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Talk about CLOSE!! Don't let the final standings deceive you, specifically the results for 3rd and 4th place, which landed the Cities in the money, 2 points ahead of the Mud Hens. It was a lot closer than that, all the way down to the minute, literally, just as I wanted it to be. Check this out:
Going into Sunday, the Cities led the Mud Hens by 1 point, but several key developments had occurred. Each team had unexpectedly lost a point, in both cases to the Mountain Men. The Mud Hens had dropped below them in Ratio on Saturday, and the Cities had fallen back in OBP, by a margin of .3453 to .3450. Either one of these deficits could conceivably be reversed in a single day. Also, the Kings had crept up on the Cities in Saves, and needed only one more to tie, and take a half-point from their lead.
Meanwhile, the MM had also caught both of us in Wins, forging a 3-way tie in that category, at 5 points each. How had that happened? Well, Lou Piniella decided to give Randy Johnson a vulture 20th win on Saturday, by pulling Omar Olivares in the 4th inning with a 7-2 lead and letting Johnson pitch 2 innings for the W. This "classy" move also took a win away from the Mud Hens (Olivares) and gave it to the Mountain Men (Johnson)!
On Sunday, the Mud Hens got their Win back from Scott Eyre in Chicago, enough to move back into a 3rd place tie. The Cities would need another Win to regain sole possession. I had hoped it would come down to Clemens vs. the Red Sox for the decisive point, and that final game was extremely entertaining, as Rocket hung on as long as he could, trying for the W, and the strikeout crown. The foul home run by Gonzalez in the 8th was almost as gut wrenching as if it were a meaningful game. And I couldn't help being glad that the Blue Jays won it at the end, avoiding the Loss for Clemens, and giving their fans a deserving finale. As it turned out, Clemens didn't get the Win, but over in Texas, John Burkett did, giving the Cities their necessary margin, anyway.
But it was so much closer than I realized at the time. The 2-point difference in the standings occurred because the Cities also moved back ahead of the Mountain Men in OBP on the last day, .34507 to .34462. Do you know how close that is? A total of 3 hits or walks in 3 plate appearances. The standings also show that the Cities remained 1 save ahead of the Kings. Well, maybe you noticed in that final Red Sox game, the losing pitcher was Tom Gordon, who would have picked up the Save had he closed out the 9th, and Tom Gordon pitches for the Kings. And who were the final two batters of the game? Shannon Stewart, who walked and scored the winning run on Shawn Green's double. Both play for, that's right, the Cities, who got a 2-for-2 added to their OBP from those last two at-bats, barely enough to put them back ahead of the Mountain Men!!
And some people wonder why we play Rotisserie . . .
Congratulations. Well, while I've been caught up in this 3rd place frenzy, it's worth repeating the well-deserved congratulations to the 4-time champion Skid Rowes for a truly amazing second half run, and the do-or-die Boomers for coming pretty close at the end. And let's not ignore the accomplishments of the Hammerin' Eggerts and the Mountain Men, who both hung in there all season, and made respectable showings while forcing the rest of us to fight tooth-and-nail for every point along the way. Even the ill-fated Lippers kept things interesting, never abandoning their team, and refusing to dump for the sake of dumping.
Even more roster expansion! I had it only half right last week. The population explosion in the GoodIV League is simply out of control! Not only are the Hammerin' Eggerts, Mud Hens (Gambales), and Kings (Kellers) adding bonus babies, but so are the Boomers (Mike Legeres), Pets (Goldmans), and yes, the champion Skid Rowes (so the winning formula remains reliable)! In fact, Chuck and Jody delivered a baby girl last week, and here's the announcement from Paul and Jill:
On September 9, 1997 at precisely 8:00am, the Keller Kings acquired a rising young star by the name of Karen Amy, carrying a 7 lb., 3 oz. bat (18 1/2 " long). GM Jill, who was instrumental in the acquisition, is recovering fine from the excitement of this new addition to the starting lineup. Known for her "shock" of jet-black hair and her quirky routine around the batter's box (eat, burp, sleep, defecate, cry), she has won the hearts of Kings fans everywhere! For now, however, it's Karen's parents who are batting cleanup!
The other rookies are due, as I understand it, in the next couple of months. One of these days, we have got to have a total League cookout, with families. Maybe we can rent Fenway Park.
Back to the Future. If you didn't review last week's notice on the free agents who will be available in the 1998 draft, go check it out (don't you love this hyperlinking?) Plenty of planning ahead. Meanwhile, let's start to set our sights on a post-season party. How about the weekend of October 11? I think I'll still be around, and even though it's not World Series yet, there's sure to be a playoff game. Please e-mail me with your availability, and I'll try to set something up.
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Copyright 1997 David N. Townsend