Autumnal Equinox

It has happened. The Autumnal Equinox took place mid-afternoon this past Wednesday.  Days are getting shorter. After the vicious line of training thunderstorms passing through New Jersey Thursday afternoon and evening, the skies are crystal blue and the morning temperatures were below 60 degrees. Perfect for an exercise walk before breakfast. 

This change in the atmosphere in late September is a harbinger of what is to come. I love the weather now, but I am fully aware that in a month or so daytime temperatures may not climb out of the 50’s and there could be frost on the pumpkins. And in less than 90 days, we experience the Winter Solstice. Then Christmas and New Year’s Day 2022. Perhaps I am getting ahead of myself. 

For the sports world, it is a crossroads time. Baseball is down to its final 9 to 10 games of the regular season. With very little decided. And a lot more is going to happen beginning today until the finale on October 3 (unless there are ties and more games must be played to set the playoff pairings). 

Here is what is certain: The San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers have secured spots in the playoffs. The Chicago White Sox clinched the A.L. Central with a win over the Indians on Thursday. Milwaukee and Tampa Bay are also definitely in the playoffs. That’s it.

This leaves a significant number of meaningful game left on the schedule. And in some instances, the final playoff pairings may be decided on the last day of the season, or as I alluded to above, even beyond that date. 

Let’s examine where Major League Baseball stands entering the penultimate weekend. 

I will start with the N.L. West. It is simple. The Giants lead the Dodgers by 1 game. Both teams will surpass 100 victories this season, yet the one which finishes second is relegated to hosting the Wild Card game and could see its season go up in flames after one game. 

SFG has its final road series in Colorado starting on Friday. The Giants conclude the season with home games against Arizona and San Diego, the former mired in last place in the N.L. West and the Padres can be classified as the biggest disappointment in baseball while the Giants ascension may be the greatest surprise.

LAD has its final road series this weekend at lowly Arizona. Then they are home against the Padres and the team ends its season with Milwaukee in town for three games— which might be pivotal if the Brewers go on a losing streak and the St. Louis Cardinals continue to vanquish opponents—their winning streak had ballooned to 12 games as play began on Friday. The Cardinals need to overcome a 7.5 game lead by Milwaukee to win the N.L. Central. Highly improbable, but a month ago, no one really gave St. Louis much of a chance to make the Wild Card game.

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the Cardinals have a 4.5 game lead over Philadelphia and 5.5 games over Cincinnati for the final N.L. Wild Card slot. What St. Louis has accomplished is great, but they haven’t clinched anything. Their schedule includes 7 games with the Cubs—while they are hated rivals, the Cubs are playing for very little right now. There is a three game series during the week with the Brewers, which could become interesting if Milwaukee stumbles this weekend. 

Did I just mention Philadelphia? Those Phillies came back on Thursday night to win big over visiting Pittsburgh. This places the Phils 2.0 behind the first place Atlanta Braves in the N.L. West race. 

The Pirates and Phillies met 3 more times this weekend. Atlanta has 4 games in San Diego, including the completion of a suspended game.

Obviously what happens this weekend is very important for the teams’ chances to win the N.L East. Then the Phillies and Braves collide for a crucial 3 game set in Atlanta beginning on Tuesday. Philadelphia finishes with 3 road games in Miami. The Mets come to Atlanta to end the season. Could this come down to the final Sunday?

Houston (insert your boos and hisses here) leads the A.L. West by 7 games over Seattle. The Astros will likely eliminate Oakland this weekend—the A’s are 9.0 games out with 9 to play. Seattle could be gone from the picture by Tuesday when they begin a series in Oakland. Their remaining games are home in Seattle and Anaheim with the Angels.

Which leads us to the A.L. East. Heading into Friday, Tampa Bay has a 6 game lead over Boston. The Rays have played to a 5-5 record in their last 10 games while Boston has been on fire with an 8-2 mark. The Rays host their in-state rival Miami for 3 games this weekend before ending the season on the road at Houston and Yankee Stadium. Boston starts with New York visiting Fenway Park this weekend, then goes to Baltimore and Washington to conclude the calendar.

While it is a long shot to believe that the Red Sox can catch the Rays, it is not impossible even if improbable. What is more concerning for Boston is the Wild Card. As it is for the Yankees and the Blue Jays. 

With 9 games left, Boston maintains 2.0 game over the Yankees. Their lead over Toronto is 3.0, which by mere mathematical calculations, places the Jays 1.0 behind the Yankees. 

This is a horse race for the two A.L. Wild Card spots. And I wouldn’t be giving great odds for any of the contenders. 

New York is suddenly resurgent with a 3 game sweep of the Texas Rangers. Aaron Boone’s squad is 7-3 in their last 10 games, although the 3 losses are to the Mets on September 12, and include 2 blowout defeats by Cleveland last weekend. 

The pitching looks healthier with the addition of two former starters, Luis Severino and Domingo German to what was a beleaguered  bullpen. Suddenly set up man Chad Green looked like his old self and closer Aroldis Chapman had fire in his eyes again. The starting pitching is not overwhelming and it is pressure time for ace Gerrit Cole to deliver in Game 1 at Boston. 

For at least this week, the slumbering bats have awoken. Again, it was lowly Texas as the opponent. 

To win, the pitching must remain solid and the bats must maintain their potency. Playing a rigorous schedule which starts with Boston, then on to Toronto before ending up at home with the Rays isn’t very helpful. 

The Yankees held their destiny in their hands merely a month ago when they managed that torrid 13 game winning streak. And they fell apart. So much so that they fell behind the Red Sox and Toronto is nipping at their heels.

Too many games lost that should have been wins. Too many games where either the pitching didn’t show up, tor he hitting didn’t show up, or both weren’t present. The Yankees put themselves in this unenviable position and now they are playing catch up with the schedule dwindling fast. At a minimum, they need to win 2 of 3 in Boston and then 2 of 3 in Toronto to give themselves a fighting chance to make the Wild Card game. Anything less puts the season in real peril and if the team desperately needs wins versus the Rays, that makes advancing even more problematic. Not very pretty. Especially for a tried and true Yankees fan like me and so many others. 

I went with Fan X to Met Life Stadium last Sunday to see the Jets and New England Patriots. Jets rookie QB Zach Wilson looked green, especially when he threw 4 interceptions to effectively take away any chance New York had to compete in this game, let alone win. It was ugly and, but for the company of Fan X, mostly unbearable.

Fan X was right—the Jets needed to keep he offense on the field and to do that, the running game seemed to be working. Instead, Wilson tried too hard to be heroic, and his efforts failed miserably. 

His counterpart on New England, Mac Jones, the less heralded rookie from Alabama (if coming from Alabama is a secret), played a more controlled game which incorporated short passes and that opened the field for him. The difference in approaches showed in the final score.

I can tell that Fan X wants Wilson to succeed. He is frustrated with the lack of wide receivers of any merit on the Jets, as he invoked the names of former starts like Wesley Walker, Don Maynard, Al Toon and Wayne Chrebet as standards of excellence. His comment that he’d have them play now, in whatever shape they are presently in, was comical but also a sad commentary on how bad the Jets are.

The stadium was about 70-75% filled on a gorgeous late Summer day. Unless the team starts to improve greatly beginning with this week’s game at the 2-0 Denver Broncos, there are not gong to be many opportunities for wins this season. The defense was adequate at times. They aren’t going to create enough turnovers to make a difference. And with the growing pains suffered by rookie QB’s like Wilson, Justin Fields in Chicago and Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville, those franchises are going to have long seasons and they will be battling for high draft choices in the 2022 NFL Draft. 

I am tired of repeatedly rebuilding the Jets. I always continue to hope for the team to one day turn the corner. I repeatedly remind myself that the organization has had one Super Bowl appearance eons ago (1969). 

Tom Brady is gone from the division, plying his trade in Florida. Already, Mac Jones is looking like a capable successor, although I don’t see the Patriots as a playoff contender. Buffalo has Josh Allen, who is a very fine QB, and the Bills, angry from the home opening loss to Pittsburgh, went to Miami Gardens and demolished the Dolphins 35-0 and sending Tua Tagovailoa to the sidelines with an injury. 

In a weak division, the Jets are the weakest. Even with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tua out, I think Miami is a better team than New York. Could the Jets win both games against Miami, plus pick up victories against Atlanta, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Houston, Philadelphia and Jacksonville? As I heard repeated in court—anything is possible. Just not very likely with the Jets, currently the epitome of mediocrity in the NFL. 

Oh, and by the way, last year’s QB has his Carolina Panthers team at 3-0. Although they haven’t played good teams and two important players, including running back Christian Mc Caffrey, suffered injuries which will sideline them for a while. 

Was I afraid of COVID at Met Life Stadium? I wore my mask and social distancing was non-existent virtually everywhere. I would estimate that about 10% max wore masks inside of the stadium. Far too few. 

That is why I am almost relieved that it appears that Rutgers Men’s basketball is only offering partial loans in the 300 sections. Those are way up in the building and have no seat backs. My wife indicated a few years ago that to go to RU games, we had to have seat backs. 

What troubles me is that New Jersey has no crowd restrictions indoors, no proof of vaccination and no mask mandate. In researching our 2021-22 father-son hockey excursion, we saw that our destination in Calgary mandates proof of vaccination. Which allows us much more peace of mind. 

And which makes me happy to hear that the New York Knicks announced that the entire team is vaccinated. I hope they market that around the NY Metropolitan area so that those reluctant to be inoculated take heed and do the right thing. 

Don’t be a dolt like Andrew Wiggins, presently of the Golden State Warriors. He is refusing to be vaccinated and San Francisco requires proof of vaccination for large indoor events. Put the team first and earn that big paycheck accompanying your talent that ownership is willing to pay. It isn’t that difficult.

I will make some quick observations about college football. Rutgers is at Michigan this weekend. Minus two starting DB’s who were arrested in a paintball incident last weekend. They face second and third degree charges for this unfortunate escapade that injured 3 RU students. Head Coach Greg Schiano immediately suspended them indefinitely from the team.

What should have been a glorious chance for RU to possibly upset a ranked team on the road has a definite distraction. Behind QB Noah Verdal, the Scarlet Knights almost downed the Wolverines in Piscataway last season, losing in OT. 

One hopes that the team learned from that tough loss and knows that it can compete equally with a vaunted program like Michigan. Yet the spectacle of the two players acting immaturely reminds me of something a wise judge once said—that just because you turn 18 doesn’t make you any smarter than you were when you were 17 a day ago; it’s just that the Legislature made the penalties for being older much greater. 

I so want a big effort from RU this Saturday. I just don’t know if they are ready and the paintball suspensions are of no help. 

Franklin and Marshall won its first game shutting down Mc Daniel in Lancaster. Up next is a trip to Ursinus, who won on the road over then #8 Muhlenberg. Tall task for the Diplomats, who have number #18 Johns Hopkins in Baltimore next weekend. 

Everybody seems to be playing in college football. The NESCAC and Ivy League are back. 

Wisconsin and Notre Dame, 2 ranked teams, meet in Soldier Field in Chicago Saturday night. First time playing each other since 1964.

Old Southwest Conference foes Texas A&M and Arkansas, also both ranked and now in the Southeastern Conference, meet at the Dallas Cowboys home in Arlington, Texas. Arkansas is Cowboys owner Jerry Jones alma mater—he played football in Fayetteville. A&M is a Texas team likely to pack the stands. It sound exciting. 

While the WNBA is in its playoffs and NHL teams have started training camp, we are exactly where we need to be in the sports world—the Yankees and Jets notwithstanding. 

After all it is the Autumnal Equinox.