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September 2007
9/10/07
September 10 -- New York State of Mind
9/3/07
Monday, September 10, 2007
Subject: September 10 -- New York State of Mind
Time: 2:26:00 PM EDT
Author: cu21ti27mi
Winners: It was a demoralizing weekend for New York football, but on the diamond, things couldn't have gone smoother. The Yankees (81-62, 5-1) and Mets (81-61, 5-1) won ten of their twelve games and are on a combined eight-game winning streak.
The biggest downside for the Bombers was the fact the Red Sox (87-57, 5-2) didn't do much worse, but a series win over Seattle had huge wild card implications and left the Yanks in strong position for the AL's final slot. Besides a head-scratching series loss to Tampa Bay, the last two weeks have gone to plan for Joe Torre's squad, with a key sweep of the Sox and three gimmes this weekend in Kansas City. Considering that New York only has AL East games left -- of which only three are against Boston -- the wild card is their's to lose.
• On the other side of the city, the Mets have been rolling since an embarrassing four-game sweep at home to Philadelphia. They've lost only once in nine games since then, though it should be noted their five wins this week came against NL Central cupcakes Cincinnati and Houston. Still, even a halfway decent showing this week against Philly and Atlanta will put the division title on ice, as only Florida and Washington remain on the schedule after that.
• The major news in the majors this week was Arizona pulling ahead of San Diego in a big way with the season winding down. The Diamondbacks (81-63, 5-1) started Monday with an ugly 10-2 loss to the Padres that dropped them into second place, but took the next two to win the last series of the season between the division rivals. And while the Padres were busy losing two of three in Colorado, the D'backs were putting what should have been the final nails in St. Louis' coffin with a three-game sweep.(Luckily for the Cards, in the NL Central, you aren't dead until the coffin is nailed, buried and left to rot, but that's another issue.) The end result is a healthy-looking three-game lead with as many weeks to go.
• After winning more games than anyone over the previous two weeks, Cleveland (83-60, 5-2) was once again right at the top, matching the league-high five wins.
The Tribe may have only managed a split with Los Angeles this weekend, but the earlier sweep of Minnesota let them maintain their cushion over Detroit (76-66, 4-2) and put out any faint playoff hopes the Twins had left.
• Finally, it's always nice to see one of the league bottom-feeders pull together and go on a little tear. But the way Texas is playing of late, "little" almost isn't the right word anymore. Since Aug. 22 -- the day they dropped 30 runs on poor Baltimore -- the Rangers (68-74, 5-1) haven't looked back, winning 14 of 18, and more recently five in a row. That morning, they were cleanly in the AL West basement, seven and a half games back of third-place Oakland. But the A's have only gone 6-11 since then, meaning the Rangers have made up that deficit in its entirety. And after three games with Detroit, Texas gets Oakland for four; that may not seem compelling to you, but why don't you ask the Royals how it felt to leapfrog the hapless White Sox in the Central?
Losers: We detailed in this space last Monday exactly how miserable life has gotten in Baltimore, and things haven't gotten any better. At least nobody scored 30 or no-hit the O's this week. Turns out, that 30-3 game was as much a deflating influence for Baltimore (61-81, 2-5) as it was a spark for Texas. The Orioles are 3-17 since then, including a league-worst five losses this week. On that fateful August afternoon, they were still in fourth in the AL East, but at least they had a twelve and a half game lead over last-place Tampa Bay. Now that's down to just one and a half.
Of course, I don't want to make it seem like Baltimore hogged all the misery this week. An astonishing eight teams lost five games, so real quickly:
- Chicago Cubs (72-70 , 2-5) fell out of first place in the NL Central, but are still just a game behind Milwaukee despite being on two games over .500
- St. Louis (69-71 , 2-5) lost five of seven, but still kept pace with the Cubs; they're still right there with the other two
- Minnesota (70-73 , 1-5) could have made up a lot of ground on Cleveland, but is instead making October vacation plans
- Kansas City (62-80 , 1-5) still leads Chicago by a game and a half, so still have the inside track to avoiding a last-place finish despite getting knocked around by New York
- Oakland (69-75 , 1-5) has gone an unAthletics-like 25-31 in the second half, and now has Texas breathing down its neck
- Florida (61-82 , 1-5) is pulling an Oakland, or a Chicago, or a Baltimore, or whatever you want to call it, by falling apart and offering last-place Washington a shot to escape a basement finish
- Pittsburgh (63-80 , 1-5) has joined Cincinnati and Houston in a revolving door at the bottom of the NL Central, and having only recently abdicated the spotto the Astros appears to have changed its mind and wants back in
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Subject: September 10 -- New York State of Mind
Time: 2:26:00 PM EDT
Author: cu21ti27mi
Winners: It was a demoralizing weekend for New York football, but on the diamond, things couldn't have gone smoother. The Yankees (81-62, 5-1) and Mets (81-61, 5-1) won ten of their twelve games and are on a combined eight-game winning streak.
The biggest downside for the Bombers was the fact the Red Sox (87-57, 5-2) didn't do much worse, but a series win over Seattle had huge wild card implications and left the Yanks in strong position for the AL's final slot. Besides a head-scratching series loss to Tampa Bay, the last two weeks have gone to plan for Joe Torre's squad, with a key sweep of the Sox and three gimmes this weekend in Kansas City. Considering that New York only has AL East games left -- of which only three are against Boston -- the wild card is their's to lose.
• On the other side of the city, the Mets have been rolling since an embarrassing four-game sweep at home to Philadelphia. They've lost only once in nine games since then, though it should be noted their five wins this week came against NL Central cupcakes Cincinnati and Houston. Still, even a halfway decent showing this week against Philly and Atlanta will put the division title on ice, as only Florida and Washington remain on the schedule after that.
• The major news in the majors this week was Arizona pulling ahead of San Diego in a big way with the season winding down. The Diamondbacks (81-63, 5-1) started Monday with an ugly 10-2 loss to the Padres that dropped them into second place, but took the next two to win the last series of the season between the division rivals. And while the Padres were busy losing two of three in Colorado, the D'backs were putting what should have been the final nails in St. Louis' coffin with a three-game sweep.(Luckily for the Cards, in the NL Central, you aren't dead until the coffin is nailed, buried and left to rot, but that's another issue.) The end result is a healthy-looking three-game lead with as many weeks to go.
• After winning more games than anyone over the previous two weeks, Cleveland (83-60, 5-2) was once again right at the top, matching the league-high five wins.
The Tribe may have only managed a split with Los Angeles this weekend, but the earlier sweep of Minnesota let them maintain their cushion over Detroit (76-66, 4-2) and put out any faint playoff hopes the Twins had left.
• Finally, it's always nice to see one of the league bottom-feeders pull together and go on a little tear. But the way Texas is playing of late, "little" almost isn't the right word anymore. Since Aug. 22 -- the day they dropped 30 runs on poor Baltimore -- the Rangers (68-74, 5-1) haven't looked back, winning 14 of 18, and more recently five in a row. That morning, they were cleanly in the AL West basement, seven and a half games back of third-place Oakland. But the A's have only gone 6-11 since then, meaning the Rangers have made up that deficit in its entirety. And after three games with Detroit, Texas gets Oakland for four; that may not seem compelling to you, but why don't you ask the Royals how it felt to leapfrog the hapless White Sox in the Central?
Losers: We detailed in this space last Monday exactly how miserable life has gotten in Baltimore, and things haven't gotten any better. At least nobody scored 30 or no-hit the O's this week. Turns out, that 30-3 game was as much a deflating influence for Baltimore (61-81, 2-5) as it was a spark for Texas. The Orioles are 3-17 since then, including a league-worst five losses this week. On that fateful August afternoon, they were still in fourth in the AL East, but at least they had a twelve and a half game lead over last-place Tampa Bay. Now that's down to just one and a half.
Of course, I don't want to make it seem like Baltimore hogged all the misery this week. An astonishing eight teams lost five games, so real quickly:
- Chicago Cubs (72-70 , 2-5) fell out of first place in the NL Central, but are still just a game behind Milwaukee despite being on two games over .500
- St. Louis (69-71 , 2-5) lost five of seven, but still kept pace with the Cubs; they're still right there with the other two
- Minnesota (70-73 , 1-5) could have made up a lot of ground on Cleveland, but is instead making October vacation plans
- Kansas City (62-80 , 1-5) still leads Chicago by a game and a half, so still have the inside track to avoiding a last-place finish despite getting knocked around by New York
- Oakland (69-75 , 1-5) has gone an unAthletics-like 25-31 in the second half, and now has Texas breathing down its neck
- Florida (61-82 , 1-5) is pulling an Oakland, or a Chicago, or a Baltimore, or whatever you want to call it, by falling apart and offering last-place Washington a shot to escape a basement finish
- Pittsburgh (63-80 , 1-5) has joined Cincinnati and Houston in a revolving door at the bottom of the NL Central, and having only recently abdicated the spotto the Astros appears to have changed its mind and wants back in
Written by cu21ti27mi Blog about this entry |
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11/22/07 9:34 AM