As the Major League Baseball Season Winds Down

With Major League Baseball entering the final month of the regular season, a look at the division standings shows that while some things change, some things stay the same.

American League East:
Wasn't Boston supposed to be down this year? Wasn't Toronto supposed to be a potential World Series participant? As a long-time Blue Jays fan, this season was effectively over several months ago.

American League Central:
I have a friend who is a pastor and church planter in Cleveland, Ohio. He also serves as the chaplain for the Indians. As such, I root for the Tribe. But really, it seems you can almost pencil in the Detroit Tigers as the division champion every year.

American League West:
The Texas Rangers have one of the highest player payrolls in the majors. The Oakland Athletics have one of the lowest player payrolls in the majors. The two teams are currently tied for the division lead in a race that could go down to the final day of the season.

National League East:
The Atlanta Braves. That is all.

National League Central:
Pittsburgh will not have a losing record this season. Finally! Does St. Louis ever have a bad season? The Cincinnati Reds are competitive here as well. This is the most interesting division in baseball as the season winds down.

National League West:
Anybody remember when the Dodgers almost fired manager Don Mattingly when the team languished in the division basement? That seems a long time ago as Los Angeles is now winning games at an historic pace. The defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants have been a major disappointment.

Sad But Not Unexpected

ESPN is reporting that former heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Morrison has died. He was 44. Having just turned 44 myself, I have followed Morrison's career from afar.

Morrison was never a great boxer. But holding a championship title, even briefly, as well as appearing in a Rocky movie kept Morrison around the headlines from time to time. But Morrison was often a note on SportsCenter due to his multiple run-ins with law enforcement (which included a stay in prison) as well as a contested HIV-positive blood test in the mid-1990's.

What might have been, never was.

Here's The Point: All too often we hear about athletes or celebrities who "push the envelope". Those who eventually "fall off the cliff" because they live their life so close to the edge. Very seldom do things end well for them. Sometimes they die at age 44. And while their demise is sad, unfortunately it is not unexpected.

Why I Took a Break From the Blog

I've maintained this blog since January of 2009. Some months have included more posts than others. But in mid-July, I realized that I was having to force myself to make time to blog.

It's never been about followers or page views. I began blogging because my wife encouraged me that it was a great way to catalog my thoughts and ideas. A place where I could share the main points of a lesson I'd taught or a great quote I'd heard or read. Over time, it became a place to record the fun conversations I have with my sons. 

But this summer, I found that what had often had been a joy had become a burden. The Point blog wasn't something I had to do but it had become something I felt like I had to do. But for who? Certainly not because of readership. So I took a break. For me.

Here's The Point: What are you doing that has become a burden, a duty? Maybe it started as a good thing but the joy isn't there right now. Why not take a break or even stop and find a new thing? That's what I've done with this blog and I'm glad I did. Life's too short to be weighted down by things that aren't important. We all have lots of responsibilities and those things deserve our attention.

So over the next few days, I'm looking forward to posting some great quotes and a few Parkerisms and Turnerisms. Maybe some notes from a relationships series I'm teaching right now. And maybe some thoughts on sports, culture and life. Not because I have to but because I want to.