• Torey Lovullo wants a chance to manage the Indians, after spending the last eight seasons working in the club's farm system. The 44-year-old Lovullo interviewed for the vacant job Friday. He is a two-time manager of the year who says his familiarity with the organization and its players makes him the best choice to replace Eric Wedge, who was fired with six games left in his seventh season. Former Washington manager Manny Acta was brought in Tuesday, and former Mets manager Bobby Valentine, fresh from a six-year stint in Japan, came to town Thursday. Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly plans to visit Cleveland next week.
• Dodgers GM Ned Colletti says it's been business as usual running the team, despite owner Frank McCourt firing his estranged wife, Jamie, as CEO of the club. Colletti said Friday he doesn't anticipate any cutbacks in resources as he tries to mold the team for the 2010 season. The Dodgers have the most potential players eligible for free agency with 16, including Manny Ramirez, who must decide if he will exercise his $20 million option for next season. Colletti met Friday with McCourt, manager Joe Torre, and the baseball operations staff to discuss the recently concluded season.
People are also reading…
• Derek Jeter hasn't been in this spot for five years: a victory at Yankee Stadium away from making another World Series. But you can't really tell with Jeter. Nothing changes for him. "The more you do something, the more comfortable you get with it," he said before the Yankees' workout Friday. "Everyone gets butterflies. If you treat every game the same, you're able to slow things down a little bit." Jeter hasn't been in an ALCS Game 6 since 2004, during Boston's historic comeback from a 3-0 deficit. With the Yankees having missed one chance to clinch this year's ALCS, comparisons between the 2004 series and now are silly, he said. "Well, I could go down the lineup, pick out all the different guys," he said. "Different players, we're playing a different team. It's completely different."
• It's easy to overlook Jayson Werth in Philadelphia's potent lineup. Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins are former MVPs. Chase Utley is the perennial All-Star. But Werth fits right in with all the big boppers on the Phillies. He batted .268 with 36 homers, 99 RBIs and 20 steals this season, earning a trip to the All-Star Game. He's hitting .281 with five homers and 10 RBIs in nine playoff games. "Ever since he came to Philly, he's been getting better," manager Charlie Manuel said. "The numbers that you see, to me he's more capable. I think he can even do better, because I think he's getting more consistent in his at-bats and his pitch selection."
Wire reports
what you missed
• In the wake of the Yankees' six-run seventh inning in Game 5, there definitely was a sense of excitement flowing through their dugout. But Andy Pettitte knew he couldn't get ahead of himself. As hard as it may have been, Pettitte said he forced himself to stay focused on his Game 6 assignment, because the last thing a competitor wants to do is lose focus. "Mentally, I was continuing to think about how I was going to get these guys out, and not looking forward to another team or anything like that," Pettitte said about an hour after the Yankees' 7-6 loss. "I just kept trying to figure out how to get these guys out."
Newsday
