The Futility Infielder

I went up to Maine to visit friends this past weekend, so I didn't watch any baseball. But several things caught my eye over the past few days.

• Ted Lilly came to the A's rescue again. On Friday and Saturday, the Seattle Mariners spanked the A's in the first two games of their series, pulling to within three games of the AL West leaders. Sunday's scheduled starter, Rich Harden, was scratched due to back spasms, and Lilly, who'd thrown a bullpen session on Saturday, reportedly went to manager Ken Macha and asked for the ball. Never mind the fact that the 27-year-old lefty was 0-4 with a 6.89 ERA in 8 starts against Seattle; this man is a different pitcher now. He tossed another gem -- 6 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, with 7 Ks -- and won his 6th straight start while the A's put the hurt on the M's, 12-0. No less than ace Tim Hudson praised Lilly for his gutsy actions as well as his performance: "We knew he had great stuff. But this is showing a new side of him that not a lot of pitchers have -- putting your team on your shoulders."

Not everybody is so convinced about Lilly. Elephants in Oakland, which keeps close tabs on the A's, notes that Lilly's full-season stats still put him around average in sabermetric terms (such as Support Neutral Wins Above Replacement or Runs Saved Above Average), and notes the less than stellar competition he's faced during this 6-0 run. "You don't label an entire season by three weeks of work," writes our pachyderm friend.

To which I'll respond that you most certainly are entitled to do so when those three weeks define your team's season, enabling you to win your division in spite of one of your aces being finished due to injury. Clutch hitting and clutch pitching don't exist as a demonstrably repeatable skill statistically, but Ted Lilly has been clutch down the stretch, and now that the A's have clinched the AL West, they can pour a few bottles over his head to thank him for his part.

• Speaking of guts -- as in blowing them -- Lilly's replacement on the Yanks, Jeff Weaver, looks to have played himself off the postseason roster with his performance on Monday night. With not an ice cube's chance in hell of drawing a postseason start, Weaver needed to convince Joe Torre that he could be an effective reliever for the postseason despite his 6.75 ERA in that role. Torre tossed him into the fire in the tenth inning after Roberto Alomar led off with a single, with Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordonez, and Carlos Lee due up next. The White Sox aren't going to the postseason, but that's as tough a trio as any playoff team can offer. Weaver apparently had a history of success against them, a combined .197 average, according to the New York Times.

History's bunk. Weaver walked Thomas, then threw a fat sinker to Ordonez that Mags put deep into the leftfield bleachers for a walk-off three-run homer. As Steven Goldman, who writes the essential Pinstriped Bible column, put it: "That Weaver would survive both [Thomas and Ordonez] was unlikely as President Bush and Jacques Chirac proclaiming 'International Let's Share Iraq Week' while sampling plates of hot buttered escargot and cheese fondue before heading over to a Dixie Chicks concert."

The Yanks were poised to clinch their 6th straight AL East flag with a victory on Monday, but Weaver's short performance suggested stronger drink would be necessary. In the pitcher's defense, the guy hadn't pitched in nine days. But Monday's outing was emblematic of his miserable season, and it pushed the starter-turned-reliever-turned-basketcase's ERA above 6.00. Unless the Yanks need a mop over the next week, it may be the last time he pitches this year.

• Speaking of clinching, now that the Yanks have done so, that's tickets to Game One of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium for me, as well as a sushi dinner thanks to the AL Central victors.

• Like the White Sox, the Royals won't win the AL Central, but their victory on Sunday was an important one. By notching their 81st victory, the Royals clinched a .500 season, closing a loophole in the contract of star first baseman Mike Sweeney. Had the Royals not reached .500 by the end of 2004, Sweeney could have opted out of his 5-year, $55-million contract.

For a team which lost 100 games last year and which hasn't seen .500 since David Cone was their ace, the Royals have pulled off an amazing turnaround this year. To have done so while their top hitter missed six weeks with back trouble is even more impressive. They ran out of arms -- hey, Jose Lima and Kevin Appier can get you only so far -- but it's clear that with Tony Pena at the helm, the Royals have hope once again.