Ned Yost

Walt Jocketty is out after 13 seasons as general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, 1 year after the team won the World Series for the first time since 1982. Team president Mark Lamping said that Jocketty's departure with a year remaining on his contract was a mutual decision, and that he'd be paid. It's unclear how Jocketty's departure affects the status of manager Tony La Russa, whose contract expired after the season. Jocketty hired La Russa in 1996. Team CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. spoke with La Russa yesterday.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West contemplated quitting before leaving the team's training camp to seek help for depression and "a mood disorder" he has battled his entire life. The former Saint Joseph's star, who recently signed a 2-year contract with Cleveland, said he removed himself from the team to "get my thoughts back together. " He missed three preseason games during his absence from Oct. 4-15. "I felt a feeling of anger and I just wanted to throw it all away and quit the team," he said.

Why the Hall not? A host of fan favorites from the '60s and '70s were listed on the new Hall of Fame ballot for Veterans Committee voters that was sent out yesterday. Former Phillies Dick Allen and Jim Kaat were on a list that included two players who gained greater fame as managers: Joe Torre and Gil Hodges. Ron Santo, Luis Tiant, Tony Oliva, Al Oliver (also briefly a Phil), Vada Pinson and Maury Wills are the other candidates. The ballot consists of players whose careers began in 1943 or later.

Jimmy Rollins and Brett Myers watched two televisions from a couple chairs inside the Phillies' clubhouse yesterday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. The TV on the left had the aftermath of the Milwaukee Brewers' 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs. The TV on the right had the final outs of the New York Mets' 4-2 loss to the Florida Marlins. But as soon as Mets rightfielder Ryan Church flied out to deep center field to end the game at Shea Stadium and crush the hopes and dreams of Mets fans - yes, that's two straight Mets collapses - Rollins hopped out of his seat and left the clubhouse.

As a tidal wave of blue-shirted Cubs fans swept down Miller Park's brick ramps yesterday afternoon, it was clear the Brewers had lost home-field advantage. But on a sunlit afternoon, with 45,288 fans of the two teams warring with each other as avidly as the players on the field, Milwaukee lost more than that. The Brewers' 7-3 loss to Chicago, coupled with an earlier Mets victory, cost them the lead in the wild-card race. Milwaukee, which hasn't been to the postseason since 1982, is tied with New York.

Mark DiFelice couldn't feel the sacred baseball grass he was walking over. It was like being whisked to a fantasyland, the feeling was so surreal as he walked to the pitcher's mound at Fenway Park last Sunday. The 31-year-old righthanded rookie had to catch his breath a few times when Brewers catcher Jason Kendall made a suggestion: Take a look around, take a breath - and start pitching. That's what they both did, looked around, before Kendall gave him a pat and DiFelice threw his first Major League pitch, a dream 10 years, a few hardships and plenty of devotion in the making.

Milwaukee Brewers closer Eric Gagne was diagnosed with rotator-cuff tendinitis and is out indefinitely, although he will rejoin the team today in Washington. After being examined in Milwaukee by the team's physician, Dr. William Raasch, the righthander received a cortisone injection and was told not to throw for 3 days. After that, Gagne will be re-examined and will not throw again until his shoulder feels better. The Brewers don't plan to put him on the disabled list unless the shoulder does not improve soon, but that could change if they must use most of their bullpen in any game this weekend.

Barry Bonds beat the Milwaukee Brewers not with a mighty swing - although he had plenty of opportunities, for a change - but with his arm. The San Francisco slugger, who will have to wait at least another day to join the 700-homer club, flashed the kind of play that made him an eight-time Gold Glove winner early in his career, helping the visiting Giants beat the Brewers, 3-2, last night. Bonds went 0-for-2 and drew two walks, one of them intentional and the other on a nine-pitch at-bat.

MILWAUKEE - The last time the Milwaukee Brewers presented a potential roadblock to the Phillies' World Series title hopes, they offered little resistance. That, of course, was the magical 2008 season, which ended when Brad Lidge struck out Tampa Bay's Eric Hinske before going to his knees and looking to the sky as a championship-starved city exploded in celebration. Here we are, three years later, and the Brewers again could serve as an obstacle in the Phillies' World Series pursuit.

FIRST, CHARLIE Manuel told the story about how, as the manager of some slugging Triple A teams, he always liked it when the opponents watched his hitters take batting practice. "I always thought we'd scare 'em," the Phillies manager said with a laugh. Then he told the story about how when the Phillies faced CC Sabathia in the division series a few years ago, he noticed that the hulking, hard-throwing lefty used more changeups than normal. "He said, 'I was taking BP in your yard, Charlie, and I was hitting balls almost into the second deck in left,' " he recalled.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West contemplated quitting before leaving the team's training camp to seek help for depression and "a mood disorder" he has battled his entire life. The former Saint Joseph's star, who recently signed a 2-year contract with Cleveland, said he removed himself from the team to "get my thoughts back together. " He missed three preseason games during his absence from Oct. 4-15. "I felt a feeling of anger and I just wanted to throw it all away and quit the team," he said.

Mike Maddux has been in professional baseball for 26 years, but a draft-day rookie could have anticipated the question the Brewers pitching coach got in Sunday's eighth inning. It was the the regular season's final day and, in a game Milwaukee needed as badly as Miller needs hops, the Brewers were tied with the Cubs, 1-1. Pitcher CC Sabathia, who had thrown 106 pitches four days after he had thrown 108, eight days after he had thrown 105, 12 days after he had thrown 99, was due to bat. Interim manager Dale Sveum, who got the job in large part because predecessor Ned Yost wouldn't agree to work Sabathia at this relentless pace, turned to Maddux.

The Phillies and the Brewers did a little time-traveling today. The two teams jumped in the Wayback Machine, dialed up the middle of September, and played a fifth game of the previous series between them. A lot has happened in the interim. The Brewers fired their manager after that four-game sweep at Citizens Bank Park, then went on a wild tear - winning, hold onto your hats, seven of 12 games - and outlasted the flailing Mets for the National League wild card. Along the way, the Brewers decided they were healed.

Jimmy Rollins and Brett Myers watched two televisions from a couple chairs inside the Phillies' clubhouse yesterday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. The TV on the left had the aftermath of the Milwaukee Brewers' 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs. The TV on the right had the final outs of the New York Mets' 4-2 loss to the Florida Marlins. But as soon as Mets rightfielder Ryan Church flied out to deep center field to end the game at Shea Stadium and crush the hopes and dreams of Mets fans - yes, that's two straight Mets collapses - Rollins hopped out of his seat and left the clubhouse.

More than an hour after he had one-handedly - in more ways than one - hoisted Milwaukee to its first playoff appearance in 26 years yesterday, CC Sabathia stood atop the mound again, this time at the apex of a bouncing band of drunk, damp and delirious Brewers. The 6-foot-7 pitcher's place at this celebratory summit, long after the elated remnants of 45,299 Miller Park fans had joyfully watched the latest Mets' collapse on the center-field scoreboard, was well-earned. Pitching on three days' rest for a third straight start, Sabathia overpowered the Cubs in a crucial 3-1, Game 162 victory that had heads swiveling between the field and the scoreboard.

As a tidal wave of blue-shirted Cubs fans swept down Miller Park's brick ramps yesterday afternoon, it was clear the Brewers had lost home-field advantage. But on a sunlit afternoon, with 45,288 fans of the two teams warring with each other as avidly as the players on the field, Milwaukee lost more than that. The Brewers' 7-3 loss to Chicago, coupled with an earlier Mets victory, cost them the lead in the wild-card race. Milwaukee, which hasn't been to the postseason since 1982, is tied with New York.

The new guy Interim manager Dale Sveum, who was formerly the Milwaukee Brewers' third-base coach, called a meeting Tuesday before his first game at the helm. Then the Brewers went out and lost for the 12th time in 15 games, 5-4, to the Chicago Cubs. CC Sabathia lost for the first time since Milwaukee acquired him July 7. "There was definitely more life in the dugout," said Sveum, who replaced Ned Yost. "There was some life and some really good at-bats. We have 11 games left to get it back.