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OK, it was one thing for Fox broadcaster Tim McCarver, off the top of his head, to state during Game 1 of the World Series that S-T-R-I-K-E was a "five-letter word." Such a mistake easily can be filed under the "we all make them" heading, and McCarver has done worse. But this Colby Lewis graphic — noticed by @FakeNedYost on Twitter and blogged by The Big Lead — yeesh, where do you start?

Well, start with the most egregious, and hilarious, violation: the Kansas City Royals apparently play in Kansas now. {YSP:MORE}

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I don't know if the Royals (or the Athletics, or the Monarchs of the Negro Leagues, for that matter), ever played a random game in the state of Kansas during their respective histories. It's possible. But Kauffman Stadium, where the Royals have played since 1973 is definitely in Missouri — not Kansas. Lewis never even pitched for the Royals. He was their property for a month in

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By putting his team ahead with a pinch-hit RBI single for the second straight night, Allen Craig not only set a World Series record, but he also set himself up to be considered among the most legendary of St. Louis Cardinals.

And then the Texas Rangers caught up to the tortoise-owning Craig and flew past the Cards for a 2-1 victory in Game 2 at Busch Stadium on Thursday night. Texas' ninth-inning rally had reduced Craig's doubly impressive feat into a merely amazing footnote.

Watch Craig come through again

Still, he seemed pretty astonished that the same situation as in Game 1 — tie score, two outs, same pitcher in Alexi Ogando — presented itself again. Even if it came in the seventh inning, instead of the sixth. As he was quoted in the New York Times:

"I couldn't believe that it was the same exact situation against the same guy," said Craig, who lined outside fastballs to right field in each at-bat. "I kind of had to snap out of it and refocus a bit because that doesn't really happen

marcum_pujols_oopsMILWAUKEE — Shaun Marcum might be in denial.

The St. Louis Cardinals struck for five runs and seven hits over four innings against Marcum on Monday night, including a no-doubt home run and a well-hit double by Albert Pujols, on their way to a 12-3 thumping in Game 2 of the NLCS.

Marcum has been roughed up in five of his past six starts going back to the regular season, and hasn't pitched anything like he did during the first five months. Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke says he will stick with Marcum when — or if — his turn comes to pitch again in the playoffs.

That's the way it should be, said Marcum, who chalks up his recent failures to, mostly, bad luck.

"I guess I pissed off the baseball gods, or something, because they didn't hit many balls hard," Marcum said. "That's the way it's gone the last six weeks. There's nothing I can do about it."

Pujols came in 1 for 12 for his career against Marcum; certainly a small sample size, but also nothing indicating a personal nemesis.

"I've had

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MILWAUKEE — The St. Louis Cardinals flew home happy again, taking home-field advantage with them, after routing the Milwaukee Brewers 12-3 in Game 2 of the NLCS.

The Cardinals finished the regular season with just as good of a record away from Busch Stadium as at home, but their uncanny streak of winning before boarding a team flight reached 15 games Sunday night.

As reporter B.J. Rains of Fox Sports Midwest points out, Cardinals players have gotten into the habit of telling each other "Happy flight!" after the last game of a homestand or road trip.

Dubbed a 'happy flight' by shortstop Rafael Furcal shortly after the streak began, the Cardinals haven't gotten on their team plane following a loss since August 3 when they suffered a 10-5 defeat in the final game of a three-game set in Milwaukee.

Cardinals manager and notorious curmudgeon Tony La Russa even signs off on the gimmick.

"You've got these grown men and they're like — I don't even think it's a fraternity, they're too old," La

larussa_march2011Opening day must be close; the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals had a bench-clearing brawl Monday afternoon in Grapefruit League play.

And the managers seemed the most animated of anyone involved.

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post speculates that the seeds of discontent were planted a season ago when Nats' outfielder Nyjer Morgan — you just knew Nyjer was involved — unnecessarily ran into Cardinals catcher Bryan Anderson back in August.

Washington manager Jim Riggleman admonished Morgan for the incident and even took the step of keeping him out of the lineup the next day because he feared retaliation by St. Louis skipper Tony La Russa.

Fast forward to Monday: La Russa had forgotten nothing. And, after Morgan bumped into All-Galaxy slugger Albert Pujols while running to first base in the top of the fifth inning (even though, in Kilgore's opinion, he did so accidentally), "it" apparently was on.

The Cardinals' Chris Carpenter hit Laynce Nix with a pitch later in the inning,

maddon_facePity the poor Baltimore Orioles. They are having a lousy offseason when it comes to persons either figuratively or literally wearing their team's jersey and saying ignorant comments.

First, slugger Luke Scott insisted at the winter meetings that Barack Obama was illegally president and is otherwise unrepresentative of America.

Now this: On Sunday, Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon called for security at the Rays spring ballpark to eject a fan who had shouted racist comments directed at B.J. Upton as he sat in the dugout.

The offending fan happened to be wearing an Orioles jersey.

O's collective facepalm in 3... 2... 1.

Here's what Marc Topkin wrote in the St. Pete Times:

"He said something racial and I didn't like it,'' Maddon said. "He can say whatever he wants, but don't go there. And I didn't want B.J. to go up into the stands or do anything at that point. So I just wanted to make sure he was taken out of there. There is no room for that at all.''

A man who said he was the ejected

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Talk about a Blue Monday in the nation's capital.

First, the Five Guys burger chain announced that it is abandoning its reportedly popular location inside Nationals Park. No reason has been given, though there is another Five Guys spot nearby in the Navy Yard area. Is it because Adam Dunn left town?

I mean, that's bad enough news for those who like their Nats baseball along with a bacon cheeseburger with everything on it.

And then a little later on, Nats Blog first reported that the Future of the Franchise, Mr. Bryce Harper, went down with a sprained left ankle while playing in a minor league intrasquad game. One moment he was running down to first base, the next he was being carted off.

Mark Zuckerman of CSN Washington reports via Twitter that the club will take X-rays to determine the severity of the injury. For now, young Bryce is day to day.

It's a drag for D.C. sports/yummy hamburger fans, but I don't think it's the end of the world. At least the hamburgers part. {YSP:MORE}

With

castillo_batIt's often amusing when the Philadelphia Phillies raid the New York Mets discard pile for a player.

The tactic worked out famously in the cases of Tug McGraw, Lenny Dykstra and Rico Brogna.  And to a lesser extent for Pedro Martinez, Wilson Valdez and others. Whatever happens, the cross-pollination usually gets the teams' respective fans sniping at each other.

But with star Chase Utley on the shelf for an unknown period because of a knee injury, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro seems willing to reach a little deeper into the deck for possible fixes to the second base problem.

Enter: Luis Castillo.

The Mets had cut Castillo on Friday, still owing him $6 million of the $25 million they paid him since 2008. The Phillies, who signed Castillo to a minor league contract, won't have to bother with any of that. If Castillo makes the major league roster, they'll pay him the league minimum — $414,000.

If Castillo doesn't make the Phillies opening-day roster — possible considering the negative reviews of