Bleacher Creature Feature

#48: "Another Year, Another AL East Title"

23 September 2003

This may be one of the single most exciting days in major-league baseball. On this day: Some other observations on this great baseball night, in which the Yankees clinched their sixth straight AL East title, and their seventh in eight years....

* * *

I should just keep my mouth shut about David Wells. I bitched that he was a bad signing and a high risk, and he goes and pitches his ass off last year. So I bitch that the two-year contract was a mistake and he's likely to implode this year and he pitches his ass off this year. He hits a bad patch and I bitch that he should be shut down for the rest of the year and -- right in front of me, as that was one of Terri's and my Sunday games -- he pitches the Yankees to what many have considered their most crucial win of the season, the 7 September game against the Red Sox that prevented a sweep and started their current 14-3-1 (thank you, Isabel) stretch.

Then again, I thought that Alfonso Soriano should've been traded in July 2001 for a player who might actually help the team. Dopey me.

* * *

Speaking of the tie game, MLB's handling of the Hurricane Isabel thing with the Yankees/Orioles game was a screwup of 2002 All-Star Game proportions. The entire city of Baltimore shut down that day -- except Camden Yards. As Jason Giambi pointed out in an interview, even the Navy moved their ships off, but they were having a baseball game.

What a joke. Especially since it's gonna be made up as a doubleheader anyhow. Sheesh.

Bizarrely, the stats for the tie game apparently count. Which means that Hideki Matsui will do something I never thought I'd see: he will tie Jim Rice's record, set in 1978, for most games played in a season: 163.

* * *

Lou Piniella also really needs to learn to keep his mouth shut. The Deviled Eggs actually are starting to look like something resembling a major league team. In Rocco Baldelli, Carl Crawford, and Aubrey Huff, they have an outfield that will be kicking ass and taking names for many years to come. Their second-half record is 29-35, which is pretty impressive for a team that has been the gold standard for "crappy" for all six years of its existence. (Until they came to Yankee Stadium on 12 September, that second-half record was 26-26; they then proceeded to go 2-9 against the Yankees and Red Sox.) They may actually be a relevant team for the first time ever in four or five years, assuming the front office has a brain in its head.

So dumbshit moves like the "crybaby" accusations against the Yankees come across as particularly churlish. Unlike other dreadful teams in the league presently residing in Detroit and Baltimore, the Rays look to have hope for the future. Lou should shut up and be happy with what he's done instead of baiting his former team.

* * *

Speaking of Detroit -- yeesh. Do you realize that even if they improve by 20 games, they're still going to be 100-game losers? That means that even if they make a massive improvement along the lines of how well the Royals improved this season, they're still going to really suck....

* * *

Speaking of the Royals, congrats to Tony Pena and the gang for a helluva ride. Truly, this team wasn't good enough to win the division, and they were bound to collapse eventually, but they are now guaranteed to at least finish over .500. Besides allowing them to keep Mike Sweeney, it's also generally a huge step forward. Just as Tampa Bay has defined "crappy," the Royals have, of late, defined "ineptly run organization," and it's great to see this once-great team be respectable again.

* * *

Congratulations also to your AL Central Champion Minnesota Twins, who have won their division for the second year in a row after Commissioner Bud said that they couldn't possibly compete as a small-market team and threatened to eliminate the franchise because they weren't viable.

* * *

Back in Yankee-land, Jose Contreras came through nicely, pitching a gem on three days' rest against a very talented ballclub. He all but pitched his way into the starting rotation next year (about which I'll be speculating more in a future BCF) tonight. Let's hope he proves useful out of the leaky bullpen during the postseason...

* * *

Given that the Yankees won their 98th game tonight, and have five games left, four of them against a .442 team, it seems likely that they will win 100 games. This is quite an accomplishment when you consider the following:

On the plus side: The thing that impresses me the most, though, is this: the Yankees' pitchers this year have given up a grand total of 363 walks (first in the majors) and struck out 1087 (second in the league behind Boston).

That's a 1:3 BB-K ratio. Here's how that compares to the rest of the league:

Pretty danged impressive, ain't it?

* * *

Terri and I have tickets to four post-season games. We'll be at Games 1 and 2 of the LDS against (quite likely) the Twins on Tuesday and Thursday. Assuming the Yanks a) advance to the LCS and b) have home field advantage, we'll be at Games 1 and, if necessary, 6 (if they don't have home-field, we'll be at Games 3 and, if necessary, 5). Expect full reports from the bleachers...

NEXT: "Silly Sutcliffe"

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