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Baseball Today: Friday, September 21

THE FUTURE IS NOT NOW: That was the headline over our newspaper package this morning, which asserts that -- contrary to conventional wisdom -- playing well in September is no guarantee of October success. Sean McAdam points out that the 2006 World Series champion Cardinals, the 2006 American League champion Tigers and the 2005 World Series champion White Sox each limped to the finish line, but all was forgotten by the time the November victory parades rolled around. Allan Wood goes a bit deeper with the same thesis on the Joy of Sox blog. How this applies to things locally should be self-evident.

Illustration by Frank Galasso

ANOTHER MYTH BITES THE DUST: Another tenet of conventional wisdom is that Red Sox Nation is in a panic over the team's sag and the Yankees' surge. But projo.com reporter Mike McKinney actually went out and talked to people and finds that it ain't necessarily so.

ON THE OTHER HAND . . . This sunshine-and-lollypop talk is all well and good, say the veteran columnists, but the Globe's Bob Ryan thinks the Sox rank fourth of four among the A.L. playoff teams at the moment. And our own Jim Donaldson thinks Theo Epstein will have some 'splainin to do when this is all over. (projo.com)

GOING FOR TWENTY: Only one native-born Texan has ever won 20 games for the Red Sox. (And no, it's not Roger Clemens. He was born in Ohio.) Tonight in Tampa Bay, Josh Beckett has the chance to join Tex Hughson in that exclusive club. (Boston Herald)

PICK YOUR POISON: No matter where they finish, the Red Sox have only two potential first-round opponents: The Angels or the Indians. The Boston Herald's Michael Silverman examines both potential matchups and says the experts think the Sox should want to face Cleveland, rather than Los Angeles of Anaheim, in the first round. One of the reasons: The Angels are Kryptonite to the Yankees' Superman, and LA of A could do Boston a favor by ousting New York while the Sox played the Indians.

AND YOURS: The New York Post's George King did his own survey to handicap the Yankees' playoff chances, and that conclusion was the same: The Yanks should want to face the Indians in the first round.

ADD ONE MORE VOICE TO THE CHORUS: That would be FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal, who thinks the Red Sox are enhancing their chances of postseason success by focusing on the big picture and not making a no-holds-sprint to the division title.

AND YET ANOTHER COUNTY HEARD FROM: The Angels are another team more worried about getting their house in order for the postseason than burning out their regulars in a quest for regular-season glory. (Los Angeles Daily News)

THE OTHER SIDE: Chad Finn, though, isn't so sure he can accept with his head what seems wrong in his heart. (touchingallthebases.blogspot.com)

GETTING CLOSE TO HOME? ESPN.com reports the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston said a St. Louis company admitted distributing human growth hormone to athletes and entertainers, and agreed to pay a $10.5 million fine and to cooperate with investigators. Among the people who allegedly received HGH were ''a 'well-known' athlete in Massachusetts" and a ''6-foot-5, 276 [pound] . . . entertainer/athlete,'' according to a report in the New York Daily News.

HAPPY BOSS: Brian Cashman says the Yankee turnaround has made George Steinbrenner ''better.'' (New York Post) Than what?

WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? Goose Gossage thinks the Yankees would be crazy to take Joba Chamberlain out of the bullpen. (New York Times)

I WANNA COME BACK! Bobby Abreu would love to return to the Yankees, but the team gets to make that call and its giving no indication as to whether or not it will pick up his option. (The Journal News)

A.L. RACES: The Angels moved a half-game ahead in the race for best record in the A.L. -- and a step away from formalizing an A.L. West title they grabbed hold of weeks ago -- with a 9-5 win over the Mariners marred by two beanballs aimed at Vladimir Guerrero, which led to a bench-clearing incident and the ejections of Seattle pitcher Jorge Campillo and manager John McLaren. (Los Angeles Daily News) The Mariners -- who were shocked, shocked I tell you, at the notion they were intentionally throwing at Guerrero (who had homered after the first up-and-in pitch, then was thrown at in his next at-bat) -- say the pitches merely got away. (Seattle Post-Intellinger) Whatever. In any case, their penance will probably be having to watch a team celebrate winning the division at their expense for the second straight year, since the Angels will clinch the West with a victory in any one of the next three games in the series. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) Last year they were the opponent when Oakland won the West.

N.L. RACES: Now this is getting good.

Right around the same time the Phillies were finishing off the Nationals in Washington (Philadelphia Inquirer), the Mets -- as the New York Post so daintily put it -- were choking on Fish. Marlin, that is. The Mets had gone ahead in the top of the ninth, but blew a three-run lead in the bottom of the inning (closer Billy Wagner was unavailable because of back spasms) and then lost it in the 10th. Philadelphia now trails by 1 1/2 as the Mets lost their sixth of the last seven, but that's not the half of it. The Post's Mark Hale noted that in six of those seven games, New York has blown five multi-run leads. The Post's Mike Vaccaro says last night might have been the worst of all, and he's probably right. Willie Randolph has tried to maintain his composure during this stretch, but the Daily News' Filip Bondy says it's getting tougher and tougher. In addition, SI.com's Jon Heyman reports the Mets brass is starting to get dissatisfied with Randolph.

The Mets, however, have an unlikely fan: Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning. Bunning, who was pitching for the Phillies when they collapsed historically in 1964, says he never wants to see another team go through what he and his teammates suffered that year. (New York Post)

In other games with race implications, the Rockies beat the Dodgers (Denver Post), the Padres beat the Pirates (San Diego Union-Tribune) and the Brewers lost to the Braves. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

To see how all those games affected the races, check out the divisional standings and wild-card standings. (Projo Stats)

I'LL MISS YOU . . . A LITTLE: Most people think Washington's RFK Stadium is a dump and are glad the Nationals will have a new park next year. The Washington Post's Thomas Boswell agrees, but can't deny RFK holds 46 years of wonderful memories for him.

THE NEW SHERIFF: The Astros selected Ed Wade as their new general manager. (Houston Chronicle) Baseball Musing's David Pinto isn't sure what to think: In 2004 he defended the job Wade was doing as Phillies GM, but in 2005 he agreed with Philadelphia's decision to fire Wade.

QUICKLY: If the Orioles bring Miguel Tejada back next year, they're probably going to shift him off shortstop to another position, third base most likely (Baltimore Sun) . . . Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi plans to keep his team intact this offseason and that suits Roy Halladay just fine (Canadian Press) . . . The Rockies' Matt Holliday has become an MVP candidate and one of the reasons is batting tips he received from Mark McGwire (Denver Post) . . . Hope for Twins fans: Johan Santana, who becomes a free agent at the end of next season, has bought a luxury home in Minnesota. (St. Paul Pioneer-Press)

OLD FRIENDS: Looks like folks in Los Angeles are beginning to regard Grady Little the same way many do in Boston. (SI.com)

WHY, IN MY DAY . . . First sign of age: Ranting and raving about the kids of today. The Dodgers' Jeff Kent is getting old. (Los Angeles Daily News)

(Second sign of age: Remembering when the old coot delivering the screed was a young buck himself. That's me.)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:57 AM | Permalink