September 9

Which way to the top?
One American League scout on watching Al Gore throw batting practice in Detroit Wednesday:

"He has a decent delivery and a pretty loose arm. In fact, his delivery is better than a lot of the pitchers in the league right now, which is pretty good considering he was wearing a shirt and tie. I'd normally say Triple-A tops, but there are a lot of Triple-A pitchers in the big leagues. So my report is to sign him to a non-roster contract for next spring, unless he's busy."

Down below the borderline
Atlanta has long been regarded as the Winnipeg of U.S. sports towns. We know the city is spoiled with the consistent success of the Braves.

But this is how bad it is. The Braves drew 25,529, a record low for Turner-Aaron Field, on Thursday night, and for the classic Tom Glavine/Randy Johnson matchup on Tuesday night they drew 29,722. They also have only 35,000 tickets sold per game for the Sept. 18-20 series vs. the Mets, which last year in the same week drew 141,000. The people in Boston probably believe the wrong team left.

$1,000 wedding
The Mets had lost seven of their first nine games since owner Fred Wilpon announced he wanted Bobby Valentine to return as manager next season.

Crashed in the jungle
The fourth and fifth starters for the Dodgers are a combined 7-25 with a 6.68 ERA in 56 games started.

Don't let the green grass fool you
"I'm like crabgrass. I keep coming back. No matter how hard you try, you can't kill me. I'll always come back."
--John Wehner on his return to the Pirates

Have a little faith in me
For those whining about the Diamondbacks' lofty spot in baseball despite having just the fifth-best record in the National League (75-64, .540, through Friday), consider their place among third-year expansion teams (going into the weekend):