There’s a reason the baseball season is 162 games long. I think I wrote about this before. Yeah some people can’t stand the fact that it’s so long. But it has to be. Just look at all the ups and downs of all the teams. Just look at the roller coaster. It has to be 162 games to allow for the best teams – the most consistent teams and the toughest teams – to prove it.

Just look at the New York Yankees. Just when it looked like they would tank all season they suddenly ripped off a few good weeks and took over 1st place. But then just when it looked like they would stay in first for the rest of the season they slumped and dropped away from the Boston Red Sox. Then when it looked like they would maybe drop to third place now they’re playing great ball again.

Of course the Boston Red Sox are on a similar path. They’ve had their ups and downs too. But they’ve managed to be better overall and so they’re still in first place. But still, how do you blow that huge lead they had against the Baltimore Orioles last night? How do you do that to John Smoltz? Unbelievable.

But the Red Sox and the Yankees have plenty of company throughout baseball. The Detroit Tigers, the Philadelphia Phillies, the St. Louis Cardinals, and many other teams have looked like the best team in baseball and then suddenly turned into one of the worst teams in baseball.

What does all this mean? Well, for one thing it means that we’re probably in for a wild summer. It also means we probably won’t know very much about how the post season will look until at least September. And it might be more like October.

So let the roller coaster ride continue.

We just covered the AL standings and how things might wind-up. Now, let’s take a look the National League. We’ll start in the East and then go to the Central and finish up with the West.

Right now the NL East seems to be full of average teams. The only team over .500 is the Philadelphia Phillies and they’re only 5 games over .500. The Florida Marlins are in 2nd place and they’re playing .500 ball right now. Then the Mets are in 3rd and the Braves are in 4th and only 5 games back. The story of this division is really about the key injuries to just about every team. look for the Mets to get healthy and get on a roll and look for the Phillies to play better as well. I like the Mets to win this division. I know they’re playing horrible ball right now but so if the rest of the division. At least the Mets have a ton of injuries to blame it on.

Over in the NL Central 5 teams are within 4 games of first. The Brewers currently lead the division by a single game over the Cardinals. Then the Reds are 3 games back, the Cubs are 3.5 games back, and the Astros are 4 games back. This one is too close to call but I will go with the Cards to win the division.

Finally, the NL West is still led comfortably by the Los Angeles Dodgers. But the Giants and the Rockies are playing great ball too. In fact, it looks like 1 of these 2 teams will take the Wild Card. At least that’s the way it looks right now. But I don’t know that either of these teams can keep it up.

So, who do I like in for NL Wild Card? Well, let’s go with the Phillies. But I do think the Cubs, Brewers, and the Rockies all have a decent shot too.

July is quickly creeping up on us. In fact, here it is – the last day of June is upon us. So, the baseball games continue to take on even more significance. Let’s take a look at where we stand in the American League and then in the next blog post we’ll move on to the National League standings.

First of all, the American League continues to be led by the Boston Red Sox. But the New York Yankees are only 3.5 games back. They look like they’ve gotten things back on the right track. They’ve won 5 straight games. But the Tampa Bay Rays aren’t far behind. They’ve won 6 straight games and they’re now only 5 games back. This is beginning to look like the awesome division we all expected at the beginning of the season. Even the Blue Jays are 4 games over .500.

As the AL East moves forward things will continue to get tighter. This could be a lot of fun to watch. In August we just might see a 3 team race unlike anything we’ve seen in a long time. I still like the Yankees to win this division (I think). And I’ll go with the Red Sox to take the Wild Card in the AL.

In the Central the Detroit Tigers are still the favorite to win the division. Right now they have a 4 game lead over the Twins and the White Sox. However, Detroit has stopped hitting again. And that could be their downfall. The Tigers’ bats woke-up and they won 7 straight games. So, if they start hitting consistently then they will run away from the rest of the division.

Finally, The Anaheim Angels have seemingly put it together and are back on top of the division. They’ve won 6 straight and they’re now 2.5 games up in the West. They won’t fall from the top for the rest of the season.

Let’s try to pick a few winners for this weekend’s match-ups. First, let’s go with the subway season series. The one against the Mets and the Yankees.

The Yankees won last night. It was an embarrassing game for the Mets. They committed 3 horrible errors and gave-up 4 runs. The easy game to pick is tomorrow’s game when Wang will go against Hernandez. Wang is just not himself. Hernandez has been sharp. So, the Mets will win tomorrow. But I do like the Yankees today. Burnett is on the mound and he should be solid enough to get the job done.

Look for the Detroit Tigers to bounce back against the Houston Astros today and tomorrow. Tomorrow the Tigers have a clear advantage with Edwin Jackson on the mound. Today it’s more of a toss up but I think the Tigers are a good enough team to bounce back from giving up a 4-0 lead last night.

I’m also going to take the Red Sox to sweep the Braves. Wakefield is on the mound today and tomorrow it will be Brad Penny. Meanwhile the Braves are putting Vazquez on the mound today and Hanson on the mound tomorrow. Both of these pitching match-ups favor the Red Sox. Plus the Red Sox are the hotter team right now. And they’re the better team.

Finally, I like the Cards to beat the Twins tomorrow. But today’s game is too close to call. The Twins are sending Slowey to the mound today. Slowey is going for his 11th win of the season. He’s been really good on the mound (obviously) but not overly dominant. In fact, his ERA is just a tad over 4. That’s not near the top of either league. So, I think Slowey might be ripe for the taking today against a Cards team that didn’t play all that well last night.

There you go. There’s a shot at picking some games over the weekend.