The AL and NL Championship Series are upon us

He was just looking for a pipe he could drive: Moments after the end of Game 3, when the Dodgers completed their sweep of the Cubs, someone smashed a water pipe at the back of the visitors' dugout at Dodger Stadium, Rick Telander reports. Water gushed out, and very quickly the floor of the area leading into the locker room was flooded.

*Update: Cubs will pay for the pipe.

Maddon-cruisers: So much has been written about the preposterous rise of the Tampa Bay Rays. Here's a notable stat: The Rays, who won 97 games this year, were 27-2 in games at Tropicana Field, where they drew 30,000 or more customers. They owe much of their success to a remarkable leadership group, in addition to Manager Joe Maddon: Former Wall Street guy Stuart Sternberg, 33-year-old club president Matt Silverman and 31-year-old general manager Andrew Friedman. Silverman and Friedman are by far the youngest pair to run a team's baseball and business departments in MLB history, according to the New York Times.

A Ray of sunshine: Fernando Perez of the Tampa Bay Rays says he isn't the person people often expect him to be. The Cuba-born, New Jersey-raised, Columbia-educated Perez tells the New York Times: “When I get to second base, most guys are shocked when I speak English. They’re assuming that I’m just another Fernando Perez from the Dominican Republic.”

Manny money: Should the Dodgers spend wildly to retain Manny? Selena Roberts suggests that restraint might be the order of the day.

Meanwhile, your City Hall at work: They want to start calling the Dodgers property in Chavez Ravine "Dodgertown." With the Dodgers moving their spring training home to Arizona beginning in 2009, look for the other Dodgertown to ... become something else?

Blue heaven? Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts says "Dodger fans have to dial back their venom against opposing fans at Dodger Stadium. There have been too many complaints to ignore. There needs to be a zero-tolerance policy for physical or verbal abuse (particularly cursing) at other fans, and Dodger Stadium security has to be more proactive in dealing with these incidents." Here are some rules to live by. And In case you do run into trouble at that big facility smack in the middle of the new Dodgertown, there's always that in-game trouble hotline, (323) 224-2611.

And just because: Before TV shows, or other things, started jumping the shark, they would pitch to the horse. And he would pull the ball. Sandy Koufax, Johnny Roseboro, Leo Durocher, Willie Davis and Mr. Ed star. TV was so great back then.

-- Steve Clow

Photo: Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon sports a Mohawk haircut as he takes part in media interviews during an American League championship series workout today in St. Petersburg, Fla. Credit: Chris O'Meara / Associated Press