A Few Key Series Left As Majors Head Toward Finish

Despite the efforts of baseball’s ruling elite to eliminate all meaningful competition during the final weeks of September, there still are plenty of good reasons to stay tuned for the pennant stretch in the American League.

The East appears to be decided, but the Milwaukee Brewers refuse to go away in the Central and the surprising Anaheim Angels have overcome a series of obstacles to make a race of it in the West.

Thanks to the balanced schedule - which has been complicated by the advent of interleague play - there is surprisingly little head-to-head competition remaining between the top teams in each division, but here are five September series that still could capture your imagination:

New York at Baltimore, Thursday-Sunday. It was supposed to be one of the biggest head-to-head series of the year, but the events of the past two weeks have taken a lot of the luster off the final showdown between the top two teams in the East.

Does the series mean anything?

It does to the Yankees, who need to show they can compete with the Orioles just in case they run into each other again in the ALCS. It could gain even more significance if right-hander David Cone recovers sufficiently from a sore shoulder to make his first appearance since he went on the disabled list Aug. 19.

Anaheim at Seattle, Sept. 23-24. Who knows if the Angels can hang on long enough to make it matter, but the two-game series that kicks off the final week of regular-season play is the league’s last chance for a meaningful head-to-head divisional showdown.

Yankees at Indians, Sept. 23-25. Talk about a playoff preview. If there is no dramatic assault on the status quo the next couple of weeks, the Indians and Yankees will match up for three games at Jacobs Field less than a week before they go head-to-head in the divisional series.

Oakland at Seattle, Sept. 26-28. It might be the biggest mismatch of the final weekend, but it figures to be significant for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that the West title might hang in the balance.

Baltimore at Milwaukee, Sept. 26-28: Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that a final weekend series between the Orioles and Brewers likely would be important?

Clemente salute due

The Pittsburgh Pirates will commemorate the 25th anniversary of Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente’s final season on Sept. 19.

The Pirates will have members of the Clemente family present as part of a tribute to the four-time National League batting champion, who died in a plane crash on Dec. 31, 1972.

Hall of Famer Willie Stargell, who was a teammate of Clemente from 1962-72, will speak at the pregame ceremony.