September 15, 2003

I don’t know what’s in the water in the American League, but those pennant races are very exciting. The Red Sox just bash away at the Yankees and have gained four games in a couple of weeks, but can’t quite get over the hump. They kill the Yankees for a couple of games and lose a squeaker. As I write this, it’s four games. There are 17 games left. The Red Sox and Yankees are done, so the Sox have to hope someone else can knock off the Bronx Bombers. What’s worse is the quality of the teams the Yankees face: seven with the Orioles and Devil Rays and three with the White Sox.

Fortunately for the Red Sox, they have the same schedule as the Yankees. Those paying attention know that the September Devil Rays are a good deal better than the April Devil Rays. Any growth by the Orioles and Devil Rays the Yankees would get surprised by, the Red Sox would too.

Right now, this division is going to be all about matchups and how the rotations fall. The Yankees will go: (starting Friday the 12th) Wells, Mussina/Weaver, Contreras, Pettitte, Clemens. They have a doubleheader against the Devil Rays on Saturday the 13th. Moose will get to start one of those and Weaver will probably pitch the other. The Red Sox have Suppan, Wakefield, Burkett, Lowe, Pedro.

So who is favored? Well, the team already in the lead. It wouldn’t be the biggest lead ever lost in the shortest amount of time at the end of a season, but Red Sox Nation better start cheering against the Mariners.

The Mariners and A’s are in the same boat. They have the same schedule from here out, but face each other a half dozen times. If I were a Mariner fan, I wouldn’t be panicked about being a few games back – as long as my team controls their own destiny. The M’s take care of the A’s and they win the division. Pretty simple task. Well, at least they’ll only have themselves to blame. Neither pitching staff is in great shape. The Mariners are only two games behind the A’s and a game and a half behind Boston for the wild card. The last three games of the season are Seattle-Oakland. I suspect the division will be within three games still when that series comes up. Even though I loathe the DH, this match-up can get me into a little AL baseball.

The A’s rotation isn’t set up well to face the Mariners. Presently, the pitching against the M’s will be Duchscherer and Lilly and Harden for the last weekend. Were I juggling the A’s rotation and it’s going to have to be juggled, I would make sure I had Hudson and Zito going the last weekend in Seattle.

Even with all that excitement, as it comes down to two really good teams battling for the last playoff slot, there’s more.

The Comedy Central has been a "I got it, you take it" division all season. On a personal level, I’d love to see the Royals pull it out. On the other hand, I’d love to see the Big Hurt mash a few Roger Clemens offerings into the Yankee Stadium Monument Park. I love what Esteban Loaiza has done this season. Magglio Ordonez, in my opinion, is the best player today most people have never heard of. My wife watches a lot of baseball and knows quite a bit (ooh, Barry Larkin went to Michigan!). She can answer this question correctly: what’s the most important stat in baseball? She can score games properly and automatically does so if you take too long in the head or getting another beer. She knows a lot of players – she does not know Magglio Ordonez. I think. I have a great deal of respect for her as a sports fan (in addition to 10 years of marriage come September 18).

Since my team has officially been eliminated, I’ll be pulling for the White Sox. But do they have "hand" in the division? Right now they are tied with the Twins and the Royals are three and a half back. The Twins have to be very heavily favored. They have three with the ChiSox and seven with Detroit and Cleveland each. The Royals have seven with the White Sox and then the Indians and Tigers. The White Sox have three with the Twins, three with the Red Sox starting tonight, three with the Yankees and seven with the Royals. That’s all contenders, all the time. Not good for the Pale Hose.

I’m mostly insane with respect to hoarding baseball stuff. What’s worse I will actually look through it from time to time.

Ten years ago this week (on sale through September 19, 1993), Baseball America had Juan Gonzalez on the cover and a cool little piece by Bill James on the 1993 hitting explosion. Okay, James sums up the "Whys" of the 1993 offensive jump with "Whatever the explanation, take 1993 offensive totals with a grain of salt." Little did he, or any of us, know that it would jump again in 1994 and stay there for a decade. The Player of the Year in the minors listed Chipper Jones, Carlos Delgado, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, Cliff Floyd and Rondell White. Of course, it also listed Rich Aude, Tim Clark (?), Ruben Santana and Ryan Karp.

Here’s the trivia in the issue: Who was the first player signed by the Colorado Rockies? Before you get too antsy, I will be out of town, so I won’t reveal the answer until Monday.

Another book I have (_Baseball Extra_) is snippets from newspapers at the time.

The Boston Post writes on September 12, 1918:

13,000,000 TO ANSWER FREEDOM’S CALL TODAY

Red Sox are Again World’s Champions

Paul H. Shannon writes, "At exactly five minutes past three o’clock yesterday afternoon, even before the wires began to tell the country that Barrow’s men had delivered the punch that was to win the deciding contest in this great struggle for the supreme title, a carrier pigeon, released from the press stand by exultant soldiers started on its long flight to Camp Devens with the news of the fatal third inning and the downfall of the Chicago Cubs."

That’s a mouthful. If it helps, Ed Barrow was the Red Sox manager and the Sox scored their two runs in the bottom of the third in a 2-1 victory. Sadly, both runs were unearned due to a dropped liner to right. Carl Mays held the Cubs to three hits. The soldiers and Devens part is for real – check out the link.

The Mets were officially eliminated from the Championship competition when beaten by the Marlins for the third straight time.

Wait ‘til next year!