Thursday, September 24, 2009

Is The MLB Season Over Yet???


Here we are with about a week and a half to go in the MLB schedule. With the way things sit today, you can pretty much put a nail in the coffin of the MLB playoff 'races.' They are done like dinner...and so could the interest in baseball.

Sure, the Twins miiiiight catch the Tigers for the AL Central title, and there is the verrrrry remote possibility that the Braves, Giants or Marlins might catch Colorado for the NL wild card...but seriously...can you recall a season where all the playoff chases were so non-existent?

These races have been as entertaining as a pitching conference on the mound.

Back in 1994, MLB went from four divisions to six, and added the wild-card playoff birth to increase the number of teams in the playoffs. Subsequently, this meant that more teams would be in the playoff race as the season wound down.

Not this year!

Check out the leads as of today:

NL East - Philadelphia 6.5 games
NL Central - St. Louis 10 games
NL West - Los Angeles 5 games
NL Wildcard - Colorado 4 games
AL East - New York 6 games
AL Central - Detroit 2.5 games
AL West - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (still a Mickey Mouse name...appropriate that they play next to Disneyland) 6.5 games
AL Wildcard - Boston 10 games

So with all the races pretty much over, I would think that MLB would be quite nervous about ratings and interest heading into the playoffs. I suspect that with the NFL in full swing, NBA and NHL seasons soon to open, MLB execs would gladly take a massive losing streak by Colorado or Detroit right about now, to spice things up.

Of course, with the Yankees assured of a playoff spot, and Boston all but assured one, when October baseball rolls around...every baseball fan will have at least one team to cheer against!

Considering the lack of storylines in this year's MLB playoff race, I give you a much more entertaining baseball story to consider:



BrockTalk

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