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September 28, 2007
ON HOLD: Dustin Pedroia's reaction to popping up with the go-ahead runs in scoring position and two outs in the bottom of the eighth (above, Journal photo by Bob Breidenbach) perfectly encapsulates a frustrating night for the Red Sox as they lost to the Twins, 5-4. (projo.com) Frustrating because the pitching matchup (Josh Beckett vs. Boof Bonser) seemed to favor them; frustrating because it kept the magic number for clinching the A.L. East at two. There was good news, however; in Inside The Game, Steven Krasner reports that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez are locked in again offensively, and just in time for the postseason. (projo.com) And the notebook, written by Krasner and Joe McDonald, tells of Hideki Okajima's successful return to the mound, which also bodes well for the postseason.
AND SPEAKING OF THE POSTSEASON . . . It continues to look like it'll be the Sox vs. the Angels in the first round. Brendan Donnelly spent the first part of his career in Orange County and knows what his new team -- albeit one he's no longer contributing to, because of his elbow injury -- can expect. (Boston Herald) Terry Francona, meanwhile, is keeping his playoff pitching plans close to the vest. (Boston Globe)
WHERE THEY STAND: The Sox remain tied with Cleveland for best record in the American League because the Indians lost to the Mariners. (Cleveland Plain Dealer) The Yankees stayed alive in the division race by beating the Devil Rays. (New York Daily News)
MEMORIES . . . Some members of the last Red Sox' division winner, the 1995 edition, remember what clinching night was like. (projo.com) The Sox will get another shot at nailing down the title tonight.
HOT TOPIC: J.D. Drew's offensive rebirth -- he's hitting .324 in September -- is beginning to attract mainstream attention. (Boston Globe)
TALK ABOUT A CELEBRATION: On the night Mike Lowell broke the Red Sox' record for most RBI by a third baseman in a single season, he was chosen to undergo one of baseball's random drug tests. (Boston Herald)
YOUTH WILL BE SERVED: FoxSports.com's Dayn Perry says the Red Sox' and Yankees' playoff chances have been bolstered by their young players.
TIED: The Mets -- who led their division by seven games on Sept. 12 -- are on the cusp of making history for all the wrong reasons. They lost their fourth in a row last night, 3-0 to old friend Joel Piniero and the Cardinals (New York Daily News), and now are tied for first in the N.L. East with the Phillies, who beat the Braves (Philadelphia Inquirer) The Daily News' John Harper says they're playing scared, but the New York Post's Mike Vaccaro says there's still time to right the sinking ship. The Post's Joel Sherman notes that Pedro Martinez was The Mighty Casey last night: ''the anticipation was great, the outcome disappointing.''
JUST A LITTLE? Martinez tells ESPN.com's Amy K. Nelson he's ''a little worried about how things have developed.''
HISTORY IN THE MAKING: On sny.tv, Ted Berg and Mike Salfino -- who writes fantasy football sports blog, by the way -- contemplate the epic collapse of the Mets.
AND TO MAKE IT WORSE . . . Matthew Cerone's Mets Blog says the Mets' fold isn't made any easier by being in the same city as Yankee fans.
THE OTHER N.L. RACES: The Cubs lost to the Marlins (Chicago Sun-Times) . . . the Brewers lost to the Padres (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . the Diamondbacks beat the Pirates (Arizona Republic) . . . the scorching Rockies beat the Dodgers (Denver Post).
To see how all those games affected the races, check out the divisional standings and wild-card standings. (Projo Stats)
FUNNY MAN IN A NOT-SO-FUNNY SITUATION: Cubs fan Bill Murray is keeping the faith despite his team's three straight losses to the Marlins. (Palm Beach Post)
THE ALL-TIME GREATS: Baseball Prospectus lists the 13 biggest late-season collapses in baseball history, based on ''teams that had the highest percentage chance to reach the playoffs at some point during the regular season [and] then failed to do so.'' Two Red Sox teams -- from 2002 (No. 11) and 1978 (No. 7) -- make the list. The team most famous for folding at the end, the 1964 Phillies, are only at No. 10; BP notes ''it was not quite as bad as it might seem at first glance because of the disparity in the schedules. From September 18th onward, the Phillies played teams with an average winning percentage of .548, as opposed to .470 for the Cardinals, which was enough to wipe the equivalent of a game or two off of their lead.'' Coming in at No. 1: The 1995 Angels.
NOT-SO-MASSIVE TIE: Baseball Musing's David Pinto reports that last night's action eliminated the possibility of a five-way tie in the National League, though there's still a chance for four-way ties. MLB.com lists the various tie-breaking scenarios.
YOU SAY POTATO, I SAY . . . Some people call the wild spring to the finish in the National League exciting. USA Today's Hal Bodley calls it an exercise in mediocrity.
THE REAL COMMISSIONER In an ESPN The Magazine profile, Matthew Cole says ''Scott Boras isn't ruining baseball. He's running it.''
HARD TO BELIEVE: On the blog Birds In The Belfry, Bob Bryant says it's time to face up to the truth: Orioles followers are ''fans of a ballclub worse than the Washington Nationals.''
YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN: Jimmy Piersall was back in his native Connecticut, touting Dom DiMaggio for the Hall of Fame and talking about what it was like growing up as a Red Sox fan in a sea of Yankee rooters. (Westport News)
THIS IS WHY THEY'RE BALLPLAYERS AND NOT SABERMETRICIANS: SI.com reports that most major-leaguers think the most important offensive statistic is RBI.
END OF THE LINE: Bruce Froemming reflects on the end of his 37-year umpiring career. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
MORE REVELATIONS: San Francisco Weekly reports that Greg Anderson's cellmate in jail, Marlon Leftwich, says Anderson ''shared one shocking anecdote after another about Barry Bonds and BALCO'' during their time together in prison. Whether they're true is another matter entirely, but they certainly are shocking.
QUICKLY: With trade rumors swirling, yesterday may have been Jon Garland's last start for the White Sox (Chicago Sun-Times) . . . The Pirates may put Jason Bay on the trade market (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) . . . Todd Helton's hot September has ended rumors that the Rockies might again try to move him this winter (Denver Post) . . . Sammy Sosa wants to stay with the Rangers (Dallas Morning News) . . . The Reds have a decision to make on Eddie Guardado, who's been pitching better recently (Cincinnati Enquirer) . . . Boras says there'll be no hometown discount for the Braves if they want to keep Andruw Jones (Atlanta Journal-Constitution).
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
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