We have reached the final month and final four weeks of the Major League Baseball regular season. Virtually all the pretenders have been pared from the ranks of the contenders and some key results await in these closing weeks. The biggest surprises have been the Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles, Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, Florida Marlins, and St Louis Cardinals, while the biggest disappointments are the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, and Colorado Rockies. Here is my outlook for each division going down the stretch.
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AL EAST
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Tampa Bay is enjoying a fantastic season and it does not look as if it will end in the regular season. The young Rays are clicking on all cylinders despite some injuries and are headed to an AL East title. They do have six games remaining with Boston that will be the final determination on who wins it. The Redsox could still overcome Tampa, but it appears the Rays are too much particularly when it comes to starting pitching. New York is a significant underachiever and is doomed to miss the postseason for the first time since 1993. Toronto is playing much better as of late, but it is not anywhere near enough. Baltimore will play spoiler down the stretch as the Orioles will finish a much better record than what was anticipated at the beginning of the season.
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AL CENTRAL
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Chicago and Minnesota have been in a tight race for the AL Central flag for much of the season, but it looks like the remaining schedule favors the Twins to win it. Minnesota has been much better than expected with unanticipated improved pitching and a full team contribution day in and day out all season. The quiet professional experienced leadership of Manager Ron Gardenhire is also an important key to the Twins' success. Chicago has the firepower and fire with testy manager Ozzie Guillen, but the Chisox are up against a tough schedule down the stretch and are a step behind the Twins in the pithcing department. Detroit has been a major letdown with poor pitching and key underperformances by offensive players. Cleveland has had a season long hangover from blowing their 3-1 lead in the '07 ALCS to Boston and never got it going. Kansas City has been painfully encumbered by an anemic offense which doomed them to yet another losing season in the cellar.
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AL WEST
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The Anaheim Angels have played well and consistent all season and have ran away with the AL West pennant since before the All - Star break. On paper and on the field, the Angels are baseball's best team and have plenty of veteran experience and leadership which should be enough to carry them to the World Series. Texas has played about as expected with all their pitching deficiencies. Early on a contender with the Angels, Oakland collapsed after the Blanton and Hardin trades and spiraled down towards a sub-.450 season. Seattle, an expected contender, was nowhere as good on the field as on paper and may yet lose 100 games, although the Mariners are starting to play better with more young players getting playing time in recent weeks.
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NL EAST
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The managerial change the Mets made going with Jerry Manuel has paid dividends as New York has asserted itself into the race after early dalliances. New York has significant relief pitching problems which will be their ultimate undoing. Philadelphia will win the East in spite of their poor starting pitching and inconsistent offense. Florida has surprisingly stayed close in the race until the last ten days as the heat and fatigue has finally done in the young Marlins. Atlanta was expected to contend but suffered several major injuries especially with their starting pitching and never was able to establish any consistency. Washington has been in the tank all year with an atrocious offense and pitching that leaves much to be desired.
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NL CENTRAL
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Chicago has been the class of the division for almost the entire season, but as September arrives, cracks can be seen in the Cubs machine and concern is legitimate on whether the Northsiders can hang on to win and outlast the streaking Brewers. Chicago is all but a postseason certainty at this time unless spoilers Houston and St Louis do lethal damage to the Chicagoans' hopes. Milwaukee has been a team on fire the last few weeks and have the momentum to overcome the Cubs and take the NL Central flag. The Brewers have the easier schedule in the last month and play Chicago six times which may get them their winning margin. St Louis has stayed close for most of the season but is fading. The Cardinals ondoing is an inept bullpen and flagging starting pitching. Houston has been inconsistent with long periods both good and bad but may have reached a level where they may overcome St Louis and finish third in the division with 85 wins. Cincinnati was viewed as a dark horse at the beginning of the season, but the Reds have played poorly in all aspects of the game for much of the season. And, sadly, Pittsburgh is headed for yet another last place finish and their record breaking 16th consecutive losing season as the Pirates' pitching has been an unmitigated disaster throughout the season and through the roster.
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NL WEST
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This is clearly baseball's worst division by a long mark, as all five clubs have played poorly most of the season and underperformed with the possible exception of the Giants. Arizona got off to a 28-16 start and has limped through the rest of the season barely above .500 with serious offensive shortcomings and bullpen deficiencies. But they will hang on to take the NL West flag again. Los Angeles on paper should be the best team in the league, but the Dodgers have played poorly in most every aspect of the game for long stretches of the season and have clearly underperformed and failed to meet even the minimum of expectations as injuries have exacerabated the circumstances. Colorado has had its fair spell of injuries as well, and Rockies' pitching has been largely inconsistent and poor much of the year with poor clutch hitting a serious negative factor as well. San Francisco has played about as what was expected, but the Giants have failed to take advantage of the downfall of their four division rivals as the Giant offense has been often pathetic and pitching has been erratic. San Diego is the NL version of Cleveland as the Padres have been a season long funk after blowing a certain postseason appearance the last weekend of the '07 season. The Padres have lots of injuries, but they have clearly stunk it up with pitching, offense, and defense for long stretches throughout the season.
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With four weeks to go, my AL picks are Tampa Bay, Minnesota, and Anaheim, with Boston as the wild card. In the NL, I am going with Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Arizona, with Chicago as the wild card. The Brewers play the Phillies in the NLCS and the Rays take on the Angels in the ALCS. I am going with a Milwaukee and Anaheim World Series with the Angels winning it all.
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*****
While this holiday has all but lost its real meaning for Americans across the nation, the news about the state of the workplace and the labor movement has never been more grim. Negative developments of the last 30 years and more due to an ineffective and corrupt government as well as merciless, soulless, and greedy corporations has left the American workforce in tatters with serious social issues and vast community problems. This report sums up pretty well the situation as it stands. I consider myself among the unfortunate; I may have a good paying job relative to my recent experiences, but it is totally inappropriate and wrong for me with my education, intellect, experiences, and wisdom. Doing painful hard physical labor at age 50 is not where I wanted to be; I should have been employed in the public sector as an administrator, manager, or some kind of bureaucrat long ago, but it appears those dreams and opportunities have passed. I simply was never given an opportunity to do just that and I was often in survival mode most months and years just to make ends meet which kept me from completely focusing on securing such employment. I am unsure what my occupational future holds as physical labor of any sort for me must end within the next few years and I am totally not cut out to be any kind of a sales person or representative, hustling products or services for cash from others for a soulless immoral greedy corporation that cares nothing for its workers -- been there, done that. Hopefully some alternative emerges that turns out to be a godsend that will compensate me more than adequately and also fills my self esteem and intellectual needs. Obviously the same holds true for millions of others like me across the nation -- what a striking indictment about the inefficiency, immorality, and ineptitude of our nation and economy.
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