The good news for the Detroit Tigers is that they swept a three game series at home vs the Chicago White Sox.
There is “bad news” as well in that the Cleveland Indians maintained their four and a half game lead in the American League Central Division by sweeping a three game home series of their own, vs the last place Minnesota Twins.
As Labor Day Weekend approaches, Cleveland in a bid for their eighth, “one eighth” division title still has a nice lead. The Tigers are now tied with the Baltimore Orioles for the lead in the race for playoff qualification.
Rather than think of the dreaded wild card presence, I think of a great Detroit/Baltimore association from the better, if not glorious past.
The association is baseball great Al Kaline, who played his whole career for the Tigers and was from Baltimore.
Oh those Chicago Cubs do not learn as they continue to win a great deal, certainly as far as the tournament contending, Pittsburgh Pirates are concerned.
Chicago just completed a three game sweep of the “Buccos” in the “Windy City” damaging the Pittsburgh entry’s tournament aspirations.
Last season, the Cubs won a one game playoff, I guess, that certainly eliminated the Pirates from the baseball tournament.
Pittsburgh has been in that joke/one game deal in the last 3 seasons, winning in 2013 before losing in both 2014 and last season.
Joe Maddon, pictured above, has managed the Cubs to an incredible 15 game lead in the N.L. Central Division.
I truly have nothing against Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback Andrew Luck save the fact WFAN radio’s Mike Francesa likes him so much.
This season, I believe to be Francesa’s last at WFAN, (I vow not to listen but really want to know his “picks” as I feel strongly, he will not have a second straight good season regarding those picks, but since I will not know his picks and go vs them, I hope he does. All of that manifests in a warning regarding the evil of gambling!!) Andrew Luck and the Colts will do very well.
They are slight underdogs to the Houston Texans in the AFC South.
The Texans’ quarterback, Brock Osweiler is one of the few modern athletes worth cheers. I will root for him, but my feeling is the Colts will win the AFC South.
Neither the Tennessee Titans nor Jacksonville Jaguars figure to challenge for the division crown, but I am not Francesa who so often says NO chance, and will not say they have no chance because they do have a chance.
It is far from my wish list to talk about and promote a game or just about anything on ESPN/ABC/Disney.
In fact I say do not watch the Sunday night clash between Notre Dame University and Texas University.
Do not watch unless they can resurrect the great announcer, who was the lead CBS announcer on so many Cotton Bowls, Lindsey Nelson.
Three such Cotton Bowls matched Texas and Notre Dame with Texas having the national title in their grasp with a victory.
Notre Dame won two of the three games and won as many national titles afterward as Texas.
Before this Sunday night’s tilt (there another promo) more on those memorable games between the two schools.
Lindsey Nelson pictured above.
If it comes to pass that the almost certain National league one seed, Chicago Cubs face the current American League top seed, Texas Rangers in the World Series, talk will be about how the Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908.
That surely will and should be emphasized but alas the Texas Rangers not only have never won a World Series crown but suffered one of the worst defeats ever in any game in which a team had a chance to “title” with a victory.
The game was the sixth of the 2011 World Series when twice the Rangers were one out away from a World Series victory only to see a St. Louis Cardinals’ player, first David Freese and then Lance Berkman deliver all-time type clutch hits that tied game 6, in what eventually manifested in the Cardinals’ 11th World Series victory in game 7.
Thus some of the “sympathy vote” should go to Texas even in a World Series vs the Cubs. Chances are it will not happen, but at the moment no World Series match up is more likely.
Lance Berkman, pictured above and then with the St. Louis Cardinals, delivered a 2 out, 2 strike hit that drove in the tying run in game six of the 2011 World Series vs the Texas Rangers. The Cards went on to win both the game and World Series.
Berkman ended his playing career with Texas, but unfortunately for Texas, the World Series did not end with Berkman’s at bat in game 6 of the 2011 World Series.
Last season the Cincinnati Bengals won the AFC North Division.
However, the Pittsburgh Steelers from the same division handed the Bengals an inexcusable Saturday night wild card game loss.
The defeat is one of many the Bengals have suffered without advancing in the playoffs.
Last year Cincy won both “reg” tilts vs the Steelers. That is unlikely to happen again. It will be a close race.
Both the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns will improve.
A true comedic great, Gene Wilder died yesterday at the age of 83.
I could not do justice to his greatness and “light,” by listing his movies and television appearances.
Instead it is that “light,” sometimes literal, he brought to almost every endeavor in which I saw him.
Mel Brooks saw it, Gilda Radner saw it and was loved by it, while Cleavon Little and he took that “light,” not the heat, and with a superb other cast made the film “Blazing Saddles” a classic comedy.
Ah, but a black sheriff working with a white gunslinger, years before prejudice dropped even the bit it has in over 100 years, maybe as Reverend Rodney King wished, we all could all get along.
There is that light again!
You see that light! The most beautiful Ingrid Bergman was both born and died on August 29th. She was so beautiful, made more so by beautiful lighting. Gene Wilder pictured above, also died on August 29th and always brought a different but still beautiful light. Meeting Ingrid upon “seeing the light,” could be happening to Gene Wilder just about now.
Somehow, despite far less than stellar play and with their one full season plus star player, Yoenis Cespedes, the New York Mets have stayed in tournament contention.
Of course, only the bogus wild card is available to them, but that is also the case involving all the other wild card contenders (St.Louis Cardinals, Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates) save the L.A. Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.
That is because the N.L. Central will go to the top ranked Chicago Cubs and as I speculated despite early season “sloppiness” the N.L. East will go to the Washington Nationals.
The last two teams in the discussion of 3 straight league pennant winners had similar records but I feel one was discernibly better than the other.
Yet each of them was a truly excellent team that underachieved, perhaps in winning just one of the three World Series it entered during the 3 straight pennant seasons.
I believe the Baltimore Orioles, who won 3 straight American League titles from (1969-1971) were discernibly better than the Oakland A’s teams that won the A.L. flag from (1988-1990).
Each team lost, then won and lost in World Series play, however the Orioles’ loss in their third straight W.S. appearance to the Roberto Clemente and Steve Blass led Pittsburgh Pirates, was in a tough 7 game series, while the Cincinnati Reds, a big underdog swept the A’s in Oakland’s third straight World Series appearance in 1990.
The great Orioles’ third baseman, Brooks Robinson pictured above. I believe the above picture was taken in the final inning of the 1970 World Series aka “The Brooks Robinson Series.” Brooks made another great play, this one, again I believe, on a smash by the superb Reds’ catcher, John Bench.
On the last weekend of the 1967 season, an incredible three team race for the truly meaningful league pennant was down to the last two days.
While the Boston Red Sox did their part by winning both Fenway Park games vs the Minnesota Twins, to pass “Minne” in the standings, it was the Angels splitting 2 doubleheaders in Detroit, that clinched the race for Boston.
Boston had won a showdown 162nd game of the year vs the Twins to move one game ahead of them and eliminate them from pennant contention.
Detroit won the first game of a doubleheader from the Angels but with Red Sox players listening to the great Tigers’ broadcaster Ernie Harwell’s “pumped into their clubhouse ” broadcast, the Angels won that second game and “The Impossible Dream” Red Sox had their first pennant in 21 years.
Click below to view the Red Sox clinching at least a tie for the 1967 pennant. Later they listened as the Angels beat the Tigers to clinch the BoSox first pennant in 21 years. The announcer I believe is Mel Parnell.
MIN@BOS: Red Sox win on final day of season
Andy B Sports 