In the final week of the magical 1941 season, Ted Williams took a .39955 batting average into the last Sunday. He could have quit there and been credited with .400, but he insisted on playing that last doubleheader, and banged out six hits to finish at .406 -- the last person to hit above .400 in the Majors.
In the final week of the 2001 season, Barry Bonds parked the last of his 73 home runs for a single-season record. But good pitching was playing an even bigger role, as Arizona's twosome of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling took command and the Diamondbacks eliminated the Giants on that final Friday.

Think back to the final week of previous Major League seasons, and there seem like a million memories that connect baseball's past to its present. There were the moments that led up to Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round The World" in 1951, and the Yankee comeback that led to Bucky Dent's bleepin' homer at Fenway in '78. Maybe you remember the tension that grew and grew in the last week of the 1985 season between Dick Howser's Royals and Gene Mauch's Angels, or you can go back to just last October and Steve Finley's walk-off grand slam at Dodger Stadium.

There is nothing like the final week of a season. And now it is here again, with team and individual races at a collective boiling point. MLB.com's exclusive "Down to the Wire Deal" is a good tool for fans wanting to follow it all, because for just $9.95 you can watch all remaining out-of-market games live through Sunday on MLB.TV or listen to all remaining regular-season games live with Gameday Audio.

The week begins with the American League East deadlocked between the Red Sox and Yanks; with the White Sox trying to hold off the Cleveland Comeback; and with the usual intense Wild Card races in both leagues. There are 12 teams either in a lead or within five games of one, and that includes the Atlanta Braves, who are holding onto a five-game lead over Philadelphia in a bid to win a 14th consecutive division title, a streak unmatched in pro sports.

"We just have to remember that this thing isn't over until that magic number is at zero," said Braves pitcher John Smoltz, a veteran of numerous last-week survival stories. "We have to keep our focus."

The final week of the 2004 season was simply mind-numbing. Remember how that final Sunday dawned? Before anyone knew even a single playoff matchup, or whether there would be tiebreakers, you had to wait to see whether the Astros could win again at home, and you had to wait until that afternoon's Cleveland-Minnesota doubleheader. Just like that final week, this will be the week when the most commonly asked question to people is: "What if?"

As a user's guide, MLB.com's Barry Bloom has compiled a helpful list of tiebreaker scenarios that will be updated throughout the week as each scenario falls by the wayside. The coins have been flipped in the Major League offices, the scenarios have been painted, and now all that remains are the games.

If there is one lesson from the last few years, it is that the final week of the regular season is just as important to a team with a big division lead as it is to the team battling to survive. It's no coincidence that a Wild Card winner has won the World Series each of the last three years -- the Angels in 2002, the Marlins in 2003 and the Red Sox in 2004. Or that five of the last 10 Fall Classic participants have been Wild Cards. It is clear from talking to many of the players involved that a survivor mentality and battle-tested persona builds up and is carried over into the postseason. Any team that is resting and just waiting for the postseason lights to be turned on is more vulnerable than ever.

If intense competition makes you better, then it should be another incredible October. Just look at what the Angels are doing. They enter the final week perhaps playing their best ball of the year. The A's are still within four games of them during a season in which Oakland was once 15 behind. Everyone is waiting to see if the Indians can complete their own comeback from 15 games behind to win the AL Central. Can the White Sox hold on? And more importantly, can they shed that whole "hold on" mindset and do what they were doing most of the season?

What an incredible final series there will be Friday through Sunday at The Jake in Cleveland. If the White Sox have not clinched by then, it should be memorable. The White Sox are 11-5 in 2005 against the Indians, and they swept the Tribe in Cleveland right after the All-Star break. And that bit of history is probably worth as much as a hot dog wrapper, because it's been a different world lately in the Central.

"We're going to find out what some people are made of here in the next week," said White Sox general manager Ken Williams, whose club seems to have regained a bit of a spark. "Maybe this is a good thing for us. It certainly isn't a good thing for me and my sleep and my stress level. . . . But what the heck, if it turns out to make us that much better prepared in the event we do get into the final four, then it was all worth going through."

Even if the Indians fall short in the division, keep in mind that no AL Central team ever has won the Wild Card since its inception in 1995. Cleveland is 38-13 since July 31, the best record in baseball since then. But the pressure grows more and more, because its Wild Card lead is now just a half-game over both Boston and New York.

Will the Yankees and Red Sox finish 1-2 in the AL East for an incredible eighth consecutive year? It didn't matter to Boston last year, of course. But this is more classic fodder for the best rivalry in baseball, and appropriately enough, those two teams will finish this season with three games at Fenway Park. If that division title comes down to the final day of the season, it will fall on the 27th anniversary of Dent's fabled homer that gave New York that year's title on the way to a world championship.

"Every day, every night, every pitch, everything is the most important situation that could come up," said Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon. "It kind of feels like the World Series a little bit. We need to try and get through this. It's going to be amazing. I just hope we play well enough. I know we're going to lay it all on the line."

The Red Sox play the entire week at home, opening with four games against Toronto before the Yankees come to town. New York, which has won seven of its last eight road games, has to play four in Baltimore and will call on Randy Johnson for the first one. Could we be headed for a playoff tiebreaker in this division? Boston last won the AL East in 1995, the year the Yankees became the first AL Wild Card.

"We have to play Baltimore first, so we have to focus on them," said Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. "And when the time comes, then we'll focus on Boston."

MLB.com's comprehensive Octoberquest coverage includes a Day at the Races, which is the place to turn each day to see the remaining matchups. The Braves would seem to have a comfort zone in opening the week at home against Colorado, but Atlanta's younger players who are new to this say "on paper" means nothing. In fact, the Rockies took two of three from Atlanta at Coors Field in their only previous series this season.

"Our mentality is that we're going to play the same if it's the seventh game of the World Series or a game that doesn't mean anything," Brian McCann said. "I don't think the pressure is going to get to any of us."

The Phillies, who have won five consecutive series, still have hopes of catching the Braves, but their most realistic shot probably is the NL Wild Card. The Astros are holding onto a one-game lead over Philadelphia in that race. Houston has Monday off and then closes out with three at St. Louis and three at home against the Cubs. Meanwhile, this week, Philadelphia plays three at home against the Mets starting Monday night, and then, after an off-day on Thursday, three at Washington. The Phillies are a combined 14-17 against those two clubs.

"It doesn't matter what [the Astros] do," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "We have to take care of ourselves."

The Astros, of course, have other ideas.

"It's going to be a battle all the way until the end. We feel like we're strong," Houston lefty Andy Pettitte said, "We'll be able to pull through it and get this thing done. We still feel very confident in that."

In the NL West, the Padres would seem to have a commanding pass into the postseason, especially with a four-game lead on the Giants and with all of their games at home in this final week. But the final week usually comes with built-in scheduling drama that delays celebrations as long as possible. In this case, the Padres have four games against the Giants starting Monday, so it's another chance for what-if.

"Basically, we have to win out," said Giants pitcher Brett Tomko, who is scheduled to start Tuesday. "That's the mindset you have to have. You've got to win every game and sweep San Diego for sure."

They have been saying things like that at this time of year for as long as anyone can remember. It's the same thing the Phillies were saying when they were trying unsuccessfully to hold off the Cardinals in 1964. It's the same thing they were saying when Walter Johnson and the Washington Senators finished two games ahead of the Bronx Bombers in 1924. Now is when it really gets interesting.

It's the final week. You never know what happens next, but you have to watch.