Grouping Teams for Pennant Races

Every year we go through it, there are three groups of teams in September. The first group is those headed to the playoffs and those trying to reach the playoffs in the wild card race. The second group are teams with big payrolls and expectations trying to figure out what went wrong and the final group are teams hopelessly out of it and using the time to utilize a youth movement that they hope will someday get them in group one.

This is where I see them:

GROUP 1

Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, Angels, Rangers, Twins (though they're trying to hold on for dear life), Phillies, Marlins and Braves (also holding on), Cardinals, Dodgers, Rockies, Giants.

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Are These Yankees Like the '98 Yankees?

The Yankees are playing very impressively and winning with the frequency that they won during other years. That is drawing various comparisons to the 1998 team with lines such as machine-like efficiency.

One similarity that seems obvious to me is playing with a fire. If you remember the 1997 team was stunned in the first round by the Indians after winning it all in 1996. The images of Paul O'Neill sliding at second are so vivid and that team had a bunch of gamers who were determined not to let it happen again.

It did not. The Yankees started 1-4 and finished 114-48. This team started 13-15 and was 38-32, so that's a difference.

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