Hunt for October

Okay, been a while since I posted, anyway... Now I should post more frequently as the regular season comes to a close. I'll also will attend a couple Toronto Blue Jays games versus the Kansas City Royals, so I can post some pictures, if I get any of interest. Possibly of the next big player to be shipped out of KC (Johnny Damon, Carlos Beltran, etc!), reminiscent of the Expos, unfortunately. No playoff implications, but it is still baseball.

Okay, so onto the hunt for October. Starting with the National League.

NL East

Looks like the Braves will take it again! Has looked that way for a while. I'd like to see the Phillies take it, although it doesn't look good, Atlanta won tonight, and Philadelphia lost, dropping them to 5 GB, and the magic number for the Braves is 3. Both with 7 games remaining. Had the Braves lost the division, maybe it would have been brought to people's attention that they were behind, and more than likely would have lost it in 94, if it weren't for the strike. So really (sort of), it will only be their 11th consecutive Division title, which is still good. Phillies are still looking good for the wildcard, but with a Houston win, they slip to 2 GB. Washington, and New York are on the outside looking in, with both of their elimination numbers being at 1. Florida's E# is 3, 5 GB for the wildcard, so they still could make it, but realistically speaking, they are on the outside looking in too.

NL Central

St Louis will be playing into October for sure, and it is looking like Houston may be in there as well. However it is not a given yet, and they have a tougher schedule than Philadelphia in the coming week. Two at St. Louis, and four home games hosting the Cubs. Whereas the Phillies host the Mets for three, and finish the season with three in Washington. On a personal note, I'd like to see Milwaukee end the season with another losing record, as I associate them with Bud Selig, and his daughter is there as well. They'll have to lose 5 of 8 to do so, here's hoping!

NL West

San Francisco lost today to Colorado, not exactly a game that should be lost trying to get to the postseason, and San Diego are winning right now, so with one game over .500 right now, SD will be heading to the post season. That's about it for an injury plagued NL West!

Onto the American League.

AL East

Boston or New York. It's anybody's guess as to who will win that division. Boston have one more against Baltimore, going for the sweep, then they host the Blue Jays for a four game series. New York has one more versus Toronto, the rubber match. Then they have a four game series in Baltimore. After those five games for each, they Red Sox are hosting the Yankees for the final three games. The Yankees may have it easier, as Boston will have four against Toronto. I say may, because it really is down to statistics. Which in a lot of cases is just that, statistics. My statistic being based on the first half, where Toronto played well against over .500 teams. Not sure how that stat is since the All Star Break. Earlier in the season, Terry Francona said how they could still be playing better, and I agree, well, I think they could have certainly cashed in better during the Yankees streaky first half. They ended a mere 3.5 games ahead of the Yankees. Will be interesting to see it play out.

AL Central

The American League Central is almost as close as the East, the hot Indians are only 1.5 GB the White Sox. At the All Star Break, they were 11 GB! Together the East and Central make for a good chase for the postseason.

AL West

It is looking good for Los Angeles to make the post season again, and if Oakland wants to play into October (besides the fact all teams will till October 2nd!), they'll have to catch L.A., as they are 6.5 GB right now for the wildcard, and their elimination number is 2. They won today, and it looks like L.A. will make it 8 straight. Oakland could easily catch L.A. however, as L.A. will visit Oakland for a four game series. Following which, L.A. ends their season with three in Texas, and Oakland ends with three in Seattle. So L.A. will need to keep their momentum, as Oakland will have a good opportunity to get the division. However if Vlad can get in MVP form for the last week, he could single handedly takes the Angels back to the post season like last year.

So all in all the AL final week will be the most exciting, with two teams from the East and Central battling it out, along with the AL West in their own race. Then the NL wildcard and East will be entertaining as well!

Vlad hits Number 300!

So after a drought of 16 games without a homer, or 61 ABs, Vladimir Guerrero becomes the 11th player to reach 300 under the age of 30. Many of those at bats were intentional walks, or pitching around him, even that is hard to do as Vlad can hit all over the strike zone, and put it outside the park.

On July 27th, Eric Hinske missed catching a foul ball hit by Vlad in his first at bat. Five pitches later, Vlad homered the opposite way. Obviously he made Eric Hinske wish he caught that foul ball, but my point is Vlad makes hitting home runs look very easy!

Check out homer number 300!

Katrina

All politics aside, as fellow human beings, I think everyone should help out in any way possible, the people suffering in the affected states. So I am taking a break from baseball to point anyone who comes upon this blog to some places they can help out.

American Red Cross - 1-800-HELP-NOW
Canadian Red Cross - 1-800-418-1111
Americares - 1-800-486-HELP
America's Second Harvest - 1-800-771-2303
Plan USA - 1-800-556-7918
Salvation Army - 1-800-SAL-ARMY
United Way

Major League Baseball has donated, as will the three other major sports leagues, if not already. So has Microsoft, and they have a page with even more links and addresses of many causes. All of what I just mentioned are ones that would be expected to help out.

As is the case with all disasters, it makes life all the more valuable.

If you the reader ever feels generous, or has some money to spare, there is always good causes out there that need support.