Column: What's with no 20-game winners?
544986
Standing by the first base dugout at Yankee Stadium, Jim Palmer and Orel Hershiser were talking shop. With four Cy Young Awards between 'em, it was intricate stuff about pitching &#151; release points, stretch positions, unfolding front elbows.
656901
What? No movie crew? See, this is what happens when you win it all under the simple guise of just being the best team, absent the melodrama. You sweep the Rockies and neither Jimmy Fallon nor Drew Barrymore are anywhere in sight.
211014
How many teams can save a 20-game winner for Game 2 of a playoff series? One. And with Roy Oswalt set for a postseason start four years in the making, the Houston Astros are feeling pretty good.
292104
The playoffs are here! No, not the major league playoffs. I'm talking about the ones we care about: fantasy playoffs. For leagues that operate with a playoff format, the next few weeks will determine a champion.
236287
The Cubs&#39; glass had to be half empty because these were two games they should have swept. The Marlins&#39; wound up half full because these were two games they had every excuse to surrender.
639028
Mike Mussina pitched seven scoreless innings on Tuesday night. (John Dunn for The New York Times) âI canât say that, because we havenât allowed ourselves the luxury of thinking that,â Joe Torre said. âNot only for him, but for anybody.â Maybe I should have known better than to ask that question before the Yankees have clinched. But [...].
163944
If theyâd lost a game, they would understand. If they hadnât won their conference championship game, they wouldnât argue. If theyâd even ever really struggled to win, they could see being left out on the championship picture.
319117
One yearâs winner can lose big in the next cycle.
749897
Tim Jarrett understands what I'm saying. What a great Superbowl, and what an opportunity for Boston sports fans to learn the value in losing. What? Value in losing? You bet.  It wasn't that long ago when Boston was one of the best cities in the USA for sports precisely because Boston teams were such spectacular losers. I'll never forget the misery of the Dowbrigade after the Red Sox lost something (or did they win, I forget). They must have lost because he swore he'd never let them break his heart again the way they had for his whole life (he's about my age). Losing teaches you that there's more to life than winning, and that's the best lesson possible and it's the one lesson you keep needing to learn over and over until you lose everything, which like it or not is what we all do in the end. People write poetry about losing, great music is composed about lost causes. Who writes an ode to winning? They're too busy getting drunk or getting laid.  Never have I loved a team more or felt more kinship with my fellow fans than when our team goes down in flames after a season of great ups and downs. No doubt there are no smiles or tears of joy in Boston today. But there is hope. And that, even when you win, is all that's left after a great season.
397962
You often see thoroughbred horses do it. Baseball teams have jumped out ahead in the standings and stayed there all the way through to a World Series victory.
559745
When it comes to landmark winning streaks, the same rules apparently apply in volleyball as they do with a possible no-hitter in baseball. Until the achievement is realized, there can be no speaking of it.
367962
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- In years past, a 20-win season was a pretty good indicator of Boston College's chances of earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Twenty wins and you're in.
385011
We knew there wouldn't be a definitive winner tonight, at least until all the results were in. After all, what constitutes a win? Taking the biggest states? Capturing the most delegates? Being hailed as inevitable by the greatest number of pundits?
350942
Well, well, well, look who has a little winning streak going. The four straight victories by the Chicago Bulls would hardly be worth a mention for most teams. But consider that the Bulls haven't strung together this many wins since a certain No. 23 was wearing red and black &#151; six-plus seasons, three coaches and umpteen players ago &#151; and it's a sign they might finally be making some progress.
428939
With a posted total of 42 or higher a the home team is off of a home win the road team scored 24 or more points their last game and the road team played a close gameâeither lost by five or less or won by 10 or less, itâs gone under 27-5.
195505
Questions, questions. If it is so difficult to play against 10 men why do opponents insist on picking 11? Were Celtic really only a sclaffed header away from the most ignominious of draws against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday night?
640160
Because there haven&#39;t been too many of them recently, the word `` dynasty&#39;&#39; is tossed around all too freely when there&#39;s talk of dominant professional sports teams.