Dark horse pick

As I watched the Emmys two Sundays ago (you get pretty desperate when you're holed up in a hotel in some strange city; it was that or the 10:25 showing of Wimbledon down the block), somewhere between Elaine Stritch's incongruous acceptance speech and Angels in America's 26th award, it came to me: Major League Baseball should throw its own awards show. A soiree to honor its MVPs and Cy Youngs, held in prime time on some big network, hosted by an A-list personality ( Bob Costas? Billy Crystal? Donald Trump?) with arbitrary Hollywood celebs interspersed among the major leaguers.

Expand the menu of awards to include accolades like best baseball movie of the year (Mr. 3000 vs. Hu$tle vs. Mickey) and best clubhouse presence ( Jose Guillen?). Throw in the obligatory obituaries segment, a word from a black-tied Bud Selig (How about those robust attendance numbers!) and -- why not? -- a musical number or two (Nelly's a big sports fan, right?), and you got yourself a three-hour and 10 minute show.

An awards show like this must have a good upset or two, and the Adrien Brody moment of this year's hypothetical night would hopefully come in the category of AL MVP, which at this moment seems to be a tossup between Gary Sheffield and Manny Ramirez. The real AL MVP, however, is not Sheffield or Ramirez or Mariano Rivera or Vlad Guerrero but a 24-year-old Maryland native who grew up going to games at Camden Yards while idolizing Don Mattingly. The real AL MVP is Mark Teixeira, the Rangers' first baseman and cleanup hitter, a prodigious power hitter who became a switch-hitter partly because his father is a big Eddie Murray fan. Appropriately nicknamed Tex, the former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket is one of the main reasons why Dallasites have more to root for than Vinny Testaverde and Dubya as the calendar turns to October.

What has made Tex so good so soon? "Incredible bat speed," says Texas DH Brian Jordan. "He's got amazingly quick hands and speed that reminds me of [Mark] McGwire's."

It's hard to argue that a player has been more valuable to his team down the stretch than Teixeira, who, after recovering from a pulled muscle in his rib cage the first two months of the season, has hit .289 with 32 homers and 94 RBIs since June 1. No position player has been better over the past four months. This season Teixeira has driven in seven runs in a game, hit for the cycle and been walked five times in a single game.

Over the past two months Teixeira has carried an otherwise slumping lineup. All-Star third baseman Hank Blalock, after a sizzling first half, has hit .231 with nine homers and a puny .418 slugging percentage since the All-Star break; shortstop Michael Young's numbers have also dropped off since July. Though Teixeira's average (.275) is lower than Eric Young's .294, Teixeira's power numbers stack up with all the AL MVP frontrunners' (see chart, above).

Meanwhile, are Teixeira's Rangers done? Sadly, it looks that way (the Blog will be craving those pretzels at Ameriquest Field in Arlington all winter). After losing 5-3 to the Angels on Sunday, spoiling a nice start from Kenny Rogers, the Rangers slid three games back of the A's in the AL West hunt with six to play. The Rangers know they need luck on their side; during games, several players have been wearing rubber "energy" necklaces and bracelets, cheap looking jewelry that pitcher Chan Ho Park had sent in from Korea, as good luck charms. "I guess guys see it as a fashion statement, but it looks stupid," says left fielder David Dellucci. "I wore rubber bracelets when I was in sixth grade, I'm not going to wear them when I'm 30 years old."

With a pretty lousy starting pitching staff -- its 5.13 ERA rank 11th in the AL, below the Tigers, Orioles, and Blue Jays -- Texas had no business being in the hunt this deep into September. The Rangers' perseverance is a testament to the job done by Buck Showalter, who deserves Manager of the Year honors. Showalter has deployed an astonishing 16 different starting pitchers this season alone.

What to make of the rest of the AL West? One thing is certain: whatever team makes it out of the division will be an underdog in the first round. I'd rather have the Cleveland Indians' starting rotation in a short series than Oakland's, and Anaheim's Top Four of Bartolo Colon- Kelvim Escobar-Jarrod Wasburn- John Lackey doesn't inspire too much fear, either. The fashionable pick in the American League, it seems, is the Twins, whose postseason might not come down to Johan Santana (the no-brainer AL Cy Young winner) but instead to Brad Radke, who has been the victim of poor run support (he has just 11 wins despite 22 quality starts) but has quietly been one of the AL's top starters (his 3.48 ERA ranks fifth in the league). Check back here next week for The Blog's playoff predictions.

Other thoughts from the road: