The Yankees and the surprising Minnesota Twins should join the Braves and Giants with clinched playoff spots no later than Wednesday. Obviously, I was wrong about the Mariners being in the playoffs, but my gutsiest prediction, Minnesota, will come true. I told you all along that the White Sox were posers and the Royals were a sham. In fairness to the Royals, they had a great season - far better than anyone could have expected or predicted.
As for other playoff spots, the Red Sox and A's appear to be safe, while the NL Wildcard and NL Central Spots are still very much up for grabs. In the Central, the Astros still cling to a half-game lead, but the Cubs have an easier schedule. I think the Cubs can do it. The Wildcard is still too close to call, especially since the Phillies and Marlins still have one more series to play against each other. I wish you the best, Josh McInnis - at least one DFB guy can still have his team in the playoffs. Who would have thought it would be you?
Eric Gagne (still my favorite for NL Cy Young) saved his 53rd game tonight. The Dodgers have 8 games left and Gagne needs 4 saves to tie Bobby Thigpen's 1990 record of 57. Gagne has gotten the save in 65% of the Dodgers wins this year (53 out of 82).
I broke down my case for Eric Gagne for NL Cy Young a few weeks ago, so I'll skip a long recap and go straight to the first ever Aaron Booth baseball awards. As a short recap, here’s my NL Cy Young top five: Gagne, Mark Prior (CHN), Jason Schmidt (SFG), Russ Ortiz (ATL), Hideo Nomo (LAD). Honorable mention goes out to Kevin Brown (LAD) and John Smoltz (ATL).
Posted by at September 21, 2003 11:19 PMGreat picks across the board. I think your MVP picks are correct, though controversial. If the BoSox make it to the playoffs (and they should) it solidifies Manny and Mueller's claims to your awards. If they should make it to the Series there should be no question that Manny is the AL MVP. As far as the NL, Barry is still king. I think next year will be Pujols' year, but since the Giants are being favored to win it all this year Barry should be on top once more.
I wish I could disagree with you about Gange, but I really can't. He's doing something that is really amazing with his consecutive saves streak. Being a big Cubbies' fan I would love to see Prior reel it in, but he's young and has many Cy Youngs lined up for himself in the future.
Posted by: steele at September 22, 2003 08:57 AM