Major League Baseball: Following Florida and West Coast Teams

Although they've just lost a couple of games in a row, baseball's American League East Division-leading Tampa Bay Rays have come a long way from last year.  Currently, they are 40-32, while after 66 games in 2014 they were a dismal 24-42.  With proven success Joe Madden leaving the team after last season to manage the Chicago Cubs (which he has predictably turned around into a contender), many weren't giving the Rays much of a chance this year, especially in such a competitive division.  But Kevin Cash has stepped in and done a great job so far.  Still, the East has four of the five teams bunched up close together at the top, while even cellar-dwelling Boston could well be a factor in the second half of the season should they put things together...

The same good news cannot be said for the Miami Marlins in the National League East, currently mired in fourth place at 30-41.  The good news is that this team is in the same situation as the aforementioned Red Sox, i.e. should they catch fire and go on some winning streaks in the second half of the season they might be able to contend for a playoff spot at the end.  Still, when I consider some of their additions this year, like Dee Gordon, Michael Morse, and Ichiro Suzuki, along with the productivity of slugger Giancarlo Stanton, I'm more then a little dismayed by this team's failures so far...they should be at the top of the standings with the Nationals and Mets...

Although I tend to follow the two Florida teams in baseball, my work schedule, which has me getting home a little before 12:30 AM, has given me the opportunity to watch the conclusions of games played out west...so I'm becoming more familiar with Seattle, both Los Angeles teams, Arizona, San Francisco, San Diego, and Oakland...and I tend to root for the Mariners (who aren't playing up to expectations so far) and the Giants (who are matching, if not exceeding expectations)...