Still Burning Bright

...In the forests of the night. The reference is not to the latest brush fire in a series that has encircled the Los Angeles area during this endless heat wave, but to the amazing Detroit Tigers, who, at the two-thirds pole of this baseball season, have the best won-lost record in the game and a healthy seven-game lead over two strong adversaries, the White Sox and Twins.

Detroit's sudden leavening this season from its twenty-year sojourn through Mediocrity is baseball's best story this year, taking the sting out of the Barry Bonds steroid scandal. I am not a Tiger fan but I am most impressed with their efficiency and rise from a team that lost 119 games just three years ago. People in Kansas City must be shaking their heads, not to mention Cub fans.

I look at their line-up and cannot understand why they are so successful, winning more than two-thirds of their games. Okay, they have solid veterans in Pudge Rodriguez and the always underrated Magglio Ordonnez, but have been getting amazing production from such relative unknowns as Brandon Inge and Marcus Thames (whose first major league home run was as a Yankee, off Randy Johnson). But it's mostly been a tale of their pitching, which has coalesced with Bonderman and Maroth, the startling rookie Justin Verlander, and the addition of old pro and general asshole Kenny Rogers. Manager Jim Leland, a Wise Old Man, has guided this mix brilliantly. It's a shame, in a way, because he will get tremendous credit and win Manager of the Year, when the most amazing job has actually been done by Joe Torre, who's kept the Yanks alive despite losing half the line-up to major injury. Leland would not have been so fortunate if he lost Pudge, Ordonnez and Guillen as the Yanks have lost Sheffield, Matsui and Cano.

But I do look for that race to tighten, as both the surging Twins, with the league's two best pitchers in Liriano and Santana, as well as the slipping but still powerful White Sox, will be challenging Detroit for the division title and the potential Wild Card spot. And a similar state resides in the American League East, where the Yanks, Red Sox and Toronto make a fearsome threesome. At this juncture the Yanks are only 1 1/2 games behind Boston, again a testament to brilliant managing, Jeter and Giambi, and the Yankee mystique. It still seems likely only one of these three teams will make the play-offs. And in the AL West, where Oakland and the Angels have been switching places on top, it is actually a free-for-all among all the contestants; the four teams are separated by 3 1/2 games. I still pick Oakland to win it, but their pitching had better move up a notch.

That leaves a remarkable ten AL teams with a shot at the pennant, and the National League has almost as many contestants. The Mets are still dominant in the East, but with Pedro's bad foot and declining performances by their other starters, their position as League favorites is in jeopardy. The Phillies have pretty much bowed out with dreadful hurlers, and the Braves are making a comeback with their usual second-half magic. Though they have a way to go, I still predict them to be the Wild Card team, which means having to mute the play-off games whenever the fans do the Tomahawk Chop and the offensive chant. But at least there wil be no more than two NLDS games at Turner Field.

The Cards have more than enough to glide into another title, with the surprising Reds hanging in thanks to Harang and Arroyo, the latter being the most successful off-season pick-up for any team. Houston just can't get their offense untracked, though they also have a history of strong finishes and it's ahrd to discount the pitching trio of Oswalt, Clemens and Pettitte. I think Houston and Cincinnati will batter each other during the Last Third and hand over the Wild Card to Atlanta. As for the West, who the fuck cares. Oh yeah, I think San Diego's in first place now, but tomorrow it will be Arizona, or San Francisco, and next week maybe Colorado. Only the Dodgers have begun to sink out of contention, somewhat to my surprise. The failure of their front-line pitching aside from Brad Penny has pretty much doomed them, and manager Grady Little doesn't have the imagination to fashion a winning team without the horses he used to have in Boston. The Dodgers could probably have done better with Jim Tracy, though he is hardly pulling rabbits out of his hat in Pittsburgh.

Still, the National League has eight legitimate contenders at this stage. With eighteen Major League teams in place for post-season play, the trading market, usually frenetic at the end of July, has been sedate. The disappoointing Brewers traded free-agent-to-be Carlos Lee to Texas and received two young, good hitters, in Kevin Mench and Laynce Nix, as well as closer Fransco Cordero. That was a good trade for the Brewers, though the Texas offesne will get a nice little B-12 boost. Alfonso Soriano will probably be moved from Washington by Monday, to whichever team is so desperate for a quick fix that they are willing to sacrifice major prospects for a two-month rental. I just hope it's not the Red Sox.