SPORTS SUNDAY

ok. halfway though a deeply satisfying season so far. i have to say there have been lots of disappointing aspects(ortiz' failure, pitching aces crapping out, whole divisions playing like they are the nl west)but baseball, ultimately, never disappoints. unless you're mike & can't live w/how things shake out(like the twins winning the series in '87), baseball never disappoints.

how'd i do so far w/my picks? well, i said mets, phillies, marlins in the nl east. right now, it's phillies, marlins, & the braves.
in the central, i picked the cubs, cards, & reds. right now, it's the cards, brewers, & cubs. in the west, i picked arizona, the dodgers & the rockies. it's dodgers, giants, & rockies.
in the al, picked boston, yankees, tampa in the east. it's boston, yankees, tampa. in the central, i picked the sox, kc, & cleveland. it's tigers, sox, twins. in the west, i picked, the angels, oakland, & texas. it's angels, texas, mariners.

jimmy the greek, i ain't. this isn't like when i was picking winners in the old american football league for the mafia(when i was 10yo). i guess i've lost my touch a bit. still, the worst isn't so bad. who knew arizona would collapse like they have(even w/the addition of garland & haren pitching the way he is). i'm not sure why i picked cleveland. i think because i couldn't bring myself to pick the tigers(again)& see them do what cleveland is doing(like the tigers did in the 2008 season). i thought oakland would be, at the very least, an offensive power. they've just been offensive...totally stink-o. the mariners? get out of here. they were a reclamation site for at least three years. who knew?

i have to admit that my thinking about the sf giants hasn't been on track either. i can't fault my thinking about them. they're lead by a third rate manager, a utilitarian who provides higher management & ownership w/a white body to prevent minorities from taking their rightful place in power positions. they're playing & producing WAY over their heads offensively & defensively. the pitching has been, as expected, superb. i don't wish for failure here. it would be a great story if they rise to the occasion. i still don't think they will. once we proceed into summer's heat, i think they'll fold. no wildcard. no nothing. maybe second place but i doubt that. i think the rockies will overtake them.

the great thing about baseball is that you can almost bet that some team or another will surprize or disappoint but you can never really guess who that team will be or why. have an ace pitcher tank unexpectedly & whole seasons go down too. have a rookie produce or a couple of journeymen suddenly go on hitting streaks & you have someone up & someone down. it can easily come down to the last day of a long long season & sometimes extend beyond that.

i will say that it's easy to say adios to my arizona pick. i'm not abandoning them & hope they do better in the second half but they look like toast to me. teams have come back in the second half but i don't see them doing it. otherwise, i'll stand pat. hell, bailing on your picks is like being a runaway bride or not giving the game its due. it's not respecting the sometimes thrilling end result. it's not respecting the end result, period. like the '87 twins, world champions!!!