What an interesting season of baseball we have had so far. After the National Leagues successful victory over the American League in the all-star game it is fitting to draw up some of the most surprising moments of the season at this point.
There have been a lot of exciting moments and memorable action, but a few storylines might come as a surprise to some fans.
Maybe the most shocking storyline so far has been the NL East.
Yes, the NL East. Over the last few years this division has been pretty much sealed up by the Phillies with little interruption. The Braves or Mets might make a run here or there, or even lead for a duration of the season – but eventually the mighty Phillies would claim their divisional title.
Well, this year is a different story. The Washington Nationals – wait, before I go any further, I want you all to realize that I am saying the Washington Nationals – are leading the division.
Uh, what? The Nationals have been at the bottom for many years now, always looked down as the little brothers from DC. It never seemed like the Nationals would have a legitimate shot at winning the division, but now they are showing that they do belong near the top.
Atlanta is only a few games back and the Mets are close enough to make a solid run. But what is most shocking is where the powerful Phillies are currently standing. As of this past Sunday the Phillies were fourteen games back of the Nationals — crazy how things can change.
The Phillies seem to be too far back to make a run, even though there is still plenty of time remaining in the season. It will be interesting to see if the Nationals can hold onto their thin lead.
Another surprising storyline form this season has been the incredible run by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Central.
They lost their lead in the division after the all-star break, but it is still exciting to see them in the chase and actually, somewhat controlling the division.
A lot of their success can be credited to their young superstar outfielder Andrew McCutchen. The 25-year old all-star has been destroying the ball this season, hitting 21 homeruns, 64 RBI and a batting average of .371 — McCutchen has been nothing short of amazing.
Andrew is one of the few talented prospects that the Pirates decided to keep around. Over the last several years, every time the Pirates had a time rank prospect they would trade them for, well, more prospects.
They kept McCutchen around and he has helped turn their team around.
Similar to the Nationals, it will be fun to see if the Pirates can actually win the division or at least hopefully win the wild card. It would be great to see either of those teams make the playoffs.
A lot of things are changing in baseball; different teams are taking charge and leading divisions.
If you dropped off the face of the earth for two months and then came back to see teams like the Nationals and Pirates leading their divisions you wouldn’t believe it.
But not everything has changed; there is still plenty that remains the same. Look at the AL West, no surprise here; the Texas Rangers are still atop the division.
Got to love baseball, a long season of exciting storylines and action, and now we are entering the last half of the season when things start to get real fun.
Tyler Rollason is a Winder-Barrow High School graduate and mass communications major at the University of West Georgia. You can e-mail comments about this column to tyrollason@yahoo.com.
