Down to the Wire

[Warning: Baseball Blog]

Okay, we're three weeks into the NFL season so already talk of "surprise" teams and premature celebrations of the 40th Superbowl (I meant the XLth) are already eclipsing much of the sports talk, even as the baseball season enters its final, climactic week of pennant races. Unlike previous seasons, the Yanks and Red Sox are not involved, the Braves face elimination and the Wild Card races are irrelevant.

Ooops, did I really say that? Did you catch me? In truth, featured players in the annual baseball drama tend to come and go, but some regulars seem to have very long-term contracts. The Braves are about to clinch their division for the 14th year in a row, either a testimony to great management by the Atlanta brass and stubborn, wife-beating Bobby Cox, or a continued embarrassment to the other organizations in that division. As for the Yanks and Red Sox, gee whiz, they're tied again atop the East--remember the Orioles' soaring early on?--and their soap opera continues.

Boston has a major advantage in that their last seven games are at home, and the Yanks are on the road. Boston plays four against Toronto, with whom they've had great difficulty all year, and the Yanks visit Camden Yards against a totally dispirited Oriole team. If nothing is decided after these match-ups, it's the Yankees at Fenway over the weekend, the schedule-maker's dream confrontation. The Yanks are currently somewhat stronger, with their pitching pasted back together, while the Red Sox are playing on moxie and the bats of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. Ortiz, the best clutch hitter I've ever seen, was hitting so many game-winning homers that his opponents have decided to walk him, Bonds-like, on every occasion. But now Manny, batting clean-up, has started homering in every game. Quite a quandary there. Whatever will the Yankee pitchers do? Will Randy Johnson be facing Curt Schilling? Next Monday (or just as likely Tuesday) there will be a dichotomy of sad/happy faces along the Charles/East Rivers as the Next Chapter concludes.

And what about the Indians? They're currently the hottest team in baseball, young and powerful. I'd predicted mid-season that they would by the Wild Card winner and that looks likely. They lead in that race and play at home the rest of the season, including a serendipitous weekend trio against the White Sox. Chicago has been stumbling and is on the road the rest of the year, so their 2 1/2 game over Cleveland is hardly safe. I've been thinking lately that Chicago could well fall off the Playoff map unless they right themselves quickly, allowing the Indians, Red Sox and Yanks into the October game. In the West, it looks like the strength of the Angels' line-up and front-line pitching has overcome the surge of the A's, who were damaged severely--as was my Roitisserie team--by the late-season shoulder injury to star Rich Harden.

The National League is a somewhat clearer picture, with the Cards still the dominant team, the Braves claiming their Reserved Seats in the play-offs, and the Padres stumbling into a spot because their divisional competition was so terrible. It's no testimony to parity that the team leading the NL's western division is under .500 going into the final week. Houston seems to have the pitching edge heading into the Wild Card final lap, with the Phillies a possible candidate. My $10 Vegas ticket for the Nationals to win the pennant is now fodder for the circular file. Glad I didn't go higher. I must say that I like the idea of seeing Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens in the post-season again. But I don't think the Cardinals will blow it this year, now that Chris Carpenter is healthy (though he has been slipping).

World Series prediction: Cardinals over Indians in six.

And of course, there are the Bronx Cheers/Beatles. Our spiritual guidance from the Fab Angels has not helped our team much, and although we lead Jesus by a half-point with a week to go, our situation is far more treacherous. The key to our success will be revitalized clutch hitting and sufficient numbers of wins from nine prospecteive starts to overtake three teams in front of us. I realize this means nothing to anyone but Kevin, myself and Ron (otherwise known as Jesus), but it certainly adds to the pulsating excitement of the season's climax.