Hello, let's talk about the first like 5 weeks of the season.
AL:
THE GOOD:
Boston - Dice K and crew have showed up that it's their turn to top the division. You can say it's early and junk, but that early sweep of the Yankees was great for them.
Cleveland - Besides 20 make ups, things have been going swimmingly for the Indians. Did I mention the Yankees crushed them in a series a few weeks ago? None of that matters anymore. They are sitting pretty at the top of the AL Central, for now.
Detroit - The Tigers may be the team to beat. I had the Twins, but that's not panning out right now. As long as they keep it healthy, they should remain in contention.
Los Angeles - The Angels are up here? I mean really? They're not that good, but good enough for first place. Their record at home is great, but the road, not so much. Just keep the winning within the division up, and they should continue to succeed.
THE UPSETS:
Minnesota - Johan is 4-2 in his 7 starts. His ERA is at 3.40 and he has the 2nd lowest ERA on the staff. I'm quite disappointed with the Twins, but I think if they turn that 6-8 record against the division around, they should bounce back.
New York - Now that they've won a few games and gone back to .500, they're back in it. Roger should be with them in June and should help shrink that 6 game gap.
Oakland - I mean, they're not an upset, upset but this division may be weaker than last year. Maybe all the teams downgraded.
Toronto - I thought Toronto was a legit #3 team in this division. Granted, it's 2.5 game gap between them and the O's, but let's see if the turn tides for the Jays.
THE UGLY:
Kansas City - Poor Royals, back at the bottom again. Look at it this way, they're 2 games better than the Nats. That's always a plus.
Tampa Bay - Could you believe they're not in last? I have always thought Tampa is better than their record shows, but maybe this is the real shocker, Toronto is on the bottom.
Texas - They got Sosa and where are they going? Granted the AL West is usually a tight division, but Sosa isn't putting up Sosa stats of the past, so Texas needs some others to step up their game.
THE WHO CARES?
Baltimore
Chicago
Seattle
NL:
THE GOOD:
Atlanta - The Braves and the Mets should, and probably will be making a run for the division and wild card together, much like the Dodgers and Padres last year. Chipper and Andruw are doing great, they need to keep going on all clynders to winb the division.
Los Angeles - The NL West is a streaky division. If one team gets hot, they fall and vice versa. They have the best record within divisional play 14-8 and are .500 against both the Central and East.
Milwaukee - Best team in baseball? Right now, yes. At the end of the season? Don't know about that. This weekend series with the Mets should show us where they really stand, but as a Mets fan, I'm not gonna consider this THAT serious since it's the tail end of our rotation. (Pelfrey, Sosa and Perez)
New York - The Mets are stacked more than the Braves, so when the season ends, they SHOULD be at the top, If one goes into a slump, somebody should pick up the slack whether it be Maine, Glavine, Douchebag (PLZ COME BACK!) or hopefully sooner than later Pedro. Then the offense is doing great, when they choose to. Reyes, LoDuca, Beltran, Delgado, Wright, Alou, Green, keep it up and those heads clean.
THE UPSETS:
Chicago - They should be the talk of the town, but thinks aren't panning out. They're in second, but already 6.5 games behind the Brewers. I really don't see anything happening unless they prove they can kick their asses.
Houston - I was gonna put them in the ugly with like the whole division, but they lost Clemens to the Yankees so they are excused and allowed to lose.
Philadelphia - I was expecting to see the Phillies high in the standing so I could pull out the **** THE PHILLIES video, but look at them. They're nowhere close to the level of the Mets and the Braves. It's a shame for them. If Howard gets going, they have a shot.
San Diego - I expect this to be a back and forth year, so maybe at the end we'll have tnobody in the NL West in the good section. Hopefully they can demolish the Dodgers like they did last year.
San Francisco - I was gonna throw them in the ugly, but if you're gonna have a team with the two Barry's, you should win. Granted, Bonds can only hit so many juiced up homers, so others gotta go out there and do stuff.
St. Louis - It's all going downhill for the champs. They lost their ace. Got swept at home the opening series to the team they played in the NLCS. Pujols seems to be starting to come around, so hopefully that helps them out.
THE UGLY:
Arizona - I was gonna do a who cares for the NL, and they were gonna be there. They're not good nor an upset, so alas, they fall here. Seeing the series with the Mets, they're not horrible. They young line up with an older pitching staff sounds good on paper, but doesn't seem to be panning out.
Cincinnati - I'm not a Reds fan, but I'd pay to see them just forfeit the game and just have Griffey and Dunn play home run derby.
Colorado - Hardly anybody picks the Rockies to win a division, so they're looking ugly right now. In last place, with the number 2 and 3 guys in batting average? That's kinda sad.
Florida - It looks like that one year with Joe really paid off. They're playing much better. I'd like to put them somewhere else, but they weren't going anywhere, anyway.
Pittsburgh - The early good start stopped. They are tied with the Cards though, which is cool. VIVA NADY and BAY.
Washington - SURPRISE! The Nats are in last place at 9-25, the only team under 10 wins. The team has lost 8 straight, and have only won 1 game outside of the division.
Now for a new portion of this blog.
MET OF THE WEEK!
Having to choose from the 25 greats, I've decided upon one person who needs the good publicity. That's why my Met of the week is...
AARON HEILMAN!!!!!
Thank you for not blowing a game this week. Really appreciate it.
And now for the counter part. The Met in the doghouse.
OLIVER PEREZ!!!
He should have been shouting HOORAY! FIG NEWTONS! after he was taken out of the 9-run inning he gave up to the Giants this week. Granted, it wasn't all his fault, but how many times was somebody up with 2 outs. All he needed was one more. That's why you have a defense, even if they've done wrong twice in the inning.