Not over yet

Comebacks do happen. The Rockies were six games back in the NL wild-card race Sept. 1 and wound up winning the pennant. The biggest deficits teams that reached the postseason have faced heading into September:

• 1964 Cardinals: Fourth place, 7 1/2 games behind Phillies.

• 1995 Mariners: Second place, 7 1/2 games behind Angels.

• 1938 Cubs: Fourth place, 7 games behind Pirates.

• 1951 Giants: Second place, 7 games behind Dodgers.

• 1930 Cardinals: Fourth place, 6 1/2 games behind Cubs.

• 1978 Yankees: Second place, 6 1/2 games behind Red Sox.

—Rocky Mountain News

TOP 10

MAGIC NUMBER EDITION

(As of Friday night)

TEAM ... Last week

1. Chicago Cubs ... 1
18 — NL Central

2. Tampa Bay Rays ... 2
21 — AL East

3. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim ... 3
5 — AL West

4. Boston Red Sox ... 4
17 — AL wildcard

5. Milwaukee Brewers ... 7
18 — NL wildcard

6. Chicago White Sox ... 5
21 — AL Central

7. Minnesota Twins ... 6
Out of the playoffs right now

8. New York Mets ... 8
20 — NL East

9. Philadelphia Phillies ... 8
Out of the playoffs right now

10. Arizona Diamondbacks ... 10
22 — NL West

— Aaron Morton

FANTASY TIPS

2009 SLEEPERS

One person who has a unique way of approaching fantasy baseball is former insurance actuary Scott Swanay, who quit that business four years ago to start his own statistical consulting service — for fantasy baseball.

"I was an applied math major," says Swanay, a 1987 Harvard graduate, "and it just took 17 years for me to finally figure out what I wanted to apply it to."

After launching fantasybaseballsherpa.com, Swanay began putting his ideas into practice. But it wasn't until two years ago that, as he says, "a light bulb went on." That's when he realized the key to fantasy success lies in the concept of position scarcity.