August 22, 2003
Not Much has Changed
The Cubs were playing Houston. Atlanta was playing San Francisco. The Phillies and Marlins were playing weaker teams. So what happened? The Eastern contenders got swept. No change there. The Giants were able to pick up a game on the DBacks and Dodgers. The Astros increased their lead to 1 game from 1/2 a game. The real action was in the wild card. There are now seven teams within four games of capturing the wild card. So who has the advantage down the stretch? The Central teams have the easiset schedule:
| Team | Remaining Opponents Avg. WPct |
|---|
| Marlins | .529 |
| Phillies | .520 |
| Expos | .515 |
| Dodgers | .502 |
| Diamondbacks | .502 |
| Cardinals | .487 |
| Cubs | .469 |
There has been the possibility of a massive wild card tie in the past. With so many teams in it, and with the schedule strength almost the inverse of the current standings, we could see three, four or five teams tied at the end of the season. Won't that be fun to sort out!
Update: The Giants also moved within four of the Braves for home field advantage in the NL playoffs. My opinion has been for a while that the Braves have been playing a bit over their heads, and I expect them to come back to the pack a bit before the season is over. The Giants now have a chance to catch them for the home field in the NLCS.
