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That Just Happenned
With the Holiday last weekend, it is easy to lose track of what has been going on in baseball. We are starting to get into the dog days of summer and this is where pennants are won and lost in Baseball. If you started out hot or cold and/or got lucky/unlucky, it will all start to catch up to you know. This is when the good teams start to rise to the top.
He's on Fire
The last week has given us our share of hot players and hot teams and I know the fans of both are hoping this keeps up all year long. We have seen players that some thought were down, start to come out of their power slump (G. Stanton is not on this list, but he had a fantastic week). C. Gonzales has 5 hr’s, while Pujols and Teixera both with 4 home runs in the last 7 days is a great way to stop people from talking about your struggles. Texiera in that time also has 10 rbi’s which is just behind Nelson Cruz, Yadier Molina, and Davan Vidiedo for the leader in the last 7 days. Players like M. Cabrera, Paul Konerko and Prince Fielder need to also be mentioned for the monster week they are having. Finally, this didn’t just happen this week, but Adam Jones now has his hit streak up to 20 games thanks to his performance this week. Only 36 more games to go!!!!
Along with these players heating up, there have been some teams really starting to come together in the last week or so and they are showing that this may be the start of a Pennant winning run. The White Sox have won 8 in a row while the Angels are starting to finally come together and they have strung together 8 wins in their last 9 games (we will see how the Weaver injury affects them).
Even professionals have a bad week
Whenever you talk about the good, you have to talk about the bad also. Xavier Nady had an awful week and then got demoted to the minor leagues. Michael Young didn’t have a home run or a RBI. There are countless others who had a bad week, but I don’t want to get negative. Baltimore, Oakland, Houston, and San Diego have all lost at least 4 in a row, and they really hope that this weekend they can turn it around or they could all start to see their seasons slipping away.
Stand in the Place that you are
We have now crossed the quarter way mark of the season, and after this week, we are starting to get a feel for what the division races are going to look like. I have stated before that the AL East is the toughest division in baseball. I still stand by that statement. I know that other divisions are tough, but not only is every team over .500, another division has to show me that their 2nd and 3rd place team can compete for the Wild Card every year, and then maybe, just maybe, I will back down from that statement. If things keep up this way, we are looking at a great summer of competitive baseball and an even better fall with every game meaning something in the standings. We have the first and last place team in the AL East separated by only 2.5 games, 3 teams within 5 games of first in the Al Central, all 5 teams within 3 games in the NL East, and 5 teams within 6 games in the NL Central.
As close as these division races are currently, I believe that the cy young and MVP award are both close. Obviously, Josh Hamilton is playing out of his mind right now, but the second he comes back down, people will be changing their mind every day on who will deserve MVP at the end of the day.
Don’t be afraid of the TV this weekend
If you love sports, this is another great weekend to be glued to your TV. We have all the top PGA pros playing at the Memorial along with the NBA conference finals and the Stanley cup. As great as those all are, there is some great Baseball on and that is what I suggest you pay attention to.
When a truly great pitcher is on the mound, he can dominate the game, and when he does it is a thing of beauty to watch. This Friday, you have a chance to see some of the games best on the mound. Strasburg, Sabathia, Santana, Price, and King Felix are all pitching. I suggest you take a peak and watch greatness.
As I mentioned, the NL East has all 5 teams within 3 games of each other. This weekend should give some clarity to that. Atl/Was and Philly/Mia will not only be great match-ups, but they will start to give us an idea who the class of that division is. Meanwhile, the Mets will be playing the Cardinals. The Mets are playing great ball right now and a match-up with the Cardinals will show us if they are for real or not. Baltimore is on the road to play Tampa. These teams are now tied for first place in the AL East. The orioles are on a serious slide and Tampa is playing great ball right now. This series will be a statement for either team to show who is ready to come up and steal that AL east crown from the hated Yankees or Red Sox.
Seattle is at Chicago. Chicago is the hottest team in baseball right now and they are playing great ball and are currently in 1st place. If this team is for real, they should really sweep this series. One thing that makes a great team great, is the ability to win all the games they should win. In this series we see one of the worst teams in baseball, going against the best team in baseball. Chicago needs to win this series to prove they deserve all the praise they are getting. The Rangers travel to play the Angels. Here, we not only have division rivals, but we have the best team in baseball going against the hottest team in baseball. If you love Baseball, you should watch this series, it will be a great one.
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