A group weblog for Oakland A's fans
Friday, September 08, 2006
The Pennant Race
This is it. The pennant race is here. I don't know when the official pennant racing started but it is September and it is definitely here now. 5.5 up with 23 to go. Too tight for my tastes, I'd like to be 10 games up at this point. But maybe the tightness is what makes great baseball. 3 at Tampa starting in a few hours. The Angels play the Blue Jays. I am almost ready to say Texas is out of it. The magic number for eliminating Texas must be about 11, and if the A's can win 11 of the last 23, that ought to be enough. Winning 11 of the last 23 would be tough on the Angels too, If the A's get to 91 wins the Angels would need to go 16-5 to catch them. 91 might be enough for the wildcard anyway. My personal magic number is 92. 92 wins and this will have been a great season. 12-11 over the last 23 ought to be enough to get into the playoffs, and if not, tip your cap to the team that won the most down the stretch.
They play all these games starting in April and now you get down to the last 23, and you can see all the scenarios starting to pan out. Detroit and the Yankees are not locks, but they look very likely. You figure that other spot will be the Twins, White Sox or Red Sox. I guess right now just keep winning and chopping numbers off the games left. The A's don't really need to win the west by any more than one game, but for me mentally it would be nice to keep the lead above 5. Time to start racing. Gentlemen start your engines.
This is it. The pennant race is here. I don't know when the official pennant racing started but it is September and it is definitely here now. 5.5 up with 23 to go. Too tight for my tastes, I'd like to be 10 games up at this point. But maybe the tightness is what makes great baseball. 3 at Tampa starting in a few hours. The Angels play the Blue Jays. I am almost ready to say Texas is out of it. The magic number for eliminating Texas must be about 11, and if the A's can win 11 of the last 23, that ought to be enough. Winning 11 of the last 23 would be tough on the Angels too, If the A's get to 91 wins the Angels would need to go 16-5 to catch them. 91 might be enough for the wildcard anyway. My personal magic number is 92. 92 wins and this will have been a great season. 12-11 over the last 23 ought to be enough to get into the playoffs, and if not, tip your cap to the team that won the most down the stretch.
They play all these games starting in April and now you get down to the last 23, and you can see all the scenarios starting to pan out. Detroit and the Yankees are not locks, but they look very likely. You figure that other spot will be the Twins, White Sox or Red Sox. I guess right now just keep winning and chopping numbers off the games left. The A's don't really need to win the west by any more than one game, but for me mentally it would be nice to keep the lead above 5. Time to start racing. Gentlemen start your engines.
