AL Central--historic collapse?

[kah]

Cleveland leads KC 5-4 in the 8th. Will be only 3 1/2 out if they hold on.

[backstop]

Remaining schedules:

CHI:
vs. Cleveland
vs. Minnesota
at Detroit
at Cleveland

CLE:
at Chicago
at Kansas City
vs. Tampa Bay
vs. Chicago


Could be interesting.

[Schwahalala]

All three Al Divisions could come down to the last weekend - with the wild card up for grabs too.

Talk about exciting - 6 teams without a playoff spot locked up among them.

[The Skeptic]

I've got a buddy at work who grew up in Chicago.

He's a die-hard Sox fan.

And we've got him on suicide watch right now.

[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

This will be right up there with the '69 Cubs.

[kah]

Indians hold on for a 5-4 win.

It's the revenge of Buck Weaver.

[Xavier]

This has got to be the most exciting year for playoff races

[JK]

Move over Philadelphia...

After 41 years, there may be a new sheriff in town...

[CSD]

QUOTE(_STLfan_in_DFW @ Sep 17 2005, 10:14 PM) Quoted post

Move over Philadelphia...

After 41 years, there may be a new sheriff in town...
[/b][/quote]


I'm rooting for it to happen. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]

[JK]

QUOTE(CSD @ Sep 17 2005, 09:21 PM) Quoted post

QUOTE(_STLfan_in_DFW @ Sep 17 2005, 10:14 PM) Quoted post

Move over Philadelphia...

After 41 years, there may be a new sheriff in town...
[/b][/quote]


I'm rooting for it to happen. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]
[/b][/quote]


[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img] I was pretty sure of that... [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

" Look, forget the myths the media's created about the White House--the truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand."

[kah]

The '95 Angels and '78 Red Sox would be right up there with them for Big Collapses.

[JWB]

The '93 Giants also needed the services of Dr. Heimlich.

[Bleacher Creature]

Fitting that it would be Chicago. Although, I want them to win the AL and play the Cards in the WS, just to stick in further the the Cub fans.

[kah]

Bump!

Indians 7, White Sox 5! Lead down to 2 1/2. This is immensely entertaining.

The following was printed b/f the Indians won tonight.

QUOTE

Postseason or postmortem?
September 19, 2005

BY CHRIS DE LUCA STAFF REPORTER
Before performing the Heimlich maneuver on the White Sox, let's step back a moment and see if they can save themselves from that bite of bratwurst recently lodged in their throats.



For a team that hasn't played anything resembling a crucial series since dropping two of three to the Cubs in late June, the Sox face their biggest test of the season beginning tonight. Three games against the hard-charging Cleveland Indians should provide clues as to whether the Sox are primed for a classic Chicago collapse or a perfectly timed rebound into October.

This series at U.S. Cellular Field won't decide who goes to the playoffs, but it should reveal which is the more worthy team.

A couple of weeks ago, a tighter battle between the Sox and anyone seemed like a needed wake-up call for a sleepwalking first-place club. But letting a lead that stood at 15 games on Aug. 1 dissolve to 3-1/2 is a red flag no one should ignore.

Yes, their 2-1 victory Sunday against the Minnesota Twins allowed them to take two of three in that series, but the Sox won largely because Jose Contreras is pitching better than anyone else who opened the season in the rotation and the Twins made too many uncharacteristic blunders.

We still need to see that April and May fire for an entire series.

When the Indians needed it, they swept the pathetic Kansas City Royals in three games. When the Sox should have completed a sweep of the Royals last week, they dropped two of three instead.

The last time the Sox won a division title was 2000. They clinched the Sunday before the regular season ended, backing into the playoffs with a loss to the Twins. The Sox then lost five of their remaining seven games, seeming more like they were enjoying vacation than prepping for the playoffs. And then they looked flat while being swept in the first round by the Seattle Mariners.

So reserving the clinching party has its merits.

To a degree.

This series against the Indians is the perfect tuneup for the playoffs. The rotation is set with the original big three of Freddy Garcia, Mark Buehrle and Jon Garland. Manager Ozzie Guillen should pick a lineup and stick with it for three games. If Bobby Jenks is the closer -- and recent evidence suggests he has supplanted Dustin Hermanson in that role -- let him know tight ninth-inning leads belong to him the next three days.

The reason for the get-serious approach has nothing to do with soothing sweating fans or quieting critics. It has everything to do with giving a team that seems to be losing confidence a reason to believe.

No team with playoff aspirations wants to hear in mid-September that the leadoff hitter some people have called the Sox' MVP has lost his confidence on the basepaths. No manager ever wants to hear one of his key relievers admit he has no confidence against the kind of hitters he is supposed to have an advantage against.

But there was Scott Podsednik, admitting he has been timid on the bases since coming off the disabled list on Aug. 29. The numbers prove he's a different kind of runner, getting thrown out five times in his last six tries. You can't be the pest that rattles opposing pitchers if they know you don't have the nerve to do your job.

Left-hander Damaso Marte showed he wanted nothing to do with left-handed hitters when he hit consecutive Royals batters on Sept. 7, then complained of a mysterious neck injury the Sox never quite believed. He did a nice job Friday, retiring the two batters he faced, then did the same thing Sunday.

The Indians, whose best shot at the playoffs remains the wild card, have only one mission: win. No matter whom they're playing.

The Sox could afford to look at the bigger picture in recent games. Guillen was right to start aging Orlando Hernandez over rookie Brandon McCarthy on Saturday. Guillen needed to see how much was left in the postseason warrior. Failing to get past the fourth inning for the second consecutive start lit a warning light that El Duque is the odd man out in a potential postseason rotation.

McCarthy will get the start Thursday, and Hernandez will fade into the background.

Guillen used the Friday game to test his confidence in the beleaguered Marte. He also has used recent games to gauge the effectiveness of Jenks and has discovered a new closer.

The time for tinkering is over.

The Sox have scoffed at talk they have been playing over their heads for the last 51/2 months, knowing disbelievers have been waiting for their collapse since May. They realize it's possible they might be the most disrespected team ever to have a wire-to-wire run in first place.

That beats the alternative -- going down as one of the biggest chokes of all time.[/b][/quote]

[007]

CLE is going to win the division...

[kah]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stor...d=2166652&num=0

QUOTE

• Only one team in the history of baseball -- the 1914 "Miracle" Braves -- was ever 15 games out at any point of any season and came back to finish first. But that team fell 15 back in the first week of July, not the first week of August.

• The biggest Aug. 1 lead any team in history has ever blown, on the other hand, is 11 games -- by the 1995 Angels. But these Indians already have made up more games than that in just a month and a half. [/b][/quote]