MLB Week in Review
by Jordan Adams - 09/25/2006
In this installment of Week in Review, I will give out awards for the last week in the majors as we head towards October.
Top AL Team | Detroit Tigers
Shaking off a bad two and a half weeks, Detroit still sits atop the AL Central. After Sunday's games, the Tigers lead the Twins by 1.5 games and overtook the Yankees for the best record in the league, fighting for the right for home field advantage throughout the postseason. Winners of seven of their last ten games, Detroit can hit the century mark for wins if they win six of the final eight games on the schedule.
Worst AL Team | Kansas City Royals
Currently on a six game slide, the Royals now hold baseball's worst record. At 58-97 they are all but assured of losing more than 100 games and finishing well over 30 games out in the division. Despite being out of contention since Opening Day, the Royals took on the spoiler role, knocking off some of the better teams over the course of the season.
League's Most Surprising Weekly Occurrence | Boston's fall from Grace
It was pretty much a guarantee that the Red Sox were staying home come October since the beginning of September. But the team has looked mediocre at best since the Yankees pulled away in the division. Even with Big Papi back, Boston has lacked the swagger that was seen over the course of the past two seasons as they fought in the playoffs.
Top NL Team | Philadelphia Phillies
For the second straight week the Phillies have risen to the top of the National League. Winners of the five straight and eight of its last ten, Philly now controls its own destiny, leading the NL wild card by ½ game over Los Angeles. Now nine games over .500, Philly looks like a major player and a team to be reckoned with if they make it to the playoffs.
Worst NL Team | Florida Marlins
After the Marlins got over .500 and within two games of the wild card, things just fell apart. Now 76-80 and basically done, news comes out of Florida saying the Marlins will not bring back manager Joe Girardi. Seeing that he is likely the NL Manager of the Year, how big of a mistake could this wind up being if another team swoops him up and he continues his impact on another winning club?
League's Most Surprising Weekly Occurrence | Dismal St. Louis
The 2006 NL Central looks more and more like the 2005 NL West. St. Louis is playoff bound but has looked very bad at times and seems nowhere near ready for a World Series run. They will limp into the playoffs without closer Jason Isringhausen and an offense that has not shown the ability to produce consistently outside of Albert Pujols.