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batted balls · 08-22-2006, 03:12 PM

Max Mercy, Jr. here again, folks . . .

Ole Max is gonna talk pennant race. Notice, folks, that I said pennant race, pennant races. Take it from Ole Max, the West is won. Eight is enough. As in that eight-game lead the Men of Troy have over Arizona State. It may as well be eighty-eight. The Sun Devils are the Done Devils.

As for the East, it's a coin flip right now between Ivy and Miami. They're so close you couldn't squeeze a bunt between 'em. A week ago, folks started to think the defending champs from Bristol were pulling away from the Hurricanes. Ole Max was startin' to think that poor-excuse of of a movie made out of an entertaining, edgy '80s TV show wasn't the only thing bearing the name of Miami that stunk. Then lo and behold, manager Ron Fraser's gang came out firing. No, there's no Crockett and Tubbs involved here (remember, Crockett was a football star). But, there's plenty of talent named Bogle, Graves, Piazza and Burrell.

Yet, don't write off Ivy (Ole Max's spring training pick to win it all). Bob Seddon is a helluva manager. The Eagles have talent with names like Beattie, Sisler, Gehrig and Larkin. Ivy has been there, done that. Remember this is a club that won 104 games and swept away Arizona State a year ago. Champions don't go away easy.

In seven more days, Ivy and Miami square off in Bristol's Eagles Nest Park for three games. Come September, these two dynamos will play four more times: a two-game series on the 13th and 14th and a make-up game the 26th. All three of those games are in Miami's Alex Rodriquez Stadium by the way. Then comes what could turn out to be the game of the regular season. It will be played on the final day, Oct. 2, with Ivy hosting Miami. Can it get any better than that?

In case you're wondering, Ivy holds an 8-4 advantage thus far in the season series. Does that matter now? Maybe it does; maybe it doesn't. The following stats may matter though. Miami plays the East's bottom three teams (Minnesota, Michigan State and Notre Dame) 18 times; Ivy will play those lousy clubs (130-212 combined record to date) 12 times. Edge to Miami, right? Not so fast. A closer look shows that Ivy (28-13) has a better record against those three bottom feeders than does Miami (21-15). In fact, Ivy has an 11-1 record against Michigan State with six games left with the Spartans.

What about the games against the rest of the East, Max? What are the teams' records against the likes of Michigan, Mississippi State, Illinois, Florida State and LSU? What about it, Max? Thanks for asking. Ivy is 36-25 (.590) against those teams. The Eagles are 8-4 against Michigan yet just 6-5 against Florida State. Miami is 43-23 (.651) against the East sans the bottom three. The Hurricanes have pounded Florida State 10-4 yet struggled with Michigan at 6-5.

So what does all this mean? The hell if Ole Max knows. When it comes to stats and cliches, throw them all out. Does it matter that Miami has played 14 extra-inning games and Ivy only 10? No, instead the Eagles and the Hurricanes will play 'em one game at a time, give 110% and the good Lord willing, come out on top.

Meaningless stats and boring cliched answers, yes. Meaningless games still on the schedule and boring baseball, no. So, here's to Ivy and Miami, may the best team win. Hopefully, on the regular season's last day.

This is Max Mercy, Jr. signing off until next time . . .

08-22-2006, 03:12 PM	#236 (permalink)
batted balls All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: White Sox Country Posts: 1,319 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0x in 0 posts	East Pennant Race Should Be Quite a Chase--Max Mercy, Jr. Max Mercy, Jr. here again, folks . . . Ole Max is gonna talk pennant race. Notice, folks, that I said pennant race, pennant races. Take it from Ole Max, the West is won. Eight is enough. As in that eight-game lead the Men of Troy have over Arizona State. It may as well be eighty-eight. The Sun Devils are the Done Devils. As for the East, it's a coin flip right now between Ivy and Miami. They're so close you couldn't squeeze a bunt between 'em. A week ago, folks started to think the defending champs from Bristol were pulling away from the Hurricanes. Ole Max was startin' to think that poor-excuse of of a movie made out of an entertaining, edgy '80s TV show wasn't the only thing bearing the name of Miami that stunk. Then lo and behold, manager Ron Fraser's gang came out firing. No, there's no Crockett and Tubbs involved here (remember, Crockett was a football star). But, there's plenty of talent named Bogle, Graves, Piazza and Burrell. Yet, don't write off Ivy (Ole Max's spring training pick to win it all). Bob Seddon is a helluva manager. The Eagles have talent with names like Beattie, Sisler, Gehrig and Larkin. Ivy has been there, done that. Remember this is a club that won 104 games and swept away Arizona State a year ago. Champions don't go away easy. In seven more days, Ivy and Miami square off in Bristol's Eagles Nest Park for three games. Come September, these two dynamos will play four more times: a two-game series on the 13th and 14th and a make-up game the 26th. All three of those games are in Miami's Alex Rodriquez Stadium by the way. Then comes what could turn out to be the game of the regular season. It will be played on the final day, Oct. 2, with Ivy hosting Miami. Can it get any better than that? In case you're wondering, Ivy holds an 8-4 advantage thus far in the season series. Does that matter now? Maybe it does; maybe it doesn't. The following stats may matter though. Miami plays the East's bottom three teams (Minnesota, Michigan State and Notre Dame) 18 times; Ivy will play those lousy clubs (130-212 combined record to date) 12 times. Edge to Miami, right? Not so fast. A closer look shows that Ivy (28-13) has a better record against those three bottom feeders than does Miami (21-15). In fact, Ivy has an 11-1 record against Michigan State with six games left with the Spartans. What about the games against the rest of the East, Max? What are the teams' records against the likes of Michigan, Mississippi State, Illinois, Florida State and LSU? What about it, Max? Thanks for asking. Ivy is 36-25 (.590) against those teams. The Eagles are 8-4 against Michigan yet just 6-5 against Florida State. Miami is 43-23 (.651) against the East sans the bottom three. The Hurricanes have pounded Florida State 10-4 yet struggled with Michigan at 6-5. So what does all this mean? The hell if Ole Max knows. When it comes to stats and cliches, throw them all out. Does it matter that Miami has played 14 extra-inning games and Ivy only 10? No, instead the Eagles and the Hurricanes will play 'em one game at a time, give 110% and the good Lord willing, come out on top. Meaningless stats and boring cliched answers, yes. Meaningless games still on the schedule and boring baseball, no. So, here's to Ivy and Miami, may the best team win. Hopefully, on the regular season's last day. This is Max Mercy, Jr. signing off until next time . . . __________________ White Sox fan since 1972 Last edited by batted balls; 08-22-2006 at 03:20 PM.