Home MLB'Weekly' Hit Ground Ball ‘Weekly’ Hit Ground Ball 2008 – Week Twenty Four

‘Weekly’ Hit Ground Ball 2008 – Week Twenty Four

by Matt Smith

The Angels rule the West 

The Los Angeles Angels were celebrating on Wednesday as they became the first team to win their division in 2008. The AL West was secured after a 4-2 victory over the Yankees was followed one hour later by the Texas Rangers’ defeat to the Mariners. With their magic number first reduced to one and then to none, the party could begin in Anaheim.

However the speed at which they’ve achieved this feat makes it difficult to evaluate just how well the Angels have played. Are they overrated or underrated? 

When you compare them to the other post-season hopefuls, the Angels are in a great position. They have the best record in baseball, which is a decent indicator that they may be the best team in the Majors. At the same time, the Angels were able to wrap up their division with a full seventeen games still to go. MLB.com notes that it was the fifth quickest clinching of a division since the Majors expanded to a 162 game season. No other team was even close to celebrating a division title while the Angels were spraying champagne over each other. The next best were the Cubs who finished the day with a magic number of 13, sitting 4.5 games ahead of the Brewers in the NL Central.

The evidence suggests that the Angels are a dominating juggernaut, primed to sweep everyone else out of their way in October.

Hang on a minute though. All the Angels have done so far is win the AL West. Even accepting that they won it at a cantor, it’s still not the most notable achievement in the world when you consider the competition they were up against.

Or should that be lack of competition?

The A’s were the team challenging the Angels in the first half and in many ways that summed up the division. After trading away the likes of Dan Haren and Nick Swisher over the off-season and publicly declaring themselves to be in ‘rebuilding’ mode, no one expected Oakland to be in with a shout. The A’s finished June with an impressive 45-37 record and they trailed the Angels by just 3.5 games, but GM Billy Beane didn’t let a good first half sway him from his long-term vision. Rich Harden and Joe Blanton left for the National League and the A’s waved the white flag while stumbling to a 18-37 record during July and August.

The Angels rode off into the sunset with a 19-6 July (including a 4-1 record against the A’s and a 6-0 record over the Red Sox), by which point they led the Rangers by 12.5 games. Texas have occupied second place in the West ever since, although they have never looked like putting the Angels under any sort of pressure. Ten and a half games back is the closest they’ve come, which really isn’t close at all.

It was predicted that Oakland and Texas were always going to be left trailing in the Angels’ wake this season. The team that was supposed to be battling with L.A. for the division crown were the Seattle Mariners. It’s probably best for all concerned that we don’t dwell on the Mariners’ season. Let’s just say it hasn’t quite gone to plan.

So if we’re being honest, the Angels have essentially won a division by beating three mediocre/poor teams. The unbalanced schedule has also given them ample opportunity to inflate their win-loss record thanks to a 27-16 record against their division mates.

The facts might be accurate, but the perception of them being overrated ‘average Angels’ is misleading. It’s hardly L.A.’s fault that the rest of the AL West fell apart; they could only beat what was put in front of them. And the Angels are not the only team to take advantage of weak opposition. The Rays have beaten the Orioles in ten of their thirteen contests so far this season, while the White Sox have a satanic .666 winning percentage from their thirty games against the Indians and the Royals.

And then you look at their roster. A batting core of Teixeira, Guerrero, Hunter and Anderson, with a solid supporting cast including Figgins, Matthews Jr and Rivera to name but three. An imposing starting rotation even without Kelvim Escobar, who has been on the disabled list all season. A bullpen topped off by Francisco Rodriguez, the single season save record holder following his 58th last night against the Mariners. The Angels certainly don’t lack game-changing players.

They may have won an easy division, but that doesn’t diminish the fact they are a very solid team. Even if they are not quite the unstoppable force that their rapid division victory might suggest, do not underestimate the Angels’ ability to win a second World Series in six years.

Week 24 wrap-up

The Angels (91-57) are on a four-game winning streak, increasing their lead over the Rangers to 18.5 games and making a statement that they are not about to become complacent despite already having the division sewn up. The rest of the play-off hopefuls would love to be in that position. Instead, a combination of wins, losses and rainouts has meant that the other seven postseason spots are still up in the air.

The Red Sox have cut the Rays’ (88-58) lead in the East down to 2 games, although both teams have a strong chance of making October as Boston are five games ahead of the AL Central leaders in the wild card race. That means the race for the AL Central crown is a true all-or-nothing affair. The White Sox’s (81-65) doubleheader against the Tigers was rained out yesterday, while the Twins (82-66) won two against the Orioles to pull themselves level at the top of the division.

The Cubs’ (88-58) series in Houston is being moved to Milwaukee today due to Hurricane Ike causing havoc in the Lone Star state. Chicago haven’t played since Thursday, but they’ve maintained their six game lead over the Brewers because the latter has once again been unable to take advantage. A couple of weeks ago, Milwaukee fans would have turned up at Miller Park to cheer on the Astros against the Cubs, but Houston had won six in a row prior to being halted by the weather. This means they are now just 2.5 games behind the Brewers in the NL wildcard race, with the Phillies being closer still at 2 games back. Philadelphia trail the Mets (83-64) by 2.5 games in the East, while the D-Backs have collapsed in the West as the Dodgers (77-71) continue their great form to lead the division by 4.5 games.

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1 comment

Joe Gray September 14, 2008 - 9:58 am

At least the AL West isn’t quite as weak as it was back in the strike-shortened 2004 season:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_in_baseball#Major_League_Baseball_final_standings

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