- Barring a miracle, the last five World Series winners will not be in the playoffs this year. The White Sox, Red Sox, Marlins, Angels and Diamondbacks will all be at home watching on TV.

- Nomah has had quite a week. He hit two walkoff home runs, the first coming in the Dodgers astonishing win over the Padres. L.A. hit four consecutive home runs on seven pitches to tie the game, then Nomar hit the game winner in the 10th. Then yesterday he hits a walkoff grand slam to beat the Diamondbacks. If the Dodgers make it to the playoffs, he will have been a big part of it.

- Leigh Montville's The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth is a great read. He gives you some insights as to what drove the Babe to do what he did: both his prodigious baseball accomplishments and his prodigious appetites for food and women, among other things. Check it out.

- I'll be talking briefly about the Vintage Base Ball Federation at the Fenway Park Writers Series lunch on Friday. Roger Kahn, author of The Boys of Summer is the guest speaker. Mr. Kahn will be talking about his latest book, Into My Own: The Remarkable People and Events That Shaped a Life, but I want to get him to sign a copy of The Boys of Summer as well. My copy is pretty ancient and beat up, so I may try to see if I can track down a newer copy sometime this week.

- Since the Red Sox have been officially eliminated, I'm rooting for the Twins in the postseason. How can you not root for a team with a guy named Boof Bonser?

- A co-worker was just on a jury for a murder trial, and he tells me there are three types of legal killings: self-defense, defense of another and accident. Was The Station fire an accident, or were the Derderian's negligent? How you answer will tell you whether the sentences handed down in the plea bargain (four years in prison for one brother, 500 hours of community service for the other) were fair.

For me, I think these guys have at least some culpability (some of the exit doors in the nightclub could not be opened, for one thing). The community service sentence is way too light, and even the four years doesn't seem like enough. I think significant jail time for both brothers would have been reasonable. Four years is on the low end; probably 5-7 years would be reasonable to me.

Of course, I didn't know anyone who died in the fire. I might feel differently if I did, but it doesn't seem to me that the Derderians intended for anyone to die that night, but it happened through the result of a number of bad decisions by a number of people. As the owners of the club, it seems to me that they should serve some time in prison for their role in the deaths of 100 people.