Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
June 10, 2008
Pulling Away

A few weeks ago it looked like there would be five tight division races this season, with most teams a win streak away from a chance at first place. With June almost 1/3 over, four teams have taken control of their divisions:

Best Winning Percentage in June, 2008
TeamRecordWinning Percentage
Phillies7-1.875
White Sox7-1.875
Angels6-2.750
Red Sox6-2.750
Giants6-2.750

In each of these streaks by first place teams, they knocked out teams in contention. The Phillies were 4-0 against Florida and Atlanta. The Red Sox swept the Rays. The Angels took two out of three from Oakland, and the White Sox swept a four game series from the Twins. Chicago now holds the biggest lead of any first place team, 6 1/2 games.

Meanwhile, five of the six divisions are down to two team races. Except for the NL West, no third place team is closer than 6 1/2 games. In fact, the NL West went from the least competitive division to one of the most as the Padres and Giants winning streak and Arizona's fall off have brought the top four teams within 6 1/2 games of each other.

Obviously, things can chance quickly. Right now, however, there are eleven teams at about .500, and that's no longer competitive.


Posted by David Pinto at 07:56 AM | Division Races | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Saying the Giants are a first place team was an elaborate gag, right?

Posted by: Sal Paradise at June 10, 2008 09:25 PM
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