Guest Author - David Landry
I attended my first game at Shea Stadium earlier this year and was struck by the hoopla surrounding their celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the Mets last World Series victory (The fact that I was standing there in a Red Sox cap made it even more interesting). I turned to my friend Bob, a lifelong Mets fan, and said I hoped the Red Sox wouldn’t need to look back in 2024 thinking that 2004 was our greatest accomplishment in 20 years.
I far prefer the way Yankees fans approach these things – they expect to win every year. If they don’t win, they expect to win next year. Their ownership and the entire Yankees franchise is totally focused on winning 100 games and dominating in the post season. They have a long and varied history of success and don’t need to dwell on particular years.
With the Mets magic number at 1 and a series coming against Pittsburgh, they are virtually assured of clinching this weekend. The magic number represents the combined number of Mets wins or Phillies losses required for the Mets to clinch the NL East. They have dominated their division all year, so this is no surprise.
Meanwhile, the Yankees have a magic number of 6 and are also a sure thing to win their division. This raises the potential for another subway series. I’m not as excited about that possibility as so many others seem to be. Although anything is possible in a short series, I don’t think the Mets can handle the Yankees.
Now for the rest of baseball . . .
AL Central/Wild Card
Two out of three of the teams in this division will make the post season. I really expected the Tigers to return to form and be the team they’ve been for most of the season. Jim Leyland has managed them brilliantly and been a key component of their success. I still believe they will either take the division or the wild card berth. Minnesota will be the other.
AL West
Oakland. Their magic number is 12 as I write this and it’s just a matter of time before they clinch.
NL Central
St. Louis. Magic number is 12 as I write this – also a matter of time.
NL West
LA is still holding a slight lead going into the weekend. They have four games against San Diego over the weekend, so there’s an opportunity for major movement one way or the other with a sweep. After this weekend, the Padres have a slightly tougher schedule through the end of the season.
NL Wild Card
LA or San Diego get a second chance with the wildcard. Philly is still in contention and, arguably, they’re the wildcard contender best built for the playoffs. The reason these wild card races are so important to watch is that the winner typically is the team that goes into the postseason on the best hot streak. A wild card team has appeared in every World Series of this millennium (I know what you’re thinking, but the millennium officially began in 2001), winning four of five.
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