Willis a Met Next Season?  A Team Can Dream, Can't It?  —  Until the playoffs begin and games around here start to matter again, all there is left to do is wait.  A one-night-only reprieve came last night, when no one could have faulted the Mets' front office for putting aside …

Ortiz launches No. 50; Twins blast Red Sox  —  Just a single raised fist, rounding first base, accompanied David Ortiz on his historic run.  Just that fist, up for no more than a second, before he made his solitary way around second, around third, across home.

Halladay injured, might be done for year  —  Jays ace suffers right forearm strain, leaves in fourth inning  —  TORONTO — Roy Halladay may have thrown his last pitch this season.  The Blue Jays ace cut his outing short after feeling tightness in his right forearm in the fourth inning against the Yankees on Wednesday night.

Braves, Wickman agree to one-year deal  —  Veteran closer set to return for 2007 season  —  WASHINGTON — Braves general manager John Schuerholz rolled the dice and entered this season without a proven closer.  He won't have to realize the damaging effects of such a gamble next season.

A Ninth Consecutive Division Title for Yankees  —  For Johnny Damon, it was the perfect convergence of joy and duty.  —  The Yankees' game had ended with a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night, but the scoreboard told the players that the Boston Red Sox were also losing.

In Defeat, Zimmerman Keeps Winning Support  —  In Washington, it has been campaign season since sometime early in the summer, and the spinning will continue to ramp up over the final seven weeks before Election Day.  But some 20 blocks east of the Capitol, the rhetoric and posturing …

Aparicio ready to lead chagrined O's fans in protest  —  You say you've had it with the Orioles this time.  —  You've had it with nine straight losing seasons.  With another meaningless September.  With a jewel of a ballpark that sits empty and forlorn, except when it's invaded by thousands …

Home at the ballpark  —  Gammons back to work for ESPN  —  And then, yesterday, he was back at the ballpark.  Home, as he sees it.  —  Little fanfare.  No promotional gimmicks.  Just some handshakes and heartfelt greetings from fans, players, and colleagues, and the inevitable kids …

This is a strange time to give Drew some rest  —  The Dodgers were down to their final 11 games, so I was flabbergasted to find J.D. Drew's name missing from Wednesday's starting lineup.  —  I expected Drew would feel the same way, maybe even running over me to get to Manager Grady Little's office and demand to play.

Cabrera (shoulder) misses start vs. Mets  —  NEW YORK- — All-Star third baseman Miguel Cabrera was scratched from the lineup 20 minutes before Thursday's game because of a sore left shoulder.  —  Wes Helms was moved from first base to third, and Mike Jacobs was inserted at first base.

Rapping to the Oldies  —  Peter J. Nash, a baseball author, historian and filmmaker, can eloquently describe players from 2006.  What makes him different from many other fans is that he can also smoothly discuss players from 1846.  Nash knows exhaustive details about the earliest days of baseball …

Howard learning other side of stardom  —  Ryan Howard has broken on through to the other side.  With 11 games to play, he is about to run out of reference points in the long history of sports in this town.  He is about to float in his own orbit.  —  Rhyno is one home run shy of the 58 …

It's a season of redemption for the staff ace  —  The Chicago Cubs, anchored firmly to the bottom of the National League standings and eagerly awaiting the end of hostilities, started a rookie pitcher last night for the 73d time this season.  —  Even as rookies, and Cubs rookies, generally go …

Lies, Damned Lies  —  Secret Sauce  —  With the pennant races settling down more quickly than we might like, it's not too early to start thinking about which teams might have the pole position in the post-season derby.  As Dayn Perry and I found in Baseball Between the Numbers …

Guillen stands in Crede's (hot) corner  —  White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen wants third baseman Joe Crede to win his first American League Gold Glove Award so badly that he's considering radical measures.  —  Because managers and coaches can't vote for their own players …