It's A Long Way Down To The Soup Line

Don't look now but the White Sox are alone atop the American League Central after a 7-3 victory over Texas. Geez, White Sox returning home, where they are a 1927 Yankees-like 41-22 at U.S. Cellular Field, third-best AL home record, and the Royals having to face the Yankees in Yankee Stadium, then the Twins in the Metrodome. Hmmm. Never saw this coming...

In addition to the first place news and their third consecutive victory, the White Sox also added Scott Sullivan to the team in a neat little coup from Cincinnati. Sullivan went 6-0 with a 3.62 ERA in 50 appearances for the Reds and will replace the ineffable Billy Koch and his inflamed right elbow. In 17 games since June 16, Sullivan has allowed just one run on 10 hits over 17 2/3 innings.

But there is no time for any Mexican hat dance yet. The Sox still have 16 games left on the road, including three at Minnesota and four at Kansas City to end the season.

Frank Thomas also provided a highlight, hitting his 407th career home run. That ties him with Duke Snider for 35th on the all-time list.

And how about those Royals? They lost one game to the Minnesota last night and dropped all the way down into third place in the AL Central. They've lost six of seven since taking two-of-three from the Yankees at Kauffman Stadium last week. Are they auditioning for a role in The Red Sox: Fall Collapse? (Awww, I'm just teasing Red Sox fans because they've let me down by not kicking enough Yankee ass yet -- hopefully there's something left by August 29th when the Yankees come back to Fenway.)

To refresh Royals fans everywhere and help them in their recent downward plunge, this is the chorus to the 1915 ditty, It's A Long Way Down To The Soupline:

It's a long way down to the soupline,
It's a long way to go.
It's a long way down to the soupline,
And the soup is thin I know.
Good bye, good old pork chops,
Farewell, beefsteak rare;
It's a long way down to the soupline,
But my soup is there.

All My Aces Are On the DL Blues

In any case, the Red Sox Nation must be happier than yesterday. Since dropping two back behind the A's, they won last night's game without Pedro the Lion to move back to a game behind, and watched two A's pitchers go down.

First it was one of their aces, Mark Mulder (15-9 3.13) going on the DL with tendinitis of the right hip.

Then came the much ballyhooed Rich Harden Experience. "He had command problems," A's manager Ken Macha said. "It was kind of a discouraging outing." Command problems? Seven walks in two and two-thirds innings. This looks more like the old Rick Ankiel Replay. Since being touted by every hype-job and soothsayer in the book as the next Cy Young, the suddenly mortal Harden is 0-3 in his last three outings with a 12.41 ERA. That's 16 earned runs, 10 walks and 4 homers allowed in his last 11 2/3 innings to you big fellah.

"This is Ground Control to Major Tom
You've really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear
Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare"

Oh yeah, let's not forget Tim Hudson (12-4 2.48) and his bruised hand. Hudson, who was scratched from Thursday's game because of a bruised right hand, is still tentatively scheduled to start on Sunday. He is 3-0 1.78 in August.

Next in line in the great A's pitcher annointment is Mike Wood, 23, from Triple-A Sacramento. Wood was Oakland's 10th-round pick in the 2001 First-Year Player Draft and went 9-3 with a 3.05 ERA in 16 starts this season at Sacramento. The two remaining A's pitchers are Ted Lilly and Barry Zito who are combined 16-19 this season.

Where is Vida Blue when you need him?

Diamondbacks Are Forever

With the Philadelphia Phillies and the Florida Marlins choking down three game sweeps at the hands of the lowly Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Rockies respectively and their near-future prospects not better with the Phillies going to St. Louis and the Marlins going to San Francisco, the Arizona Diamondbacks are creeping up.

Led by Curt Schilling, who was named the National League Pepsi Co-Player of the Week for August 11-17 by going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, the Diamondbacks now stand only 2 1/2 slim games from the NL Wildcard despite a miraculously middling 3-5 record in their last 8 games. Actually, the Diamondbacks were behind by 2 1/2 games a week ago as well but with the Phillies going 9-10 in August so far and the Marlins not much better at 10-9 during August, the Diamondbacks at 11-8 for August, look like they are on fire.

Larry Bowa, by the way, seems well on his way to my long-predicted meltdown. Following the sweep at the hands of the Brewers, Bowa was getting ready to boil:

"When you're in this position, it's no mercy," Bowa said. "You kill people. You kick them.When they try to get up you kick them again. You don't stick out your hand and help them. And until you've been [in the playoffs], you don't know."

Hmmm. Kill people, kick them? Sounds more like a prison riot than a wildcard race. Let's see if Mr. Bowa can get his Phantastic Phillies wrapped any tighter...

In Bonds We Trust

For some reason, I never get tired of seeing this. Especially not when it spells a walk-off homerun and another loss for the hated Atlanta Braves. Although I think it's safe to assume a Braves NL East title again, (their ninth consecutive NL East title, that is), it's good to know that the Braves are now 2-4 for the season against their top rivals for the NL Championship.

What a bizarre world for Barry Bonds. First of all, (let's not forget that at 39), he's still baseball's most dominant slugger. He's climbing closer and is now within eight homers of his godfather, Willie Mays, for third place on the career list while his father, Bobby, withers away with cancer. Last night was his 100th career homer at Pacific Bell Park. He's hitting .410 with 6 homers, 11 RBIs, 12 runs scored, and 15 walks in the 13 games he's played during August. I know it's no secret but is anyone fully grasping how overwhelming he is? His achilles heel is astroturf. He's 1 for 11 on astroturf with 3 strikeouts and 0 homers this season. That means the Phillies, if they ever win a game again and make it to the playoffs, are the only team in the NL with a chance to shut him down in the postseason.

Metropolitan Area Ball

Who has the best record among the metropolitan areas with more than one team?

Well, despite the Mets, New York City is not in last place among the three major cities with more than one team. The Bay area, technically not one city but lumped together all the same because they are only separated by a bridge, leads the field.

Bay Area 149-104 .589
New York 133-118 .530
Chicago 132-122 .520