San Diego
Houston
Philly
Cincy
St. Louis
Los Angeles
All of the above have nothing wrapped up in terms of the post season. The only thing that is guaranteed is that they have four games left to play and they are allowed to try to win those games. That's it. Cincy, Houston and Philly have to rely on a little more, i.e. the frontrunners getting beat a couple of times or so to overtake them. In Cincy, they need to leap frog two teams, so it's about getting help by more than just one team.
But that's out of their control. You can only play the team that you're facing that day and you go out with the attitude of winning. And what Houston's done is decide a week ago to play as if today's game is game seven. Sometimes, that works for you... other times, it works against you. You can play tighter because of it, and this game is meant to be played with a bit of a relaxed approached. Be that as it may, there is one aspect of the game that *all* teams seeking the post season berth must deal with.
The Play.
Yes, the play. That one play, be it on offense or defense (depending on your view or fandom bent) is looming out there for all teams right now. For those teams already in the post season, that would be all AL teams and the NL New York Mets, they won't have to worry about "The Play" until later. For the aforementioned teams, it's entirely in vogue. It's waiting. It's out there. It's going to get one, two, maybe three of the teams. Fans will weep, media will chastise, players will react (good or bad), but they will all get to feel the sting of "The Play".
Players know it too. It's always out there ready to get you, so you develop an attitude about it. You say to yourself things like "I can't guide the ball after it leaves my bat, all I can do is hit it as well as I can and hope it finds a hole" or "I can't do anything about a pitch once it leaves my hand. I thought I made a good pitch... apparently it wasn't as good as I thought". The Play becomes the stuff that media in time will make a huge deal out of, especially if it involves the Yankees or Red Sox, but it can be even in the heart of the Midwest and if the play has huge implications, then it's worthy of dissection and talking about it over and over and over again. Like I said, usually it's the playoffs that brings us The Play, but right now I give you the next four games and I give you the situation being ripe for The Play to happen.
Will it be Donnie Morre/Steve Henderson worthy? How about the variation known as The Umpire/The Play... Don Denkinger anyone? Will it be Bucky Fucking Dent-ish? Billy Buckner? Lonnie Smith being deeked by Chuck Knobloch? What those playoff version have in common is the angle of a team fully in control of their own destiny and then one play... The Play... bites them and everything is lost. Is there one out there? Is it a Duffy amazing catch looming (like I thought last night) or a Luke Scott amazing clutch hit (like I enjoyed last night)? Usually The Play involves players out of the blue (see list above), unexpected guys, but sometimes it can be a superstar. Albert Pujols last night. For all that is said about last night's moonshot by Prince Al, it was epic in terms of the situation. He came through. But, by and large, managers don't allow superstars to beat you... especially when games mean as much as they do in the playoffs... heck as they do *NOW*!
In the next four games for any one of the above teams, look out for it. It's going to happen. The Play will make it's mark again this season as it has in season's past. Unless the Brewers decides to pitch to Pujols, the Braves pitch to Berkman, et. al., it's going to be a little known or unexpected player too.
Fun times!
