Baseball Musings

Before I get completely absorbed by the Track & Field World Championships and U.S. Open later this week, I've got some baseball-related items on my mind.  With less than six weeks left in the regular season, that Red Sox-Phillies World Series everybody predicted in March doesn't look as guaranteed as we all thought.  Here are the reasons why:

• The Milwaukee Brewers are the real deal.  I waited through a three-hour rain delay at the Mets-Brewers game on Friday night, and once the game started, I was incredibly impressed with Milwaukee.  The Phillies better be worried about the Brewers, because they can definitely give them a run for the NL pennant.  The Brewers are on pace for 95-96 wins, which would be a franchise record, and they've turned a four-team race in the NL Central into a runaway.  They're going to win that division by eight games.  Maybe more.  Prince Fielder might be the MVP and Ryan Braun is finally getting the national attention he deserves.  Throw in Casey McGehee, Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks and you've got a lineup that's just as good as Philadelphia's.  Maybe better.  Nobody matches the Phillies' rotation, but Milwaukee's pitchers can certainly hold their own in October.  Zack Greinke, Yovani Gallardo, Shaun Marcum and Randy Wolf, there's not a slouch in the bunch.  I love that potential matchup against the Braves, where they'll face Tim Hudon, Tommy Hanson and Jair Jurrjens, but I'd be very surprised if Milwaukee doesn't win its first playoff series since the 1982 ALCS.
• Speaking of that three-hour rain delay, the Mets decided to reward those of us at the game with free tickets to a game in September.  We can pick any game we want during a four-game set against Washington from September 12-15.  So, I'll be attending a September game between the Mets and Nationals with 40-man rosters.  It'll be just like watching a Triple-A game.  But if Stephen Strasburg ends up pitching, it'll end up being a steal.
• This year's playoff races are all the proof you need that an extra playoff team in each league is completely unnecessary.  It doesn't matter who wins the AL East.  The Yankees and Red Sox are both clearly going to make the playoffs.  In fact, they're the two best teams in the American League.  Tampa Bay is currently second in the AL wild card race...EIGHT GAMES BACK!  Same thing in the National League.  Philadelphia and Milwaukee are clearly going to win their divisions, and unless something drastic happens, the Braves will be the wild card team.  Atlanta has an 8.5 game lead over San Francisco.  Both current wild card leaders have the second-best record in their league.  Can anyone honestly say that the Rays and Giants look like playoff teams right now?  I didn't think so.
• As much as I hate the Boston Red Sox, I can't help but like their newest player.  Before you start labeling me a traitor, I've got my reasons.  When I worked at Yale, Ryan Lavarnway was far and away our best player.  He's the best college athlete I've ever worked with.  I knew he'd make it to the Majors some day.  And on Thursday he did.  He was called up to the Red Sox when Kevin Youkilis went on the DL, and he DHed all four games of their series against Kansas City.  Way to go Ryno!
• This Yankees-Red Sox battle in the AL East is going to go down to the wire.  On paper, Boston should probably be ahead.  Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez have both missed significant time with injuries this season, and Boston's rotation is far superior.  But thanks to a pair of Rookie of the Year candidates (Ivan Nova and Eduardo Nunez) and MVP candidate Curtis Granderson, the Yankees are actually sitting in first place right now.  And, believe it or not, the Yankees actually have the deeper rotation right now.  They have six starters, five of whom are actually performing, and can't narrow it down to four for the playoffs.  The Red Sox, meanwhile, can't figure out what their postseason rotation will look like either because everybody's hurt.
• If Joe Girardi had waited until now to say that Jorge Posada won't be getting as much playing time going forward, nobody would've had a problem with it.  Eduardo Nunez deserves to be in the lineup.  The only way to do that is DHing Jeter, A-Rod or Cano and rotating Nunez between the three infield positions.
• My dad has told me that he'd prefer it if the Yankees are the wild card rather than winning the AL East.  The reason?  He would rather play the Rangers again than face Justin Verlander twice.  I'm not sure I agree with him.  Verlander would go against CC twice, so those two cancel each other out.  The rest of the Tigers' postseason rotation would likely be Brad Penny, Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello.  I'll take Freddy Garcia, Ivan Nova and Bartolo Colon.  While the Rangers' rotation isn't as scary as it was last year, the lineup still is.  It might even be better.  I'll take a matchup with Detroit any day.
• Evidently all teams with the nickname "Giants" try their hardest NOT to make the playoffs.  We all remember the end of the football season, where a fourth quarter collapse and a DeSean Jackson punt return started us fans of the New York Giants on the way to an agonizing end of the 2010 season.  San Francisco Giants fans have got to be feeling the same way.  The defending World Champions actually got better over the winter, but they haven't been able to score at all since Buster Posey got hurt.  Even with a nasty rotation of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and (I guess) "All-Star" Ryan Vogelsong, San Francisco can't win games on pitching alone.  The Giants are a much better team than the Diamondbacks, but Arizona's going to run away with the NL West if San Francisco doesn't wake up and figure that out sometime in the next six weeks.
• How amazing has the Little League World Series been?  The games have been of the highest quality, but the crowds have been the real story.  A team from Pennsylvania qualified, and the fans have come in droves to watch the home team.  They drew more than 41,000 (a Little League World Series record) for their first game on Friday night, then 35,000 more on Saturday.  Little League made the smart decision to move Pennsylvania's game from 4:00 to 8:00 tonight to accomodate the larger crowd, and the little dudes responded with a 10-0 win.  Oh yeah, and it was a no-hitter!  I'm sure these kids are loving it.  And not just the ones from Pennsylvania.  If I'm Little League, I want Pennsylvania to keep on winning.