Magic Number

One day in early April, Dennis Eckersley and Bob Welch were getting in some pregame jogging. Suddenly, Welch turned to Eckersley and offered a prediction. "He told me I was going to get 49 saves this year," Eckersley said. "Can you believe that?" What was Eckersley's response? "I told him he was out of his mind. " That was April, and most people would have agreed with Eckersley then. This is October, and suddenly, Welch looks like Kreskin. The A's completed a four-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series yesterday with a 4-1 victory.

After the cameras had recorded their emotions and words, Sixers general manager Jimmy Lynam and Orlando GM Pat Williams turned toward each other and hugged like teammates. In a sense, they were. By lucking out big-time yesterday afternoon with his second consecutive No. 1 pick in the NBA draft lottery, Williams allowed for the likelihood of the Sixers getting the player they wanted, minus the hassles of media and fan second-guessing. Barring a trade that Williams himself called "very unlikely," and barring a sudden infatuation with a twin-towers concept or an unexpected problem with salary restructuring, the Magic will draft a power forward, probably Michigan's Chris Webber, or maybe, just maybe, Kentucky's Jamal Mashburn.

The Seattle Mariners are closing the season the way every team hopes it can. They are also on the verge of closing out the California Angels. "Earlier in the season, everything was going right for them," Tino Martinez said yesterday after the Mariners reduced their magic number to winning the American League West to three with a 10-2 victory over the Angels. "Now, it seems like everything is going right for us. " The M's got home runs from Jay Buhner and Ken Griffey Jr. They have a three-game lead over the Angels, losers of 27 of 36, with five games left on the schedule.

The Los Angeles Angels showed the Detroit Tigers what playoff teams look like. Torii Hunter homered to back Ervin Santana, and the visiting Angels beat the Tigers, 7-1, yesterday to cut their magic number to six for clinching their fourth AL West title in five seasons. Santana (15-5) struck out eight in 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run and six hits. "He's as consistent as any pitcher I've seen," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He's approaching 30 starts, and he's throwing as well as he did in start five or six. " Santana, who won his first six decisions this year, is 4-0 in seven starts since July 27. "It's about working hard," he said.

The Glen Mills Bulls hit more than 60 points twice last week, and the number was more than adequate for two wins. On Friday, the visiting Bulls stopped Del-Val League opponent Academy Park 61-56. Two days earlier, they traveled to Unionville, where they defeated the Indians, 62-50, in a nonleague game. The contest against Academy Park gives the Bulls four wins against three losses in the Del-Val. Overall, Glen Mills is 9-4. "It was a tough, close ball game. Academy Park is a much better team than its record indicates," said Craig Mellinger, the Bulls' assistant coach.

Villanova coach Rollie Massimino started conducting an All-America campaign for Harold Pressley last night. It was the least he could do for the 6-7 senior forward, who has been carrying this young team toward its seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament bid. Pressley scored 16 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, blocked 6 shots and had 4 steals and 4 assists in 37 minutes as Villanova defeated an injury-plagued Boston College team, 67-57, in a Big...

Not long after Carl Mancini wrapped up his second straight Catholic League individual wrestling championship, the Bishop Egan senior began focusing on his next two goals: winning the National Prep Schools title and getting his 100th career victory. The math was simple enough. He would need six more victories, which was exactly the number of consecutive wins needed to secure the 125-pound title at Lehigh University last weekend. "I also could have gotten them if I had gone to the quarterfinals, lost and wrestled back," Mancini said.

In a game where the numbers mean so much, 100 regular-season wins will always represent something magical and rank among the game's special feats. Consider this: Since 1900, baseball's 30 existing teams have played a total of 2,234 seasons, and only 93 teams - 4.2 percent - have won at least 100 regular-season games. (Major League Baseball switched from a 154-game schedule to 162 in 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.) The Phillies, in the midst of their own magical three-year run, have a chance to join that list of elite teams this season for two big reasons: talent and confidence.

Just one more win, and the Cleveland Indians will have formally put an end to four decades of bad baseball. Symbols of futility since the 1950s, the Indians clinched a tie for the American League Central championship last night with a 4-1 victory over the visiting Seattle Mariners. With one more win, or one more Kansas City loss, the Indians will win the division outright. They've already ensured themselves of at least a wild-card berth, guaranteeing their first postseason appearance since they were swept by the New York Giants in the 1954 World Series.

Jason Bartlett doubled in the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning, and the visiting Tampa Bay Rays took another step toward their first AL East title by beating the Baltimore Orioles, 4-2, last night. The victory reduced the Rays' magic number for winning the division crown to four, after Boston lost to Cleveland. Any combination of Tampa Bay wins and Red Sox losses totaling four would make the Rays champions of the AL East. After Boston lost, a roar resonated throughout the clubhouse.

At last season's end-of-year banquet, Steph Toy handed Marie McCool a gift bag with a handwritten note inside. "I opened it, and the note said that it was my turn to lead this team," McCool said. "It said that she was handing me down the No. 51. " The Moorestown girls' lacrosse program is steeped in numerous, often quirky traditions. They have songs and chants and slogans, and they make videos and shirts - all with some kind of deep-rooted meaning, all part of the singular experience of being part of the Moorestown team.

Carmelo Anthony tied his career high with 50 points and the visiting New York Knicks won their ninth straight game, topping the injury-depleted Miami Heat, 102-90, on Wednesday night. Anthony finished 18 of 26 from the field, reaching 50 on a jumper with 16.9 seconds remaining. J.R. Smith scored 14 and Raymond Felton added 10 for New York. Chris Bosh scored 23 points for Miami, which played without LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Mario Chalmers, all held out with injuries that are not believed to be serious.

LeBron James scored 29 points, Dwyane Wade added 19, and the Miami Heat extended their winning streak to 25 games by pulling away in the second half and beating the visiting Detroit Pistons, 103-89, on Friday night. Miami shook off a slow start to move within eight of tying the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA's longest winning streak. James added eight rebounds and eight assists for Miami, whose magic number for clinching the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference is now three.

As much as she tried, it was impossible - as it's impossible for most fortunate enough to be in that situation - not to think about it. Madison McClintock heard it in every class, all day at school Thursday. It was supposed to be a secret. But before the game, McClintock was fully aware of the magic number: 22. Twenty-two points away from 1,000 for her career. She would be just the 13th Gloucester girls' basketball player to reach that mark, and after the game, coaches were struggling to recall a player who did it after just two seasons as a varsity starter.

D EAR HARRY: I did my banking through my computer for several years without one bit of trouble - until December. Someone, somewhere, then hacked into the account and stole $1,100. The bank caught it somehow on the next attempt for $6,102. The bank dealt with this wonderfully, taking care of the $1,100 and helping me to get a new password established. They also gave me a few warnings about passwords, like making them longer than six characters (I don't know why six is their magic number)

Here's a by-the-numbers look at the Penns Grove football team, which has a 10-0 record. The Red Devils will play at least one more game and could play two more. 538 Points this season. The Red Devils have set the South Jersey record, breaking the mark of 517 set last season by West Deptford. The state record is 599 by Bergen Catholic in 1998. 53.8 Points per game. The South Jersey record for average points per game is 48.4 by Salem in 1996, and the state record is 51.5 by Don Bosco Prep in 2003.

Record-Setting Red Devils Here's a by-the-numbers look at the Penns Grove football team, which has a 10-0 record. The Red Devils will play at least one more game and could play two more. 538 Points this season. The Red Devils have set the South Jersey record, breaking the mark of 517 set last season by West Deptford. The state record is 599 by Bergen Catholic in 1998. 53.8 Points per game. The South Jersey record for average points per game is 48.4 by Salem in 1996, and the state record is 51.5 by Don Bosco Prep in 2003.

NHL players need to have a different perspective as they battle the men who have made them very rich. But before delving into the specifics of that statement, let's look at where we are: The owners and players are locked in a labor stalemate that has caused the cancellation of all games through Nov. 30, with the Winter Classic and All-Star Game next on the chopping block. There is plenty of blame to spread around. On both sides. At the center of the so-sad-it's-comical dispute is (what else?

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. - Tommy Gainey narrowly missed a chance at golf's magic number. He happily settled for a course-record 60 at Sea Island, and his first PGA Tour win Sunday in the McGladrey Classic. Gainey became the fourth player this year to rally from at least 7 shots behind in the final round to win on the PGA Tour. He made seven straight 3s on his way to a 29 on the back nine, and then had to wait more than two hours to see if Jim Furyk or anyone else could catch him. No one came particularly close.

THE Cardinals closed in on the NL's second wild-card berth Sunday while the Nationals failed to make progress toward the NL East title. Carlos Beltran homered from both sides of the plate for the ninth time in his career and drove in five runs, leading St. Louis over visiting Washington, 10-4. "We're one step closer, but there's still a long way to go," said Mike Matheny, who took over as manager from Tony La Russa after the Cardinals won last year's World Series. "We've got to keep playing and playing well.