DBAHO Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 Was just on Foxsports.com and here's some stuff from their latest Inside Corner by Dave Van Dyck. AL Central race heating up Question: At the start of this week, which team had the major league's best record since the All-Star break and which team had the second-best record? You would be correct if you answered "Minnesota" and "the Chicago White Sox." Impossible, you say? Not if you look at the records: 32-17 for the Twins and 31-17 for the White Sox as they prepared for four games this week and three again next week. So what's the point? Well, maybe the AL (Comedy) Central has been taking a bad rap. "People say how weak our division is, but we have three good teams," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said while including Kansas City. "I don't think anybody wants to play us at this time of year. That says a lot for our division." Sorry to say, Gardy, but teams fear the White Sox more than your Twins, only because the White Sox can win with offense (Magglio Ordonez, Frank Thomas) and starting pitching (Esteban Loaiza, Bartolo Colon, Mark Buehrle) that is as good in a five- or seven-game series as any team has. In the last month, the White Sox have won two of three games from Oakland and the Yankees, although they did lose a pair of one-run games to Boston. The Twins did start the second half with four straight victories over Oakland, but have beaten up mostly on Baltimore, Detroit, Cleveland, Texas and Anaheim. The rest of the schedule is the same, giving the Twins a huge advantage. The White Sox don't play any teams under .500 the rest of this season. The Twins still have 13 games left against some of the worst teams, including a final-weekend series against the Tigers. The truth is, while the White Sox were getting lots of public notice for their second-half surge, the Twins kind of snuck up on the field after a very mediocre first half that saw players (like free-agent-to-be Eddie Guardado) and the front office sniping at each other. "All the emphasis has been on the baseball field and we have not ventured off into contract issues lately," Gardenhire said. "Before the All-Star break, we stunk it up about as bad as you can. "But one thing that's never left our clubhouse is that we know we can play. We learned a lot last year. "We had a 13 1/2-game lead at this time last year, but when you're trying to clinch a division, you can't believe the pressure. You don't want to be the team that gags a 13-game lead." The Twins won't have that problem this year, but that confidence gleaned from making last season's playoffs will come in handy during the stretch drive. "Right now we're pretty focused, there's a lot of cheering going on, a lot of laughing, and we're getting breaks. You've got to be lucky." You also have to be good. And Gardenhire thinks the eventual Central winner will be plenty good come October. Here's da power alley from it. Top five teams 1. San Francisco: Getting healthy and better at the right time ... 2. Houston: Return of Roy (Oswalt) gives inspirational lift. 3. White Sox: One good week, one bad one. 4. Minnesota: Twins trying to show they belong. 5. Oakland: Not straight A's this past week. There were also some interesting news bout Free Agency Here's one to think about: The A's will lose MVP shortstop Miguel Tejada to free agency this winter — and could lose third baseman Eric Chavez the same way after next season. And if one team has enough money ... "Me and Miggy, anywhere; I'd love to go where he goes," Chavez said. Don't forget the A's probably will lose closer Keith Foulke to free agency after this season, too, after losing Jason Isringhausen, Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon that way two years ago. Rumors among the scouting community are the Orioles will return to being big players in the free-agent market this winter. They have money and they have incentive, believing they are just a couple of good players away from contending. First priority: Two starting pitchers, one of them a No. 1 (like Andy Pettitte or even former Oriole Sidney Ponson?). The Orioles may have to battle division rival Boston, which has its eyes on a No. 2 after Pedro Martinez. Hmm, I wonder if da Orioles could also go after Colon like da Yanks prob will? Here's da link http://www.foxsports.com/content/view?cont...ntentId=1655660 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YASNY Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 Good read... thanks for posting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Critic Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 Does NO ONE go to A's games out there? Or do they charge $5 per ticket? How is it that they can't keep ANY free agents AT ALL? I mean, you even hear about teams like KC or Pittsburgh re-signing their own guys SOMETIMES! ( well....you USED to hear about Pittsburgh re-signing guys, anyway....now they just give them to the Cubs... ) It would be frustrating as hell to be a diehard A's fan - I mean, how many obsolete replica jerseys would you have hanging in your closet? You could wear the jersey of an ex-"fan favorite" when almost any opposing team came to town! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hotsoxchick1 Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 how many obsolete replica jerseys would you have hanging in your closet? You could wear the jersey of an ex-"fan favorite" when almost any opposing team came to town! lol pretty much like the ones i have hanging in my closet for ex sox players..... dbaho thats a good post thanks..... i think that the power alley part pretty much sums it up.... one good week and one bad week....well we cant afford anymore bad weeks with only two left....we need to make them both count...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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