The Vancouver Iron Fist (85-62, 2nd place) are 5 1/2 games behind Newark and 3 1/2 games ahead of Vatican City, with 15 games remaining. The Iron Fist have the third-toughest schedule ahead for September: They'll hav to go through three playoff-bound opponents (Vatican City, Stanhope and Arkansas) and two teams (Kentucky and Hoboken) still hoping to make the big dance. But the Iron Fist have fared well, beating up on everyone but Stanhope (4-5) and Vatican City (3-7), putting together a .583 winning percentage against the five teams. Their magic number to clinch the division is 12; to clinch post-season play, 3.

The upstart Vatican City Cardinals (82-66, 3rd place) have turned around a franchise that lost 111 games in Hillsborough last year. With 14 games remaining, the Cardinals still have a shot at the Morris Division title. To do it, they'll likely need to take all three remaining games in Vancouver this weekend, then beat up on cellar-dwellers Columbia and Honolulu. Despite having one of the league's toughest September schedules, including playoff-bound opponents Carolina and Stanhope, the Cardinals are 25-24 against their remaining opponents. Their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 6.

Playoff Bound:

The Arkansas Golden Falcons (79-68, 4th place), leading the Morris Division by two games a month ago, are still struggling to recover from a disastrous stretch where they won just 2 out of 14 games. Despite having the fourth-best record in baseball, the Golden Falcons could be the most vulnerable of the six teams that appear ticketed for the post-season: They're just 19-29 (.396) against their final five opponents, including a 4-14 record against rivals Vancouver and Newark, who they face in their final 7 games this season. If the Falcons don't want those games to mean anything, they'll have to survive an 8-game roadtrip that sees them go from Philadelphia to Kentucky to Hoboken, and their final 15 games come without a day off. Their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 9.

Matthew's Mighty Men of Stanhope (79-70, 5th place) dogged the Sugar Bears for much of the season, but an 8-23 stretch nearly dumped them out of contention. But the team has righted the ship by winning 8 of their last 12 and are now, with 13 games left, just one game behind Arkansas for the #4 seed. Despite one of the league's toughest remaining schedules, including three games each against Vancouver and Vatican City, the Mighty Men can lock up a playoff spot by feasting on Phoenix, Harrison and Honolulu, three teams they've gone 20-10 (.667) against. Their magic number to clinch at least the #6 seed is 9.

Emerging from an eight-team pile-up for the final wild-card slot just after the All-Star Break, the Carolina Mudcats (77-73, 6th place) hold a 3 1/2 game lead over the rest of the pack with 12 games remaining in the season. But teams hoping Carolina will stumble down the stretch can't be comforted by recent history: The Mudcats have a winning record against all four teams they're going to face, good for a 24-14 (.632) mark. They've especially had the number of the team chasing them -- they've taken 5 out of 8 games from Phoenix, the team they face in a four-game season finale. But their key to success may be their next five games, against Columbia and Harrison, before heading into Vatican City for three games that could prove to be a playoff preview between the #3 and #6 seeds. Their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 11.

On The Bubble:

The Phoenix Dragons (72-75, 7th place) are 3 1/2 games back with 15 games remaining, including four against the Mudcats, the team they're chasing. For that series to matter, the Dragons can't fall any farther out. If they can manage at least a split in this weekend's two-game series with Stanhope -- no easy feat, as they've gone 3-8 against them this year -- the Dragons have a shot at controlling their own destiny, as they're 17-11 (.607) against their other three opponents, Philadelphia, Kentucky and Harrison.

One of the hottest teams in baseball right now are the Harrison Rats (72-76, 8th place), a half-game behind Phoenix and four games out of the playoffs with 14 to go. The Rats swept a three-game series against Columbia earlier this week and are riding a five-game winning streak into this weekend's series with Honolulu, a team they've beaten in 7 out of 11 match-ups. But it all goes downhill from there, as the Rats will have to figure out a way to beat Stanhope, Carolina and Phoenix -- three teams they've gone 11-19 against this year. On the other hand, those are the three teams Harrison has to beat to get into the playoffs, so they could be getting hot at the right time. The Rats close out the season with a series they hope will still matter, a four-game set in Columbia.

The Brooklyn Bean Counters (71-78, tied for 9th) are percentage points ahead of Kentucky and Hoboken for 9th place, 5 1/2 games behind Carolina for the #6 seed with 13 games remaining. They've got the league's easiest schedule, facing just one team with a winning record, and they've put up a .500 record against those opponents; in fact, they're the only bubble team without a losing record. Brooklyn is 7-2 against the Endzone Animals, a team they face three more times, and 6-2 against the Hillbillies, whom they face in a four-game season finale. But even if the Bean Counters manage to sweep those two teams, they'd have to at least split their six games with Hoboken, Honolulu and Newark to avoid finishing below .500.

The Kentucky Hillbillies (70-77, tied for 9th) have a make-or-break weekend, with two games against Vancouver and three against Arkansas. If they can pull off the unlikely sweep, they'd be two games under .500 with 10 games left against Phoenix, Philadelphia and Brooklyn. Even so, the Hillbillies will need a lot of help from other teams to return to the playoffs for the second straight year.

The Hoboken Cutters (70-77, tied for 9th) would be one of the greatest Cinderella teams in sports history if they can reach the playoffs. They're 5 1/2 games out with 15 games to play, and they finish the season with the toughest schedule in the league, a composite 394-347 (.532) including 10 games against Newark, Vancouver and Arkansas -- three teams they've gone 8-19 against this year. If they can manage to survive that stretch, they'd still need to sweep Brooklyn and Columbia in their other five games remaining to factor into the playoff picture. They are getting hot though -- they've won 4 of their last 5, including their first two wins on the season against the Iron Fist.

Wait 'Til Next Year:

The Columbia Crusaders (67-81, 12th) were three games under .500 at the All-Star Break. But a series of lengthy losing streaks -- four of three games or more, including a nine-game slide at the end of July -- buried the team's playoff hopes for the 10th straight year. It would take a miracle for the Crusaders to make it this year: They've got one of the toughest schedules remaining, kicked off by a seven-game road trip that takes them to three playoff teams: Vatican City, Carolina and Newark. They Crusaders will likely be planning their off-season golf vacations long before the final seven games of the season against Hoboken and Harrison -- they've already been mathematically eliminated from the division title, and 5 more losses or wins by the #6 seed will officially end their slim playoff hopes.

For a few weeks in June, the Honolulu Sharks (66-83, 13th) looked primed for a playoff run. On June 19, the Sharks had a 1 1/2 game lead for the final wild card slot. They made trades for Miguel Tejada, Denny Neagle and John Franco. But the trades seemingly upset the clubhouse chemistry, as the team immediately nosedived, going 24-39 (.381), sinking them all the way to 17 games below .500. Three months ago, the Sharks may have been licking their chops at a relatively soft schedule to close out the season, but it's too little too late: Honolulu's tragic number is 3.

The Philadelphia Endzone Animals (55-93, 14th) have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Fittingly, the worst team in baseball also has the worst record against their remaining opponents: 16-32 (.333), without a winning record against any of them. A strong finish on the lost season would at least give them the satisfaction of playing spoiler, as four of the five teams they're going to face -- Arkansas, Phoenix, Brooklyn and Kentucky -- have playoff aspirations. Philly's "tragic number" to clinch the worst record in baseball -- and the first pick in the 2002 draft -- is 4.