With the Major League Baseball season at the All-Star break, it is time for a mid-season prospectus.
Division Winners: American League-West: Oakland Central: Detroit East: Boston Wild Card: Chicago. Summary: The Tigers are clearly the biggest surprise in all of baseball. To be playing as well as they are, in the same division as the champion White Sox and perennial playoff team Minnesota, is truly remarkable. They are for real. The AL West will come down to the wire as usual, with Texas, Oakland, and Anaheim all battling for the division flag. The Yankees are in real danger of missing the playoffs (as predicted by me here, prior to the season.) They have pitching and hitting concerns, not a good combination. Boston should win the East with their phenomenal starting staff and Jonathan Papelbon at the back end, not to mention Manny and Big Papi. And I think the ChiSox have to be the safe bet for the Wild Card (or if they win the division then look for DET here) with their pitching and the reemergence of Jim Thome. National League-West: Los Angeles Central: St. Louis East: New York Wild Card: San Diego. Summary: Several surprises here. First is how average the Cardinals look. As the predicted class of the NL, St. Louis is playing far below expectation. I think they will right the ship and with a healthy Albert Pujols, hold off the likes of Cincinnati and Houston. Also surprising is the collapse of the Braves. Although they've played better of late, they still appear to be headed for an early October vacation for the first time since 1990. Out west I think the Dodgers pitching and the super play of Nomar Garciaparra will be enough to get to the playoffs. The Wild Card will be very interesting with teams like San Diego, Colorado, Houston, Cincy, Atlanta, and San Francisco in the mix. I like the Padres slightly because of their starting pitching and Trevor Hoffman killing it late. The Mets look like the best team overall in the Senior Circuit.
Playoff Matchups: ALDS: Detroit over Oakland, Boston over Chicago. ALCS: Boston over Detroit. NLDS: St. Louis over Los Angeles, New York over San Diego. NLCS: St. Louis over New York. World Series: Boston over St. Louis. Summary: The Sox prove too much for the inexperienced Tigers in the ALCS. The NLCS could go either way. The Mets are very good but I think the Pujols/Rolen/Edmonds trio is better than Beltran/Wright/Reyes and the Cards likewise have the playoff experience here. My preseason World Series prediction still holds true, but as of right now, I give the edge to the Red Sox because of pitching. Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett are a killer one-two punch and Papelbon has been nails in the 9th (historically so, in fact.) Pujols is the best player in the series but Boston is the more complete squad.
Award Winners: American League MVP-David Ortiz. All things being equal, a DH shouldn't win the MVP (see last year.) But this year things won't be, as Papi puts up the numbers (currently on pace for 57 homers and 160 rbi.) for a great team and eclipses the likes of A-Rod. Runner-up-Jim Thome. Cy Young-Jonathan Papelbon. Dudes on pace for 46 saves, and currently has a 0.59 ERA, and a WHIP of 0.72. Ridiculous. Runner-up: Roy Halladay. National League MVP: Albert Pujols. Despite missing several weeks in June, Pujols will still put up eye popping numbers (proj.-.330, 60, 160) and is the most indespensible player in baseball. Runner-up: David Wright. Cy Young-Brandon Webb. He might not win 20 but with D-Backs in contention and with his money sinker, Webb looks like the best pitcher in the NL. Runner-up: Bread Penny.
In a pop culture note, I never thought a worse song could ever be conceived, let alone executed, than Kelis' "Milkshake." As god-awful as that tune was, I was wrong. And the culprit is once again Mrs. Nasir Jones. Her new song "Bossy" is so horrible in so many ways. A lame beat, meaningless lyrics that often don't rhyme, and an annoying dance in the video make for a pile of excrement worthy of a dinosaur. Those who've seen my profile know the stance I take on mainstream "hip-pop", that is, that it sucks. This song is a perfect example of how a talented artist (at least we might presume...) can put out worthless music because the public demands so little in the way of substance in its musical tastes. She's hot and her husband is one of the best emcees alive but Kelis' music is like unto feces.
Quote of the Week:
"Why every indian wanna be the chief? Feed a man till he's full and he'll still want beef."-Lauryn Hill.
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