The A's are good and the Twins are good.

Six wins in a row is six wins in a row.

Also, the Yankees are not going to sweep the Red Sox this weekend:

"You don't announce you are back in play by beating fading teams such as the A's and Twins. The best place for this flinty Yankee team to make that kind of announcement is Fenway, starting Friday night."

Take the 1998 Yankees, or the 1978 Yankees, or the 1961 Yankees, or the 1927 Yankees, or the 1975 Reds, or the 1984 Tigers, or the 2008 Red Sox.

Take any winning baseball team ever.

I don't even have to analyze the game-by-game results because I already know.

All of these teams dominated bad teams and played .500 against good teams. (How do you think bad teams become bad teams, anyway? Somebody is beating them often.)

It may not be romantic, but pennants are won in front of 11,000 at Kauffman Stadium.


The A's and Twins are hardly "fading teams." They are solid playoff contenders. At least they weren't "fading" until the Yankees swept them.

I mean, just look at the records. The records will tell you more than Mike Lupica ever can.


The Cardinals are suddenly "fading," too, I suppose. The Brewers should try to beat a good team once in a while.

The Mets are back in first place, but that's only because the Phillies are "fading." So, the rest of you may be impressed, but I say it isn't impressive.


The Yankees are "back in play" because they are. Three games back. Even if the Yankees get swept this weekend, then they're just six games back. That's "in play," even if Lupica thinks otherwise.