As the calendar gets ready to turn from July to August, the playoff picture is becoming more clear, and the World Series is almost sure to contain one of five storylines: freeway, repeat, 101, first in nine or ’04.
Freeway: When the Angels stumbled through the first half and struggled to keep up with red-hot Texas, many thought it was just a matter of time before the heavy favorites out west got it together. Let’s call the disease cured. The Halos have won eight straight and 12 of 13 to open a 4.5 game lead on Texas. Six players are hitting better than .300, and the streak has come with Torii Hunter and Vladimir Guerrero out. Once those guys and the pitching gets healthy, they’ll be even more dangerous. Meanwhile, their neighbors continue to have the best record in baseball. The Dodgers’ pitching continues to dazzle, and the lineup keeps producing. A Freeway Series is looking more and more likely.
Repeat: The Phillies recently had their 10 game win streak snapped, but the defending champs are still playing well thanks to a scorching streak from leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins, who’s close to .400 since snapping his 0-28 slump. His grand slam yesterday sealed the win against St. Louis and put the Phils 6.5 games ahead of Atlanta and Florida. If the Phillies get Roy Halladay, we may see them hoist the trophy again.
101: Guess who’s creeping up the standings? It’s those lovable Cubbies. The team that has underachieved all year is finally starting to put it together, having won seven of nine since the break. They were my preseason pick to win the NL, and they are finally healthy and scoring some runs. They are in the right division to make a run and pull away, which means we may be talking about their first title in 101 years come October.
First in nine: The Yankees lost yesterday, snapping their eight game winning streak, but still lead Boston by 1.5 games in the rigorous AL East. I picked the Yankees to win it all before the season started based on the additions of C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira, though they’ve spent much of the season looking up at Boston. If the pitching can stay somewhat constant, they’ll score enough runs to win it. Maybe we will finally see them win a World Series after an unprecedented nine year drought.
’04: St. Louis has been the only team doing anything at the deadline. Acquiring Mark DeRosa, Matt Holliday and Julio Lugo gives them the best lineup, and maybe the best team, in baseball. The questions is, can they hold off the Cubs, then get past the Dodgers and Phillies? If the pitching continues the way it has been, the answer is yes. On the other side, the Red Sox have been the model of consistency in the AL, and they have the most complete team. They are almost guaranteed the wild card if they don’t win the division, which means we could see an encore of 2004 when the Red Sox and Cardinals played in the World Series.
Before the season I picked Yankees/Cubs. At the break I had Dodgers/Red Sox. So logically I’ll now go with Angels/Cardinals – the hottest team vs the best team.
If that happens, then none of the above will be mentioned.
