Contest: Win a Ruben Tejada autographed baseball gift package, courtesy of Verizon

Thanks to our friends at Verizon, one of our lucky readers can win a Ruben Tejada autographed baseball prize package! Here's what you'll get in the gift package if you win:

• Ruben Tejada autographed baseball 
• Mets cap (official MLB World Series edition)
• Lipstick-sized phone charger 
• Big League Chew gum
• Black Verizon tote

Here is what you need to do if you want to win this: send an email to subwaysquawkers@gmail.com with the subject line "LGM" and your name and mailing address info in the body of the email.

This contest is only open to readers in the continental U.S. Please enter between now and tomorrow (Friday, October 30) at 5:00 p.m. We will pick a winner at random before Game 3 of the World Series Friday.

You may remember that Verizon got me into a sweet Citi Field suite on Opening Day, and lent me a Verizion Ellipsis 8 tablet to take pictures with (my shocking shot with Mr. Met came from the camera in the tablet!) Incidentally, if you are in the market for a tablet, I highly recommend the Ellipsis 8. And don't forget the Verizon charging station at Citi Field: I have used it more than once to charge my iPhone at!

Verizon also has some tips at this link and below for baseball fans to offer a seamless mobile experience for the World Series games at Citi Field this Friday, Saturday and Sunday:.

 • Keep your selfie game on point. Lose the selfie sticks out of respect for your fellow fans, but gain more “likes” with selfies that don’t just highlight your face, but include the field green and scoreboard in the background. If you’re taking the subway, snap a shot getting off the 7 train to capture the energy of the crowd before the first pitch.

 • Share updates in real time with your family and friends. Love what you just saw? Tweet it, upload a picture of it and tell your friends. There is no such thing as oversharing when it comes to the championship.

• Ensure your connection is strong. Verizon has increased capacity at Citi Field by adding more sites and allocating more spectrum to LTE so customers should experience a fast and reliable connection during the series. Fans can also leverage Verizon’s free Wi-Fi in the stadium.

• Stay fully charged in the stands. Don’t let the fear of your battery running low limit your game time data usage. Pick up a Mophie Powerstation to extend the power of your device and stay in the game.

World Series Mets-Royals: Four wins to go!

29 years ago today, I sat in the upper deck at Shea Stadium as the Mets won Game 7 of the 1986 World Series. At the time, I thought it was the start of a dynasty. Instead, it's been the only title for the Mets in 46 seasons. And the only other time the Mets got to the World Series since then, it was something I tried to forget after the Mets lost the Yankees in five games. Now the Mets have a chance to create new memories, and spare Squawker Lisa from hearing so much about 1986.

I'm saying Mets in six because of their big advantage in starting pitching.  While the Met starters have been blowing people away, Royals starters have been shaky at best. Johnny Cueto allowed eight earned runs in just two innings in his last start in the ALCS. He also allowed four earned runs in his first start in the ALDS. Cueto pitched well in his other postseason start, beating the Astros in the deciding ALDS game five, but that's still two lousy starts out of three. Combine that with his regular-season ERA of 4.76 in 13 games as a Royal (after a 2.62 ERA in 19 game with the Reds) and one has to wonder if the injury-prone Cueto is hurt again.

Edinson Volquez also has two mediocre postseason starts sandwiched around one good one. Yordano Ventura has also had just one good postseason start this year.

The Royals were able to win two playoff series despite having a starters' ERA of 5.56 because they had a lower overall ERA in each series thanks to their 2.85 postseason ERA. In 41 innings, the Royals pen has 59 strikeouts.

Met starters need to significantly outpitch the Royal starters because the Mets don't want to let the bullpens decide these games. Wade Davis is even better than Jeurys Familia, and the Royals' setup men are much better than their Met counterparts.

On the hitting side, Daniel Murphy is not going to keep hitting a home run in every game, especially after a layoff, but the Mets have had others consistently step up during this postseason, especially when they are not facing an ace. But while the Royals hitting does not seem imposing, they seem to constantly find ways to win, as when Lorenzo Cain scored the game-winning run from first on a single in the final ALCS game.

The Mets would seem to have a good chance of putting a couple of games out of reach early against the Royals' starters. The Mets scored in the first inning in all four NLCS games, including three runs in Game 2 and four runs in Game 4. So even if the Royals' bullpen, great defense, low strikeout totals from their hitters and overall scrappy play could make most of the games tossups, the Met starters should provide the decisive edge to enable to Mets to win in six. Let's Go Mets!

Rangers, Cardinals and Big Contracts

The Rangers and Cardinals got to the World Series without big-market payrolls, but they wouldn't have made it without some big contracts that were far from sure things.

This past offseason, the Rangers signed Adrian Beltre to a five-year, $80 million deal. Beltre, who turned 32 in April, had had only two really good seasons, both the year that he was going into free agency.

Signing Beltre also meant that longtime Ranger Michael Young would now mostly be a DH, which made Young ask to be traded.

So far, the Beltre signing has worked out great for the Rangers. Beltre hit .296 with 32 homers and 105 RBI and did so in only 124 games. Young dropped his trade demand and hit .338 with 106 RBI.

The previous offseason, the Cardinals signed Matt Holliday to a seven-year $120 million deal. The Scott Boras client would be averaging $17M/year through age 36. The Cardinals were tying up payroll just as Albert Pujols was approaching free agency.

When Holliday was a free agent, another power-hitting left fielder was also available. Jason Bay would end up signing for four years and $66 million, which appeared more reasonable compared to Holliday, who was getting about the same per year but would have three additional years on his deal. We know how the Bay signing has worked out.

This offseason, if the Cardinals re-sign Pujols, they will doubtless face criticism for giving him too much money and years. But Pujols is irreplaceable - one of the best players of all time who is also a great postseason performer. He may be past his peak, but he still seems far from going into decline. The Cardinals, generally far from a powerhouse team, are now in their third World Series in eight years, which would not have happened without Pujols.

Jose Reyes is no Pujols, but he could end up making as much or more than Holliday. And if that happens, people will complain that he's getting too much, especially if he ends up back with the Mets. But even the well-constructed teams that get the World Series do so with the help of big contracts that are not without controversy.

***

Squawker Lisa and I find ourselves on the same side in this World Series. She likes the Rangers from her days living in Texas and I am rooting for Nolan Ryan and against Tony La Russa. One would think the Rangers would win with that powerhouse lineup so I'm picking them, but I hope the Cardinals don't turn out to be a team of destiny.

World Series bridges Squawker divide

In the ten years that the Squawkers have known each other, the end of the World Series has usually left one of us fuming. We started working together shortly before the 2000 World Series, and I'm still not ready to talk about that one. In 2001 and 2003, the Yankees lost, and in 2004 and 2007, the Red Sox won. Lisa took none of these Fall Classics very well. In 2002, I rooted for the Angels, who had been the first AL team in five years to beat the Yankees in the playoffs. Lisa, naturally, rooted against the Angels.

In 2006, I rooted against the Cardinals after they beat the Mets in the NLCS. The Cardinals' easy victory over the Tigers so easily only made the Mets' failure to make the World Series that much worse. In 2008, the Phillies won, and 2009 was, for me, a nightmare all around.

Aside from 2010, the only time we have been on the same side was in 2005, when both of us rooted against the Astros of Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte, though from different perspectives.

The irony of us being on the same side in 2010 and not feeling too bad about the outcome is that both of us were actually rooting for the Rangers. Lisa rooted for them because of having lived in Texas. I rooted for the Rangers because I thought a World Series victory would give them a better chance of keeping Cliff Lee.

But both of us are finding plenty of reasons to enjoy the Giants' victory. The Giants have some similarities to the 1969 Mets - great pitching and patchwork hitting. Both the Giants and Mets upset a great-hitting AL team in five games. Both the Giants and Mets had a Cy Young ace (Tim Lincecum, Tom Seaver) and a no. 2 pitcher who was sensational in the World Series (Matt Cain, Jerry Koosman). Both the Giants and Mets had a rookie starter combine with a reliever for a shutout (Madison Bumgarner/Brian Wilson, Gary Gentry/Nolan Ryan).

The Giants also have some appealing personalities, notably Tim Lincecum and Brian Wilson. And they have a great history and an enthusiastic and creative fan base that had never seen a title in San Francisco.

So Lisa and I are uniting for once to say congratulations to the Giants and their fans, and condolences to the Rangers and their fans.

The Squawker truce will last until Cliff Lee files for free agency.

How the 2009 Yankees remind me of a "Conan the Barbarian" line

I've been trying to be a good sport about the Yankees winning the World Series, focusing more on my team winning, rather than the fact that Yankee-haters are so miserable right now. But I have to admit that there is a little (Squawker Jon would say more than a little!) "sports hate" in me, as Bill Simmons would say.

After all, one of my favorite movie quotes is from "Conan the Barbarian." When Conan is asked "what is best in life?" Conan, aka Arnold Schwarzenegger, responds:

"To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!"



So yeah, even though I have a lot of friends on "the other side," I have to admit to enjoying this edge over the Yankee-haters of the world, particularly those in Red Sox Nation and Metsland. And I'm sure they would feel the same way if the situation were reversed.

But the thing is, at least we're all passionate about our teams. I always say that there are good fans and bad fans in every fanbase, but the East Coast baseball fans have a special breed of intensity.

I wrote earlier in the week about how Bill Simmons' sports hate had faded for A-Rod, Peyton Manning, and Kobe Bryant. Squawker reader/Red Sox fan Joe from Connecticut sharply criticized Simmons:

Simmons has lost his edge from living in So-Cal. You can't keep a good hate going when every day is 75 and sunny. There are no passionate sports fans past Chicago in this country- do you think there's anyone discussing spring training in So-Cal right now? But I can find a dozen bars tonight that I could walk into and start a passionate discussion about who's going to be the #5 starter for the Sox this year or whether Joba should start or be in the pen.

And I'm in Connecticut - if I was in NYC or Boston...fugeddaboutit. East Coast puts the hot in hot stove because we care - Simmons sold out with the move west. Maybe the Belichick boner will bring him back.

Joe's got a point. There really isn't an offseason for baseball in the Northeast. I remember listening to sports radio in Texas in 1996, literally the day after the Yankees won the World Series. And the host said he was done talking about baseball until the spring! Good grief.

Fortunately, in New York, the Yankee talk never stops. On that note, I'm going to the Ziegfeld Theater Monday night to see the red-carpet premiere of the Yankees' World Series movie. (If any of our readers are going, let me know, and maybe we can meet up and say hello.)

Sadly, Squawker Jon isn't attending. I somehow managed to talk him into watching the simulcast of World Series Game 4 at Yankee Stadium, where he had to deal with being around all those happy Yankee fans. He also was with me at the Subway Series at Yankee Stadium this spring, where we saw the Castillo dropped play in person. If Jon went to this movie premiere, I do believe his head would explode.

And Jon also turned down helping me with my latest scheme. I'm still so gleeful over the Yankees beating Philadelphia in the World Series that I wanted to reenact the "Rocky" run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, while wearing 2009 World Championship gear. And I asked my blogging partner to film me doing this.

Squawker Jon barked at me over the idea the way trainer Mickey barked at Rocky in the movie. So I guess I'm not gonna fly now. Bummer.


Gonna Fly Now -



What do you think? Tell us about it!

Preview: World Series, The Movie!

Below is a clip from MLB's 2009 World Series video. It is all about the Yankees, of course! I got excited all over again watching this:

Still basking in afterglow of WS win

I was at the parade yesterday. What a wonderful day, albeit one jam-packed with people. Fortunately, I stayed in the city to have lunch with Squawker Jon, so I missed the whole to-do with the jam-packed ferry terminal.

I wrote something for The Faster Times about my World Series winners and losers. And I'm writing something right now for that site about the parade.

Yankees win No. 27 - time to stand up and cheer!

Maybe I'll finally get to see a Yankee ticker tape parade again. Let me explain.

I was born and raised in New Jersey, and when the Yankees won it all in 1978, my father took my sister and me out of school that day to go see the ticker tape parade in person. Sister Claire, my Catholic school's principal, agreed to let my father do this, but said it was a one-time thing; he couldn't take us out of class for the next year's parade.

You know what happened next, of course. There were no ticker tape parades from that year until 1996. I was at the last playoff game the Yankees won then - Game 2 of the 1981 World Series - but nobody then thought it would be 14 long years before they made the playoffs again, and 15 until another title.

And by that time, I was living in Texas, so I missed being in the city from 1996 until 1999. But I moved back to the New York area in October 2000, just in time to see the Yankees beat the Mets in the World Series. However, I didn't get to see the parade then, either. I tried to go to the ticker tape parade with some family members, but we didn't get there early enough - the parade route was so packed, we never got to see anything. But I thought to myself, I'll get to see it next time.

Little did I know that it would be another nine long years before the Yankees won again. Lots of pain in those seasons. The Yankees really should have won a title or two, but it was not to be.

That's why this year feels as good as 1996. After all the misery and disappointments after 2000, it's a thrill to see the Yankees finally vanquish their October (or is that November?) demons and win it all.

So now the Yankees are on top again. I will break down my thoughts on last night's game - and celebration - later today. But in the meantime, I just wanted to say that I will be waiting for that tickertape parade bright and early Friday morning.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

A few thoughts while getting ready for Game 6

* Pedro Martinez may be the enemy, but I do think he's a fascinating guy. Read my Faster Times piece, which talks about why he's threatening - again - to strip to prove himself.

* And count me as against any "Chase Utley for MVP" boomlet. I don't think anybody deserves that award if his team loses.

* Let's hope the crowd is louder tonight. At any rate, it will be more expensive - FanSnap.com said it's the hottest event of the year, with tickets averaging over $1000 on the secondary market!

Why I don't think the Yankees will win tonight

I know we're all eager to see the Yankees win No. 27 tonight, but I don't think it will happen just yet. I think they're going to end up clinching at home. Here are my reasons why:

* Cliff Lee on regular rest vs. A.J. Burnett on short rest: I know A.J.'s numbers (small sample size, of course - even smaller than originally thought) are very good in such situations. But even workhorse Sabathia was laboring last night on short rest. Could the same happen to A.J.?

* Weaker lineup: With Burnett batting, Jose Molina hitting, and a hurting Melky Cabrera out of the lineup, the lineup is even weaker than the one the Yankees used in Game 1 against Lee.

* Phillies pfight: I just don't see the Phillies going down that easy. Even the Angels battled the Yanks to six games. I will be very surprised if Philly doesn't.

* Reverse jinx: Never misunderestimate the power of the reverse jinx!

What do you think? Leave us a comment!