The NL Central will not be decided before Saturday and Florida has yet to clinch, but 6 other teams have claimed playoff spots. The American League matchups are now set: the Twins have announced Johan Santana as their game 1 starter (hooray!) in Yankee stadium and Tim Hudson gets the nod at home in their opener against the Sox. I'm not sure whether Houston or Chicago should be favoured to take the Central: both are at home against sub-.500 teams (Milwaukee and Pittsburgh). I'm half-rooting for the Astros to make it so that they can take revenge on the Braves and win their first ever post-season series (yes kiddies, it is possible to have a more miserable history than the Red Sox have). Of course if they are swept by Atlanta it will only add to the ignominy.

Carlos Delgado should get a game-stopping ovation when he comes to the plate for the first time, and most of us will be holding our breath when he swings.

The Jays can finish with a winning record at home and surpass their preseason goal by taking two of three this weekend. A good effort by Cory Lidle in his farewell appearance will be helpful. It's the "lefty-proof" lineup, with Dave Berg and Tom Wilson among those facing hard-luck rookie Jason Stanford.

And so it comes to an end.

Often entertaining, occasionally frustrating and certainly tantalizing for the near future, the 2004 season of Blue Jays baseball comes to a close this weekend with a visit from a rebuilding Tribe club that is a little further behind the development curve, but definitely on the right track.

It's hard to assess Cleveland's results at the major league level, since they first lost Ellis Burks and Omar Vizquel to major injuries, and then had to endure the sight of Milton Bradley, Matt Lawton, Ryan Ludwick and now Billy Traber going down with season-ending ailments. Jays fans making the trip out to SkyDome will see a whole bunch of rookies -- some of whom are really quite promising.

But of course, that's not why Toronto fans will be there -- at least not the Saturday fans. Doc tries to put the exclamation point on his Cy Young season by facing a young, inexperienced lineup in front of what should be a nice crowd. A trio of southpaws will be opposing the Jays this weekend; here's hoping that Crash Myers gets at least a pinch-hitting appearance so the fans can vocalize their appreciation for his steady contributions, both on and off the field, in his return tour in T.O.

Finally, this is the last Advance Scout of the season. Many thanks to those of you who offered support, praise and constructive criticism for the column over the year; all three, particularly the third, remain more than welcome. The Scout column will return in April of 2004, and like Batter's Box itself, it'll hopefully be better than ever. Without further ado...

On to the Advance Scout!

A light schedule today. Florida can clinch a tie for the wildcard and knock out Philadelphia by completing a sweep. Houston and Los Angeles are hoping for a Philadelphia victory - they need to win all their remaining games to overtake the Marlins. Houston is still in the NL Central hunt, but Chicago has a gimme today and should have Wood, Prior and Clement starting at home against the Pirates if need be. Boston can and should wrap up a playoff spot, with Derek Lowe opposing Omar Daal.

NL Central

Team	Wins	Losses	Remaining	Yesterday	Schedule	Elim
Chicago	86	72	4	Cin 8-0	@cin 1, pit 3	__
Houston	85	73	4	SF 2-1	mil 4	3
St. Louis	83	76	3	Mil 8-4	@arz 3	1

The Cubbies had no problem with the now hapless Reds. I expect Chicago to win today and eliminate the Cardinals, who have won 4 in a row in a game attempt to stay in the race. The Cubs will then be coming home, and the support of the crowd should help them maintain their 1-game edge over the Astros.

You would think that a late-September game between a team that can only finish third and a club that has clinched last place would be meaningless, but that's certainly not the case. Whether you blame the bush league umpiring, MLB, Carl Crawford, or a pitch thrown at Ken Huckaby a year ago, there's no love lost between the Jays and the Rays. Tampa needs to win two of their last four to avoid another 100-loss season, and would like to leave town with a split. The home team, needing two wins to achieve their preseason goal, wants to make a statement by winning this fiercely contested set.

This was supposed to be Vinny Chulk's first big-league start, but that's something else you can blame on Phil Cuzzi. The rookie with the zero ERA worked three innings after Roy Halladay was ejected on Monday, so Pete Walker gets the nod tonight. The veteran righthander got the win with two scoreless relief innings in Baltimore on Sunday, and went five strong innings against the Tigers in his last start ten days ago. Since returning from the DL in August, Walker has a 3.00 ERA, and he hasn't walked a batter in four outings this month.

No, not "break into the SkyDome". We don't encourage that; I think Jordan is still doing community service from his unfortunate sentence in the ill-fated "Operation Steal Gord Ash's Fax Machine" caper following the Shawn Green trade.

I've ranted about this before, but I think it deserves a topic to itself: the current American League schedule is not fair to the Blue Jays.

Wow! All 3 American League Divisions were decided in one night, leaving the NL Central and the wildcard battles to be determined. The AL playoff matchups are nearly a done deal: Boston will travel to Oakland and Minnesota will visit New York unless something extraordinary occurs. Houston pitching had one really bad inning and now trail the Cubs in the NL Central. Today - Philly's last stand: two exciting young pitchers, Brett Myers and Josh Beckett, face off in Florida.

The quick thumb of Phil Cuzzi is at second base; the inconsistent Larry Poncino moves to third. We'll see if Jerry Crawford is as inept as his partners in this detestable umpiring crew as the Bad Blood show continues.

Cool, calm Kelvim takes the mound tonight in this emotionally charged series. Let's hope he isn't distracted by the tension between the teams. Escobar hasn't had great success against the Rays (4-6, 6.22 lifetime) but has made only one start against them this year. That was on July 29, when he was cruising along with a shutout through five, only to fall apart in the sixth after a throwing error by Frank Catalanotto, who was making a rare start at first base.

The Cat, his hamstring healed, is back tonight in the more comfortable left field role, as Bobby Kielty gets a rest. Frankie and his mates will try to solve rookie Doug Waechter, who beat a lethargic Cory Lidle in Tampa two weeks ago, and has since pitched two fine games against the Yankees. The 22-year-old righty sports a 3-1 record and a 2.45 ERA for his first month in the big leagues. Josh Phelps and Orlando Hudson did take him deep last time, and all of the Jays should be fired up. Carlos Delgado career HR watch: 299. Reed Johnson hit streak watch: 20. Vernon Wells batting title watch: .005 behind Mueller and Ramirez.

Batter's Box would like to pass on our congratulations to three Blue Jays farmhands who won the Topps Player of the Month award for August in their respective leagues.

Returning from the flooded plains of Corpus Christi to the silicon prairie that is Dallas, it's time to get back to baseball, Toronto-style with the Star's baseball stars.

Eighth in a 10-part series

One of the astonishing things about online communities -- whatever they may be called -- is something a former boss of mine liked to call "synergy." Note that I no longer work there and also avoid workplaces that use terms like "out of the box" and, ironically given my profession, "let's take it offline."

So, yes, Mr. Burley, "a lot of people will be doing [it] this week... talking about the Cy Young Award candidates in both leagues," that is. Seems like we've been up to that here on Batter's Box for, oh, the whole season.

After all, doesn't the Blue Jays' entire 2003 campaign have the potential to be summarized by the single phrase, Roy Halladay, Cy Young Award winner?

Sure it does. And while the argument has raged back and forth here on Da Box, Toronto Star baseball guys Richard Griffin and Geoff Baker weighed in on the topic themselves recently.

Just keep in mind ... a lot can happen between "recently" and "ballots are due."

A bush-league umpire became a villain last night, but don't take my word for it. Let's see what others are saying...

Jeff Blair (Globe):

Home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi, who tossed Halladay from the game, has a history with the Blue Jays. Earlier this year, Blue Jays first baseman Carlos Delgado described a pair of called strikes by Cuzzi as “probably the worst call that I've seen in a long, long time.”

Blair was on The FAN 590 this morning, suggesting that Cuzzi is widely perceived as a lousy ump. The reputation is well deserved.

Cheers to Homer Simpson for all his charity work! Jeers to this rusty door handle. Tonight, the intrepid crew of the Blue Jays Cheer Club, which has the ushers' blessing to be as loud and pleasantly boisterous as they like, will be doing a little of both. The cheers will be for the Jays, of course, as they continue their Drive for Eighty-Five (yes, I've copyrighted that) behind the rejuvenated Josh Towers. The jeers will be for third-base umpire Phil Cuzzi, who ejected Roy Halladay last night for wearing white after Labour Day, or something. Have a listen for Named_for_Hank and the temporarily renamed Jeer Club, and watch for their signs at the game: this thread contains some simply brilliant suggestions. Now why can't someone eject Rob Faulds?

A juicy matchup between Kevin Millwood and rookie sensation Dontrelle Willis. Florida can virtually lock up the wildcard by taking 2 out of 3 after a convincing victory over Mike Hampton and the Atlanta Braves Monday night.

AL West/Wildcard

Team	Wins	Losses	Remaining	Yesterday	Schedule	Elim
Oakland	94	63	5	Tex 7-3	Tex 2, @Sea 3	__
Boston	92	64	6	Bal 7-5	Bal 3, @TB 3	__
Seattle	90	67	5	Ana 5-1	@Ana 2, Oak 3	4

Oakland once again dismissed the Texas Rangers with relative ease. Jamie Moyer's great effort fell short of a shutout because a throwing error in the 9th allowed the only Angel run to score. Seattle's TV guys waxed poetic about Moyer's Cy Young candidacy, but even Buhner had to admit that Doc's 250+ innings look awfully good. Boston inched closer to the wildcard by beating the limp Orioles.

Thanks to Pistol for alerting us to Baseball America's ranking of the NY-Penn League's Top 20 Prospects. Non-subscribers can read this tidbit about the amazing Auburn Doubledays:

The Blue Jays stocked Auburn with a plethora of college talent, and the team went 56-18 to run away with the league's best record despite the promotions of first-round shortstop Aaron Hill and righthander Jamie Vermilyea. Hill ranked second in the top 20 on a list that included four of his teammates: righty Josh Banks, lefty Kurt Isenberg, shortstop Juan Peralta and first baseman Vito Chiaravalloti. Four other Doubledays -- Vermilyea, third baseman Ryan Roberts and righties Shaun Marcum and Bubbie Buzachero -- also received strong consideration.