Wednesday, July 3, 2013

MLB Update

We are just over halfway done with baseball season, and it seems pretty clear that the Red Sox, the Pirates(!), the Cardinals, and the Braves are going to the playoffs.  But everything else is pretty much up for grabs.  Here are the standings in each league.  The percentages represent each team's chance of making the playoffs, according to coolstandings.com.  Nine of the 30 Major League teams have less than a 10 percent chance of reaching the playoffs -- those teams are in italics.  Note that because the NL West is so bad, all five teams in that division are still in contention -- and the AL East is so good that all five of its teams are in contention.  Note also that the Pirates -- who haven't had a winning record since 1992 -- have the Best Record in Baseball, and that the NL Central could put three teams in the playoffs:

NATIONAL LEAGUE:
1.  Pittsburgh (87.0 %):  51-31  --
2.  St. Louis (94.0 %):  49-33  2
3.  Atlanta (95.4 %):  49-34  2 1/2
4.  Cincinnati (75.4 %):  48-36  4
T5.  Arizona (33.0 %):  42-41 9 1/2
T5.  Washington (25.2 %):  42-41  9 1/2
7.  Colorado (34.5 %):  41-43  11
T8.  San Diego (12.7 %):  40-44  12
T8.  Philadelphia (5.2 %):  40-44  12
10.  Los Angeles (13.5 %):  39-43  12
11.  San Francisco (17.3 %):  39-44  12 1/2
12.  New York  (3.0 %):  35-45  15
13.  Chicago (3.5 %):  35-46  15 1/2
14.  Milwaukee (0.3 %):  33-49  18
15.  Miami (<0.1 %):  30-52  21

AMERICAN LEAGUE
1.  Boston (86.9 %):  51-34  --
2.  Oakland (76.1 %):  49-35  1 1/2
3.  Texas (61.0 %):  48-35  2
4.  Baltimore (45.7 %):  47-37  3 1/2
5.  Cleveland (47.5 %):  45-38  5
6.  Detroit (66.4 %):  44-38  5 1/2
7.  Tampa Bay (51.3 %):  45-39  5 1/2
8.  New York (16.7 %):  44-39  6
9.  Toronto (14.8 %):  41-42  9
10.  Los Angeles (15.5 %):  40-43  10
11.  Kansas City (14.8 %):  38-42  10 1/2
12.  Minnesota (2.1 %):  36-44  12 1/2
13.  Seattle (0.4 %):  36-47  14
14.  Chicago (0.7 %):  33-47  15 1/2
15.  Houston (<0.1 %):  30-54  20 1/2

31 comments:

  1. OK, A's, I've done everything I can. I've entered the maximum 35 ballots I'm allowed in All-Star Game voting in advance of today's deadline, and I went all-in on #GreenIn13, casting all of my ballots for #VoteYo, #HotCoco, #BringerOfVotes, #Jedhead and all of the other Oakland players possible (as well as, in the National League, second-baseman Dan Uggla of Louisville and write-in outfielder Gene Roof of Paducah). #Go, A's! #GreenCollar!

    ReplyDelete
  2. A's 1, Cubs 0. Scored on a passed ball in the seventh and then held on after allowing runners on a walk and error with two out in the ninth. 50-36 and 1.5 up on Texas, which plays tonight. #GREENCOLLAR!

    ReplyDelete
  3. For tonight's A's game at Kansas City, I'm going to pretend I'm sitting in Section 321, Row A, of Kauffman Stadium. That's three sections back, behind the Royals' dugout, so I'd be able to see inside Oakland's dugout. An aisle seat in that section is available for $46, plus $7.75 in jive fees, for a total of $53.75. Here's going to be my view of the field.

    They say it's "Buck Night" at the stadium, so I'm assuming that means it's all you can eat for $1. That's what I'm going to pretend, anyway. Also, they're planning to have a fireworks show.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those are great seats.

      As a child of the 1970's, I view any game between the A's and the Royals as a big-time rivalry game. It's not just that I still think of the A's and Royals as being in the same division, or that the A's abandoned Kansas City for Oakland. To me, Kansas City and Oakland are also rivals because of the Chiefs and the Raiders.

      Oh, and they are the two cities that both claim Bo Jackson.

      Delete
    2. Also, Kansas City lost the A's to Oakland. I go to church with a fellow who's from Kansas City, and I was at a cookout the other night where he took a shot at Charlie Finley.

      Delete
  4. I'm also going to pretend that I'm getting to somehow take all of my Royals baseball cards to the game.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oakland leads Kansas City, 1-0, in the fourth. Last inning, Josh Reddick doubled into left field with one out, and then Eric Sogard drove him home with a single into that same side of the field, away from me and in front of the big "Royals Hall of Fame" sign over the left-field bleachers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If the A's get this thing under control, I plan to spend a good bit of time exploring the Royals Hall of Fame.

      Delete
  6. 4-0, top of the ninth ... Josh Reddick, who has hit so miserably most of this season, has a double and run in the third, a triple that knocked in a run and then a run scored of his own in the fifth and now a reached-on-error situation that pushed across a run and left him on second and another runner on third here in the ninth.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AND COCO CRISP--JUST AS I'M PULLING ON THE SHIRT AFTER FISHING IT OUT OF THE DIRTY-CLOTHES HAMPER--SINGLES IN REDDICK AND JOHN JASO!!! It's 6-0 in the top of the ninth!

      Let's go get another round of nachos and Dippin' Dots and check out the Royals Hall of Fame!

      Delete
  7. Cookie Rojas had already played nine seasons, all in the National League, when the Cardinals traded him to Kansas City in 1970. He ended up going to four-straight All-Star Games for the Royals, 1971-74, and retired with Kansas City in 1977.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Double-double-single has pulled the home team back to within 3-2 with one out in the bottom of the ninth. The A's have elected to keep starter Tommy Milone in the game, and now he's behind 2-0 to Billy Butler, a .276 designated hitter ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Called strike, foul ... Milone now has 100 pitches tonight ...

      Delete
    2. Butler singles to center ... runners at first and second with two out ...

      Delete
    3. OK, now the Royals have .304-hitting catcher Salvador Perez coming up ...

      Delete
    4. And the A's are making a pitching change ...

      Delete
    5. It's Grant Balfour, the closer ...

      Delete
    6. Oh, wait! Phew! I forgot about the runs in the top of the ninth. :) See, this is why I was an awful journalist ... it's 6-2, Oakland ... PHEW!!!

      Delete
    7. It's Buck Night--I'm dizzy on Dippin' Dots.

      Delete
    8. Still, Perez singles, scoring the runner from second, and now it's 6-3 ... here comes Lorenzo Cain, the right-fielder, who is hitting .259 ...

      Delete
    9. OK, ground out ... now two down, runners at first and third ... the batter is Mike Moustakas, a third baseman hitting .211 ...

      Delete
    10. Phew! Ground out! #GREENCOLLAR! Take that, Cookie Rojas.

      Delete
  9. Well, I just got done watching the animation of the rubber game of the Oakland-Kansas City series on MLB.com, and it showed the A's winning, 10-4, to take two of three at Kauffman Stadium. But that can't be, because, in this morning's newspaper, it said that two Royals but only one A made the American League All-Star team. If the Royals have twice as many All-Star players as Oakland does, then how could it be that the A's could win two games to the Royals' one win in a three-game series in Kansas City?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Incidentally, pretend me now has plenty of time now to go take a look around the Royals Hall of Fame at Kauffman Stadium. Maybe they've got some good video of George Brett to check out.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oakland 52-37 (1 All-Star)
    Texas 51-37 (0.5 games back, 3 All-Stars)
    Los Angeles 42-45 (6.5 games back, 1 All-Star)
    Seattle 39-49 (12.5 games back, 2 All-Stars)
    Houston 32-57 (20 games back, 1 All-Star)

    The Angels host the Red Sox (54-35, 3 All-Stars) tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  12. A's 2 runs and 1 All-Star at Pirates 1 run and 4 All-Stars.

    ReplyDelete
  13. A's 2 runs and 1 All-Star at Pirates 1 run and 4 All-Stars.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oakland's lead over Texas remains a half game in the American League West. Both teams have won three in a row. The A's have won seven of their last 10; the Rangers, six.

    ReplyDelete