This season’s story has, in my mind, a focal point. It was on August 20 when the standings looked like this:
I called that race “Incandescent!!”
But the Seraphim are not guardian angels. They are not looking out for us. The very next day the “race” looked like this:
And ever since then, the echoes of that incandescent moment (Editor: You’ve got a problem here, Ron. Incandescence doesn’t echo.) … the embers of that incandescent moment have steadily faded. As this week 24 began, all we had left was this:
A three way race for second place with teams spaced neatly one game apart is … nice, I guess, but does little more than glow a bit. It’s like a three-bulb string of mini Christmas lights someone has forgotten to take down 8 months later.
The race for 8th place is much “hotter” but a) it’s only two teams, and b) in a distant region of the solar system. Out by Neptune. (Editor: Just great. Now we use a solar system to describe a race. You do realize the planets just stay in their permanent orbits? No one’s trying to get closer to the Sun than Mercury.)
Here are today’s standings, which inspired my epiphany:
Yes, I did notice how the Balk and Wolverines have drawn a LOT closer to the Seraphim. But they’re both still more than 3 games out, and time’s a wasting. But this is what has finally sunk into my brain: the Wolverines and the Balk are in a fantastic race!
Look at each of the three standings I’ve shown. The Balk and Wolverines are never more than a game apart. They have been, occasionally, more than a game apart over the last month. But it’s always been temporary. And today they are 0.0117 games apart, separated by a mere .00008 in adjusted winning percentage — and barely more than that in raw winning percentage.
Ok, it’s not for first place (yet). And it’s only two teams. But as Lyle Lovett suggests, even if you are pining to be somewhere else, it would be silly not to “(incan)d(esc)ance right where you are.”
So I intend to enjoy the races where ever I find them.
Notes:
- The Balk/Wolverine incandescence would be even brighter if it were a three-way deal. So come on, Seraphim, rejoin us!
- It would be fun to have the Kangaroos rejoin us, too, but they have been tragically struck by one of the freakiest phenomena in the cosmos: a week in which the 2022 Pirates keep pounding their opponents. Yesterday the Pirates swept a doubleheader against the Reds, 6 – 1 and 1 – 0. That elevated the Pirates’ rs/ra this week to 29 – 17 (still not up to date on the Weekly Results page… aggh). Before this week, the best the Pirates had ever done against an EFL team was 26 – 25 in week 19 against the Tornados.
- Another incandescent race is for the AL Wild Card. Here’s how it looks in our standings:
The Wolverines and the Dragons soak up two playoff spots in these standings, so the Blue Jays would have the thirs wild card and Seattle and Tampa Bay would be 1/2 game out. The Dragons are not safe – only 0.7 games up on the Jays — so we have a scintillating race involving 4 teams separated by 1.2 games vying for two spots.
The non-EFL version of this race is also red-hot: the Jays a half game ahead of the M’s and Rays — but all they are all looking good to get into the postseason, so some of the drama is muted. If only we could get MLB to acknowledge and report the true standing with the EFL teams included. Even the brilliant AL Wild Card race would be greatly enhanced.