In past posts, the Fan has labeled Kerry Wood a .500 pitcher. And the claim wasn't incorrect. Despite the stuff, despite the hype, Wood was only a game over .500 last year and has hovered around .500 most of this year. But pennant races have a way of defining careers and Wood has defined himself as special.

Tonight, with the season on the line, with the Cubs in a dead heat with the Astros, Wood pitched lights out--seven innings, one hit and twelve strikeouts. The performance capped a spectacular September after a mediocre August. In the month of September, Wood's line looks like this:

36 innings, 22 hits, 5 runs, 9 walks and 47 strikeouts. That's a 1.25 ERA.

When the Cubs needed big performances coming down the stretch, Wood and Prior have been huge. The Cubbies are now a game up with five to play.

Dontrelle Willis pitched tonight for the Marlins against the Phillies as the Marlins tried to hold on to their slim one game wildcard lead. The highlights stated that he didn't have his best stuff. Indeed, when he left the game in the seventh inning, he was down 3-0 and compared to Kerry Wood, you could say that Willis didn't come through. But the key is that he held the Phillies to the three early runs and kept it there.

All you can ask of a pitcher is to keep your team in a big game and in this case, the Marlins asked a rookie to do so. And that's what Dontrelle Willis did. By doing so, he allowed Jeff Conine (welcome home, Jeff!) to come up with a big three run homer off of Phillies ace, Kevin Millwood and then Juan Pierre and Luis Castillo to dink the Phillies to their possible death. The Marlins are now two games up with five to play.


And in the league's most exciting finish, the never-say-die Boston Red Sox came back from the dead (a three run deficit with two outs in the ninth) as oft-maligned, Todd Walker, hit a two out, three run homer to tie the game. Team MVP, David Ortiz, then hit the game winner in the bottom of the tenth to ice the game.

The Red Sox are the most fun team to watch in baseball. I've never seen a team play harder together, root harder for each other and celebrate so exuberantly. These Sox deserve to win and if they make it to the World Series over my favorite Yankees, then I'll still smile and cheer them on. The Fan has been won over by this wonderful team.


And speaking of my favorite team, the Yankees put a five spot on the board in the top of the ninth that should clinch the game (it's currently a 7-0 game as Jose Contreras pitched another great game--or the White Sox rolled over - you make the call). The game was a tight one until Jason Giambi broke it open with a grand slam. Nick Johnson and Juan Rivera also homered in the game and Hideki Matsui drove in his 106th run. A win will clinch the division win for the Yankees.


We are one game closer to the resolution of the regular season and things couldn't be more exciting. The finish of the season has not disappointed what has been the most exciting season in this fan's lifetime.