MLB Week in Review (September 9-15)
The MLB season is coming to a close for a lot of teams but it is just getting exciting for a handful of teams that are headed to the postseason.
They are gearing up for the most important time of the season as every game and every play means so much more.
Not every can get there and some teams are having a pretty tough time finishing off promising seasons to earn a postseason spot.
One of the teams that aren’t seeing that trouble though is a team that has been on top of the league the entire year.
The Chicago Cubs officially became the first team in the postseason this season when they clinched their postseason spot.
It seemed like just a matter of time for the Cubs this year as they started out the season as early favourites for the World Series.
Of course, everyone said that with baited breath at the start of the season because it is the Cubs.
They are the lovable losers in sports as they are a team with the longest championship drought in sports history.
No matter how long anyone has been waiting to see their team win a championship it will likely never match the wait that Cubs fans have had.
For over 100 years the Cubs have not been able to get their hands on the World Series Trophy.
It’s not like they haven’t had their chances as the time in between championships has been marked by some of the strangest plays ever seen that have kept them just out of the World Series.
There have been weird situations for the Cubs in the past but last year the team took a massive leap towards becoming a contender.
They looked good but couldn’t finish it off as an inexperienced team fell just short of making the World Series.
With another year under their belt and a few more additions, the Cubs looked like they could be the team to beat this year.
It looked like it could be the year that they snapped the drought and ending the worst streak in the history of sports.
The Cubs have made good on their pre-season expectations as they have risen to the top of the league as the best team in the league.
They took over the division and were far and away the best team with a great pitching staff and a potent offence.
All of the pre-season predictions seemed to be true as they lived up to the hype that surrounded them all season.
Now that they are in though the true test begins as this is the best chance they have to break the streak and end the curse that has been surrounding them for over a century.
They have the best team they may have ever had in that time and with this team, there is little doubt that they can win the World Series.
Whether they do is up to them as they are in a great position but need to avoid the pitfalls that so many top teams see when they enter into the postseason.
There are plenty of examples of great teams getting into the postseason and falling short of expectations when the games get more important.
For the Cubs, it is all about staying hungry and realising that they can’t act like they are the best team in the league when the postseason begins.
The fact is that they are the top team but when the postseason starts it is essentially a restart button on the season.
Records don’t matter when the postseason begins because it is all about the games ahead and winning the few games needed to take a championship.
If the Cubs can stay hungry and not let their position go to their head they have the chance to win the title this year but that is always a big if when dealing with a team that seems snake-bitten.
Extra Innings
(More on this week in baseball)
Lack of Information
A.J. Preller received the rare GM suspension this week when an MLB investigation revealed that they had failed to disclose injury information on Drew Pomeranz before they traded him to Boston for a top prospect
New Member of the Brain Trust
The Toronto Blue Jays are plummeting don the standings and a lot of the blame will fall on new President Mark Shapiro and the Jays may have just taken some of his power away in hiring Ben Cherington as their new VP of Baseball Operations
“A White Man’s Game”
In the midst of the controversy in the NFL surrounding Colin Kaepernick other stars are being asked their thoughts and when Adam Jones was asked he made a serious claim saying that if he or any other African-American player made a stand they would likely not have a job because baseball is a “White Man’s Game.”
Key Series:
Boston Red Sox 2-1 Toronto Blue Jays
– The Blue Jays had a chance to turn this September around by earning the top spot in the division but they couldn’t get it done losing two games in the series and staying in the wild card fighting for a postseason spot
San Francisco Giants 3-0 Arizona Diamondbacks
– The Giants have been wildly inconsistent for the last two months that has put them in the wild card hunt rather than the division hunt but they did make some progress in sweeping the D-Backs who are essentially only spoilers now
Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 New York Yankees
– The Yankees had a real push going in August but they have fallen just short and the series loss to the Dodgers is not going to help them get back into the fight while the Dodgers looked to increase their division lead
Chicago Cubs 2-1 St. Louis Cardinals
– The Cards had really one last chance to stay in the division fight against a dominant Cubs team but they fell short dropping two games and helping the Cubs get a postseason spot and getting closer to the division
Upcoming Series:
Detroit Tigers vs. Cleveland Indians [Sept. 16-18]
– The Tigers have an opening right now as they are right in the wild card hunt watching the Jays fall and they will try to take advantage but it will be tough against one of the top teams this year in the Indians
St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants [Sept. 16-18]
– The Cardinals are not going to win the division this year but they still have a chance at a postseason spot sitting just outside of the postseason race and they try to gain ground on the top wild card team in San Francisco
Toronto Blue Jays vs. Seattle Mariners [Sept. 19-21]
– The Blue Jays are in dire straits right now as they went from a sure division champion to barely clinging on to the wild card and they hope that their west coast trip can change things around as they look to continue to playoff fight
Boston Red Sox vs. Baltimore Orioles [Sept. 19-22]
– The Red Sox are trying to seal things up in the east and the O’s might be their toughest challenge as they face-off in a series that could go a long way to determining a division champion in one of the toughest divisions in the league
The Sport Addiction 