A streaky start to August sees us lose 4 then win 6 on the trot—4 of them by one run and 3 of those in extra innings.
A lot of gas being used up, no doubt.
We still have 12 to play against the Cards and we drop 2 of the first 3 of those in mid-August to remain tied.
We cause ourselves a bunch of unnecessary grief with frequent displays of ill-discipline and fall as many as 4 games behind the Cards at one point.
There’s just no real zip in the way we’re playing and nobody’s really stepping up and, as a result, we cannot get a roll on.
We lose Bonds for a week to an oblique strain but don’t IL him and with a dozen games to go – six v the Cubs and six v the Cards – we trail the latter by 2 games, although they have lost young gun Ray Lankford to hamstring issues.
We narrowly avoid being swept at Wrigley but have left ourselves with minimal margin for error as we host the Cards for 3.
We win 2 of those but are running out of time and are lucky that dropping 2 at home to Chicago doesn’t hurt us as the Cards hit the wall and we go into the final series of the season needing 2 wins to force a tiebreak and 3 to pinch it.
A big 11-2 win in the opener gets us back on equal footing and a 4-2 win the next day puts us in line for an unlikely escape.
Jose De Leon takes on Mark Portugal in the final game but it is the bats who stand up for us as we win a wild one 11-9 to break the Cards’ hearts.
Bonds smacks two homers and Bonilla one as they drive in six between them.
The Royals start August in positive fashion with 8 wins to kick away from the pack and get to sit back and watch the other three dogfights unfold.
The Red Sox go into the final series 1 clear of the Yankees and are their usual clinical selves in dispensing with their arch-rivals via two wins over the Jays.
Unexpectedly, it is the NL West that provides the most drama of all after the Giants lose their final two games and the Astros win their final four to somehow grab a tie after looking absolutely gone.
The Giants, however, regroup enough to just get it done with a 7-6 win in the breaker.
Final Leaders and Top 20s
Batting titles to rookie sensation Frank Thomas (who also sets a new MLB record with 153 walks) and Reds champion Barry Larkin.
Another rookie phenom, Detroit's Travis Fryman - won't that be a keenly contested AL RoY ballot - ties with Jose Canseco for an MLB-topping 45 homers and finishes top 3 across the TC stat cats.
Howard Johnson's 136 RBI are the most this season, as are Vince Coleman's 121 steals.
Among the pitching fraternity, Melido Perez and Toms Glavine and Candiotti lead the league with 20 Wins, with Glavine's 1.84 ERA the low marker.
Rocket Clemens is the King of K with 240, while Mike Schooler's 40 Saves lead the way.
Monthly Award Winners
August
American League
Batter – Frank Thomas (White Sox): 388 / 5 HR / 21 RBI
Pitcher – Les Lancaster (Yankees): 4-0 / 1.67 / 16 K / 37.2 IP
Rookie – Frank Thomas
National League
Batter – Daryl Boston (Reds): 347 / 4 HR / 22 RBI
Pitcher – Rick Sutcliffe (Cardinals): 5-1 / 2.63 / 29 K / 54.2 IP
Rookie – Randy Tomlin (Expos): 3-2 / 1.17 / 23 K / 46 IP
September
American League
Batter – Travis Fryman (Tigers): 361 / 10 HR / 26 RBI
Pitcher – Tom Candiotti (A’s): 6-0 / 0.68 / 28 K / 53 IP
Rookie – Travis Fryman
National League
Batter – Kal Daniels (Braves): 333 / 6 HR / 18 RBI
Pitcher – Ben McDonald (Expos): 6-0 / 1.31 / 30 K / 48 IP
Rookie – Brian Barnes (Padres): 4-0 / 2.56 / 26 K / 31.2 IP
Milestones and Observations of Note
2000 Hits: Andre Dawson, Roy Smalley
The Twins will be without Kevin Brown into a decent chunk of next season after he suffers a partial UCL tear.
A severe hip strain cuts short Reds OF Donell Nixon’s season and Mike Scott is done for the year in mid-August due to some elbow problems.
A broken elbow bone ends Mike Scioscia’s season with a few weeks to go.