While I’ve spent a lot of time
over the past few months writing about the amazing second half of the Toronto
Blue Jays (and why not as they are on the cusp of their first postseason berth
in 22 years) there may be an even more interesting story to be found in the
Central Division of the National League.
Since the All-Star break two
months ago, you could tell that there was a good possibility the division would
send three teams to the playoffs. But now there’s an even more impressive fact
looking us in the eye: the top three teams in the NL Central could very well
finish the regular season with the top three records in all of baseball.
It’s true. Let’s look at the St.
Louis Cardinals first. They’re the only team in baseball right now with 90 wins
(overall record is 91-54) and they’ve been in first place in the division since
April 17th. They’ve led by as many as nine games and never been
ahead by less than 2 ½ since April 29th. They’re currently leading
by four. The Cards have been a perennial contender for pretty much the entire 21st
century and have been to at least the National League Championship Series for
the past four years. They won the World Series in 2011, lost to Boston in the
World Series in 2013 and dropped the NLCS to San Francisco in both 2012 and
2014. They always seem to be competitive and they have to be one of the
favourites to end the season as champions.
In second place at the moment
are the Pittsburgh Pirates. At 87-58, they would be in first place in any of
the other five divisions. As it is, they are four games behind the Cardinals.
They’ve done the yo-yo thing this season. They were nine games back on June 28th,
went on a run that brought them within 2 ½ by the All-Star break. Then they
dropped to seven back by the middle of August and now they’re closing in on
first again. The Pirates have been the top Wild Card team in the past two
season (winning the game in 2013 and losing in 2014). They seem destined to
play in the game once again this season, but what they’d like is a division title
with which comes an automatic trip to the Division Series.
And then we have the Chicago
Cubs. Without a World Series title in 1908, and only seven post season trips in
the 106 years since, all but one of those coming in 1984 or later. They’re
currently sit at 84-61, which would be enough to be leading four of the other
divisions (only Kansas City has a better record) but in the NL Central, it’s
only good enough for seven games behind the Cards for the lead and three games
behind the Pirates for the first Wild Card spot. The Cubs loaded up on free
agents prior to the 2015 season and it has, thus far, paid off for them. While
they currently hold the second Wild Card spot, they have a comfortable hold on
it, 7 ½ games ahead of the defending World Series Champion Giants, and the magic
number to clinch it is ten.
The unfortunate thing is that
there is no possibility that two teams from the Central will be playing each
other for the NLCS. If things stay the way they are, the Pirates and Cubs will
play in the sudden-death Wild Card game for the right to get the number four
seed for the National League Playoffs, and will be rewarded by playing the
number one seed, the Cardinals in the NLDS with the East and West Division
winners (most likely the Mets and the Dodgers) playing in the other NLDS
series.
However, it would still be fun
to see the top three records in all of baseball come out of the same division.
We shall see.
Current Magic Numbers
(Division Leaders)
American League East: The Toronto Blue
Jays lead the Yankees by three games. Their magic number to clinch the division
is 15.
AL Central: Kansas City leads the
Minnesota Twins by ten games. Their magic number is eight.
AL West: The Texas Rangers lead the
Houston Astros by a game and a half. Magic number is 16.
National League East: The Mets lead the
Washington Nationals by 7 ½ with the magic number at ten.
NL Central: The Cards lead the Pirates
by four. Magic number is 14.
NL West: Dodgers lead the Giants by 7 ½
with the magic number at 10.
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