Worst Sports Day Of The Year

Wednesday July 12th, the worst sports day of the year. No baseball, no football, no basketball, no hockey, not even a world cup. But hey, there's the WNBA all-star game. I'll pass on that one. And of course the ESPY's. I watched the first one or two in college, but haven't really watched since. But the day has passed, and now we can get back to the 2nd half of baseball. What better way to start it off then to take a look at some of the races and teams.

AL East-For the first time in a while it's a three team race. We've got the usual Yankees and Red Sox, but the Blue Jays are hanging in there this year. Toronto is on the right track, and has some good young players, but I don't see them doing it this year. The Bo Sox will hang on and head to the playoffs once again. Look at some of the names that have gotten significant playing time for the Yankees-Melky Cabrera, Andy Phillips, and Miguel Cairo. Their 3rd best starter is Jaret Wright, who I'm a fan of from his Cleveland days, but he hasn't pitched into the 7th inning all year. Reason enough that it's not the Yankees year.

AL Central-The Tigers are for real. Will they win the division, maybe not, but their pitching should hold up for the rest of the year. The Twins are coming on strong, but there's just too much ground to make up. The Indians are for all intensive purposes dead. The relief corps laid a big egg this year. The team is still very young, so there will be next year, but it's been a disappointment so far. I'm going to stick with the White Sox winning the division, but the Tigers should be able to hold on for the wild card.

AL West-All 4 teams are within 2.5 games, with Oakland and Texas tied for first, just 2 games over .500. Who knows what is going to happen here. The A's have shown weak hitting too many times over the first half of the season. The Rangers are probably the best team, but history shows they wilt in the Texas heat during the second half of the season. The Angels were the preseason favorite, but have hit hard times. Stat wise the Mariners look decent, but I'm still very blah on them. I'll stick with The The Angels Angels of Anaheim because they have the playoff experience, but really anybody could come out of here. I just hope whoever it wins at least 81 games.

NL East-This is all Mets. Nobody else will likely give them a run. The Phillies are the next best team, but as usual they are underperforming. The other 3 teams are just bad.

NL Central-An interesting race with St. Louis leading the way, but Cincy, Milwaukee, and Houston close behind. However the other 3 teams will fade, and St. Louis should win easily. Even with Clemens, Houston isn't going to catch fire in the second half for the second year in a row. Milwaukee and Cincy are playing over their heads, and aren't quite ready for the big time yet.

NL West-All teams seperated by only 5 games. All teams have problems though. San Diego is probably the most complete team, being able to pitch, and hit some (at least away from Petco). The Dodgers are playing great at home, but are struggling mightily on the road. The Rockies are hanging in, and pitching well in the suddenly changed Coors Field. SF, as usual, is being carried by Bonds' walks and Schmidt's pitching. But not a whole lot behind them. Arizona is doing much better then expected, but their pitching won't hold up. I see the wild card coming out of this division, and I'm really on the Rockies bandwagon this year. Helton, Atkins, Holliday, and Hawpe are really killing the ball, and on the road as well. They are only playing .500 at home, and should pick up a few games there the rest of the way. I like both SD and LA, but only one of them can win the division. So I'll go with the Dodgers this year. LA for the division, Colorado for the wild card.