ESPN's Erin Andrews reported earlier today that the Boston Red Sox have made the decision to once again use second-year pitcher Jonathan Papelbon as the team's closer, the role that made him an All-Star and Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2006.

Papelbon rarely worked out of the bullpen during three years in Boston's minor league system, starting 48 of the 58 games in which he appeared. His big-league experience has been the complete opposite, however, with 73 relief appearances in 76 games, including 59 last year as the most consistently dominating closer in the league. He racked up 35 saves and a 0.92 ERA before shutting it down on September 1 with a sore shoulder (the sight of Papelbon walking off the mound and clutching at his shoulder almost literally sucked the air out of New England), an injury that helped convince the Sox that a spot in the starting rotation would allow him to reach his greatest potential.

As a Red Sox fan, I like this idea, provided at least a couple things fall into place:

• Manager Terry Francona needs to take it easy on the use of Papelbon. 58 appearances before September 1st was too much for a rookie pitcher. I read somewhere that he won't be used three days in a row or when he feels tired, which is all well and good if it actually happens. But what if that third day comes in the middle of a crucial Sox-Yankees series, or at the end of a seven appearances in ten days stretch where he refuses to admit how fatigued he really is? Francona needs to be able to resist the urge to cave to the pressure of the first situation and read Papelbon's mind in the second.
• The starting rotation needs to pan out. On paper, the Sox have a potentially great rotation that features Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield and Julian Tavarez. Key word, "potentially". Every one of those five names carries a valid question mark that can only be addressed once the regular season games actually start. Can Schilling continue to be the ace of the staff at the age of forty? Can Beckett rebound from a rough 2006 season (16-11, 5.01 ERA), or was that the Real Josh? Will Kaibutsu's success in Japan translate to success in the States? Will Wakefield be able to start thirty games without breaking down? Which Tavarez will we get: the one who sucked in the bullpen for most of the season or the one who pitched well in several spot starts down the stretch? Yeah - lots of questions, not a lot of answers at this point.

If Francona uses his closer wisely, the rotation handles its end of things and Papelbon performs at close to his 2006 level, the Red Sox will have a weapon that only a few major league teams can boast: a legitimate shut-down closer who throws hard and intimidates opposing teams just by entering the game. (Rodriguez, Hoffman, Wagner, Ryan, Nathan, Rivera - anyone else?

If not...there's always Kyle Snyder.

As part of an ongoing project, One More Dying Quail will be profiling the 182 current members of the Bizarro Hall of Fame, an organization that currently exists only in my mind. It was created in the wake of Major League Baseball's infamous Steroid Era as a way of honoring those players whose careers were perfectly mediocre: the only requirement is that a candidate be listed on the official Baseball Hall of Fame ballot and receive zero votes.

Class of 1991

Bob Bailor - The first player selected by Toronto in the 1976 expansion draft, Bailor enjoyed his best major league season as a member of the original Blue Jays in 1977. The 25-year-old hit a career-best .310 with five homeruns, 32 runs batted in, and 15 stolen bases while playing in 122 games. A valuable utility player, he saw action in 100 or more games at four different positions during his eleven year career.

Al Bumbry - A member of the Virginia Sports and Baltimore Orioles Halls of Fame, Bumbry served in the United States military prior to his 1972 major league debut, earning a Bronze Star and the rank of first lieutenant during his time in Vietnam. He returned to become the American League Rookie of the Year in 1973, when he hit .337 with eleven triples and an .898 OPS in 110 games.

Rich Dauer - Dauer was drafted four times (twice by the Oakland A's) in the 1970s before finally signing with the Orioles in 1974. He once held a major league record for second basemen with 86 consecutive errorless games at the position.

Oscar Gamble - If Oscar Gamble had not been the owner of the 1970s greatest head of hair, I would have been forced to dislike him for two reasons: first, he finished his 17 year career with exactly 666 runs batted in, and second, he was part of the 1977 trade that made Bucky Dent a New York Yankee.

Larry Gura - After spending his first eight major league seasons working primarily out of the bullpens of three different teams, Gura blossomed in 1978 with a 16-4 record and 2.72 ERA for the division winning Kansas City Royals. Two years later, he made his only All-Star appearance while helping the Royals to the World Series against Philadelphia, where he earned no-decisions in Games Two and Five.

Art Howe - A product of the University of Wyoming, Howe hit .260 in eleven major league seasons, but is best known for his seven year tenure as manager of the Oakland A's (1996 - 2002. The team finished first or second in the last four of those seasons, including 100+ wins in 2001 and 2002, with most of the credit bypassing Howe and going to general manager Billy Beane and his "Moneyball" philosophy.

Bruce Kison - An average bullpen option for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the early 1970s (his ERA from 1971-74 almost exactly matched the league ERA for the same period), Kison was at his best in the postseason, starting his career with twenty consecutive scoreless innings and a 4-0 record. His greatest major league moment, however, might have been the time George Bell charged the mound and attempted to karate-kick him.

(Note: The clip of this incident doesn't appear to exist on YouTube. Fortunately, this video involving Bell, the Red Sox and a botched fight does.)

Steve Rogers - A quality starter whose celebrity status was harmed by the fact that he spent his entire thirteen-year career in Montreal, Rogers won 158 games for the Expos. As Montreal became more successful in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Rogers saw his national profile increase: from 1980-83, he finished in the top five of the Cy Young award voting three times, including second in 1982.

John Wathan - A fleet-footed catcher who stole a record 36 bases for the position in 1982, Wathan played ten seasons for the Royals before moving on to manage the team from 1987-1991. They peaked in 1989, winning 92 games and finishing second in the American League West, but stumbled to sixth place the next two seasons. Wathan was eventually fired and replaced by Hal McRae.

Pat Zachry - Zachry went 14-7 with a 2.74 ERA to win the National League Rookie of the Year award for the World Champion Cincinnati Reds in 1976, adding another victory in both the NLCS and the World Series. He was traded to the Mets the following season as part of a multi-player deal for Hall of Famer Tom Seaver.

Geoff Zahn - Zahn won ten or more games for six consecutive seasons from 1977-82, culminating in an 18-8 record and sixth place finish in the Cy Young voting. Winner of 111 career victories, he also recorded 20 shutouts and 705 strikeouts in 1849 innings.

(Coming soon: the Bizarro Hall of Fame Class of 1990.)

(All Hall of Fame voting results were obtained from the official web site of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Statistical information included in postings for the Bizarro Hall of Fame was, unless otherwise noted, originally compiled by Baseball-Reference.com.)

On Tuesday, my wife and I each filled out an NCAA Tournament bracket, "just for fun." At the end of today's first round, I went through quickly and tallied the results.

I was 10-6 on Day One - not great, but not bad, and it won't hurt my later rounds too much because I only picked two of the losing teams - Old Dominion and Gonzaga - to advance for even one more round.

My wife's tally? 15-1. I don't think she's watched a college basketball game since we met more than seven years ago, and the only one she missed was Duke. Yes, she came within 1.8 seconds of having a perfect first day. Tres bizarre.

Fortunately, these things have a way of evening themselves out, so maybe she'll end up 3-13 tomorrow. If she doesn't, I might lose my right to make fun of Bill Simmons for losing a picks competition to his wife.

I'm not what you would call a hardcore fan of the NBA. I enjoy the product and try to catch a game on television when I can, but it will always be my fourth viewing option behind baseball, the NFL, and college football.

With that said...if you can't get pumped for playoff basketball after watching even some of tonight's Suns-Mavericks battle, you should just stop watching altogether.

It's becoming a habit of mine to watch games in any sport with the volume turned down and some music on the iPod (currently playing: My Chemical Romance's "Mama", off of the "Welcome to the Black Parade" album), and tonight was no different. Flipped the channel to ESPN and started working on some odds and ends, but made a point to check in on the action every so often.

Dallas was down something like twelve when I turned it on. Cut it to seven at the half, 60-53. Blew the wheels off the Suns in the third, turning that seven-point deficit into a fifteen-point lead. 91-76. Led by eight, 109-101 I think, with a couple minutes to play.

I went back to work. So did the Suns. Next time I looked up, the Mavs were up two and Dirk Nowitzki was missing a free throw. He hit the second - the Steve Nash hit a three. Tie game. Inbound to Dirk, makes a move, off balance 20-footer for the win...front iron. No Good. Overtime. (Why are my sentences getting shorter and choppier?)

The Suns take the early lead. 120-115. I look away. The Mavericks tie it up. 120-120. Double overtime.

Suns by two. Seven seconds left. Dirk has another chance. Catches the rim again. Doesn't get the roll. Wants a foul. Doesn't get that either.

Even half-watching with no sound, this was a spectacular game featuring two heavyweights going toe-to-toe in the center of the ring, neither one pulling any punches or backing down an inch. Both teams are loaded with great players who are incredibly skilled at basketball, but I think the reason the Suns and Mavericks are the two best teams in the NBA right now is their resiliency. Even down fifteen in the second half or five in the last minute of overtime, they know they can erase any deficit as long as they continue to play within their game.

If these two teams meet in the playoffs again...watch out.

Finally, two post-game notes on things that I found amusing:

1) An ESPN camera was leading a very angry looking Mark Cuban as he crossed the floor after the loss when he apparently decided that enough was enough and gave the camera a little love tap. Didn't look like a shove, per se, but it was clear that he didn't feel like posing at that particular moment.

2) Immediately after the Cuban thing, they cut to a shot of Amare Stoudemire being hugged by a woman who looked very short. It was hard to tell because of the low camera angle, but I swear to God, this woman's head wasn't much higher than his belly button.

Almost four weeks ago, I had an idea: rank every football team in Division 1A, fire up the Xbox, and play a tournament to determine who was the 2007 national champion. It started off a little slow, with the top 26 teams advancing to round two, but things picked up in the later rounds when underdogs such as Colorado State and New Mexico rose up to take down powerful programs such as Ohio State, Florida and Wisconsin.

At last check, there were two teams left: #5 Louisville and #10 Auburn. The Cardinals earned a ticket to the championship game with narrow victories over Youngstown State in Round 1 (51-44) and Colorado State in Round 4 (14-13), while the Tigers received all they could handle from the Duke Blue Devils and Baylor Bears before dominating LSU defensively in the Final Four.

So there it was, Louisville vs. Auburn for the fictional 2007 national title. And when the smoke cleared, our winner was...

Auburn went on the road for the first time in the tournament and played like the best team in the nation, dominating Louisville physically on both sides of the ball in the 24-17 win. Tigers halfback Kenny Irons, who recorded his second 100 yard effort (13 carries, 102 yards) in three games, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

Thanks to everyone who followed this tournament and provided feedback on ways to make it better. If time allows for a follow-up in 2008, your thoughts and suggestions will definitely be considered.

Photo credit: Five Star Billiards, Inc.