OPEY HIGGINS
DOUBLEDAY DAILY
The playoff are only 20 games away and we have some really heated battles and we have some really big blow outs going on.. Teams that were 10 games back just 50 games ago are now challenging for the division lead. Some teams that were closer are now almost completely out of it. We'll start off in the AL.
AL NORTH
Montreal has led the division all season long, At one point they had a 10 game lead but that's now been narrowed down to 5.5 games.. Losing CF Fritz Neugebauer for the season and a few other injuries have caused Montreal to slip off the pace it was on. Salt Lake City has been on fire winning 10 of their last 13 games including taking a series from Philly. Just 19 games left to play Montreal has a lot of time to screw this up.
AL EAST
Philly has started this season dominating... Boston and Baltimore were relatively even for the first half of the season. After the All Star break Boston and Philly kicked it into another gear leaving Baltimore behind. Now just 3 games separating Philly and Boston with both teams on a very impressive win streak it's just a matter of time before one of them slip off giving the other a chance to secure the division. Baltimore is now 15.5 out of first but tied for the 2nd Wild card spot with Salt Lake City so they are still in it. Either way it goes the division winner here takes a first round bye in the playoffs.
AL SOUTH
St. Louis wasn't always the front runner in the AL South but after making a huge trade with Albuquerque giving them Maxwell they seemed to turn things around. Regardless of Maxwell not being the reason for the change, STL went on a big win streak to gain a very big lead over the rest of the division. Unfortunately Huntington and Texas are probably out of the playoff picture but anything can happen with both teams being less then 8 games off the 2nd Wild Card spot.
AL WEST
Evem after trading away just about all the veteran talent on the team, Albuquerque is still sitting on the top of the West. San Francisco is right there behind them only 1 game back however I am not sure exactly how they can't be 10 games ahead of the Dukes yet. Colorado at one point appeared to be closing in to take advantage of the Dukes but fell back 9 games. Still isn't over but as of now it just might be the Dukes making another playoff appearance.
NL NORTH
Ottawa is 8.5 games ahead of Chicago and only 19 games left until they are crowned division champs for the 3rd straight season. Not even Albert Wall and Spike Logan is giving Chicago much of a chance to get themselves the edge over a pitching dominant Ottawa franchise. Right now it appears that Chicago has a better chance of catching Ottawa then getting in on a Wild Card. Good luck Chicago!
NL EAST
It's been 4 seasons since Toledo was the best in the NL East.. Finally they are at the very top of the division with Durham on their heels only 5.5 games away. Toledo the only current 90+ game winner in the NL is a shoe-in for the playoffs. It's just a matter if they can hold on to the division or not.
NL SOUTH
It has been a dog fight ALL season between Richmond, Austin and Louisville. For the first time in Doubleday Louisville just MIGHT not win the division. Hell they may not even make the playoffs at this rate. 3.5 games out of first in the division and 1 game away from getting in on a Wild Card, Louisville to me is the favorite due to the past but if Austin can hold on this would be the teams first ever playoff appearance! Everyone in that division has my support.
NL WEST
Probably the most disappointing division looking at the records.. The NL West has teams boasting some HUGE talent. Honolulu is currently the top dog right now with Omaha hanging in there 5 games behind. Honolulu hasn't been to the playoffs since season 1 so this is a pretty big surprise when the odds on favorite coming into the season was Omaha. I will be doing a team interview with Omaha on Sunday!
There you have it, some surprises this season.. Maybe this season we will see 2 completely different teams in the World Series!
