Tradition calls for baseball fans to pause at three prominent holidays during the long season to take stock of where the pennant races stand. The first measure is taken during Memorial Day. Two months into the season can give a glimpse into which teams have gotten off to a quick start and which are already buried with lousy records. Halfway through is July Fourth. Teams that are in contention that deep into the season have to make hard decisions about whether to go for broke and pick up veterans to bolster the roster for the stretch run. Finally, there is Labor Day. The dog days of August are over and one last month (thirty games) are left. With the holiday just having ended it would be fun to see who really has a shot at postseason action. In the American League things are a bit more settled than in the senior circuit. The Red Sox despite being swept by the Yankees are still in a commanding position to win the east. The Angels are running away with the west. That leaves the Indians and Tigers battling in the central with the Cleveland nine having the upper hand. As always, the Yankees are in the mix, but this time for the Wild Card spot. Seattle is playing the Bombers as this is being written but probably will fade. The Yankees pitching could still self destruct allowing the Tigers to slip in but this would be a real upset. So as things look now, it will be the Red Sox, Indians, Angels, and Yankees. Many years ago sports fans would be arguing over this in a passionate manner. But with the preponderance of televised sports and the current popularity with football (both professional and collegiate) one wonders how many followers of the nation's once proud pastime are that emotionally involved with the standings.
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