tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Races Shaping Up In MLB

As we are officially into Summer 2011, a look at the Major League Baseball standings indicate that we may be in for some exciting pennant races.  Over in the National League, the West Division is led by the Arizona Diamondbacks.  The Dbacks lead the 2010 World Series champion SF Giants by 1/2 game.  The Giants have dropped 5 games in a row, including being swept by cross bay rival Oakland A's.  Lurking in third place are the Colorado Rockies, 2 1/2 games off the pace and a team which has a history of making late season runs.

The NL Central, possibly the worst division in baseball, has the Milwaukee Brewers leading the way by 1/2 game over the St. Louis Cardinals.  The Brewers certainly have the personnel to be in the hunt and possibly win the division.  The Cardinals will have to figure out a way to deal with the loss of Albert Pujols.  The defending Central Division champs, the Cincinnati Reds are only 2 1/2 games out and will be a factor.  And a surprise team right now are the Pittsburgh Pirates who are only 4 games out of first and are one game under .500.

The division leader with the largest lead in Major league baseball are the Philadelphia Phillies.  The Phils have a 4 game lead over the Atlanta Braves and may have the ability to run away with the divisional crown.  What makes this very possible is that the 3 other teams in the East are not so good, particularly the Mets and Marlins.

In the American League, the West is vying with the NL Central to be the worst division in baseball as 5 1/2 games separate the 1st place Rangers from the last place A's.  The Rangers are 2 games ahead of the second place Seattle Mariners, who are only one game over .500.  A team to watch could be the Angels who are 4 games off the pace.

The AL Central sees the Cleveland Indians come back down to earth as their early season lead has been cut to one game over the Detroit Tigers.  The Indians have been a nice story this season but I don't see them having the ability to hold off the Tigers.  Also still in the picture are the Chicago White Sox who are 2 1/2 games behind the Indians.  You would have to think that this will come down to the Tigers and White Sox.  A team that has made a recent surge and could be a factor down the stretch are the Minnesota Twins who are only 6 1/2 games out of first place.

The AL East finds the Red Sox holding a 1 game lead over the Yankees and a 4 1/2 game lead over the scrappy Tampa Bay Rays.  The Red Sox hold an 8-1 lead in the season series against the Yanks and still only remain 1 game ahead of the Pinstripers.  Both teams have flaws but this one will go down to the wire with the 2nd place team probably being the wild card team.

A quick examination of the standings also illustrates something rather interesting.  In the American League, 7 out of the 14 teams are under .500 and in the National League 8 out of the 16 teams are below .500.  50% of the teams in major league baseball are under .500.  Not sure how this stacks up with past seasons but it says to me that season records are one thing and dominant teams can really make hay during the  regular season.  The true test comes in the playoffs where the teams are more even.  That's why pitching is key and that's why both the Red Sox and Yankees are not necessarily shoo-ins to be the AL representative in the World Series.