Sugar Land Skeeters starter Roger Clemens waves to the fans as he leaves during the fifth inning of a minor league baseball game against the Long Island Ducks at Constellation Field Friday, Sept. 7, 2012, in Sugar Land, Texas.The Atlanta Braves appear to be coasting toward the one-game wild-card playoff – they are 81/2 games back of the Washington Nationals in the National League East and 51/2 in front of St. Louis for the top wild-card spot.
The American League playoffs have a hodgepodge of possibilities from overachievers (hello, Oakland) to underachievers (here’s looking at you, Detroit) and much in between.
That said, the biggest eye-popping development in baseball is the report that Houston may add Roger Clemens for the stretch run. Yes, that Roger Clemens, the 50-year-old right-hander who has pitched eight scoreless innings for the Sugar Land Skeeters and shut out the U.S. legal system on the steroid charges by focusing his defense on the scumpuppy who is Brian McNamee rather than Clemens’ guilt or innocence.
If the Astros try to do this, baseball needs to step in. Houston is 45-98 – 53 games under .500 and 30 games back of the wild-card spot. The Astros were eliminated about the same time their fans turned their attention to preseason football practice.
(It may have even been spring football practice, but we’re trying to be kind.) So it’s not like the Astros are making this move to make a push for a competitive edge.