Baseball Updates

It's been a while since I last posted a baseball update, so I figured now is an appropriate time, what with the end of the regular season fast approaching. There are roughly 13 games left for each team, and the standings are proving to be pretty resiliant to change. Here are the leaders and secondary teams in each division:

AL East:
New York Yankees (95-55) - leading division (12 to play)
Boston Red Sox (89-59) - 5 games back (14 to play)
Blue Jays, Rays, and Orioles - Eliminated

AL Central:
Tigers (79-70) - leading division (13 to play)
Twins (76-73) - 3 games back (13 to play)
White Sox (73-77) - 6 1/2 games back (12 to play)
Indians and Royals - Eliminated

AL West:
Angels (89-60) - leading division (13 to play)
Rangers (81-67) - 7 1/2 games back (14 to play)
Mariners (78-72) - 11 1/2 games back (12 to play)
Athletics - Eliminated

AL Wild Card:
Red Sox
Rangers - 8 games back

NL East:
Phillies (87-61) - leading division (14 to play)
Marlins (80-70) - 8 games back (12 to play)
Braves (79-70) - 8 1/2 games back (13 to play)
Mets and Nationals - Eliminated

NL Central:
Cardinals (87-62) - leading division (13 to play)
Cubs (75-72) - 11 games back (15 to play)
Brewers, Astros, Reds, and Pirates - Eliminated

NL West:
Dodgers (90-60) - leading division (12 to play)
Rockies (85-65) - 5 games back (12 to play)
Giants (80-69) - 9 1/2 games back (13 to play)
Padres and Diamondbacks - Eliminated

NL Wild Card:
Rockies
Giants - 4 1/2 games back
Marlins - 5 games back
Braves - 5 1/2 games back

To sum it all up, we're going to see a post-season with the Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, and Angels in the American League (very little chance this will change), and a Phillies, Cardinals, Dodgers, Rockies National League lineup (also probably not going to change). The way the division matchups work is that the team with the best record plays the Wild Card team unless that team is from the same division, in which case it plays the team with the 3rd best record among the division winners. Then the #2 team plays the WC team. This year's division matchups should look like this:

Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees (3 games)
Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (4 games)
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (4 games)
Colorado Rockies vs. St. Louis Cardinals (3 games)

I'm picking the Yankees over the Tigers, Red Sox over the Angels, Phillies over Dodgers, and Cardinals over Rockies. Therefore, the Championship Series matchups should be:

Red Sox vs. Yankees (6 games)
Phillies vs. Cardinals (7 games)

I'll then pick the Red Sox over the Yankees (a tough and gutsy decision) and the Cardinals to beat the Phillies. The World Series will feature:

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Boston Red Sox (6 games)

And I'm going to pick the Cardinals to best the Red Sox and win it all in 2009. Will I be right? Stay tuned, sports fans!