The "IF" factor: An early look at the MLB pennant race

The "IF" factor post I did for the NBA playoffs was received well by you guys so I decided to go with the same format to break down the playoff race in the MLB. This time with a little more truth and a little less humour but before I get down to business it must be said that I have separated the pretenders from the contenders and bottom line is...

"IF" baseball allowed 30 teams into the playoffs then I would be talking about the following teams: Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Florida Marlins, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals, Houston Astros, Miwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona D'Backs

Now lets break it down...

American League East
"IF" Big Papi slows down on the big pimpin'
"IF" Jonathan Papelbon keeps the Mohawk for the season
... then the Boston Red Sox will win the AL East

"IF" A-Rod can concentrate on baseball rather than writing bedtime stories
"IF" Bobby Abreu and Corey Lidle can make up for the loss of the entire outfield
... then the New York Yankees will win the AL East

"IF" The Jays actually go 1 month with the same pitching rotation
"IF" The Yankees and Red Sox beat up on each other in September
... then the Toronto Blue Jays have a chance to win the AL East

American League Central
"IF" the rookie pitchers can hold down fort for the next two months
... the the Detroit Tigers will win the AL Central

"IF" Ozzie Guillen stops taking the spotlight away from the team
...then the Chicago White Sox will win the AL Central

"IF" the team keeps beating up their division
... then the Minnesota Twins will win the AL Central

American League West
"IF" Barry Zito is still in Green come September
... then the Oakland Athletics will win the AL West

"IF" they revert back to being the "Anaheim Angels"
... then the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim will win the AL West

"IF" they decide to play like they can and go on a mini run
... then the Texas Rangers will win the AL West

"IF" Kenji Johjima can find an easier way to communicate with his pitchers
... then the Seattle Mariners will win the AL West

National League East"IF" the earth keeps revolving
... then the New York Mets will win the NL East

National League Central
"IF" they can get help in the outfield or at the mound
"IF" Busch Stadium can avoid further natural disasters
... then the St Louis Cardinals will win the NL Central

"IF" Ken Griffey Jr. can get his mojo back
"IF" Elizardo Ramirez is still making headlines in September
... the the Cincinnati Reds have a chance to win the NL Central

National League West
"IF" they can get Mike Piazza to show them how to go on a win streak
... then the San Diego Padres will win the NL West

"IF" Bary Bonds is vindicated
... then the San Francisco Giants will win the NL West

"IF" they keep up this "revival" approach for the rest of the season
... then the Colorado Rockies might win the NL West

"IF" Jered Weaver can keep up this record breaking pace of wins/starts
... then the Los Angeles Dodgers will win the NL West

Speechless?? Not for long...

Its been a while but there is just so much going on with me in the last couple months that I haven't had time to really sit down and write complete posts... I began some and never completed them and now they don't seem as relevant . Thanks to all of you who wrote me asking if all was well... Life is good, I just haven't had the motivation to write as of late or it was more that I didn't want to put whatever was in my head out there but that all has passed so let today be the end of my bloging hiatus. To kick of the new year and a new start I decided to change up the lookaround here, but I am still toggling with the colours and whatnot so bare with me on that one.

2005 has come and gone and I have decided to kick of the new year by looking back at the top 20 sports stories from my point of view. So much happened in sports in 2005 that i could write a different entry for each pro sport but that might get boring so i decided to mix it up and give u the top 20 that came to my mind. Following this, I will be back later this week with the top 10 things to look forward to for the upcoming year. (No pictures this time around going to keep it short, just easing my way back) In no particular order here goes...

Reflections: 2005

• The NHL made its way back onto the ice after missing a complete season due to a lockout. With this new NHL came a new face and a poster boy for the future of the league by the name of Sidney Crosby. He is no Wayne Gretzky just yet but hopes are high...


• Kobe Bryant single handedly outscores the entire Dallas Mavericks team by the end of the third quarter in a game late in the year reaching the 62 point mark.


• Danica Patrick goes against all odds and ranks 4th in the Indy 500 breaking down barriers for women in the world of auto racing.


• The new CBA for the NBA is completed which included a new minor league system and a new age restriction. To boot the NBA has now introduced a dress code for the players which requires sport coats if you at the end of the bench and no exposed chains, no hats, throwback's n sorts pre and post game at the arena.


• Larry Brown leaves a championship team to return home and coach his hometown team the New York Knicks. One of the greatest coach in the game has a huge task ahead of him as the underachieving and overpaid Knicks might make him question his decision to leave Detroit...


• Baseball took a big hit as the abuse of performance enhancing drugs came to the forefront and made its way to the supreme courts. Big names like Rafael Palmeiro and Jason Giambi were put in the spotlight which has now led to more severe penalties set for offenders of the drug policy.


• The Chicago White Sox were able to join the ranks of the Boston Red Sox as they brought to and end their drought of 80 + years with no championship as they came away victorious in this years World series


• Hurricane Katrina swept though the Gulf coast and devastated thousands. The New Orleans Saints and New Orleans hornets were moved to play in Oklahoma City and the question still remains when will they be able to return? The sports in this story are secondary to what happened to the people of New Orleans and even today people are trying to pick up the pieces. In efforts for relief a large number of professional athletes stepped forward to help out in any way they can which was a great thing to see.


• Pat Riley wiggled his way back to the court as he now strides along the sidelines as the head coach of the Miami Heat after the "voluntary departure" of Stan Van Gundy


• Phil Jackson aka the Zen Master returns to the coaching ranks with the Lakers and the countdown begins towards when we will see a blowup between him and his star Kobe Bryant who he called out in his book.


• Wayne Gretzky is back on the ice but this time barking out defensive assignments to his players as he gets behind the bench as the new head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes.


• The likes of Mark Messeir and Jerry Rice walk away from the game ending memorable and definite hall of fame careers.


• "Monday Night Football" shuts its lights off after almost 4 decades. ABC says farewell to one of its highest ranking TV shows of all time.


• Steven A Smith almost pops a blood vessel on draft day when the Toronto Raptors selected Charlie Villanueva from UCONN for their 7th pick. Sure a lot of people were surprised but that reaction to ruin a young mans dream day was totally uncalled for!!


• The New England Patriots successfully created a dynasty by winning their 3rd NFL championship in 4 years and in this era of salary caps and non guaranteed contracts that is a commendable feat.


• The Spurs can be help up there with the great dynasties ... It would help if their franchise player showed a little more emotion and the team didn't come across as utterly robotic. Congratulations either way for winning and becoming one of the most underappreciated dynasties in professional sports.


• Ron Artest returns to the court in a pacers uniform... only to a month later ask to be traded! this man needs to understand he plays a team sport and get with the program. In the world of the "tru warrier" the drama never ends.


• "Black Monday" it was a crazy Monday right after the last few regular season NFL games were played as we witnessed a flurry of firings around the league as 6 head coaches were fired and one retired.


• Steve Nash was awarded the NBA's highest honor as a player receiving the MVP award at the end of last season as he put up Stockton like numbers and led the suns to the biggest turnaround season in the history of the league. Barring anything out of the ordinary he should once again be in the running for this year as he leads the league in assists playing without their franchise player and losing 2 key role players.


• I saved the best for last ... The saga that became the Philadelphia Eagles. It began early last year with some screaming and pushing along the sidelines but Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens put it aside and along with the rest of the team strode into the Superbowl. It got ugly from there with off-season finger pointing, a one week suspension from training camp, locker room battles and it ended with the decision to sit the star wide receiver for the rest of the season. Following this drama the star quarterback and star running back go down to bring an end to one of the most drama filled seasons for a NFL in recent memory.

"Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them -- a desire, a dream, a vision" - Muhammad Ali.