In the National League MVP vote, which should be fascinating, the question the voters will have to ask themselves is whether two players who came to the party late can qualify for that coveted seasonal honor.
1. Alexei Ramirez, the White Sox's Cuban import, drew comparisons to Alfonso Soriano this spring for his body type (lean) and his potential (immense). But nobody was envisioning the sort of power he's showing. While Ramirez probably won't win AL Rookie of the Year (that honor should go to the Rays' Evan Longoria), Ramirez has made a major impact on the pennant race and set the rookie record for grand slams. Ramirez swatted his fourth slam Monday night off Tigers reliever Gary Glover, breaking open a tense 2-2 game on the way to an 8-2 victory that sent the Sox to a one-game playoff with the Twins to see who gets to play in the real playoffs. Before Ramirez went up to bat, Sox manager Ozzie Guillen told him, "Be patient.'' So what does he do? He sends the first pitch into the left field bleachers after telling Guillen, "Have confidence in me. I'm going to get these runs home somehow.'' Incidentally, Ramirez hit 17 home runs that were not grand slams. This is a confident kid who suggested his Olympic and other international experience has been well prepared for the playoffs -- if the Sox get there.
NEW YORK -- In the Mets' clubhouse of inveterate last-minute losers, there was disappointment but not quite the abject depression of a year ago. Reality likely set in long before the time of their actual elimination in Game 162.
NEW YORK -- These Cubs are not your father's Cubs. Or your grandfather's. Or even your great grandfather's.
The New York Mets can't possibly match last year's collapse, when their seven-game lead evaporated in the last 17 games. Yet, they still manage to find ways to inflict pain on themselves, not to mention pain on their poor fans.
NEW YORK -- At least 25-30 scouts, almost all from contending National League teams, are here this week tailing the Cubs and Mets, and while their reports are kept secret, there's one thing almost all of them agree on: They want to see the Mets in the playoffs because they see them as a potential postseason pushover.
Brian Cashman was asked by the Steinbrenners to respond by next week to their offer to return as Yankees general manager, according to people familiar with the situation.
NEW YORK -- Everyone said good-bye Sunday night to the grand old lady known around here simply as The Stadium, and the going-away party worked perfectly for the about-to-be-demolished ballpark.
The possibility of a Subway Series died a well-deserved death a while back, sometime before Phil Hughes came back to continue his winless streak (he's only two behind Ian Kennedy now in the department of winless starts), and the chance for an Alligator Alley fight remains highly unlikely, despite the best efforts of the streaking Miracle Marlins. But some extremely enticing World Series matchups loom -- local and otherwise - including one that would be one "EL'' of a series.
Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, not general manager Doug Melvin, is the one who made the call to can manager Ned Yost, multiple sources told SI.com
NEW YORK - The baseball Story of the Year? The worst-to-first Rays, of course.
As if the Angels' pitching rotation isn't stellar enough, several baseball people say they believe that they may try to pull off the coup of the winter by signing CC Sabathia, the perfect Brewer and best free-agent pitcher in at least a decade.
With closer Billy Wagner sidelined for the rest of this season and probably all of next season as well, the Mets have two big questions to answer: what to do now, and what to do later.
Barring a repeat of the craziness that was 2007, when the Rockies authored their improbable 21-1 run, the Padres melted down and the Mets blew up, the three best races should be in the NL East (where it's the Mets or their personal tormentors, the Phillies), the AL Central (where the surprise winner is sure to be the White Sox or Twins) and the NL West (where the Dodgers or Diamondbacks will wear the crown, no matter what anyone thinks).
The National League favorite Cubs are currently missing the top 40 percent of their rotation. And while this team with a storied past and a stacked present retains hope for an intact rotation come playoff time, if they are still without their dynamic duo of Carlos Zambrano and Rich Harden in October, 90 percent of the Cubs' chance to break their 99-year losing streak could be lost in the wind.
LOS ANGELES -- Hitting savant Manny Ramirez got a quick glimpse of Dodgers teammate Andruw Jones' failing batting technique and is said by intimates to have opined that Jones' backside (not to mention his career) was obviously collapsing and that it should be an easy fix.
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