Wild Card Races Intensify As First Half Comes To A Close

With one half of the season behind us, a quick look at the standings offer a surprising thought: Will there be any pennant races this year?

Colorado Springs holds the slimmest division lead in all of baseball with a 'mere' 7 games. Two division leaders have over 10 games on the the second place team with Reno a full 24 games over the second place Aberdeen Iron Birds.

While the division leads are by no means safe, if there is no compelling division race where does this leave the casual baseball fan? Well luckily, the wild card is in full gear and will only get stronger as the season goes on.

Four teams are within four games of each other for that final spot in the Lenny Harris League. While Reno, Washington, and Brighton have solidified themselves as the cream of the crop, expect a mad dash to earn the fourth playoff spot as it is still completely up for grabs.

Aberdeen, Oregon, Oahu, and Edgewater (the later two being playoff teams last season) all will make a push to earn the right to battle in October. A strong second half might even by two teams might even be enough to displace one of the aforementioned teams from the playoffs altogether. And while Old Bridge, Nassau, and London appear out of it, a strong month puts them back in the hunt as well.

Moving on over to the Edgar Martinez League, Colorado Springs and Vero Beach both take division leads into the All-Star Break. After a slow start for the Marines, a sweep of the second place Bombers in early May vaulted them to the top of the standings where they have yet to look back. Vero Beach is trying to do the most rare of events and lead wire-to-wire, something not even the TBA Champion Booze Hounds were able to do last season.

The 2009 TBA Champion Bartonville Bombers and the Halifax Mooseheads right now occupy the wild card spots but the entire rest of the league is breathing down their necks.

Kansas City, 4.5 back of the Mooseheads, has added All-Star candidate Dan Uggla at second base to improve the league's seventh ranked offense. Evanston, Napa, Helena, and Bowling Green are also within striking distance of the playoffs.

A month or two from now the playoff picture could look totally different but as of now it is shaping up to be an exciting race for those last few playoff spots.