how small statements are made

i read this on baseballmusings.com (which is a great website) and thought it was so funny that it deserved repeating here.

Book it now: Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez will be card No. 666 in the 2006 edition of Topps Total baseball cards.
Topps officials acknowledge that the employee who assembles the company's card checklists is a Yankees fan who assigns the undesirable number to the pitcher or player on the team that knocks the Yankees out of the playoffs.

That's why Red Sox reliever Keith Foulke, who got the last out of the 2004 ALCS, was number 666 in 2005 Total, and why the Florida Marlins' Josh Beckett of Spring, who beat the Yankees in the 2003 World Series finale, was 666 in the 2004 set.

And that's why Rodriguez, who closed out the Angels' victory Sunday in Game 5 of the Division Series, will be 666 in next year's set. It's the safest sure thing in the world of cardboard — unless Yankees Fan goes with Ervin Santana, who pitched 5 1/3 innings in relief of injured starter Bartolo Colon.

i'm not really all that sure about their predictions. after all, considering that the honor goes to the player who's most responsible for dealing the yanks out of the playoffs, i would be shocked if #666 isn't assigned to a-rod.