If the Major League Baseball season continues to shake up like it has we could be in for a very special treat. Many Major League teams are adding to the excitement that we see night in and night out, but it remains to be seen what teams will have enough to withstand the tough month of September and stay alive. Let’s take a look at this year’s pretenders and contenders for the upcoming dramatic playoff race.

A.L. Pretenders:
Tampa Bay Rays- I feel really bad for putting the Rays in this spot, but I don’t see them making it out alive in the A.L. East. The Red Sox will find some way to make this thing close before September comes. If stud third baseman Evan Longoria and closer Troy Percival can get off the DL sooner rather than later the Rays could have a chance, but putting everything on Carlos Pena and Australian Grant Balfour is a tough thing to ask.

Minnesota Twins- Tip your hat to the Twins for staying in it this long. Losing Santana and Hunter gave the image of a losing year back in Spring Training, however the emergence of young pitchers such as Nick Blackburn and Kevin Slowey have kept the Twins floating. The main problem with the Twins lies with the lineup outside of All-Stars Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer. The Twins will take on the Mariners and Oakland this week in a 7 game west coast swing; games in which they need to play well in to stay on top of the division.

N.L. Pretenders:
Philadelphia Phillies- The Phillies leader in wins is Jamie Moyer. Ouch. This squad has no pitching outside Cole Hamels and Moyer. And please don’t sit here and tell me that fat ass Joe Blanton was the answer to the Phillies pitching problems. They made a weak push for Rich Harden and are quickly learning that Blanton’s cheese curd fastball can’t hold much to Harden’s dominance. Their lineup is stacked, but their rotation isn’t. Balanced teams make the playoffs. The blue collar working class of Philadelphia will once again have to hope the Mets collapse in a New York minute (or seven games in seventeen days like last year).

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It’s funny how people can spoil even the simplest of privileges.  One of these privileges that I’m talking about is the decision parents make when naming their own children.  Names like Robert, Steven, and Derek are considered fairly standard and not too exotic.  Naming your son “Wrigley” because your last name is “Fields” is not only mind blowing, it’s downright cruel.  Well, dumbass overzealous Cubs fan Jerry Fields did that seven years ago and in two weeks, his son Wrigley will be throwing out the first pitch at the Cubs Phillies game.

This has to top the cruel parents who name their kids with the same first name as last name.  This is worse than that guy who named himself Peyton Manning.  This kid is named after a freaking stadium…a stadium named after the family who made a fortune by selling gum.  What’s this kid’s nickname?  Ivy?  Windy?  Sheffield Avenue?  Has this kid even been to Wrigley before?  Despite it’s legendary status, it’s old and run-down.  Come on.  I think the best part of this story comes from Mom’s quote about the naming process.

“Kathy says when Jerry first told her he wanted to name his first son Wrigley, she initially thought he was joking. But Jerry later stood firm when they found out they were having a boy.”

How does Mom not force the issue on naming her son something other than Wrigley?  She’s the one popping the kid out of her stomach.  She’s the one carrying the boy around for nine months while Jerry gets blasted with the Bleacher Bums.

I’ll be honest, when August 29th rolls around I’ll park it on my couch and tune into the Cubs game so I can see what this clown looks like.  I have to wager that a few years down the road he’s going to run into some psychological problems whether it’s ultra-emo, an over-compensator, or just a delusional baseball enthusiast.  I suppose that’s what happens when your name is Wrigley Fields.

Hosts: Sonny, Ryan and Rich: This episode focused entirely on the National League Central. With Kosuke Fukudome now in Chicago, can the North Siders make it two division titles in a row? Or will the Milwaukee Brewers’ youth movement come to fruition with a division crown? Also, what can we expect from the talented youngsters in Cincinnati? Can they challenge for the crown this year? Or will Tony La Russa and Albert Pujols get back to the forefront of the division. All of this and more on the Sportable Spot.

Note: We’ve recorded our podcasts for the AL Central and AL East. They will be posted in a few days after we complete the NL West team previews.

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Billy Goats, Bartman and Fuk U Do Me. The spending/hiring spree of the Chicago Cubs paid off in 2007…sort of. With new players like Alfonso Soriano, Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis and a new manager in Lou Piniella, the Cubs went from worst to first, winning the NL Central. Unfortunately, their playoff stay was short and sweet, losing in three games to the Diamondbacks. This year, with the help of an import from the Far East, the Cubs hope to exercise their century-long demons and reach the World Series…or at least win a postseason game.

Bats. On paper, the Cubs boast one of baseball’s best lineups. With the signing of Japanese superstar Kosuke Fukudome, the Cubs’ middle part of the order may be the best in the National League. At the top of the lineup, Alfonso Soriano should be more comfortable in his second year at Wrigley Field. Signed for the most expensive deal in Cubs history (8 years for $136 million), Soriano struggled early, but rebounded late in the year to finish with 33 homers and 70 RBIs. Is that sort of production worth $17 million a year? Probably not, but Soriano is still an elite player with a bigtime bat at the top of the order.

One of the Cubs’ middle infield scrappers will likely hit 2nd for this team. Shortstop Ryan Theriot and 2nd baseman Mark DeRosa were both clutch during the Cubs’ torrid summer run that culminated in them winning the NL Central. Also, look for middle infielder Mike Fontenot to take some at-bats away from both Theriot and DeRosa. Fontenot hit .278 in 86 games for the North Siders. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not sure whether or not it’s their lack of fire because they were at one point so far ahead in the division or that they’ve just hit a rough skid, but the Brewers have let the rest of the division back into the NL Central race. The Crew, which at one point this season had the best record in baseball and had a double digit lead over the rest of the division, are only four and a half games up on the resurgent Cubbies and only seven and a half games up on the once dismal but suddenly competitive World Champion Cardinals.

A weakness for the Crew? Hitting the road. The Brewers are a National League best 30-13 at their home digs of Miller Park, but just 19-26 on the road. The Cubs, meanwhile, are a much more balanced one game under .500 at home (20-21) and two games over .500 on the road (24-22). But shouldn’t we have expected some sort of charge from the Cubs? This is a team that spent a hell of a lot of money this off season to ensure that they would contend and, up until this point, they haven’t. Now that all-star caliber third baseman Aramis Ramirez has returned from the disabled list and Alfonso Soriano is starting to hit, we can finally see the Cubs team that GM Jim Hendry envisioned when he built this team. Combine that with the recent dominance of eccentric pitcher Carlos Zambrano and the rest of the pitching staff that has for the most part been underrated and you have a team that is giving the Crew a serious run.

Another team with an opportunity to sneak in? The Cardinals. After the all-star break, the Cardinals will have a month span in which they’ll see the Brewers seven times, including a four game set at Busch. Considering the Brewers also will be having to put up with the likes of the Mets and Phillies during that span while the Cardinals get teams such as the Marlins, Nationals, and Pirates, it’s easy to see where a run for the division could formulate. This is the same team that won the whole thing last year and, with a bat like Albert Pujols in the lineup, a team that can’t be discounted. Pujols can win games by himself. There are few players in the league who can say that.

In a race that I felt might be over by mid-June, the Cubs and Cardinals have decided to prove otherwise. It’s up to the Brewers youth movement to prove to me that they have the confidence and stability to hold it together and retain the division lead. This next month will be crucial in driving that point home.

In keeping with the standard of finding YouTube clips that feature people getting injured or humiliated, we’ve come across this one from Deadspin. Following Aramis Ramirez’s huge walk-off homer on Friday, Wrigley Field was obviously in an uproar, as was the Cubs’ dugout. The high-fives and mobbing at home plate are standard. But grabbing Aramis’ nether-region? That’s something entirely different.