The Minnesota Twins became the final team to be eliminated from postseason contention when they lost a one-game playoff to the Chicago White Sox, 1-0, in Chicago.

The Chicago White Sox won the AL Central and the final playoff spot with a 1-0 win at home against the Minnesota Twins.

Tonight, at 4:37 pm PT, weather permitting, the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox will play what should be the last regular season game of the 2008 season. Both teams finished 162 games with a record of 88-74.

This will be the 12th tiebreaker in the history of the majors.

• 1946 - The Dodgers and Cardinals were tied with two games left in the season. They both won on the last Saturday of the season and then both won on the final Sunday to force the first tiebreaker playoff. The Cardinals won 2 games to none.
• 1948 - Cleveland led both the Yankees and Red Sox by one game with two to play. On the final Saturday (October 2), the Red Sox beat the Yankees 5-1 to eliminated New York as Cleveland won. Boston forced a tie on the final Sunday with a 10-5 win over the Yankees and Cleveland lost to Detroit 7-1. Cleveland won the one game playoff at Fenway, 8-3.
• 1951 - Branca pitched to one batter in the 9th
• 1959 - In a weird and wild pennant race, the Dodgers and Braves both passed up the Giants in the final week. The Braves caught the Dodgers on the final Saturday (September 26), and both teams won on Sunday, with the Dodgers beating the Cubs 7-1 at Wrigley and the Braves beat the Phillies, 5-2 in Milwaukee. The Dodgers won the playoff in two games.
• 1962 - The Dodgers led the Giants by 1 1/2 games with two to play. The Dodgers lose both games (to the Cardinals) while the Giants won three games, including a doubleheader sweep, against Houston. Giants win the playoff in three games. Three very, very, very trying games.
• 1978 - HR: Dent (5,7th inning off Torrez 2 on 2 out);
• 1980 - The Dodgers come into the final weekend down three games to Houston with three to play against the Astros at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers win all three in dramatic fashion. And then lose the tiebreaker on Monday in incredibly undramatic fashion.
• 1995 - The Mariners lead the Angels by two games with two left and lose both to Texas while the Angels win two against Oakland. The tiebreaker is ... not exciting.
• 1998 - The Cubs and Giants are tied on the final day. The Cubs lose in Houston, 4-3, in 11 innings. The Giants blow a chance at a playoff spot when Robb Nen gives up a game-ending home run to Neifi Perez at Coors Field. The Rockies win 9-8. The next day, the Cubs survive a 3-run ninth by the Giants in a 5-3 victory.
• 1999 - On the final day, the Astros lead the Reds by one game in the Central. The Reds are tied with the Mets for the wild card. Houston beats the Dodgers 9-1 to win the Central. The Mets beat the Pirates 2-1 on a game-ending wild pitch by Brad Clontz. The Reds wait out a lengthy rain delay in Milwaukee to win 7-1. Al Leiter of the Mets throws a 2-hitter against the Reds at Cinergy Field in a 5-0 win.
• 2007 - The Rockies are in first place for only one day, April 6. They don't move into a tie for playoff position until the last day of the season, September 30, when they catch the Padres. The Rockies outlast the Padres, 9-8, in 13 innings at Coors Field. The Rockies use 10 pitchers in the game, with Ramon Ortiz getting the win, the only win he ever had as a Rockie.

The Chicago White Sox forced a single game tiebreaker with the Minnesota Twins Tuesday night (4:37 pm PT) to decide the AL Central championship. The White Sox beat the Tigers in a makeup of a rained out game, 8-2, to force the first tiebreaker playoff in the AL since the Mariners and Angels met in 1995. The winner of tomorrow's game will face Tampa Bay in the ALDS starting on Thursday. John Danks is scheduled to start for the White Sox and Nick Blackburn will start for Minnesota.

Neither team has ever played in a tiebreaker playoff and there have been only three in the history of the AL: 1948, when Cleveland beat Boston; 1978, when the Yankees beat Boston; and 1995, when Seattle beat the team that would be called Anaheim in two years.

The Brewers are in the playoffs and the NL field is set. All that is left to decide is the AL Central. And that may take two days.

The White Sox beat Cleveland today 5-1 and a few minutes later the Twins polished off Kansas City 6-0. The Twins lead the White Sox by 1/2 game. So, the White Sox have to play their game against the Tigers that was postponed back on September 13.

That game is scheduled to start at 11:05 am PT. Freddy Garcia (1-1, 4.50) will pitch for Detroit and Gavin Floyd (16-8, 3.91) will pitch for the White Sox on three days rest.

If the White Sox win the game, there will then be a tiebreaker game played Tuesday in Chicago. That game would start at 4:37 pm PT. The Twins would start Nick Blackburn in that game. The White Sox would probably start John Danks.

The last time a rained out game had to made up after the conclusion of the regular season was back in 1981 when the Royals had to go to Cleveland on October 5, 1981 to play a doubleheader. The twinbill was necessary to see if Oakland would win both halves of the split season. The Royals won the first game 9-0 to clinch the second half title before a crowd of 3006 at Municipal Stadium. The Royals were quickly dispactched by Oakland in the Division Series.

Also, Washington will pick first in the draft next spring after losing to Philadelphia today, 8-3. The Nationals finished with a record of 59-102.

The Brewers are the first team to make the playoffs in both the AL and NL. The only other team to make postseason play in two different leagues was the Brooklyn Dodgers (then called the Bridegrooms), which won the American Association in 1889 and lost a postseason series to the NL champion New York Giants, six games to three, and then won the National League in 1890 and tied the Louisville Colonels of the NL 3-3-1.

The National League playoff matchups will be Cubs-Dodgers and Phillies-Brewers.

The Hiroshima Carp played their final regular season home game at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium. The Carp won the game, 6-3 over the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, and remained tied with the Chunichi Dragons for the final playoff spot in the Central League.

Hiroshima plays its final seven games on the road, starting Monday with a single game against the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien. Then there will be three in Tokyo against the Swallows, a day off, and then three at Yokohama. Chunichi plays seven road games, one against Yakult in Tokyo and one against the Swallows in Yokohama. The Dragons also play two against the Yomiuri Giants at the Tokyo Dome and three against the BayStars in Yokohama.

Hiroshima Municipal Stadium opened in 1957 for regular season play and it was built across the street from the Peace Park marking the site where the world was introduced to atomic warfare back on August 6, 1945. The park's first baseball game was an exhibition between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Kansai All-Stars on November 1, 1956. There are pictures here and here.

 

I've visited the park twice and it was the first place I ever saw a baseball game in Japan. I wrote more about it during my 2003 trip to Japan. Hiroshima Municipal was a tiny stadium which measured just 91.4 meters down each line, a little under 300 feet, and it was about 380 feet to center. However, the stadium wasn't like Coors Field as there is a lot of foul territory and the ball didn't seem to carry well.

A new stadium for the Carp will open in 2009, near the city's main train station. The stadium is supposed to be asymmetrical, which would make it unique in Japan.

Here is a map showing the current stadium, if you go north from the stadium, you should reach the train station, where the new stadium will be.

Normally, I wait until all the games are done for the day, but all of the relevant games are done, so here goes.

The Phillies are now the NL East champions. There are two playoff spots left: the NL Wild Card and the AL Central.

Magic numbers don't matter now. You just need to win and hope and wait.

In the NL Wild Card, the Mets and Milwaukee are in a tie. A flat-flooted tie at 89-72.

Tomorrow, the Mets will send Oliver Perez (10-7, 4.25) to the hill against Scott Olsen (8-11, 4.23) in the Shea Stadium regular season finale. That game is scheduled to start at 10:10 am PT.

Over in Milwaukee, the Brewers will start CC Sabathia (10-2, 1.78 ERA with the Brewers, 16-10, 2.80 overall) against Angel Guzman of the Cubs (0-0, 7.04). Originally, Carlos Zambrano was penciled in to start this game on three days rest, but Zambrano felt he would be better served for the postseason by throwing a bullpen session. That game will start at 11:05 am PT.

If the Brewers and Mets can't decide things Sunday, there will be a playoff Monday between the two teams at Shea Stadium. And then that game could be the last regular season game at Shea.

In the AL, it is, slightly more complicated. The Twins lead the White Sox by a 1/2 game. The Twins have lost two straight at home to the Royals after sweeping the White Sox to take the lead. The White Sox have lost five straight games.

The White Sox are scheduled to start their game five minutes before the Twins (11:05 am PT and 11:10 am PT respectively).

At US Cellular Field, Brian Bullington (0-1, 5.59) will start for Cleveland in place of Cliff Lee who has a stiff neck. The White Sox will counter with Mark Buehrle (14-12, 3.87), who will be on three days rest after throwing 121 pitches in a loss to the Twins.

At the Metrodome, Brandon Duckworth (3-2, 5.06) will pitch for the Royals, who are 18-7 in September. The Twins will counter with Scott Baker (10-4, 3.59).

If the Twins win and the White Sox lose, the Twins win the AL Central. Any of the other three permutations of wins and losses (both teams lose or both teams win or the White Sox win and the Twins lose) occurring means that the White Sox would have to play their Game 162 on Monday afternoon against Detroit. Gavin Floyd is the tentative starter for the White Sox in that game and Detroit would start Freddy Garcia. Then if that game is played and the result forces a tie, there would be a one-game playoff for the AL Central on Tuesday in Chicago.

The Division Series will start on Wednesday with three games, one in the AL (Boston at Los Angeles) and two in the NL (Los Angeles or New York at Chicago and Milwaukee or Los Angeles at Philadelphia). The series between Tampa Bay and either Minnesota or Chicago will start Thursday. Here is the tentative schedule. Starting times have not been set.

The Race to #30

The standings:

	W	L	GB	PCT
Washington	59	101		.369
Seattle	60	100	1/2	.373

Washington sneaked back into the top or bottom spot in the race for the worst record. The Nats will finish tomorrow afternoon against a group of Phillies reserves most likely. The Mariners play at home against Oakland. It should be scintillating!

Sunday's action is scheduled to conclude with the second game of day/night doubleheader between the Yankees and Red Sox at Fenway. But the 2008 regular season isn't going down without a fight.

Houston said good bye to any chance at the playoffs. Tampa Bay finally sewed up the AL East. The Angels clinched home field in the playoffs for all three rounds if need be. The Phillies crept within a game of the playoffs. The Brewers looked like they might get into the playoffs after all. And the AL Central race may never end.

Here are the magical numbers:

Division Leaders

• Phillies (NL East) -  1 (Phillies win and Mets lose.)
• Twins (AL Central) - 3 (Twins and White Sox lose.)

Wild card leaders

•  Brewers - 2 (Brewers win and Mets lose.)

A Fitting Sendoff to Baseball's Worst Stadium?

The Mets will be eliminated from postseason contention with a loss at home to Florida and a win by Milwaukee at home against the Cubs.

There's No Place Like Home

The Angels have clinched homefield for all rounds of the playoffs. The Angels have opted to open the playoffs on Wednesday. The AL Central champ will play at Tampa Bay on Thursday. The tentative schedule can be found here.

In the NL, the Cubs will be at home for the NLDS and they would be the home team in the NLCS. The NL East champion (Phillies or Mets) will be the #2 team.

Game to be Played if Necessary

Detroit at White Sox on September 29.

The game will be played unless the Twins win two games and the White Sox lose one OR the White Sox lose two games and the Twins win one of their remaining two games.

The Race to #30

The standings:

	W	L	GB	PCT
Seattle	59	101		.369
Washington	59	100	1/2	.371

The Mariners will clinch the worst record with their next loss or a win by Washington.

Saturday's Games of Note

Florida (Nolasco) at New York (Santana), Washington (Lannan) at Philadelphia (Moyer), Chicago (Lilly) at Milwaukee (Sheets), Kansas City (Meche) at Minnesota (Perkins), Cleveland (Jackson) at Chicago (Vazquez)

Contenders Schedules

• Chicago White Sox (3) -  2 vs Cleveland, 1 vs Detroit if needed
• Minnesota (2) -   2 vs Kansas City
• Philadelphia (2) -   2 vs Washington
• New York (2) -   2 vs Florida
• Milwaukee (2) -    2 vs Chicago

Teams Frozen In Place

• The four AL West teams are frozen in place
• Cleveland (3rd in AL Central)
• The five AL East teams are all in place
• Florida (3rd in NL East)
• Atlanta (4th in NL East)
• Washington (5th in NL East)
• Chicago (1st in NL Central)
• Milwaukee (2nd in NL Central)
• Cincinnati (5th in NL Central)
• Pittsburgh (6th in NL Central)
• All five teams in the NL West will finish in their current positions

Tiebreakers?

If needed, Minnesota would play at Chicago for the AL Central on Tuesday. In the NL, if Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and New York finish with the same record, New York would play at Philadelphia to decide the NL East and the Brewers would play at the park of the losing team. Milwaukee would play at New York in case of a tie for the NL Wild Card.

Catcher's Interference Calls of 2008

Date	Batter	Catcher	Umpire	Batter's Team	Catcher's team
April 10	Lyle Overbay	Kurt Suzuki	Tom Hallion	Toronto	Oakland
May 11	Guillermo Quiroz	Miguel Olivo	Jim Joyce	Baltimore	Kansas City
May 12	Travis Hafner	Gregg Zaun	Mike Reilly	Cleveland	Toronto
May 24	Carl Crawford	Guillermo Quiroz	Ed Hickox	Tampa Bay	Baltimore
May 29	Claudio Vargas	Russell Martin	Bill Welke	New York Mets	Los Angeles Dodgers
June 9	Carl Crawford	Jeff Mathis	Eric Cooper	Tampa Bay	Los Angeles Angels
June 28	Milton Bradley	Chris Coste	Jerry Meals	Texas	Philadelphia
July 12	Lyle Overbay	Chad Moeller	Gary Cederstrom	Toronto	New York Yankees
August 1	Lyle Overbay	Gerald Laird	Angel Campos	Toronto	Texas
August 20	Ivan Ochoa	Paul Lo Duca	Jim Joyce	San Francisco	Florida
September 4	Jeff Francouer	Luke Montz	Bob Davidson	Atlanta	Washington
September 7	David Wright	Chris Coste	Jerry Meals	New York Mets	Philadelphia
September 9	Mark Saccomanno	Ronny Paulino	Bill Welke	Houston	Pittsburgh
September 16	Brian Buscher	Victor Martinez	Sam Holbrook	Minnesota	Cleveland
September 18	Jay Payton	Gregg Zaun	Bruce Dreckman	Baltimore	Toronto
September 26	Seth McClug	Koyie Hill	Gary Darling	Milwaukee	Chicago Cubs

Seth McClung became the second pitcher this season to reach base on a catcher's interference. And Koyie Hill's error led to a 3-run inning for the Brewers that broke open a tight game, which Milwaukee won 5-1.

I'd like to thank the three people who rang the alarm. They are too numerous to name. I will just call them this: fellow travelers.

The remaining teams left to be eliminated will come from the group of Philadelphia, the Mets, Milwaukee, the White Sox, or Minnesota.

Or in this case, Washington University of St. Louis Engineering Professor David A. Peters has studied the issue scientifically and come to the conclusion that the Pete Roses and Rickey Hendersons of the world get to where they are going faster than the Ty Cobbs of the world.

"It turns out your center of gravity is where the momentum is," Peters says. "This is found half way from the tips of your fingers to the tips of your toes. In the headfirst slide, the center of gravity is lower than halfway between your feet and hands, so your feet don't get there as fast. It's faster head-first."

For a long time — until roughly the Pete Rose era of the '60s and '70s — players shunned the headfirst slide to protect their hands and faces. Spikes, evoking the Ty Cobb days, were weapons on the diamond. In the past few decades, players who prefer the head-first slide have taken to running while holding onto their batter's gloves to prevent their hands from opening up and being exposed to injury. While the percentage of players who slide one way or the other is not actually known, Peters estimates it's about 50-50.

The Chicago White Sox have four games left to play with only three days left in the regular season. A rainout against the Tigers on September 13 was only going to be made up if it had a bearing on the playoffs.

And on September 26, the White Sox trail Minnesota by 1/2 game. So it has become increasingly likely that the game will be played. The Twins magic number is four, so even if the Twins sweep Kansas City in Minneapolis, the White Sox can force the Tigers to make one more trip to Chicago on Monday.

The White Sox have now scheduled that game to be played at 12:55 pm PT.

Chicago has a magic number of five and could in theory win the division without playing this game if they can sweep the Indians in Chicago or have the Twins stumble or some combination of the two.

The Dodgers joined the playoff party, just leaving three spots unfilled: the NL East, the NL Wild Card, and the AL Central. And it may not be until Tuesday until we find out who is in all those spots.

Here are the magical numbers:

Division Leaders

• Rays (AL East) - 1 (Rays lose and Red Sox win. Tampa Bay just needs to finish in a tie to win the AL East because of a 10-8 series edge over Boston. Tampa Bay can clinch division title with win at Detroit Friday or a loss by Boston) 
• Phillies (NL East) -  3 (Phillies idle and Mets win.)
• Twins (AL Central) - 4 (Twins beat White Sox to take over lead.)

Wild card leaders

• Mets, Brewers - 4 (Mets and Brewers win.)

Are you still here?

Houston will be eliminated Friday if they lose at home to Atlanta OR the Mets beat the Marlins at Shea OR the Brewers beat the Cubs in Milwaukee. In theory all the races could be decided by Saturday. They probably won't, but they could be.

There's No Place Like Home

The Angels will clinch home field advantage throughout the postseason with a combination of wins and losses by Tampa Bay that adds up to 1. Tampa Bay would get home field against the Angels in case the two finish with the same record. The team with the best record in the AL will get the option of picking which Division Series schedule to follow, one of which will start on October 1 and the other on October 2. The tentative schedule can be found here. The Angels are guaranteed to start the Division Series at home. The AL East champion (Rays or Red Sox) will be at home for the first round.

In the NL, the Cubs will be at home for the NLDS and they would be the home team in the NLCS. The NL East champion (Phillies or Mets) will be the #2 team.

Games to be Played if Necessary

Cubs at Houston, Detroit at White Sox, both on September 29.

The Cubs-Astros game will only be played if the Astros end up on Sunday 1/2 game either way of the wild card. Houston will need to win its next three games and the Mets and Brewers to BOTH lose three games in a row to make this possible. Then if the Astros beat the Cubs, there would be a three-way tie for the wild card. That wouldn't finish until Wednesday.

The White Sox would play their game if they end up on Sunday 1/2 game ahead or behind of Minnesota in the AL Central.

The Race to #30

The standings:

	W	L	GB	PCT
Seattle	58	101		.365
Washington	59	99	1 1/2	.373

The Mariners will clinch the worst record with their next loss or a win by Washington. The Mariners were aided by Washington having a game canceled Thursday night by rain. Seattle finishes with three games at home against Oakland, while Washington plays three games in Philadelphia. San Diego was knocked out of the competition with a win over the Dodgers.

Friday's Games of Note

Washington (Balester) at Philadelphia (Blanton), Florida (Volstad) at New York (Pelfrey), Chicago (Dempster) at Milwaukee (Suppan),  Atlanta (Campillo) at Houston (Moehler), New York (Aceves) at Boston (Matsuzaka), Tampa Bay (Sonnanstine) at Detroit (Verlander), Kansas City (Davies) at Minnesota (Liriano), Cleveland (Lewis) at Chicago (Danks)

Contenders Schedules

• Tampa Bay (3) -   3 at Detroit
• Boston (3) -  3 vs New York
• Chicago White Sox (4) -  3 vs Cleveland, 1 vs Detroit if needed
• Minnesota (3) -   3 vs Kansas City
• Philadelphia (3) -    3 vs Washington
• New York (3) -   3 vs Florida
• Milwaukee (3) -    3 vs Chicago
• Houston (4) - 3 vs Atlanta, 1 vs Chicago if needed

Teams Frozen In Place

• Los Angels Angels (1st in AL West)
• Seattle (4th in AL West)
• Cleveland (3rd in AL Central)
• Baltimore (5th in AL East)
• Florida (3rd in NL East)
• Atlanta (4th in NL East)
• Washington (5th in NL East)
• Chicago (1st in NL Central)
• Cincinnati (5th in NL Central)
• Pittsburgh (6th in NL Central)
• All five teams in the NL West will finish in their current positions

Tiebreakers?

If needed, Minnesota would play at Chicago for the AL Central. In the NL, the Phillies would host the Mets to decide the NL if the two teams finish with a record the same as or worse than Milwaukee. If Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and New York finish with the same record, New York would play at Philadelphia to decide the NL East and the Brewers would play at the park of the losing team.

Other ties: Milwaukee at Philadelphia, Milwaukee at Houston, Milwaukee at New York, New York at Houston. These would all be for the wild card.

How the Weather Will Be?

The Los Angeles Dodgers won their first NL West title since 2004 after the Arizona Diamondbacks lost to the Cardinals in St. Louis 12-3. The Dodgers will be the #3 seed in the NL and will open the playoffs in either Chicago, Philadelphia, or New York.

The Arizona Diamondbacks won't be defending their NL West crown as they became the 19th team to be eliminated from postseason contention after a 12-3 loss to the Cardinals in St. Louis. That was the DBacks 80th loss of the year and the first place Dodgers have 83 wins.

Nobody clinched and nobody was eliminated Wedneday night but two teams came to the brink of division titles, while the NL East, NL Wild Card, and AL Central all got very tight. And even Houston has a ray of hope.

Here are the magical numbers:

Division Leaders

• Rays (AL East) - 1 (Rays and Red Sox win. Tampa Bay just needs to finish in a tie to win the AL East because of a 10-8 series edge over Boston. Tampa Bay can clinch division title with win at Detroit Thursday or a loss by Boston)
• Dodgers (NL West) - 1 (Dodgers win and Diamondbacks lose.)
• Phillies (NL East) -  3 (Phillies and Mets lose.)
• White Sox (AL Central) - 5 (Twins beat White Sox to close gap to 1/2 game.)

Wild card leaders

• Mets - 5 (Mets lose and Brewers win to create tie)

Heading for home?

Houston will be eliminated Wednesday if they lose at home to Cincinnati AND the Mets beat the Cubs at Shea or the Brewers beat the Pirates in Milwaukee. Arizona will be eliminated with a loss at St. Louis Thursday afternoon or if the Dodgers beat San Diego in Los Angeles in the evening.

There's No Place Like Home

The Angels will clinch home field advantage throughout the postseason with a combination of wins and losses by Tampa Bay that adds up to 3. Tampa Bay would get home field against the Angels in case the two finish with the same record. The team with the best record in the AL will get the option of picking which Division Series schedule to follow, one of which will start on October 1 and the other on October 2. The tentative schedule can be found here. The Angels are guaranteed to start the Division Series at home. The AL East champion (Rays or Red Sox) will be at home for the first round.

In the NL, the Cubs will be at home for the NLDS and they would be the home team in the NLCS. The NL East champion (Phillies or Mets) will be the #2 team.

Games to be Played if Necessary

Cubs at Houston, Detroit at White Sox, both on September 29. The Cubs-Astros game will only be played if the Astros end up on Sunday 1/2 game either way of the wild card. Houston will need to win its next four games to make this possible. The White Sox would play their game if they end up on Sunday 1/2 game ahead or behind of Minnesota in the AL Central.

The Race to #30

The standings:

	W	L	GB	PCT
Seattle	58	100		.367
Washington	59	99	1	.373
San Diego	61	97	3	.386

Remaining games left:

• Washington (4) -   1 vs Florida, 3 at Philadelphia
• San Diego (4) -  1 at Los Angeles, 3 vs Pittsburgh
• Seattle (4) -    1 vs Los Angeles, 3 vs Oakland

Seattle lost their 100th game and lowered their reverse magic number to four. Any combination of Seattle losses and Washington wins that add up to four will guarantee the Mariners the worst record.

Thursday's Games of Note

Arizona (Davis) at St. Louis (Pineiro), Chicago (Harden) at New York (Martinez), Pittsburgh (Duke) at Milwaukee (Gallardo), San Diego (Peavy) at Los Angeles (Maddux), Tampa Bay (Kazmir) at Detroit (Gallaraga), Cleveland (Sowers) at Boston (Lester), Chicago (Floyd) at Minnesota (Slowey). Philadelphia is off.

Contenders Schedules

• Tampa Bay (4) -   4 at Detroit
• Boston (4) -  1 vs Cleveland, 3 vs New York
• Chicago White Sox (5) -  1 at Minnesota, 3 vs Cleveland, 1 vs Detroit if needed
• Minnesota (4) -  1 vs Chicago, 3 vs Kansas City
• Philadelphia (3) -    3 vs Washington
• New York (4) -   1 vs Chicago, 3 vs Florida
• Milwaukee (4) -   1 vs Pittsburgh, 3 vs Chicago
• Los Angeles (4) -   1 vs San Diego, 3 at San Francisco
• Arizona (4) -   1 at St. Louis, 3 vs Colorado

Teams Frozen In Place

• Los Angels Angels (1st in AL West)
• Seattle (4th in AL West)
• Cleveland (3rd in AL Central)
• Baltimore (5th in AL East)
• Florida (3rd in NL East)
• Atlanta (4th in NL East)
• Washington (5th in NL East)
• Chicago (1st in NL Central)
• Cincinnati (5th in NL Central)
• Pittsburgh (6th in NL Central)
• San Diego (5th in NL West)

Tiebreakers?

If needed, Minnesota would play at Chicago for the AL Central. In the NL, the Phillies would host the Mets to decide the NL if the two teams finish with a record the same as or worse than Milwaukee. If Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and New York finish with the same record, New York would play at Philadelphia to decide the NL East and the Brewers would play at the park of the losing team.

Other ties: Milwaukee at Philadelphia, Milwaukee at Houston, Milwaukee at New York, New York at Houston. These would all be for the wild card.

Mickey Vernon, who played 20 seasons in the major leagues from 1939 through 1960 (missing two seasons during World War II) and won two AL batting titles, passed away Wednesday in Media, Pennyslvania at the age of 90.

Vernon won the 1946 AL batting title with a .353 average, and again in 1953 with a .337 mark. Vernon edged out Al Rosen by .001, depriving the Cleveland slugger of a Triple Crown.

Vernon played 14 seasons (including a partial season) for Washington and later served as the expansion team version of the Senators manager for their first three seasons from 1961-63.

He played in 2409 games, but none of them in the postseason. The closest he came was in 1959 with the Milwaukee Braves, but that team lost a tiebreaker playoff series to the Dodgers.

Don't throw at Benny Agbayani. Actually, this fight in a game between the Seibu Lions and the Lotte Marines was likely no worse than anything that you would see in MLB. However, baseball fights are much rarer in Japan.

From the Kyodo News Service:

The Seibu Lions squandered an opportunity to clinch the Pacific League pennant for yet another day, crumbling to the Lotte Marines 9-1 Wednesday in a game marred by a judo-style fight and an ejection. Seibu's magic number to win the league title remained at one after its third straight home loss and the Orix Buffaloes' 4-1 win at the Softbank Hawks. The Lions, who hold a five-game edge over Orix, will now travel to Sapporo for a two-game series against the Nippon Ham Fighters from Friday.

Reliever Koji Mitsui struck out Tasuku Hashimoto on three pitches but then struck Julio Zuleta with his next offering to make it 5-0. Omatsu followed with a two-run single to chase Mitsui, who was replaced by Taiwanese right-hander Hsu Ming-chieh with Agbayani Hsu struck Agbayani with a belt-high inside pitch on a 1-1 count and seconds later the left fielder locked his right arm around the neck of Toru Hosokawa, who apparently tried to stop him rushing toward Hsu, and rolled the Seibu catcher down to the dirt.

After a brief brawl, Agbayani was ejected while Hosokawa left the game and received treatment for bruises. Seibu matched a Japanese baseball record for hitting three batters with pitches in an inning.

In other news from Japan, both Yomiuri and Hanshin have clinched playoff berths in the Central league and they have identical 78-53-2 records with 9 games left. Defending champion Chunichi leads Hiroshima by a 1/2 game (65-65-5 to 64-65-5).

In the Pacific League, only Seibu has clinched a spot and they have a magic number of one to clinch first place. Orix is in second at five games out and with 5 games to play has a 2 1/2 game lead on Nippon Ham and Lotte, who are tied for third.

From the AP story about Colorado's 9-4 win over San Francisco:

Rich Aurilia was originally charged with a two-run error on Tulowitzki’s grounder in the fourth. The official scorer changed the decision after consulting with Giants’ players following the game.

The Giants announced they were appealing the change.

At the time, the Giants didn't realize that Tim Lincecum would give up so many runs and finish the game behind Johan Santana in the NL ERA race (2.64 to 2.66).

The Tampa Bay Rays announced that the first two ALDS games at Tropicana Field (either Games 1 and 2 or possibly 3 and 4) have sold out.

Be prepared for lots of cow bell. Lots and lots of cow bell.

The Rays magic number to win the AL East is 2. If the Rays win the division, they will face either Chicago or Minnesota in the ALDS.

Noted on BTF.

Boston clinched a playoff spot Tuesday and the White Sox and Twins are the only teams in the AL still fighting for a spot. The Yankees, Cardinals, and Marlins all walked into the light.

The Rays edged closer to the AL East title and the NL East and Wild Card are shaping up to be entertaining races. The Twins will need to win the next two against the White Sox to make the AL Central truly entertaining.

Here are the magical numbers:

Division Leaders

• Rays (AL East) - 2 (Rays win twice and Red Sox win. Tampa Bay just needs to finish in a tie to win the AL East because of a 10-8 series edge over Boston.)
• Dodgers (NL West) - 3 (Dodgers win and Diamondbacks lose)
• Phillies (NL East) -  4 (Phillies lose and Mets win. The Phillies magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 3)
• White Sox (AL Central) - 5 (Twins beat White Sox)

Wild card leaders

• Mets - 5 (Mets win and Brewers don't play win)

The Last Waltz?

Houston will be eliminated if they lose at home to Cincinnati and the Mets beat the Cubs at Shea.

There's No Place Like Home

The Angels will clinch home field advantage throughout the postseason with a combination of wins and losses by Tampa Bay that adds up to 4. Tampa Bay would get home field against the Angels in case the two finish with the same record. The team with the best record in the AL will get the option of picking which Division Series schedule to follow, one of which will start on October 1 and the other on October 2. The tentative schedule can be found here. The Angels are guaranteed to start the Division Series at home. The AL East champion (Rays or Red Sox) will be at home for the first round.

In the NL, the Cubs will be at home for the NLDS and they would be the home team in the NLCS. The NL East champion (Phillies or Mets) will be the #2 team.

Games to be Played if Necessary

Cubs at Houston, Detroit at White Sox, both on September 29. The Cubs-Astros game will only be played if the Astros finish the season 1/2 game either way of the wild card. Houston will need to win its next five games to make this possible. The White Sox would play their game if they finish the season 1/2 game either way of Minnesota in the AL Central.

The Race to #30

The standings:

	W	L	GB	PCT
Seattle	58	99		.369
Washington	59	98	1	.376
San Diego	61	96	4	.389

Remaining games left:

• Washington (5) -   2 vs Florida, 3 at Philadelphia
• San Diego (5) -  2 at Los Angeles, 3 vs Pittsburgh
• Seattle (5) -    2 vs Los Angeles, 3 vs Oakland

The Mariners ended their 12-game losing streak Tuesday night, but the Nationals couldn't take advantage as they beat Florida. San Diego got back into the race with a loss in L.A.

Wednesday's Games of Note

Atlanta (Reyes) at Philadelphia (Myers), Chicago (Zambrano) at New York (Perez), Pittsburgh (Maholm) at Milwaukee (Sabathia), Arizona (Scherzer) at St. Louis (Wainwright), San Diego (Estes) at Los Angeles (Kershaw), Tampa Bay (Jackson) at Baltimore (Liz), Cleveland (Carmona) at Boston (Byrd), Chicago (Buehrle) at Minnesota (Blackburn)

Contenders Schedules

• Tampa Bay (5) -  1 at Baltimore, 4 at Detroit
• Boston (5) -  2 vs Cleveland, 3 vs New York
• Chicago White Sox (6) -  2 at Minnesota, 3 vs Cleveland, 1 vs Detroit if needed
• Minnesota (5) -  2 vs Chicago, 3 vs Kansas City
• Philadelphia (4) -   1 vs Atlanta, 3 vs Washington
• New York (5) -   2 vs Chicago, 3 vs Florida
• Milwaukee (5) -   2 vs Pittsburgh, 3 vs Chicago
• Los Angeles (5) -   2 vs San Diego, 3 at San Francisco
• Arizona (5) -   2 at St. Louis, 3 vs Colorado

Teams Frozen In Place

• Los Angels Angels (1st in AL West)
• Seattle (4th in AL West)
• Cleveland (3rd in AL Central)
• Baltimore (5th in AL East)
• Florida (3rd in NL East)
• Atlanta (4th in NL East)
• Washington (5th in NL East)
• Chicago (1st in NL Central)
• Cincinnati (5th in NL Central)
• Pittsburgh (6th in NL Central)
• San Diego (5th in NL West)

According to Joe Strauss' report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter may have a career-ending nerve condition.

A magnetic resonance imaging performed after Carpenter’s abortive August start found no structural damage in either Carpenter’s surgically repaired shoulder or elbow. Persistent weakness led team medical supervisor Dr. George Paletta last week to order an additional MRI of Carpenter’ neck. The imaging found damage to at least five nerves, according to a source familiar with the findings.

Carpenter has experienced tingling in the pinkie and ring finger on his right hand while also experiencing symptoms typically associated with carpal tunnel syndrome, according to a source.

At times, the 2005 NL Cy Young Award winner has been unable to fully extend all the fingers on his pitching hand.

Neurologists have concentrated their focus on the brachial plexus, a bundle or "superhighway" of nerves running from the spine to the neck and beneath the collarbone. The brachial plexus is responsible for firing most of the muscles in the upper arm.

The Florida Marlins became the 18th team eliminated from postseason contention after a 9-4 loss to Washington combined with the Mets 6-2 win over the Cubs earlier in the evening.

The St. Louis Cardinals became the 17th team to be eliminated from postseason contention after the Mets beat Chicago at home 6-2.

The Boston Red Sox will have a chance to defend their World Series title after clinching a playoff spot with a 5-4 win over Cleveland at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox have not won consecutive World Series since 1915-16 when they beat the Phillies and Dodgers respectively.

The New York Yankees will miss the postseason for the first time since 1994 after the Boston Red Sox eliminated them from the postseason with a 5-4 win over Cleveland.

The Yankees were the 16th team to be eliminated from postseason contention this year.

Oh Fred Merkle.

I feel for you.

Sadaharu Oh, who hit a record 868 home runs in a 22-year career in Japan, will step down as manager of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks at the end of the season, ending his association with pro baseball in Japan that started back in 1959.

Two years ago, Oh had his stomach removed in a cancer operation. Oh has had some complications from that operation this year and he feels that he no longer has the energy to continue as manager.

Oh started his pro career with the Yomiuri Giants back in 1959 and along with Shigeo Nagashima, he keyed the Giants unmatched run of nine consecutive Japan Series championships from 1965 through 1973.

As a manager, Oh led the Hawks to two Japan Series championships and he also managed Japan to victory in the first World Baseball Classic back in 2006.

Here is a clip of some of Oh's milestone home runs. The numbers in the upper right corner are the Japanese method of marking dates. The first number is the year of the emperor's reign, followed by the month and date. So year 1 = 1926 in this case.

The Red Sox failed to wrap up their playoff spot, so the Yankees stayed alive. And the Cardinals stayed alive because the other New York team kept stumbling.

Tuesday will be a full schedule. In fact, it will be, as they say in the airline industry, it will be "an extremely full" schedule since the Rays will be playing a doubleheader in Baltimore.

Here are the magical numbers:

Division Leaders

• Rays (AL East) - 4 (Rays win and Red Sox lose. Tampa Bay just needs to finish in a tie to win the AL East because of a 10-8 series edge over Boston.)
• Phillies (NL East) -  4 (Phillies win and Mets lose. The Phillies magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 3)
• Dodgers (NL West) - 5 (Dodgers idle and Diamondbacks win)
• White Sox (AL Central) - 5 (White Sox and Twins idle. They start three game series in Minneapolis Tuesday.)

Wild card leaders

• Red Sox - 1 (Red Sox lose and Yankees don't play)
• Mets - 6 (Mets lose and Brewers don't play)

Slouching toward Bethlehem?

The Yankees will be eliminated Tuesay if Boston wins at home against Cleveland or if the Yankees lose at Toronto. St. Louis will be eliminated if they lose at home to Arizona or the Mets beat the Cubs at Shea Stadium. Florida will be eliminated if they lose at Washington and the Mets win.

There's No Place Like Home

The Angels will clinch home field advantage throughout the postseason with a combination of wins and losses by Tampa Bay that adds up to 4. Tampa Bay would get home field against the Angels in case the two finish with the same record. The team with the best record in the AL will get the option of picking which Division Series schedule to follow, one of which will start on October 1 and the other on October 2. The tentative schedule can be found here. The Angels are guaranteed to start the Division Series at home.

In the NL, the Cubs will be at home for the NLDS and they would be the home team in the NLCS.

Games to be Played if Necessary

Cubs at Houston, Detroit at White Sox, both on September 29. The Cubs-Astros game will only be played if the Astros finish the season 1/2 game either way of the wild card. The White Sox would play their game if they finish the season 1/2 game either way of Minnesota in the AL Central.

The Race to #30

The standings:

	W	L	GB	PCT
Seattle	57	99		.365
Washington	58	98	1	.370
San Diego	61	95	4	.391

Remaining games left:

• Washington (6) -   3 vs Florida, 3 at Philadelphia
• San Diego (6) -  3 at Los Angeles, 3 vs Pittsburgh
• Seattle (6) -    3 vs Los Angeles, 3 vs Oakland

The NL teams were off, but the Mariners played and lost their 12th straight game. Washington has the toughest schedule. Seattle however has the advantage of being really bad.

Tuesday's Games of Note

Atlanta (Hampton) at Philadelphia (Hamels), Chicago (Marshall) at New York (Santana), Pittsburgh (Karstens) at Milwaukee (Bush), Arizona (Johnson) at St. Louis (Lohse), San Diego (LeBlanc) at Los Angeles (Billingsley), Tampa Bay (Shields, Talbot) at Baltimore (Olson, Simon), Cleveland (Lee) at Boston (Wakefield), New York (Mussina) at Toronto (Litsch), Chicago (Vazquez) at Minnesota (Baker)

Contenders Schedules

• Tampa Bay (7) -  3 at Baltimore (includes doubleheader Tuesday), 4 at Detroit
• Boston (6) -  3 vs Cleveland, 3 vs New York
• New York (6) -  3 at Toronto, 3 at Boston
• Chicago White Sox (7) -  3 at Minnesota, 3 vs Cleveland, 1 vs Detroit if needed
• Minnesota (6) -  3 vs Chicago, 3 vs Kansas City
• Philadelphia (5) -   2 vs Atlanta, 3 vs Washington
• New York (6) -   3 vs Chicago, 3 vs Florida
• Milwaukee (6) -   3 vs Pittsburgh, 3 vs Chicago
• Los Angeles (6) -   3 vs San Diego, 3 at San Francisco
• Arizona (6) -   3 at St. Louis, 3 vs Colorado

Teams Frozen In Place

• Los Angels Angels (1st in AL West)
• Seattle (4th in AL West)
• Baltimore (5th in AL East)
• Atlanta (4th in NL East)
• Washington (5th in NL East)
• Chicago (1st in NL Central)
• Cincinnati (5th in NL Central)
• Pittsburgh (6th in NL Central)
• San Diego (5th in NL West)

There will definitely be one game this year that won't be played.

The rained out game between Oakland and Baltimore from September 6 has been canceled.

The Orioles have already clinched the Baltimore/DC Metro Area championship and Oakland seems to be on its way to winning the Bay Area championship.

There will be prizes award to the teams, but executives from each team have to come to my place to pick them up.

Au revoir, Toronto. You gave it a go, but ultimately the Rays and Red Sox were too much for you. The Yankees win in the House That Ruth Built and The City of New York Subsequently Rebuilt's Valedictory kept the Red Sox from clinching a spot and the Yankees from becoming the sixteenth team eliminated.

Monday will be a limited schedule in the majors, but it will see a  (borrowing from Vin Scully) shirttail tucked in. The 1/2 game differences in the NL West will be eliminated when the Dodgers idle at home while second place Arizona travels to the Mound City to take on the Cardinals. The AL East shirttail gets tucked in on Tuesday when the Rays play a doubleheader. The NL East shirttail gets the tucking treatment when the Mets play the Cubs and the Phillies are off. The AL Central and NL Central shirttails will only be tucked in if necessary.

Here are the magical numbers:

Division Leaders

• Dodgers (NL West) - 5 (Dodgers lose and Diamondbacks win)
• White Sox (AL Central) - 5 (White Sox and Twins win)
• Rays (AL East) - 6 (Rays lose and Red Sox win. Tampa Bay just needs to finish in a tie to win the AL East because of a 10-8 series edge over Boston.)
• Phillies (NL East) -  6 (Phillies win and Mets lose)

Wild card leaders

• Red Sox - 1 (Red Sox win and Yankees win)
• Mets - 6 (Mets lose and Brewers win)

Getting ready to check out

The Yankees will be eliminated Monday if Boston wins at home against Cleveland. St. Louis will be eliminated if they lose at home to Arizona and the Mets beat the Cubs at Shea.

There's No Place Like Home

The Angels will clinch home field advantage throughout the postseason with a combination of wins and losses by Tampa Bay that adds up to 5. Tampa Bay would get home field against the Angels in case the two finish with the same record. The team with the best record in the AL will get the option of picking which Division Series schedule to follow, one of which will start on October 1 and the other on October 2. The tentative schedule can be found here. The Angels are guaranteed to start the Division Series at home.

In the NL, the Cubs are guaranteed to start the Division Series at home and their magic number to clinch homefield for the LCS is 1 over the Phillies. The Cubs lost the season series to the Phillies 3-4.

Games to be Played if Necessary

Cubs at Houston, Detroit at White Sox, both on September 29. Oakland and Baltimore also could make up a game on September 25. These are looking less and less necessary, although the Twins could send the White Sox season into an extra day if they can sweep Chicago in a 3-game set in Minneapolis starting Tuesday night.

The Race to #30

The standings:

	W	L	GB	PCT
Seattle	57	98		.367
Washington	58	98	1/2	.370
San Diego	61	95	3 1/2	.391

Remaining games left:

• Washington (6) -   3 vs Florida, 3 at Philadelphia
• San Diego (6) -  3 at Los Angeles, 3 vs Pittsburgh
• Seattle (7) -    4 vs Los Angeles, 3 vs Oakland

San Diego swept its three-game series in Washington to put themselves in a situation where they almost have to lose out to have a chance at the worst. The Mariners have lost 11 straight games. The Nats have the misfortune of playing teams that can't afford to lose, although it's possible the Phillies may have clinched a playoff spot by the final series.

Monday's Games of Note

Atlanta (Jurrjens) at Philadelphia (Happ), Chicago (Marquis) at New York (Niese), Arizona (Webb) at St. Louis (Wellemeyer), Tampa Bay (Price) at Baltimore (Bass), Cleveland (Jackson) at Boston (Beckett). Kansas City is playing at Detroit and I'm game to watch it if there's nothing else on.

Contenders Schedules

• Tampa Bay (8) -  4 at Baltimore (includes doubleheader Tuesday), 4 at Detroit
• Boston (7) -  4 vs Cleveland, 3 vs New York
• New York (6) -  3 at Toronto, 3 at Boston
• Chicago White Sox (7) -  3 at Minnesota, 3 vs Cleveland, 1 vs Detroit if needed
• Minnesota (6) -  3 vs Chicago, 3 vs Kansas City
• Philadelphia (6) -   3 vs Atlanta, 3 vs Washington
• New York (7) -   4 vs Chicago, 3 vs Florida
• Milwaukee (6) -   3 vs Pittsburgh, 3 vs Chicago
• Los Angeles (6) -   3 vs San Diego, 3 at San Francisco
• Arizona (7) -   4 at St. Louis, 3 vs Colorado

Teams Frozen In Place

• Los Angels Angels (1st in AL West)
• Seattle (4th in AL West)
• Baltimore (5th in AL East)
• Atlanta (4th in NL East)
• Washington (5th in NL East)
• Chicago (1st in NL Central)
• Cincinnati (4th in NL Central)
• Pittsburgh (5th in NL Central)
• San Diego (5th in NL West)

The Toronto Blue Jays became the fifteenth team to be eliminated from postseason contention after being shut out at home by Boston 3-0. The AL wild card team now will be one of three teams: Tampa Bay, Boston, or New York.

I sense the Yankees running the table and waiting for that Game 1 ALDS matchup between John Lackey and Sidney Ponson.

MLB.com's Matthew Leach recounts the wild and wooly journey of Cesar Izturis on Monday, an off day for the Cardinals.

Izturis had an appointment regarding his residency in New York on Monday, the Cardinals' off-day between series in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. In what seemed like a routine travel plan, he was to fly from Pittsburgh to New York on Sunday, then from New York to Cincinnati on Monday.

Then the remnants of Hurricane Ike intervened.

Izturis' flight out of Pittsburgh was canceled on Sunday night, and he couldn't find a way to get to New York. Ultimately, he reached a deal with a taxi driver to take him the entire way to New York, a trip of approximately 10 hours.

Yet even that didn't go as planned. About halfway through the trip, Izturis noticed that the driver was nodding off. He got the driver to pull over, then took over himself for the last few hours.

My question is: did Cesar Izturis still pay the cab driver the full amount? Is it legal to drive a taxi you hired?

The Korean comedy/reality show "One Night, Two Days" (a show I'm still trying to figure what it's about, but I believe it has five celebrities who have to go on a trip of that length somewhere in Korea) ran afoul of baseball fans in Busan, according to a Korea Times report.

The ``One night-two days'' crew from the Korea Broadcasting System (KBS) visited a Lotte Giants-Doosan Bears game, a duel for No. 2 spot, at Sajik Stadium in Busan Friday, and its cast performed during cleaning time, which usually takes about two or three minutes after the fifth inning.

However, the performance lasted 10 minutes and players who usually warm up during the short span had to stay in the dugouts.

After that, the game continued, but the longer break affected starters, who had thrown to a scoreless tie over five innings.

Giants starter Song Seung-jun allowed three runs in the top of the sixth, and Bears' Kim Sun-woo struggled with his command.

A few more problems were also caused during the night.

The program said it had booked 50 seats in the first base stand for the game, which hit its 18th sold-out game this season, but in fact, they took about 80-90 seats, most of which remained empty during the shooting.

While filming, the staff blocked aisles around the stand, causing disruption to others.

In addition, they deployed cameras on the ground and shot the dugouts during the game.

And to top it off, Ronan Tynan came on and sang "God Bless America!"

The Cubs and Rays both clinched playoff berths Saturday and both got do it at home by winning games. However, no team was eliminated because of the wild card. The Blue Jays and Yankees are still on shaky ground.

The Red Sox are the only team that can clinch a playoff spot on Sunday and that will require a win over Toronto and the Yankees losing what would be final home game at Yankee Stadium to Baltimore.

The Mets latest stay in first in the NL East lasted all of one day. The Phillies reclaimed the lead by a 1/2 game. That fraction will disappear Monday when the Mets host the Cubs while the Phillies have the day off.

The Dodgers lead Arizona by 3 1/2 games and that fraction will disappear on Monday as well when the Dodgers are off and the Diamondbacks play in St. Louis.

Here are the magical numbers:

Division Leaders

• Dodgers (NL West) - 5 (Dodgers and Diamondbacks win)
• White Sox (AL Central) - 6 (White Sox and Twins lose)
• Rays (AL East) - 6 (Rays win and Red Sox lose. Tampa Bay just needs to finish in a tie to win the AL East because of a 10-8 series edge over Boston.)
• Phillies (NL East) -  8 (Mets lose and Phillies win to switch places)

Wild card leaders

• Red Sox - 2 (Red Sox win and Yankees win)
• Mets - 6 (Mets lose, Phillies win, and Brewers lose)

This blue jay is just resting

Toronto can be eliminated Sunday. But that can only happen if the Blue Jays lose at home to Boston. The Yankees can be eliminated if they lose at home to Baltimore AND the Red Sox win.

There's No Place Like Home

The Angels will clinch home field advantage throughout the postseason with a combination of wins and losses by Tampa Bay that adds up to 7. Tampa Bay would get home field against the Angels in case the two finish with the same record. The team with the best record in the AL will get the option of picking which Division Series schedule to follow, one of which will start on October 1 and the other on October 2. The tentative schedule can be found here. The Angels are guaranteed to start the Division Series at home.

In the NL, the Cubs are guaranteed to start the Division Series at home and their magic number to clinch homefield for the LCS is 2 over the Mets and Phillies. The Cubs lost the season series to the Phillies 3-4 and lead the series against the Mets 2-0, but have four games in New York still to play.

Games to be Played if Necessary

Cubs at Houston, Detroit at White Sox, both on September 29. Oakland and Baltimore also could make up a game on September 25. These are looking less and less necessary.

The Race to #30

The standings:

	W	L	GB	PCT
Seattle	57	97		.370
Washington	58	97	1/2	.373
San Diego	60	95	1 1/2	.385

Remaining games left:

• Washington (7) -  1 vs San Diego, 3 vs Florida, 3 at Philadelphia
• San Diego (7) -   1 at Washington, 3 at Los Angeles, 3 vs Pittsburgh
• Seattle (8) -   1 at Oakland, 4 vs Los Angeles, 3 vs Oakland

The Padres may be playing themselves out of last place in the majors after a 6-1 win at Washington. The Mariners are undaunted and have lost 10 straight games.

Sunday's Games of Note

Milwaukee (McClung) at Cincinnati (Arroyo), Philadelphia (Moyer) at Florida (Volstad), New York (Pelfrey) at Atlanta (Parr), Arizona (Haren) at Colorado (Reynolds), San Francisco (Cain) at Los Angeles (Lowe), Baltimore (Waters) at New York (Pettitte), Boston (Matsuzaka) at Toronto (Richmond), Minnesota (Liriano) at Tampa Bay (Sonnanstine), Chicago (Danks) at Kansas City (Duckworth)

Contenders Schedules

• Tampa Bay (9) - 1 vs Minnesota, 4 at Baltimore (includes doubleheader), 4 at Detroit
• Boston (8) - 1 at Toronto, 4 vs Cleveland, 3 vs New York
• New York (7) - 1 vs Baltimore, 3 at Toronto, 3 at Boston
• Chicago White Sox (8) - 1 at Kansas City, 3 at Minnesota, 3 vs Cleveland, 1 vs Detroit if needed
• Minnesota (7) - 1 at Tampa Bay, 3 vs Chicago, 3 vs Kansas City
• Philadelphia (7) -  1 at Florida, 3 vs Atlanta, 3 vs Washington
• New York (8) -  1 at Atlanta, 4 vs Chicago, 3 vs Florida
• Milwaukee (7) -  1 at Cincinnati, 3 vs Pittsburgh, 3 vs Chicago
• Los Angeles (7) -  1 vs San Francisco, 3 vs San Diego, 3 at San Francisco
• Arizona (8) -  1 at Colorado, 4 at St. Louis, 3 vs Colorado

Teams Frozen In Place

• Los Angels Angels (1st in AL West)
• Seattle (4th in AL West)
• Baltimore (5th in AL East)
• Atlanta (4th in NL East)
• Washington (5th in NL East)
• Chicago (1st in NL Central)
• San Diego (5th in NL West)

The Tampa Bay Rays clinched their first ever playoff spot with a 7-2 win over Minnesota at home Saturday. It was the Rays' 92nd win of the season and makes it unable for the second place team in the wild card race (the Yankees) to finish with a better record.

The Chicago Cubs clinched their second straight NL Central title with a 5-4 win over the Cardinals today at Wrigley Field.

This is the first time the Cubs have made it to the postseason in consecutive seasons since 1906 through 1908.

The Lions wrapped up a spot in the Pacific League, which they lead with a 74-56-4 record, 6 games better than second place Orix (70-64-1), and 9 games better than third place Lotte (67-67-1). Fourth place Nippon Ham is (66-68-2) The top three teams make the playoffs. The season is 144 games long and ties are not replayed, so Seibu cannot finish with a worse record than Nippon Ham.

In the Central League, the Hanshin Tigers' once double digit games lead has been cut to one as the Yomiuri Giants have won nine straight to pull within one game (76-52-1 to 75-53-2). Both teams should wrap up playoff spots soon. The Hiroshima Carp are surprisingly in the three slot with a record 64-62-4, two games up the defending champion Chunichi Dragons at 62-64-5.

Both leagues playoffs start with the #2 and #3 teams playing a best of three series. The winner of that series plays the #1 team in a best of five series. The winners of each league face off in the Japan Series, a best of seven series, that will start on November 1, in the Central League champions home park.

Cleveland exited the scene even though they won their fourth straight game as the White Sox administered the death blow with a win at Kansas City.

There could be a whole lot of clinching going on Saturday. The Cubs will clinch the NL Central with either a win at home against St. Louis or a Milwaukee loss in Cincinnati. Those games will be played at the same time.

In the AL, Tampa Bay's magic number for clinching a playoff spot is 1. The Rays will clinch a spot with a win over Minnesota. If the Rays lose, they can still clinch a playoff spot if the White Sox (at KC) and Yankees (at home against Baltimore) both lose.

Boston can clinch a playoff spot with a win at Toronto and losses by ew York AND either Minnesota or Chicago.

And the Mets have reclaimed the lead in the NL East over the Phillies, although the stumbling Brewers are making that race a bit less intense. The Marlins have won 9 straight games but are still 4 1/2 out of the wild card, tied with Houston.

Here are the magical numbers:

Division Leaders

• Cubs (NL Central) - 1 (Cubs and Brewers both lose)
• Dodgers (NL West) - 6 (Dodgers and Diamondbacks lose)
• White Sox (AL Central) - 7 (White Sox win and Twins lose)
• Rays (AL East) - 9 (Rays and Red Sox win. Rays magic number to clinch playoff spot is 1. If the Rays clinch a spot this weekend, then the magic number to win the division will drop one more as the Rays own a tiebreaker edge for the division over Boston with a 10-8 season series edge.)
• Mets (NL East) -  9 (Mets win and Phillies lose to switch places)

Wild card leaders

• Red Sox - 2 (Red Sox win and Twins lose. Yankees now join equation.)
• Phillies - 7 (Mets win, Phillies lose, and Brewers lose)

Is this the end of Rico?

Toronto can be eliminated tomorrow. But that can only happen if the Blue Jays lose at home to Boston. The Yankees can be eliminated if they lose AND the Red Sox win.

There's No Place Like Home

The Angels will clinch home field advantage throughout the postseason with a combination of wins and losses by Tampa Bay that adds up to 8. Tampa Bay would get home field against the Angels in case the two finish with the same record. The team with the best record in the AL will get the option of picking which Division Series schedule to follow, one of which will start on October 1 and the other on October 2. The tentative schedule can be found here.

Games to be Played if Necessary

Cubs at Houston, Detroit at White Sox, both on September 29. Oakland and Baltimore also could make up a game on September 25. These are looking less and less necessary.

The Race to #30

The standings:

	W	L	GB	PCT
Seattle	57	96		.373
Washington	58	96	1/2	.375
San Diego	59	95	1 1/2	.383

Remaining games left:

• Washington (8) -  2 vs San Diego, 3 vs Florida, 3 at Philadelphia
• San Diego (8) -   2 at Washington, 3 at Los Angeles, 3 vs Pittsburgh
• Seattle (9) -   2 at Oakland, 4 vs Los Angeles, 3 vs Oakland

The big game in the titantic San Diego-Washington series at Nats Park went to the Padres, 11-6 in 14 innings. However, the Mariners doggedly refuse to win a game.

Saturday's Games of Note

Milwaukee (Sabathia) at Cincinnati (Cueto), St. Louis (Pineiro) at Chicago (Lilly), Philadelphia (Blanton) at Florida (Sanchez), New York (Martinez) at Atlanta (Campillo), Arizona (Davis) at Colorado (Cook), San Francisco (Hennessey) at Los Angeles (Kuroda), Baltimore (Burress) at New York (Aceves), Boston (Lester) at Toronto (Halladay), Minnesota (Slowey) at Tampa Bay (Kazmir), Chicago (Floyd) at Kansas City (Davies)

Contenders Schedules

• Tampa Bay (10) - 2 vs Minnesota, 4 at Baltimore (includes doubleheader), 4 at Detroit
• Boston (9) - 2 at Toronto, 4 vs Cleveland, 3 vs New York
• Chicago White Sox (9) - 2 at Kansas City, 3 at Minnesota, 3 vs Cleveland, 1 vs Detroit if needed
• Minnesota (8) - 2 at Tampa Bay, 3 vs Chicago, 3 vs Kansas City
• Philadelphia (8) -  2 at Florida, 3 vs Atlanta, 3 vs Washington
• New York (9) -  2 at Atlanta, 4 vs Chicago, 3 vs Florida
• Chicago Cubs (10) -  3 vs St. Louis, 4 at New York, 3 at Milwaukee, 1 at Houston if needed
• Milwaukee (8) -  2 at Cincinnati, 3 vs Pittsburgh, 3 vs Chicago
• Los Angeles (8) -  2 vs San Francisco, 3 vs San Diego, 3 at San Francisco
• Arizona (9) -  2 at Colorado, 4 at St. Louis, 3 vs Colorado

Teams Frozen In Place

• Los Angels Angels (1st in AL West)
• Seattle (4th in AL West)
• Baltimore (5th in AL East)
• Atlanta (4th in NL East)
• Washington (5th in NL East)
• San Diego (5th in NL West)

The Cleveland Indians became the fourteenth team to be eliminated from postseason contention after the White Sox beat Kansas City 9-4. That was the White Sox's 85th win of the season. Although Cleveland has but 77 losses, either Chicago (with 85 wins) or Minnesota (with 83 wins) has to finish with 86 wins as the two teams play each other three more times.

For the first time in major league history, a call on the field has been reversed by video replay. Carlos Pena's hit a ball over the right center field fence at Tropicana Field that was originally ruled as fan interference and a ground rule double for Pena.

Upon further review ... the umpires ruled that it was not fan interference and Pena was given a home run. This changed the score from 7-0 Rays to 9-0 Rays.

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) announced today that the Mets reaching an agreement to have their AAA franchise in 2009 in Buffalo was a "natural marriage."

Eeewww...

 

 

The NL will have a different team in the World Series this year as the Rockies were eliminated. Cleveland continues to live on the edge. Tampa Bay can clinch its first ever playoff spot with two wins this weekend against Minnesota, but blew a chance to pick up one of them Thursday. Tampa Bay can also clinch a playoff spot with a win Friday combined with losses by the White Sox, Blue Jays, and Yankees. The Cubs can clinch the NL Central Friday with a win at home against St. Louis and a loss by Milwaukee at Cincinnati.

Here are the magical numbers:

Division Leaders

• Cubs (NL Central) - 2 (Cubs beat Brewers)
• Dodgers (NL West) - 7 (Dodgers and Diamondbacks win)
• White Sox (AL Central) - 9 (White Sox lose and Twins win)
• Rays (AL East) - 10 (Rays lose to Twins, Red Sox are idle. Rays magic number to clinch playoff spot is 3. If the Rays clinch a spot this weekend, then the magic number to win the division will drop one more as the Rays own a tiebreaker edge for the division over Boston with a 10-8 season series edge.)
• Phillies (NL East) -  10 (Phillies win and Mets win)

Wild card leaders

• Red Sox - 4 (Red Sox idle and Twins win)
• Mets - 9 (Mets win and Brewers lose)

To be or not to be?

Cleveland will be eliminated with a loss to Detroit at home or a win by Chicago at Kansas City or by Minnesota at Tampa Bay. Toronto and New York cannot be eliminated until Saturday.

There's No Place Like Home

The Angels will clinch home field advantage throughout the postseason with a combination of wins and losses by Tampa Bay that adds up to 9. Tampa Bay would get home field against the Angels in case they finish with the same record. The team with the best record in the AL will get the option of picking which Division Series schedule to follow, one of which will start on October 1 and the other on October 2. The tentative schedule can be found here.

Games to be Played if Necessary

Cubs at Houston, Detroit at White Sox, both on September 29. Oakland and Baltimore also could make up a game on September 25.

The Race to #30

The standings:

	W	L	GB	PCT
Seattle	57	95		.375
San Diego	58	95	1/2	.379
Washington	58	95	1/2	.379

Remaining games left:

• Washington (9) -  3 vs San Diego, 3 vs Florida, 3 at Philadelphia
• San Diego (9) -   3 at Washington, 3 at Los Angeles, 3 vs Pittsburgh
• Seattle (10) -   3 at Oakland, 4 vs Los Angeles, 3 vs Oakland

Friday's Games of Note

St. Louis (Wainwright) at Chicago (Zambrano), Philadelphia (Myers) at Florida (Johnson), Milwaukee (Suppan) at Cincinnati (Ramirez), New York (Perez) at Atlanta (Reyes), Arizona (Scherzer) at Colorado (De La Rosa), San Francisco (Zito) at Los Angeles (Maddux), Boston (Byrd) at Toronto (Burnett), Minnesota (Blackburn) at Tampa Bay (Jackson), Chicago (Buehrle) at Kansas City (Bannister)

Contenders Schedules

• Tampa Bay (11) - 3 vs Minnesota, 4 at Baltimore (includes doubleheader), 4 at Detroit
• Boston (10) - 3 at Toronto, 4 vs Cleveland, 3 vs New York
• Chicago White Sox (10) - 3 at Kansas City, 3 at Minnesota, 3 vs Cleveland, 1 vs Detroit if needed
• Minnesota (9) - 3 at Tampa Bay, 3 vs Chicago, 3 vs Kansas City
• Philadelphia (9) -  3 at Florida, 3 vs Atlanta, 3 vs Washington
• New York (10) -  3 at Atlanta, 4 vs Chicago, 3 vs Florida
• Chicago Cubs (11) -  3 vs St. Louis, 4 at New York, 3 at Milwaukee, 1 at Houston if needed
• Milwaukee (9) -  3 at Cincinnati, 3 vs Pittsburgh, 3 vs Chicago
• Los Angeles (9) -  3 vs San Francisco, 3 vs San Diego, 3 at San Francisco
• Arizona (10) -  3 at Colorado, 4 at St. Louis, 3 vs Colorado

Teams Frozen In Place

• Los Angels Angels (1st in AL West)
• Seattle (4th in AL West)
• Baltimore (5th in AL East)
• San Diego (5th in NL West)

Via Maury Brown's Biz of Baseball,

The TBS play-by-play announcers will be: Chip Caray, Dick Stockton, Don Orsillo, and Brian Anderson. All but Stockton currently work for a club. Caray works for the Braves, Orsillo works for the Red Sox, and Anderson for the Brewers. Ron Darling, Buck Martinez, Tony Gwynn, Joe Simpson, John Smoltz, and Harold Reynolds will serve as analysts. How everyone will be paired up is to be decided, but Caray, Darling, and Martinez will be the ALCS crew, so they will likely be together for a Division Series.

San Francisco finally gave up the ghost Wednesday, but Cleveland refused to die as did Colorado. Toronto and the Yankees are now "Prognosis Negative." And the Cubs and Dodgers stalled on their drives to get into the playoffs. Tampa Bay can clinch its first ever playoff spot with two wins this weekend against Minnesota.

Here are the magical numbers:

Division Leaders

• Cubs (NL Central) - 4 (Cubs lose to Brewers)
• Dodgers (NL West) - 8 (Dodgers lose and Diamondbacks win)
• White Sox (AL Central) - 9 (White Sox and Twins lose)
• Rays (AL East) - 10 (Rays beat Red Sox. Rays magic number to clinch playoff spot is 3. If the Rays clinch a spot this weekend, then the magic number to win the division will drop one more as the Rays own a tiebreaker edge for the division over Boston with a 10-8 season series edge.)
• Phillies (NL East) -  11 (Phillies win and Mets win)

Wild card leaders

• Red Sox - 4 (Red Sox and Twins lose)
• Mets - 11 (Mets and Brewers win)

Death or Glory? Bet on death

Colorado will be eliminated if the Dodgers win in Pittsburgh Thursday afternoon. The Rockies are off. Cleveland would have been eliminated if it lost any of its three games to Minnesota. Cleveland can be eliminated Thursday ONLY if BOTH Chicago and Minnesota win. Toronto and the Yankees will live until Friday since Boston is off Thursday.

There's No Place Like Home

The Angels will clinch home field advantage throughout the postseason with a combination of wins and losses by Tampa Bay that adds up to 11. Tampa Bay would get home field against the Angels in case they finish with the same record. The team with the best record in the AL will get the option of picking which Division Series schedule to follow, one of which will start on October 1 and the other on October 2. The tentative schedule can be found here.

Games to be Played if Necessary

Cubs at Houston, Detroit at White Sox, both on September 29. Oakland and Baltimore also could make up a game on September 25.

The Race to #30

The standings:

	W	L	GB	PCT
Seattle	57	94		.377
San Diego	58	95	1	.379
Washington	58	94	1/2	.382

Remaining games left:

• Washington (10) -  1 vs New York, 3 vs San Diego, 3 vs Florida, 3 at Philadelphia
• San Diego (9) -   3 at Washington, 3 at Los Angeles, 3 vs Pittsburgh
• Seattle (11) -  1 at Kansas City, 3 at Oakland, 4 vs Los Angeles, 3 vs Oakland

Thursday's Games of Note

Los Angeles (Kershaw) at Pittsburgh (Maholm), Milwaukee (Bush) at Chicago (Harden), New York (Santana) at Washington (Redding), San Francisco (Lincecum) at Arizona (Johnson), Chicago (Vazquez) at New York (Mussina), Minnesota (Perkins) at Tampa Bay (Shields)

Contenders Schedules

• Tampa Bay (12) - 4 vs Minnesota, 4 at Baltimore (includes doubleheader), 4 at Detroit
• Boston (10) - 3 at Toronto, 4 vs Cleveland, 3 vs New York
• Chicago White Sox (10) - 3 at Kansas City, 3 at Minnesota, 3 vs Cleveland, 1 vs Detroit if needed
• Minnesota (10) - 4 at Tampa Bay, 3 vs Chicago, 3 vs Kansas City
• Philadelphia (10) - 1 at Atlanta, 3 at Florida, 3 vs Atlanta, 3 vs Washington
• New York (11) - 1 at Washington, 3 at Atlanta, 4 vs Chicago, 3 vs Florida
• Chicago Cubs (12) - 1 vs Milwaukee, 3 vs St. Louis, 4 at New York, 3 at Milwaukee, 1 at Houston if needed
• Milwaukee (10) - 1 at Chicago, 3 at Cincinnati, 3 vs Pittsburgh, 3 vs Chicago
• Los Angeles (10) - 1 at Pittsburgh, 3 vs San Francisco, 3 vs San Diego, 3 at San Francisco
• Arizona (11) - 1 vs San Francisco, 3 at Colorado, 4 at St. Louis, 3 vs Colorado

How Times Change in Three Days

On Monday, Boston beat Tampa Bay 13-5 to move within .002 of first place. Jayson Stark offered this gloomy portrayal of how the Rays chances of winning the AL East were doomed.

On Tuesday, the Rays edged the Red Sox 2-1. And Stark now goes on and on about the magical season that the Rays are having.

On Wednesday, the Rays won 10-3. Stark wrote of how the Rays had taken control of the division. Although they had very little chance to win the division two days earlier.

Teams Frozen In Place

• Los Angels Angels (1st in AL West)
• Seattle (4th in AL West)
• Baltimore (5th in AL East)
• San Diego (5th in NL West)

The San Francisco Giants became the 12th team to be eliminated from postseason contention after losing at Arizona 7-6. That was the Giants 84th loss and makes it impossible for them to catch first place Los Angeles which has 79 wins.

And he's reporting on the state of Cuban baseball, as well as other sports there in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Plaza de Armas is a block from Havana Bay and across the street from the fort that once guarded the city. It's Havana's oldest square — dating to 1520 — and is surrounded by used book sellers. It's here a man who identifies himself as Luis deals in baseball memorabilia.

He has a small suitcase filled with old sports photos, no doubt once the archives of a local newspaper, old game programs (including one from the '46 World Series) and in a cloth bag, old baseball cards in plastic cases. He's got a couple of Sandy Koufax rookie cards, a Hank Aaron rookie card, Harmon Killebrew, Ted Williams. How much for one of the Koufax cards? He says 150 Cuban convertible pesos, which is about $180.

Luis loves baseball. He is a rare Cuban who has a satellite dish, and so is able to watch American baseball games. That makes him very familiar with what is going on. Albert Pujols? "He is the best," Luis says. "Pujols is crazy."

Luis is wearing a T-shirt that says "Baseball is Life, The Rest is Just Details." He is a Cuban, and baseball is his sport, his life.

"The Cuban people, everybody has a bat," Luis says. "They play from when they're very young." He knows that times are changing. "The good players, they go to America," he says. "Cuban baseball is a little down. The stars here have hope no more. It's a problem for all sports."

No one was eliminated as the Indians pulled out a 12-9 win over the stumbling Twins in 11 innings. The Mets don't lead the NL East anymore, but they do lead the wild card. That news is not good for the Brewers. And there's a new leader for the #30 spot in the majors.

Here are the magical numbers:

Division Leaders

• Cubs (NL Central) - 4 (Cubs beat Brewers and clinch with wins Wednesday and Thursday)
• Dodgers (NL West) - 8 (Dodgers and Diamondbacks win)
• White Sox (AL Central) - 10 (White Sox win and Twins lose)
• Phillies (NL East) -  12 (Phillies win and Mets lose)
• Rays (AL East) - 12 (Rays beat Red Sox and play each other for final time Wednes