It has been an interesting season once again in 2013, and especially surprising teams are in the mix. Of course, there have been some huge disappointments as well. But that is how things always break down as the long season rolls through the hot summer months into the coolness of the autumn air of September and October.
The following offers a capsule style breakdown of the remaining races throughout the Major Leagues for this final month of the regular season.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
It's pretty cut and dry what is happening here as the Atlanta Braves (East) and Los Angeles Dodgers (West) have made a mockery of their division races while running away and hiding from the rest of the teams.
They are locks for the playoffs while the remaining three spots will likely come out of the National League Central division where Pittsburgh and St. Louis share the lead for now and the Cincinnati Reds are just 3 1/2 games back. All three are ahead of Arizona (six games back in the NL Wild Card chase) and Washington (6 1/2 out) for the last two spots in the playoffs next month.
NL East ... Atlanta (83-53) Washington (69-67, 14 games behind)
NL Central ... Pittsburgh (79-57) St. Louis (79-57) Cincinnati (76-61, 3 1/2 GB)
NL West ... Los Angeles (81-55) Arizona (69-66 11 1/2 GB)
NATIONAL LEAGUE WILD CARD RACE
With Atlanta, the team with the best record in Major League Baseball, and Los Angeles locks to get to the post-season, the only excitement left is the wild card chase. One of the three teams in the NL Central will win the division and the other two are pretty far ahead of Washington and Arizona with less than 30 games remaining so it stands to reason (barring a monumental collapse) that Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Cincinnati will make the playoffs along with the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Not so simple here in the junior circuit where only one team is assured of a playoff spot, barring a huge collapse in September.
The Detroit Tigers lead the AL Central by 7 1/2 games over the Cleveland Indians and 9 1/2 ahead of the Kansas City Royals.
The Boston Red Sox, perhaps baseball's biggest surprise team this year, lead the rugged American League East by 5 1/2 games over second-place Tampa Bay. The Baltimore Orioles (8 1/2 GB) and New York Yankees (nine games out) are also in the wild card chase that involves seven serious contenders.
In the AL West, the Oakland A's trail first-place Texas by a single game and they play each other six more times in September, including a three-game series in Oakland starting today.
AL East ... Boston (82-56) Tampa Bay (75-60, 5 1/2 GB) Baltimore (72-63, 8 1/2 GB) NY Yankees (72-64, 9 GB)
AL Central ... Detroit (80-57) Cleveland (72-64, 7 1/2 GB) Kansas City (70-66, 9 1/2 GB)
AL West ... Texas (79-57) Oakland (78-58, 1 GB)
AMERICAN LEAGUE WILD CARD RACE
Detroit appears to be a lock for the post-season and Boston is also closing ground on their first post-season trip since the 2009 season.
The rest of the picture is up for grabs as seven teams are battling for the final three spots.
The Texas Rangers and Oakland A's are neck-and-neck in the West and only one can win the division. The second-place finisher is likely to get one of the two wild card spots.
The last spot will go to one of five teams (Tampa Bay, Baltimore, New York, Cleveland and Kansas City) as they face each other in league and divisional play during the final month of the 2013 season.
It should shape up to be a great finish in the American League and anything is possible.
Final notes and observations . . .
The Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates have been big surprises this season while the Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels and Toronto Blue Jays have been the biggest disappointments.
Will Detroit's Miguel Cabrera catch Baltimore's Chris Davis for the American League home run title and capture a second consecutive "triple crown" (Batting average, Home Runs and RBI leader) during these final weeks? He is four HR behind Davis (47-43) but has the AL batting title all but locked up and is eight RBI (130-122) ahead of Davis.
How about the amazing turnaround this year for the LA Dodgers, who were a sub .500 team in mid-June and now own the second best record in the league?
Manager of the Year in the AL is ... either Joe Girardi (NY Yankees) or John Farrell (Boston). Think about it, the Yankees are old and have had so many injured players this season it is ridiculous they are even in contention for the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Bosox finished dead last (69-93) in the AL East a year ago and NOBODY expected them to go from worst to first in perhaps the best division in baseball.
A-Rod (or should I say A-Roid) ... how this guy is playing right now is a joke and shows just what a farce the MLB appeals process rule really is.
Being a staunch Union supporter, there are no qualms with Alex Rodriguez appealing his lengthy suspension handed down by MLB, but ALL the other players given long suspensions took their punishment by admitting their involvement in the PED scandal with Biogenesis and that includes slugger Nelson Cruz, whose team (Texas Rangers) is in a heated battle for playoff position with Oakland in the AL West.
Why should A-Rod be treated any differently? If baseball higher-ups had any real merit with the appeals process, they would have ruled immediately on the A-Rod case because eventually he will be sitting out all or at least a good portion (one should think) of the 215-game suspension he was given by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig.
And finally, how good and inspirational has rookie Yasiel Puig been for the Los Angeles Dodgers this summer?
The 22-year old outfielder was called up in June and the team has not looked back since then, storming back from last place in the NL West division to runaway winners and the post-season. Coincidence the team got hot when he became a regular in the lineup? This guy should be the hands down winner of the Rookie of the Year in the National League.
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