The Hot Corner

Mark Grace, whose contract expires after this season, is chafing at the Cubs' reluctance to sign him to an extension. Chicago is weighing whether Korean prospect Hee Seop Choi, 21, who through Saturday had batted .313 with 10 homers and 24 RBIs in 34 Double A games, is ready to replace the 36-year-old Grace (.286, 11 home runs, 71 RBIs) at first base. "We're going to have to play out the season...and find out if Andy [Cubs president and CEO MacPhail] wants Hee Seop Choi hitting behind Sammy [Sosa] next year," said Grace last week. "Good luck. Sammy will get walked 300 times."...

While teams like the Indians and the Red Sox face grueling Septembers, the A's, who at week's end were 23-26 since the All-Star break, can take heart in having survived their most difficult stretch. After playing only one team with a losing record in the second half, Oakland on Sept. 8 begins a stretch of 13 games against the Devil Rays, Twins and Orioles, against whom the A's are a combined 13-8....

Only one team, the 1997 Rockies, has finished at .500 or better without a 10-game winner. The Angels, 68-68 after Sunday's 13-12 loss to the White Sox, might become the second. The Anaheim pitcher with the most victories was closer Shigetoshi Hasegawa with eight; none of the starters had more than six....

Chuck Finley's seven-inning, 89-pitch stint in a win over Baltimore last Friday was a sign that the Indians' 37-year-old lefthander hasn't hit the wall. Finley had pitched more than six innings only once in his previous eight starts and had averaged 101 pitches per outing. In that span he was 2-4 with a 6.54 ERA.