At Home Plate - The other races left to watch

At Home Plate

Written by Bjoern Hartig (Contact & Archive) on September 10, 2009

With the pennants already handed out (more or less), Tom Verducci comes up with ten more races to follow:

1) The Bryce Harper Division Race. The team with the worst record wins the right to draft the otherworldly Harper with the first pick of the 2010 draft. It comes down to a race between Washington and Kansas City, with the Nationals holding a five-game lead in the all-important loss column. Both teams are doing their darnedest to win this race.

Since Aug. 16 the Nots are 4-15. Since July 28 the Royal Pains are 12-26, including a perfect 0-11 in games after they actually managed to win one. Wouldn't want anything as extravagant as a two-game winning streak when you're chasing the worst record in baseball.

2) The Derek Jeter Home Run Race. Sure, Jeter is going to pass Lou Gehrig as the all-time Yankees hit leader any day now. No pressure there. But Jeter needs three home runs in New York's final 23 games for the Yankees to become the first team in baseball history with eight players to hit 20 or more home runs. They are tied with the 2005 Rangers, 2000 Blue Jays and 1996 Orioles with seven 20-homer hitters.

Do the Royals really try to loose? Unless they start pulling Zach Greinke after 75 pitches, that would be hard to prove. However, getting Harper is a mightly incentive. I wonder if one can see a difference in the winning percentage of the really bad teams in years with a clear best player in the upcoming draft.

Regarding the 20+ home run hitters, when I look at the years 1996, 2000 and 2005, it reminds me to continue my studies on the steroid era. Where was that database again ...

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