Shhhhh!

It seems like every time I mention that a baseball player or team is doing well or is in some sort of good streak, something happens to end that streak or the team ends up losing or someone ends up getting hurt (like Derek Jeter, who is now on the 15-day disabled list thanks to my continual mention of his chase to reach 3000 hits).  So because I tend to jinx everyone, I will not be the one to tell you that a certain team in the National League East has a 5-game winning streak.  What I CAN tell you is that Michael Morse hit 2 home runs last night, Iván Rodriguez went 3 for 4, and Liván Hernandez pitched a complete-game shutout.  It's been fun watching this particular team beat up on the Cardinals, who all of a sudden are having major issues on defense.  I know this un-named team will eventually lose (maybe even tonight), but it won't be because I jinxed them!

Speaking of bad luck, how about those Florida Marlins?  They've lost like 50 games in a row, and it doesn't help that they play in the world's crappiest ballpark.  The Marlins now share last place with the Nationals, after being in second place back in May.  Here is what the NL East standings look like as of right now:

National League

East	W	L	PCT	GB							vs E	vs C	vs W	vs AL/NL	vs R	vs L	XTRA	1-RUN	RS	RA	X_WL	wc	dc	po	pl
Philadelphia	43	26	.623	-							22-13	11-8	8-4	2-1	28-21	15-5	3-4	12-8	289	231	41-28	N	N	N
Atlanta	38	31	.551	5.0							15-14	15-7	7-8	1-2	27-22	11-9	8-6	13-12	264	230	39-30	N	N	N
NY Mets	34	34	.500	8.5							15-14	10-10	8-8	1-2	25-27	9-7	2-3	8-11	284	290	33-35	N	N	N
Florida	32	36	.471	10.5							11-16	9-10	10-9	2-1	24-24	8-12	4-8	14-13	270	302	31-37	N	N	N
Washington	32	36	.471	10.5

The problem with these standings is that the Phillies have been playing the Marlins, and the Mets have been playing the Braves, while the Nationals have been playing teams from other divisions.  So while the other 4 teams switch positions in the standings, the Nationals just stay there at the bottom, not gaining any ground because the Phillies keep winning too.  This weekend they will go back to inter-league play (which I HATE, but I won't get into that today), so that won't have much of an impact on the Nationals' place in the standings either (unless they lose and Philly keeps winning, then they'll be like 20 games out!).

And the Orioles?  Well they've lost 4 in a row and are the other local team in last place in their division.  But things are looking up for the Pittsburgh Pirates though, who are now 1 game above .500 and are only 4 games out of first place.  There is no Clemente or Kiner on that team; heck, there isn't even a Bonds, Bonilla or VanSlyke.  But they're not the Cardinals or the Brewers, so I will be happy that they are playing well. 

Finally, I must brag about my son's Little League team making it to the finals of the city championship tournament!  They won 11-10 last night, even though my little guy went 0 for 2.  The championship game is this Saturday; let's hope this loud mom can keep her composure and not embarrass herself, her husband, or her kids!