2009 MLB Playoffs

As we cruise into the All-Star break, 21 teams are in serious contention of their respective divisions or the Wild Card. 

The 15 teams not leading their division are all within 6.5 games of a playoff spot.

Man, I love baseball.

I made some pretty bold, and bad, predictions in my preseason prediction slideshow. I'll own up, and apologize to every AL Central fan, as I completely flunked on the whole division. 

However, I won't go through every prediction I made and analyze it. You'll have to go check out the slideshow yourself.

A lot has been said about the six degrees of separation between a person and Kevin Bacon.

Does anyone know if he's a Marlins fan because every six years we've seen the Marlins do what they are doing this year.

The first half of the Major League Baseball season is over. For the first time since becoming a full time player, Alex Rodriguez will not be an all star.

Truth be told, he hasn't played like one either. Not for a long while.

OK, he missed the first month after hip surgery and still has 17 home runs on the season and got his average from a dismal .212 to around .257.

In the series against the Angels this weekend, he did slug three home runs and now has 570 career home runs, putting him 10th on the all-time list.

Before I begin, let me plainly state as clearly as possible, I hope I'm dead wrong about this.

My beloved San Francisco Giants are two full games up in the National League Wild Card race and only seven games behind the division and MLB-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

However, for as much credit as General Manager Brian Sabean should receive for not trading away his prime prospects, there should be just as much ridicule for the increasingly irritating game-to-game decisions.

The New York Yankees defeated the Seattle Mariners 8-5 Tuesday night in the Bronx to move 12 games over .500 for the first time this season.

Yankees' hurler Joba Chamberlain (4-2, 3.89 ERA) yielded three runs on nine hits over 5 1/3 innings to help the Yankees notch their sixth straight victory in the no-decision.

Bombers manager Joe Girardi said he is pleased with Chamberlain’s efforts to date, and he insinuated that he is not worried his precocious ace will cower under pressure and begin to smoke meth with his estranged mother, Jacqueline Standley.

Decimated By Injuries, Poor Play and Lack Of Depth But Somehow Still Alive

Omar Minaya can continue to preach to the media about his club 'having the chips' to swing a major deal in the next few weeks to revive his fluttering franchise.

The reality is - he doesn't. The rest of baseball is awaiting his futile call. The price for any player worth his salt will be astronomical.  The reason?  Other teams know the Mets are in trouble and will bend them over a barrel in any type of trade.

Nothing too much here, just a brief look towards Autumn and the 2009 MLB Playoffs. Also included are the projected final standings, and playoff predictions.

American League

1. Boston Red Sox

2. Los Angeles Angels

3. Minnesota Twins(yes, I said the Twins)

4. New York Yankees

5. Tampa Bay Rays

6. Texas Rangers

7. Detroit Tigers

8. Toronto Blue Jays

9. Chicago White Sox

10. Seattle Mariners

11. Oakland Athletics

12. Baltimore Orioles

13. Kansas City Royals

So the Rockies, who have historically gone into a June Swoon and been completely out of the pennant race by now, have staged a surge that, had it occurred in August, would've been equal in improbability to The Great Hot Streak of 2007.

They've pulled themselves from the cellar to 37-35 and third in the National League West. 

This has been done with great pitching and superior defense, which were the strengths of the 2007 team (and their strong moral fiber, of course).

But can it be sustained?

It can be, if we keep succeeding in these areas:

New York Mets' closer Francisco Rodriguez, better known as "K-Rod", blew his first save of the season on Friday night against the New York Yankees.

K-Rod should have earned the save, however, as Luis Castillo dropped a potential game-ending pop-up with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. This error allowed two unearned runs to score, which gave the Yankees the win.

On Saturday, Yankees relief pitcher Brian Bruney, currently rehabbing in Double-A Trenton, was asked about K-Rod's blown save and the Yankees improbable victory.

When the Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Diego Padres 10-5 on Tuesday night, a couple important things happened.

The Phils went 10 games over .500 at 30-20 and 2 1/2 game lead over the New York Mets in the National League East. Certainly the race in the NL East is not over by a long shot. But temporarily, it gave the Phillies some breathing room from the week-to-week flip flop with the Mets.

The Phils followed up with a win the following night against the Padres, 5-1. The lead widened to three games, as the Mets got rained out Wednesday.