Update: Indians lost again. They won once (vs. Tampa) since Saturday. The Yanks should send them a gift basket. They still have a shot to get to the playoffs and ruin the Red Sox's season. The NL Wild Card (and the AL actually) will be decided either Sunday or beyond, so the season is not over yet.
Update Two: Indians lost, Astros won, no surprises. Chicago White Sox, maybe, but the As were revamped, LA Dodgers stripped, and the Giants did not have Barry Bonds to September. So, usual suspects won, Padres by default. The Mets (who helped end the Phillies' season) ended tied for third place, 83-79 (about as expected, except for the poor showing of the Marlins). The Yanks lost their one meaningless game of the year while the Jets looked a tad bit pathetic -- the Giants however again scored a lot of points. New no-shot team to root for: the Padres with a worst record than the Mets, but the head of the NL West.
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I am sick of the Yankees/Red Sox. I was sick of them before last year, but I am truly sick of them now. They play, and have played the last few years, about nineteen games a year ... but only in the regular season. As if that was not enough, they repeatedly played in the playoffs ... apparently seven games every year. Well, at least the last two, the seventh game going one way and then the other. Of course, you know what happened last year [Choke! Choke! Choke!]. It made the Cubs experience in 2003, almost expected in Cubs Nation anyway, almost trivial. btw 2003 was the year the Red Sox (and Cubs) should have won.
But, if baseball was fair, the Atlanta freakening Braves would not win the division each year as if the rest of the National League East was akin to Perry Mason's opposition (though Mason actually lost one or twice). Last year was particularly grating since the Yanks ... well, you know. I would not have minded TOO MUCH (it is the 21st Century, just look at the flying cars) if the Sox won in '03, perhaps in Mariano's third inning of work. But, give me a break. And, the Yanks need to pay for such embarrassment. Losing 5-11 games to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays might have helped. But, then they went on a September run against reject competition, and now are tied with the Red Sox. The Devil Rays by the way were their friends in the end -- the Yanks swept their last series and the Devil Rays hurt both the Sox and Indians.
Ah the Indians. They choked too. Still gasping for breath, much like the Philadelphia Phillies (whose playoff hopes are, baseball gods help them, in the hands of themselves and the Chicago Cubs), but on death's door. Why? Oh, a ninth inning error vs. the Kansas City Royals ("hey we were something five months last year!"), losing two out of three (one by 1-0) vs. the Devil Rays, and not able to get a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in extra innings vs. the Chicago "resting for the playoffs" White Sox. Not only is this a sad situation given how they came back from the dead, but if they do not do something this weekend, the Yanks/Red Sox series is meaningless.
If they lose but one, it is likely that both the AL East teams would get to the playoffs. In fact, the Indians need to win TODAY. You know the team whose bats suddenly are silent. If not, both the only thing that matters this weekend (and yeah, it is not trivial) is bragging rights -- namely, who wins the AL East. After all, without the Indians holding up their end (and they barely done so this week), one AL East team will win the division, one the Wild Card, something that happened in the NL Central and AL West recently (note how the As fell apart last month or so). And, since it really does not matter too much who they play (it might be easier for the Yanks to play the White Sox given Anaheim's bats), the road to ANOTHER Yanks/Red Sox series will be in the bag.
If so, the Yanks have the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to thank. Sure, they played the Yanks tough for most of the year, but hey, that just would make the end result more sweet. And, when it counted, those Rays -- how they will manage would Lou there anymore one just does not know -- were the Yanks friends. Oh, and the Orioles of course -- how they even managed to win one game of the last seven vs. the Yanks is somewhat amazing. These guys were on the top of the AL East this season?
A nod to the Mets, now over .500 for the first time since 2001. As with that year, they teased with playoff hopes after a late season swoon, but they still have a pretty good year. And, nice (late) September -- too bad they first went in that swoon, huh?