The Week (sept. 14-20)

AL EAST

"The game's not over until it's over." As Yogi Berra, the man given credit for that profound statement, stood in the Yankee Stadium dugout and watched a game between New York (4-2) and Toronto (2-4), Earl Weaver sat in his office in Baltimore listening to a radio broadcast of the same game. His Orioles (4-2), six games behind the Yankees, needed help from the Jays, who were leading 5-3 with two outs in the top of the 10th when the game was suspended by rain. Weaver drove home with a smile on his face. Surely, he thought, Toronto would hold its lead when play resumed the following evening. In fact, the Blue Jays added two more runs for a 7-3 advantage, but before Toronto could get three outs in the bottom of the 10th, the Yankees scored four times and finally won the game 13 innings and 25 hours after it had started. Weaver did get help when the Jays won the scheduled game, 2-1, on a two-hitter by Luis Leal and again on the weekend, when they lost twice to the Orioles. When the Yanks finally lost to Boston, 4-1 on Saturday, after having beaten them eight straight times, the O's were within four.

Red Sox (3-3) fans cheered their spectacular rookie Second Baseman Dave Stapleton, who doubled twice and singled three times in a 5-for-5 performance that helped beat the Indians 9-5. For the week, he went 13 for 27, including four doubles, to raise his average to .324.

Lary Sorensen of the Brewers (5-2) beat the Twins 5-0 on a six-hitter and Bob McClure won his third game in four starts—4-0 over Seattle—since he ended his string of 212 consecutive relief appearances on Sept. 1.

Miguel Dilone of the Indians (3-4), batting .343, stole his 55th base, a club record. Steve Kemp of Detroit (3-4) had three hits, including a home run, and four RBIs in an 8-3 victory over Baltimore on Tuesday. He threw out a runner at the plate to preserve a win over Cleveland on Friday, and he hit a grand slam and a triple to drive in six runs, as the Tigers beat Cleveland 13-3 on Saturday.

NY 94-54 BALT 90-58 MIL 81-69 BOS 78-67 DET 76-72 CLEV 74-73 TOR 62-86

AL WEST

It didn't look like much of a celebration. Oh, sure, there was the perfunctory champagne, but when the Royals (4-2) clinched the division title, the mood in the clubhouse was subdued. They had been there before, three times in four years, only to lose to the Yankees in the playoffs. "Nobody's going to get super-psyched until we win the pennant," said Catcher Darrell Porter. The Royals wrapped up the title in the opener of a doubleheader with California. The defending-champion Angels, in sixth place, 30 games back, won the second game 7-4, despite the return of George Brett, who briefly lifted his average to .401 before falling back to .396 at week's end.

The Angels (4-2) beat Texas three times, and that wasn't the only bad news for the Rangers (2-5). "We've got nine guys who just do their own thing," complained Centerfielder Mickey Rivers. "Some days we just step on the field and know we're going to lose." Rivers has done his part, though. He set a club record for hits—204—while raising his batting average to .331, his highest ever.

Every manager should have a player like Mickey Klutts. Losing 2-0 with a man on in the top of the ninth against Texas, Manager Billy Martin of the A's (3-4) instructed Klutts to "take it out of here." "O.K.," answered the dutiful third baseman. "I always say, 'O.K.,' " he told reporters afterward. True to his word, Klutts hit a slider over the fence to send the game into extra innings. The A's won 4-2 in the 11th to give Mike Norris his 20th win and his 21st complete game.