The marathon that is baseball

A baseball season can seem endless – but only if your team is losing and more so if they are miserably out of the race before the All Star break.

That is not the case with the Dodgers, who take a 2.5 game lead in the NL West into this weekend’s series against the Giants, who have dominated the Dodgers so far this season.

A glance around the standings reveals some interesting pennant races going on.

In the AL East, the Yankees are only a game behind Tampa Bay. Alex Rodriguez, written off after health and suspension woes, has found new life at 39.

In the AL Central, the Kansas City Royals are trying to get back to the promised land and have a 3.5 game lead on the Twins. The Tigers are a striking distance 5.5 games back.

The big surprise is in the AL West where the Astros are up 3.5 games on the Rangers in an all-Texas battle with the Angels trailing by 5.5 games.

In the National League, St. Louis leads the NL Central by 4 games over the Pirates and the amazing Cubs are seven games off the pace. Chicago has a lot of young talent so don’t count them out.

In the NL East, the Mets are up 1.5 games on the favored Washington Nationals and baseball is now back in style in the Big Apple with both the Yanks and the Metropolitans sniffing at post-season play.

In the NL West, the Dodgers are trying to make it three straight division titles but the defending World Series champion Giants are staying close. Arizona and San Diego are still in striking distance though the Padres have already jettisoned their manager.

If the season were to end today, Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Houston would be division winners in the AL with the Yankees, Twins, Rangers and possibly Blue Jays fighting for Wild Card berths.

In the NL, the Dodgers, Cardinals and Mets would win division crowns and the Pirates, Giants, Nationals and Cubs would be fighting for the Wild Card.

It’s going to be a long, hot summer.