Well slap the taste right outta my mouth. The Blue Jays are the best team in the American League. I repeat, "the mother effin' Blue Jays, are the best team in the American League."
Will it last? Perhaps not.
Is it hilarious while it does? You better believe it.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
A.L East.
The shock of shocks this year, sees the lowly Toronto Blue Jays in the lead of the best division in all of baseball. In a division where both the Yankees and Red Sox outspend all the other teams combined, and where the Tampa Rays field one of the best young teams in the game, the written off Blue Jays are a game ahead of 2nd place Boston.
Nobody saw it coming, if they said they did, they're lying.
It's especially surprising if you look at the circumstances. The Jays were expected to be bouyed by there stellar starting pitchers. The bitch of it is this, most of those pitchers haven't really played at all this year. Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum, two of the teams top 3 pitchers haven't played a game. BJ Ryan, the well paid closer, has been in and out all year.
The kids, in the starting rotation, the bullpen as well as the everyday lineup have been carrying this team like a bagged lunch. Plus, you can't overestimate the effect of having your everyday second baseman back in the lineup. Aaron Hill has been a revelation after missing almost all of last year.
The Red Sox are good and getting better. Tampa can't possibly play as bad as they have been so far. The Yankees are ........well.....the yankees, overpaid and underachieving. It's sad when the thing your team has to most look forward to is the return of a 'roid popping, pitch tipper. A clown who threw his pitching staff under the bus in order to hopefully, HOPEFULLY, boost his own batting numbers.
And who can forget the perenially bad Baltimore Orioles.....the O's are.....yeah, just bad. Shock and awe.
A.L. Central
Now, after my little write up on the A.L. east, imagine I told you the Baltimore Orioles were in first place. This is the situation in the A.L. central. The constant doormat that is the Kansas City Royals manage to have put them self in 1st place.
The rest of the division is a mangled mess of teams with nearly .500 records. This mangled mess includes my Chicago Whitesox, the Detroit Tigers, and the Minnesota Twins. Of course the Cleveland Indians are firmly entrenched in the basement yet again. There's a reason the Indians were the team used to embody constant disappointment in the Major League movies.
Who comes out of this so-so division and makes the playoffs is a total toss up at this point. Quite literally, you could flip a coin. With the exception of Cleveland.
A.L West
On the subject of turn arounds and worst to first, we come to the A.L West and the resurgent Seattle Mariners. Having cut such dead weight at Richie Sexson last year, the Mariners are winning with a mix of kids playing beyond expectations and veterans finally playing up to them.
The biggest difference seems to be starting pitcher Eric Bedard. He's pulled himself off the scrap heap and is sporting a 2.61 ERA. Last season, 2.61 was the number of innings you could expect Bedard to last. My favorite story out of Seattle this year though, is the return of Ken Griffey Jr.
While he's not exactly mashing the ball, some players just look right in certain jerseys and Griffey in Mariners colours is the perfect example.
The Angels in Anaheim are not exactly sitting where they'd like to be. The runaway best team in the division last year is only sitting in third so far this year. While they should be able to make a run at some point it's still a little surprising to see them this low this early.
The Texas Rangers are a bad young team that is getting better. Again, pitching seems to be their downfall. They can mash but getting a starter to go more than 5 innings is a bit of a challenge. Ian Kinsler is making a run at best all around 2nd baseman in the A.L.
Oakland is in the basement in the west and it doesn't look like that'll change any time soon.
That's the american league in a nutshell. Next time, the senior circuit, the mighty National League, will recieve my probing gaze. Anyone else want to recieve a probing anything?? Hmmm??? Yeah, you do.
Will it last? Perhaps not.
Is it hilarious while it does? You better believe it.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
A.L East.
The shock of shocks this year, sees the lowly Toronto Blue Jays in the lead of the best division in all of baseball. In a division where both the Yankees and Red Sox outspend all the other teams combined, and where the Tampa Rays field one of the best young teams in the game, the written off Blue Jays are a game ahead of 2nd place Boston.
Nobody saw it coming, if they said they did, they're lying.
It's especially surprising if you look at the circumstances. The Jays were expected to be bouyed by there stellar starting pitchers. The bitch of it is this, most of those pitchers haven't really played at all this year. Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum, two of the teams top 3 pitchers haven't played a game. BJ Ryan, the well paid closer, has been in and out all year.
The kids, in the starting rotation, the bullpen as well as the everyday lineup have been carrying this team like a bagged lunch. Plus, you can't overestimate the effect of having your everyday second baseman back in the lineup. Aaron Hill has been a revelation after missing almost all of last year.
The Red Sox are good and getting better. Tampa can't possibly play as bad as they have been so far. The Yankees are ........well.....the yankees, overpaid and underachieving. It's sad when the thing your team has to most look forward to is the return of a 'roid popping, pitch tipper. A clown who threw his pitching staff under the bus in order to hopefully, HOPEFULLY, boost his own batting numbers.
And who can forget the perenially bad Baltimore Orioles.....the O's are.....yeah, just bad. Shock and awe.
A.L. Central
Now, after my little write up on the A.L. east, imagine I told you the Baltimore Orioles were in first place. This is the situation in the A.L. central. The constant doormat that is the Kansas City Royals manage to have put them self in 1st place.
The rest of the division is a mangled mess of teams with nearly .500 records. This mangled mess includes my Chicago Whitesox, the Detroit Tigers, and the Minnesota Twins. Of course the Cleveland Indians are firmly entrenched in the basement yet again. There's a reason the Indians were the team used to embody constant disappointment in the Major League movies.
Who comes out of this so-so division and makes the playoffs is a total toss up at this point. Quite literally, you could flip a coin. With the exception of Cleveland.
A.L West
On the subject of turn arounds and worst to first, we come to the A.L West and the resurgent Seattle Mariners. Having cut such dead weight at Richie Sexson last year, the Mariners are winning with a mix of kids playing beyond expectations and veterans finally playing up to them.
The biggest difference seems to be starting pitcher Eric Bedard. He's pulled himself off the scrap heap and is sporting a 2.61 ERA. Last season, 2.61 was the number of innings you could expect Bedard to last. My favorite story out of Seattle this year though, is the return of Ken Griffey Jr.
While he's not exactly mashing the ball, some players just look right in certain jerseys and Griffey in Mariners colours is the perfect example.
The Angels in Anaheim are not exactly sitting where they'd like to be. The runaway best team in the division last year is only sitting in third so far this year. While they should be able to make a run at some point it's still a little surprising to see them this low this early.
The Texas Rangers are a bad young team that is getting better. Again, pitching seems to be their downfall. They can mash but getting a starter to go more than 5 innings is a bit of a challenge. Ian Kinsler is making a run at best all around 2nd baseman in the A.L.
Oakland is in the basement in the west and it doesn't look like that'll change any time soon.
That's the american league in a nutshell. Next time, the senior circuit, the mighty National League, will recieve my probing gaze. Anyone else want to recieve a probing anything?? Hmmm??? Yeah, you do.
