What's Left To Ponder?

It's interesting how remarkably different the AL and NL playoff races are starting to look, with only about 10 games left. In the AL, it's all-but-over. While in the NL, the next week and a half is going to be nuts!

We'll start in the AL, where it's pretty evident at this point that Boston, New York, Cleveland, and LA are in. It's just a question of whether the slumping Sox or surging Yanks will win the East (they're separated by 1.5 games), and who ends up with the league's best record (Cleveland and LA are both 90-62). First-round match-ups are determined by seeding the division winners 1-3, and the Wild Card team is automatically the 4 seed. Seed 1 plays 4 and seed 2 plays 3, as long as two teams in the same division don't play each other in the first round. At this point, both first round match-ups are on the table (Cleveland vs. New York, LA vs. Boston or LA vs. New York, Cleveland vs. Boston) and mathematically, any of the four teams can still be the number one seed, and thus have home field advantage. But the real drama with who's in and who's out, is done.

Then there's the NL, where the three teams in first place in the East, Central, and West could all make it in, or the three teams in second place in the East, Central, and West could all make it in. The Mets have lost 5 of 6, including 3 in a row to the second place Phillies, who are now just 2.5 back. The Cubs and Brewers have the exact same number of losses (73), but the Cubbies have 2 more wins, and a slim 1 game lead. And it's the same story in the West, where Arizona and San Diego both have 67 losses, but the D-Backs have 2 more wins and a 1 game lead. The Phillies are also 2.5 out in the Wild Card race, where the Padres currently have the lead. And as for best record, Arizona, New York, and San Diego all have 67 losses, but the D-Backs have 2 more wins than anybody else, and thus a 1 game lead. Of those 6 teams (New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Milwaukee Arizona, San Diego) 2 will be awfully disappointed when the season ends. I'm inclined to think it's going to be Philadelphia and the second place team from the Central.

On a side note, it's quite likely we won't have a 100-game winner again this year, which I suppose, speaks to baseball's parity. The Indians and Angels would have to win the rest of their games to hit the century mark, and no other teams can finish with more than 99. We also didn't have a 100-game winner in 2006, meaning if we don't have any teams make it to 100 this year, it will be the first time since the 1991 and 1992 seasons that baseball hasn't had a 100 game winner for two straight seasons.

On a side, side note, I made a friendly bet with a friend of mine last night that the Red Sox won't get to within a game of the World Series (i.e. will win no more than 2 games in the ALCS). Based on how they're playing right now, I'm thinking that's a safe bet.