It snowed today on Easter in northern Maine. Spring has gotten under way in just about every where else, but not here. It sure was cruel to see those azaleas at the Masters and all that color and green. All we still have here in the frozen tundra is white and gray. And to make matters worse, the wind howled like a banshee all day. The Fan wonders how many more shingles he'll find in the back yard tomorrow. Well, at least a full week has been played in Major League Baseball. And what a screwy week it was.
Starting in the American League East, the three supposedly best teams in baseball have been treading water while the other two supposedly also-rans are on top of the division. The Blue Jays have looked really impressive to date. The Fan has said it before: Cito Gaston is one of the best managers in baseball.
Over in the AL Central, the Tigers are doing surprisingly well and the Indians surprisingly terrible. The Indians are now 1-5 and their lack of pitching is killing them. They may end up with more runs given up than the Rangers. Carl Pavano had one of the ugliest pitching lines in a long time the other day and all Yankee fans smirked.
In the AL West, Seattle, of all teams, is on top of the division with a 5-2 record and getting good pitching so far. The rest of the division is either .500 or just below it. The first team to 85 wins might win the AL West.
The NL East looks surprising as the Braves and Marlins look fantastic while the Phillies and the Mets are at .500. The Nationals might not win a game this year. Okay, they will win a couple. But that's about it.
The NL Central is showing what the Fan feared most, a St. Louis resurgence. The Fan has nothing against that city and its great baseball fans. Just not a big fan of Tony LaRussa, who always seemed like one of my Sicilian uncles down in New Jersey with questionable loyalties, if you know what I mean. But the guy knows how to run a club and win. And with Pujols, Carpenter and Wellemeyer, they could just pull it off.
The NL West is showing the Padres on top of the division. What the heck is going on here? No wonder the Fan is like 40-60 on his BallHype.com picks this week. These guys are making this writer look pretty stupid. The Dodgers should win this division and if they don't, it will be a big surprise the way all those teams look so far.
The league leader board is looking typical for a new and young season. Four players are batting above .500: Theriot, Youkilis, Miguel Cabrera and the Marlins' Bonifacio, who seems like the most exciting new player in the league. He's been scary good. Longoria, who most already knew was scary good is at .481. Longoria and Cabrera already have ten RBI and Longoria leads the league with five homers followed by Inge with four homers. Inge?
Johan Santana already has 20 strikeouts and in a real kicker in the lungs, Adenhart is on top of the leader board with a 0.00 ERA. So sad.
It's early and those standings and leader boards are hard to take seriously, but there are some surprises as there always are in the first week. It's just another reason why we love baseball, isn't it?
1 comment:
Pretty neat. Konerko and Dye hit back-to-back jacks. Big deal, you say? They were the 300th long balls of both of their distinguished careers.
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