The 2008 Regular Season Heads Toward Sunday’s Curtain Call
The final picture is getting clearer with some fascinating possibilities left to be determined. In the American League, this much is known. The Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Angels, and Boston Red Sox will play in October. The Angels will have home field advantage. Odds are that Tampa will be in the number two slot with the Red Sox travelling to LA to start the playoffs. Only a serious downturn by Tampa Bay could switch them with the Red Sox, but given the Rays face the Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers, that’s not likely. Boston faces the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees, a tougher challenge but at Fenway Park. If the Red Sox ran the table and the Rays just win three games, they’re tied. With seven games left, can anyone seeing Tampa doing worse than 4-3? Meanwhile, the open race is in the Central. The Chicago White Sox have a three game advantage over the Minnesota Twins. The good news for the Twins is that Chicago comes to their house for the next three games. If they sweep the Sox, they’re even and it’s up to the weekend’s results to decide the finish. The Sox host the Indians to finish things up while the Twins host the Kansas City Royals. Should the Twins pull off the sweep, they’d have a slight edge going into the final series. Still, the best bet here is that the White Sox will be playing ball in Florida next week.
The National League is still much more wide open. The only thing that’s for certain is that the Chicago Cubs will have home field advantage through the playoffs. The NL East, NL West, and Wild Card Races are still open. First, the NL East looks like this. The Philadelphia Phillies lead the New York Mets by two games in the loss column while the Phillies host the Atlanta Braves but the Mets face three games against the Cubs before closing Shea Stadium against the pesky Florida Marlins. After the Braves leave Philadelphia, the Phillies get a day off before finishing up against the Washington Nationals. Even if Lou Pinnella decides to sandbag it a little with the Cubs, the Phillies look like they should be hosting playoff action next week. Which ever of these two teams does not win the division is currently in the driver’s seat to take the Wild Card. Right now, the Mets have a one game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers who host the miserable Pittsburgh Pirates before finishing the year hosting the Chicago Cubs. Ironically, by facing the Mets and Brewers back-to-back, the Cubs will have much to say who they might face in the first round of the playoffs. The Brewers have played awful baseball in September; however, the Mets have lost three straight and four out of their last six. The Mets final collapse last year ousted them from playoff contention on the final day of the season last year. Only the guardians of fate know how this one will play out.
Out west it looked like the Los Angeles Dodgers were for certain in the AL West given the Dodgers surge and the Arizona Diamondbacks’ swoon. Just as the command was about to be given to stick a fork in that rattlesnake, it’s done, the ‘Backs have found new life winning 7-3 while the Dodgers have gone 6-4. LA has a two game advantage. The Dodgers host San Diego before heading up the coast to close at San Francisco while the Diamondbacks are in St. Louis but come home to host the Colorado Rockies for their grand finale. The Diamondbacks are going to have to play exceptionally well against a stronger slate of opponents than the Dodgers plus the Dodgers have to slip up a little to push Joe Torre’s squad aside. Were the Dodgers to break even for the rest of the season, the Diamondbacks must win them all to take the Division. That’s not likely.
In the National League, let’s figure Chicago and Philadelphia will host baseball next week. The Phillies can’t host the Mets, a team in the same division, by the Wild Card rules, so setting up any kind of formal lineup for the first round is still uncertain with some very interesting possibilities to follow before Sunday afternoon bring it all to a close.
The final picture is getting clearer with some fascinating possibilities left to be determined. In the American League, this much is known. The Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Angels, and Boston Red Sox will play in October. The Angels will have home field advantage. Odds are that Tampa will be in the number two slot with the Red Sox travelling to LA to start the playoffs. Only a serious downturn by Tampa Bay could switch them with the Red Sox, but given the Rays face the Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers, that’s not likely. Boston faces the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees, a tougher challenge but at Fenway Park. If the Red Sox ran the table and the Rays just win three games, they’re tied. With seven games left, can anyone seeing Tampa doing worse than 4-3? Meanwhile, the open race is in the Central. The Chicago White Sox have a three game advantage over the Minnesota Twins. The good news for the Twins is that Chicago comes to their house for the next three games. If they sweep the Sox, they’re even and it’s up to the weekend’s results to decide the finish. The Sox host the Indians to finish things up while the Twins host the Kansas City Royals. Should the Twins pull off the sweep, they’d have a slight edge going into the final series. Still, the best bet here is that the White Sox will be playing ball in Florida next week.
The National League is still much more wide open. The only thing that’s for certain is that the Chicago Cubs will have home field advantage through the playoffs. The NL East, NL West, and Wild Card Races are still open. First, the NL East looks like this. The Philadelphia Phillies lead the New York Mets by two games in the loss column while the Phillies host the Atlanta Braves but the Mets face three games against the Cubs before closing Shea Stadium against the pesky Florida Marlins. After the Braves leave Philadelphia, the Phillies get a day off before finishing up against the Washington Nationals. Even if Lou Pinnella decides to sandbag it a little with the Cubs, the Phillies look like they should be hosting playoff action next week. Which ever of these two teams does not win the division is currently in the driver’s seat to take the Wild Card. Right now, the Mets have a one game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers who host the miserable Pittsburgh Pirates before finishing the year hosting the Chicago Cubs. Ironically, by facing the Mets and Brewers back-to-back, the Cubs will have much to say who they might face in the first round of the playoffs. The Brewers have played awful baseball in September; however, the Mets have lost three straight and four out of their last six. The Mets final collapse last year ousted them from playoff contention on the final day of the season last year. Only the guardians of fate know how this one will play out.
Out west it looked like the Los Angeles Dodgers were for certain in the AL West given the Dodgers surge and the Arizona Diamondbacks’ swoon. Just as the command was about to be given to stick a fork in that rattlesnake, it’s done, the ‘Backs have found new life winning 7-3 while the Dodgers have gone 6-4. LA has a two game advantage. The Dodgers host San Diego before heading up the coast to close at San Francisco while the Diamondbacks are in St. Louis but come home to host the Colorado Rockies for their grand finale. The Diamondbacks are going to have to play exceptionally well against a stronger slate of opponents than the Dodgers plus the Dodgers have to slip up a little to push Joe Torre’s squad aside. Were the Dodgers to break even for the rest of the season, the Diamondbacks must win them all to take the Division. That’s not likely.
In the National League, let’s figure Chicago and Philadelphia will host baseball next week. The Phillies can’t host the Mets, a team in the same division, by the Wild Card rules, so setting up any kind of formal lineup for the first round is still uncertain with some very interesting possibilities to follow before Sunday afternoon bring it all to a close.
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