Who can think of football on a day like today?

I get that football is more popular than baseball.
I understand it.

I understand that American Idol is more popular than Mad Men.
I have grasped that a Michael Bay Transformers movie is going to be more popular than a Joel and Ethan Coen film.

And I don’t dislike football.

But please. The NFL is in week 4. There is a way to go.
Baseball?

There’s only four games left and there is a real possibility for total anarchy.

How crazy is it?
Yankee fans are rooting for the Red Sox and Red Sox fans are rooting against the Red Sox.

That’s so bonkers that it brings up the possibility that the Mayans were right.

Let’s just take the American League and bring up the following plausible scenarios.

Orioles defeat the Red Sox. 
Not only is that possible, but Zach Stewart pitching for the Red Sox it is as much of a lock as any bet you could make today.

Twins defeat the Tigers.
Unlikely, but the Tigers are not pitching Verlander today and the game is in Minnesota. It is possible.

Blue Jays defeat the Yankees.
Toronto has a way of playing the Yankees very tough. And while Phil Hughes has pitched well recently, he is due to lay an egg.

White Sox defeat the Rays.
A tall order against David Price. But they are at home and Jose Quintana is no slouch.

Athletics defeat Mariners.
The A’s are at home and they play with a certain magic there.

Angels sweep the double header against the Rangers
A very tall order, especially against Yu Darvish and Derek Holland. But Zack Greinke and Ervin Santana can throw well and the Angels are loose.

What would happen if those seven scenarios all came true?

The American League playoff picture would look like this:
The Orioles would be in first place for the East by one game over the Yankees.
The Tigers would be in first place for the Central by one game over the White Sox.
The Rangers would be in first place for the West by one game over the Athletics.

And the Angels would be one game out of the Wild Card.

And that would set up the final three games of the season with not only no playoff position in the American League set, but not one single American League team having clinched a playoff spot going into the final three games of the season.

That is potential anarchy.
That is potential insanity.

And it is happening all over baseball today.

And if you turn on sports talk radio, they are talking about the Packers and the Saints.

Folks! There is a lot of time for football.
This is anarchy.
This is dogs and cats living together and mass hysteria to paraphrase Peter Venkman.

Let’s play ball!

 

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY… September 16, 2010

The playoff picture is confusing and jumbled and seems to be changing by the hour. And trust me it will look different EVERY morning.

So the staff here at Sully Baseball has decided to list the current playoff match ups every morning.

Blink and it will change. The American League teams are pretty much set. The Twins win last night over the White Sox all but did them in and the Rangers’ Magic Number is now in single digits.

But the Yankees and Rays seemed destined to flip flop the top spot in the AL and the Wild Card until the end of the year… and the Twins and Rangers probably won’t know their opponent until the season wraps up.

(And keep in mind Minnesota is only a game back in the loss column for the best record in the AL… they could have the home field when all is said and done.)

While the AL jockey’s for position, the NL has only one no brainer… the Reds and their 7 game in the loss column lead over St. Louis. Cincy’s magic number is 10 and they should take care of business soon.

After that, who knows? The Phillies have a 3 game lead but that could evaporate. And the current match ups include two former front runners who have been slumping but as of this writing are hanging on for dear life.

Right now the Giants and the Rockies are on the outside looking in… but they could BOTH be playing in October if they don’t break their pace.

So here are the match ups as of right now…

AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES

TAMPA BAY RAYS (AL East Champion)
has home field advantage over
TEXAS RANGERS (AL West Champion)

MINNESOTA TWINS (AL Central Champion)
has home field advantage over
NEW YORK YANKEES (AL Wild Card)

NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (NL East Champion)
has home field advantage over
SAN DIEGO PADRES (NL West Champion)

CINCINNATI REDS (NL Central Champion)
has home field advantage over
ATLANTA BRAVES (NL Wild Card)

That will probably change while you are reading this.

Something I love about living in California!

I can see the Red Sox finish a sweep of the first place Tigers before 1PM!

I know it is too early to say “If the playoffs started today”…

But if they did, the Red Sox and Yankees would be tied with the Red Sox being the Division Winner based on the 5-0 head to head record.

The Red Sox would play the AL Central leading Tigers.

The Yankees would play the AL West leading Rangers.

And that is exactly what happened today. 

Significant? No… but interesting.

Also intesting? The A’s have made it 3 in a row. 

I’m not making any more grandiose predictions… just remember I picked them to win the World Series and I’m sticking by it!

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