INSTANT ANALYST

Have you ever had that dream in which you're running, trying to get somewhere, but you just don't seem to be moving? The Yankees have been living that dream all summer. Before an 8-3 loss to the Red Sox dropped them four games off the pace on Sunday, New York had been within three games of first in the American League East without gaining sole possession of the lead since June 18—a total of 93 days. That's by far the longest any team in this century had been so close to first place without taking it outright.

Oddly enough, four other teams—the Blue Jays, the Orioles, the Red Sox and the Tigers—held the lead alone at one time or another during this same three-month span. Should they wind up winning the division, the Yankees would be the fourth team in this century to finish first without having once been in sole possession of the lead before Sept. 20. The others were the 1951 Giants, the '64 Cardinals and the '73 Mets.

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YEAR	TEAM	DAYS
1993	New York Yankees	93
1974	Montreal Expos	69
1913	Cleveland Naps	61
1903	Philadelphia Athletics	57
1908	New York Giants	53
1990	Boston Red Sox	53