You’ve probably heard the saying that hindsight is 20/20 on Monday morning, so just imagine how well I can call ’em two days later on Wednesday. That’s right, it’s time for Wednesday Morning Quarterback, your weekly sports round-up.
Intramural Softball
I thought it was spring. This past Sunday in Ithaca we had some snow (apparently) or some other kind of precipitation and the temperature sat in the 30s for most of the day. As a result, softball was canceled. Oh well…at least weekend forecasts don’t show 58 and rain after a stretch of 70 degree days on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday…Oh wait, it does. Stupid Ithaca.
Everyone’s Doing the Fish
Just a quickie for this week’s sports (ie: Florida Marlins): the Marlins continue to have really crummy pitching being saved by aggressive hitting. Andrew MIller still isn’t quite there (IMHO) and Burke Badenhop had an apparently promising start that still resulted in a loss. At least the Marlins shut out the Braves thanks to some great Scott Olsen pitching (one of the more veteran pitchers). This brings a great smile to my face since I truly loathe the Atlanta Braves. Also, Mike Jacobs is consistently bringing the heat to the plate and is in the top five for home runs so far this year. Keep it up Mike.
Where do you stand?
MLB standings are in a crazy state right now. I’ll start with the best news: As of right now, the Marlins (8-5) are sitting pretty at numero uno for the NL East with the Phillies 1.5 games back. Everyone writes off the Marlins every year. We’ll see if the youth on the team has the maturity to consistently compete against the Braves (1-0 this year), Mets (1-2), and Phillies (0-0). So far they’ve proven they can more than handle the rest of NL East (they are 3-0 against the Nats), but the rest of the NL East is no walk in the park, they’ve all got tremendous talent and they’ve all got way more experience.
Now for other strange happenings: St. Louis (10-4) is atop the NL Central, despite being flagged for a losing season due to a cheap payroll. The Nats (4-10) plummeted to the bottom of the NL East after a tremendous win streak that many hoped would mean the end of crappy Washington baseball. I can feel the collective sobbing of D.C., but I can’t help but smile after the Marlins swept them last week. Until last night the Baltimore Orioles (8-6) were sitting atop the AL East standings, perplexing many. Last night’s loss still has them only 0.5 games back from the Bo Sox, so they’re still doing way better than expected this season. My last, favorite story of the year are the seriously troubled Detroit Tigers (4-10). They’ve managed a few wins since we last saw them (most recently against the Twins last night), but they’re a huge (at this point of the season) 4.5 games behind and it’s gonna take some great playing to even begin to approach Chicago (8-5) and the strangely high ranked Kansas City Royals (8-6).
Now what you’d expect: The Arizona Diamondbacks (10-4) are kicking just as much ass as everyone thought they would as they hold a 1.5 game lead over the closest NL West competition. Despite some early sparks of brilliance, the Tampa Bay Rays (6-8, and man do I hate the name change from Devil Rays) have fallen to precisely where everyone in baseball expects them to sit: in last place in the AL East, 2.5 games back. Pull it together Tampa. I may hate the AL, but I do like it when Florida teams do well. Let’s get a Marlins-Rays World Series this year, seriously guys!
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