What a great night last night for the two baseball teams I follow closest. The Twins beat the Red Sox 8-2, behind a three-run homer by the not-so-injured-after-all Torii Hunter, and strong pitching from Boof Bonser. The win put the Twinkies in a tie for first place in the AL Central for about 40 minutes, until the Tigers defeated the White Sox to move back up by a half a game. It appears to be all over for Chicago, leaving it to the Twins and Tigers to battle for the division win, home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs, and a way to avoid the Yankees until the ALCS.
The Phillies, meanwhile, finally gained a tie for the NL Wild Card lead, beating the Cubs on a complete game gem by Brett Myers- you know, the guy everyone said Philly would never root for again. The Phils are hitting on all cylinders in their third major hot streak of the season, actually getting good starting pitching for the first time in memory, and if they can get by the Dodgers/Padres, they have an opportunity to make things interesting in the very weak NL playoffs. It might even be enough to get Philly to stop worrying about the Eagles for a day or two.
As for Red Sox fans, my condolences. Luckily, there's David Ortiz's 50th homer- and that '04 championship DVD- to fall back on. You also get to sit back and watch the ongoing A-Rod meltdown unfold at your leisure.
Posted by Stephen Silver at September 21, 2006 02:14 PMHey. When was the last time the league MVP wasn't on the all-star team for that year?
Posted by: Jeff S at September 21, 2006 10:20 PM