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Winning ways A's, Twins have taken different routes to successPosted: Thursday September 12, 2002 4:21 PMUpdated: Friday September 13, 2002 1:20 AM
It's a rite of September: As the season winds down, we look back for clues as to what went right and what went wrong for each team, and handicap how those keys might play out in the postseason. For example, Minnesota earned the American League Central title it's on the verge of clinching. Heading into their weekend series in Cleveland, the Twins had the best record against divisional opponents (41-19) of any team in the majors. Impressive, but it's also precisely why many observers aren't expecting Minnesota to do much damage in October. Unfortunately for the Twins, the likes of the Tigers and Royals won't make the postseason. Take away all those games against AL Central puffballs -- no other team in the division is above .500 -- and the Twins are a very ordinary 44-42. "That division is bad, real bad," says one AL advance scout. "I don't see the Twins going very far in the playoffs." The Twins' track record against potential postseason opponents isn't encouraging either. They're 8-16 against the A's, Angels and Yankees, including 0-6 against New York. If the playoffs started today, Minnesota would draw Oakland in the first round. The Twins have lost six of nine to the A's this year. Minnesota should send thank-you notes to the Central teams for its playoff berth. Oakland, which has either a division title or a wild-card spot wrapped up, can thank the National League. The A's actually have a losing record against AL West clubs (20-21) and are about even with the Angels and Mariners against the rest of the league. But Oakland cleaned up against the NL. Its 16-2 interleague mark was best in the majors. What made the A's so good against the NL? Messrs. Zito, Hudson and Mulder certainly had something to do with it, but it might just boil down to old-fashioned preparation. Many teams (the Mariners, for one) give their regular scouts some rest during the interleague stretch of the schedule, either using fill-ins to prepare reports on opponents from the opposite league or relying on videotape rather than in-person intelligence. The A's scout NL teams as carefully as they do those in their own division. "A lot of teams slough off interleague games, but not the A's," says one scout. "They grind it every day. Oakland is the most prepared team in the league."
Manny's MalaiseThe Red Sox are one of those clubs that have to be wondering if they should take interleague games more seriously. Boston went an AL-worst 5-13 against the NL; take away interleague games and the Sox (75-49) have a better record than Oakland (75-52). They also have to be wondering if signing Manny Ramirez to that monster contract before last season was such a smart move after all. Ramirez is on his way to his fifth straight 30-homer, 100-RBI season, but he has also continued his career-long pattern of being flighty and lackadaisical at times. He was fined earlier this week by manager Grady Little for failing to run out a ground ball. The outfielder also missed 39 games with an injury he could have avoided -- a broken finger sustained during an ill-advised headfirst slide into home plate back in May. Fans and media in Cleveland usually looked past such indiscretions, but Boston hasn't been as forgiving. Crowds at Fenway Park have booed Ramirez in recent weeks for jogging around the bases. The sour end to the season is reminiscent of last year, when Ramirez disappeared from the team for a day and then sat out the final nine games with a bruised hand. "I think when the crowds started getting on him [this year] he went into shutdown mode," says one advance scout. "Manny doesn't play a full season anymore." Ramirez's contract has Boston on the hook for more than $100 million over the next six years, financial terms that make the slugger virtually untradeable. Despite the gaudy numbers he has put up in his first two years with the team, the Red Sox are still waiting for him to pay off. Sports Illustrated staff writer Stephen Cannella covers the baseball beat for the magazine. Touching Base appears every week on CNNSI.com.
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