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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

No question there are hot story lines

Mike Lopresti Gannett News Service

PITTSBURGH – Party time is over. Baseball now has business to attend to in a post-All Star world. Here are eight questions for the dog days.

1. Red Sox or Yankees? One probably won’t make the playoffs, meaning it’s going to be a bitter October for either the rich or the richer. The coming weeks are critical. Boston has a three-game lead and 26 of its next 38 games in Fenway Park: promising news for a team with a 27-10 home record.

The Yankees can’t worry about that. They’re too busy worrying about Alex Rodriguez’s slump and Randy Johnson’s 5.13 ERA.

2. Are the Braves finished? They’re 40-49, with eight teams ahead of them for the wild card. But the margin is only 6 1/2 games, and the bullpen seems to be steadying.

“They have too much history of winning,” said old Brave and current Met Tom Glavine. “They can get inside people’s heads if they have a winning streak.”

3. Will anyone win the American League West? Only because someone has to. The four are bunched within 2 1/2 games, no better than 45-43, no worse than 43-46. It is like watching a close mule race.

So many sins are forgiven in this division. Co-leader Oakland has the lowest team batting average in baseball. Co-leader Texas has 18 blown saves. Los Angeles has the worst defense in the league. Seattle just had a 2-7 homestand, and scored six runs total in five of the losses. One good month could swing it. But that’s the problem.

4. Will the Tigers ever wake up, or slow down? So far the relentlessly good pitching has made them slump-proof. The Detroit staff ERA is a remarkable half-run better than the next best team. All the White Sox can do is shrug and keep pace.

Pity the Minnesota Twins. They have the league’s top hitter, top strikeout pitcher, top starter in earned run average, and they’re still 11 games behind.

5. Will there be two of the most amazing batting champions in memory?

The American League leader is the Minnesota’s Joe Mauer, and a catcher hasn’t won a batting title since 1938 – for good reasons that any Hall of Fame catcher knows.

“You worry about foul tips off the shoulder or the hands, anything can cause a slump to a catcher,” Johnny Bench was saying at the All-Star Game. “It’s just too much. It’s a hell of a lot to expect. But watching this kid, it’s a thing of beauty.”

The National league co-leaders are Los Angeles’ Nomar Garciaparra and Pittsburgh’s Freddy Sanchez. Garciaparra played in only 143 games the previous two seasons, and it was entirely reasonable to wonder how much was left. Sanchez had been a .280 hitter in a young career.

“He has an uncanny ability to get the barrel of the bat on the same plane as the ball,” Pittsburgh manager Jim Tracy said of Sanchez. “This is not a fluke. Trust me.”

6. Will Barry Bonds show up? Or is that guy just not around anymore?

Bonds has 12 home runs, good for a tie for 32nd place in the league. He is moving toward Hank Aaron like a glacier – an aging glacier. And the feds are still investigating.

7. Who’ll get the National League wild card?

The Dodgers lead the league in hitting but are last in home runs. The Rockies, a pitcher’s quagmire since creation, are third in the league in earned run average. The Reds can’t hold a lead – any lead. The Astros have Roger Clemens back, but closer Brad Lidge’s ERA is 5.79. The Diamondbacks are on a zigzag pattern. Their last four series have been sweeps, two for and two against.

Only time can sort out this mess.

8. How busy will the late-July trading spree get?

Hard to say, because at the moment, 21 teams are within 6 1/2 games of at least a wild-card spot. Nobody wants to pull the plug too early. So the sellers might really be buyers. Or the other way around.