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Wednesday, October 6
Finally, a postseason worth watching
By Jim Caple
Special to ESPN.com

Last year's postseason was the most predictable prime-time offering since the episodes where the castaways almost got off Gilligan's Island. After the Yankees won 114 games in the regular season, the only question about the postseason was whether Derek Jeter would invite Mariah Carey to ride in his convertible during the ticker-tape parade.

Refreshingly, this October holds considerably more promise and suspense. Unlike like year, there is no overwhelming favorite. Picking a favorite among New York, Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Houston, et. al, is as challenging as sorting out the Kemp family tree.

Will Pedro Martinez be enough for the Red Sox to end the 81-year-old Curse of the Bambino? Will New Yorkers enjoy their first Subway Series since the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn? Will the World Series finally replace the Bears' victory over the Tucson Toros in "The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training" as the most memorable in the Astrodome's history?

We'll find out the answers to those questions and so many more over the next couple weeks. Meanwhile, here are the sights and sounds you can depend upon this postseason:

  • Fans eagerly anticipating the possibility that Randy Johnson will do something truly incredible. Fans eagerly dreading the probability that Chuck Knoblauch will do something amazingly stupid.

  • Forty-year-old Rickey Henderson wiggling his fingers and dancing off first base, driving pitchers to distraction. Twenty-year-old women jiggling their breasts and prancing around Arizona's swimming pool suite, driving outfielders to distraction.

  • Atlanta fans wondering when is too early to leave the game to avoid traffic. Boston fans praying Martinez doesn't show up late for his starts.

  • The pleasure of hearing Ernie Harwell's soothing voice while he turns radio play-by-play into poetry. The pain of enduring Tim McCarver's incessant voice beating a subject to death on TV.

  • Columnists moaning that postseason games start too late and drive away potential fans because they sometimes don't end until close to midnight in the east. Those same columnists sitting in bars cheering top-rated Monday Night Football games that last well past midnight every week.

  • Atlanta fans trying to intimidate opposing players by waving their foam-rubber tomahawks. Yankees fans intimidating opposing fans by wielding their steel-edged switchblades.

  • The joy of phoning in sick and watching an entire day of postseason baseball. The frustration of misprogramming your VCR and recording Jerry Springer instead of Jeff Bagwell.

  • Night games at Fenway Park, where NBC cameras so memorably captured Carlton Fisk waving his Game 6 home run off the foul pole. Night games at Yankee Stadium, where Fox cameras so conveniently catch David Duchovny waving a vendor to his box seat.

  • Mets fans second-guessing Bobby Valentine for any decision that doesn't go exactly right. Cincinnati management second-guessing itself for its greed in scheduling an additional three-game series against Cleveland.

    So put the pizza deliverer on speed dial and sit back and relax on your couch. With this many evenly matched teams and this many storylines, this month of baseball could be a true October classic.

    Box score line of the week
    After trading home runs all season long, "Mac-Sammy, Part Deux" ended only when Mother Nature put a stop to it with a game -- and season-ending rainstorm. That, and Chicago's careful pitching all weekend, produced a couple interesting lines for Mark McGwire. Thanks to three walks Oct. 2 and two more Oct. 3, McGwire homered in his final two official at-bats. His line from the season finales:

    1 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 1 RBI and 1 AB, 3 R, 1 H, 1 RBI.

    To put McGwire's feats in perspective, consider that he averaged 61 home runs a season the past four years and hit more home runs in the past two years (135) than Ty Cobb did his entire career (117).

    Lies, damn lies and statistics
    More amazing McGwire stats: McGwire had more RBI (147) than hits (145), becoming the first player to ever do so while reaching the century mark. His 64th home run Oct. 2 was his first in more than two years on a 3-0 count, a span of at least 134 home runs ... Amazing Pedro Martinez stats of the season: He averaged nearly 11 strikeouts and barely one walk a start, and had an ERA almost a run and a half lower than his next nearest competitor ... The American League went 51 years without having a pitcher win the triple crown, but has had one do so each of the past three seasons (Martinez this season, Roger Clemens in 1997 and 1998) ... Cy Young voters, take note -- Houston's Mike Hampton had more wins than Greg Maddux (22 to 19), a higher average than Brian Jordan (.311 to .283) and more RBI (10) than Otis Nixon (eight) ... The three pitchers who threw no-hitters this year followed their feats by winning only three games the rest of the season combined: David Cone (two), Jose Jimenez (one) and Eric Milton (zero) ... Chicago's Jaime Navarro allowed nearly as many unearned runs (18) as the entire Mets staff combined (20) ... Baseball's postseason is another black tie-only affair, with the lowest payroll among participants $52.4 million ... There are three alumni from the independent Northern League in the playoffs, New York's Darryl Strawberry, Texas reliever Jeff Zimmerman and Mets shortstop Rey Ordonez.

    From left field
    When the '90s began, Randy Johnson had 155 career strikeouts, Mark McGwire had 117 career home runs and Greg Maddux's trophy case was without a Cy Young award. The decade was very good for all three, as this list of the statistical leaders for the '90s shows:

    CATEGORY LEADER TOTAL
    Home runs Mark McGwire 405
    Hits Mark Grace 1,754
    Stolen bases Otis Nixon 478
    Wins Greg Maddux 176
    Losses Andy Benes 116
    Strikeouts Randy Johnson 2,538
    RBIs Albert Belle 1,099
    Average Tony Gwynn .344
    Errors Todd Zeile 208
    ERA Greg Maddux 2.54

    Bar room Jeopardy
    Q. What's the highest batting average a 20-game winner ever had?

    A.     In 1925, Walter Johnson won more games than Grover Alexander (20 to nine), hit more home runs than Jimmie Foxx (two to zero), drove in more runs than Charlie Gehringer (20 to 0) and hit for a higher average than Rogers Hornsby (.433 to .403).

    Jim Caple's Off Base column appears each Wednesday during the season.

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