Seems like I panicked too soon. The redleggers are 8-2 over their last ten games and are now only 2.5 back, thanks to the Pirates going 5-5 over that same stretch. It’s on like Donkey Kong now.
Roll on, Big Blue. Roll on.
Dodgers win, Arizona loses. It’s a good day, Tater.
Is it just me or:
1)Is the race for the 1 seed in the AL gonna be awesome!
2)Is the NL WC race gonna be a snoozer?
So, right around 40 games left in the season (some less, some more), and here are the magic numbers for the Division Leaders:
Red Sox - 40
Tigers - 35
Rangers - 41
Pirates - 39
Dodgers - 34
Braves - 26
Whoop! Go Braves! Of course, it helps that the NL East is REALLY not good this year.
Any thoughts on the Phillies dumping Charlie Manuel? They definitely aren’t playing well, but damn. The Phillies just seem unable to put together a team that can stay healthy - and with their pitching struggling and the bats cold that’s a recipe for disaster. Still, I thought they would at least wait until the end of the season or maybe even give him one more year.
**Zak-**Is the AL West that good? (Texas has the highest “magic #”)
Not in my opinion (the DL has the lowest win count of any Division). What it does have is two teams that are VERY close to each other (only half-point out). I.e., it’s not good, it’s just competitive at the top - there is a steep drop-off to 3rd.
So, essentially, the DL has to win almost all of their remaining games to stay ahead of 2nd Place assuming 2nd Place wins all of their remaining games.
Magic number is generally calculated as “163-# of Wins by DL-# of Losses by 2nd Place team”.
ETA: Based on overall win percentage, the AL East and NL Central are the two strongest Divisions.
Great article by Joe Posnanski today on the coming argument of Trout vs. Cabrera for MVP (round 2) and why WAR might even be underrating Trout by a bit while at the same time clearly stating that Trout is the best player in baseball by a lot.
As always, going by any single stat is foolish, even an aggregate stat like WAR, but it’s an interesting data point none the less.
Miguel Tejada has been suspended for 105 games for amphetamine use, and some are suggesting his career may be over.
I agree completely. If I had a vote I would have voted Cabrera last year*, but Trout this year.
*And I’ll be honest enough to admit that it would have been more of an emotional decision than a reasoned one, but given that he’s kept the numbers up, he completely deserves it this year.
I made a similar argument in the debate thread last year: WAR underrates Cabrera because it penalizes him for playing a bad 3rd base when his team doesn’t have an alternative.
How many clutch ninth inning at-bats does Cabrera have in him this month? Two game-tying homers against Mariano Rivera, and now a walk-off to win it against KC.
LA is now 72-50. , up by 8.5
A .500 finish from here puts them at 92 wins. AZ would need to finish 29-12. SF won the division with 94 wins last yr.
So, I’ve now had the “pleasure” of spending two nights watching the A’s take on the Indians in person. Got to see some nice pitching by Ubaldo and the bullpen tonight from some amazing seats. But could someone PLEASE give the A’s fans a new stadium? It is now the 11th current major league stadium I’ve seen a game at, and it is by FAR the most craptastic. Wow.
The A’s ownership gave up on the idea of building a new ballpark in Oakland some time ago. They want to move to San Jose, but MLB gave the Giants exclusive rights to Santa Clara County in the early 90s. Over four years ago Bud Selig appointed a panel to study the situation and come up with a recommendation as to whether to rescind the Giants exclusive rights and allow the A’s to move. There has been no word from this panel, not even to say when they expect to issue a report. As a result of this delay, the city of San Jose has filed an antitrust suit against MLB - a suit the city will almost certainly lose because of the anti-trust exemption the Supreme Court gave to MLB in 1922. Given all of this, I don’t see how the A’s will get a new ballpark anytime in the next several years.
Anyway, I hope you’ve been having a good time in Oakland, at the ballgames and in the rest of the city.
Don’t forget to add in the (pointless, but very cool) stat that they are one of only 5teams in the MLB since 1900 to win at least 42 games in a 50 game span, and the first team to do it since 1942.
Other teams to have this good a run or better:
1906 Cubs (45-5)
1912 Giants (43-7)
1941 Yankees (42-8)
1942 Cardinals (42-8)
All of them went to the World Series.
Also, Kershaw has a 1.8 ERA, which is almost equally nuts.
Oh, and prior to June 22 this Dodger team was on pace to be either the second or third worst Dodger team in franchise history going back to the 1890s. Crazy times.
"Dear Anonymous Dodger Fan:
I don’t know who you are, but watching “Damn Yankees all those times must have given you the idea. Here’s hoping your bargain with Infernal Powers works out well for you. We appreciate your sacrifice on behalf of the Dodgers and all their fans.”
Well, you know Ray Walston alone wouldn’t have swayed me, but Gwen Verdon…
I’d like to thank Starlin Castro for his contributions in the Cardinal’s win yesterday:
http://wapc.mlb.com/stl/play/?content_id=29795071&topic_id=8879106&c_id=stl
After catching a pop-up in short left field Castro put his head down and held onto the ball, allowing Jon Jay to score from third. The Cub’s manager benched him at the end of the inning. The Cards went on to win 4-0.
The Cards are finding their lost energy with the return of Molina. If I were a Bucs fan I’d be worried.
I haven’t had a chance to say it lately, but today’s the day:
Brandon League must die.
Hanley Ramirez should merely be tortured.
You know, when I first heard this, I was “fry him”. But now that it’s not just a crawl across the bottom of the screen…
So, MLB gives the guy a medical exemption…that expires in April? WTF? And double fails him for the same drug while his paperwork is going through? Seriously, this is one of those “zero tolerance sucks” moments.