A Starry Night

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If you have ever watched a major league baseball all–star game (including the one that was played last night), you are sure to have seen the clip of Pete Rose ripping into Ray Fosse like a chainsaw to score the winning run in the 12th inning of the 1970 All–Star Game.

I remember watching that game. I was heavily into baseball card collecting in those days, but, with the exception of Saturday afternoon baseball broadcasts and the playoffs, I seldom saw a major league game.

I remember listening to St. Louis Cardinals games on the radio when I was a child (and picturing in my mind the faraway stadiums in faraway cities), but nearly all of the pro ball games I saw in person before my teenage years were played by the minor league team that was based in Little Rock.

Cable began to change all that a decade or so later, but the All–Star Game was always a big deal to me when I was growing up. No matter how infrequently I saw major league games, I always knew that the guys playing in the All–Star Game were all but certain to wind up in the Hall of Fame.

The teams that met in Detroit's Tiger Stadium 40 years ago tonight were loaded with guys who were destined for Cooperstown. Eleven of the guys on the National League roster, and nine players on the American League roster have made it so far.

One of those players was Reggie Jackson, who was playing for the Oakland Athletics in those days. He didn't start that All–Star Game, but he came in after a few innings and, in the third inning, he hit a home run that propelled the American League to its only All–Star victory between 1962 and 1982.

Every run in the American League's 6–4 triumph scored on home runs that came from the bat of a future Hall of Famer. Other than that, there was nothing especially noteworthy about them — except for Jackson's. It was a towering shot that covered more than 500 feet — and might well have gone farther had it not hit some lights.

I was reminded of that home run several years later when I saw nearly the same thing (albeit with quite a bit more of a pyrotechnic effect) dramatized in the film "The Natural."

(The other future Hall of Famers who drilled homers in that game — setting an All–Star Game record for home runs by both teams that still stands, I believe — were Johnny Bench, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Harmon Killebrew and Roberto Clemente.)

There were other things that made the '71 Midsummer Classic memorable.

For one thing, it was the last All–Star Game ever played at historic Tiger Stadium. When the All–Star Game returned to Detroit in 2005, the Tigers were playing in a different facility.

It was also the last time Clemente appeared in an All–Star Game. An All–Star selection 15 times in his magnificent career, Clemente actually was chosen again in 1972 but was injured at the time of the game and unable to play.

He died a few months later in a plane crash while taking relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

Clemente's solo home run in the top of the eighth was the last run scored in the 1971 All–Star Game — and Clemente's final All–Star at–bat.

I suppose it foreshadowed, in a way, the conclusion of his regular–season career a year later. On the last day of the 1972 season, in his last at–bat, Clemente got his 3,000th hit.

Field of Dreams

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Baseball fans in these parts have been dreaming for a long time.

The local major league baseball team, the Texas Rangers, began its existence as the Washington Senators in 1961. Following the 1971 season, the team relocated to north Texas and has gone under the name of the Texas Rangers since 1972.

It took the Rangers nearly a quarter of century even to get into the postseason — and they only recently tasted victory in the playoffs for the first time — but, although most of the early Rangers teams weren't very impressive, loyal baseball fans still sang the official team song before each home game and after the team's triumphs between 1975 and 1980 ...

... And dreamed of scaling baseball's heights.

Those long–suffering fans are entitled to savor the Rangers' American League championship, writes Richard Justice in the Houston Chronicle. It's been a "long, odd, agonizing trip," he says, "and because it has taken 39 years, because the Texas Rangers have had a view of the bottom of the baseball world for so long, this moment is that much more special."

This morning, the Rangers are closer than they have ever been to proclaiming themselves kings of the baseball world. Believe it or not. And even I have to pinch myself at times to remind myself that — wait for it — the World Series really is coming here.

We already knew that the Super Bowl will be played here next February. They determine those things years ahead of time. But there was no way — until last night — that anyone could have known that the World Series would be played here just a few months before.

America's two greatest professional sports championships will be played here in north Texas within four months of each other. How incredible is that?

As Jon Paul Morosi writes for Fox Sports, the Rangers' series with the New York Yankees was pretty one–sided. With the exception of a single late–game meltdown, the Rangers simply overwhelmed New York.

Surprisingly, it never really was close.

Evan Grant writes, in the Dallas Morning News, that the Rangers need an icon that is worthy of their never–say–die resilience.

"All things locally are now officially possible," writes Randy Galloway in the Fort Worth Star–Telegram, "even logical."

And, after the Rangers disposed of the two best teams in the American League, who's to say they won't be able to toss aside either the Giants or the Phillies like rag dolls in the World Series?

I guess, to a certain extent, the Rangers have a lot of folks in this city dreaming this morning. Even me. And I'm not even that much of a baseball fan anymore. I used to be — and I still pull for the team I have always pulled for, the Los Angeles Dodgers, even though I've never lived less than two time zones from L.A. — but it's been more than 10 years since I attended a game.

Anyway, I stand corrected. I was skeptical about their chances against the Yankees, and they proved me wrong.

As Galloway said, all things now seem possible. Perhaps we'll have a World Series parade in Dallas in early November.

North Texas is an area that is hungry beyond words for a champion. It's been more than a decade (and, pardner, that's a long time by Dallas standards) since a champion in any professional sport was crowned around here — and that was in, of all things, hockey!

The basketball team did play in its championship series a few years ago but fell flat.

And the football team hasn't lived up to local preseason expectations for 15 years.

(That's a lifetime for you and me.)

Now, the Rangers can erase — at least, temporarily — the disappointments and the frustrations that have been shouldered by sports fans in this city for years.

I think it is safe to say that, if this city must wait another 39 years for a World Series to come to Arlington, most of us will not be around to see it.

So, for those of us who live here, this is probably our chance.

But this is their moment.

Both the Giants and the Phillies have had their opportunities to win it all in my memory. But not the Rangers. Never before.

My father always encouraged me to root for the underdog. He grew up in Dallas, but he wasn't a product of years of pulling for the woeful Rangers. He'd been away from the Metroplex for many years before the Rangers came to town.

I don't know if the Rangers will be the favorites or the underdogs in this World Series.

And I've been a National League partisan most of my life.

But I'll pull for the Rangers in this World Series.

Pennant Races

They played major league baseball's All–Star Game the other day, and now the baseball teams all have resumed their regular schedules following the three–day All–Star break.

How does it look in each division?

Well, let's start with the American League.

• In the Eastern Division, the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees could be about to treat baseball fans to one of their epic duels. The Red Sox lead the Yankees by two games — but if the season ended today, New York would clearly win the wild–card spot.


• In the Central Division, the Detroit Tigers have a 1½–game lead over the Chicago White Sox. The Minnesota Twins, 2½ games behind the Tigers, are also in the chase.


• In the Western Division, as I have been predicting all season, the Texas Rangers have fallen behind the Los Angeles Angels by 2½ games. The slumping Rangers are 5–5 in their last 10 games while the Angels are 7–3. And don't look now, but the Seattle Mariners are 4½ games out of first place.

It's probably a little premature for this, but I think fans in Cleveland, Kansas City, Oakland, Baltimore and Toronto can probably turn their attention to football season.

The playoff picture seems to be in sharper focus in the National League.

• In the Eastern Division, the world champion Philadelphia Phillies have built a six–game lead over the Florida Marlins. Atlanta is 6½ games out, and the New York Mets are eight games behind.
  
  At 24½ games back (with a winning percentage of .292), I think it's safe to say that the Washington Nationals won't be playing in October. The Nats would need to win about 75% of their remaining games just to finish at .500.


• In the Central Division, the St. Louis Cardinals have been surging lately, thanks in large part to MVP favorite Albert Pujols, who leads the major leagues in home runs and RBIs, and they have taken the division lead. It isn't a done deal, though. Chicago, Houston and Milwaukee are all three games behind, and Cincinnati is hanging in there at 5½ games out.


• The Western Division is the only division in the major leagues that has looked like a lock all season. The Los Angeles Dodgers lead the San Francisco Giants by 6½ games, but the Giants have given the Dodgers some spirited races in the past and could well do so this season. As it is, they are well positioned to take the wild–card slot, But if they falter, the Colorado Rockies are seven games out in the division and next in line in the wild–card standings.

Along with the Nationals, I think it is safe to conclude that Arizona and San Diego are not in the picture. And I am inclined to think that Pittsburgh also has no chance. But all three of those cities have football teams they can get excited about.

We're making our way into the dog days of summer. Baseball's pennant races won't really heat up until the weather starts to cool in the Northeast.

It will take longer before it starts to cool down in this part of the country, but I predict that it won't be long before local attention turns exclusively to the Dallas Cowboys and the approach of football season.

Midway Through the Season

As we near the Fourth of July holiday, we're almost halfway through the major league baseball season.

And my predictions are looking a lot better than they did shortly before Memorial Day.

All three of the teams I picked to win the divisions of the National League are leading, but Los Angeles, with an 8–game lead, continues to look like the most likely team to be in the playoffs when October gets here. The other two, Philadelphia and St. Louis, lead their divisions by one game and ½ game, respectively.

In St. Louis' case, that's an improvement. Around Memorial Day, the Cardinals were in third place in their division.

If the season ended today, though, my wild card pick, the New York Mets, would not be in the playoffs. The wild card would go instead to the San Francisco Giants, who have a winning percentage of .542, which is .008 better than Milwaukee and .028 better than the Mets.

In the American League, things are improving. My pick to win the AL East, Boston, is leading and my wild card pick, New York, is leading in that chase (the Yankees trail the Red Sox by four games). My other two picks, Minnesota and Los Angeles, are currently second in their divisions. The Twins trail Detroit by 4½ games while the Angels trail the Texas Rangers by a mere ½ game.

The Twins have lost a little ground in the last month or so, but the Angels have closed the gap considerably and look poised to take control of the race, as I predicted they would.

You can see the current standings here.

Stay tuned.

Boston's Memorable Comeback

The year 1929 seems to be inescapable for Americans these days.

Of course, the financial crisis has had people thinking about the Great Depression (which began with the stock market crash in October of that year) for awhile now.

But last night the Boston Red Sox gave sports fans a chance to reflect on 1929 as well.

(Considering that the last comparable comeback in baseball occurred only a couple of weeks before the legendary Stock Market Crash of 1929, Americans outside the Boston area may not find much comfort in last night's rally by the Red Sox.)

With their 8-7 win over Tampa Bay, the Red Sox remained alive in the American League Championship Series. They trail, three games to two, as they return to Tampa for the final two games this weekend.

The comeback, as has been stated, was the greatest in baseball's postseason since 1929, which was 40 years before the American and National Leagues split into divisions. In 1929, the only postseason games were the World Series itself — which matched the Philadelphia Athletics and the Chicago Cubs that year.

The A's won the first two games in Chicago, then lost the third game when the series shifted to Philadelphia. Thus, when the teams met for Game 4 on Saturday, Oct. 12, 1929, in Philadelphia, the visiting team had won each of the first three games.

It looked like that trend would continue through the first six innings of the fourth game.

The Cubs led, 8-0, going into the bottom of the seventh. But left fielder Al Simmons led off the at-bat with a home run for the A's, and Philadelphia scored nine more runs on nine more hits — taking a 10-8 lead into the eighth. The score held up, giving the A's a 3-1 lead in the series.

The Athletics clinched the world championship with another come-from-behind victory two days later, on Monday, Oct. 14, 1929, at Philadelphia's Shibe Park. The Cubs took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but the Athletics rallied for three runs to finish off Chicago in five games.

Does last night's rally have any historical significance — for either the economy or baseball?

It's hard to say what, if any, relationship the two things have to each other — and, therefore, whether the occurrence of an historic comeback should serve as an omen of an impending economic collapse.

It seems to me that a few things can be said with some certainty:

• Although we often hear sports analogies used in economic conversations, the fact is that the advantage in an athletic contest is more permanent than the advantages most consumers realize with most investments.
  
  As we've seen in the recent wild fluctuations of the stock market, the value of stocks can change drastically on a daily basis — if not hourly or even by the minute.
  
  But, unless a rules violation is discovered long after a game is over, and a team is required to forfeit a game it won on the field, a win is a win is a win. Fans can "what-if" an outcome indefinitely, some fans may desert a team because of it, but the outcome itself doesn't change. Nor does the value of any championships that were won.


• Also — unless I missed something — I didn't get the sense that this was a deal breaker for Tampa Bay.
  
  In 2003, at Chicago's Wrigley Field, when the Cubs were a few outs away from winning the National League title in Game 6 and blew it when both a fan and a player failed to catch a fly ball, igniting a fateful (and nearly as improbable) eight-run rally by Florida, I clearly got the feeling that the air had gone out of the team and the fans, even though Florida did not clinch the league title that night.
  
  The difference between the 2003 Cubs and the 2008 Rays is that the Cubs were playing at home. The crowd for Game 7 at Wrigley Field seemed more subdued than one would expect, perhaps with the memory of the previous game fresh in the fans' minds.
  
  And the Cubs' long-suffering fans were eliminated as factors in the game when Florida rallied from a 5-3 deficit to take the lead for good in the fifth inning.
  
  Only time will tell if a similar fate awaits the Rays. But they lost Game 5 on the road, and now they have two opportunities to wrap up the American League title at home. I like their chances.

Here's a sampling of the media response to last night's game:

• If you pull for the Boston Red Sox, you've lived with a history of postseason futility that was nearly as paralyzing as the one the Cubs' fans have endured for a century.
  
  In the end, it may take something as dramatic as Boston's championship season of 2004 to snap them out of it.
  
  In 2004, as you may recall, the Red Sox came back from an 0-3 deficit against the rival New York Yankees to win the league title in seven games, then won the World Series with a four-game sweep of St. Louis that was capped by a total lunar eclipse on the night of Game 4 that colored the moon red over Busch Stadium.
  
  Anyway, the Red Sox's fans know what's it like to have their backs against the wall.
  
  "Pedigree matters," says Bob Ryan in the Boston Globe. "The Red Sox are the defending champions. They always come to play nine innings, and if it takes the greatest postseason comeback in 79 years to stay alive, then they will give you the greatest comeback in 79 years."


• The rally was "unbelievable," as Joe Posnanski writes in his blog.
  
  "This was like something out of a kid’s dream," he writes. "Do you remember being a kid and concocting these fantastic scenarios when your team was losing, these preposterous comebacks that boggled logic and the space-time continuum?"


• Gary Shelton concedes, in the St. Petersburg Times, that Boston put together a remarkable comeback.
  
  "The Rays lost a devastating game," Shelton writes. "They didn't lose anything else. They did not lose momentum, they did not lose their confidence, and they did not lose their grip on the ALCS. Saturday night, Sunday at the latest, they will close out this thing. Just you watch."


• But judging from the tone of his recap in today's Tampa Tribune, Martin Fennelly believes the tide has turned — and that, in spite of their 3-2 lead with the last two games to be played at home, the Rays are finished.
  
  "Seven runs up. Seven outs away," he writes. "It goes on. How will the Rays?"

No Jive — A.L. Teams Stay AL-ive

The Philadelphia Phillies finished off the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, setting up the National League Championship Series almost as I had predicted.

The Phillies and Dodgers won their divisional series faster than I anticipated, though. I thought both teams would need the full five games to finish off their foes, but the Dodgers eliminated the Chicago Cubs in three games and the Phillies vanquished the Brewers in four.

The National League's best-of-seven Championship Series is slated to begin Thursday in Philadelphia. The starting time hasn't been announced.

In the American League, the Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Angels faced elimination with another loss, but both teams hung on to force a fourth game today.

The Tampa Bay Rays and the White Sox meet in their Game 4 at 4:07 p.m. (Central). The Angels face the Boston Red Sox in their Game 4 at 7:37 p.m. (Central).

Tampa Bay and Boston can win their series if they win today. If either loses, Game 5 will be played Wednesday.

Both games are to be televised by TBS.

Incidentally, Ken Griffey Jr. of the Chicago White Sox has the opportunity (however slim it may seem to be) to end the longest personal World Series drought of any active player in the major leagues.

Griffey has played in more than 2,500 games in his 20-year career without ever playing in a World Series — although he came close to playing in the 1995 World Series when Seattle took Cleveland to six games for the American League championship.

But, to make it to baseball's promised land, Griffey's White Sox must defeat the Rays today and Wednesday, then win the American League championship against either Boston or Los Angeles.