Here We Go Again

On August 8th the Indians defeated Minnesota in the last game of a series, breaking an 11-game losing streak, the second longest in franchise history. They then split a 4-game series with Boston and won the opener against Anaheim, giving them four wins in a six-game stretch. On August 14th, they lost to the Angels, then they lost again on the 15th, and again... You get the idea. As of this moment, the Indians have lost nine games in a row, just two and a half weeks after they ended that 11-game skid. You can do the math and see they're one loss away from a second 10-game losing streak in the same season. Maybe they'll beat the Yankees tonight, bad teams beat good teams in baseball all the time, but if not, just what kind of company will they be joining?

Houston, You Have a Problem (Worst 50-Game Stretches in Baseball)

Yes, that was just about the most obvious headline in history. There simply weren't any other quotes from "Apollo 13" that worked well, and when I woke up this morning, I swore I'd work a quote from a mid-90s Tom Hanks movie into a headline. I thought it might be something from "That Thing You Do," but that's not how things shook out.

The Houston Astros are bad this year, really bad. Entering today, they're 39-86, which is easily the worst record in baseball, and puts them on pace for a 51-111 season. The last team to do that poorly was the 2004 Diamondbacks. Houston has just gotten worse as the year has gone, especially after trading away what little they had to offer other teams at the deadline. Over their last 50 games, the Astros' record stands at 7-43.

The Quarter Pole: National League

The season is now 75% of the way over. It seems like a good time to look around and see how things are shaping up for the final 40 games or so. Who's likely to win each division? Who's likely to win the wildcard spots in each league? What might happen once the playoffs arrive? Which players could be headed to an MVP or Cy Young award? All good questions. I don't just want to focus on the good though, I'm interested in the worst teams and players too! So, get caught up on what you may have missed and laugh at me as I try to guess what happens the rest of the way! 

The Quarter Pole: American League

The season is now 75% of the way over. It seems like a good time to look around and see how things are shaping up for the final 40 games or so. Who's likely to win each division? Who's likely to win the wildcard spots in each league? What might happen once the playoffs arrive? Which players could be headed to an MVP or Cy Young award? All good questions. I don't just want to focus on the good though, I'm interested in the worst teams and players too! So, get caught up on what you may have missed and laugh at me as I try to guess what happens the rest of the way!

Brothers in Baseball

Recently, brothers B.J. and Justin Upton each hit their 100th career home run on the very same night, just an hour apart, which is a pretty cool feat. That made them just the sixth pair of brothers in baseball history with 100+ home runs apiece. Their accomplishment got me thinking about other baseball siblings and wondering where the Uptons might rank among all the brothers who've ever played. I've created just such a list, one man's opinion of the very best siblings in baseball history.

The Indians are Going Streaking! (UPDATED)

On July 26th the Indians played the Tigers. Justin Verlander, the best pitcher in baseball, was on the mound for Detroit. Cleveland was down by two going into the bottom of the 7th; Verlander was cruising, he'd given up just 3 hits all night and looked well on his way to another complete game. But Carlos Santana hit the first pitch of the inning into the rightfield seats and Travis Hafner hit the second pitch of the inning into the centerfield seats, suddenly the game was tied. Three more hits led to two more runs, putting the Indians ahead, and they held on from there for a 5-3 win. The victory pushed their record to 50-49, a hair above .500, and left them 3.5 games out of first place in the American League Central. I certainly didn't consider them likely to win the division, but they were in the picture.