Saturday Sport: Baseball and Aussie Rules

The doldrums are in the sea, places near the equator where there are seldom winds, and few ocean currents to carry a ship.  The unfortunate ship which finds itself in the doldrums might fall into ennui, and then starvation, casting about for some movement, anything interesting, which might carry them back into the action.  This is one of those rare weekends in the sports world, where not much definitive seems to be going on.

Baseball fittingly fills this type of hole in any Summer Season.  While High School and College playoffs reach their conclusions these days, Major League Baseball is barely getting started.  Nonetheless, the New York Yankees are, predictably, at the top of the overall standings for both leagues and all six divisions.  They also lead the Eastern Division of the American League, of course, but are just ahead of the Boston Red Sox, who have both a few more wins and losses, in both leagues and their division.  .679 is nothing to sneeze at. 

In the American League Central Division, the Cleveland Indians are the only team currently above .500, at .536.  In the American League Western Division, 4 of the 5 teams are above .500, with the Houston Astros leading with .627, followed by the Seattle Mariners with .607, the California Angels with .534, and the Oakland Athletics with .517. 

The National League presents a different picture.  All teams except the Central Division's Milwaukee Brewers are below .600.  The Brewers are sitting pretty at .621, with the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals not far behind. In the Eastern Division, the Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, and Philadelphia Phillies all stand above .500.  In the NL West, only the Colorado Rockies and the  Arizona Diamondbacks currently rate above .500 in the standings.  

Non North Americans may not know that Major League Baseball players play in a couple of hundred games a year. The percentages are based on their wins vs. losses on a particular day in the season.  The Yankees, then, have won 36 games and lost 17 games so far. 

In Australia, in Aussie Rules Football, the West Coast Eagles, currently in first place,  will take on old favorites St. Kilda, who are  having a startlingly bad year, and are currently 16th out of 18th on the ladder.  The Eagles, who are of course highly favored, and who have won all but one of their most recent meetings with St. Kilda,  will host this night game at their home, the Optus Stadium in Perth.  

The stage could be set for a mauling when struggling St Kilda returns to Perth for the second time this season. West Coast reeled off a ninth-straight victory with a grinding road win over Hawthorn last round and can enter the mid-season bye a game clear on top of the ladder with victory over the Saints.   They are also approaching a team record for win streaks, and want to break the old record. 

Richmond and Port Adelaide, both strong teams, were easily dispatched by the Eagles at Optus Stadium over the last two weeks.  It has become one of the AFL's most formidable venue for opposition teams.   St Kilda, which lost to Fremantle by five goals in round eight in Perth, showed some pluck against the Tigers at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, but it would take a massive lift for Alan Richardson's men to worry West Coast. The Saints are winless since round one and lack firepower. Another night game will feature the Essendon Bombers against the Richmond Tigers. 

So the Doldrums, and some action...