MIAMI -- In terms of numbers, this season looks like any other for Carlos Delgado.

 

The powerful Florida Marlins first baseman eclipsed the 25-homer mark for the 10th straight season, and is closing in on reaching 100 RBIs for the seventh time in eight years.

 

This year, however, may end up having a very different feel for Delgado. Entering Saturday, he ranked second on the list of active players who'd never made a postseason appearance; his 1,540 games was 15 shy of Jeromy Burnitz, the leader on that dubious list.

 

And with four weeks left in the regular season, Delgado's Marlins find themselves right in the thick of the playoff chase -- just as he expected when signing a $52 million, four-year deal with the club last winter.

 

"I am excited about it, but you've got to keep things in perspective," Delgado said. "You don't want to run out there crazy, like a chicken with no head. There's a job to do. There's a lot at stake, but you can't get caught up in the emotion."

 

The Marlins entered Saturday 5 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the NL East; those teams play six times in the final nine days of the regular season. And Florida also entered the weekend 1 1/2 games back of Philadelphia in the wild-card race.

 

Starting with their current series against the New York Mets, 25 of Florida's final 29 games are against divisional rivals. The remaining four are in Houston, another team chasing the wild-card berth.

 

"We can't control what the other teams do," Delgado said. "One thing that we have going for us, or against us depending how you look at it, is that we're playing teams in our division and teams that are in the wild-card race. We've got the opportunity to make it or break it."

 

Just being in a playoff race is something fairly rare for Delgado.

 

Over his first nine full major league seasons, all with the Toronto Blue Jays, Delgado's teams finished a combined 138 1/2 games out of playoff spots. The closest he came was when the Jays finished four games behind wild-card winner Boston in 1998; his team finished 30 1/2 games out of contention in 2004.

 

"We were in a really tough division and it got to a point the last few years where we were always kind of like in a rebuilding process," Delgado said. "And when you're like that in the American League East, it's too hard to win."

 

Delgado missed 17 games with a sore left hand and elbow; since his return on Aug. 13, the Marlins have won 12 of 19 games in which he's played heading into Saturday.

 

"No question, he's a big key for the ballclub," Marlins manager Jack McKeon said. "He missed a little time there when he was hurt this year, and came right back and things started going better right away."

 

However his postseason ticket comes, Delgado will be satisfied. There's still some in the Marlins' clubhouse that insist the wild card is not on their radar right now -- "We want the division," outfielder Miguel Cabrera says -- but clearly, Delgado will be happy to go in any fashion.

 

He doesn't watch postseason games on television, saying it's too difficult after a disappointing season. And he's hoping someone will be seeing him on TV this October.

 

"One thing I've learned about this game is that anything can happen," Delgado said. "And you've got to play to win as many games as you can. We need to finish up strong and we want to play to the best of our abilities. If it's the wild card, it's the wild card. If it's the division, it's the division."

 

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...ack=1&cset=true

He sure is hitting like he wants to be in the postseason.

He sure is hitting like he wants to be in the postseason.

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Yup, he is geared for the September run. :thumbup

His 2 run bomb tonight was a clear statement. :thumbup

Delgado is playing good enough for the playoffs, but the same can't be sad for other players on the offense. Hopefully, something (Hermida) will get the offense going down the rest of the stretch.

dont blame him we will get him their one day

Well Delgado and Cabrera are doing their jobs, everyone else needs to pick up the slack.

now that I think about it...I may get teary eyed if (and when) we clinch our playoff spot...just for Carlos cause the man deserves it