The Hunt For October

With just over two weeks left in the 2008 Major League Baseball season, there are a ton of great playoff races underway. Of the six divisions between the two leagues, only one has a division winner already, with the other five - and both Wildcard races - still very hot and heavy. By the numbers:

American League East

Tampa is up by 3 over Boston, and 9 and a half ahead of Toronto. The Rays and the Red Sox go head-to-head for 3 in Florida, starting Monday. The Yankees are still mathematically in the division race, 12 games back, but only on paper: they're hosting the Rays for a 4-game set right now and have already lost the first one, 7-1. Baltimore's 23 games out, and therefore could win out the rest of their schedule and still likely finish last in the AL East.

American League Central

Here it's a 2-team race, with Minnesota trailing Chicago by 1 game, and everyone else out of the running. The two powerhouses only have 3 games left against each other, but Minnesota has the advantage there, as they'll be played in the Metrodome. On the other hand, the Twins have a slightly tougher schedule, as they face Tampa Bay 4 times and Baltimore 3, whereas the ChiSox have Detroit (for 5) and the Yankees (for 4). Both teams face Kansas City and Cleveland, to round out their schedule. The Indians, Tigers and Royals all have losing records right now and will be able to get the early jump on their Hallowe'en decorating this year.

American League West

Our only boring division, it's the California/Anaheim/LA Angels all the way. Texas, Oakland and Seattle have already arranged solid concert line-ups for their stadiums, starting Oct 29th.

American League Wildcard

Ah, the Wildcard! Boston is 5 and a half up on Minnesota and 6 and a half ahead of Toronto. The Yankees are 9 back, with too many teams to pass and not enough games left, so Steinbrenner's crew will miss the playoffs for the first time since... the Blue Jays were World Series Champions?!? Can that be right? Yes, it is. Anyway, as I've blogged about before, the Jays still have a handful of games left against the Red Sox, but unless they sweep them all, they're probably cleaning their lockers out in September once again.

National League East

After a decade and a half of being owned by the Braves, the NL East has recently gotten interesting again. It's notionally a 3-horse race right now, with the Mets leading, the Phillies just 2 back, and the Marlins barely holding on, at 8 games out. Florida has such a tough remaining schedule (3 against Houston, 3 against Philadelphia, and 3 against the Mets, along with Washington and Cincinatti) that they'd have to pull off a run like the Rockies did last year. On the other hand, they do have those games against the teams they'd have to catch, so you never know. As for the two front-runners, they each have multiple series against the spoiler-ready Braves, the results of which may decide the winner. The Mets, however, have 4 against the National League-leading Cubs, and so that may determine who grabs the division. The Braves and Nationals won't have to worry about missing any of their favourite October TV shows, though, even if they don't have PVRs!

National League Central

This is the most equitable place to be this year, as four of the teams still have a shot at October baseball. The Cubs will likely win the division, as they lead the Brewers by 6 games and have by far the best record in the NL. But Milwaukee, Houston and St. Louis are all still jockeying for a possible Wildcard position, separated by only 4 and a half games with almost no games against each other! That should make for some exciting scoreboard watching over the next two weeks. The Red and the Pirates, however, can already comfortably assume that they'll be in front of their TVs for this year's postseason.


National League West

It looked for a while like this would be the barn-burner division, as nobody seemed to want to play much above 0.500 all season, leaving it pretty much open. Recently, though, the Dodgers have overcome any adversity Manny Ramirez may've brought with him, and built up a 3 and a half game lead on Arizona. The Rockies are 9 and a half back and so not even last year's finish would likely vault them into the playoffs in 2008. Barry Bonds' old team, the Giants, are 10 and a half back, while the Padres are mercifully eliminated by math, sitting 19 and a half back (with 14 games to play).


National League Wildcard

Another fun hodgepodge of teams are battling it out for the "Miss Congeniality" playoff position in the NL. There are 5 contestants all sitting within 7 and a half games of each other, although logic would say that probably only the top 4 (who are separated by only 4 and a half games) will still be in the running a week from now. The NL Central contributes 3 of those 4, in the form of Milwaukee, Houston and St. Louis, with the Phillies sitting in 2nd, just 2 back of the Brewers. This could be the most fun race to follow, depending on how the next several days go.

So, by my unofficial count, there are a total of 14 MLB teams still harbouring playoff dreams at the moment (Tampa Bay, Boston, Toronto, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota, LA Angels, NY Mets, the Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee, Houston, St. Louis, LA Dodgers, and the Diamondbacks), all trying to cram into 6 slots. Only the Angels are a sure thing right now, which is kind of fitting for a team with such a "divine" name! Bring on the final fortnight, I say!