Royals Are Royal No Longer

As Kansas City was busy losing their second consecutive game to the bottom-dwelling Tampa Bay Devi Rays, their 4th in a row and their 8th loss in 11 games (meltdown, anyone?), the White Sox's left-hander Mark Buehrle was outdueling Oakland's lefthander Mark Mulder and the White Sox were "movin' on up" into first place.

Don't look now, but the White Sox are 16-4 in their last 20 games. Pennant race? What pennant race?

Buehrle, who started off 2-10 with a 5.18 ERA to begin the season is now 7-1 with a 3.50 ERA in his last 10 starts. In two previous games against the White Sox this season, Mulder had a 2-0 record and a 0.50 ERA, yielding just one earned run in 18 innings.

Carl Everett saved the victory when he leaped, extended his glove over the center-field fence and took a home run away from Hernandez to end the seventh inning. In three at-bats, he was hit by a pitch, singled and doubled. He was supported by Magglio Ordonez's 3 for 4 night which included a homerun.

Here's why being a manager can be no fun at times:

''And with those types of [big] crowds we had, you don't want them to leave being mad at the team--being mad at me is OK, but you want them to come back and feel good about the team.'' Chicago manager Jerry Manuel

Marlins Pull Even With Phillies

In 10 appearances since coming from Texas, Ugueth Urbina had been 2-0 with a 0.77 ERA and four holds. Last night he pitched a scoreless inning, but gave up a hit and walked two before getting Richie Sexson to hit into an inning-ending double play. It wasn't for the easily queasy hearted, but he's only given up 1 run in 12 2/3 innings. In fact, the bullpen itself has allowed only one run in 22 2/3 innings. an 0.39 ERA.

The Marlins defeated the Brewers in Milwaukee, 5-3, tying them with the Phillies for the wild card lead as the Phillies lost in San Franscisco, 9-1.

It didn't get huge play in Miami because of the Dolphins, but it did in Lakeland Florida where The Ledger's headlines screamed: Marlins Win, Tie Phillies for Wild Card.

Next week, the nascent Marlin Nation will take on the Gator Nation in a cage match.

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Why is it that groups of fans for a particular sports team have started to call themselves a "Nation"? Red Sox Nation, Gator Nation, Raider Nation, Alien Nation, Prozac Nation...the list is endless. Are they big enough to be a whole nation? And even if they are, how impressive is it, just to be a nation? Luxemberg is a nation. Does Luxemberg instill terror in anyone? What is the difference between a nation and a tribe? According to Mu`ammar al-Qadhafi in his book, The Green Book, a tribe is:

..."a family which has grown as a result of procreation. It follows that a tribe is a big family. Equally a nation is a tribe which has grown through procreation. The nation, then, is a big tribe. So the world is a nation which has been ramified into various nations. The world, then, is a big nation. The relationship which binds the family is that which binds the tribe, the nation and the world. However, it weakens with the increase in number. The concept of man is that of the nation, the concept of nation is that of the tribe, and the concept of the tribe is that of the family."

Biologically a tribe is defined as a taxonomic category placed between a subfamily and a genus or between a suborder and a family and usually containing several genera. There are federations of tribes, like The Five Nations, which was the Iroquois confederacy as originally formed by the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca peoples.

So what are these Red Sox and Gator and Raider Nations, the federation of local and international sports tribes or a pale effort of puffery to aggrandize themselves and their followings?

How come there are no I heart Robin Nations of Ventura-infatuated yankee chicas?

What kind of world is this that there are no Mets Chicas?

Welcome To Mets Nation: Win It For The Wives?

1969:

"After the game the Met husbands reported they had seen their wives in action. Nolan Ryan showed mock anger and threatened to speak to his wife harshly. He has been warned: if he dares raise his voice to her he will be branded in the press as a wife-beater. Seaver echoed Ryan's comments and then laughed."