There is only 1 thing that’s certain about this baseball season: There is very little that’s certain. Just about every team and every division is on a roller coaster ride. Sure, there are a few bad teams that are pretty much bad just about every series and even every game. But that’s about all that is certain. All the top teams seem to be unable to put things together enough to pull away from the rest of their division. But that’s just fine. Because it’s going to make for a great ride.

The 1 division that looked like it would be decided early was the NL West. Then the Giants’ pitching staff started pitching like they’re capable and now even that division isn,’t a lock. In fact, the Giants have now climbed back up to just 6 games behind the division leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

Every divisional race is still completely up in the air.

The AL East will be contested between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Even the Rays are only 5.5 games back. In the AL Central the race is between the Detroit Tigers, the Chicago White Sox, and the Minnesota Twins. And in the AL West it will be a battle between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Texas Rangers (of Arlington).

Over in the National League the East will be between the Philadelphia Phillies, the Atlanta Braves, the Florida Marlins, and the New York Mets. Over in the Central it will be the St. Louis Cardinals, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Chicago Cubs, the Houston Astros, and the Cincinnati Reds. In fact, this division is completely up in the air. The 5th place Reds are only 4.5 games back. So they are certainly right in the middle of things too.

And that’s the way it’s beginning to look for the rest of the season. No team is looking like they will easily win their division. But we’ll see how things continue to shape-up as we go through July and August.

The San Francisco Giants are a good team. This seems to be a certainty. And that is a pretty bold statement considering where they were last year and at the beginning of the season. But are they a great team? Well, they are looking like a great team right now. And last night they had a great performance from Jonathan Sanchez. In fact it was an awesome performance.

Sanchez threw a no-hitter and it would have been a perfect game if not for an 8th inning error. So, through no fault of his own, Sanchez lost his perfect game but he certainly earned his no hitter.

This adds yet another dominant pitching performance to a large collection of dominant pitching performances that the Giants have amassed this season. And it sends another message to the 1st place Los Angeles Dodgers that the Giants aren’t going anywhere.

Yes, the Dodgers do have the best record in baseball and they also have the largest divisional lead in all of baseball. However, the Giants aren’t completely losing touch with the Dodgers. They are 7 games back but that’s a lot better than they were a couple months ago. Plus, they actually have the 2nd best record in the NL.

Let’s see if the Giants can ride Sanchez’s performance to a weekend sweep before the All Star Break. Having Matt Cain (10-2) on the mound on Saturday will certainly help the Giants keep things going. And then Barry Zito will start for them on Sunday. At 5-8 Zito has had a tough season but he has thrown the ball pretty well. His ERA is decent. So, the Giants could really use this series as a launching board.

And, even though I still think the Dodgers will win this division easily, I’m not quite as sure as I was a couple weeks ago. In fact, this race could get very close. And even with if the Giants don’t catch the Dodgers, if they get into the playoffs with a Wild Card, there isn’t any team that wants to play them with the pitchers they have at the top of their rotation.

The first big series (that was mentioned yesterday) is the Chicago White Sox visiting the Minnesota Twins. Both of these teams have made-up ground on the 1st place Detroit Tigers over the last couple of weeks. However, the White Sox are still 2.5 back and the Twins have fallen to 4 games back. So, both of these teams want to be as close to Detroit as the All Star Break rolls around. And they each would like to be in 1st place. This series will determine where both of these teams stand.

Another big series will be the New York Yankees visiting the Anaheim Angels. Just when it looked like Anaheim has it all together, and just when it looked like they would take charge of the AL West, they stumbled and now the Rangers are up by a game. Meanwhile, the Yankees have caught fire (again) and pulled even with the Red Sox in the AL East. This is a big series for both of these teams. They both want to be in 1st place when the weekend is over.

Finally, in the National League the Brewers have a big series against the Dodgers and the have a big series against the Cubs. The NL Central is a collection of mediocre teams that all have a decent shot of winning the division. Right now the Cards have a 2 game lead but the Cubs can make-up ground this weekend. And 2nd place Milwaukee can make-up ground too. But they have to play the best team (record wise) in baseball – the Dodgers. So we’ll see how all that unfolds.

Look for the Yankees to stay hot. The Twins to take 2 of 3 from the White Sox. The Dodgers to take 2 against the Brewers, and the Cubs to win the series against the Cards.

The New York Yankees are one such team. They have now pulled even with the Boston Red Sox in the American League East. The Yankees went into the Metrodome (a very tough place to play) and swept the Minnesota Twins. The Yankees are rolling. With the way they’re playing right now they probably wish they could play everyday without breaking for the All Star Break.

Another team that’s gotten it going recently is the Texas Rangers. They just came off winning a series against the Anaheim Angels. Now the Rangers lead the AL West by a game over the Angels. The Rangers will get the Seattle Mariners this weekend while the Angels have to play the red-hot Yankees. So it looks like the Rangers have a great chance of building on their slim lead.

The Chicago White Sox are another team that’s on a roll right now. They’ve moved past the Minnesota Twins into 2nd place in the AL Central. They did lose today and that dropped them back to 2.5 games behind the Detroit Tigers. But just a couple weeks ago it looked like the White Sox would be at least 5 or 6 games back at the Break. Now they have themselves in a great position to be right with the Tigers.

The White Sox have a big series coming up against the Twins. The Twins have fallen back to 4 games behind the Tigers and 1.5 games behind the White Sox. This series may very well decide which team is in 2nd place at the All Star Break.

The Anaheim Angels started this season really slowly. They had their issues. They had some key injuries. But slowly they started resolving their issues and slowly they started playing better baseball. They caught the Texas Rangers a couple weeks ago and I thought they’d just blow by them. Well, that hasn’t happened.

Now, after playing 2 games in the last 2 days, these 2 teams are still tied atop the AL West. The Rangers are showing me a lot by sticking with the Angels. However, I still don’t think they can stick with them for the entire season. However, only time will tell. And maybe with Josh Hamilton coming back the Rangers can be in 1st place when the All-Star Break rolls around next week.

Over in the NL Central the Cards and the Brewers are playing an important series. So far it’s been the Cards with the upper hand. After 2 games in this series the Cards have opened up a 2 game lead. I like the Cards to win this division. I just think they have a great manager and they have just enough talent. But the Brewers are making it interesting. So are the Cubs and the Reds. Even the Astros are only 4.5 games back.

This will be a very interesting race between all these teams. They all have the potential to win it all. However, I just think the Cards have a little more of what’s needed. And the series that’s being played between the Brewers and the Cards is proving just a little bit of that.

For a while it didn’t seem like any team in the NL East wanted to win the division. But now perhaps the Phillies do want it. They’ve now won 4 straight games and they’ve opened up a small 2 game lead over the Florida Marlins. The Mets are now 4.5 games back, which isn’t bad considering they’ve lost a ton of games the last couple of weeks. And even the Braves aren’t out of it. They’re just 5 games back. Perhaps the most surprising thing about this division is that the Nationals are a whopping 19 games back. How can any team be 19 games back in such a mediocre division? And it isn’t even the All Star Break yet.

Meanwhile, in the NL Central the St. Louis Cardinals are holding onto a slim 1 game lead. They’re up a game on the Milwaukee Brewers. The Chicago Cubs are just 2 games back and the Cubs and Red are both 3.5 games back. So, this is another division full of mediocre teams. But it should make for a great race through September and into October.

In the NL West the Los Angeles Dodgers have Manny back and they continue to roll along. They’ve actually been playing some bad baseball lately but they still have a 7 game lead over the San Francisco Giants. Look out for the Giants. They have a really good shot at making the Wild Card. The only problem for them is the fact that they have to play the Dodgers so much. But I still think they’ll make it.

So, I like the Mets to win the East (I know, I know, but give them some more time), the Cards to win the Central, and the Dodgers to take the West. The Giants are my Wild Card team. At least for now.

The American League East has turned into a major war. They have 4 teams above .500. Even more impressive they have the 2 best records in the American League. The Yankees and the Red Sox just might be the 2 best teams in all of baseball. Yes the Dodgers have a better record but they don’t have to play the other teams in the AL East on a regular basis. And now the Rays are getting in on the action too. They’ve lost their last 4 games but they’ll be able to get it back together. Will they be able to challenge the Yankes and the Red Sox? Well, it doesn’t look likely but the Rays didn’t seem likely to do what they did last year either.

Over in the AL Central the Tigers are seeing their weakness take them down. They can’t hit the ball. And since they can’t hit the ball they’re now losing games in clusters. They’re clinging to a 1.5 game lead over the Twins and a 2 game lead over the White Sox. They could easily find themselves in 3rd place by the All-Star Break. Leyland better find a way to get this team to hit at least a little bit.

Finally, the AL West is a roller coaster. First the Rangers are up, then they’re down and the Angels are up. Then the Angels are down and the Texans up. Right now the Angels are a game up in the division. I like the Angels to pull away but who really knows? The Rangers do have Josh Hamilton back now.

So, who do I like? I still like the Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, and Angels to go to the playoffs. It will be interesting to see where these teams stand when the All-Star Break rolls around in less than a week.

The first team that will be interesting to watch is no surprise at all. The New York Yankees, as always, are very interesting. They are looking great right now, but sometimes they look horrible. Will this be a team that underachieves once again or will they win the division and the World Series? Will it be something in between? And if this team starts to come off the rails, how long will manager Joe Girardi be around?

Another team to keep an eye on is the Philadelphia Phillies. The World Champs are struggling. Sure, they have some injury excuses but what team doesn’t? Lucky for them, the rest of the division has been just about as bad.

The Detroit Tigers are a team that could fall to last place in the Al Central or they could run away with the division. They have the pitching but their hitting is atrocious most nights. Magglio Ordonez has turned into a human double play machine. It’s just about a guarantee that he will hit a nice easy double play ball every time there’s a man on first.

Finally, the Los Angeles Dodgers are a team to keep track of. Manny is coming back! And this is a team that has very few weaknesses. It’s tough to see any other team in the NL challenging them right now. But, there is still a lot of baseball to be played.

The New York Yankees started the season playing horrible baseball. The Red Sox were average at best. And the Rays were just plan horrible. But one team that came out of the gates playing great baseball was the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays jumped out to a division lead and for a couple months they looked like they just might be this year’s Rays. But the Blue Jays cooled off just a little bit and that has been enough to drop them back to 4th place in the AL East. Sure the Blue Jays are still playing over .500 but the rest of the division has really picked it up. Yes, that includes all 3 teams that we thought would be great this year.

The Red Sox are a team to be reckoned with this year. That much is certain. They have the pitching and the hitting to win it all. The only question is whether they’ll be able to hold off the Yankees and even the Rays. Because the Yankees are showing signs of being a team that is so good it’s scary.

In fact, the Yankees have now won 7 straight games. Before this 7 games winning streak they looked like they might be in trouble. But this team has way too much talent to simply fade into oblivion. They will be at or near the top of the division by the end of the season (unless Girardi is even worse than I think).

And the Rays have also seemingly put it back together. They are playing great too. But I just don’t think they can duplicate what they did last year and I think the Red Sox and the Yankees have too much.

Only time will tell. But one thing that is certain right now is the fact that the AL East is a beast of a division. And, as we sit here in very early July, this division is finally living up to the hype.

Just look at the New York Yankees. Just when it looked like they would tank all season they suddenly ripped off a few good weeks and took over 1st place. But then just when it looked like they would stay in first for the rest of the season they slumped and dropped away from the Boston Red Sox. Then when it looked like they would maybe drop to third place now they’re playing great ball again.

Of course the Boston Red Sox are on a similar path. They’ve had their ups and downs too. But they’ve managed to be better overall and so they’re still in first place. But still, how do you blow that huge lead they had against the Baltimore Orioles last night? How do you do that to John Smoltz? Unbelievable.

But the Red Sox and the Yankees have plenty of company throughout baseball. The Detroit Tigers, the Philadelphia Phillies, the St. Louis Cardinals, and many other teams have looked like the best team in baseball and then suddenly turned into one of the worst teams in baseball.

What does all this mean? Well, for one thing it means that we’re probably in for a wild summer. It also means we probably won’t know very much about how the post season will look until at least September. And it might be more like October.

So let the roller coaster ride continue.