Tampa took down the Chi Sox in short order, wrapping up their ALDS series in yesterday's 6-2 win. Perhaps you, like me, were somewhat disappointed at the outcome, subscribing to the axiom that "may the team who beat us perform well and play onward," therefore making our boys look better. Alas, Tampa looks plucky. But they're not alone, and I suspect that their series with Boston will be a fine throwdown. In the N.L., I took the Cubs a few months back, so I suppose I'll now lean toward Joe Torre and the Dodgers. For my money: It's the Red Sox over L.A. in the Series, doing it in 6 games.

Before I present my selections for the 2008 MLB Awards, may I again thank you readers for all your Commentary in this baseball season. This will be my final baseball entry of the year. Again, I warmly appreciate all your collective opinion and participation -- whether said feedback came in the form of either concurring or dissenting Commentary.

"Buy the ticket, take the ride."
- Hunter S. Thompson

For those of you that haven’t seen the Orlando Cabrera vs. (former Twin) Grant Balfour at-bat in yesterday’s Tampa 6-4 victory, please click here. To preface, it made me again realize just how much I loathe the Sox, how much those pangs for the heat of postseason ball still linger, and how classy the Twins are.

It’s good to be reminded that we are rostered with good cats and not a bunch of lunatics. As per my Mid-Season Player Rater from July, here’s my impressions on the entire body of work, sentiment, stats, and all:

Last night was a good ballgame, well-played. That’s actually my favorite type of game: pitcher’s duel, cleanly fielded with no errors, and only one long ball. The blast, sadly, just didn’t come from our dugout.

Tuesday night’s 1-0 Central Division tiebreaker to Chicago loss was the Twins’ 52nd one-run ballgame of the 2008 season. It proved just the second time the club was shutout since July 21st. Their record in one-run games? 26-26. So flip a coin. And speaking of currency, it won’t surprise me in the slightest if there is some serious backlash about the way in which MLB suits determine where games like last night’s are played. A coin flip? After 6 months of toil? It’s just so sophomoric. Let the club with the better record host the deal. Who can argue with that?

Code Duello: covering the practice of dueling and points of honor, drafted and settled at Clonmel Summer Assizes, 1777

Rule 1. The first offense requires the first apology, though the retort may have been more offensive than the insult. Example: A tells B he is impertinent, etc. B retorts that he lies; yet A must make the first apology because he gave the first offense, and then (after one fire) B may explain away the retort by a subsequent apology.

"American Duels and Hostile Encounters"

Rule 2. But if the parties would rather fight on, then after two shots each (but in no case before), B may explain first, and A apologize afterward.

"American Duels and Hostile Encounters"

Chicago’s Sunday win over Cleveland, combined with the Twins’ steady 6-0 victory over Kansas City, set up a Monday afternoon (1:05 pm Central) White Sox/Tigers game that will determine if Minnesota and Chicago require a Tuesday, one-game sudden-death playoff to settle the Central Division. Should Chicago lose, then the Twins would be your 2008 Central champs, and travel to Tampa to begin the ALDS on Thursday.

But before Tuesday or Thursday, according to my Gregorian calendar, comes Monday, a day and a ballgame in which Chicago needs a win over Detroit -- in a makeup game from mid-September -- to ascend their ½ game deficit and play another day.

Wow. I don’t think my head has spun like this since I drank three-fourths a bottle of Blue Curacao in my sophomore year of college. Friday’s 8-1, hangover loss to the Royals was understandable given the emotional toil of the White Sox series. But yesterday, too? That was more sad than anything else, hitting into four double plays and gathering a mere 8 hits in the 4-2 defeat.

"I might take a sleeping pill tonight. And a glass of vodka. Twenty-seven innings and we only had one good one. We wasted 26 innings in this town."

-Ozzie Guillen, Chi Sox manager, to ESPN.com, late in the evening of Sept. 25th, 2008

“Buy the ticket, take the ride.”

-Hunter S. Thompson

It’s not often in life that the objects of our desires, the prizes that we covet, are within tangible grasp. But for the 2008 Minnesota Twins -- a young, enigmatic ball club on the cusp of a new home, beneath the leadership of a rookie GM, sans two departed stars, with a pitcher monikered “The Franchise” returning from Tommy John, and just three true studs to their credit -- such is their reality with just six game to play.

Thursday's inspiring come from behind, late-inning victory over Tampa helped erase myriad unsettling vibes. Among them: Johan Santana's trademark second-half dominance . . . in a Mets jersey. The Santana trade has forced us to realize some of our worst fears. Here’s what I wrote in this space back in mid-March:

. . . the trade that sent Santana to the Mets was largely unpopular here in town, and I would agree with said sentiment, in short, because I truly think that the Twins are a fairly solid club this year, and, with Santana, would have had the opportunity to compete for a post-season slot.

On Monday, it was revealed that the name of the Twins new ballpark, set for play in 2010, will be “Target Field.” I can already see the tag-lines donning the outfield walls, “Hit it HERE Justin and win . . . a gift certificate to the pharmacy.”

The announcement represents a feverish trend in stadiums and arenas that has really caught fire in the last decade. According to a New York Times report from a few years back, in 1988 there were just three naming-rights deals in pro sports. Today, by my count, come 2010, the Twins’ home will be the 21st MLB park out of 30 to have some form of corporate sponsorship.