COLUMN: Playoff races heating up and winding down
Man, where do I start?
The sporting world has so much going on right now it’s impossible to pick a winning or losing topic.
The baseball divisional races are heating up in the National League and winding down in the American League.
Barry Bonds is almost assuredly going to break Mark McGwire’s single-season home run record. He might end up with close to 75, which is unthinkable.
And as if the baseball world wasn’t providing enough excitement, the NBA tossed its shorts into the drama pool now that Michael Jordan has officially unretired.
Let’s start with the pennant races. (I’ll try to get back to MJ by the end of the column. Besides, you don’t need me to tell you he’s older, slower and not the MJ we remember. You can log onto any sporting Web site and read that.)
The AL is all but wrapped up. The Yankees had a 13.5 game lead over Boston heading into Tuesday night’s action and have all but clinched their division.
Mercy, did Boston ever fall off the face of the baseball world or what? You can bet your tuition the Red Sox will do some serious rebuilding over the winter because there is some major discontent in Bean Town. Carl Everett is as unhappy as ever, Pedro Martinez has feuded all month with management and ESPN’s Peter Gammons reported Manny Ramirez has begun to regret ever signing with the Red Sox.
Anyway, back to the playoff picture.
Seattle won the AL West clear back in April, and Oakland has already clinched the wild card spot.
But who is the better team in the West?
It’s hard to argue against the Mariners’ 107 wins, but the A’s are the one team that could be better. They’ve won nine of their last 10, including a three-game sweep at home over Seattle. The Mariners may be the American League favorites to get to the World Series, but they’re going to have to go through Oakland, and it won’t be easy. Then there’s Cleveland, who would have to completely collapse in order to surrender the AL Central title to Minnesota.
The most exciting race left in baseball is the National League West, where Arizona held a 1.5 game lead over San Francisco heading into Tuesday’s games. The tightest race, however, is in the NL East.
“How can the tightest race not be the most exciting?” you ask.
Because the Diamondbacks, Giants and Dodgers are playing better baseball than the Braves, Phillies and Mets right now, which makes the NL West the most exciting race, despite not being the closest.
Let’s look at it this way: Whoever wins the NL East won’t be the team who won the most games. It’ll be the team that lost the fewest, the team that sucked the least, so to speak. Both the Braves and Phillies seem perfectly willing to hand the division over to the Mets. And let’s face it, despite what’s happened in New York recently, the Mets don’t really deserve to be in the playoff hunt with a 76-74 record. They’re only two games over .500 for Pete’s sake.
The Diamondbacks will win the NL West. They have the easiest schedule left, playing their last six games against Colorado and Milwaukee respectively.
If Arizona wins the division, then San Francisco will win the NL wild card spot (because it sure ain’t going to anyone in the NL East). The Giants finish the season on the road against NL Central – leading Houston and arch-rival Los Angeles.
It’s possible the Dodgers could sneak in and steal the wild card if the Giants were to get roughed up against the Astros, but I don’t think it’s probable. So long as San Francisco plays .500 ball the rest of the way, they should be OK.
Back to the NL East, which Philadelphia will win by a game or two. The Mets have the easiest schedule remaining, and the Braves have the toughest. My gut, however, tells me to go with the Phils – and I’m an Atlanta fan so this is killing me.
Philadelphia plays their last nine games on the road: Three in Florida, three in Atlanta and three in Cincinnati. The Phillies are playing decent ball right now. Their play since Sept. 11 has been head and shoulders above the Braves. The Mets have played a little better than the Phils over that stretch, but they’re still four games back in the standings, which will be hard to make up. As inspiring as New York has played since the terrorists attacks, it was just too little, too late.
The Braves finish the year at home against Florida, Philadelphia and New York, and don’t kid yourself: Playing all nine of those games at home will not be an advantage for them.
Atlanta is dismal 34-38 at Turner Field this season. If it weren’t for its road record (46-32), Atlanta would have been dead and buried long ago.
As for MJ, don’t expect him to win his seventh NBA Championship anytime soon. In fact, I wouldn’t expect it at all. I’d put money on the Cubs before I would MJ’s Wizzards.
(I told you I’d get back to Jordan if I could.)
Casey Hobson, is a
senior majoring in journalism.Comments can be sent to him at
hobsonhut@hotmail.com
gle-season home run record. He might end up with close to 75, which is unthinkable.
And as if the baseball world wasn’t providing enough excitement, the NBA tossed its shorts into the drama pool now that Michael Jordan has officially unretired.
Let’s start with the pennant races. (I’ll try to get back to MJ by the end of the column. Besides, you don’t need me to tell you he’s older, slower and not the MJ we remember. You can log onto any sporting Web site and read that.)
The AL is all but wrapped up. The Yankees had a 13.5 game lead over Boston heading into Tuesday night’s action and have all but clinched their division.
Mercy, did Boston ever fall off the face of the baseball world or what? You can bet your tuition the Red Sox will do some serious rebuilding over the winter because there is some major discontent in Bean Town. Carl Everett is as unhappy as ever, Pedro Martinez has feuded all month with management and ESPN’s Peter Gammons reported Manny Ramirez has begun to regret ever signing with the Red Sox.
Anyway, back to the playoff picture.
Seattle won the AL West clear back in April, and Oakland has already clinched the wild card spot.
But who is the better team in the West?
It’s hard to argue against the Mariners’ 107 wins, but the A’s are the one team that could be better. They’ve won nine of their last 10, including a three-game sweep at home over Seattle. The Mariners may be the American League favorites to get to the World Series, but they’re going to have to go through Oakland, and it won’t be easy. Then there’s Cleveland, who would have to completely collapse in order to surrender the AL Central title to Minnesota.
The most exciting race left in baseball is the National League West, where Arizona held a 1.5 game lead over San Francisco heading into Tuesday’s games. The tightest race, however, is in the NL East.
“How can the tightest race not be the most exciting?” you ask.
Because the Diamondbacks, Giants and Dodgers are playing better baseball than the Braves, Phillies and Mets right now, which makes the NL West the most exciting race, despite not being the closest.
Let’s look at it this way: Whoever wins the NL East won’t be the team who won the most games. It’ll be the team that lost the fewest, the team that sucked the least, so to speak. Both the Braves and Phillies seem perfectly willing to hand the division over to the Mets. And let’s face it, despite what’s happened in New York recently, the Mets don’t really deserve to be in the playoff hunt with a 76-74 record. They’re only two games over .500 for Pete’s sake.
The Diamondbacks will win the NL West. They have the easiest schedule left, playing their last six games against Colorado and Milwaukee respectively.
If Arizona wins the division, then San Francisco will win the NL wild card spot (because it sure ain’t going to anyone in
the NL East). The Giants finish the season on the road against NL Central – leading Houston and arch-rival Los Angeles.
It’s possible the Dodgers could sneak in and steal the wild card if the Giants were to get roughed up against the Astros, but I don’t think it’s probable. So long as San Francisco plays .500 ball the rest of the way, they should be OK.
Back to the NL East, which Philadelphia will win by a game or two. The Mets have the easiest schedule remaining, and the Braves have the toughest. My gut, however, tells me to go with the Phils – and I’m an Atlanta fan so this is killing me.
Philadelphia plays their last nine games on the road: Three in Florida, three in Atlanta and three in Cincinnati. The Phillies are playing decent ball right now. Their play since Sept. 11 has been head and shoulders above the Braves. The Mets have played a little better than the Phils over that stretch, but they’re still four games back in the standings, which will be hard to make up. As inspiring as New York has played since the terrorists attacks, it was just too little, too late.
The Braves finish the year at home against Florida, Philadelphia and New York, and don’t kid yourself: Playing all nine of those games at home will not be an advantage for them.
Atlanta is dismal 34-38 at Turner Field this season. If it weren’t for its road record (46-32), Atlanta would have been dead and buried long ago.
As for MJ, don’t expect him to win his seventh NBA Championship anytime soon. In fact, I wouldn’t expect it at all. I’d put money on the Cubs before I would MJ’s Wizzards.
(I told you I’d get back to Jordan if I could.)
Casey Hobson, is a
senior majoring in journalism.Comments can be sent to him at
hobsonhut@hotmail.com