The Yankees had their money men on the field tonight and the money men did what is expected: Win the big game.

The Yankees would have been in serious trouble if they had lost tonight's game after losing last night to Wakefield and the Red Sox. Going back to Boston for three games starting with Pedro and being down 2-0 in the series would have been a real hole. But the money men came through.

Money men could speak of the millions that Pettitte, Williams, Jeter, Giambi, Contreras and Rivera are making. But money men in this context means the horses that give you a win when a win is critical. Pettitte has always been especially miraculous when the Yankees are behind the eight ball. That distinction goes all the way back to the Braves series of 1996 when the Yankees were down three games to one and Pettitte beat the Braves' ace to prolong the series that the Yankees eventually won.

Tonight, Pettitte gutted out the first two innings when he only gave up one run on six hits. Once through those innings, and thanks to a Nick Johnson homer, Pettitte got into a grove and coasted to the seventh.

Money men also includes Bernie Williams who always seems to get a big RBI when the Yankees need one. His single to drive in Jeter gave the Yankees a 3-1 lead which was psychologically much more comfortable than a 2-1 lead. Williams and Jeter always find a way to get it done.

Money men meant Jose Contreras who pitched the Yankees out of a jam in the seventh by inducing Nomar Garciaparra to pop up with runners in scoring position. Contreras knows what it is to pitch in big games as he brought Cuba victory all those years in amateur baseball. He was nearly unhittable tonight and really for the second night in a row.

And of course, money men is personified in Mariano Rivera, who does indeed look like he is back in the late 90's and unhittable. His rediscovery of the strikeout high in the zone after getting ahead of batters resulted in two strikeouts in the last inning.


So now the series goes back to Boston. No matter how much a Fan I am of Roger Clemens, the advantage goes to Pedro Martinez in their head to head matchup. The Red Sox will need to get Roger to throw strikes and elevate his pitch count to get Clemens in trouble by the fifth or sixth inning.

Boston hits Clemens well, especially Trot Nixon, who has nailed Clemens on a couple of occasions, most notably in the famous Clemens-Pedro matchup a couple of years ago when the two pitched nine scoreless innings each only to see Trot Nixon hit the game winning homer in the top of the tenth off of Roger.

The Cubs jumped all over Brad (bad) Penny, Nate Bump (and runs) and Rick Helling tonight to score twelve runs and Mark Prior pitched well enough on an empty tank to even the NLCS at one game a piece. The series is now a five game series with three of those games featuring Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. The Marlins are in good shape and bad shape all at the same time.

An extended series works in the favor of the Cubs who have home field advantage and two dominant pitchers. The Diamondbacks showed two years ago how two dominant pitchers can win you a series. The Marlins have to have that cold chill when considering the situation. Yet, at the same time, every road team hopes to split the games in the other team's ballpark.

Another concern for the Marlins is the sudden offensive juggernaut of the Cubs offense. The Cubs only averaged four runs a game all year. The first two games featured twenty runs scored for the Cubbies. A Florida pitcher has to plug the dyke and give the Florida pitching staff some confidence.

And one more concern for the Marlins--as if I haven't pointed out enough already--is that Sammy Sosa has awoken from his slumber and has hit two homers in two days. His 495 shot to centerfield tonight sealed the game and electrified the fans and his teammates. Sosa will feed off of that and should stay hot the rest of the series.


Meanwhile, the Red Sox took it to the Yankees tonight in the first game of their series. Wakefield danced through six innings and the Yankees managed only three hits the whole night. Their offensive effort was reminiscent of their first game against the Twins. The offense seemed okay after that, but time will tell in this series.

To have someone other than Martinez or Lowe win a game had to be a big lift to the Bosox. They also got a lift by some great relief pitching.

On the other side of the field, the Yankees have to be concerned about Mussina's second bad performance in the post season. Mussina's post season ERA is 4.97. Not good.

Today inched forward the hopes of all who dreamed about a Cubs/Red Sox World Series.

Mike Lowell is a pretty good insurance policy sitting on your bench. Having the Marlins leading homerun hitter available for extra inning pinch hitting duty is like trumping an ace with your Rook card. His homer in the top of the eleventh has put the Marlins on top of what has been an extremely good game.

Sammy Sosa put the game into extra innings with a monster, two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. But neither team could score until the eleventh when Lowell came up against Antonio Alfonseca. The Marlins may not be done as they have runners on first and second with one out.

The Marlins had to feel good to see Antonio Alfonseca on the mound. After all, Alfonseca gave up 117 baserunners in 66.1 innings of pitching this year. You would almost need all six of his fingers on one of his hands to represent his ERA. In other words, running Antonio Alfonseca out there is like throwing up the white flag. Now it's bases loaded with one out. Ugh! He's awful. A line drive...caught! Double-play! Cubs fans are thankful for atom balls.


While I wait for the bottom of the eleventh, I'll tackle the Red Sox/Yankee series:
In the Yankee's favor:
- More rested.
- Their starters are in place and not overworked.
- Relief pitching is rested.
- They have had very timely hitting and look like they are brimming with quiet confidence.

In the Red Sox' favor:
- More of an emotional team that is tight as a unit.
- Two great pitchers that can win at least three games in the series.
- The best hitting in baseball with no fear of the Yankee starters.

I really don't know how this series will play out. I do know the fans in both parks will be rocking the house.

The Florida Marlins have won game one. This is going to be a great series.

Oh man! The Fan is near hyperventilation. Those Red Sox never do it the easy way. First they are down to the A's 1-0 and Zito looks absolutely unhittable. Then Varitek hits a homer to tie the game. Manny Ramirez then hits a three run homer for his first RBI of the series. The Red Sox squander several more rallies and the A's close it to 4-3. Now it's the last of the ninth and the Red Sox Nation have to deal with Scott Williamson closing the game. Scott Williamson??

Williamson hadn't saved a game for the Red Sox all year. Williamson has only 54 saves in his career. Williamson's ERA for the Red Sox was 6.20. And he's closing the game? So the Red Sox Nation starts sweating. Williamson's first three pitches aren't close--all high. After a strike, he walks the first batter of the inning. "Okay," says the Nation, "Here we go."

Williamson then looks worse on the second batter and now it's first and second and no outs. Grady Little then does the smartest thing he's done all year. He brought in Derek Lowe. Three years ago, Lowe saved over forty games for the Sox. Since then, Lowe's won 38 starts in his two years as a starter. "Okay," says the Nation, "That's better." Was it ever!

But it wasn't easy. Lowe's first batter bunted and got the runners over. Now it's second and third with one out. Yeesh. Do you walk the next guy? Nope. Pitch to him with the infield in. Oh no! Thoughts of Luis Gonzalez come to mind with the Yankee infield drawn in. Bloop. Series over. "Okay," says Red Sox Nation, "Here comes the heartbreak."

But the heartbreak didn't come for the Red Sox. On a 2-2 count, Lowe threw a Greg Maddux type fastball that crashed into the inside corner. Two outs. But it still doesn't come easy as Lowe walked the next batter. Bases loaded, two out. "Okay," says Red Sox Nation, "I'm still hoping but I know I'm going to get crushed again."

Lowe didn't fool around with Terrence Long. First pitch strike. Second pitch ball down low. Third pitch fouled off. Fourth pitch...another Maddux-like inside corner job and the game is over. "Okay," says Red Sox Nation, "It really happened."

You can't take away from the Red Sox what they accomplished. To be two games down and facing elimination for three straight games, and then to win three is remarkable. But just as remarkable is the Oakland streak of the last four post seasons. This loss was their ninth straight loss when trying to close out a post season series. The Red Sox Nation can no longer feel the most abused. Neither can the Cubs fans. The Oakland fans have to be the most disheartened of them all.

So now the Red Sox will travel to New York for the series everyone wanted. The Red Sox against the Yankees. And it doesn't matter what happens. The Red Sox have an a fairy tale season and have been more fun to watch than any team of them all.

"Okay," says the Red Sox Nation, "I bet we lose to the Yankees."

With the exception of the Yankees' workman-like dissection of the Twins, the division playoff series has been as exciting and unpredictable as the regular season. As stated many times before, unless you are a Braves, Giants or Twins fan, this has been the best season ever.

What a day! It started with an exciting come from behind win from the Red Sox to tie their series with Oakland after being down two games to none. The A's were five outs from moving on to the next series. But first David Ortiz, who was oh for the series, got his latest big hit of the season to put the Sox ahead. Scott Williamson held the lead and now they head back to Oakland and the pressure is all on the A's.

The series will boil down to Barry Zito against Pedro Martinez. You can't get a better pitching matchup than that.

Following the Red Sox win was the final board on the Twins' coffin as they had no chance against David Wells and the Yankees. A year ago, the Yankee starters had an ERA over ten in a disastrous series against eventual Series winner, Anaheim Angels. This year, Mussina was fine with a 3-1 loss. Pettitte was remarkable in the second game. Clemens was not to be denied in game three and Wells gave up only one run in the clincher.

If the Yankees continue to pitch like that, there is no chance for any of their opponents--especially when you add in four unhittable innings from Mariano Rivera. I continue to believe that the Yankees match up better against Boston than they do Oakland. But Boston has proved that good pitching will stop Oakland and now that Hudson is hurt to go along with Mulder, Oakland's situation gets grimmer.

And then tonight, in one of the most remarkable achievements of the year, the Chicago Cubs beat the dominant Braves to again send the Braves home early in the post-season. It's unthinkable to believe that this has happened. A year ago, the Cubs lost 95 games. They had not won a post season series since 1908. And here they go out and beat the highly favored Atlanta Braves. Amazing.

Mark Prior and Kerry Wood have arrived as the most dominant duo in baseball. It's almost guaranteed that they will win two games in every series the Cubs play for the rest of the year. Wood was unhittable on only three days rest to win his second game of the series.

The Cubs won! Can you believe it!? A Cubs/Marlins NLCS! You can't beat that for fun to think about.

It really is a shame that the unbelievable run of the Braves will always be remembered for their post-season failures. This has been a team for the ages but they just couldn't seem to get it done in the playoffs. There will always be two statements concerning the team: "They won their division twelve years in a row." And: "They only won the World Championship once." I predict that this was their last hurrah and they don't even make the playoffs next year.

And now we wait for the Red Sox and Oakland Athletics to see who will complete the winning foursome that continues on to the quest for the World Championship.

I distinctly remember when Ivan Rodriguez signed with the Florida Marlins. His signing seemed odd at the time and my feeling was that it was strange that Rodriguez didn't sign for a contender. Perhaps Rodriguez was more prophetic than any of us were.

Today, Rodriguez drove in all four runs of an eleven inning marathon that featured a comeback rally from a run down after the Giants scored a run in the top of the eleventh. Rodriguez base hit was even more clutch than normal.

The Marlins had loaded the bases with one out and Luis Castillo at the plate. Castillo is one of the best hitters in baseball at putting the ball in play and there was a great chance that he could drive in at least a run with a fly ball to tie the game. True to form, Castillo sent a bullet on the ground right up the middle. Tim Worrell had fallen off to the third base side of the mound but made an unbelievable leap back to stab the ball and get Conine at the plate.

A play like that could deflate a lot of teams and a lot of batter. But not Rodriguez. He lined a single to right and just like that, the Marlins have the Giants on the ropes and need only to win one more game to go on to the NLCS.


One observation made before this series was that, except for Bonds, this Giant club was not a good hitting club. That observation proved true today as the Giants could not plate a run for six straight innings that they had a runner in scoring position. Their total of eighteen runners left on base in the game set a new record.


It is inconcievable that Jose Cruz dropped a routine fly ball to start the Marlins rally. His drop gave fodder to all little league coaches in the world to insist that all pop ups be caught with two hands. Cruz is a very good fielder and for that to happen in such a big game is mystifying.

Yesterday, the Fan questioned Dusty Baker's choices that delivered the game to the Braves. Last night, Grady Little, who has faced over-managing charges here before, made a major mistake of lifting Byung-Hyun Kim with two out in the ninth inning with the Red Sox holding on to a slim one run lead. The decision to bring in Alan Embree led to a single to tie the game and ultimately to an extra inning loss. So instead of the series heading back to Boston with the Red Sox tied in the series 1-1, they go back with down in a bad hole 2-0.

Granted, Kim, as he is prone to do, inexplicably hit a batter and then walked the next batter. What matchup would you rather have: Kim, you're closer with two outs or journeyman, Alan Embree, with his 4.55 ERA? Kim is erratic, especially with left-handed batters. But I would have rather taken my chances with him than Embree.

In either case, whether you make Embree the goat, the manager or Kim, the Red Sox lost a major opportunity to set the tone for the series. Instead, they need a miracle. And it's really too bad as the Red Sox are the feel good team of the year and really had a shot at beating this team. Well...miracles have happened before.


It seemed early in the second game of the Yankees/Twins series that the Yankees were playing extremely tight. The faces of Nick Johnson and Aaron Boone. But leave it to Alfonso Soriano, who doesn't have a tight bone in his body to put the Yankees on top for good with a big hit. Several weird happenings later, the Yankees were up 4-1 and went on to tie the series one game a piece.

Clearly, the post game experience of Andy Pettitte came through tonight as he had a tremendous game and Mariano Rivera looked like the post-season Rivera of old and was unhittable. The win was huge for the Yankees to stay in the series. But the now travel to the dangerous baggy dome for two games and the Yankees must win one game there thanks to their opening loss to the Twins Tuesday night.

Clemens finished the season very strong and will go for another post-season win at the dome. The Twins play with a lot of confidence there and have a great chance to take the series if they get two good pitching performances.


For the record, the Fan is not a favor of the opening playoff series being only five games. Five games gives a great team like the Red Sox only one game to play with when they are down two games to none. A longer series allows more time for each team to show their true character, their strengths and weaknesses. A five game series means that one team can win on a fluke.

There is much to be said for a short series if it stays close and goes back and forth. That is the case for three out of the four series. It is the series when one team takes the first two that makes it nearly impossible to for the team that is down to get anything accomplished. A team like the Oakland A's, with three former Cy Young award winners are not going to lose three games in a row.

I still don't believe that either the Twins or the Yankees can beat the A's. Only Boston had the kind of team to do it. But miracles don't happen that often.

It's amazing how many times good managers over-manage in tight games. The Fan has pointed out several times during the season when Joe Torre cost the Yankees a game with poor choices. Tonight was Dusty Baker's turn to lose the game for the Cubs who had a solid opportunity to put the Braves on the ropes.

Baker's first mistake was to bring in one of his least effective relievers (Veres) into a tie game. Veres got old man, Julio Franco to ground out and then got to 0-2 on Castillo. Veres did not trust his stuff and went from 0-2 to walking Castillo. That brought Smoltz up and he was able to get the sacrifice bunt down with two strikes. Here is where Baker made his second mistake.

Rafael Furcal was the batter and Baker decided to walk Furcal to get to Mark DeRosa. Why would you put an extra runner on base in a tie game? I can see it if Sheffield was up, but not Furcal. After making the mistake of pitching Veres in the first place, Baker elected to walk Furcal instead of the obvious move of bringing in a lefty to pitch to Furcal.

Sure, Furcal is a switch hitter, but he is much less effective batting right handed. Pitch to Furcal and you have a good chance of getting him out with Remlinger. And then unbelievably, Baker left Veres in the game to pitch to DeRosa. DeRosa is not a good hitter and you are better off bringing in someone with good stuff and not the junk of Veres which gives a poor hitter plenty of time to get the hit. Of course, he got the hit and the game is over.

If you can get out of that inning still tied, then Smoltz is only going to pitch one more inning and then you can get into the soft side of the Atlanta bullpen. Bad managing loses ball games.

And how many times do you see a walk lead to a run. Hey, if you are beat by a strike, tip your cap. But if you are beat by not even having a chance to get the guy out, bend over, because it's going to kick you in the cabuckus.


But how about those Marlins! They were down in their game 4-1 and facing a 2-0 series deficit against the previous National League champs. But the Marlins came back and pulled away for a 9-5 victory.

Now the series goes back to Florida with Redmon pitching and it's the Giants who are in trouble. Jack McKean is a brilliant game manager. I've watched him all year and he manages a game better than anyone in baseball.


The Red Sox have a 1-0 lead early against Oakland. Pedro is pitching for the Red Sox. Game over? Could be.

It's amazing how much more tension is involved in a playoff game. The Fan has watched thousands of baseball games over the course of forty years, but there is something about a playoff game that makes the stomach tight and breathing shallow. Right now the Braves are threatening with the bases loaded and the Cubs up 4-1. Oops...make that 4-2 as the Braves scored on a ground out where the umpire blew the call at first base, costing the Cubs a run.

Now there is no surprise there. Bruce Froeming, umpiring behind home plate, has called at least 15 pitches off the plate by inches as strikes. It's so disheartening that we can't even get good umpiring in the playoffs.

It's been a tense day as this is the third playoff game today. The Giants won a nail-biter against the Marlins who couldn't get close to a run against the Giants' ace.

Earlier, the Twins beat the Yankees 3-1 as the Yankees couldn't score off of three Twins pitchers.

It's going to be a wild ride, baseball fans. So hold on to your seats.

Ack! Bases loaded for the Braves again. Looks like they will probably pull it out. We'll know in a minute...

The regular season just ended and that usually means a rash of managers get fired. The first two casualties happened today. The Chicago White Sox and the Baltimore Orioles fired their managers. The Fan expected one of those decisions but not the other.

There was an obvious flaw in the makeup of the Chicago White Sox. Their sub-standard play early and the way the team tanked at the end showed a fundamental lack of character. Ultimately, Jerry Manual was the fall guy for that lack of character. It's difficult to say if that blame is placed in the correct pigeon hole. The manager is ultimately responsible for the outcome and the White Sox had some of the best talent in the league and couldn't get it done.

The question remains if anyone could have motivated that team and unless the makeup of the team is changed, the same problems may exist next year as well. The easy finger to point is toward Frank Thomas. David Wells caught a lot of flack two years ago when he pointed fingers at Thomas when it was later determined that Thomas had a serious injury.

Let's concede that Wells opens his mouth far too often. But the man has been on championship teams. Wells might have picked the wrong time to point fingers at Thomas, but his overall assessment may have been correct too. And what Wells said has been rumored before. There is no way to definitively say that Thomas is the problem in Chicago, but he may be one. He is certainly not the only one.

Bertolo Colon has the best stuff of any starting pitcher in the American League. Yet he only 15-13 this year with an ERA of 3.87. While I cringe at pointing this out, the pitcher is definitely overweight and seems to be able to turn it on or off at will. Colon has Roger Clemens stuff but not Clemens' heart.

Any regular reader here will already know the Fan's opinion of Carl Everett so we won't bother to tread that water again, but what is the true story behind Roberto Alomar? For nine out of ten years between 1992 and 2001, Alomar batted over .300. He batted .266 for the Mets last year and started at .262 this year for the Mets and finished at .253 for the White Sox.

But his batting isn't the only story. Playing second base, Alomar always had over 425 assists a year. Last year he had 349 and this year, 342 so he clearly isn't getting to as many balls. Has Alomar's skills eroded that much at 35 years of age, or has the fire gone out of his baseball heart?

These facts indicate that whomever succeeds Manual will inherit the same kinds of problems that Manual faced himself. Good luck!


What is more surprising is the firing of Mike Hargrove. The manager who was known as the "human rain delay" when he was a player seemed a good fit in Baltimore. The Orioles were at rock bottom when Hargrove started and the entire organization needed to be rebuilt. That is happening now but how can you blame the results of a bad organization on the manager who had to endure the results?

And what is sad is that the Orioles seemed to make strides this year. Usually when a manager gets the axe, his coaching staff will too and the batting methods instituted in Baltimore have made great strides. It's a shame that those strides may be sacrificed in what is probably a cost cutting move.

I agree with Hargrove when he said today: "There's no doubt in my mind the job we did this year was a good job,'' Hargrove said. "I think we were able to lay a foundation of winning players with winning attitudes.'' http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-orioles-hargrovefired&prov=ap&type=lgns

The Orioles finished tenth in the majors in batting and eighth in base hits. If Mora and Surhoff hadn't been hurt and Conine traded, this would have continued to be a pesky and difficult team to play. Hargrove did a good job with this club.


So who will replace these managers? Cito Gaston should be considered for one of the positions. How could a man who won back to back World Series still be unemployed?


The Red Sox match up better against the Oakland A's than any team in the American League because their strong right-hand batters offset the A's lefty starters. Every other team has strong lefty batters that can be negated by the A's big lefties. The Red Sox have a good shot at beating Oakland whose team batting is still very suspect. Red Sox take the series 3-1. Nomar Garciaparra wins MVP.

I don't see the Yankees losing to the Twins. The Yankees have always hit Radke well and I'll take Messina, Clemens and Pettitte against the Twins starting three. The Yankees play small ball as well as the Twins so the crazy turf won't be as much an advantage as it would have been against the White Sox. The Yankees in a sweep 3-0. Mariano Rivera wins MVP.

The Florida Marlins have a decent shot at defeating the Giants. The Giants do not have much hitting besides Bonds and the Marlins have the arms to shut the Giants down in a short series. I pick the Marlins in an upset 3-2. Miguel Cabrera wins MVP.

It's too bad the Cubs drew the Braves in the first series. Of all the teams in the NL playoffs, the Cubs probably match up worse than the others against the Braves. However, if the Cubs fireballers can get and stay hot, they can carry the series, but that's a big if. The Braves' pitching isn't what it once was, but they should still win the series, 3 games to 1. Giles will be the MVP.

Let us share a quiet moment as we put to rest one of the most exciting regular seasons in MLB history. We had great pennant races. We had record breaking performances. We had milestones reached. And we had it all available to us on television, internet and highlight shows. It was a great ride but it's not over yet. Now we look forward to what hopefully will be memory-making post season games that eventually lead to the big show itself. It's been fun MLB. Thanks for a labor free season. Now find a home for the Expos and give us umpiring befitting professional baseball and we'll be good.

The Fan wants to take a final look at his favorite boxscore players and what kind of seasons they put together:
- Nick Johnson. Johnson is the most important cog in the Yankee lineup. The Yankees were hot early, cooled off when he was injured, and then revived when he returned. He ended the season 0 for 13 and finished the season at his lowest season average of .284. But that isn't the story. The story is his 70 walks in only 95 games to give him an OBP of .422. Because of that, he scored sixty runs in those 95 games. When you have someone who can get on base like that from the second spot in the lineup, it makes all the other hitters better. His 14 homers and 47 RBI helped too.

- Rocco Baldelli. Baldelli finished the season with a .308 average his last seven games. His final season average of .289 was remarkably consistent. He had 185 hits of which 51 were for extra bases. Baldelli scored 89 runs and drove in 78. He also had 27 stolen bases. Baldelli will only get better as he learns to hit for more power and to be more selective at the plate. If he can improve on his paltry 30 walks, he will be as superstar. I rate him third in rookie of the year standings behind Matsui and Teixeira.

- Coco Crisp. Coco wilted at the end of the year as he went hitless in seven of his last ten games. But his first year in the majors showed enough promise to see what will happen. Crisp managed 414 at bats in just 98 games and batted .264. He scored 55 runs while only making one error in the outfield all season. It will be interesting to see where Crisp fits in the Indians' plans next year. You have to love the name.

- Hank Blalock. Blalock also faded at the end but still ended his second season (first as a starter) with a solid .300 average. His OBP was .350 and his slugging percentage was .522. All good numbers. Blalock had 65 extra base hits including 29 homers and drove in 90 runs. Blalock is going to be a star for a long time. He needs to cut down on his strikeouts and find a permanent slot in the lineup. I love his manager, but the man makes too many lineup changes.

- Mark Teixeira. Teixeira finished strong and in many ways, found more favorable lineup spots at the end of the season than Blalock. The Fan's Rookie of the Year finished with 26 homers and 84 RBI. He only batted .259 but his OBP was .331. This is going to be a star for years to come.

- Michael Young. The Texas Rangers' leadoff batter had a very good year. With 204 hits and 106 runs scored to go along with his 56 extra base hits and 72 RBI, Young really arrived as a player. He also had a great year in the field, making only 10 errors. Young will also be a superstar if he gets more patient at the plate and improves his 36 walks in 700 plate appearances. He can be a batting champion if he can do so.

The previous three boxscore players will form a great nucleus for the Rangers along with A-Rod and I believe this team will be a contender. My only question is why you would let Rafael Palmeiro go? He got his homers and drove in over 100 runs again. Why would you let him walk? Okay, let's continue:

- Miguel Cabrera. The twenty year old had a big impact in his first major league season as 36 of his 84 hits were for extra bases. His 62 RBI in 86 games were huge for the Marlins in their playoff run. He also had a great first year in the field as he made only three errors in left field, a foreign position for him and only one error in 32 games at third base. This kid is going to be a big star.

- Jose Reyes. Reyes unfortunately got hurt in his debut season, but the other twenty year old in the majors finished with a .307 average with 13 stolen bases. Reyes scored 47 runs in his 69 games and drove in 32. His fielding was acceptable and this is another future star.

- Pat Burrell. Oh well. Burrell never did put it together although his last twenty games were passable. At least he ended above the dreaded Mendoza Line. His final average of .209 is embarrassing. He did walk quite a bit and at least his OBP was over .300. The other positive is that 56 of his 109 hits were for extra bases. Hopefully Bowa will be fired and Burrell can get a coach that can figure out how to put him back on the star track he was on last year.

- Scott Podsednik. Podsednik became a late season favorite and became only the fourth rookie in MLB history to hit .300 (.314), steal 40 bases (43) and score a hundred runs (100 even). He also had a very respectable .379 OBP as a leadoff batter. This is another future star who has already arrived. My man, Dontrelle Willis and even Brandon Webb had great seasons, but Podsednik has to be the Rookie of the Year.

- Sean Burroughs. Burroughs had a solid, if unspectacular second season. He batted .286 with a .352 OBP. He has to improve his pop as his percentage of hits to extra base hits is not impressive. But you just get the feeling that he will get better and better.

They were fun to watch and there were many others like Sosa, Jeter, Sexson, Bonds, and many, many others who make following the boxscores such a joy. It was a great season and this post-season will be terrific too. The Fan's post-season analysis will be featured in tomorrow's post. See you then.

It was as good a day in MLB as a day can get in the regular season. Of course, Astros fans will disagree and who can blame them. But the Cubs won the pennant and Roger Clemens pitched his last regular season game and won his 310th game of his historic career. There is one more day in the regular season, but everything is settled now so let's reflect on the Cubs and Roger Clemens.

Let's start with the Cubs. The Cubs lost a lot of ballgames last year. If they didn't lose a hundred, they came close to it. And this year, they were in a dead heat with the Astros with three games to play. But the Cubs couldn't play the first of those three because of a rain out (boy, weren't the Cub fans happy about that!). If you have followed baseball as long as I have, you would know how hard it is to win two games of a double-header. But that's just what the Cubs did.

The Astros didn't have their best pitchers available for the games that were on the line (that's hard to figure) and lost two games to the pesky Brewers and it's over. The Cubs win the pennant. Somewhere, Harry Carey and Leo Durocher are smiling.

Sammy Sosa hit his fortieth homer in the second game. That gives both him and A-Rod six straight forty homer seasons. Of course, Sammy's included three years in the sixties! Sosa has played fourteen years now and has 1450 RBI. The 103 per season would be impressive enough, but Sammy has packed that into ten years as he wasn't a starter in four of his first five seasons. Consider Sosa's run of RBI from 1998 to 2001: 158, 141, 138 and 160. And now he's off to the playoffs. Good luck Cubs!


Roger Clemens pitched his last regular season game today and pitched six strong innings with only a run given up. The win gave the 41 year old 17 for the season (!) and 310 as his final career tally. The reaction he got from Yankee Stadium upon leaving the game was very touching and in a class act, Mike Hargrove and the entire Orioles bench were standing and clapping too.

I have tried in the past to put Clemens' career in perspective and here are some more numbers that may help. In MLB, a quality start is considered six or more innings and three or less runs. Clemens CAREER was a quality start as he averaged 7.01 innings per game and three runs a game.

Roger Clemens pitched thirteen seasons with more than 200 innings. Only eight of those seasons featured Clemens giving up more than 200 hits. In 18 years, Clemens never gave up more than a hundred earned runs in a season. In 18 seasons, Clemens only needed to intentionally walk 52 batters. Think about that one for a while.

Roger Clemens struck out more than three times as many batters as he walked in his career. And he averaged 8.6 strikeouts per nine innings lifetime. He had fifteen seasons where his winning percentage was over .600 and five where it was over .700 (two over .800!).

Roger Clemens was one of the best pitchers of all time. He isn't quite done yet. He has to win some playoff games before he quits.


Javy Lopez, the catcher for the Braves set a new Major League record for homers by a catcher when he hit is forty-second of the year today. He broke the record set by Randy Hundley. Forty-two homers for a catcher is unbelievable. What a great season.


Here are the Fan's post-season awards for the 2003 season:
- AL Cy Young - easy. Roy Halliday. Estaban Loiza had a terrific year, but he lost four in a row down the stretch when the White Sox needed the wins for the pennant drive. Andy Pettitte had a nice year but his ERA is too high for the award.

- NL Cy Young - also easy. Eric Gagne. I don't like the award to go to relief pitchers, but the man has been totally amazing.

- AL MVP - I have to go with David Ortiz. A-Rod and Delgado were the players of the year, but Ortiz win a lot of big games for the Red Sox and I can't see them where they are without him.

- NL MVP - Javy Lopez. His game calling and bat made a so-so Braves team special.

- AL Rookie of the Year - Mark Teixeira. Teixeira started slow but had a great second half with a lot of homers and RBI.

- NL Rookie of the Year - Mark Podsednik. The Brewers leadoff man stole the award from others (Webb, Willis).

- AL Manager of the Year - Everyone will say Tony Pena. But the Royals didn't get there. The Twins did and Rod Gardenshire gets my vote.

- NL Manager of the Year - Jack McKean. The Marlins were flipping in shallow water until McKean came along and finally got that "potential" word off of the young pitchers heads.

Before we get to the important stuff, the Fan has to get something off his chest. I have watched a ton of games this year and even more highlights. The lack of basic fundamentals in MLB is alarming. The players are the most talented, strongest, best conditioned athletes in the games history. Just don't ask one of them to bunt.

The latest manifestation of the degradation (two long words in one sentence!) of fundamentals (three) occurred in the second game of a Yankee double-header. I know that the Yankees have already clinched the division, but there is still the matter of home field advantage for having the best record. Here is what happened:

After winning the first game by a wide margin, giving Andy Pettitte his twenty-first win, the Yankees were in a nail-biter in the second game. Rookie pitcher, Jorge De Paula pitched no-hit ball for the first six innings of his first major league start. A single in the seventh off De Paula's glove cost him the no-hitter in the seventh. The suddenly lost Jeff Nelson then cost him the win with shoddy relief. The Yankees found themselves tied 2-2 as they batted in the bottom of the ninth.

Bernie Williams began the inning with a double. Rookie, Fernando Seguignol, then hit a little dribbler that couldn't be handled and it was first and second with no outs. All Karim Garcia had to do was move the runners to second and third and a fly ball would win the game. Garcia got the bunt sign and looked so foolish on his first two attempts that he had to swing away and did so for strike three. The Yankees were done in the inning and would lose the game in the tenth.

How can a twenty-eight year old Garcia grow up playing baseball his whole life and not know how to bunt? Phil Rizzuto had it right when he said there is to a bunt is to catch the ball with your bat. It's not a difficult thing to do. After all, every pitcher in the National League can do it. Heck, I can do it. But Garcia is not alone in the inability to lay the ball down.

And bunting isn't the only example of poor fundamentals. The Astros tonight had a golden opportunity to put pressure on the rained out Cubs. Instead they had a starting pitcher who couldn't throw strikes (only seven of his eighteen pitches were strikes) and the Astros made four errors and lost the game. Four errors!!

How many highlights to you see where outfielders are vaulting themselves in the air to throw the ball home in an attempt to prevent the run from scoring. That is terrible fundamentals. Where is Dwight Evans when we need him? To make a good throw from the outfield, you get behind the ball, take a step to plant and rifle the ball overhand on a low line drive. But instead, the current MLB outfielders end up on their bellies throwing up the lines or over everyone's head. Ugh!

How many players do you see rounding third to go home so wide that they are in danger of falling into the dugout? The Red Sox lost a big game the other day because their starting pitcher didn't cover first in time.

Obviously, MLB needs to start buying the instructional video you see on TV all the time about learning the fundamentals to the game. Perhaps with the emphasis on so many sports in youth, it is difficult to teach the fundamentals. Perhaps most youngsters see the long ball and focus on offense without learning the things we learned as kids on how to play the game.

But baseball isn't the only sport where sloppiness is rampant. Travel is a regular occurrence in the NBA as is palming. The fact that it's never called indicates just how rampant it is. And the NFL is no better. It seems that every play incurs a penalty. All this clumsy play is the reason why someone like Derek Jeter is extolled for his great fundamental base running and play. Twenty years ago, what Jeter does was the norm, not the exception.

I guess will talk tomorrow about the playoffs and the year Richie Sexson is having, or Bonds being two behind Mays or how the Phillies quit the season and how it showed tonight against the Braves. The flagrant rant of this Fan went longer than expected.

Oh no! The Fan had all his ducks in a row. The Red Sox won the wildcard. The Marlins swept the Phillies (a team I also love, but I can't stand Larry Bowa and he should be fired). The Yankees clinched. All the Fan needed was the Cubs. But they lost 9-6 to a team they had shut out two games in a row AND despite two homers by Sammy Sosa.

And of course the dratted Astros won (there is a lot of heart on that team) to force the NL Central Division into a tie with three games left. The loss gives the Fan a sinking feeling. The Cubs aren't going to make it. There will be no Cubs/Red Sox World Series. I'm a glass-half-empty kind of guy and I bet a lot of Cubs fans are too.


And to top even the playoff chase, Carlos Delgado hit four homeruns tonight in four consecutive at bats. The four homers in a game has only been accomplished fifteen times in the entire history of MLB. The feat is as rare as a pitching perfect game. Delgado now has 41 homers and (staggeringly enough) 141 RBI.


Congratulations to the Marlins and Red Sox for coming through when they were supposed to.

The Marlins! The Florida MARLINS! What an exciting development to see this young team--that has played all year to empty stands--come to the wire and, by force of will, take on the Phillies with the wildcard on the line and take two out of two. The Marlins are now three games up with four games to play. The MARLINS!

I discovered south Florida seven years ago and have returned for a couple of weeks every summer since then. That first year (1996), I went to a Marlins game with a friend. It was the first time that I had seen a MLB game in a park other than Yankee Stadium or Fenway. I remember the ballpark being cozy and friendly. The parking lot was very accessible right off the highway.

I kept score that day and taught a new friend how to do so as well. The Marlins were a decent team in the middle of the pack in their division with a .500 record. The team was a diversion for the locals as the area's hockey team made a run to the Stanley Cup that year and of course, the Dolphins were number one. After the day was over, the Marlins had another fan: After all, the game was on my birthday.

The Marlins beat the Cubs that day and the hero was a man named Jeff Conine, who hit the game winning homer. After asking around down there, I found out that Conine was a local hero who did a lot for the community and was loved by all. I became his fan as well.

Seven years later, the same Conine, after a side trip to Baltimore (where he was a good player), has killed the Phillies with great defense and timely homers. The Marlins...the last team anyone expected...are a game closer to the playoffs.


The only close race is the Cubs/Astros for the NL Central pennant. Both teams won today in impressive fashion. The Astros' Billy Wagner smoked a 100 MPH fastball past Barry Bonds to clinch the game. The Cubs got a big performance from Shawn Estes who enjoyed the Cubs six-run third inning to cruise to a victory. All the Cubs have to do is keep winning and their one game lead will hold up. I still dream of a Cubs/Red Sox World Series with one of those two teams having to break their eighty year droughts.

Sammy Sosa hit his 37th homer and knocked in his 98th run which are both amazing numbers considering where he was at the start of July. Sammy also got beaned tonight for the second time this season. Scary!

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.

The Florida Marlins and Boston Red Sox did what they had to do tonight. They both won their must win games tonight. The Marlins beat the Braves 6-3 behind Mark Redman. The Red Sox beat the Orioles behind a strong performance by Jeff Suppon. The Red Sox are in full control of the AL Wildcard Race while the Marlins head to their big series with the Phillies with a positive frame of mind after splitting their four game series with the Braves.

Mark Redman should be a serious candidate as the Marlins most valuable player. He has won big games all year including three wins over the Braves, three over the Phillies and two over Arizona. Add a win against the Expos, and Redman has won nine of his thirteen wins against the Marlins' direct competitors.

Derrek Lee and Miguel Cabrera had the big hits tonight as Lee drove in four and Cabrera, two. Cabrera now has 59 RBI in only 80 games. Double that amount in a full season and Cabrera would have 42 doubles, 24 homers and 114 RBI!

Jeff Suppon pitched six innings tonight and only gave up one run. He has gotten better and better with each Boston start and seems to be settling in now that he has exorcised his early Red Sox career memories.

Manny Ramirez, Todd Walker and David Ortiz were the Sox hitting stars. Walker seems to be back from a terrible slump and is hitting well lately. Ortiz should get MVP consideration as his 28 homers and 96 RBI in just 428 at bats. There is no way the Red Sox would be where they are without him.


How good must it have been for the Cubs tonight as they watched what was going on during their day off. The Astros just lost to the Giants and the Dodgers are losing big to San Diego. The Cubs are now a half a game behind the Astros without having to do anything but watch.

The Fan has been on record of not being a member of the Greg Maddux Fan Club. I have never liked him as he has always seemed like an arrogant SOB. But...I really am a fan of Roger Clemens...who is an arrogant SOB. I have scoffed and scorned when Maddux has given the home plate umpire an evil eye or worse. But...I have seen Clemens do the same thing. But like Clemens, Maddux is at the top of the heap of pitchers of this generation and possibly for all generations.

Compare the string of wins for the two pitchers:

Maddux - 18, 19, 15, 15, 20, 20, 16, 19, 15, 19, 18, 19, 19, 17, 16 and 15
Clemens - 24, 20, 18, 17, 21, 18, 18, 11, 9, 10, 10, 21, 20, 14, 13, 20, 13 and 16

Clemens has had more spectacular years while Maddux has been more consistent. Maddux didn't have to reinvent himself as many times as Clemens has since Maddux wasn't a power pitcher. Clemens put the ball in the zone and relied on his arm to win the battle. Maddux out-thought his opponents and lived on the corners.

Another big difference in their approach has been that Clemens is an emotional pitcher. His emotions fueled his will and sometimes got him into trouble. But it's always easier to identify with the emotional than it is to the tactical, stoic way Maddux has always gone about his business.

No, the Fan has never liked Greg Maddux, but he's been a helluva pitcher--one of the two best I've ever seen.

A week ago, several races in MLB were too close to call. Like political coverage, this news station reserved calling the "election" until all the precincts were closed. A week later, several of those races are all but decided and only two real races remain: The NL Wildcard and the NL Central Division. And the Cubs are in the thick of both of those races.

Remember Spahn and Sain and then pray for rain? With the Cubs it's: "Wood and Prior and then pray with the friar." When Prior and Wood pitch, there is a good chance the Cubs will do something positive in the race. When Zambrano pitches, there are good times and bad. When Clement pitches, there are too many bad for what is a great talent and arm.

But even with this mixture, the Cubs have inched closer to the leaders in both the wildcard and division. As the Phillies and Marlins spin around and lose big games, the Cubs have climbed up to a game within the Astros (who will not give in and win and win) and a game and a half behind in the wildcard.

The other races are all but over. The White Sox stunning and sudden collapse along with the Twins inspired play has insured the Twins a division title and will be a scary team for any playoff contender to play. The White Sox collapse has been so sudden that it is morbid. The game is over for them this season.

With six games to play, the valiant but out powered Mariners will not overtake the Red Sox as the wildcard team. Between Joel Pineiro's sudden struggles and Ichiro down to mortal earth, the Mariners will be out of the playoffs as the wildcard is out of reach and so is the division.

The Yankees kept it close for a while, but now will not let Boston even come close. I have to find the schedule for the playoffs depending on who the final teams are. The only known is that the Yankees can't play the Red Sox in the opening round of the playoffs. Who they play will depend on some final tie breaker type things.


And finally, three of MLB's best pitchers were on the mound tonight. Greg Maddux pitched only five innings, giving up only one hit, but that five inning stint earned him his fifteenth win. That is sixteen consecutive seasons that Maddux has done that, passing a record long held by Cy Young.

Pedro Martinez handcuffed the Indians for seven innings in a clutch performance that all but buries the Mariners. Martinez is now 14-4 for the year and has looked very strong in his last two outings and is setting up nicely for the playoff run.

And once again, hat's off Roger Clemens as he won his 309th game. Can he get to 310? Time will tell.

The Florida Marlins came back strong tonight after last nights drubbing at the hand of wildcard rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies. There was a log of commentary after last night's game on how that was such a devastating loss for the Marlins. The truth seems much different.

A come from behind win in the bottom of the ninth is a much harder pill to swallow than a blowout drubbing. After all, blowouts are common and it was one of those nights. Any player can forget those kinds of games. The bigger struggle was not the loss, but the wildcard lead shrinking from a game and a half to a game.

The Marlins answered that concern in a big way and in a way that they have answered every challenge so far this season. The team that turned around as soon as Jack McKean became the manager, came back and beat the Phillies 11-4. The game wasn't as much of a blowout as it seemed.

Early in the game, both starting pitchers were shaky and the game was close. The difference was the relief pitching. Mike Redman gave up four runs in five innings but was good enough to keep the Marlins in the game. Chad Fox, who was run out of Boston, pitched two critical scoreless innings. Urbina, another Red Sox castoff, pitched a scoreless inning and then the Marlins scored four in the top of the ninth to break the game open. Neal Bump finished up, giving the Marlins four scoreless innings of relief.

Fox was the focal point of the Red Sox experiment with a bullpen by committee. After several bad blown saves and cascades of boos, the Red Sox reworked their entire bullpen. Fox landed in South Florida and has pitched in fourteen games for the Marlins and has a 2-0 record with 21 strikeouts in 17 plus innings. His ERA with Florida is 2.55 and his base runners per inning is a very good 1.17. With the Red Sox, that figure was 2.00.

Urbina has been spectacular with two wins against no losses. He also has two saves and his ERA with Florida is 1.15! Put Urbina together with Fox and you have two pitchers who are performing better than any Boston reliever.

The Marlins are a wonderful story. But so are the Cubs. The Cubs lost 95 games last year. After a big performance by Mark Prior last night, Kerry Wood had his own dominating performance. If the Rockies hold on to their 5-3 lead against the Astros, the Cubs could be only down a half a game.

On the other end is the Kansas City Royals. The Royals lost to the Indians, 9-1. With that loss, it's time to count the Royals out. If the two teams ahead of the Royals finish the last twelve games at 6-6, the Royals would have to win 10 of their last 12 just to tie. The Royals were a great story all year. But they ran out of steam and the fat lady is getting ready to sing.

What a great season!

Twelve games left. Twelve games to decide two division champions and two wildcard teams. As the most exciting season in recent baseball history winds down, we are no closer to knowing what is going to happen than we were a month ago.

The Cubs are starting to come on and have a great schedule down the stretch. Prior was amazing tonight. The only trouble is that the Astros are playing just as well and won big against the Rockies. Down a game and a half, the Cubs finish with the Mets, Pirates and Reds--all teams they should beat.

The Astros have one more series at St. Louis, a series with the Giants and finish the series with Milwaukee. That schedule seems to favor the Cubs. But if things stay as they are, the best team in the division (the Cubs) might not win the division.

Meanwhile, the Phillies and Marlins have a big series with the wildcard on the line. The Marlins had a game and a half lead but were blown up by the Phillies today, 14-4. The Marlins and Phillies play each other six times between now and the end and each team has to play a series against Atlanta.

That kind of schedule for the two teams means that the Dodgers still have a chance though they play the Diamondbacks and Giants in the stretch. They are losing so far tonight to those Diamondbacks and may not gain any ground.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox beat off a scrappy Devil Rays team as they barely held on to win, 3-2. Pedro went all the way for the win. The question remains if Pedro has to work this hard down the stretch, will he have anything left for the playoffs?

The Mariners are fading at a bad time and it's hard to believe that Ichiro is only batting .309. His average has gone down for the third straight year and his OBP is thirty-eight points behind last year. A telling statistic is that he has batted over six hundred times and only has 33 walks. There is much speculation as to whether he wears down over a MLB season that is much longer than the Japanese leagues.

The Twins have the best record in baseball since the AllStar break and the White Sox are right behind them. The Twins won their head to head battle tonight and leaped frogged to the top of the division. The Royals started winning again to stay three and a half back but it is unrealistic for them to catch not just one top team, but two.

And finally, you know the Fan has to finish this post by giving it up to Roger Clemens as he won his fifteenth game tonight. The win was the 308th of his career. The Yankees are peaking at the right time which seems to coincide with the re-emergence of Soriano at the top of the lineup.

For the first time in quite a while, most of the contenders are not playing in series against other contenders. And with that the case, all of them have won tonight or are winning...except one.

The Red Sox had a big game offensively (no surprise there) and a terrific pitching performance by Derek Lowe to go two and a half games up on the Seattle Mariners for the wildcard as the Mariners lost to the Texas Rangers. The Red Sox now have four players over ninety RBI and are closing in on the all time extra base hit record.

The Rangers featured a homer by Rafael Palmeiro (his 35th to go with 105 RBI) and a homer, double and four RBI from rookie, Mark Teixera. Francisco Cordero came in for the Rangers in the ninth and struck out the side (now THAT'S impressive) for his fourteen save.

Despite the good performance by Texas, these are games the Mariners have to win. Two and a half games out with only thirteen to play is a tough way to go.

The Cubs and Cardinals both won tonight to pick up a half a game each on the idle Astros. Of course, at five games out, with thirteen to play, the Cardinals have to face the fact that they are out of it.

Kansas City and Minnesota both picked up a half game on the White Sox, who were idle tonight. The Twins put up an eight spot in their game tonight to come from behind to win that game. Good relief pitching then took over as (the Ancient), Orosco, Rincon and Pulido kept the Twins in the game so that they could come back.

The Yankees clobbered the falling Orioles 13-1 as the Yankees got a four for five performance from Soriano including two homers. If this is a sign that Soriano is going to break out of his funk, then the sign is loud and clear.

The Yankees also had some milestones as Hideki Matsui reached 100 RBI tonight as did Jason Giambi. Posada had several RBI tonight to bring his RBI total to 95.

Thirteen games left...

On a day where the Cubs lost to fall two behind the Astros (Ugh!) and the Red Sox lost to the White Sox (Ugh!). And also on the same day, the Marlins lose a game of their National League wildcard lead (Ugh!), the Fan needs a night off.

Before I go, I have to take one more opportunity to stress how badly the MLB umpires are acting in this baseball season. As far as I can see, they are out of control. Today was just one more example as Barry Bonds, the World's best baseball player, and the reason forty-thousand fans turned out and paid thirty dollars a ticket, got thrown out of the game in the first inning without uttering one swear word.

If the man who just tied Babe Ruth in career walks doesn't know the strike zone, who does? If the same man questions the umpire about that same strike zone without swearing or showing the umpire up, then there is no reason to ever get thrown out of the game.

The umpires are out of control and I've seen at least five games in the last two weeks where contending teams lost one of their best players to an over-zealous, out of control umpire. The situation is ridiculous and baseball is suffering the consequences.

After today's games, two things are very clear. First, the Yankees are going to sweep Tampa Bay in a double header and will win the AL East. Secondly, the Cardinals are not going to make the playoffs in what is a huge upset in the NL Central.

The combination of the Yankees' two wins today along with the Red Sox loss to the White Sox puts the Yankees up by five and a half and seven games in the loss column with only fourteen games to play. Unlike many of the playoff contenders this week, the Yankees beat the poor teams and are finishing the season with what is now an eight game winning streak.

The Yankees starters have pitched well as David ("Big Mouth") Wells and Mussina have looked good recently. The Yankee bullpen is also starting to click. Gabe White has been terrific and Heredia has been a big lift from the left side. The bullpen only needs Nelson to get straightened out and they will be a tough unit again.

The Fan is still hoping the Red Sox can edge into the wildcard and even with tonight's loss, they should remain a game and a half up.

The Cardinals never could overcome pitching injuries and depth problems. It's hard to comprehend a LaRussa team that contains players like Renteria, Pujols, Edmonds and Drew could be out scored and outplayed so often. Woody Williams pitched his heart out all year but ran out of gas at the end. Matt Morris pitched well early and then late but had a bad stretch and then injury in the middle. The relief pitching never gelled and it looks like either the Cubs or Astros will end up the division winner.

And it's hard to tell which of the Astros and Cubs will end up on top. Both are playing well now when it counts. Dusty Baker knows how to win and has the managerial nod. But the Astros have the better bullpen which offsets the Cubs starters. The Cubs have the easier schedule. It will be interesting. The Fan can't help but to root for the Cubbies.

All three teams in the AL Central race won tonight. So that one is too close to call. And three and a half games out is not enough to count the Royals out. The Royals do have to win every game the rest of the season.

And in the most wondrous story of all, the Florida Marlins had their biggest crowd of the year on hand tonight as Dontrelle Willis won his thirteenth game (against six losses) against the Braves. Combine their second straight win over the Braves with a Phillies loss to the Pirates, and the Marlins now have a two and a half advantage in the wildcard race with two games to play.

Miguel Cabrera went three for four with four RBI in the game. Willis pitched six strong innings and the Marlins...Inexplicably...have won twelve of their last fourteen games and are pushing the envelope on this race.

This has been the most exciting season the Fan has witnessed in forty plus years of my love affair with the game.

The Fan was going to sound the gong on the Kansas City Royals for the 2003 season after their shutout loss to the Tigers tonight. But then the Twins and White Sox lost too. The Royals remain three and a half back in the division with sixteen games to play. Not impossible odds, but the odds are lengthening. It sure was fun while it lasted.

Speaking of fun, how about the two runs scored by the Marlins in the eighth to tie the Braves and then the game winning double in the ninth to take the win. That's the kind of win that will fire up the team and propel them from here. With the Phillies' loss, the Marlins are now a game up in the wildcard race and two games up in the loss column.

The Marlins are an amazing story. Here is a team that lost Mike Lowell and kept on scrapping and winning. Tonight, the Marlins lost Brad Penny in the first inning to an elbow injury. Penny is a big part of their rotation and success. Losing him had to be a blow. But the team still rallied from behind and won the game. Rick Helling, Chad Fox, Urbina and Looper pitched the last eight and a third innings and only gave up a run.

If the Marlins hold on to win the wildcard, Jack McKean will look like the biggest genius who ever managed the game. They were a .500 team when he took over and they are sixteen over .500 since. Amazing.

In other playoff hopeful games: The Cubs almost blew a big lead, but came back to win. The Red Sox beat Chicago's AL edition. Seattle and Oakland are both winning. And Houston is blowing out the sinking Cardinals.


And now for the Fan's favorite boxscore players and how they fared their last seven games:
-- Nick Johnson. Johnson batted .292 for the last week to keep his average just above .300, but that isn't the real story. Johnson also walked seven times and saw his season OBP rise to .443. His ability to get on base is critical to the Yankees' success and his eight runs scored last week indicate his importance.
-- Melvin Mora. Mora has struggled since his return from a hand injury. His season average is now down to .318.
-- Rocco Baldelli. Rocco had a tough week as he went three for eighteen (.167) to bring his season average down to .295. He did have three RBI and walked five times (the most in his short career). With the walks, Baldelli's season OBP is .331.
-- Coco Crisp. Crisp sure seems to be streaky! Last week he was great. This week he only had four hits in 23 at bats.
-- Hank Blalock. Blalock had a tough week also and only batted .192 for the week with a triple a homer, no RBI and three runs scored.
-- Mark Teixeira. Many of my favorite boxscore players had a tough week after a great week. Teixeira went 3 for 25 (.120) for the week with no extra base hits.
-- Miguel Cabrera. The Marlins young rookie continues to hold his own. Cabrera had six hits last week and five of them were doubles. He had five RBI and now has 49 RBI in just 71 games.
-- Pat Burrell. Burrell had a good week and is all the way up to .214 for the year.
-- Scott Podsednik. The Brewers leadoff hitter had an outstanding week as he went 10 for 29 (.345) and scored seven runs. His leadoff statistics (.317 BA, .383 OBP, 89 runs scored) rival anyone in either league.
-- Sean Burroughs. Jeff's son continues his steady season. He batted .292 for the week with an OBP of .393 and scored four runs. He's doing well in his new leadoff role.

Nothing changed today in the NL Central as the Cubs, Cardinals and Astros all lost. The Cubs' Mark Prior had a rare poor outing (for him) and fell to 15-6 for the year. The Cubs loss keeps them one game back of the Astros with the Cardinals a game and a half further back. Sixteen days to go and the race is still on!

The Marlins had the night off but the Phillies are trudging on playing the Braves. Pitching tonight for the Braves was Greg Maddux who, after a dreadful start to his season, had improved his record to 14-10 and his ERA to under four.

But the Phillies pounced all over him for seven earned runs on twelve hits in just three plus innings. The Phillies remain on top 8-2 in the eighth inning.

Both Roy Halliday and Esteban Loaiza went for their twentieth wins tonight. Halliday was successful as he and the Blue Jays beat the Devil Rays, 3-1. Esteban pitched well but was out-pitched by Brad Radke as the Twins not only denied Loaiza his twentieth win but knocked the White Sox back to a tie in the AL Central.

Halliday is still my pick for the AL Cy Young. While Loiaza is 19-7 with a lower ERA than Halliday, keep in mind that Halliday pitches all his home games on fake turf. That fact alone wins the Cy Young award to Halliday.

Radke pitched his one brilliant game of the year. He always has one brilliant game to remind you of the false impression that he is one of the best talents in baseball. The truth is that like Kerry Wood, he's a lifetime .500 pitcher. The Fan always hears about Radke and Wood's tools, but talent alone doesn't win the game.

And finally, my man, Roger Clemens won his fourteenth game tonight against the Tigers. At 14-9, Clemens won his 307th game and guaranteed himself his eighteenth winning season with only two losing seasons. We have less than a month to watch a legend.

In the midst of one of the best playoff races in the history of baseball, a small story caught the Fan's eye. According to the story, a pitcher with a six year career, but who had fallen on hard times in recent years, fought his way back to the major leagues after not pitching since last year. That's a nice story so far.

What happened next is an unfortunate turn to this human interest story. Jose Paniagua, once a big part of the Mariner's playoff bullpen in the late 90's, came in to his first (new) playoff hopeful team game for the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox were leading 8-2 at the time. It would have been a sad end to the story if this was about the one third of an inning Paniagua pitched.

In that third of an inning, Paniagua walked one and gave up three hits to account for four runs. If that would have been the end of the story, Paniagua would have been a footnote under the heading of "Congratulations for Trying - Now Go Home With Your 108.00 ERA." But that wasn't the end of the story.

After all Paniagua's work to get back and all the repetitions and the bus rides in the minor leagues to get back to this point, all was lost as Paniagua inexplicably lost his composure and blamed the home plate umpire's pitch calling for his troubles. A diatribe and a body language that involves one digit on one hand followed and most likely, Paniagua may never be heard from in the major leagues again.

The White Sox released him today after rightly condemning his actions as not indicative of the White Sox organization and "inexcusable," according to White Sox GM, Ken Williams.

On the surface, and in a knee jerk reaction, most of us fans would applaud such swift action and our comments would be something like: "It's about time someone in baseball had the balls to put these prima donnas in their place." And again, that sentiment would not be wrong. There is an awful lot of disgraceful behavior in baseball and it's time to clean some of it up.

But there is a secondary reaction that wonders how much this smacks of double standards. The Chicago White Sox also have another player named Carl Everett who has made that same gesture to fans on at least two occasions in his career. Despite that history, the White Sox specifically traded for Everett to help them in the pennant race.

Would Paniagua's unraveling be punished the same way if he had been pitching all year in relief and had a 2.70 ERA? It's hard to know because it hasn't happened. But the double standard already found by trading for, and relying heavily on Carl Everett. That indicates that the punishment and its results would be different if Paniagua's history had been different.

And the more dangerous question would be whether or not the same punishment would be meted out if Paniagua was not Hispanic. If you think of the strongest moral condemnations in recent MLB history, at least after the John Rocker extravaganza, all involve Hispanic players. Juan Gonzales, Manny Ramirez and Jose Paniagua. Is that a coincidence?

Think about the controversy caused by Alex Rodriguez when he questioned his future as a Texas Ranger. You would have thought that someone had been caught with a voodoo doll of the pope. The man was just concerned and as a sensitive man, wondered out loud what was going to happen in his future. Don't we all do that?

I would be very surprised if Jose Paniagua ever pitches in the major leagues again. That's a shame and that's a double standard. The Fan does not condone what Paniagua did. But come on folks, ballplayers have done worse in a major league uniform and continue to play to this day.

And you know what? With the state of umpiring in Major League Baseball, as observed on numerous posts here this summer, Paniagua probably had a good beef.

The recent trend in the major league pennant and wildcard races continued tonight. The Diamondbacks, Royals, Cardinals, Expos and Twins continue to fade while the Cubs, Dodgers, Phillies, Marlins and White Sox surge. Ten days ago, there were seven teams within a game and a half of the NL wildcard leaders. Today there are two tied for the lead and only three more within two and a half games.

It's a shame that only one team in the NL will get the wildcard nod. The Phillies and Marlins, especially, have fought hard all season and have been right there. The Dodgers could sneak in there at the end and that would be a hard swallow for both of these two hard fighting teams.

If the Dodgers get to the playoffs, it will be their pitching, of course, that gets them there. The Fan is just astounded at the season Eric Gagne is having. Look at these ridiculous stats:

72 innings pitched, 33 hits!!, 12 runs (11 earned), 2 homers, 17 walks, 125 strikeouts (that's fifteen point six strikeouts per nine innings). 1.36 ERA, 0.69 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning) and National League batters are batting .134 against him. As Stewart Scott would say: "That's sick."

The Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins started a pivotal series tonight in Chicago. Both teams started the night with identical records of 76 wins and 66 losses. The Twins had won eight of ten to climb back up to the top after struggling in third place most of the season. The White Sox had won six of ten and have played very well since the AllStar break.

Besides having the home field, the White Sox also had Bartolo Colon on the mound. Granted, Colon hasn't been dominant this year and came into the game with an ERA over 4.00 and a .500 record (12-12). Looking at Colon's career, he really hasn't been as consistently dominant as his reputation. Consider that in Colon's career, opposition hitters have batted .253 off of him. That sounds fairly good until you consider Tim Wakefield has the same lifetime batting average against.

Compare that Colon stat to Pedro Martinez who has a lifetime batting average against of .206. Now THAT'S consistently dominating. Derek Lowe has a lower lifetime batting average against. Kevin Brown and Mike Mussina both have better lifetime batting average against stats. And yet, Colon is considered the horse...one of the best pitchers in baseball.

The statistics don't lie. He hasn't been consistently dominating and only seems to be dominating when he turns it on for a night. Fortunately for the White Sox, tonight was one of those nights. He did give up ten hits in his nine inning complete game performance and four of those hits were for extra bases. Anyway, the bottom line is that the White Sox go up a game on the Twins and three and a half over the Royals.


The hot Phillies faced a big test as they started a big series against division leading Atlanta. The Phillies started former Brave, Kevin Millwood (who has a better lifetime batting average against than Colon). Millwood had already lost twice to his former team this year and tonight added loss number three.

The loss combined with a Marlins' win over the Mets, knots the wildcard again between the two teams. Josh Beckett threw six shutout innings to gain the wind. Beckett looked like a bust by this spring training but the high draft pick has gone his second consecutive game without giving up an earned run.


And finally tonight, the Red Sox needed to keep pace with the Yankees who won a make up game today against the Blue Jays. The Red Sox were leading 8-5 against the pesky Orioles who put up two four-spots in the seventh and eight to take the game. The last four runs given up were all unearned as the Red Sox got loosy goosy and threw the ball all over the diamond.

The final score of the Red Sox/Orioles game was 13-10. The Yankees lead is back up to three and a half games as the Red Sox have undone a lot they accomplished last weekend.

The Chicago Cubs are back in first place in the NL Central. Their fifth straight win and seventh of their last eight games, combined with an Astros loss leap frogs the Cubs back up on top. Sammy Sosa hit another homer and had two RBI. Aramis Ramirez now has 90 RBI and the "Sausage Man" (courtesy of Baseball Tonight ), Randall Simon had two homers and five RBI.

The Cubs made some great acquisitions to help on this stretch run and they are really paying off. Dusty Baker knows how to keep them in the game and big arms like Prior, Wood (who won today) and Zambrano keep them in most games. Borowski has been great as a closer. There are a couple of dozen games to go, but the Cubs are in excellent position to win the division.


This has been one of the hardest seasons to predict as teams alternate between swoon and swagger. The Marlins and Phillies both had stretches where they lost nine of ten to let the pack catch up to them in the wildcard race. The Marlins and Phillies both then reel off eight wins out of ten. The Marlins are getting great pitching and have great spirit and refuse to concede to the hot Phillies who now seem to all be on the same page.

What was great for the Marlins today was to see Dontrelle Willis pitch a great game to get his 12th win. The critics were quick to point out how he faded a bit after the AllStar Break, but the man is 12-6 as a rookie and that translates to a great season. The jury is still out though as to whether the Marlins can stay in there without Mike Lowell. Conine was a big boost though despite a slow start.


David Wells proved he wasn't done today with a saving performance for the staggering Yankees. The Red Sox had totally blown the Yankees away for two games and one more win would be a statement and bring the Sox to within a half game of the lead. A two game swing occurred as the Yankees pulled out today's game to finish the series two and a half games up.

The Yankees are trying to hold on despite a series of injuries to key players. Giambi hasn't been the same since getting hit by a pitch on his hand. Soriano is banged up the same way from the Pedro Martinez hit by pitch. Jeter has been banged up all year and Bernie Williams has a bad knee.

Mariano Rivera seems to be back on track and his last two saves against Boston have featured retiring Nomar Garciaparra in men-on-base situations. Rivera's 33 saves despite missing the first third of the season is a testament to his ability and the amount of close games the Yankees play.

Boston is still a very, very scary team!

The Boston Red Sox have turned things up a notch and pummeled the Yankees for the second straight day. Their fifth win in a row brought the Red Sox to just a game and a half behind the stumbling Yankees. The win combined with another loss for the Mariners pushes the Red Sox a game and a half ahead in the wildcard race.

Clearly, the Red Sox are on a mission. And you have to wonder how much that close door meeting with all the players and staff had to do with the current streak. The Red Sox were stumbling. Manny Ramirez wasn't playing and that led to the meeting where reportedly, the players all got to voice their feelings. Ever since that meeting, the Red Sox haven't lost and their potent offense seemed rekindled. The Yankees, especially with Jeter out, are going to have a tough time to keep the Red Sox behind them.

The Cubs also seem on a mission as Sammy Sosa and his team have won six of their last seven including four in a row. Prior won his fifteenth today despite not having his best stuff and still won. That's the sign of an ace. And Sosa now has 34 homers and 92 RBI. Not bad for a guy who missed a third of the season.

The Phillies also look rejuvenate and have won five in a row. Pat Burrell is starting to hit. Lieberthal is batting for a high average. Thome is hot. The pitching is coming around (word has it the pitchers are finally on the same page as their pitching coach) and bench players like former Yankee, Rickey Ledee, contribute every time they play. The Phillies are now a game up on the Marlins (who won big today) in the wildcard race.

The Dodgers have won seven of their last ten and are only 2.5 back from the Phillies. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks have fallen on hard times and have lost seven of ten to fall to within two games of a .500 record. The Diamondbacks, Astros and Cardinals are all in danger of falling out of the race.

The Twins and White Sox are both hot and will go head to head down the stretch. Unfortunately for baseball, the Royals are sinking finally after fighting on top or near to it most of the year. Sad...

And finally tonight, my Cy Young Aware nominee, Roy Halliday, matched his career high with nineteen wins with a stunning ten inning 1-0 shutout. His extra inning shutout was the first of its kind since Jack Morris had his career moment in the 1991 World Series. Halliday didn't give up a hit until the eighth inning and only gave up three hits in ten. Loiza has been great, but Halliday is my Cy Young.

Every day is a battle now and every day features nail-biting action. The Mariners led Baltimore the entire game until the fighting young Orioles tied the game with two outs in the ninth off a closer who hadn't blown a save in the last fourteen attempts. The Orioles then loaded the bases in the tenth but didn't score. The battle continues.

The Cardinals, now fighting for their life led their game 2-1 for most of the game until Isringhausen blew the save in the ninth. The two teams are now battling into the eleventh inning.

The Red Sox combined good pitching by Pedro Martinez and timely hitting from seventeen game winner, Andy Pettitte, to beat the Yankees convincingly in New York. The Red Sox maintain their small lead in the wildcard and pull within two games of the Yankees.

The Phillies won a squeaker from the Mets, 1-0 as Vincente Padilla won his 12th game. New closer and world traveler, Rheal Cormier, recorded his first save in his first chance. The win, combined with a Marlins loss to the Expos, puts the Phillies back on top in the wildcard standings.

The White Sox and the Twins both won to stay tied at the top of the AL Central. The Royals are trying to stay only a game back and are beating the Angels 2-0 in the fifth. The Padres are leading Houston. The Rockies are leading the Dodgers. The Cubbies beat the Brewers with Sammy Sosa's homerun and his 89th and 90th RBI.

While I'm waiting for the finals scores to come down, let's look at the Fan's favorite boxscore players and how they performed for the last seven days:

The Struggling Mariners Core:
Ichiro - 2 for his last 27 (.074)!
Edgar Martinez - 3 for his last 19
Mike Cameron - 2 for his last 19

The Reds just scored two runs in the top of the 12th to take a 4-2 lead over the Cardinals. Instrumental in the rally was Wily Mo Pena, of all people.

The future great Rangers:
Hank Blalock. 10 for 21 (.476!) with 3 doubles, 2 homers and 6 runs scored
Mark Teixeira. 14 for 25 (.560!!) with 4 doubles, a triple and 3 homers to account for 9 RBI!
Michael Young. 5 for 25 (.200) with 3 doubles, a homer and 3 runs scored.
Laynce Nix. 4 for 13 (.308) with 2 homers and 7 RBI.

Others:
Karim Garcia. 6 for 14 (.429) with 3 RBI.
Nick Johnson. 9 for 22 (.406) with a .511 OBP and 6 RBI.
Melvin Mora. 4 for 11 (.364) with 2 runs scored. He can still win the batting race with enough AB's
Rocco Baldelli. (steady each week) 7 for 24 (.292) 2 RBI and 4 runs scored. BUT also, 8 K's
Coco Crisp. A crisp 13 for 30 (.433) with 4 runs scored, 2 RBI and 4 stolen bases.
Pat Burrell. A good week! 7 for 24 (.292) with 2 doubles, a homer and 5 RBI
Miguel Cabrera. 2 for 24 Ugh! (.083) with 10 strikeouts!
Bo Hart. 3 for 11 (.273) with 2 doubles and 2 runs scored.
Scott Podsednik. 8 for 24 (.333) with a double and 6 runs scored.
Sean Burroughs (now batting leadoff). 7 for 24 (.304) with a double and 4 runs scored.

Well, good new for Mariners' fans as they pulled out the win in 13 innings. Bad news for Cardinal fans as the Reds came on to win that game 4-2 in 12 innings. The Dodgers have come from behind to go ahead of the Rockies. The Royals are up 5-0 in the 8th and the Astros have come back to lead the Padres, 5-4.

Driving home from work today, the Fan saw a few maple trees have already started turning their colors. The Jets and Redskins started the NFL season tonight on ABC and I didn't wear shorts for the first time since early July. These sure signs that summer has waned and Fall is knocking on the door means the climax of the Major League Baseball season is building. And the signs there are strong for an amazing climax.

In the American League, the climax will settle which of the Yankees, Red Sox, A's, Mariners, White Sox, Royals or Twins will be among the final four teams standing.

The National League climax will discern which of the Cubs, Cardinals, Astros, Dodgers, Braves, Giants, Diamondbacks, Marlins or Phillies will make the final four. Two will be the Braves and Giants which leaves seven teams fighting for the other two spots.

But it doesn't end there. The Cy Young races are wide open as are the Rookie of the Year races. The AL batting race has no clear cut favorite. Thome and Bonds will go down to the wire for the homerun race.

And the National League batting race has gotten interesting. Pujols and Helton are only .009 points separated with Pujols still maintaining the lead. Surprisingly, the top AL hitter is batting .322. That is low and seems to be part of a trend. In the 2000 season, both Todd Helton and Nomar Garciaparra batted .372 to lead their respective leagues. That year there were five players who batted over .350.

A year later, in the 2001 season, there were only two batters at .350: Larry Walker and Ichiro Suzuki. Last year, only Barry Bonds batted over .350 for the season. Manny Ramirez won the AL batting title at .349.


In the middle of a pennant race, a star player should never get thrown out of the game except for totally unacceptable behavior. The umpiring in the Cubs/Cardinals series has been abominable and neither Moises Alou nor Sammy Sosa argued strenuously to deserve getting thrown out of the game. The umpires are out of control and have become the story in these tight series. Umpiring should NEVER be the story. They are far too combative and provoke as many arguments as they avoid.

The old Yankee Stadium had one unfortunate feature that was rectified by the renovation of the 70's. If you did not carefully look at your tickets and at the map of the stadium found on their yearbook, you could have found yourself behind this huge girder holding up the upper decks. If that was your fate, all you saw was a third of the field. And there was no scoreboard replays in those days.

Last night was a girder night with the Fan's blog site. I tried for hours to get here and could not. I apologize for not making it here if you happened to stop by. And it's been a couple of exciting nights in baseball.

Now that MLB has hit September, the games get more important and more contentious. The Cubs and Cardinals featured beanballs and two managers shouting at each other. In between was a terrific game which Moises Alou used as his catharsis from last night's latest umpire debacle. Last night, Alou and others got thrown out of an important game because another umpire missed an obvious call as replays clearly showed chalk flying on an extra base attempt by Alou called foul by the third base umpire.

Tonight, Alou blasted the umpiring in general (for which I add my vote) before the game and took out his frustration on the Cardinals with five hits, including the game winner. The performance and the game kept the Cubs in the race after almost being counted out.

One area of concern for the Cubs is the persistent .500 record for Kerry Wood. The man has lights out stuff and is nearly impossible to hit. Major League batters are only batting .207 for the season and he has struck out 228 batters in 182 innings. His problem, and the reason for his 3.56 ERA is the base on balls. Wood has walked three batters per start this year and if you follow the statistic I heard recently where 50% of all bases on balls score, that would account for half of Wood's ERA. If he could cut his walks from 4.4 walks per nine innings to 2.4, he would be unstoppable. Mark Prior has walked half as many batters as Wood in nearly as many innings.

The Red Sox also had an exciting game as they blew a one run lead in the eighth as Mike Timlin gave up another homer. But the Sox hung tough and threw another runner out at the plate to extend the game. In the tenth inning, David Ortiz, who is rapidly approaching MVP type credentials, hit his second homerun of the game to win it for the Red Sox.

The Red Sox victory over the White Sox allowed the Twins to tie them for the division lead as the Twins scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth on a terrible play at the plate that cost the Angels the game and Benji Molina a season as he broke his wrist on the play.

The Royals also won to climb to within a game of the two leaders. All three teams have 66 losses in that all important column. The Royals looked like they were going to fold but manager, Tony Pena, is not going to let them quit and they are going to hang around at least a while longer.

The Mets swept the Braves as they are another young team playing good baseball. The Mets, Rangers, Devil Rays, Pirates, Padres and Brewers are all playing good baseball and will not be easy wins down the stretch for the contenders.


And on a final note, the Orioles have been one of the best offensive teams in the game and though they traded Conine away, still should have had enough fire power to win their share of games. But their offense went silent for two weeks and they lost a ton of games along the way.

Tonight the Orioles broke out of it with a 9-0 win tonight over the high flying A's. Is it a coincidence that the O's found their offense as Melvin Mora got back in the lineup after a long injury? The Fan does not believe in coincidences and Mora was a big cog in that offense as he is having a breakout year.

Watch out for this team next year if they get a couple of pitchers and one more good bat. Jay Gibbons is blossoming into a star and already has 91 RBI this season. After a long darkness, the Orioles are another team on the rise.

There were four major MLB stories today...well...three and one is still going: The Red Sox scored six runs in the ninth to beat the Phillies. The Marlins took over first place in the wildcard race as newcomer/old friend, Jeff Conine, drove in a run. Barry Bonds came out of the hospital to beat the Diamondbacks. And still in progress: The struggling Cubs and ace, Mark Prior, are dominating the division leading Cardinals.

The Red Sox looked down and out after the Yankee series, an emotional series that featured the Yankees dashing the hopes of the Sox gaining ground on the AL East. And the Yankees did so with Roger Clemens stuck firmly in the franchise craw. New acquisition, Jeff Suppon, was on the mound and he had not helped the Red Sox very much since his arrival.

Suppon gave up six quick runs but stayed in the game and gave the Sox a chance to climb back to a one run deficit, 6-5. The Sox then score twice in the eighth to go up by a run but Mike Timlin gave that back in the bottom of the eight plus two more runs and the Sox were down to their last three outs trailing 9-7.

The Red Sox exploded off of the woeful Jose Mesa which started when Lou Merloni, the Mayor of Boston, beat out an infield single with the bases loaded to get the Sox within one. Trot Nixon finished the inning off with a grand slam off Turk Wendell (who has, despite a good year, given up an astounding number of game winning homers). Final score: 13-9.

The game meant two things. First, it meant that the Red Sox are not finished and have a lot of character and secondly, the game showed that the Phillies are not armed to win a playoff spot. Larry Bowa cannot find the combination in the bullpen to win games and that fact will sink this team.


The Cubs have been in the same danger as the Phillies of falling out of the race. The day started with the Cubs having fallen to two games behind the Cardinals and four games behind in the wildcard race. Their season record sunk in the process to only three games above .500. The game today against the Cardinals, and this series, really is pivotal for the team.

The Cubs sent Mark Prior to the mound (yes, this story is now finished too) and not only did Prior have his fifth straight amazing outing to up his record to 13-5 and have eight shutout innings lowered his ERA to 2.47, he also went two for three at the plate with a run scored and an RBI. It is clear that without Prior, the Cubs would be under .500 for the season.

As mentioned, Prior has had five terrific outings since he came back from the fluke accident suffered when running the bases. Since returning from that outing, Prior has pitched 39 innings while giving up only three runs (a 1.44 ERA). During that streak he has had two complete game victories with a phenomenal 35 to 4 strikeout to walk ratio.

Prior is now 19-11 in his young MLB career with 332 strikeouts in only 284 innings. He is clearly the best young pitcher in baseball.


Between Barry Bonds emotional roller coaster with his father's illness and death and the aftermath of that, Bonds has played four games in the last two weeks. He has hit the game winning hit in each of those games with three of them coming via the homerun. Today, his RBI single in the ninth inning off of Curt Schilling to win the game 2-0 added another page to the glorious story that is Barry Bonds. Much like the Red Sox fans yesterday with Clemens, the world has to give Bonds his due as the best there is and of his time.


And the last big story of the day has to be the Florida Marlins re-taking the wildcard lead in the National League. Remember that this is the team that lost nine of ten to allow the rest of the wildcard contenders to catch up. They broke the losing streak with two wins against a very hot Expos team but lost star third baseman, Mike Lowell to a broken hand.

In contrast to the Marlins story of the last few years, the front office responded and in a perfect and brilliant move, brought Florida's favorite son, Jeff Conine, back home. Conine was this franchise for a long time before he was traded off to Baltimore in a cost cutting move. Conine has long been a real pro and one of the best clutch batters. Only someone of Conine's stature and leadership could have replaced someone like Mike Lowell. It was the perfect move.

And that perfect move paid its first dividends today as Conine went one for three and drove in the first of the Marlins five runs as the Marlins finished a sweep of the Expos. The sweep at home, like the Red Sox, announced that the Marlins were not going down with a whimper and that you better play well because the Marlins are in this thing to win.

It was a bittersweet day for Red Sox fans as the arch rival, New York Yankees, defeated their team for the second straight day to take back a commanding five and a half game lead in the AL East division. Even worse, the A's and Mariners both won, thus hurting the wildcard race as well.

But they were defeated by Roger Clemens, making possibly his last appearance as a player in Fenway Park. It was one more chance to see the hero of the '86 Red Sox and the man who holds the Red Sox record for wins in their long franchise history. The game was the last opportunity to see this Hall of Famer who can still pitch as he gets ready to ride out into the sunset. And, as if something in the planets aligned, the win was Roger Clemens' 100th win at Fenway Park.

And so the Red Sox fans did what makes them great fans: When Clemens was pulled from the game in the seventh inning with an 8-2 lead (but with the bases loaded), the Red Sox crowd at Fenway and thousands more who were watching the game like I did, cheered too. Like him or hate him, Clemens has earned his spot in history with hard work and determination. And we were there to see it pay off.