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.

More Parkerisms and Turnerisms

Raising two sons, 9 and 6, means we have lots of fun conversations in our home. Here are some more:

Turner: How does Mommy get so much done so early?

Me: She loves to get up early and get going.

Turner: We've got two early birds in this house and two lazy birds.

Me: Actually, the words would be early birds and night owls. Let's say night owls not lazy birds.

Me: Parker, are you practicing piano?

Parker: Yes.

Me: I don't hear anything.

Parker: I'm doing theory.

Me: What?

Turner: That means he's reading the books.

Great Quote Thursday

Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-extending path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb- Sir Winston Churchill

Major League Baseball at the All-Star Break

Over the course of a long season, there are always surprises. Some teams excel; some teams falter. Major League Baseball's All-Star Break provides a great opportunity to review the first half (and a few games) of the season:

American League East-
I'm a long-time fan of the Toronto Blue Jays. I grew up watching the AA Knoxville Blue Jays play at the old Bill Meyer Stadium. This was supposed to the year the Blue Jays returned to the top of the AL East. Outside of an 11-game winning streak in June, Toronto has failed to meet high expectations.

The Boston Red Sox, chosen to finish last in the division by many, have basically led the AL East since day one of the season.  The New York Yankees have been hit by numerous injuries (and start a bunch of players most of us have never heard of) but are in a battle with the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles in a mostly (minus the Blue Jays) competitive division.

American League Central-
The Detroit Tigers, as expected, are the class of the division. Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander lead a strong pitching staff and Miguel Cabrera continues the Triple Crown pace he established last year. But the Tigers need a closer.

The long-suffering Cleveland Indians are hanging close, 1.5 games back at the break, and are currently in the mix for wild-card consideration.

American League West-
The Oakland A's continue to play winning baseball, no matter their low payroll.  The Texas Rangers are two games back and looking to strengthen their pitching staff for the second half. The LA Angels have been a major disappointment with Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton among others having sub-par seasons.

National League East-
The Atlanta Braves, with solid starting pitching, have led the division most of the season. If some of their bats wake up, they could run away in a surprisingly average NL East. The Washington Nationals appear to be the only team capable of catching them. The window for the Philadelphia Phillies has closed.

National League Central-
The St. Louis Cardinals have the best record in the National League. They are a model organization that is always competitive. It seems they're always formidable, even in "down" years.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are currently 19 games over .500. Although they've not had a winning season since 1992 and have faltered badly in the 2nd half the past two seasons, it appears they finally are making progress. Here's hoping this storied organization has overcome previous poor management and small market constraints to field a winner.

The Cincinnati Reds remain solidly in the hunt for the division crown at only 5 games back and are very much in the mix for a wild-card slot.

National League West-
The most wide-open division in baseball, the NL West crown is there for the taking. The LA Dodgers trailed everyone for most of the season but, after riding Yasiel Puig-mania through the month of June, sit 2.5 games back at the break. The Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies and defending world-champion San Francisco Giants all appear capable of winning the division.

More Parkersisms and Turnerisms

Raising two sons, 9 and 6, means we have lots of fun conversations in our home.  Here are some more:

During a conversation about a trip we took a couple of years ago-
Tonya: Wow, Turner, that's good. I'm surprised you remember that.
Turner: There are so many things I remember that it's hard to remember everything I remember.

Parker: Can I have some more milk?
Me: Sure.
Parker: Because I need to build my six-pack. Do you have a six-pack, Daddy?
Me: No. I have a one-gallon.

At bedtime a couple of weeks ago on the eve of Tonya's and my 14th wedding anniversary-
Turner: Mommy, why did you marry him?