MLB: Tightest Divisional Race in Baseball

Posted on | August 25, 2009 | No Comments

If a couple months ago you would have told me that the NL West would be the closest race in baseball at the end of August, I would have thought you were nuts. Yet that’s where we stand right now.

Exactly 2 months ago the Dodgers owned the biggest lead in all of baseball. They were 7 games ahead of the San Francisco Giants and 9.5 games up on the Rockies.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox had a 4 game lead on the Yankees (but everyone knew the Yankees would make a charge – and boy did they ever). The Tigers were riding a 7 game win streak to a 5 game lead over the Twins. But again, everybody knew that wouldn’t last. The Angels were a half game in back of the Rangers. The Phillies were just a half game ahead of the Mets. And the Cards were only a game ahead of the Brewers.

No, the NL West was the one division that looked like it would be decided by the end of August.

Yet here we are and the NL West is now the closest race in all of baseball. That honor belonged to the AL Central before last night. But with a Tigers win over the Angels and a White Sox loss to the Red Sox, the Tigers now lead by 3.5 games in the AL Central. And the Dodgers? Well, there lead has shrunk to just 3 games.

Now, I still have faith in this team. I like their talent and I love their manager. But let’s face it: I was wrong about this division last year. I thought the Diamondbacks would easily win the division and the Dodgers came up and passed them.

So, we’ll see what happens this year. The Rockies are certainly the hotter team right now, and the Dodgers seem to be out of sorts. We will see indeed. But the fact that this is now the closest race in all of baseball is pretty remarkable.

Related posts:

1. MLB: Great Race in NL Wild Card
2. MLB: Races in Baseball
3. MLB: The New Favorites in Baseball
4. MLB: Those Silly Baseball “Experts”
5. MLB: Heading into Another Weekend of Baseball

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