I checked in on the Dodgers/Rockies game last night and the Dodgers had an early 5-0 lead. I figured, Oh well. At least we ticked one off the Magic Number. How wrong I was to count out those Rockies! Suddenly, locking up the division seems doable again. Strange to imagine if the Padres had even won one of their games during the slide, we might be looking at single digit Magic Numbers.
Another "what if" that I was thinking about this morning is the video game industry. Let's say the Padres win 8 of their last 17 and the Giants and Dodgers manage to take care of the last 4 for our Magic Number. Then let's say the Padres go on to win the World Series. What kind of fits would that give the programmers for next year's baseball video games? You'd have to have a team who's stats reflect both the fact that they obviously suck, but would have to be good enough to beat teams like the Cardinals, Red Sox, White Sox, and so on. That'll fry some geek programmer circuits, I'd imagine.
In other news...
- Clemens pitches on after his mom dies. Having a loved one die must be the ultimate test of how important you feel your job to be, right? Like your average joe who's OK with his job might go ahead and take a week off. Imagine the jobs where the person goes, "No. I'm gonna go to work. They would've wanted it." Those jobs must be more meaningful, right? I gotta get me one of those.
- ESPN picks up Monday Night Baseball. But hidden under the covers is the news that Joe Morgan will be broadcasting on ESPN for another eight years. Imagine eight years from now. The Big Red Machine will be over 40. The insanity that's gripping Joe Morgan's brain will have crept along and eaten more synapses. Oh the quotes we will hear.
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To clarify the Magic Numbers:
Aside from the 1994 Rangers, who led the AL West at 52-62 when the strike hit, the closest baseball has come to such a debacle was in 1973, when the Mets won the NL East with an 82-79 record. That is still the mark for fewest wins by a division champ -- at least for now.