The Chicago White Sox defeated the Minnesota Twins 1-0 on Tuesday night to win the AL Central Title. After 162 games the two teams were tied for first place in the division, so a tie-breaker game was held at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. John Danks threw eight shutout innings, allowing just two hits, with the first coming in on a double by Michael Cuddyer in the fifth inning. Bobby Jenks then came on in the ninth to retire the Twins and propel the White Sox into the playoffs. Jim Thome was responsible for the only run of the game, hitting a solo shot off Minnesota's Nick Blackburn in the bottom of the seventh inning. Blackburn pitched 6 1/3 innings, giving up the one run on four hits. The White Sox will travel to Tampa Bay to face the Rays in the ALDS on Thursday.

The Red Sox landed Mark Teixeira when they drafted him in the ninth round of the 1998 draft, but he chose to attend Georgia Tech when his family and he learned how Boston landed him. The Sox put out a false report that Teixeira wanted to go to college, which kept teams from drafting him. The strategy worked in one sense, but it backfired badly when Teixeira's adviser Scott Boras and his father John were so upset with what the Sox had done that they walked away from a take-it-or-leave it $1.5 million bonus. Teixeira ended up going to Georgia Tech. "That was the greatest decision of my life, both professionally and personally," said Teixeira recently. "It was made very clear to me that I wasn't ready for pro baseball. The business of it is something I completely understand now, but as an 18-year-old kid it was completely unfair." "I got to go to college and have the three best years of my life. And I can't complain on how my career has turned out. I was upset about it for a couple of weeks, but then I started getting into college, and once I stepped on the campus of Georgia Tech, I knew it was meant to be."

Even without the Yankees in the postseason, television executives would be happy with ratings if the Cubs advance deep in October. "If we can get the Cubs to the World Series, it?s going to be huge," said Neil Mulcahy, Fox Sports executive vice president of sales. "It?s all about the Cubs right now."

Andy Pettitte only wants to pitch for the Yankees next season if he decides to continue playing, but he's not ready to commit just yet. "I think Andy will continue to pitch," Manager Joe Girardi said. Pettitte has said that he would like to pitch in the new Yankee Stadium. "Like I've told you all over and over, I'm not real sure," Pettitte said. "Just looked at the ballpark over there and I would love to do it. I just feel like I need to get away and like I've told you all, I've got some things that I need to weigh over and figure out." "Hopefully, I can come to a conclusion pretty quick and figure out what I would like to do."

The Braves will be looking to fortify their pitching rotation this winter and could have their eye on Derek Lowe. "Improve our starting pitching ? that?s our No. 1 priority," General Manager Frank Wren said Monday. Recently, Atlanta has had scouts following the Dodgers around scouting Lowe, who will become a free agent at season's end.

Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer is in the middle of a four-year deal worth $33 million, but the Twins could try to lock him up with a lucrative extension this winter. The Twins don't have a history of spending much money, but they could make the move in order to ensure Mauer will be a fixture on the team when Target Field opens in 2010. A five-year extension could be worth close to $100 million given Mauer's production and possible second AL batting title.

The Orioles could make a play for expected free agents Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett this winter. Teixeira grew up just outside of Baltimore, and Burnett lives close to the city during the offseason. "I think we would be remiss if we don't look into what might be unique opportunities in the case of geographic ties to the area," said Andy MacPhail, who did not name names. "I think we owe it to our fans to explore that. Again, I don't know how realistic it would be, but I think we'd be remiss in not exploring it."

The Diamondbacks could look to trade outfielder Eric Byrnes this winter, and the Mets could be a likely destination. Byrnes is owed $22 million over the next two years, and they could deal him from another bad contract, like that of New York's Luis Castillo. The second baseman is owed $18 million through 2011.

The New York Yankees announced today that they have reached an agreement with Senior Vice President and General Manager Brian Cashman to remain in the same role through the 2011 season.

Margaret Creighton, a history professor at Bates College, came up with the idea for "Red Sox Nation: Baseball and American Culture" following the Boston's loss to the New York Yankees in the 2003 American League championship series. The course was first offered at the small liberal arts college in 2005, a year after the Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918. With only 15 openings, it took only a minute or so for the class to fill up when online registration opened.