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Just an update for the baseball fans out there. The Tiger's lead is now only 2 games over the Twins and 3 1/2 over the White Sox. This is all of a sudden great stuff. 3 rivalries in the midwest in the same division, are 3 1/2 games apart after 143 baseball games and only 19 to go.

Who do you like and why? My heart goes with the White Sox, but my head goes with the Twins. I think Minnesota has been the best team in that division since the All Star break, and I think the momentum can carry them to the division title. Good luck and may the best team win it!
P.S. Go Sox.

Well my Tigers have apparently forgotten how to hit the ball. If that continues they'll have a long sad September. Still, the schedule favors the Tigers... it may be the only thing going for them at this point, that and they're still in 1st. Both the Twins and W. Sox have much more difficult schedules down the stretch. That won't mean much if some of the Tigers don't start hitting again, though their pitching has remained strong, for the most part. It could come down to the season's last weekend with the Twins vs the White Sox while the Tigers face KC.

As a kid, I rooted for the Phillies in 1961 (23-game losing streak), 1964 (10-game losing streak that blew a 6-1/2 game lead with 12 to go), and other years in which the Fightin' Phils struggled. So, even though (as a adult) I've cheered the Twins to world championships in 1987 and 1991, I'm still always poised for a disappointment. Hard to shake those childhood traumas.

My concern about the Twins is their arms. After Santana (who's putting together another CyYoung-caliber year), they don't have much at the moment. Hotshot rookie Francisco Liriano comes off the DL soon; I hear it still hurts him to throw a slider. Veteran Brad Radke (torn labrum, hairline-fracture in glenoid, but huge heart) MAY be available in late Sept, but I ain't counting on it. That leaves Carlos Silva (currently taking flak for removing himself from a well-pitched game after 6 innings, due to tummy ache, poor baby), heralded prospect Matt Garza (who was brought up too fast, IMO), and Boof Bonser (very cool name, anyway). Twins bats may be reawakening (eh, waz?), and they play D and run the bases adventurously. But arms, baby. Need pitching.

I never would have guessed that the Tigers' lead would shrink so much, but I'll stay with my prediction that they'll take the division title. I'll take the Twins for the WC, partly because of the season-ending showdown between the ChiSox and the Twins here in the Metrodome. Which means that Thome (Twin-killer from his Cleveland days) and company will shatter my heart in about 19 days.

As someone on local radio observed, it's a shame that all 3 clubs can't advance to postseason play. Certainly the fans in all towns involved are getting a good ride this year.

I proposed the idea of 2 divisions per League with 2 Wildcards each, awhile back, on another board. That would almost insure that no deserving teams get left out. It's kind of a moot point now the way that the As have come on lately. The 3rd place team in the AL Central is likely to finish with a worse record than Oakland anyway.

Pulling for my Twins. This in the only time I follow baseball.

Here's some interesting numbers :

-Since the All-Star break the World champion White Sox are 24-30
-Since Aug. 8, The once stellar Tigers are 10-22
-Since June 8, the Twins are 58-26 (32 gms over .500!)- Even with injury, they are at least winning even though they've slowed down a touch.(won 10 of 18 now).

For whatever reason, the Sox are treading water. At this time last year, they were unstoppable. They have really disappointed me.
Ozzie Guillen had this certain panache and charisma last year that was contageous to fans and players. This year, whether it be his run-ins with journalists and umpires that got him to counseling, it's really obvious that he's taken a back-seat to his real personality. This mellow Ozzie is hurting us. Maybe it's the loss of Aaron Rowand to the Phils, the Carl Everrett loss, Podsednik's .259 BA, or our SS Uribe's unbelievably putrid .260 on-base %. (no, that's not a mis-print). Most likely our 5 starters with ERAs all over 4.10!

Actually, that being said, they are 20 games over .500 and in the thick of the race. It simply seems like the Twins want it more, have been winning much more consistantly than us and the Tigers, injuries or not, right now they're still better than what we both are giving.

The White Sox, all the way. What an improbable repeat this would be.

I've still got to favor the Tigers, with a soft schedule and the lead. The Twins have the dueling aces at the front of their rotation, but I'm not sure if their offense is strong enough to maintain it on through and I can't get any handle on the White Sox lately.

'card: Far be it from me to question your baseball acumen, but I'm confused by your claim about the Twins' offense. Unless I'm reading MLB.com wrong (see page below), the Twins currently have the highest team batting average in baseball. 6th in on-base percentage, too. Maybe you mean slugging (where they're 17th of 30)? Please elaborate.
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/stats/...s.jsp?c_id=mlb

I don't know how they can make a playoff format, but I'd like to see an extra wild card from each league.

-Sox have a tough one tonite in Anaheim vs. Santana (14 wins)
-Twins have a rookie making his 2nd MLB appearance toeing the rubber v. the A's
-Tigers have the best opportunity tonite after the day off -playing at home w/ The Gambler dealing. Good luck.

What I mean is that they're about midpack in scoring runs, nearly last in the league in homers (although some of that may be a product of the home park), and no one in the lineup really scares people. I think they're in a similar position as LA in the NL. They can hit for average, they can get on base, but once you hit the postseason, the pitchers on those staffs are adept at keeping men off base and more importantly, keeping them from scoring once they get on. On occasion, pitchers do make a mistake though and the batters need to be ready to hammer it. It's my opinion that home runs are vastly more important momentum-builders in the postseason than in the regular season, and teams need to be able to jump on anything that is thrown over the plate. Morneau can bop 'em for the Twins, but no one else on that team has proven to be a power hitter either this year, or in years past.

That's not to discount their chances, but it makes me a little wary in giving them the "favorite label" from the Central.

A walk-off HR in the pouring rain by Carlos Guillen(his 2nd of the night) just gave the Tigers a 3-2 win over the Rangers, keeping the dogs & Twins at bay for at least another day thanks in large part to 3 outfield assists by Craig Monroe in left.... 2 at the plate.

...still not hitting though.

Congrats to the Tigers and Twins last night. Just watched the White Sox lose a heartbreaker in extra innings. I felt this one go thru my gut. Oh, well, like they say, worry about today's games, not yesterday.

No Twins power hitters in years past?! Well, I guess a YGer can be forgiven if he overlooks Harmon Killebrew, 2nd-leading HR-hitter in AL history. More recently, Gary Gaetti and Kent Hrbek had some pop; in fact, in 1987, the Twins had four guys (Gaetti, Hrbek, Puckett, Brunansky) with more than 30 HRs. But I see what you're saying about this year's Twins. Despite Morneau's 33 HRs, they don't win games with 3-run dingers. You make a plausible point about postseason hitters needing to jump on fat pitches. Thanks for the clarification!

Actually, that was Matt Guerrier's 86th MLB appearance, having made his MLB debut with the Twins in 2004. So, not a lot of MLB experience. This year he's been working long relief, but Scott Baker has been so bad as a starter that the Twins thought they'd go with Guerrier. They hoped for 5 innings from him; they got 4 (3 ER in that time). Luckily the five (sheesh) Twins pitchers after Guerrier gave up only 2 more runs and the Twins came from behind to win with a 4-run eighth.

Listening to the Twins game as I write this (day game vs. A's). All-Star Rookie Francisco Liriano, in his first start after coming off the DL, was removed from the game in the top of the 3rd, after facing 7 batters. Elbow pain is the report at this time. Obviously bad news for the Twins, but not surprising to me. I have not trusted the optimistic reports about how well his rehab was going. Rookie Matt Garza (1-4, 6.23) is on in relief. No score after 4, but that should change soon.