MLB Playoff Update: The Best has Yet to Come

Fall is officially underway and this is by far, my favorite time of year. The leaves are changing, festive October beers are on tap, football is in full swing, and things are heating up in the MLB. With a week and a half left in the regular season, it is coming down to the wire for many playoff hopefuls. For those of you who missed the drama from this past weekend, have no fear, I will be happy to catch you up.

The NL picture is almost complete. San Francisco and Cincinnati locked up their divisions. Meanwhile, Washington needs to win six games before they can call themselves NL East Champions. Gio Gonzalez notched his 20^th win of the season over the weekend. Atlanta remains in the first Wild Card spot, trailing the Nationals for first in the East by 4.5. The Braves can guarantee themselves, at least a Wild Card spot, with two victories.

St. Louis continues to bat away the late contenders, winning six of their last seven. They are clinging to the second Wild Card, leading Milwaukee by 2.5 games and the Dodgers by three. For the Cardinals to have the opportunity to defend their Word Series title with no worries, they must win seven of their remaining nine games. If they cannot do this, fate will be removed from their gloves and they will be forced to rely on the efforts of other teams to take out the Brewers and L.A.

In the AL, all three divisions are still up for grabs. One game separates New York from Baltimore in the East.  Fun Fact: The Orioles have won 16 straight extra inning games. As I mentioned before, Boston will have the chance to be the spoiler for one of these teams, as they both have three games versus the Red Sox still to play. Chicago is on a five game losing streak and leads Detroit by one game in the AL Central. Whichever team does not win the division, will be out of the playoffs all together. A consequence for playing in the worst division in the MLB (as decided by the Pond Scum Podcast last week). Each team has ten games remaining, but the White Sox have the edge, with seven of their remaining games at home. The Tigers will be on the road their final seven games of the season.

If this wasn’t enough excitement, the AL West also remains up for grabs. Oakland trails Texas by four games in the division. While this seems like a decent cushion, it really is not because the Rangers and Athletics will face each other seven times before the end of the season. Thus far, the two teams have split their season match up 6-6. Oakland currently has the second Wild Card, but division foe L.A. is lurking 2.5 GB.  Mike Trout would love a chance to put the icing on his already historic season, by helping lift his team into the post season.

Perhaps, Ray Ray Marz was correct in the podcast naming the AL West the best division in baseball. The West will most likely have two representatives in the post season. However, so will the AL East, which was the panels majority pick for best division. With only a week and half left till the end of the 2012 season, anything can happen. It is the best time of year, sit back, enjoy the autumn breeze, crack open a Yuengling Oktoberfest (Oh it does exist, find it, drink it, savor it!), and check back at the end of the week for my latest MLB Playoff Update.