The Red Sox acquired a distinguished closer, Billy Wagner, to serve as their setup guy while nursing a 1 ½ game lead over the Texas Rangers in the Wild Card chase and probably not completely conceding the division to the hated Yankees who enjoy a six game lead over the Beaners.
The Minnesota Twins have pulled even with Chicago, both playing .500 ball but good enough for second place 4 ½ games behind the Tigers in the AL Central. While out west, speaking of the Rangers, they’re 4 games behind the Los Angeles Angels.
If the play offs were held today, New York would host Detroit while the Los Angeles Angels would host the Red Sox. The Sox are 2-4 against the Angels but have not played them at home yet facing them September 15-17. The Yankees are finished with the Tigers having played them to a 5-1 advantage.
There’s only one real sleeper in the American League, with Tampa Bay 3 games behind the Red Sox. If Boston or Texas stumble, the Rays could rumble.
In the National League, folks can pretty much end the discussion for the NL East and NL Central, where the Phillies are ahead by 7 games. St. Louis leads the Central by 9 games.
The wild wild Western Division is the National League’s hot story. The Dodgers still have the National League’s best record but they are the only first place team that actually has a chance of staying home for the playoffs. Why?
The Colorado Rockies are the deadliest team in baseball having been winning everything in sight since late June. They’re now only two games out of first and stand as the wild card pick right now. The San Francisco Giants are 6 games out of first and 4 games back in the Wild Card chase, but they have an ingredient that works effectively at the end of the season, starting pitching. Not completely out of the picture are two teams from the East for the Wild Card, 5 ½ back, Atlanta and Florida are playing winning baseball.
The final notes are the sob stories as in whatever happened to the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets. Both teams were picked to excel this year, but the Cubs are close to falling below .500 while the Mets have been falling apart all summer. With seven players on the 15 day disabled list and five players on the 50 day list, one would think the remaining players might be scared to walk out of their front doors in the morning. What next? Maybe a front office shakeup and new manager for 2010 could be inevitable as if they caused the injuries. By the way, the Mets are playing in a beautiful new stadium this year. It’s just beyond the outfield of old Shea Stadium, and yes they have the big apple that’s supposed to rise up with each Mets’ homerun, but even that gizmo has malfunctioned. With the Yanks tearing up the American League and plenty to talk about with their two NFL teams in preseason, the Mets are back page news now.
As for the Cubbies, their fate rests on just plain lousy performance. Look at this. Their top run producer, Derrek Lee has 24 home runs and 83 RBI’s. Next in line is Alfonso Soriano who has never hit fewer than 28 home runs since 2002 checking in with 19 so far and only 52 RBI’s. No other player has hit more than 11 homers. No other player has more than just 48 RBI’s. No pitcher has double digit wins, but two stand with 9. Closer Kevin Gregg has 23 out of 29 saves, but the team as a total shows 30 out of 50 meaning they blew a remarkable 20 late inning games. All this, and Lou Pinella hasn’t been hauled out of the stadium in a straight jacket and leg irons? Who knew the man could be so patient with a team of such under achievers.
In the futility department, here’s to the Washington Nationals who at the All-Star Break were headed for the worst record in MLB history. They’re not going to come close to that disappointment, but still lead in the race for next year’s number one draft pick with a 3 ½ “lead” over Kansas City and a six game gap versus Baltimore. Ironically, Pittsburgh seems to be the team trying hardest to put a losing team on the field but they’re dead even with San Diego and Cincinnati in losses and four teams worse off than they are. Pity the Pittsburgh baseball fan. Their team sucks at sucking and that really sucks. At least the Nationals and the Orioles can tell a convincing story of building for the future.
The Minnesota Twins have pulled even with Chicago, both playing .500 ball but good enough for second place 4 ½ games behind the Tigers in the AL Central. While out west, speaking of the Rangers, they’re 4 games behind the Los Angeles Angels.
If the play offs were held today, New York would host Detroit while the Los Angeles Angels would host the Red Sox. The Sox are 2-4 against the Angels but have not played them at home yet facing them September 15-17. The Yankees are finished with the Tigers having played them to a 5-1 advantage.
There’s only one real sleeper in the American League, with Tampa Bay 3 games behind the Red Sox. If Boston or Texas stumble, the Rays could rumble.
In the National League, folks can pretty much end the discussion for the NL East and NL Central, where the Phillies are ahead by 7 games. St. Louis leads the Central by 9 games.
The wild wild Western Division is the National League’s hot story. The Dodgers still have the National League’s best record but they are the only first place team that actually has a chance of staying home for the playoffs. Why?
The Colorado Rockies are the deadliest team in baseball having been winning everything in sight since late June. They’re now only two games out of first and stand as the wild card pick right now. The San Francisco Giants are 6 games out of first and 4 games back in the Wild Card chase, but they have an ingredient that works effectively at the end of the season, starting pitching. Not completely out of the picture are two teams from the East for the Wild Card, 5 ½ back, Atlanta and Florida are playing winning baseball.
The final notes are the sob stories as in whatever happened to the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets. Both teams were picked to excel this year, but the Cubs are close to falling below .500 while the Mets have been falling apart all summer. With seven players on the 15 day disabled list and five players on the 50 day list, one would think the remaining players might be scared to walk out of their front doors in the morning. What next? Maybe a front office shakeup and new manager for 2010 could be inevitable as if they caused the injuries. By the way, the Mets are playing in a beautiful new stadium this year. It’s just beyond the outfield of old Shea Stadium, and yes they have the big apple that’s supposed to rise up with each Mets’ homerun, but even that gizmo has malfunctioned. With the Yanks tearing up the American League and plenty to talk about with their two NFL teams in preseason, the Mets are back page news now.
As for the Cubbies, their fate rests on just plain lousy performance. Look at this. Their top run producer, Derrek Lee has 24 home runs and 83 RBI’s. Next in line is Alfonso Soriano who has never hit fewer than 28 home runs since 2002 checking in with 19 so far and only 52 RBI’s. No other player has hit more than 11 homers. No other player has more than just 48 RBI’s. No pitcher has double digit wins, but two stand with 9. Closer Kevin Gregg has 23 out of 29 saves, but the team as a total shows 30 out of 50 meaning they blew a remarkable 20 late inning games. All this, and Lou Pinella hasn’t been hauled out of the stadium in a straight jacket and leg irons? Who knew the man could be so patient with a team of such under achievers.
In the futility department, here’s to the Washington Nationals who at the All-Star Break were headed for the worst record in MLB history. They’re not going to come close to that disappointment, but still lead in the race for next year’s number one draft pick with a 3 ½ “lead” over Kansas City and a six game gap versus Baltimore. Ironically, Pittsburgh seems to be the team trying hardest to put a losing team on the field but they’re dead even with San Diego and Cincinnati in losses and four teams worse off than they are. Pity the Pittsburgh baseball fan. Their team sucks at sucking and that really sucks. At least the Nationals and the Orioles can tell a convincing story of building for the future.
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