The consummate pro, a member of one of baseball's royal families, has passed away ... RIP, Matty Alou. 15 years in the big leagues, with six teams, primarily the Giants and Pirates. 1667 games played, 1777 hits for a .307 career batting average. Just 31 career homers, but 10 different seasons in double-digit steals, with a high-water mark of 23 in 1966 -- the same year he, as a Pirate, won the NL batting title, hitting .342. (He finished in the Top 10 in batting average six times in the eight-year span from 1966-73.) Matty had seasons he led the NL in hits (1969), singles (1969-70) amd OF games played (1970). He even pitched two shutout innings for the '65 Giants. He was involved in one of the biggest trades of the 1971-72 off-season, when the Pirates dealt him and George Brunet to the Cardinals for Nellie Briles and Vic Davalillo. He played in three post-seasons, getting to the World Series twice and winning one ring, with the 1972 A's. Matty Alou -- the quintessential entry into the Hall of Pretty Damn Fine Ballplayer. Very few Bauxites will have seen the middle Alou brother play, and frankly, most won't even remember Moises' uncle as a player. But the baseball world is a little sadder, a little poorer today. Rest well, Matty.

In unsurprising news, Tony LaCava was offered the job as the General Manager of the Baltimore Orioles today, after meeting with owner Peter Angelos yesterday.

In surprising news, he turned down the offer, electing to remain with the Toronto Blue Jays, saying he prioritized his relationship with Alex Anthopolous and wanted to see through the job they had begun in Toronto.

The World Series is done and we are officially in hot stove league time.  Free agents are filing, trades and signings are starting, so let the speculation begin.

Latest News: The Jays have announced they will be picking up Edwin Encarnacion's 2012 option and have declined the 2012 option on Jon Rauch's contract.

According to numerous St. Louis-based media outlets, Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa is retiring.

This is what's known as "going out on top," I guess!

Ugh. The Hamilton home run would have been TOO storybook of a finish, huh?

It's no surprise that #1 Ranger fan/addict (and valued Bauxite) Jamey Newberg summed it up best on behalf of all us North Texas baseball watchers  in his e-mail newsletter this morning ...

John Heyman has apparently tweeted that Tony LaCava is "very likely" to be Baltimore's new GM. This has followed on from the earlier rumour that the Angel's are about to hire Jerry Dipoto. Nothing is certain, of course, until it's officially announced and in this case we definitely have to consider the source.

According  to The Sporting News yesterday, your 2011 Rookies of the Year in each league are ...

• Angels first baseman Mark Trumbo, who hit .254 with a team-leading 29 home runs and 89 runs
  batted in this season, was awarded the honor in the American League.
• Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel, who had 46 saves and a 2.10 earned run average,
  nabbed the NL rookie honors.

Voting was done by 289 major league players, 177 in the AL and 112 in the NL.

Game 6 of the World Series now goes Thursday night, with Game-Seven-If-Necessary to follow on Friday.

Elsewhere...

Touch 'em all, Tom!

The annual Ford C. Frick ballot nominations are in full review by Baseball's Hall of Fame, and as such, the likeliest candidates are receiving full feature review from the Hall on Facebook and in update-subscriber e-mails ... today's edition highlights a man who will bear more than passing familiarity to Canadian baseball enthusiasts of both Jay and Expo lineage ... 2012 Frick Ballot Preview: Tom Cheek

Mike Napoli. (Wow!)

After the Cardinals dispatched the Brewers in the LCS, a considerable fuss was made of Tony LaRussa's managing of the Cardinals bullpen.

At least for one day, Derek Holland is really good.

Albert Pujols is pretty good.

The Toronto Blue Jays have taken 28 year-old righthander Jesse Chavez off the waiver wire from the Kansas City Royals.

Jesse Chavez has pitched for three major league clubs and drafted by two others.

I have an odd theory about why the Texas Rangers, despite their current 0-1 hole, at least seem like a better baseball team than the St. Louis Cardinals.

• Point #1: I think it's pretty clear who, given complete health, the best player on each team is. Albert Pujols (duh) and Josh Hamilton -- in fact, in the past couple of years, both have staked various claims on best player in baseball status. (And Albert may well still be That Guy.)
• Point #2: Pitching has been discussed earlier on this very site, and given the exceptions of of the Cardinals having the better #1 starter (Carpenter) and the Rangers having the better closer (Feliz, though holy crap, Motte can make a guy re-think that!), the staffs are pretty damn well evenly matched.
• Point #3: So here's the interesting question: who ....