Bartolo Colon has gone 9-3 since the All-Star break. Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

If there's one thing about modern baseball that purists hammer me on all the time -- and, believe me, there's a lot more than one thing the old-timers like to moan about -- it's the damage the wild card has done to the pennant races.

I hear it all the time. You know, how it doesn't matter who wins the American League East this year because both the Yankees and Red Sox are already in the playoffs, for all intents and purposes, thanks to that stupid wild card. How the old-time pennant races were real races, for real pennants. How there was no spot for a second-place ballclub back in the good old days.

How if God had intended there to be a wild card, dag nab it, he would have chiseled it into the tablets at No. 11.

Well, yes, it's true. Sometimes. The wild card can dilute the pennant races once in a while. The Red Sox know that this year, for instance, unless they completely trip down the dugout steps, they're going to get either the AL East title or the wild card.

But it's not as if the wild card has destroyed pennant races altogether. Check out the AL West this year. With the Red Sox holding the wild-card lead, they're playing without a safety net over in the AL West. And it couldn't be more compelling.

The A's, the best second-half team of this decade, have been in first place since July 31. On Sept. 4, they held a comfy four-game lead over the Angels. But after running into the Red Sox last week, losing all three games by a combined score of 23-7, Oakland's lead over the Angels in the division has shrunk to two games.

The Yankees asking for a forfeit? Rafael Furcal getting charged with another DUI? Nah. This week's nod goes to Philadelphia outfielder Jason Michaels, who played third-rate juggler with a fly ball to center Thursday from Atlanta's Charles Thomas, turning what could have been an out into a bobbled ball and an accidental shotput over the wall for a home run. It wasn't quite an "E," but it was darn weird. Not much has gone right for the Mets this season, but David Wright has. The rookie third baseman, brought up in mid-July, is hitting close to .300 with 11 home runs and 31 RBIs in 48 games. He's only 21, too. Yes, Mets fans, there is hope for the future. "Why can't I throw HIM out of the game?" -- Phillies closer Billy Wagner after being tossed Friday by the object of his scorn, umpire Dana DeMuth

The pitching-rich A's have a poor 5.11 ERA this month, and that's after a 1-0 shutout of the Indians on Sunday. Oakland, just 5-6 this month, snapped a five-game losing streak Saturday, the longest skid they've had after the All-Star break since August of 2000.

And so the Angels are taking advantage. Not much, but some. They're 6-5 this month. They're pitching better, with a team ERA of 3.99, fourth in the league. The Angels have a chance. They're in the race. And, thanks to the unbalanced schedule (and, man, do some people hate that, too), the Angels and A's play six more times.

There's a race that means something.

Yes, having the wild card as a fallback can blunt the divisional races on occasion. In the American League in '97, for example, the Yankees and Orioles were slugging it out in the East, but no one else was close to either of them in the wild card. So, in effect, there were no real races down the stretch because one of the teams was assured of getting the East title, the other the wild card. The same was true of the Yankees and Red Sox in '99, the Braves and Mets in 2000, and the Giants and Diamondbacks in '02.

But the wild card has more than made up for that in other years. In '98, for example, there were no divisional races to speak of in the NL. The entire league in September was as interesting as a Giants lineup without Barry Bonds. The only race remaining was for the NL wild card. And it was a blast.

On the last day of the season, the Cubs, Mets and Giants all had a chance to make it to the postseason. But all three teams lost, forcing a one-game playoff between the Cubs and Giants. The Cubs won, 5-3.

Sometimes, like in '98, the wild card is the only reason not to sleep through September. And sometimes, in years like this one, you can have a thrilling race (five teams within 2 1/2 games in the NL) and some corkers in the divisions (AL West), too.

Sometimes, if we're lucky, we can get the best of both worlds.

• The Orioles are playing hardball with Rafael Palmeiro, either sitting him or making him DH so he won't reach the 140 games on defense he needs to trigger a $4.5 million option for 2005. It's a hard business, and Palmeiro doesn't deserve this. But if he were hitting better than .256 with more than 17 homers and hit better than .179 against lefties, it wouldn't be nearly as hard.

• Bonds set some kind of walks record over the weekend -- oh, yeah, he broke his own single-season mark of 198 -- and the overwhelming feeling is queasiness, isn't it? Strategy? Yeah, sure. Whatever. The walks are a thriller killer.

• Ichiro went hitless in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday for the first time since late April. Late April! He needs 27 hits in his last 20 games to break George Sisler's hits record. Is it time to walk Ichiro?

• Bonds had another home run this weekend, giving him 699 for his career. His first chance at No. 700 comes Tuesday in Milwaukee. It's just a milestone, to be sure, not a record. But, whooo. Nice number.

• The Los Angeles Times reports that Expos officials have talked to Montreal about rental terms for Olympic Stadium in 2005. Just in case, you know. Sheesh.

• Rangers third baseman Hank Blalock is hitting .211 with six home runs since the All-Star break. And he's hitting .171, with no homers, this month. Just the stats, ma'am.

• Funny/mean note of the week: In a game at Wrigley Field over the weekend, Marlins pitcher Carl Pavano left four tickets for Steve Bartman.

• The Phillies have won six in a row and nine of their last 10. Nice timing, fellas.

I keep reading about the Cy Young race from every "expert" on the Internet. Every one of them still omits Jake Peavy until someone like me writes in to complain. Then comes the apology in the mailbag -- but it still happens all the time. It looks like he'll be an ERA qualifier by the time the season's done and he could end up with 15 wins and an ERA half a run lower than Johnson's. Do you think he will at least be considered a front-runner for next year's race if he's healthy?
 -- Jason Norton, San Diego

	MAILBAG Comments, questions or obviously unfounded criticism? To e-mail Donovan, use the form below. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Well, Jason, I'm putting your e-mail in here so I can be considered an "expert," too. I especially like the quotation marks. "Expert." They fit me well. (By the way, I love Peavy. Who doesn't? He has good stuff. He's only 23 years old. If he stays healthy -- always a decent-sized if -- he'll challenge for a Cy in the future.)

The Cubs' struggles come down to one stat: They're 10 games below .500 in one-run games, among the five worst such records in baseball. If they were just .500 in that stat, the race would've been over a couple of weeks ago. And though you point out pitching woes, the real issues are terrible baserunning, inept fielding, a lack of timing hitting and laughably awful relief pitching. Has a team with such a bad record in one-run games ever made it to the World Series?
 -- Matt, Austin, Texas

The Cubs are beating themselves, Matt, you're right. They run themselves out of innings all the time. Guys get doubled-up that shouldn't get doubled-up. And that pushes the Cubs into that one-dimensional, swing-for-the-fences mentality that has really hurt them. They can't manufacture runs -- or even pressure the other team to make plays -- so they try to knock the ball out of the park all of the time. There's no question in my mind: If the Cubs are going anywhere, they either have to improve in those areas (defense, baserunning, moving runners over) or that supposedly great starting pitching is going to have to be really great.

John, could you get past your hate for the Yankees and think logically for once? Do you really think the Yankees cared one way or another about playing Tampa Bay? I notice you didn't mention that they easily swept them when they actually got their games in. If the Yankees could make their own schedule, they'd play Tampa 50 times a year. So why would they ask for a forfeit unless they felt Tampa acted irresponsibly by not showing up? It's MLB who screwed this all up -- by not being decisive and telling the teams what they had to do, whether that meant Tampa leaving earlier or the Yankees rescheduling the game. MLB left the Yankees holding the bag on this one so stop taking cheap shots at the team.
 -- Sonny Franco, New York

Cheap shots? Me? Look, Sonny, here's my point: The Yankees knew that MLB messed it up, yet the team president stood on the field and faced the cameras and asked for a forfeit after the other team had just endured a hellish couple of days. The Yankees had legitimate complaints. They had a right to be upset. Heck, if I had been waiting around for that doubleheader (Rays at Yanks: who wouldn't want to be there?), I'd have been a little steamed, too. But, come on. Complain to Bud Selig. Rip him, if need be. Tell everyone that MLB screwed up. But asking for a forfeit was not smart, from a PR standpoint. Not even close.

John Donovan is a senior writer for SI.com.