Let's Talk Baseball: Bold Proposal Early July Standings

We come to the end of the third month of Season 2. For those new to the program, here is my original post for the idea and here is how things shook out at the end of last season, setting up the two divisions I'll be using for the 2011 season.


Photo via Nats320

The current standings are as follows:

First Division

1. Phillies (unchanged from May)
2. Yankees (+4)
3. Red Sox (+1)
4. Braves (+1)
5. Giants (+2)
6. Rays (+1)
7. Cardinals (-5)
8. Rangers (+1)
8. Tigers (+3)
8. Angels (+2)
11. White Sox (+3)
11. Reds (unchanged)
13. Rockies (unchanged)
14. Padres (+1)
15. Marlins (-12)
16. Twins (unchanged)

Second Division

1. Indians (unchanged)
2. Diamondbacks (+1)
3. Brewers (-1)
4. Pirates (+3)
5. Mets (+5)
6. Nationals (+7)
7. Mariners (-2)
8. Blue Jays (-4)
9. A's (-4)
10. Orioles (-3)
11. Dodgers (unchanged)
12. Cubs (-2)
13. Royals (-1)
14. Astros (unchanged)

Biggest rise: Nationals
Biggest fall: Marlins

The teams in italics are the six different teams to win the past six World Series titles. I am hoping that trend will continue and yet a different team will win this year.

Apparently, the idea of abolishing divisions has been seriously considered in realignment discussions, though not with the parameters I have outlined. Sports Illustrated's Joe Lemire doesn't like the idea as he feels it would diminish the game's great rivalries. I don't buy it. With an arrangement like mine, soccer enjoys some of the world's most compelling sports rivalries: Arsenal/Man U, Barcelona/Real Madrid, Inter/AC, etc. Those teams manage to maintain vibrant enmity without playing one another 18 times a year. Plus, their league schedules are exactly the same which makes for a meaningful comparison at the end of the season - baseball can't say that for the Red Sox and Yankees.

I still have a real world division leader in my second division: the Cleveland Indians. If one of my second division teams wins the World Series, I shall consider this experiment a welcome failure.