So, who’s winning this Sox/Angels battle?

The Red Sox are set to do battle with the Angels later this week to decide who gets to play for the American League pennant. Boston and Los Angeles are certainly familiar with each other, having done battle in the 2004, '07 and '08 DCS. In fact, Boston went 9-1 in those games and the Angels' futility extends all the way bac to 1986 and Donnie Moore. Do the Angels have a chance to put their Boston voodoo behind them or will the Sawx manhandle L.A. all the way towards what seems to be an inevitable date with the Evil Empire? Read on to see pitching breakdowns, a look at the offense and defense, musings on hometown advantages, and the official prediction.

10/4: That’s all, folks

GAME NOTES: Clay Buchholz gets a tune-up before the regular season ends. Keep an eye on the Tigers/Twins. If both win or lose, a playoff game will have to occur Tuesday afternoon -- meaning the Sox won't know if Game 1 of the ALDS is Wednesday or Thursday. Personally, I'm hoping the Tigers pull it out. It'll get the Sox time to finalize plans, and Detroit has the better team on paper to beat New York.

POLL: Outcome of ALDS series

Predict the outcome of the Sox/Angels ALDS series.

Sunday Notes: Wake done, Farrell staying, etc.

Happy Sunday, everyone. It's the last day of the 2009 regular season. Mixed emotions abound... a dark winter is foretold, but the most exciting time in baseball is well within our grasp. Let's check out what's going on in Red Sox land...

10/3: No more Joshin’

GAME NOTES: For the Sox to go far, Jon Lester and Josh Beckett need to be at the top of their game. Lester's looking good. Is Beckett?

Alex Gonzalez hurt? Uh-oh…

UPDATE: X-Rays negative, will be fine. Whew. Alex Gonzalez was injured during Friday's game, when it was hit by a pitch. Preliminary x-rays showed a "line" on his right hand, which means it could be fractured. A more intensive x-ray is being taken Saturday. It would be a huge blow to lose A-Gon, as we also don't have Nick Green around to back up. Shortstop could be a VERY, VERY big hole in the playoffs. I'm concerned. Are you?

Welcome to the new Fire Brand!

Hey guys, welcome to the new Fire Brand! Get acclimated. If you want to sign up for an account to comment, go all the way to the bottom of the page and click "Register" or just click here. Some people had their accounts automatically created because they submitted guests columns. If you appear on the list below, your login is what it was on the old version and your password is your e-mail except for the "@xxx.com" part.

10/2: Dicing them up

GAME NOTES: Dice-K enters his final start before October. He's looked a new man after missing most of the season with assorted problems. Can he keep it up?

Rich Harden to Boston in 2010?

Boston was named as a potential destination for Rich Harden today.

Fire Brand news: Affiliating with new network

Fire Brand will be affiliating with a certain sports network. The affiliation won't happen until Monday, but I hope to make the move to the new look, which will use WordPress, tomorrow.