2008 Woodie Awards
A look to the past, present, and future
COMMENTARY
Anthony Olivieri
Issue date: 9/30/04 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
Baseball's big finish to the regular season is an exciting prelude of what's to come in October, and an ending to a season of surprises.
This season, September has some meaning to it, besides the calculation of your favorite call-up's batting average.
It's a time to recap all the twists and turns of a 162-game marathon, and to gear up for the season's emphatic climax.
Divisional races featuring two of baseball's most heated rivalries dominate headlines on both coasts.
The National League wild card race is a fight to the finish between four teams, half of whom were thought of as all-but-dead at the All-Star break.
The Padres were supposed to be a young team that had shown some promise but couldn't possibly claim a playoff berth. The Astros were ready to trade away their top talent and wait until next year.
Both teams have fought back to heighten the excitement as the end of the season nears.
Barry Bonds, love him or hate him, is plowing his way through Major League Baseball's all-time homerun list with no end in site.
Bonds joined the 700-homerun club recently, and is approaching the Babe Ruth/Hank Aaron stratosphere that always seemed so unreachable.
The Texas Rangers, minus Alex Rodriguez, jumped from last-place to division title contender with a pitching staff held together with no more than duct tape.
The Minnesota Twins on the arm of Johann Santana, and their collective glove-work, have run away with the American League Central division.
In the east, the Yankees and Red Sox are locked in another fight to the death. The Sawx, on the broad shoulders of Curt Schilling, and the "I'm not sure if we have a game tonight" duo of Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, are 32 games over .500 and three games behind the Yankees.
The Yankees, on the other hand, have borrowed the duct tape from the Twins to use on their own pitching staff. It is a staff that boasts a Cuban refugee, of an unknown age, as its ace.
On the other coast, the Los Angeles Dodgers try to hold off the charge of Bonds, Jason Schmidt and a bunch of faceless Giants in a race for the NL West crown.
In the NL Central, the St. Louis Cardinals have run away with a division that was thought to be the most competitive at season's start.
In all, the Yankees have no pitching, the Sox have no Nomar, Bonds doesn't need any teammates, the Rangers don't need A-Rod, the Twins don't need a star, and the Cardinals didn't need the season's second half.
Oh yeah, the Braves won the NL East, but I'm sure you already knew that.
This season, September has some meaning to it, besides the calculation of your favorite call-up's batting average.
It's a time to recap all the twists and turns of a 162-game marathon, and to gear up for the season's emphatic climax.
Divisional races featuring two of baseball's most heated rivalries dominate headlines on both coasts.
The National League wild card race is a fight to the finish between four teams, half of whom were thought of as all-but-dead at the All-Star break.
The Padres were supposed to be a young team that had shown some promise but couldn't possibly claim a playoff berth. The Astros were ready to trade away their top talent and wait until next year.
Both teams have fought back to heighten the excitement as the end of the season nears.
Barry Bonds, love him or hate him, is plowing his way through Major League Baseball's all-time homerun list with no end in site.
Bonds joined the 700-homerun club recently, and is approaching the Babe Ruth/Hank Aaron stratosphere that always seemed so unreachable.
The Texas Rangers, minus Alex Rodriguez, jumped from last-place to division title contender with a pitching staff held together with no more than duct tape.
The Minnesota Twins on the arm of Johann Santana, and their collective glove-work, have run away with the American League Central division.
In the east, the Yankees and Red Sox are locked in another fight to the death. The Sawx, on the broad shoulders of Curt Schilling, and the "I'm not sure if we have a game tonight" duo of Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, are 32 games over .500 and three games behind the Yankees.
The Yankees, on the other hand, have borrowed the duct tape from the Twins to use on their own pitching staff. It is a staff that boasts a Cuban refugee, of an unknown age, as its ace.
On the other coast, the Los Angeles Dodgers try to hold off the charge of Bonds, Jason Schmidt and a bunch of faceless Giants in a race for the NL West crown.
In the NL Central, the St. Louis Cardinals have run away with a division that was thought to be the most competitive at season's start.
In all, the Yankees have no pitching, the Sox have no Nomar, Bonds doesn't need any teammates, the Rangers don't need A-Rod, the Twins don't need a star, and the Cardinals didn't need the season's second half.
Oh yeah, the Braves won the NL East, but I'm sure you already knew that.