Bizarro baseball: MLB 2008 playoffs get crazy

By Robby Henry
Word Contributor

Major League Baseball is witnessing one of the most bizarre seasons in history. Think I�m messing with you? Then get ready for this.

AL East
This is the first time in their 10 years as a major league team that the Tampa Bay Rays have made the playoffs by taking the AL East title. Actually, it�s the first time they�ve ended their season above fourth place.

This young team was looking for something new for this season. New acquisitions like former Twins players Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett and free agents Cliff Floyd and Troy Percival, who became one of the best closers to play in the 2008 season. And, just for icing on the cake, they called up the top third base prospect Evan Longoria and last year�s top draft pick, David Price.

Things were looking up for the Rays right from spring training. Setting a team record of 18 wins in spring training, they also tied for the highest winning percentage of all teams in the Grapefruit League with the Oakland Athletics. The first month was rough, but they rebounded and just to show their might, swept the Red Sox in the early month of April.

AL Wild Card
The American League Wild Card team this year is the Boston Red Sox. Yeah, yeah, I know what you�re thinking, �These guys?! AGAIN?!� Yeah, well that�s what I thought, too. But when you look at Terry Francona�s terrific ball club, there�s not a shadow of a doubt they deserve to be in the playoffs.

With veteran, ace pitchers Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Tim Wakefield and Mike Timlin mixed together with second-year starter Daisuke Matsuzaka and hotshot closer Jonathan Papelbon, these Sox are ready for a playoff repeat.

Anything else? Oh yeah, there is. OK, they�ve got good pitching. Of course they�ve got killer offense, too. Second baseman Dustin Pedroia finished second in the league in batting average (.326). Kevin Youkilis, the 2007 Gold Glove winner for first basemen is still slugging consistently. �Big Papi� David Ortiz is still a constant threat at the plate. Outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Bay and Major League Baseball All Star Game MVP J.D. Drew can still �put it on the board.�

This team, unlike the Rays, is all veterans � skilled veterans. The Rays are rookies � talented and young rookies.

AL Central
The AL Central came down to one game on the last of September for the AL Central champs � the Chicago White Sox. This is the first time in 102 years that both Chicago teams are in the playoffs at the same time. The Sox were on top nearly all of this season, but occasionally traded off leads with the Minnesota Twins.

Toward the middle of August, the White Sox pitching slowed down. They were having trouble winning except when their offense overcame the opponents. They were hit by injuries all season and to important people, too. Scott Linebrink got hurt and was out for almost two months. He was their best bullpen pitcher. When he did come back he never pitched the same. Paul Konerko hurt himself twice. He was off all season and never improved too much when he returned.

The worst of them all, though, was when Carlos Quentin fractured his wrist when, out of frustration, he hit his hand with his bat. With Quentin out for the season, the White Sox played even worse in the month of September. Leading the league in home runs, it was obvious he was important to making the Sox a winning team. However, with the 461-foot home run from the slugger Jim Thome and John Danks, the 23-year old southpaw, working it out, the White Sox took the win and the division and returned to the playoffs again since their best year ever � 2005.

AL West
The American League West � do we bother talking about it? Yeah, we might as well. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim clinched the AL West this year. And they did it a little early by setting off their magic number on Sept. 10. The outstanding manager, Mike Scioscia, will once again lead his team to the playoffs. This time, hoping for some championship rings to bring back to California.

The Halos have a bad habit of losing in the ALDS. But this may be the year, the redeeming year to regain lost glory, (six years of lost glory to be exact).

Then there�s Francisco Rodriguez. This 26-year old phenom just broke the Major League record for single season saves. He�s sort of like Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps with Babe Ruth�s prestige. But don�t you fret, there�s so much more that makes this team formidable. The starting rotation is tough to face: Jon Garland, John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders and Jered Weaver. They�ve all got winning records and decent ERAs.

The bullpen is good and, of course, K-Rod is there. The offense has never been overpowering in recent years, but this year it can be considered at the very least powerful. Picking up Mark Teixeira was what put the offense over just enough.

But then there�s the outfield. Garret Anderson has been the hit demon to get on base for the runs. Being only second to Derek Jeter in hits, he�s been leading the team since 1994.

But who�s that in right field? That�s easy enough. Vladimir Guerrero has still got his best abilities for this season � to hit consistently, to hit with power, to hit EVERYWHERE with power and to still use his �cannon� arm for good. He can peg a runner at home plate from the fence. �Vlad the Impaler� can hit anything pitched � in or out of the strike zone. Actually, he�s in a bit of a slump this year. This is the first time since his rookie year he�s batting below .300 � he�s batting .295.

NL East
There goes a homer � there goes another � and another �

The mighty Philadelphia Phillies clinched the NL East this year. Their story to getting there is very interesting, though. In the first half of the season, the Phillies were battling it out with the Florida Marlins for division leadership. Then, sometime close to the All-Star Break, the Marlins went cold. So cold they fell into fourth place at one time. They did bounce back to end in third, but they never could recover first or second place.

The Phillies, however, kept on slugging and smacking home runs. With the league and MLB leader in home runs, Ryan Howard, they were the home run kings. No, no, their clinching was not THAT easy. Meanwhile, the New York Mets were surging their way to the top. From third to first in about 12 games, they won more than 10 games in a row!

Suddenly, the Mets were in first. The Phillies were struggling until sometime around August, when they regained first place. Now neck-and-neck with the Mets, just like with the Marlins, they duked it out with each other. The other lost, the other takes the lead � on and on.

Sometime around early September, the Phillies took an early lead. But, the way these teams played had pushed them so high up; it gave the loser a wild card shot. Around the last series of the season, the Phillies clinched. What happened to the Mets? We�ll get to that soon.

NL Central
The Chicago Cubs took it this year. The Cubbies are hoping to end their curse on their 100th year anniversary. No, it�s not a celebration. They haven�t won the World Series in 100 years! But, all Cubs fans were hopeful that this year would be the curse breaker. This is the first time in a very long time they came into the playoffs favored.

Upholding their glory from last year as division champs, the Cubs were expecting good stuff for this season, with sluggers Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano and Derek Lee and with preseason pick-up Kosuke Fukudome. This team also has terrific pitching like Ryan Dempster, Rich Harden, Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis and Carlos Zambrano. Midseason trades bolstered the team and turned it into a powerhouse.

Former Cardinal Jim Edmonds joined the club early on, and Oakland A�s ace pitcher Rich Harden was added in early July. To top it off, the Cubs maestro pitcher Carlos Zambrano threw what was expected of him for a long time � a no-hitter. On Sept. 20, the Chicago Cubs clinched the NL Central by beating St. Louis. This is the first time since 1906-08 that the Cubs have won consecutive division titles.

NL Wild Card
It�s good to get your glory back. Especially if you�re the Brewers and you haven�t been to the playoffs since 1982.

But they�ve never won a World Series title. This year they will go back to the playoffs hoping to get there again. The Milwaukee Brewers took the NL Wild Card slot. But for the Mets it means another last game heartbreaker. On the last game of the season, the Brewers faced the Cubs and defeated them 3-1. The Mets lost to the Marlins 4-2. This gave the Brewers the win, and the playoff slot. The Mets lost the playoff berth on a last game loss last year, too.

But the Brewers can take anyone with a good fight in the playoffs. They�ve got the offense to do it. They�ve got Prince Fielder, Bill Hall, J.J. Hardy, Ryan Braun and Corey Hart. The starting rotation can kill nearly anyone and is maybe more deadly than the Angels�. Dave Bush, Yovani Gallardo � new Brewer from the Cleveland Indians who is in the running for a Cy Young award � CC Sabathia, Ben Sheets and Jeff Suppan. Now it�s just me, but I would look things over and think carefully before I play the Brewers � manager Dale Sveum can make you cry after beating you horribly with his awesome team.

NL West
After trailing nearly all season, the Los Angeles Dodgers took home the NL West championship. The Arizona Diamondbacks faltered in the final month and gave the Dodgers time to spring and close it out with the title.

Though they only hold a winning percentage of .519, this team can still be a threat to anyone. Picking up Manny Ramirez in a three-way trade that sent Jason Bay from the Pirates to the Bo Sox, Manny to the Dodgers from the Sox and Andy LaRoche and single-A prospect pitcher Bryan Morris to the Pittsburgh Pirates is what gave this team hope and strength enough to clinch.

Ramirez has been batting better than ever before. But he�s got a bit of an attitude, too. When told to cut his hair due to team traditions on the LA Dodgers, he simply cut off approximately 2 centimeters and smiled walking into the clubhouse the next day.

Of course, Joe Torre, being one of the best managers to ever coach a team, helped them a lot, too. His leadership drove them to the playoffs even when they were repeatedly down and out. They also re-acquired Greg Maddux from the San Diego Padres to power up the pitching. Sweeping the D-Backs on Sept. 7, after being four games back the week before gave them the lead and basically gave them the division.

Yeah, this year is going to be very chaotic in Major League Baseball. So that�s why you should watch it. This is going to be the best fall classic ever! And you know � there�s only one October!


Robby Henry is in eighth grade at Waltham School in Utica.