Is It The Goddamn Weekend Yet?
I'm actually not feeling nearly as crusty as you might infer from my title today. But was felt wiped out at work for the second consecutive day, and had very little motivation. Thing is, I wasn't the only one; several different people expressed similar sentiments. One guy even said he was looking for a reason not to go back to his office.
I suspect this is due to a combination of getting past our development deadline, and a long weekend this weekend. That plus the wonderful weather outside made everyone restless and ready to leave.
Speaking of the weather, I managed to bike in today. I'm definitely getting in better shape, as I'm less tired when I get into work and I need less rest time on the ride in. Of course, the cool weather (51 degrees when I woke up) and low humidity help a lot, too. I'm looking forward to biking in the fall, and seeing how far into the winter I can bike before I wimp out.
Plus, today was the first day I biked in with all the students back, and I found that I was biking considerably faster than anyone else on the road. There was one woman who was going nearly as fast as I was, but I passed her while she was passing some other people. It's nice to know I can keep up with people ten years younger than me - once in a while, anyway.
Some interesting stuff is going on. Of course, all the headlines are focused on Mark McGwire (59 home runs) and Sammy Sosa (who hit his 57th tonight) trying to break Roger Maris' Major League record of 61 home runs. It seems likely that McGwire will break the record in the next week, but it's Sosa who's making the race really interesting. No one really even mentioned him as a contender when the season was starting, but he set the Major League record for home runs in a month, hitting 20 in June, and his friendly personality has gotten him a lot of media attention. I'd love it if he finishes the season with more home runs than McGwire - not because I have anything against McGwire, but just because it would be unexpected and therefore more interesting.
Of course, an even more interesting question is whether McGwire or Sosa can break the professional single-reason home run record, which is 72, set by Joe Bauman in 1954 playing for a Class C league. There's also Joe Hauser, who is the only man to hit 60 home runs in pro ball twice (he held the pre-Bauman record with 69, in 1933). Of course, this doesn't count leagues with uncertain record-keeping, such as the Negro League, but I'm not sure even Josh Gibson is considered to have hit 72 home runs in a season.
And there's the whole flap about McGwire using drugs to pump himself up during the season. I think this debate is ridiculous. The drugs he's using are legal in Major League Baseball, just like the spitball used to be. This isn't a technicality; McGwire is (as far as we know) playing within the rules. If people don't like the rules, tough.
While looking over the standings today, I noticed that every potential (realistic) playoff team is at least 10 games over .500, and most are 14 or more games over. Now, teams like the Angels and the Giants are not teams for the ages, but they're good teams and deserving of going to the postseason. Unlike a few years ago, there are no teams struggling to win a wild card slot and stay over .500. This should make for a good, gritty postseason.
Of course, the Yankees are far and away the class of the American League, but the National League sports three fantastic teams. The Padres have had a magical season with a couple of Cy Young contenders and a superstar slugger in Greg Vaughn. The Braves have their usual brilliant pitching staff, usual solid offense, and usual questionable bullpen. And then there are the Astros, with two of the best position players in the game in the "Killer B's" - 1B Jeff Bagwell and 2B Craig Biggio - and then they augmented a formidable pitching staff by pulling a surprise trade for Seattle ace Randy Johnson, who has been nothing short of brilliant for them, facing down and beating Greg Maddux earlier this week. Johnson has shown himself capable of carrying a team in the postseason all by himself, and the Astros are a team with potent weapons besides the Big Unit, including a solid bullpen.
So there's a race to see who ends up with the best record in the NL, but more than that, two of these three great teams will play each other in the first round of the playoffs. A big factor here is the wild card, since a team can't play a team from its own division in the first round. This gives, for instance, Atlanta extra incentive to beat the Mets later this month, because if the Mets win the wild card, then the Braves must face either San Diego or Houston. Similarly, it arguably gives Houston disincentive to beat the Mets, although I'm sure they won't actually play that game. But it does seem kind of perverse.
By the way, since 1993 only three teams have finished over .500 every season. The Yankees and Braves are two of these. And the third is... the Houston Astros. Who'd've guessed? Somebody down there has their head screwed on straight.
I'm zoned. Time for bed. More tomorrow, if anything happens.
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