Notebook: Vice presidential debate outdraws playoffs

NEW YORK -- Despite competition from the baseball playoffs, five times as many television viewers watched Tuesday's vice presidential debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards, Nielsen Media Research said.

The 43.6 million viewers were up from the 29.1 million people who saw Cheney take on Democrat Joe Lieberman in 2000, and reflects the heightened interest in the race.

Fox was the only major network not to carry the Cheney-Edwards debate in the New York area. It was contractually required to show the AL Division Series Game 1 between the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins, which had 8.5 million viewers.

Fox affiliates in other markets chose to carry the debate.

Colon picks his Molina

Bartolo Colon turned around his first season with the Anaheim Angels when Jose Molina was behind the plate.

So when it came to choosing between Jose and Bengie Molina to be his catcher in Game 2 of the division series against the Boston Red Sox, it was a no-brainer: Jose got the nod.

"Bartolo really doesn't have a preference. It's just a comfort level that's extraordinary, with what Jose has done with Bartolo," manager Mike Scioscia said. "Those guys have done very well down the stretch in a lot of key games and we are going to stay with it."

Jose Molina bailed out Colon in the second inning with the bases loaded and two outs, picking off Mark Bellhorn at second base and slugger David Ortiz at the plate. Colon had just walked Manny Ramirez to force in a run.

The younger Molina has been catching Colon through most of the second half of the season and has been credited with helping turn the right-hander's season around. Colon is 12-4 since July 3, and Jose Molina has started in 10 of those wins.

Colon finished 18-12 with a 5.01 ERA in 34 starts, after going 5-8 with a 6.57 ERA in his first 17 outings. Scioscia had Bengie Molina behind the plate for two of Colon's starts in September because he wanted his bat in the lineup as much as possible in the postseason -- and wanted Colon to get reaccustomed to him. But those plans changed when the Angels lost Game 1.

"Bartolo's been night and day from his first 15 starts, when he was having trouble with his mechanics, to where he is now," Scioscia said. "If you look at him statistically, over his last 20 or so starts, I think he ranks right up there with anybody in baseball."