With 160 of 162 games in the books, we come down to the last two days of the season. All 30 teams will each be taking the field twice to wrap things up. Well most of these teams are just going through the motions. Resting up their starters for the postseason. Four of these teams are fighting for their playoff lives…
The Red Sox, who have been going down faster than your prom date… wait, scratch that. More like the Titanic, or the economy, slow and painful. Over the last month, they have played some of the worst ball in franchise history, erasing a 9 game wild card lead, and handing the division to the Yankees. Then we have the Rays, who are playing some of the best “Maddonball” of their season. “Maddonball” refers to their manager Joe Maddon’s different approach to the game. Whether it’s his lax attitude in the club house, letting his players have date night instead of BP, or having the team dress up for road trips, it just seems to work. With less than a third of the payroll of his big-market counterparts, he manages to keep his team competitive. And is now poised to snatch the last playoff spot from the faltering Bo Sox. The two teams are dead locked at 89 wins, each of them having 1 game tonight, and 1 game tomorrow.
On the other side of the league, different teams, similar story. The Atlanta Braves, who went 17-9 in August, have now gone 9-16 in September to drop their wild card lead over the Cards down to 1 game. The Cards, who have played .500 ball all summer, must have smelled blood in the water, cause they have really ramped it up going 16-8 so far through September. And for their final two games, they get to play the leagues worst team in the Houston Astros. The Braves however, have to play the leagues best team, the 100 win Philadelphia Phillies. So to re-cap, we have a hot team, down one game, playing the worst team in baseball. And a slumping team, up one game, playing the best team in baseball. Sounds like a dead heat to me!
With the NHL still in the preseason, and the NFL excitement over for another week. It’s the perfect time to grab your favorite snack, put your rally cap on, and watch two nights, of intense, nail-biting baseball!
