Waking up again

I watched most of the game last night- a 6-5 win over the Orioles. All things considered, it was a pretty good win. It was the kind of win that had it happened in May or June, it would have convinced us that this team had heart and would never say die. They fell behind 5-3 after four innings and slowly gained ground, with the bullpen holding the line. Unfortunately, this is mid-September, and it's hard to get psyched about the win.

Incidentally, this win makes us, I believe 14-2 against the Orioles this year. That, you've got to admit, is a huge benefit of the unbalanced schedule. I know we have to face the Yankees and Blue Jays more, and they give the Sox problems, but you get to fatten up on the O's. On the balance sheet, the Sox are actually 12 games over .500 against the Orioles and 2 games under .500 against the rest of the league. If it wasn't for the O's, we'd be a losing team. So today's thank-you goes out to Peter Angelos. Thanks, you stingy, control-hungry, megalomaniac. Oh, geez. There goes my chances of working for him. I gotta stop doing that.

What I have started to realize, as the Sox fall completely off the face of the earth, is that I am becoming a baseball fan again. I'm still a Sox fan, of course, but for some reason that doesn't take up quite as much of my emotional energy lately. And when you look around baseball, there are some exciting things happening in these last few weeks. The AL Central and wild-card race is actually pretty cool. The Tigers, Twins, and White Sox are all fighting for two playoff places. It's not at all inconceivable that the Tigers, after being on a 100-win pace all year, fall out of the playoffs completely. The Twins are only a game back, and the White Sox are only three back. The Twins also lead the Wild Card by two. The Tigers have three more against the White Sox, who also have three more against the Twins.

The National League West is also really tight, with the Dodgers only a half-game up on the Padres and three up on San Fransisco. They all pretty much stink compared to the top eight American League teams, but a race is a race. The Padres, in turn, lead Philly and San Fran by 2.5 in the Wild Card, wth Florida only 3.5 back. For my money, the Marlins are the best story in baseball this year. I don't think they'll make the playoffs, but if they finish over .500 and Jeffrey Loria still fires Joe Girardi as manager, Bud Selig should immediately take ownership away from him. That would be a crime.

I know you're all waiting for predictions (and now that I have my first comments- thanks guys- I know someone will be reading to rub it in my face when I'm wrong), so here they are. Minnesota will win the AL Central and the White Sox will get the Wild Card. The Tigers will fall just short of a completely astounding season. The Padres will pass the Dodgers in the West, but the Dodgers will settle for the Wild Card. Jim Leyland and Joe Girardi will win Managers of the Year. I'll make the rest of my predictions later. The MVPs and Cy Youngs, as well as playoff results, still need more input.