If you're not into baseball trivia, you should stop reading immediately. I said this last year and the year before and everybody (or nobody?) listened.
Major League Baseball's All-Star Game will be played in Minneapolis at Target Field on July 15th. The All-Star Break has been considered by many to signify the midpoint of the baseball season. Actually, the teams finished the first half of the schedule this year between June 26th, when Toronto, Milwaukee, the Dodgers and Arizona played their 81st game, and July 2nd when the Tigers became the last of the 30 teams to complete 81.
Due to scheduling and rainouts, there is obviously no single date upon which every team plays its 81st game. What follows is each team's record after 81 games displayed as standings for all the major league divisions. The standings below reflect a standings that never actually existed on any one day. It's just a way for me to see at the end of the regular season schedule on September 28th how each team performed in each half of the 162 game season. This is extreme baseball trivia to be engaged in only by retirees and others with an excessive amount of time on their hands.
AL East:
Toronto Blue Jays 45 - 36 (6/26)
Baltimore Orioles 42 - 39 (6/29)
New York Yankees 41 - 40 (6/30)
Boston Red Sox 37 - 44 (6/28)
Tampa Bay Rays 33 - 48 (6/27)
AL Central:
Detroit Tigers 47 - 34 (7/2)
Kansas City Royals 42 - 39 (6/29)
Cleveland Indians 39 - 42 (6/29)
Chicago White Sox 37 - 44 (6/27)
Minnesota Twins 37 - 44 (6/30)
AL West:
Oakland A's 51 - 30 (6/29)
Los Angeles Angels 46 - 35 (7/1)
Seattle Mariners 43 - 38 (6/28)
Texas Rangers 37 - 44 (6/29)
Houston Astros 35 - 46 (6/27)
NL East:
Atlanta Braves 43 - 38 (6/28)
Washington Nationals 43 - 38 (6/28)
Miami Marlins 39 - 42 (6/28)
New York Mets 37 - 44 (6/28)
Philadelphia Phillies 35 - 46 (6/28)
NL Central:
Milwaukee Brewers 49 - 32 (6/26)
St. Louis Cardinals 44 - 37 (6/27)
Cincinnati Reds 43 - 38 (6/29)
Pittsburgh Pirates 41 - 40 (6/28)
Chicago Cubs 35 - 46 (6/30)
NL West:
San Francisco Giants 46 - 35 (6/28)
Los Angeles Dodgers 45 - 36 (6/26)
Colorado Rockies 35 - 46 (6/28)
San Diego Padres 34 - 47 (6/28)
Arizona Diamondbacks 33 - 48 (6/26)
When looking back on a season, I've heard commentators say, for example, that a player had 25 HR's at the All-Star break but his second half production dropped off so he finished with only 38. If he had kept up his first half pace he would have had well over 40 HR's. If the diminished production wasn't due to an injury, they may trot out the old explanations that the dog days of August or the pressure of the pennant race got to him.
Let's take a closer look. As noted above, 4 teams played their 81st game on June 26th (Derek Jeter's 40th birthday). One of the 4, the Dodgers, will have played 97 games when they break for the All-Star Game. As a result, they play only 65 games after the break. It's tough to match your 1st half production in the 2nd half when you're playing 32 fewer games! The Tigers, the last team to complete 81 this year, have 10 more games before the break so they play 91 before and 71 after - still a significant difference of 20 games.
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