so we're halfway thru September -- a date at which you can draw some reasonable conclusions about the MLB races.
In the AL, we have some excellent races.
In the East, Toronto's offensive juggernaut continues to keep them ahead of the Yankees. That race could go down to the last weekend. Baltimore has made some runs, but they are a disappointment to me, being 2 games under 500. The Red Sox's season has been a disaster from start to finish.
In the Central, KC seems to have pretty much locked up the division, though their poor play of late is something to watch. Kind of strange to see the White Sox and the Tigers at the bottom of the division, as I thought each had more talent than that.
In the West, Texas leads Houston by 1/2 game, and the Angels by 4. Houston seems to be fading at the wrong time, though it's too soon to count them out.
If the season ended today, the Yankees and Houston would be in the wildcard, with the Twins just 1.5 games back, the Angels 3.5 games back, and the Indians 5 games back.
The East, the West, and the wildcard race should create some great drama through the closing game.
In the NL, the races are not as close.
In the East, the Mets have an 8.5 game lead on the Nationals. I continue to be stunned that with all the talent on the Nationals, they are only 4 games over 500. Atlanta has been down right putrid over the last month and a half, and are now only 1 1/2 games ahead of the Phillies in the race for the worst record in MLB.
The Central has provided a good bit of drama over the course of the season. The Cardinals continue to show that they are one of the best-run programs in MLB. They've overcome injuries to maintain their lead in the Central pretty much the entire season. They are 3 games up on the Pirates. The Pirates were a little disappointing early on (causing my buddy fairgambit to jump off the bandwagon), but they've played excellent ball for several months. In addition, they're pretty hot of late, so overtaking the Cards is not out of the question. The Cubs have played really well (they would be tied for 1st in the West, and 1/2 game back in the East), but they are in 3rd place. I thought they had the talent to overtake the Pirates, but for a variety of reasons that hasn't happened. I expected Milwaukee to be bad, but the Reds have pretty much mailed it in since the trade deadline, and that's not something I would have predicted before the season started.
In the West, the Dodgers and the Giants have taken turns looking mediocre, but at this point the Dodgers have a 7 1/2 game lead.
If the season ended today, the Pirates and the Cubs would be in the wildcard. The Giants are 7 1/2 games back, and the Nationals are 9 games back. Before the season started, I thought the Nationals would win their division, and that the Giants would either win theirs or be in the wildcard. The Pirates, Cubs, and Giants have been pretty hot of late, so either the Pirates or the Cubs would have to go stone cold for the Giants to slip into the wildcard.
The race in the Central, and the race for the wildcard should provide the bulk of the drama in the NL (excluding the efforts of the Braves to wrest the #1 draft pick from the Phils in next year's draft).
Good luck to your favorite team in the closing weeks!
In the AL, we have some excellent races.
In the East, Toronto's offensive juggernaut continues to keep them ahead of the Yankees. That race could go down to the last weekend. Baltimore has made some runs, but they are a disappointment to me, being 2 games under 500. The Red Sox's season has been a disaster from start to finish.
In the Central, KC seems to have pretty much locked up the division, though their poor play of late is something to watch. Kind of strange to see the White Sox and the Tigers at the bottom of the division, as I thought each had more talent than that.
In the West, Texas leads Houston by 1/2 game, and the Angels by 4. Houston seems to be fading at the wrong time, though it's too soon to count them out.
If the season ended today, the Yankees and Houston would be in the wildcard, with the Twins just 1.5 games back, the Angels 3.5 games back, and the Indians 5 games back.
The East, the West, and the wildcard race should create some great drama through the closing game.
In the NL, the races are not as close.
In the East, the Mets have an 8.5 game lead on the Nationals. I continue to be stunned that with all the talent on the Nationals, they are only 4 games over 500. Atlanta has been down right putrid over the last month and a half, and are now only 1 1/2 games ahead of the Phillies in the race for the worst record in MLB.
The Central has provided a good bit of drama over the course of the season. The Cardinals continue to show that they are one of the best-run programs in MLB. They've overcome injuries to maintain their lead in the Central pretty much the entire season. They are 3 games up on the Pirates. The Pirates were a little disappointing early on (causing my buddy fairgambit to jump off the bandwagon), but they've played excellent ball for several months. In addition, they're pretty hot of late, so overtaking the Cards is not out of the question. The Cubs have played really well (they would be tied for 1st in the West, and 1/2 game back in the East), but they are in 3rd place. I thought they had the talent to overtake the Pirates, but for a variety of reasons that hasn't happened. I expected Milwaukee to be bad, but the Reds have pretty much mailed it in since the trade deadline, and that's not something I would have predicted before the season started.
In the West, the Dodgers and the Giants have taken turns looking mediocre, but at this point the Dodgers have a 7 1/2 game lead.
If the season ended today, the Pirates and the Cubs would be in the wildcard. The Giants are 7 1/2 games back, and the Nationals are 9 games back. Before the season started, I thought the Nationals would win their division, and that the Giants would either win theirs or be in the wildcard. The Pirates, Cubs, and Giants have been pretty hot of late, so either the Pirates or the Cubs would have to go stone cold for the Giants to slip into the wildcard.
The race in the Central, and the race for the wildcard should provide the bulk of the drama in the NL (excluding the efforts of the Braves to wrest the #1 draft pick from the Phils in next year's draft).
Good luck to your favorite team in the closing weeks!
