Final Week Review In Major League Baseball

The Los Angeles Angels were the first to clinch a playoff spot and the first to clinch their division. They rounded out their regular season accomplishments by securing the best record in baseball, going 100-62 this season.

The Angels will play host to the American League Wild Card winners, the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox were able to capture their playoff berth with ease and hope to play the spoiler role over an Angels team that many people predict will win the World Series.

The first team to clinch their post-season berth in the National League was the Chicago Cubs. Wrigley Field will be the site of the first two Cubs games as they welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to town. The Dodgers were the 2^nd team in the National League to claim their spot in the second season.

The rest of the National League playoff picture didn’t settle into place without heartbreak and drama.

With the season drawing to a close, we knew that either the New York Mets or the Philadelphia Phillies would clinch the division and the loser was left to battle the slumping Milwaukee Brewers for the Wild Card berth.

Ryan Howard kept the Phillies winning when it mattered and they clinched the division with a game to spare.

That left the Mets and Brewers tied for the last spot with just one day left in the season. Mets fans were left with the reality that lightning can strike twice and the Mets had collapsed for the 2^nd time in two years and would miss the playoffs after a 4-2 loss following a Brewers win.

These 2 teams will now face off as Ryan Braun and CC Sabathia head to Philadelphia to take on Chase Utley and Cole Hamels.

The American League didn’t settle on a playoff lineup without some drama either.

The Twins were able to sweep the White Sox and claim a slight edge in the division race late in the week. The Sox and Twins both dropped 2 of 3 games in the last series of the year, which made it necessary for Detroit to head to U.S. Cellular Field on Monday for a makeup game.

Chicago won the game 8-2 and forced a one game playoff to decide the winner of the American League Central.

In what could be the worse rule in professional sports, the Twins were forced to play the game in Chicago based on a coin flip, despite holding a 10-8 season series edge.

John Danks and Nick Blackburn battled it out in an unlikely pitcher’s duel. The only mistake of the game came when Nick Blackburn left a pitch up to Jim Thome and he hit a 461-foot homerun for the game’s only run.

The White Sox win sends them to Tampa Bay to take on the American League East Champion Rays.

www.letsgodeep.com, www.passitdeep.com, www.passitdeep.com/SPACEBALL, www.marchdeep.com

Major League Baseball Weekly Review

The playoff landscape is starting to take shape.

The Los Angeles Angels have the advantage of setting up their rotation and resting key players before the start of the 2^nd season.

The Chicago Cubs now share a similar situation after clinching the division.

The Tampa Bay Rays have clinched a playoff spot, but have not wrapped up the division title. They lead Boston by 1.5 games.

The Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers are in the driver’s seat for their respective playoff berths. It would take a huge collapse for either not to make it in. If one of them were to fail to reach the postseason, it would be the White Sox who could see their 2.5 game lead disappear if they are swept at Minnesota this week.

The Philadelphia Phillies hold a 1.5 game edge over the New York Mets. The Phillies are 9-1 over their last 10 games while the Mets are just 4-6. Sound familiar?

If the Mets can’t catch the Phillies, they are likely to capture the wild card spot. They lead the Milwaukee Brewers by 1.5 games and the Brewers can’t seem to string anything together this month. They are 5-15 in September.

If Tampa Bay holds off the Red Sox, then Boston will take the American League wild card.

September is always a surprise as you see veterans get hot or maybe rookies get a call up and impress.

Adrian Gonzalez, Prince Fielder, Carlos Pena, Shin-Soo Choo, Jorge Cantu and David Ortiz all have at least 3 homeruns and 10 RBI this week. Only Ortiz carries a batting average under .368, but the stat of the week is Ryan Garko’s .833 batting average!

Dan Haren, Kyle Davies, Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly, Scott Lewis, Tony Pena, Brad Ziegler and Daisuke Matsuzaka each picked up 2 wins this week. Joakim Soria and Brad Lidge closed out four games apiece for their clubs.

The Baseball Consigliere's 2nd Half MLB Review

The sluggers were put on display and home field advantage for the World Series has been decided. The only thing left to do now is finish out the rest of the season.Some of the races appear to be headed deep into the final week of the regular season before they are settled.The 7-game losing streak for Tampa Bay has allowed Boston to take over the division lead and with the experience factor heavily favoring the Red Sox, there’s no reason to believe that they won’t hold off the Rays and win the division.Out west, it would make for a great story if Ian Kinsler and Josh Hamilton could will the Rangers to a division crown, but the pitching staff will make sure that doesn’t happen. The Angels have a solid rotation and a good enough lineup to take the title.The Central gets a little bit more crowded with the White Sox currently holding onto a slim lead over the Twins. Don’t forget that Detroit is starting to get healthy and has been playing well heading into the All-Star Break. It will come down to health for the Sox. Can Konerko and Jenks return to form? Can Thome avoid his annual trip to the DL? If the answer is no, Minnesota and Detroit will be waiting.The wild card race in the American League will be a duel to the end with the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees.The National League East could be the most exciting finish in baseball.The Phillies, Mets and Marlins are all separated by just 1.5 games. New York and Philly both have solid lineups and Florida is getting healthy at the right time. Look for pitching to be the deciding factor in the division race.The East might be the tightest race, but all eyes will be on the Central as the Cubs, Brewers and Cards battle to the end. We’ve already seen Chicago add Rich Harden and Milwaukee add C.C. Sabathia. Will St. Louis make a move to keep pace?The West should honestly just concede its playoff berth to a team that will actually finish above .500, but since that won’t happen, let’s take a look at the Dodgers and Diamondbacks. L.A. has just been dealt a blow with the loss of Takashi Saito for at least 6 weeks. Look for Arizona to recall Max Scherzer in hopes that he sparks the pitching staff. There have also been rumors that they will take a look at bringing in another stick in the form of Barry Bonds.Speaking of Bonds, he’s one of several players that could make a move in the second half and make a difference in the playoff races. Along with Arizona, New York has been mentioned as a possible location for Bonds. The Yankees may need another bat if Hideki Matsui is unable to return from his knee injury.Matt Holliday will be the biggest name to keep an eye on before the trading deadline. He’s not just a short-term rental so he won’t come cheap, but he’s definitely someone that St. Louis could bring in to keep up with Chicago and Milwaukee. They may also just be content waiting for Chris Carpenter to return and provide a boost.Another pitcher that could provide a boost is Joe Blanton. Look for Oakland to continue stockpiling prospects by trading away their proven talent. With Harden already gone, Blanton could be next with Philadelphia being the most likely destination.The Rays will also be a team to watch as they’ve been mentioned in the Bonds talks and they’ve also been rumored to be interested in adding Brian Fuentes for the stretch run.The rest of the season should provide some of the best baseball that we’ve seen in several years and the playoffs will be even better.