The rest of the season

Okay. So we're definitely done. You can see the fork sticking out of Hargrove's back. That's okay, a lot of good things have happened this season, and I never really expected them to contend for the division, so it was bonus that they did so for so long.

To me the most interesting thing to watch for the remainder of the season is to see if the team quits on Hargrove. His 2002 Orioles swoon is legendary. On August 24th, they were 63-63, but went 4-32 the rest of the way. 4 wins in 6 weeks. That's a collapse of biblical proportions.

Every one of his Oriole teams faded at some point in the second half, though none as spectacularly as the 2002 club. Have a look:

YEAR    Pre-fade    Pctg            Post-fade    Pctg

2000    30-34       .469            44-59        .449
2001    38-41       .481            25-57        .305
2002    63-63       .500            4-32         .111
2003    56-58       .491            15-33        .313


TOTAL   187-196     .488            88-176       .333

                                                  

That's pretty brutal. We'll see if he can keep them playing or not.
I will definitely be rooting for the M's but anything that gets Grover
fired is okay with me.

Otherwise, I guess we're trying to see if Jones can play in center next year, if Beltre can keep his second half numbers up, if Felix can stay healthy, if Meche completely self-immolates, lots of good things to keep you going to the ballpark.

I know the last two AL West series have been disappointing. Forget about that and remember the good.