Spectating Savant

Ah, ESPN. Looks like you're going on hiatus for a while. It seemed like things were just starting to get good. You and I were getting along. I was watching Baseball Tonight almost every night, and small ball chatter was at the center of every broadcast. Sure, it was a little rough having to hear about the Yankees and A-Rod every 30 seconds. And sure, there's almost no reason at all to talk about a team that has been floundering at best for most of the season, but I don't blame you. New York is a big market, there's as much money to be made there when the Yankees are playing boring, pathetic baseball as there is when they're winning World Championships (It's been nearly 8 years since they've done that, by the way). But at least you were finally talking about baseball.

The NBA season is over, the NFL draft is long behind us, and I felt like you and I were going to be able to snuggle up and enjoy the rest of the MLB season together. And then......there was Michael Vick....

Throw Tim Donaghy in there, and the best baseball season in 10 years seems like it's going to fall by the wayside. NFL Training Camp is opening up, and ESPN baseball coverage is closing.

I guess I'm going to have to take it upon myself to get people interested in baseball again.

Let's take a look at the standings...

So let's consider a few things:

1. The NL West is the best division in baseball

   You had no idea, did you? Matt Holliday, Chris Young, Eric Byrnes, Jake Peavy, Brad Penny, and Brandon Webb are the stars of this powerhouse division, but you probably didn't know that unless you're a west coaster. It's true that outside of Coors Field it's impossible to hit a homerun in the NL West stadiums, but that shouldn't take away from the amazing pitching out there. Young and Peavy are 1 and 2 in the league in ERA respectively, AND THEY'RE ON THE SAME TEAM! Brad Penny of the Dodgers is third. A few years ago, this was easily the worst division in baseball, but now they've turned it all the way around. Gotta love baseball.

2. The AL East is the worst division in baseball

   That's even more suprising, isn't it? The Yankees are boring and overpayed, the Blue Jays have about as much heart as a botched transplant patient, the Orioles don't have any reason to walk out onto the field unless Erik Bedard's pitching, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays provide juxtaposition to the Yankees - they're cheap and stupid, as opposed to being spendhappy and stupid. The Red Sox are the shinning light of the division, and they just lost a series to the Royals. Go figure.

3. The Milwaukee Brewers have been in first place for most of the season

   The 2006 Detroit Tigers were the biggest suprise in baseball. The 2007 Brewers have taken on that distinction this year. Led by First Baseman Prince Fielder, Shortstop J.J. Hardy, and Closer Francisco Cordero, Milwaukee is starting to prove there's more reasons to go to the ballpark than beer and sausage. They're young, and they're exciting. Watch them when you get the chance. It may be 25 years before they're good again.

4. Jose Reyes is the most exciting player in New York. He's also the best shortstop.

   Forget about Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. Jeter hasn't been able to win a World Series since Paul O'Neal - the true leader of the 90s Yankees - retired. Reyes has 47 stolen bases, routinely turns singles into doubles, and has amazing range at shortstop. He is a speed freak. Only Grady Sizemore and Ichiro Suzuki provide as much pure baseball entertainment.

5. For the 3rd year in a row, the World Series will not feature an East Coast team

   The Cubs, the Tigers, the Indians, the Angels, the Mariners, the Brewers, the Padres, the Dodgers. Take your pick, because that is the pool of teams from whence the World Series contenders will come. The worst part about all of this is that the best 8 teams in baseball aren't all going to be in the playoffs this year. The top 4 teams in the NL West could be good enough to represent the National League in the playoffs, but only two of them can make the playoffs.

6. The Kansas City Royals aren't as bad as you think

   The Tigers, Twins, and Indians are sitting atop the AL Central right now with Detroit and Cleveland being the best two teams in baseball. Any team that has to play each of those teams 19 times is going to have a pretty crappy record - and they're actually threatening to come out of the gutter! Right now, they're only a game behind the White Sox, and like I said, they just beat the Red Sox in a series. Put the Royals in the AL East, and they're easily better than Blue Jays.

7. The Cleveland Indians are better built for October than they have been since the 1950s

   You didn't think you'd get through this post without me chatting up the Tribe, did you? Dominant starting pitching? Check. C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona are 1-2 in baseball in wins. Playoff experience? Check. David Dellucci, Paul Byrd and Trot Nixon have all played in the World Series, and Josh Barfield played in the playoffs with the Padres last year. Star Power? Grady Sizemore is the best all around player in the game, Travis Hafner mashes, Victor Martinez is the clutch, switch-hitting catcher. Watch out for the Tribe in October.

8. The Philadelphia Phillies have lost their 10,000th game

   Ok, so a lot of you have probably been considering this, but how does this math possibly work? The Indians were the biggest joke in baseball for 3 decades, and they've only lost 7,000 games. It would take 100 losses a year for 100 years to get to 10,000! The only number to come out of Philadelphia more perplexing than that is Wilt Chamberlain banging 20,000 women! That's 1000 women a year - 3 broads a day - for 20 years! Only an NBA player could manage that kind of output. Or is it input? In any case, Philadelphia has provided some mathematical mind benders over the years.

The best thing about all this? There's still a delectable 65+ games left, depending on who you're watching. If you're a Yankee fan, my condolences, your season is over. If you're a Brewers fan, live it up, who knows when this is going to happen again?

If you're a Tribe fan, get ready. I just bought a commemorative Beer Stein displaying the names of the 1948 World Series Champion Cleveland Indians. 10 months from now, I plan on buying another one with the 2007 team on it.

Tschüs!