Back in Business
After a long hiatus, CK is back, and (probably not) better than ever. Apathy was the main reason for the time off, and some "I give up" mentality, but with such a great baseball season upon us, how could we not sound off a little? Maybe its the fact that I'm a Yankees fan, and they are finally really good again, or maybe the insane wildcard races in each division, but whatever, CK is back ... for now.
The AL east is acting more like the AL Beast again, which is always fun, and generally good for baseball. The Yanks have a significant (6 game) lead over the Sox, and the Rays have followed up their 2008 Cinderella season with a competitive effort. By shipping Scott Kasmir away, the Rays have effectively bowed out of the playoff race, leaving the wild card battle to the Red Sox and Rangers. Also, apparently today Mark Texiera hit 101 RBI's in a game, which is cool I guess.
As always, nobody cares about the AL central, with the 9-games-over-.500 Tigers dominating the division over the .500 Twins, where Joe Mauer is (extremely) quietly hitting .370. The White Sox have been a disappointment (as always), but Mark Burhle was a joy to watch this year.
The AL West is very competitive, with 3 teams over .500, but the Angels have the division crown basically locked, and leave the Rangers to battle for the wild card. The A's only have a -48 run differential (2 worse than the Mariners), but somehow find themselves 10.5 games behind Seattle in the West, and a whopping 22.5 games behind the Angels for the division lead. Matt Holliday and Jason Giambi underperformed throughout the stretch (with emphasis on Jason Giambi), and their bats still refuse to come alive.
Basically, the division leaders are set in the AL, and the wild card comes down to the Red Sox and the Rangers, with a strong advantage to the Sox. It would take a lot for the Sox to blow their 3.5 game lead, but hey, we can always dream.
The NL is fairly similar in terms of division winners, but its wild card race is far more intriguing. The NL East is locked to the ridiculous Phillies, who have a very good chance of retaining its World Seris crown.
The Central is again, the Central, where the Cubs underperform, St. Louis rides on Albert Pujols' coat-tails, and the Pirates, Astros, and Reds still have no fans. St. Louis is the only team with the shot at the playoffs.
The NL West is by far the most fun division to watch in baseball. The Dodgers pretended to be good for a while, but are now imploding, under Manny's leadership. Lets get this straight though: I love Manny Ramirez. I love the way he cuts off throws from the outfield, I love the way he does steroids, and I love the way he wears headphones when he's in the field. Manny doesn't give a shit what anyone thinks about him, and all he wants to do is hit RBI's and home runs, so I love him. I like when he does well, and like when he gets caught for steroids, because that's just Manny Being Manny. Baseball needs more characters like him.
After the Dodgers, you have a deadlock for the NL wildcard, where Rockies intangibles are battling the Giants absurd pitching. If Matt Cain wins the CY Young this year, the Giants would have 4 Cy Young Award winners on their staff (Johnson, Zito, Lincecum, Cain), and would still have a panda playing third base.
On a personal note, the Giants are my hometown (sort of) team, and I live in Colorado at the moment, so I'm torn on who to root for to win. The G-Men just swept the Rox at home, which evened the race, and gave them an advantage to make it to the playoffs. The Giants tend to choke, and the Rockies tend to overperform (21 wins in 22 games to go to a 1-game playoffs in 07 anyone?), so we'll see how this one turns out. I'd guess the Giants pitching will lock down, and they'll edge out ftw.
That's all for now folks, enjoy the Phils-Braves tonight.
The AL east is acting more like the AL Beast again, which is always fun, and generally good for baseball. The Yanks have a significant (6 game) lead over the Sox, and the Rays have followed up their 2008 Cinderella season with a competitive effort. By shipping Scott Kasmir away, the Rays have effectively bowed out of the playoff race, leaving the wild card battle to the Red Sox and Rangers. Also, apparently today Mark Texiera hit 101 RBI's in a game, which is cool I guess.
As always, nobody cares about the AL central, with the 9-games-over-.500 Tigers dominating the division over the .500 Twins, where Joe Mauer is (extremely) quietly hitting .370. The White Sox have been a disappointment (as always), but Mark Burhle was a joy to watch this year.
The AL West is very competitive, with 3 teams over .500, but the Angels have the division crown basically locked, and leave the Rangers to battle for the wild card. The A's only have a -48 run differential (2 worse than the Mariners), but somehow find themselves 10.5 games behind Seattle in the West, and a whopping 22.5 games behind the Angels for the division lead. Matt Holliday and Jason Giambi underperformed throughout the stretch (with emphasis on Jason Giambi), and their bats still refuse to come alive.
Basically, the division leaders are set in the AL, and the wild card comes down to the Red Sox and the Rangers, with a strong advantage to the Sox. It would take a lot for the Sox to blow their 3.5 game lead, but hey, we can always dream.
The NL is fairly similar in terms of division winners, but its wild card race is far more intriguing. The NL East is locked to the ridiculous Phillies, who have a very good chance of retaining its World Seris crown.
The Central is again, the Central, where the Cubs underperform, St. Louis rides on Albert Pujols' coat-tails, and the Pirates, Astros, and Reds still have no fans. St. Louis is the only team with the shot at the playoffs.
The NL West is by far the most fun division to watch in baseball. The Dodgers pretended to be good for a while, but are now imploding, under Manny's leadership. Lets get this straight though: I love Manny Ramirez. I love the way he cuts off throws from the outfield, I love the way he does steroids, and I love the way he wears headphones when he's in the field. Manny doesn't give a shit what anyone thinks about him, and all he wants to do is hit RBI's and home runs, so I love him. I like when he does well, and like when he gets caught for steroids, because that's just Manny Being Manny. Baseball needs more characters like him.
After the Dodgers, you have a deadlock for the NL wildcard, where Rockies intangibles are battling the Giants absurd pitching. If Matt Cain wins the CY Young this year, the Giants would have 4 Cy Young Award winners on their staff (Johnson, Zito, Lincecum, Cain), and would still have a panda playing third base.
On a personal note, the Giants are my hometown (sort of) team, and I live in Colorado at the moment, so I'm torn on who to root for to win. The G-Men just swept the Rox at home, which evened the race, and gave them an advantage to make it to the playoffs. The Giants tend to choke, and the Rockies tend to overperform (21 wins in 22 games to go to a 1-game playoffs in 07 anyone?), so we'll see how this one turns out. I'd guess the Giants pitching will lock down, and they'll edge out ftw.
That's all for now folks, enjoy the Phils-Braves tonight.
posted by C-Lew @ 4:34 PM
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