Now Let's Just Hold On A Second

Heading into this week's three-game series against the Chicago White Sox, the Minnesota Twins trailed by 2.5 games in the AL Central Division. Twins fans and members of the Twins blogosphere were optimistic, even if that optimism was heavily guarded and in some cases almost indistinguishable from gallows humor.

And there was good reason to guard the optimism; the Twins hadn't played all that well of late, having fallen from a season-high 20 games over .500 in late August to just 12 games over .500 heading into the Chicago series. If the poor play had continued, not only might the Twins have fallen out of the race, but the White Sox might have even celebrated clinching the division on the floor of the Metrodome.

The best outcome for Twins fans, of course, was also the seemingly least likely option -- a three game Twins sweep. This would actually push the Twins back into first place in the division, just .5 game ahead of Chicago, but with only three to play, putting the Sox into a very difficult position.

And, if you've been following the race, you know that's exactly what happened.

You'd think, at this point, that all the pressure would turn to fall on Chicago -- they're now in a position where they can't afford to lose even a single game, because if the Twins win out, one Chicago loss clinches the division.

There's only one problem with that view -- despite the Twins' current lead in the division, they're not the only team in the race that controls their own destiny.

'Controlling your own destiny' is a phrase used when a team is in a position where, if they win every game, they can't be stopped from winning the division. The team in that position, right now, is the White Sox:

- If the Twins win their three-game series with the Royals, while the White Sox win their three-game series with the Indians, the Twins will remain .5 game ahead in the divisional race.

- This would require the Sox to make up their rained-out game from earlier this month at home against the Detroit Tigers. If the Sox win this game, they'd force a tie for the division.

- This tie would be resolved with a one-game playoff in Chicago between the Twins and White Sox, winner take all.

So if the Twins win every game they play from here on out, they win the division. Clearly they control their own destiny. But the White Sox, too, are in the position where, if they win every game, they win the division.

Sure, it might seem odd, but each team controls its own destiny.

Now, it could be argued that the White Sox's road is a bit tougher than that of the Twins: after all, the Sox may have to win as many as five games, while the Twins only are required to win four. Plus, on paper at least, the Indians are a tougher opponent than the Royals, having won seven of their last ten to briefly push over .500.

Then again, the Indians are back under .500 after losing three straight to Boston, while the Royals have won their last three straight to move ahead of the Tigers and out of the AL Central cellar. The Royals have won 9 of their last 11, including wins over Chicago and Cleveland, and their offense is averaging over six runs a game during that stretch. And the Royals have been in the position of title-spoilers before -- no Twins fan can forget that it was a Royals sweep of the Tigers that helped the Twins win the Central in 2006, after all.

In other words, it wasn't a given that the Twins would win enough to put themselves in this position in the first place -- it's clearly not a given that they'll continue to win now.