Some wild stuff going on in the Big Leagues of late as we wind down an exciting season

SCOTT JACOBS

It’s the only sport for months, and then football comes along and it gets buried. The excitement wavers. The anticipation dies down. It’s only natural for there to be a drop-off in concentration, when football pile drives into the picture. So the good folks at JSB sort of put baseball on the backburner amidst all the hoopla that football brings each year. But hey, we’re back. We hope you don’t think of us any differently.

Ned Yoast=Toast
When your team is in a pennant race with 12 games left in the season and you’re team is tied for the division lead you would:

A. Fire your manager
B. Shock even your own players
C. Blame Whitey
D. A & B (Not so much on C, although Yost is white. Hmmm…)

Answer: D.

Yup, the Brewers stunned the baseball world by axing their manager out of the complete blue. Sure, the starving for a playoff trip, please let our fans piss their pants Brewers have been free-falling down the stretch. Sure, Milwaukee is now nine games back of the division leading Cubs, and the Brewers are actually now a half game back of the Wild Card leading Mets (more on that in just a sec), but to fire your manager this late in the season, it’s just, it’s… desperate. Okay, so Milwaukee has now lost 5 in a row, and they’ve won a pitiful 2 out of their last 10, but look on the bright side: they could always be the Rays (Announcer whispers in ear: okay, so I guess that one doesn’t apply to this year). Still, did someone confuse baseball for hockey? That’s where coaches get fired out of the blue for no reason. Yes, it’s true: we made a reference to hockey. How you going to act? Yeah, keep reading. That’s what I thought!

The Collapse: Part Two?
Okay, so the Mets didn’t own a 7 1/2 game lead with 17 to play like they did last year, but everything was rolling around smoothly (sans the whole Billy Wagner nightmare) and then this happens. What’s this you ask? This, is the sky falling around the Mets. New York’s other team closing out a stadium this year is still 16 games above .500 but they’ve lost three in a row. Now, they trail the Phillies by a half game in the NL East. With a horrendous bullpen that is a question mark every time they take the mound, the Mets have to be chalk full of nerves with the end of the season in sight. And this wasn’t supposed to happen. Remember all that money they spent on that Johan Santana fella? Wasn’t he supposed to make this all go away? But hey, the Mets finish the season with Florida for a three game set. O wait a minute, wasn’t that the team the swept the Mets the last weekend of the season last year? Yeah, I do believe it was. And, with the Marlins coming on strong, is it possible that the Fish could be vying for a division crown too when the two kick off a crucial three game set at Shea?

Do you believe in the Rays now? If you don’t, well you’re just anti-family
It’s gonna happen. No, not the Cubs winning the World Series, though that could happen. No, the Rays are going to make the playoffs. It’s a done deal. Mathematically there’s that small window of losing every game the rest of the year, but there is no way that happens, so I’m going to proclaim it now: Congratulations Tampa Bay! Your fans can come out of hiding now, it’s okay to root for the Rays now. Amazing, Baseball Prospectus proclaimed the Rays would win almost 90 games and I thought they were crazy. And look at ‘em now, high fiving each other, taking turns buying each other steak dinners. Damn you Baseball Prospectus for being so damn smart. The Rays have 89 wins and a one game cushion on the Red Sox in the AL East, but more importantly, they have an eight game cushion on a playoff spot. Next year, Tampa Bay will probably not be ashamed to put “Tampa Bay” on their uniforms. You hear that Baseball Prospectus? That’s my bold pick for next year, and I’m making it right now!

Other tid bits…

Why Milwaukee for a team playing in Houston? There was nothing closer? Nothing at all? Nothing at least on the West side of the country?

Don’t look now, okay, so you can look, but the Marlins have won six in a row.

The Dodgers are rolling to the NL West crown. I’d say Arizona’s collapse has been stunning, but when you hover around .500 for most of the year, is blowing a recent 4.5 game lead that shocking?

The White Sox and Twins are battling it out for the Central. Meanwhile, Detroit’s season was an epic failure.

But hey, I did predict the Yankees to fail to make the playoffs. 14 years and counting, that steak is over. Now I just have to look up who’s next in line with the longest streak after this year. My guess? The Angels, maybe.

Speaking of the Angels, barring a terrific finish, they won’t win 100 games. When did it become so hard for anyone to do it?

Cause I wasn’t told.

I told you at the beginning of the year: Diamondbacks-Indians World Series! And boy was I not even close.

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