Sunday Reading

Larry Stone asks something that Mariner and Brewer fans would love to know; How'd the Twins do it?

The crowd at Safeco Field on June 7 had little reason to suspect what riches lay ahead for the Minnesota Twins.

By all accounts, they were a team in tatters. Minnesota dropped a tough 10-9 decision that night on a walk-off home run in the 11th by Carl Everett (the name rings a bell), falling to 25-33 for the season.

The Twins were buried in fourth place in the five-team American League Central, 11-½ games behind the upstart Detroit Tigers.

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The big-picture upshot is that the Twins, from that June 7 nadir in Seattle, went 65-30 to surge past the Indians and White Sox and move, by this week, within a half-game of the Tigers before falling to 1-1/2 games back.

Barring a '64 Phillies-like collapse, they're safely into the playoffs as the year's feel-good story, an overachieving mid-market team righting itself from the brink of disaster.

Tom Hardricourt goes through the reasons that the NL Central is called Comedy Central

The St. Louis Cardinals didn't win the National League Central Division this season (they haven't clinched yet, but they will) as much as the Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers lost it.

If you don't believe that, consider the records of those four clubs in the second half of the season, entering weekend play:

St. Louis: 32-32
Houston: 31-32

Cincinnati: 29-34
Milwaukee: 26-37

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As discouraged as Brewers fans are over the plight of their club, it doesn't approach the level of frustration experienced in Cincinnati. On Aug. 24, the Reds were tied for first in the division with the Cardinals and had a comfortable 3½-game lead in the wild-card race.

Then came a disastrous 2-8 trip to the West Coast and the Reds never recovered. It didn't matter that general manager Wayne Krivsky acquired every relief pitcher with a pulse in an effort to stop the bleeding.

As an added bonus in the column, Hardricourt has a reaction to the reporters in San Francisco who are facing jail time for refusing to reveal their source for leaked grand jury testimony in the Barry Bonds case while Bonds is free to pursue Hank Aaron's home run record. It's one of those comments where you go, "Tell us what you really think, Tom."

Hardricourt also has an interview with Brewer owner Mark Attanasio; Keeping the bar high

Despite the setbacks suffered by the Brewers this season, many related to injuries to key players, Attanasio said he is committed to fielding a team next season that will compete for the playoffs. Asked whether he thought that goal was realistic, Attanasio didn't waver.

"Yes, and we're not just saying that," Attanasio said in an interview Saturday afternoon with the Journal Sentinel. "We thought we could have this year, too. You'd say we were mistaken but we'll never know. We're not going to use the injuries as an excuse, but for any team, you have to have some measure of health.

"We're trying to get the bar up so that there's always a fundamentally competitive team out there."

Attanasio readily admitted he was disappointed that the Brewers fell out of the post-season picture during a 10-game losing streak in late August and early September. But he said he stood firmly behind both general manager Doug Melvin and manager Ned Yost, the latter of whom became the target of fans' ire when the team collapsed.

"The manager is always the lightning rod for that," said Attanasio. "I feel like we have a strong management team in place with Ned and Doug and Gord (Ash). You rely on that management team to fix things.

Read it all.

Mariner Minors did a little checking and notices that there have been a few changes to the Arizona Fall League roster for the Peoria Javelinas, the team that has Mariner prospects.

Bobby Livingston and Ryan Rowland-Smith, both members of the 2003 Rattlers, are on the list. Eric O'Flaherty is off the roster.

AFL opens on October 10. The Javelinas play Grand Canyon Rafters.

One other winter league that some of you have asked about is the Hawaii Winter Baseball League. That season opens on October 1. I saw that former Rattler hitting coach Dana Williams is going to be a coach for the Waikiki Beach Boys. Cool note for the Brewer fans, former Brewer Lenny Sakata is the manager of the Beach Boys.

I haven't seen any rosters yet, but I have heard that a few former Rattlers are scheduled to be in this league. I'll keep an eye open.

Packers in an hour. Go, Pack, Go!