There is no more exciting time in sports than the stretch drive in baseball. It’s the time of year that the tension built up over the grind of the six month season is at its highest.

A fan lives or dies with his or her favorite team on a daily basis as the clubs head for the finish line.

A world series berth seemingly hanging in the balance every game.

With that in mind let’s take a look at which teams are in the hunt and what it will take to keep them there down the stretch.

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The 2005 playoffs promise to be better than ever.

Just imagine this.

The A’s win the West. The Angels are the wild card team. Boston and Chicago claim the final two October spots.

Red Sox – A’s open in Oakland. What a match up. The big booming Boston bats against the dynamic duo of Rich Harden and Barry Zito.

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The Athletics have put together one of the best 60 game stretches of winning baseball in the history of the sport.

With all due respect to the New York Giants and their fabled 39-8 late season run that caught the Brooklyn Dodgers at the end the 1951 season, Oakland’s 2005 streak might be better.

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Solid pitching propelled the A’s to the top of the wild card race in the American league.

Solid hitting will keep them there.

One through nine in the batting order the A’s are tough outs at the plate. Game after game the A’s work the opposition pitchers into deep hitting counts, then deliver key hits.

The A’s are putting crooked numbers on the board, a sure way to win games.

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Oakland Tribune sports writer Monte Poole got my attention this morning when he wrote that Billy Beane is gearing up to make a serious offer to the Marlins for right hander AJ Burnett.

I love the trade.

Who would the A’s give up and what are the benefits of such a move?

Number one it keeps Burnett from joining the Red Sox, Yankees, Angels, or the White Sox, teams that will be either in the playoffs or in the mix right down to the end of the season.

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The American League Central will play a big part in determining the A’s fate in their quest for a 2005 playoff spot.

Thanks to the quirks of the schedule, the A’s will play 22 games against the Indians, Tigers, Royals and Twins through the end of August. In recent years the A’s have walloped the Central during their midsummer meetings.

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The A’s are back in the playoff picture.

What’s most encouraging about the team’s return to respectability is that A’s are doing it their way. Strong pitching, clutch hitting, and solid defense.

For the past five seasons, as June turned into July, Oakland made its move on the leaders.

As the weather gets warmer A’s fans sit back and watch the team run off four and five game winning streaks in a routine fashion.

Why does it happen like clockwork each year?

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Batter Up July 3rd, 2005

As the 2005 season reaches its half way point this weekend let’s take a look at the division races.

The Angels are safely in command in the AL West. Vladimir Guerrero is heading towards a second consecutive MVP award. Bartolo Colon has been the horse of the Angels starting rotation. However, you can’t overlook the emergence of John Lackey who has stepped up big time for the Halos after righty Kelvim Escobar went on the shelf with elbow miseries.

Give Mike Scoscia one more veteran arm in his pen that he trusts late in the game and the Angels are the team to beat in the AL.

The A’s will continue to put pressure on Anaheim.

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Mark Kotsay will never be in a better position to renegotiate an extension of his contract with the A’s than he is in right now.

With playoff contenders like the Cubs, Yankees, and Orioles desperate for an impact center fielder, Billy Beane and the A’s suddenly have a very difficult decision to make.

Do you extend Kotsay’s contract now or trade the clubhouse leader before the July 31st trade deadline?

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If you look carefully every baseball season has a theme.

For instance in 1962, the Dodgers Maury Wills and his 104 stolen bases became the story of the year.

In 1998, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, enhancements aside, took us through a wild home run chase.

In 1968, pitching dominated the game to such a degree that the DH was adopted a few years later.

This season the underlying story is the fact that no team is running away with its division.

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