Who can think of football on a day like today?

I get that football is more popular than baseball.
I understand it.

I understand that American Idol is more popular than Mad Men.
I have grasped that a Michael Bay Transformers movie is going to be more popular than a Joel and Ethan Coen film.

And I don’t dislike football.

But please. The NFL is in week 4. There is a way to go.
Baseball?

There’s only four games left and there is a real possibility for total anarchy.

How crazy is it?
Yankee fans are rooting for the Red Sox and Red Sox fans are rooting against the Red Sox.

That’s so bonkers that it brings up the possibility that the Mayans were right.

Let’s just take the American League and bring up the following plausible scenarios.

Orioles defeat the Red Sox. 
Not only is that possible, but Zach Stewart pitching for the Red Sox it is as much of a lock as any bet you could make today.

Twins defeat the Tigers.
Unlikely, but the Tigers are not pitching Verlander today and the game is in Minnesota. It is possible.

Blue Jays defeat the Yankees.
Toronto has a way of playing the Yankees very tough. And while Phil Hughes has pitched well recently, he is due to lay an egg.

White Sox defeat the Rays.
A tall order against David Price. But they are at home and Jose Quintana is no slouch.

Athletics defeat Mariners.
The A’s are at home and they play with a certain magic there.

Angels sweep the double header against the Rangers
A very tall order, especially against Yu Darvish and Derek Holland. But Zack Greinke and Ervin Santana can throw well and the Angels are loose.

What would happen if those seven scenarios all came true?

The American League playoff picture would look like this:
The Orioles would be in first place for the East by one game over the Yankees.
The Tigers would be in first place for the Central by one game over the White Sox.
The Rangers would be in first place for the West by one game over the Athletics.

And the Angels would be one game out of the Wild Card.

And that would set up the final three games of the season with not only no playoff position in the American League set, but not one single American League team having clinched a playoff spot going into the final three games of the season.

That is potential anarchy.
That is potential insanity.

And it is happening all over baseball today.

And if you turn on sports talk radio, they are talking about the Packers and the Saints.

Folks! There is a lot of time for football.
This is anarchy.
This is dogs and cats living together and mass hysteria to paraphrase Peter Venkman.

Let’s play ball!

 

Melky’s suspension is denying us dual M. Cabrera Batting Titles

Melky Cabrera is off the Giants. He will not be on the playoff roster. He will probably not be back with San Francisco next year. And his wonderful break through season will forever be tainted by his P.E.D. suspension and that whole weird website thing.

That’s not what I am lamenting.

I like strange things in baseball. And the minute Melky Cabrera did what Bud Selig did not have the guts to do and remove himself from the batting race, the game was made better by that moment of accountability.

But history was denied a strange coincidence.

Here are the current batting standings, which include Cabrera:

It’s a double take.

But the American League and the National League have M. Cabrera as the batting leader. Miguel in the American League and Melky in the National League.

Seriously, I demand to know the odds of that.

That does not happen where the batting leader of both leagues have the same last name and the same first initial. And for two guys who are not brothers!

There was no William Boggs winning batting titles in the 1980s for the National League.

Nobody named Tiberius Williams won no titles in the National League.

I do not recall anyone named Randolph Carew or Thaddeus Gwynn or Horatio Wagner or Simon Musial winning a batting crown.

This would have been a first.

And would it be worth having a caught PED user win the batting title to have this kind of coincidence in the history books?

I’m not so certain that I know the answer to that.

Sure punishing those who do wrong and teaching our kids a lesson is great.
But so are oddities like this.