• Twitter
• Facebook
• Reddit

• The Royals assured themselves of a seventh game last night in a simple style: They scored seven runs in the second inning to knock out Jake Peavy and the Giants, finally winning 10-0. Tonight there will be a deciding game, winner take all. It's the 23rd time it's happened in my lifetime and, eliminating all those before 1965, when my memories really kick in, I can tell you a little bit about each one. ... That first one I remember? That was Sandy Koufax and his last great winning performance. The next year the Dodgers would be swept out of the Series and Koufax's career would suddenly end. ... In 1967 I was a Red Sox fan – my Little League team was, surprise, the Red Sox – so that one hurt. By 1968 (pictured) I had joined my dad in rooting for the Tigers, so that one felt really good. ... The '70s were dominated by the Oakland A's, so I was ambivalent, though the 1975 series, between the Red Sox and the Reds, was memorable. Game Six, with Carlton Fisk's winning home run, dominates much of the discussion, however. ... The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates were the last visiting team to win a game seven, so there is that. ... The '80s marked my family's relocation to Spokane and Don Denkinger's and Bill Buckner's miscues – both in the sixth game of their respective series – along with a couple sweeps to end the decade and begin the next. In between there was Kirby Puckett's shining moment, the 1987 Series. He had 10 hits and helped make John Blanchette a very happy man. ... I still recall the 1991 series as Jack Morris' and why not? He started three games and won two of them as the Twins made Blanchette a very happy man again. ... The next seven-game Series that really stands out was 2001 when the Mariners lost to the Diamondbacks. Wait, the M's were just the best team in baseball that year, regular-season variety. It was the Yankees that lost to Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and the Diamondbacks, who rallied in the bottom of the ninth in game seven to defeat Mariano Rivera. Talk about upsets. That had to be the best seventh game of a series in my lifetime. At least of the ones I can remember – the Bill Mazeroski series-winning home run came in 1960, when I was still trying to learn how to ride a tricycle. (A weird oddity about that series: The Yankees outscored the Pirates 55-27 in the seven games and lost. Really.) ... So the question is, who wins tonight? Tim Hudson takes the mound for the Giants, having spent his 16-year career hoping for this chance. Jeremy Guthrie, his opponent, has been around 11 years and has experienced a lot less success. Heck, the right-hander, who attended Stanford and BYU, led the American League in losses twice while with Baltimore. So you would think the edge would be with San Francisco and its 214-game winner Hudson. But I'm not sure. The Royals are at home. It's been 35 years since a road team has come through in a game seven. And, besides, who really wants the Giants to win again? Only wayward souls and Californians. Northern Californians.

• Hope that's not too much baseball news for you. There is one more piece of news from Seattle worth passing along. The M's let Justin Smoak go yesterday, losing him to the Toronto Blue Jays on a waiver claim. That means Smoak's promise – or the other, more damning "P" word, potential – will never be realized in Seattle. Not as if he didn't have the opportunity. How about 1,943 plate appearances? Is that enough for you? In his five years in Seattle he hit all of 66 home runs and drove in 200. Not really what you are looking for in a power-hitting first baseman, is it? But I have one worry. No, it's not the ex-Mariner factor. You know, when ex-Mariners go on to success elsewhere. My worry is about what we do here. Who do we blame now when things aren't going well? Oh, sure, we'll always have Howard Lincoln, but that's a front-office scapegoat. Who do we look for in the box score to castigate? Who do we say "oh no" about when he steps to the plate in a key situation? Who is going to carry all of the offense's sins on his back next year? Smoak was an easy target, even when he was in Tacoma. "If Justin Smoak had ever hit, we wouldn't need to have (insert name here) in the lineup," went the daily mantra. Now that's over. ... Wait a minute. Re-read that sentence. It still applies, and will for a couple more years. OK, I'm good. It will still be his fault. Cool.

•••

• WSU: The Cougars lost another wide receiver yesterday, with Mike Leach's revelation Kristoff Williams (pictured) is no longer with the team. Williams had as much potential as any of the receivers Paul Wulff recruited but never really realized it, battling injuries throughout his time in Pullman. Jacob Thorpe has a blog post on the change as well as mentioning it in his Pac-12 notebook. ... Yesterday's practice must have been fun. Former WSU coach Mike Price fired up the Cougars with a pre-practice speech. Jacob has more in this practice report. ... He also had a blog post yesterday with the game notes for USC as well as his Pac-12 power rankings in the paper this morning. ... Jacob also has a morning post with links. One of the links is to information concerning tonight's tip-off function for the women's basketball team. ... The college football playoff selection committee revealed its first rankings of the season, with Mississippi State on top and Oregon in fifth. Just for the heck of it, I decided to set up a 16-team bracket, as that is the number of teams that really should be in a playoff. I also moved a school up or down one spot to ensure no one from the same conference played in the opening round. Here it is: (1) Mississippi State vs. (16) Ohio State; (2) Florida State vs. (15) Nebraska; (3) Auburn vs. (14) Arizona State; (4) Mississippi vs. (13) Baylor; (5) Oregon vs. (11) Georgia; (6) Alabama vs. (12) Arizona; (7) TCU vs. (10) Notre Dame; (8) Michigan State vs. (9) Kansas State. Now wouldn't that be fun? ... Being it's Wednesday, there are a handful of Pac-12 notebooks out there as well as a preview of the weekend's games.

• Gonzaga: Missed this yesterday from the WCC media day but thought I would pass it along.

• EWU: The Eagles have to bounce back this weekend when they host North Dakota. Jim Allen was at football practice and has this report. ... Jim also has a basketball story as Eastern will open its 2014-15 season at 8 a.m. on a Friday morning. I may just head out there early on Nov. 14 and post my column from Reese Court. ... Jim has one more item today. It's his college soccer notebook and the Eagles figure prominently in it.

• Chiefs: Chris Derrick gets your Wednesday started with his weekly WHL notebook. ... Everett is winning. And the Silvertips are rarely making mistakes.

• Preps: Central Valley won their first Greater Spokane League volleyball title last night, defeating U-Hi in four games. Chris Derrick has the story and Jesse Tinsley has the photographs.

• Seahawks: A quiet day on all fronts, with the Hawks not making any trades at the deadline and only a couple of roster moves. They did, however, do a really nice thing for a high school football team hurting from a tragedy. ... Next up for Seattle: the Oakland Raiders.

• Mariners: Not much else to pass along other than the Smoak news.

• Sounders: The Sounders spent some of their money yesterday, giving Obafemi Martins a contract extension on his 30th birthday. Martins has teamed with Clint Dempsey to give Seattle a potent 1-2 offensive combinations. ... There may be another contract extension soon. ...  There are national team matches scheduled for MLS playoff time, something the Sounders are keeping an eye on.

•••

• So how many of you will be watching tonight's game? The ratings for this series have been historically low, so I'm guessing not too many. I will watch, as I did last night, out of habit if for no other reason. And there is my dislike of the Giants, of course. Every Dodger fan since the Brooklyn days has fed off that. Until later ...