Season end brings individual drama

Game 162 will be played this evening, and while the playoff participants have been decided, their seeds and matchups have not. Perhaps the more compelling stories are a few individual statistical races and record-setting performances.

Gus Forbes has taken advantage of the rarefied air in Colorado to slug 76 HRs, besting Banjo White of Houston's record of 74 set last season. Monterey's Roberto Servet has stolen 127 bases, smashing Phillip Moore's single season record of 109, set in Season 1. Servet has yet to agree to a contract for next season.

The AL batting titles is set to go to Salem's David Rivera, currently sporting a .367 average. The NL race is a real nail biter, with Ross Baker of Pawtuckett currently trailing Bart Carlyle of Charlotte by the slimmest of margins. Baker is 203-584, for a .34760 average while Carlyle is 154 of 443 for a .34763 average. If either outdoes the other in tonight's action, they will take home the crown.

The only other individual race in the triple crown categories is Sioux Falls Joaquin Medrano with 157 RBI's to Mexico City's Alex Shibata with 155 RBI's with just a game remaining.

Richmond's Dick Caruso, a potential free agent this off-season, has 485 career homers. Caruso had hoped to be the first to reach the 500-HR plateau this year, but would have needed 69 HR's, one shy of his career high, to reach the mark. Caruso hopes to use the lure of a 500th HR chase to land a massive deal. Caruso once signed a 5-year, $110 million deal, the league's richest contract to date. At 33 years old, his not deal is not likely to match that one.

Ross Baker Pawtucket Quahog Crush Age: 32 B/T: S/R Born: Chesterfield, VA Position(s): 1B/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile