Superlatives are beginning to lose their meaning. Memories are being made
nearly every single moment by some of the greatest players in history. Teams
are battling desperately to become a great story, or to avoid becoming one.
Is it possible that we’re seeing the greatest week in baseball history?
Consider:
- From a team perspective: no National League squads have clinched a
postseason berth yet, this with three days to go. The top teams in the three
divisions are separated by a total of six games. Great stories abound: the
Giants’ defiant stand in Houston, the Astros’ slide from league bully to
possible playoff outsider, the Cardinals’ six-week run to the best record in
the league, the Diamondbacks’ ability to confound wiseass Internet baseball
writers. - In the AL, even a lack of pennant races doesn’t preclude a potentially
bigger story than any NL team can provide. The Seattle Mariners have tied
the AL record for wins, and can break the major-league record for wins by
running the table against the Rangers this weekend. Doing so would enable
them to set the AL mark for winning percentage as well.I’m the first to admit that I didn’t see this coming in March, and as
recently as three weeks ago
I said
the Mariners would fall shy of the AL mark, never mind the major-league
record. Their ability to succeed down the
stretch–they’ve lost one game to a non-A’s team since September 4–while
preparing for the playoffs has been remarkable. This is one of the best
single-season teams in baseball history. - The individual stories stretch forever, starting in Baltimore and San
Diego, where two enormously popular Hall of Famers, Cal Ripken and
Tony Gwynn, will end their careers in front on hometown crowds. A
third Hall of Famer–if I say it enough, maybe it will become true–Tim
Raines, is becoming just the second man to play major-league baseball
alongside his son this week. - Other active Hall of Famers are having pretty good weeks as well. One,
Rickey Henderson, just set the all-time record for runs scored in a
career, as significant a record as there is. Henderson should get his
3,000th sometime in the next couple of days as well, at which time he’ll
hold three major career records (runs, walks, steals) and be a member of one
of the game’s more storied circles. - Henderson, though, isn’t even the biggest story among Hall of Fame left
fielders on California teams. Barry Lamar Bonds is having one of the
two or three greatest seasons in baseball history. He tied the game’s most
significant single-season record this week with his 70th home run, setting
the single-season record for walks along the way. With three games to go,
Bonds has a chance to break the home-run record, the slugging percentage
record, and he will be the first player to have a .500 OBP since 1957.He’s doing all of this for a team scrambling desperately for its playoff
life. Since September 1, Bonds–reviled in some quarters as a choker, MVP
credentials questioned daily–is hitting .394/.590/1.000. If that’s not the
greatest stretch drive ever, it damn sure makes the final cut.
I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time gazing at my television in awe this
week. It seems as if each day has brought more great baseball into my
life than the day before, and I expect that to continue into the weekend.
Being a baseball fan is always enjoyable, but sometimes it’s rewarding in a
way that stretches the limits of expression.
So I ask again: is this the greatest week in baseball history?
Joe Sheehan is an author of Baseball Prospectus. You can contact him by
clicking here.
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