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Wild card drains passion from AL West race

Garret Anderson and the Angels are glad they don't have to fight the A's for a playoff spot. AP

The Athletics win an AL-record 20 in a row. The Angels win 10 in a row. Oakland has the MVT -- Most Valuable Tejada. Anaheim has the Rally Monkey. They are tied for the division lead with identical 91-55 records in the middle of September.

On the surface, it has the makings of a frantic AL West pennant race. But wait. There is something missing.

It's called drama.

Thanks to the wild card, both teams are virtual locks to make the playoffs, a fact that sucks much of the tension out of their late-season battles.

It's a different story in the NL, where the wild-card race is the only thing worth watching. The Giants and Dodgers are tied heading down the stretch, setting the stage for another chapter in their storied rivalry.

Now in its eighth full season, the six-division, wild-card format is as much of a mixed bag as ever. It keeps more teams in the playoff hunt later in the season, doing more for competitive balance than limited revenue sharing or a luxury tax ever will.

At the same time, it makes a pennant race for the ages (Braves-Giants, 1993) nearly impossible because if two outstanding teams are competing for a division title, chances are the loser will make the playoffs anyway.

The wild card has given us two World Series teams, one of them a winner (1997 Florida Marlins). We also have enjoyed watching two one-game playoffs for the wild card, when the Cubs beat the Giants in 1998 and the Mets topped the Reds in '99.

On the other hand, it has rendered most division races useless. During the last nine seasons of the old, two-division format (1985-93), there were 14 division titles decided by three games or less. Under the wild-card format, there have been seven such division races in which the runner-up did not qualify as the wild-card team.

The combined winning percentage of the A's (41-17) and Angels (40-20) since the All-Star break. They are baseball's two hottest teams in the second half.

"We're here to play baseball, we're here to entertain and we're here to hopefully help people heal." -- Giants manager Dusty Baker on MLB teams playing on Wednesday, Sept. 11.

Ways to celebrate a playoff berth 1 Traditional pileup on the mound 2 Chi Chi Rodriguez sword fight 3 Jose Lima electric slide 4 Lambeau leap 5 Douse Tim McCarver in ice water 6 Rip off shirt, show sports bra

Perhaps the only pennant race that had a true do-or-die feel to it was the 1995 AL West. The Yankees had the inside track on the wild card, leaving the Angels and Mariners to fight for one playoff spot. The race was spectacular, ending in a regular-season tie that was settled when Seattle won a one-game playoff.

Division titles in general have been diluted. The best example of how little division crowns mean anymore happened last year when the Astros and Cardinals tied for first in the NL Central. Since both teams qualified for the playoffs, there was no need for them to settle things on the field. The Astros were given the higher seed in the playoffs and the Cardinals designated as the wild card, but St. Louis went ahead and raised an NL Central champion banner in their stadium anyway.

Which brings us to the Angels-A's "pennant race" of 2002. As they battle down the stretch, the only thing on the line is a division title that won't mean a hill of beans once the first pitch of the postseason is thrown. One team will win the AL West and the other the wild card.

But under the old system, one of these teams would be sent home despite having a winning percentage above .600. There are only three other teams that are above .600: Arizona, Atlanta and the New York Yankees. It would be unfair to leave any of these teams out. As much as purists like Bob Costas argue that the wild card hurts the integrity of the regular season, it obviously helps the integrity of the postseason by making sure the best teams in each league get in.

There will be no sense of finality to A's-Angels unless they meet in the ALCS on a national stage. Would that be better than what your grandfather had when the GIANTS WON THE PENNANT! in 1951? That's what we all have to decide for ourselves.

Switcharoo Houston's Lance Berkman went deep Tuesday to become the fifth switch hitter in major league history to hit at least 40 home runs in a season. The others were Mickey Mantle (1956, 1958, 1960, 1961), Chipper Jones (1999), Todd Hundley (1996) and Ken Caminiti (1996).

Day in, day out Cleveland slugger Jim Thome had two hits Thursday to extend his streak to 41 consecutive games reaching base, the longest in the American League this season.

Not a total bust Chan Ho Park's slow start is a huge reason why Texas will finish in last place again, but he has been hot of late. On Thursday he won his fifth consecutive start, beating the Mariners 7-3. In his past 11 starts, he is 6-2 with a 4.24 ERA, lowering his ERA from 8.01 to 5.96.

Rodriguez   It was a good week for Alex Rodriguez. He broke his own single-season record for home runs by a shortstop and led Texas to a four-game sweep of the Mariners that all but eliminates his former teammates from playoff contention. ... Bad news for Rangers fans: Owner Tom Hicks wants to sell the Dallas Stars of the NHL to spend more time on the Rangers. Considering his mismanagement of this club, you have to wonder if this is a good thing. ... ... Boston's Manny Ramirez hit his 15th career grand slam Wednesday at Tampa Bay. Only the Yankees' Robin Ventura has more grand slams (16) among active players. ... Clearly, baseball served a higher purpose this Wednesday during the one-year anniversary of Sept. 11. The pregame ceremonies throughout the nation were touching and the action on the field served as a welcome respite from our grief. Now imagine if a strike had wiped all of that out. The damage to the game could very well have been irreparable.

 

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