Manager's Decision? Terry Francona met with Red Sox principal owner John Henry last night in Florida, making him the front-runner for the manager's job. Boston Dirt Dogs is saying the hiring is a done deal. Sox management says they hope to fill the position before the winter meetings begin on December 12. ... Mike Timlin took the high road, defending Gump's moronic Game 7 debacle: "I'm not going to second-guess what Grady did there. He was between a rock and a hard place. I guarantee there's no person in this country who would want to sit in that seat and make that decision." Actually, Mike, there were millions and millions of people who would have killed to make that decision. And then they wanted to kill after the decision, too. (a few more Timlin quotes here) ... Roger Angell on the post-season. ... Boston will meet with Andy Pettitte and his agents, which has caused a stir in New York.

Complete National League MVP Voting (and Aaron Gleeman's Bonds facts):

Player                         1  2  3  4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Bal

Barry Bonds, San Francisco    28  2  2  - - - - - -  -  426   32

Albert Pujols, St. Louis       3 29  -  - - - - - -  -  303   32

Gary Sheffield, Atlanta        1  1 18  9 2 1 - - -  -  247   32

Jim Thome, Philadelphia        -  -  5 12 9 5 - - -  -  203   31

Javy Lopez, Atlanta            -  -  4  3 5 8 8 1 -  1  159   30

Eric Gagne, Los Angeles        -  -  3  6 5 4 4 2 2  1  143   26

Todd Helton, Colorado          -  -  -  2 3 2 2 6 2  3   75   20

Sammy Sosa, Chicago            -  -  -  - 1 4 2 2 6  1   53   16

Mark Prior, Chicago            -  -  -  - 2 3 1 1 4  2   44   13

Juan Pierre, Florida           -  -  -  - 1 - 5 3 1  2   39   12

Mike Lowell, Florida           -  -  -  - - 2 2 3 1  1   30    9

Richie Sexson, Milwaukee       -  -  -  - 1 1 - 1 1  5   21    9

Andruw Jones, Atlanta          -  -  -  - - 1 1 1 1  1   15    5

Jeff Bagwell, Houston          -  -  -  - - 1 - 2 1  1   14    5

Edgar Renteria, St. Louis      -  -  -  - 1 - - - 1  5   13    7

Preston Wilson, Colorado       -  -  -  - - - 1 1 2  1   12    5

Vladimir Guerrero, Montreal    -  -  -  - - - 2 - 1  -   10    3

John Smoltz, Atlanta           -  -  -  - 1 - - 1 -  -    9    2

Marcus Giles, Atlanta          -  -  -  - 1 - - - 1  1    9    3

Richard Hidalgo, Houston       -  -  -  - - - - 1 2  2    9    5

Luis Castillo, Florida         -  -  -  - - - 2 - -  -    8    2

Jason Schmidt, San Francisco   -  -  -  - - - - 1 1  2    7    4

Ivan Rodriguez, Florida        -  -  -  - - - 1 - -  1    5    2

Billy Wagner, Houston          -  -  -  - - - - - 2  1    5    3

Luis Gonzalez, Arizona         -  -  -  - - - - - 2  -    4    2

Chipper Jones, Atlanta         -  -  -  - - - 1 - -  -    4    1

Bobby Abreu, Philadelphia      -  -  -  - - - - 1 -  -    3    1

Miguel Cabrera, Florida        -  -  -  - - - - 1 -  -    3    1

Jim Edmonds, St. Louis         -  -  -  - - - - 1 -  -    3    1

Mark Grudzielanek, Chicago     -  -  -  - - - - 1 -  -    3    1

Derrek Lee, Florida            -  -  -  - - - - 1 -  -    3    1

Russ Ortiz, Atlanta            -  -  -  - - - - 1 -  -    3    1

Rafael Furcal, Atlanta         -  -  -  - - - - - 1  -    2    1

Dontrelle Willis, Florida      -  -  -  - - - - - -  1    1    1

Operation Smashed Nuts. Major-General Charles Swannack, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division: "This is war. We're going to use a sledgehammer to crush a walnut. We're not going to prosecute this war holding one hand behind our back, we're going to use enough in our arsenal to win this fight." So liberation off the table for good now? ... BBC reporters on Bush in Britain. ... The US says destroying the homes of family members of guerrilla suspects is "within the rules of war," although some officers acknowledged that the "unprecedented" tactic might inflame opposition. People see their homes being destroyed because their son is suspected of defending his country against an invading army and there's actually a debate going on as to whether this might piss those people off? ... The US military's latest code name -- "Operation Iron Hammer" -- was also used by the Nazis during World War II. In addition, several US stamps show an eagle in a very close approximation of the symbol of the Waffen SS (which actually has its origins in ancient Rome). Here and here: