30 To Go

With 30 games left, here's what's happening with the pennant races:

National League

North: Short of a miracle or '64 Phillies-like collapse, Syracuse has it wrapped. Ruben James may have been the key acquisition of the mid-season - he's 5-1, 2.73 since joining the Warriors. Syracuse has also edged ahead of Charleston for the #2 seed and a first-round bye.

East: Jacksonville hung in gamely for a lot of the season, but has faded badly with an ugly 1-12 stretch. Looks like a second straight division title for the Lake Monsters.

South: Mexico City failed to take advantage of Charleston's 1-3 series against Ottawa - the Desperadoes were swept by Tacoma, and remain 2 back. They play each other in the last series of the season (Mexico City has a 5 of 7 head-to-head with the Apologists so far).

West: Oakland's cruising with a 16-game lead in the division and a 5-game lead over Syracuse for the #1 seed.

Wild Card: #2 in the AL South will almost certainly take the first wildcard. The second wildcard is currently an Ottawa/Las Vegas dead heat, with Trenton 7 games back.

American League

North: Augusta has used a recent 8-2 burst (including a win at Hartford and 3 of 4 with D.C.) to take command of the division. Madison and Columbus remain in range but need to get hot in a hurry.

East: Hartford has a shot at the all-time Belle single-season wins record (currently 122 by Chraleston in Season 7) and seems a good bet to break its own AL record (117 in Season 10).

South: Jackson has opened up a 7-game lead on Little Rock ad does not appear catchable. Even with Wilson Costello having a terrible season (by his standards), the Holes' run production has only fallen by about .25 per game.

West: Tucson has lead pretty much from the wire and has forged an insurmountable 13-game lead. They're currently 2 games up on Augusta for the 3rd seed, but that may not be terribly relevant: there's a good chance that both the wild card teams will have better records than the 3 and 4 seeds (their 1st-round opponents).

Wild Card: Here's the intersting AL race. After dropping 6 straight to Boise and Hartford, Little Rock has snapped back with a sweep of Pittsburgh to build a 2-game lead over Richmond. Rochester was sitting in the #2 wild card until the last 10 games, when their 3-7 and the Poor Men's 7-3 put them a game back. We're still expecting a charge by Washington D.C., who currently sits 4 back of Richmond.