger would be equal or better offensively than Jimenez.

I might buy that the total package is better, though.

3.  We won't be hearing Steve Lyons in today's broadcast by the way:

http://tinyurl.com/yzqf8s

This is what I get for listening to the radio yesterday.

4.  Yeah who is that random guy doing color commentary?

Gotta love that cute little kid they showed in the tiger (I almost caps'd that but then I realised that might read like it was a Tiger Woods) costume!

5.  Good start so far. Bonderman struggling to find the zone... Bradley doing his thing.

6.  Uh oh.

7.  Haha, "Milton Bradley Game Over", good one!

No way he lets himself get pulled in an elimination game though.

8.  Thank you, idiot fan, for grabbing that ball and letting Milton trot home.

9.  what was the uh-oh for?

10.  9 I presume it's because Bradley tweaked a muscle in his leg.

11.  9 That was because of Milton Bradley grabbing his leg while trying to steal third on a foul out.

And also because the sight of Larry Davis makes my blood run cold. They oughta just fit that guy for a hooded robe and a scythe to complete the image.

12.  Nice play by Inge and Guillen there.

13.  Wow I did not know that Bonderman was only a junior in high school when he was drafted, no wonder Beane was so POed about that pick...NICE catch by Guillen at 1B!

14.  AAAArrrrgggggh!!!!!!!!!!!! Leadoff walks! Every time the A's get a lead, the pitcher gives it right back.

15.  C'mon throw one up and in, just for once.

16.  Well, at least he got one out.

17.  was granderson in motion on the pitch?

18.  Nice sequence to Ordonez, Haren.

19.  Wow Magglio may be the worst cleanup hitter on a World Series team since..uh, who was it for those 2000 Yankees?

20.  17 I don't think so. If Jimenez fields it cleanly, I think he could have turned two. But he bobbled it, so he could only get one.

21.  My strategy for today's game is to only watch the A's bat. When Detroit is at the plate, I've switched over to the Chelsea-Reading match I have on TiVo.

So far the strategy has paid dividends.

22.  19 True Yankee Bernie Williams.

23.  20 Free Mark Kiger!

24.  19. Have you seen the Cardinals line up? Encarnacion was batting clean up in game one.

25.  Wow, Gomez just golfed that hit off the dirt. Not much you can do about that.

26.  Well, I suppose you could throw it further into the dirt. That's not what I meant, Haren.

27.  There ya go, just above the dirt.

28.  i LOVE how haren is getting ahead of everyone.

29.  kendall has become a strikeout machine in the playoffs.

30.  29 So is Danny Haren, fortunately.

31.  Yay! Jay! Pay!

32.  Awesome, Jay.

I just used the word "awesome" non-ironically.

33.  You were literally awed by Payton's ability to hit a hanging slider?

34.  That dude in the Reds cap got two baseballs today. Including that one that was a fair ball.

35.  Welcome to the hit column, Swisher.

36.  Tigers half of the fourth, inning of doom so far this series.

37.  Please go inside on Polanco for me. He can't just keep reaching across the plate like that and not pay for it.

38.  Here we go again.

39.  arrrgh. i think i'm on board with drilling polanco now.

40.  Whew. Got past that bugaboo.

41.  Who is that guy at third base, and what have they done with Eric Chavez?

42.  OK, now drill Polanco, and get Ordonez to hit into a double play.

43.  Oops forgot, Polanco's on deck.

44.  Or, in the hole. What am I thinking?

45.  Dag nammit! Another nasty pitch, and the Tigers hit it anyway.

46.  Wow, Granderson comes up with a huge double in the taguchi.

...ehh idunno if replacing the word "clutch" with "Taguchi" will work...let's see what Monroe does!

47.  $#&@$(&@#$(@&$(@&$($&@(&$*#!!!!!

We've got Murphy and his law against us.

OK, now drill Polanco.

48.  Lucky double play there. I guess it's not All Murphy All The Time.

49.  Ooof. Bad time for Haren's obligatory home run allowed.

50.  MAGGLIOOOOOOOOO!!!!

51.  Sigh. The end is near.

52.  hope Ken, hope!

53.  Dan Haren was my last hope, Obi Wan.

54.  Is Duchscherer still not available? I can't imagine he wouldn't be in here right now if he were healthy.

55.  Has there been any talk Ken of whether Zito or Loaiza could be available from the pen today?

56.  55 Not that I'd heard. I think this game would have to go 18 innings or something before you'd see either one of them, though.

57.  I can't believe Kendall's hit didn't bounce off the pitcher directly to the second baseman.

58.  I'm going to go out there and plunk Polanco myself. Throw it inside, off the plate, bozos.

59.  Still no Duchscherer.

This isn't the real A's team without Ellis and Duchscherer. Those two guys are the foundation of the A's success.

60.  fuck yeah, street in the 7th, thats how you use your best reliever

61.  That Street guy looked pretty good there Ken, is he important?

62.  Ok, everybody, exhale.

63.  Well, yeah, you gotta use Street there if Duchscherer isn't available. But if Duke was healthy he'd have started that inning, and probably set 'em down 1-2-3. He's the A's best pitcher.

64.  I wanna see Frank Thomas do something this inning, for once.

65.  does a walk count?

66.  Oh, for heaven's sake, Thomas.

67.  Fox just clocked Grilli at 98 miles per hour on three pitches in that at-bat. The radar gun is definitely juiced!

68.  oh god, the small ball discussion again..

69.  Well, I'll be very surprised if Swisher does anything good in this AB. Maybe I'll root for a base on balls.

70.  68 I'm glad I'm not listening. What did they say, Thomas should have bunted?

71.  All right, Scooter, we need your heroics again.

72.  Scutaro is a weird last name

73.  72 not as appropriate as Heaverlo was, I agree.

74.  http://tinyurl.com/ympr3z

Gotta love the roar of the crowd after one strike is thrown!

75.  just how the a's inability to produce runs will be their downfall in the playoffs once again or something like that..

76.  73

it's different there for it's cool in my book.

77.  75

small ball!!

78.  Oh, bother.

79.  The sign of the true fan is when you know your team is gonna lose after you see an opportunity like that missed.

Fortunately, sometimes your knowledge can be mistaken. At least three more chances in the 9th.

80.  79 The worst part is now I know the Tigers are going to win the pennant on a walk-off play of some kind. That's gonna hurt.

81.  I know the feeling all too well.

But hey, maybe that walk-off play will be tomorrow or in a Game Six!

82.  Is it too late to trade for Dave Roberts?

83.  Well that is also kinda the only way it can happen now Ken...just like all those Red Sox fans knew their team would win 4 in a row even when no team had done it before.

Is it too early to start making guesses at who will be named the ALCS MVP?

84.  Oh, goody, we'll get to see Kiger play some more.

85.  I'd vote for Brandon Inge. The guy has been making play after play at 3B, and Chavez hasn't.

86.  But that's only because I refuse to vote for Polanco.

87.  C'mon Kendall, go Podsednik on us and hit a home run right here.

88.  OK, single, whatever.

89.  In Oakland, that's another homer for Milton. Sigh.

90.  Ahh and there is Yankee-killer Marcus Thames!

One out.

91.  nice little at bat by the Tigers hitter so far.

92.  Nice catch, Milton.

This would have been a classic game if the A's had won one of the first three. Instead, it has a kind of waiting for the inevitable feeling.

93.  I shall not repeat myself.

94.  Does anyone else think Polanco looks like Beavis/Cornholio with that hoodie thing on?

Time for MAGGLIOOOOOOOOO....

95.  Hi. das411 mentioned that there was some kind of wake going on here.

96.  wow!

97.  goodnight everybody
you've all been wonderful

98.  Wow. What a freaking shot.
Well, congrats to the A's for advancing to the ALCS, anyway.

99.  Well, rats.

100.  Well, now Ken's readers and the Banterers have something in common. For a 4 game series it was definitely fun to watch, congratulations to the A's, they'll be back next year.

And how 'bout those TIGERS!!!

101.  Jeez. Sorry, gents. and ladies.

Somebody should still make tshirts with Stomper posing on the ball. I was a little shocked none were available.