Where did Dave go after the game? Those hospitable bars on Kensington Ave. where the waitstaff would be ever-so-ready to celebrate Manny's first walk-off home run in 11 years? 9 shots of Starbucks and off for more? Is Clemens' presser in the men's room? It is entirely natural for humans to want to go to sleep about seven hours after they have awakened. First, the 24-hour cycle of the body, or its circadian rhythm, is naturally in a resting phase at this time. In the afternoon, it happens to converge with another physiological cycle -- known as homeostatic -- that measures the amount of time spent awake and that is also pushing for a rest. Add the effects of food, which can also induce drowsiness, and an overpowering desire to sleep may result. Just give in, Dave! We won't need you til 6 pm.

I think that the crackerjack Journal staff helped Svrluga get going with the links.

The first heavy snowfall across the Rockies will occur on Saturday and Saturday night as snow levels will drop to 5,000-6,000 feet by Saturday evening. Forecast at game-time in Denver - 38 and raining. At least there will be no insect plagues.

Judging from the following, expresso has less caffeine than brewed coffee. At 9 shots at 75 mg per shot, Dave has had 675 mg of caffeine and is off looking for more.

Serving Size Caffeine (mg)
Coffee, generic brewed 8 oz. 133 (range: 102-200) (16 oz. = 266)
Starbucks Brewed Coffee (Grande) 16 oz. 320
Einstein Bros. regular coffee 16 oz. 300
Dunkin' Donuts regular coffee 16 oz. 206
Starbucks Vanilla Latte (Grande) 16 oz. 150
Coffee, generic instant 8 oz. 93 (range: 27-173)
Coffee, generic decaffeinated 8 oz. 5 (range: 3-12)
Starbucks Espresso, doppio 6.5 oz. 150
Starbucks Frappuccino Blended Coffee Beverages, average 9.5 oz. 115
Starbucks Espresso, solo 1 oz. 75
Einstein Bros. Espresso 1 oz. 75
Espresso, generic 1 oz. 40 (range: 30-90)
Starbucks Espresso decaffeinated 1 oz. 4
Teas Serving Size Caffeine (mg)
Tea, brewed 8 oz. 53 (range: 40-120)
Starbucks Tazo Chai Tea Latte (Grande) 16 oz. 100
Snapple, Lemon (and diet version) 16 oz. 42
Snapple, Peach (and diet version) 16 oz. 42

Increasing the amount of caffeine you take in over 300 mg per day may give you "caffeine jitters" and an irregular heartbeat. Larger amounts of caffeine may make you irritable, sleepless and may even trigger anxiety and cause diarrhea.

We should expect some real nasty reporting from Dave and Barry tonight, and lets hope there's windows, radio or TV in the men's rooms.

Problem is, at my age, unless you stick to espressos, in order to ingest enough caffeine to keep you going...you ingest enough liquid to keep you going...

Me, too, catcher50, though I did not have the pleasure of watching DiMaggio play, and would love your thoughts on whether his refusal to dive for a fly ball, which would conflict with his image that the game was effortless to him, put Mickey Mantle in the position of having to run into that drain to catch it, thus ruining The Mick's knee. I've read that Joe wasn't all that sad to see the new outfielder injured.

Why I love Dave Sheinen: Consider these sentences from last night's gamer: "It was the bottom of the ninth inning, more than four hours into Game 2 of the American League Division Series, and several hours later, a pair of chartered jet planes would sail into the sky for the cross-country flight to Southern California, toward Game 3. And if anyone onboard were to catch a glimpse of a fleeting object on the distant horizon of the stratosphere, it might be the ball Ramirez launched into the sky. The ball sailed over the Green Monster, over the seats that top the iconic wall, over a billboard, a light stanchion, a parking lot and heaven knows what else. The three-run home run gave the Red Sox a 6-3 victory, and sent Ramirez's teammates hurtling out of their dugout to greet him in a teeming scrum at home plate."

Dude can write!

"New England, meet Danny Vinik, 17, the son of a Red Sox limited partner. Unlike other infamous fan-fly-ball encounters -- Jeffrey Maier at Yankee Stadium in 1996, Steve Bartman at Wrigley Field in 2003 -- Vinik appeared well within his rights to catch the ball where he did, clearly out of the field of play. Fortunately for him, it was the home team -- his father's team -- that benefited.

"I still can't believe it," Vinik said when he spoke to reporters outside the Red Sox' clubhouse, while the game wore on. " . . . Just unbelievable, amazing."

Dude can write,II

What am I, chopped liver?

"The Red Sox had long since ceased believing Matsuzaka, their $103.1 million Japanese import, was some sort of godsend, delivered from the heavens to carry them to the World Series title on the strength of his right arm. (No, that's Josh Beckett.)"

Dude can write! III!

Dave, you'll pick up the links thing, us old timers (from, say, May 2007) remember when Barry was struggling with the same issue. Now, he's not only competent, but perhaps even a bit of a showoff at times (and I mean that in the best way).

By the way, as the NJ rookie, shouldn't you have to wear some kind of costume on your next Acela?

HR Barry, no, you are not chopped liver, although how did you know what I had for lunch? Mom's recipe - delicious! Nor is it true that I like chopped liver more than your writing - I love 'em both the same!

Great idea, Bob L.!

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By the way, as the NJ rookie, shouldn't you have to wear some kind of costume on your next Acela?

From Barry's gamer, beautiful sentences that remind you of what a privilege it was to watch that pitching dual, and then that teach you that Joba's crucial wild pitch was just the second of his career, and likely due to the swarm.

"Beautiful games pitched by 35-year-old Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte and 23-year-old Indians right-hander Fausto Carmona, who combined to pitch 15 1/3 innings, allowing a single run."

"Yet years from now, when parents tell their kids they were present here Friday night, all of that will be secondary to . . . the bugs. "A million of them," Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain said. "

"It was worse for Chamberlain. Several Yankee players said the epicenter of the swarm was at the mound, and Chamberlain dealt with the insects on his neck and face. From there, he unleashed a wild pitch -- just the second of his career -- to get Sizemore to second."

Svrluga dude can write!

Bugs at RFK and some deja vu...

This past summer, we decided to "walk up" to a game not part of our package (we were part of a group that shared seats in 215) - the night of the Brad Penny (LA) shut out. As this wasn't our usual spot, I don't know whether the infestation of moths in the 400 section down the left field line was normal - but it was fairly awful. Of course, we were just spectating, not trying to pitch or catch or hit....

As for the baseball, watching Pettite pitch last night reminded me of the game he pitched in NY versus the Braves in the '96 WS. For a decade, I've thought that was the best game I'd ever seen. If memory serves, the offensive hero was Joe Girardi.

That Svrluga kid isn't bad. Lots of potential. Glad to have him round these parts for a good while, but he is expecting that May call-up to the (really, really big) bigs, and we may have to delve into the farm system to find his replacement.

Yeah, I definitely worry about Barry being a free agent signing for the Boston paper, he's mentioned before that he grew up in that area. Hopefully, the Post will sign him to a long term deal soon and lock him up.

Does Barry have the courage to cover baseball in his native land? Remember the death threats - serious death threats - issued to Dan Shaughnessy when his reporting made Theo Epstein quit?

I think the problem would be Barry having a little too much chutzpah. He'd start a blog in Boston and get in a fight with Larry Lucchino or make a comment about how Papelbon totally said he was going to stick around and talk and then bailed and then some rabid Red Sox fan would assume THAT was the cause of Papelbon's sudden suckitude and would follow him to the dinning establishments he likes talking about so much, and that would be that.

I'm almost more worried about Barry leaving for Minnesota. I've heard people are lovely in the heartland.

There's Dick Stockton and Emmy-award winning analyst Ron Darling starting the coverage of baseball, blessed baseball, as the Cubs prepare to be swept by the only team that has allowed more runs than they have scored this season, the Diamondbacks. God, please let them go 5! But, there's the Curse of The Carlos "The Jackal" Zambrano, who punched his catcher in the face and then got a 92 million dollar contract. And now a man on 2d for the D'backs with nobody out!

Michele Tafoya live in Mpls with her husband and 2 28 pound cats. Barry's not nice enough to live there.

I so want the Cubs to win, but how can I root against Livo? Will Livo losing improve our chances of getting him back? Will he be despondent if he loses and lose his appetite?

Ah, crud, I just can't root against Livo. The best I can do is wish him a no-decision in a losing cause.

2-zip! Watching these mighty .250 hitters rally is like watching the Nats. They even wear red.

2 outs, bases loaded, theeeee pitch and.............leave em all stranded. This IS just like watching the Nats.

Come back to us, Livo!

Teach all the youngsters to throw 50 mph junk that ends up where the catcher put the mitt, and makes the ump say, "That had to cross the plate to get there!"

Let's get El Duque, too! Orlando and Livo reunited in D.C.! What a fun way to avoid a 100 loss season in the new park!

Dear Alfonso,
If you'd pulled that "see me stand here and watch the ball hit off the wall and i'm still just going to stand here and oh wait, the ball's still in play?" move when you were in DC, even Frank would've yelled. Manny would've benched you for a week. Way to go, superstar.

Connor Jackson doubles! Mad props to Nat's Asst. GM Mike Rizzo, who assembled these D'backs! Listen to him! He is wise!

You're wrong about The Curse. It's that they let my cousin Elizabeth the Stat Genius leave. I saw her in Paris this July, and I know that she's dying with every Cubs' out. They should never have let her go.

Why do I know so much about Livan? The world wonders.

I'm so glad we've got Manny instead of "Sweet Dirt-Kicking Spittin' Lou."

I so agree, flynnie. Can you imagine the disaster that would have been for basically every player? I don't see Dmitri, or the Ryans, any of the pitchers reaction well to screaming. Felipe probably would've decked Lou at some point in the season. Schneider would've thrown more chairs.

Because I am a sexy, sexy beast. I will induce double plays the way Jose Reyes choking in September induces boos in New York. Roar.

I also stole John Patterson's glove before I left Washington. I figured he wouldn't be needing it.

The Cubs are in such trouble.

And Sweet Lou disdained The Nats! Mr. Lerner, Mr. Kasten, Mr. Bowden, Mr. Rizzo and Mr. Acta - you are looking very good right now.

The Cubs won 12 more games than The Nats. 12. 'Zona won 18 more. With Livo. Please bring him back!

Stephen Drew with a Home Run! Thats what Arizona has been doing throughout this series! 5-1, and at least the NLCS will have some baseball weather next Thursday.

There's Zambrano, who worked 6 innings and is trying to look sad as he wonders what 92 million can do in the off-season. He's supposed to work tomorrow!

Livo - 6 innings of 1 run ball.

Our Player of the Game is Livon Hernandez, the veteran who cam through when his team needed him.

Darryl Ward! Oh, man, do I miss this guy! Merely the thought of him chugging around the bases last June against the Yankees still brings a smile to my face.

I'm your last chance, Cubs. You paid me 132 million, and I flied out to right.

I don't think I've ever seen Livo run so fast! I was a little worried he was going to crush Chris Snyder when he jumped on him.

Wow. 3 game sweep. Who saw that coming?

I was thinking the same thing, Atlanta! Atta boy, Livo!

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I don't think I've ever seen Livo run so fast! I was a little worried he was going to crush Chris Snyder when he jumped on him.

D-Backs and Rox are both going to sweep. D-Backs have already taken care of the Ol' Cubbies, now that PHI-COL game is childplay.

Wow, Sheinin goes all nonsecular on the Yankees in today's piece. I like it.

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