My Favorite Time of Year

Ah, September. The birds are chirping, football has begun, the scent of fall is in the air. And here, in the metropolitan Phoenix area, the temperature dipped today to a positively frigid 108.

September means pennant race time in baseball, and both my teams, the Mets and the D'backs are in the thick of the pennant race in their respective divisions. In fact, as I write this post, both my teams sit atop their divisions, and will play their respective second-place rivals this weekend. Sweet.

The D'backs have been in first place all season long. After a positively torrid April, they have pretty much coasted with a losing record ever since. In any other division, they would have been left for dead long ago, but in the putrid NL West, they still rule the roost, at least for now. They've been carried by their starting pitching, Brandon Webb, who seemed to have a lock on the Cy Young award two weeks ago, Dan Haren, who was probably the top offseason pick up until about two weeks ago, and Randy Johnson, who was doing his best impression of the Randy Johnson who won four consecutive Cy Young awards with the D'backs in the early years of this decade. The offense has pretty much stunk, despite the temporary lift that Adam Dunn gave the team when he joined them, and the bullpen started the season great, but has been horrible the last six weeks or so. Still, the D'backs were holding their own, and had a golden opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the Dodgers as the Dodgers lost eight in a row last week. So, what happened? The big three of Webb, Haren, and Johnson have all been shelled in their last two starts, the offense has continued to struggle, and the team was swept by the lowly Padres. During the Dodgers' eight game losing streak, the D'backs picked up only a half game in the standings, and now sit merely two games up in the loss column. They may be in second place after this weekend if the vaunted starting pitching doesn't turn things around immediately. The Dodgers, meanwhile, have won five in a row coming into this weekend's showdown, and they seem to have momentum. I have a hard time believing the D'backs can hold them off and win the division. Of course, if the Big Three revert back to their dominant ways, anything can happen, but without strong performances from Webb, Haren and Johnson, the Snakes haven't got a chance.

In the NL East, the Mets are trying not to repeat last year's disastrous choke job. The difference is, of course, that this year's team was not supposed to be in first place this late in the season. With a makeshift bullpen and an inconsistent starting rotation (other than Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey), the offense has come alive. David Wright has already driven in a hundred runs, Carlos Delgado is knocking on the door to that milestone, and Carlos Beltran has heated up. Jose Reyes is setting the table nicely and Ryan Church is back. If the Mets can hold off the Phillies this weekend, they will look pretty solid, much different from last year when they always seemed on the verge of caving in. No predictions yet, but I really think this weekend is pivotal.

In the Central, the Cubs, despite their present slump, still look like the best team in the NL. They should win the division somewhat handily, despite the loss of Carlos Zambrano. As for the wild card, it will be a surprise if the Brewers don't win. Ryan Braun is having an MVP type year, and C.C. Sabathia has been unbelieveable since he joined the team. It has to be disappointing for the Cardinals and Astros, both of whom would be leading the West if they were there, to see their playoff hopes slowly slipping away.

In the AL, the Angels seemingly had their division locked up at the All Star Break. I keep waiting for the Rays to fall apart, but they've made a believer out of me, and I expect them to either finish in first place in the east, or end up with the wild card. The Yankees are clearly toast, and for the first time in seemingly forever, they will stay home in October. The AL Central is too close to call between the White Sox and Minnesota, and it will probably go down to the wire. Can you imagine if the Cubs, White Sox, and Red Sox all end up playing in the postseason in the same year? I'll be that hasn't happened very often.

The NFL started play tonight, and the World Champion Giants (boy does that feel weird typing that!!!) started their defense of their championship with a win over the Redskins. There is great anticipation in New York about the new-look Jets and their new quarterback, Bret somebody-or-other. Wouldn't you know that in Favre's first game with the team, he'll be facing deposed Jet quarterback Chad Pennington and the Miami Dolphins. The Jets seem to be heavily favored, but I wouldn't be surprised if Pennington pulls off the upset. He's certainly capable of that. Of course, both teams happen to play in the same division as the Patriots, and that is never good news.

Here in the desert, the city seems pretty excited about the Cardinals. The team that should have won at least ten games last year and been in the playoffs, had a .500 record for only the third time in their entire history in Phoenix. Kurt Warner has been dubbed to be the starting quarterback, and he will be throwing to two all pro receivers, Anquan Bolding (who has said he wants out of Phoenix) and Larry Fitzgerald. We'll see what happens.

And in college football, the team I've followed for the last 25 years, the Arizona Wildcats, throttled their first opponent by a score of 70-0. Of course, their opponent was basically on a par with a high school team, nevertheless the last time they beat any team by that kind of score was, like, never. It's put up or shut up time for Coach Mike Stoops in Tucson. Stoops has yet to have a winning season and the Cats haven't been to a bowl game since 1998. Anything less than a bowl berth this season, and Stoops is history. A pretty easy non-conference schedule should help.

What a great time of year. And isn't there some sort of election or something going on right now? Sweet! Now if the temperature would dip below the century mark, we can finally come out of our air-conditioned hiding.