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."