Baseball's 2012 All-Star Break

We've arrived once again at the time of the summer when sports enthusiasts are all abuzz about...Wimbledon tennis, right?  Uh, sure, if you say so.

No, I was referring instead to the "real" sports annual milestone: the Major League Baseball All-Star break.  This is the time when a few watch an essentially meaningless Tuesday night game showcasing star players, but my interest is with the standings and how the various teams are doing.  In the American League East, my New York Yankees are comfortably in first place, although this year all five teams are competitive.  Baltimore is the biggest surprise, managing to stay in second place this late in the season.  In the AL Central are two other surprises: the first place Chicago White Sox and the embarrassing Cleveland Indians in second. I say embarrassing because whenever I am watching a game that they're playing in all I can do is stare at that offensive, toothy, grinning caricature of a Native American on their uniforms (and just about anywhere else, it seems).  Oh well, I guess I'll have to stay embarrassed because they're never going to change it.  Now what was I talking about? Oh yeah...

Although the Chisox and Grotesque Grinjuns are currently ahead of them in the AL Central standings, the Detroit Tigers, last year's divisional winner, is poised right behind them in third.  I expect them to surge ahead of the two upstarts in the season's second half and win it again (although I like the Pale Hose).

Over in the AL West, Texas is once again solidly in front while the Los Angeles/California/Anaheim/Los Angeles (at Anaheim) Angels are in solid second (even if their name isn't solid), having recovered from a horrendous start to the season.  I'm rooting for the "Wherever" Angels to overtake the Rangers for the divisional title.  Whoever finishes second should make it to the playoffs as a wildcard team, though.

The National League features a few surprises of its own.  The East has been turned on its head with perennial cellar-dweller Washington solidly in first place and perennial champion Philadelphia solidly in last.  Many are expecting the capital city's Nationals to fade some in the second half, and the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves are in good positions to surge to a title.  The NL Central also has a surprise leader: the Pittsburgh Pirates.  But lately this division has seen a big turnover in champions each year.  The Seattle Pilots, last year's divisional champions, are currently mired in the lower division (and I'm aware of what I just said) while Cincinnati and defending World Series champion St. Louis are in second and third places respectively.  Look for the champ Cards to brush away the opposition in the second half of the season, despite having lost star slugger Pujols to the Angels.  The NL West is shaping up as a three-way race between last year's winner Arizona, 2010's World Series champion San Francisco, and the overhyped Los Angeles Dodgers.  Who knows who will manage to win that division this year: your guess is as good as mine.

I'm trying to think of what would be the "best" World Series this year, based on what has been going on so far.  The Washington Nationals, although with clearly the best record in the National League so far, don't appeal to me.  No, I think rather that the New York Mets or San Francisco Giants would be a more attractive matchup against, of course, my pick in the American League: the Yanks!