MOST AWKWARD BOOK PLUG EVER...AND OTHER WORLD SERIES THOUGHTS

Fresh off of me praising him as a former Met done good, Paul Byrd spent the hours before Game 7 of the American League Championship Series denying that he cheated by taking HGH. Byrd insists he didn't cheat - he seems like a fine, upstanding guy, I'll believe him. He really went full-bore in seeming to tell the truth (as far as athletes go), so I'll believe him. It's fine...I've been lied to by sports figures I've cared more about, so I'll deal with this if it turns out he was lying.

But the real reason I'm addressing it is the fact that during his diatribe, Byrd threw in a plug for his book...and when Paul Byrd is writing a book, I think you need as many plugs as you can get, no matter what the circumstances. Here's what he said (I lifted the transcript from this link, so thanks to them for that):

I've also made comments, and this is things that I've talked about. I have a book coming out next year. This is not a promo for my book. But I do talk about this in the book, where I have had temptations to cheat. I have been asked by people, by pitching coaches, here's how you scuff a ball, here's how you put saliva on a ball, and I talk about that in the book. I also talked about the fact that I was prescribed a hormone, that I did inject it and I did have the temptation to take more of it than what was prescribed so my fastball would reach into the 90s on a consistent basis.

It sounded awkward - I don't know if it reads awkward as well. I just found it humorous while listening to him talk on Sunday.

POSSIBLE TITLES FOR PAUL BYRD'S BOOK:

Please Read My Book: The Story of Paul Byrd
(If he gets arrested) - I Know Why The Caged Paul Byrd Sings
(if he gets arrested for shooting a heckler) - How To Kill Someone Mocking Byrd

ON A RELATED NOTE: I'm not going to delve into areas that I'm not an expert in, because there's a lot of legality involved in this, and I don't know enough about the entire situation here...but the fact that George Mitchell has an association with the Red Sox, and this Paul Byrd thing broke the day of Game 7, seems awfully suspicious. It's almost like the Red Sox said, "You want to have our star pitcher's ex-girlfriend sing the National Anthem before he pitches at your place? Fine. We've got something to throw at you at our place..."

This steroids report, by the way, when it is released, which could be anywhere within the next couple of months, will be huge. And I don't know what my future as a baseball fan will be like when these names come out. There will be a lot of disappointment on my part.

WHY THE INDIANS LOST: If you read my previous posts, in which I predicted Fausto Carmona would win Game 6 for Cleveland, but wouldn't have bet money on it, I think there's something you should know. I think the Carmona prediction was with my heart, because I was sort of pulling for the Indians, like I've been pulling for the Rockies. But my head was saying, "You dope. The Red Sox are going to win these next two games at Fenway - there's no way the Indians will win." And I think the 'wouldn't bet anything on it' was my subconscious popping in with its two cents. So I think that's how you need to read into my predictions - I just can't make a sensible prediction.

That said, here's why the Indians lost: If you ever wanted to see what a team full of Jose Reyeses looks like, it was the Indians in Games 5, 6, and 7. You know how when Reyes presses (which for some reason he has been doing since August...had been, I should say), he pops everything up? That's what every batter in Cleveland's lineup was doing. Cleveland will be back in the future, because they're so young, and they should go far, because their star pitchers ought to pitch better in the big games. So they'll learn from the pressing they did this year, and I think they have a legit shot at winning in the next couple of years.

PREDICTION: With the World Series starting Wednesday night, I'll say this: The Rockies haven't really been intimidated by anyone this season - remember how they killed the Mets and Yankees back when both teams were playing good ball during the regular season? So I don't think they'll be intimidated by the Red Sox, or by the big stage. And I think this series will go 6 or 7 games. And though my head is saying the Red Sox win this (since they have home field in Games 6 and 7), I'm taking the Rockies, let's say in 6. It's hard for me to pick against the team I endorsed the day the playoffs started...and deep down (or actually, not very deep down...it's right out there on the surface) I'm a National League guy.

Understand, though, some of the people who I'm closest with in this world are Red Sox fans, so for them, I wouldn't mind seeing the Red Sox win. But, to quote Justin from NYC, when it comes down to it, with the Mets not involved, I "nothing" this World Series.