The messy list of contenders

There is not a single a division leader presently distancing themselves from the pack. In the NL, the season-long frontrunners have lost ground at such a glacial pace, and the contenders have made such meek efforts to move up, that the difference of 3 games is starting to feel semi-permanent in the Central and East. The Dodgers are currently in first in the West, but with the top three teams all going 5-5 in their last ten there clearly hasn't been much action. Perhaps when the BIG PENIS returns for the PENISBACKS, we'll see a surge from them.

There are about five teams squarely out of contention in the AL after 100 games, and other than that I'm willing to imagine that anyone might end up anywhere in the standings. I'm frustrated nightly with the Indians, whose stable bullpen and generally solid starting efforts have been repeatedly foiled by the inconsistency of the lineup, last night being a great example. DICE JAPANESE PITCHER had good stuff, but not as good as CC, and the tribe had their chances, including a bases loaded situation in the first. They're making a frightening number of bad baserunning choices (see Grady last night) and really looking terrible in the clutch. The result is a .500ish record since the break, certainly not good enough at this point in the season and against the competition they've seen (Texas, Chicago, and KC before Boston).

AND YET the Tigers have made it a moot point by playing also quite terribly. This has been the result of two crucial factors. One, their bullpen sucks. It had a good week or two, and is now back to showing its true colors. Two, they've had the bad luck to face teams at hot moments, including KC and Chicago, who magically started playing well for a couple weird weeks. The mediocre play of the Tigers and Indians has excused the fact the Twins, too, have been atrocious, getting swept by the Tigers at home and losing their last two to Toronto. Things look a lot like they did after the break - the Indians out by about 1, and the Twins out by about 8.

The X factor has been the red hot East, where the Yankees appear to have figured something out offensively. This is truly the way to win for them - score 20 runs. Even their pitching staff can win with that! Boston has been good because Boston is very good, I'm convinced several rungs better than Detroit and headed for another World Series. Okajima and Papelbon are a frightening combination in 8-9.

So New York is in the wild card chace, I'll admit with a sigh. Toronto's hot and just a few games behind NY, so you have to include them, too. Plus the Twins and Mariners (until that losing streak continues), and you have four teams nipping at the Tribe's heels. With Seattle's failures, none is immanently close, but there's reason to be concerned.

The frustrating/awesome thing about this season is that nothing is particularly certain. No division lead feels safe anywhere in baseball.