Category MLB

Red Sox vs Rays: Battle For The AL East

Danny Vinik Leave a comment

The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays are currently doing battle for first place in the AL East. The Rays entered the three game series against Boston up .5 game, but things could be quite different after these three games. In game one, a late rally by the Red Sox came up short as they stranded the tying run on third in the ninth and fell to the Rays 5-4. Even though a simple flyout hit a catwalk and turned into a double and Rays’ closer Troy Percival hurt himself backing up third base, Boston could not get the big hits and could not take advantage of those strokes of luck. Unlike, previous seasons the Sox can no longer consider Tampa Bay as “Fenway South”. For the first time in their history, the Ray fans outnumber the Sox fans in Tampa Bay. The Ray fans are finally proud of their team and showing up to the ballpark. They had a record crowd yesterday and had the best ratings for Rays’ TV in their history. It’d be tough to find a person who is unhappy with Tampa’s new-found success. The team struggled for so long and they played day after day without fans and without hope, but now that they have finally broken through, I don’t seem them going away anytime soon.

They have a young pitching staff and a solid bullpen. That’s not to mention their lineup, which though not overpowering, does pack a punch. Carl Crawford is still young and his best years are yet to come, though he seems to have gotten a step slower. BJ Upton and Evan Longoria are both terrific and are extremely young. The team is inexperienced so I’m not sure they can play this well for a 162 game season or handle pressure late-game situations in September. I think the Red Sox will win the AL East eventually, but not easily. If they don’t win the AL East, the Rays have a great shot at the Wild Card. I don’t see any other non-division winner really giving the Rays a run in the Wild Card. First off though, they are shooting for the AL East and that begins with the Red Sox and this three game series in Tampa Bay. Continue reading “Red Sox vs Rays: Battle For The AL East” →

The Unfairness of Interleague Play

Danny Vinik 2 Comments

I am very confused with MLB scheduling. I can’t figure out how any of it makes sense and can’t see how it could possibly be fair, especially with Interleague games. The Red Sox, for instance, face NL teams that are a combined 27 games over .500 while the Yankees face teams a combined 20 games under .500. How can that possibly be fair? Or how about the fact that the teams withthe four hardest strength of schedules are all from the American League East, but the Yankees are not one of them (they are 13th). The teams with the 11 highest strength of schedules are all American League teams and the teams withthe 11 lowest strength of schedules are all National League teams. I know the AL is beating up on the NL, but is that what creates this ridiculous difference. Even crazier, of those 11 NLteams with easy schedules, only 6 have records above .500 while of those 11 AL teams with tough schedules, only 4 have records below .500. Thus, the teams with easy schedules are losing and the teams with tough schedules are winning. Wouldn’t that suggest that those 11 AL teams are an incredibly amount better than those NL teams? Amongst those 11 NL teams are all three NL division leaders, the Phillies, Cubs, and Diamondbacks. Are we really supposed to expect the NL to contend with the AL? Continue reading “The Unfairness of Interleague Play” →

2008 MLB Mid-Season Report

Danny Vinik Leave a comment

It is nearly the middle of June and Interleague Play is about to get underway so I have decided that it is a good point to look back at the first couple of months of the season

Best Team: Though not completely clear cut, this award goes to the Chicago Cubs who are currently 18 games above .500 and own the best record in MLB, a game and a half ahead of the Los Angeles Angels. They have scored 369 runs, second in Major League Baseball, but the Cubs have allowed the fifth least amount of runs in the entire league at 268. The 101 differential between runs scored and runs allowed is first in baseball and they also have the best ERA in the National League at 3.66. Alfonso Soriano leads the team with 15 home runs and seven of the Cubs’ eight daily batters have averages equal to or above .280. The Cubs possess the best team OPS in National League at .809 and have the third best bullpen ERA at 3.17. Leading in almost ever statistical category, offense or pitching, the Cubs have jumped to the top of league as they hope to win their first championship in 100 years.

Worst Team: One of my favorite awards, the Worst Team Award gives me a chance to look at the most incompetent, hopeless, and pitiful team that Major League Baseball has to offer. Though there are many candidates for this award, the Washington Nationals are most deserving. Though they only have the seventh worst ERA in MLB at 4.56, they have scored the fewest runs out of any team for the entire season at 243. The Nationals have the second lowest OBP (.310) and the lowest OPS (.666).  They have blown 14 saves in 27 opportunities and possess the third highest bullpen ERA at 4.37. All of these stats have combined to make the Nationals 15 games below .500, 6.5 games behind the fourth-placed New York Mets.

Surprise of the Year: Without a doubt, this award goes to the Tampa Bay Rays as they have shocked everyone in MLB to jump out 10 games over .500 and second in the American League East. Their pitching has been excellent with a 3.87 ERA, fourth in the American League, and their bullpen has a 3.53 ERA, fifth in the American League. They have blown only five saves, are 10-7 in one run games, and have scored 24 more runs than they have given up. Offensively, the Rays have many talented, young players such as Evan Longoria, BJ Upton, and Carl Crawford who, along with Carlos Pena and Eric Hinske, are leading the team to victory. Longoria, Hinske, and Pena have 10, 11, and 11 home runs respectively while Upton is batting .294 with a .404 OBP and Crawford has 20 stolen bases. Though not overpowering offensively, the Rays’ pitching has made up for their lack of offense and has propelled them to the sixth best team in all of baseball. 

Indiviudal Awards
AL MVP – Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers
NL MVP – Lance Berkman, Houston Astros
AL Cy Young – Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians
NL Cy Young – Edinson Volquez, Cincinnati Reds

End of Season Predictions
AL East – Boston Red Sox
AL Central – Chicago White Sox
AL West – Los Angeles Angels
AL Wild Card – Tampa Bay Rays

NL East – Florida Marlins
NL Central – Chicago Cubs
NL West – Arizona Diamondbacks
NL Wild Card – St. Louis Cardinals

ALDS: Red Sox over White Sox, White Sox over Rays
NLDS: Cubs over Cardinals, Marlins over Diamondbacks
ALCS: Red Sox over White Sox
NLCS: Cubs over Marlins
World Series: Red Sox over Cubs

Those are my predictions for the rest of the 2008 MLB season, but I have to admit that I am not the most unbiased reporter as I am a big Red Sox fan.

With the new site updates, I have decided to create a broader, more general page about Major League Baseball. To get to the previous Red Sox page, click the link below.