Second Half Preview: American League

OK, before we start: Seriously, this is just the worst sports day of the year. Do you realize we did a post below on bowling? Can we please get back to the games tomorrow? What? No afternoon games? Man!

Anyway, we're going to continue our thumb-twiddling by looking at the American League, or, as it's now known, The League For Real Men. You could make an argument that the best four teams, and perhaps eight of the best nine, are all in this league. But that's a silly argument; it's much more fun to argue about whether Joe Buck makes you want to cry more, or Tim McCarver. (We say McCarver. But we're a Cardinals fan. You know how it goes.)

So, it's tight all around in the AL. Much discussion has revolved around the possibility that the wild-card will come out of a division other than the AL East. We don't see this as a lock, by any stretch, but the White Sox do look more awesomer than anybody else, we think. The Red Sox's pitching seems likely to solidify by the end of the year, and as long as we don't have to hear him talk on television anymore, we plan on continuing to enjoy the Papelbon. In the West, Oakland has had every opportunity to show off what was supposed to be its best team in years; we are officially unimpressed, so we think the Rangers will pull it off. They will then lose in the playoffs, fire Buck Showalter and win the World Series next year. That leaves us with the wild-card: Detroit or the Yankees. Frankly, Yankees fans should be happy they're this close; it's looking ugly, old and hurt out there. This might be the last playoff chance for a while. We like the Tigers.

So, we apologize, Detroit fans: We stink at predicting and just doomed you. Give us your predictions in the comments, everybody, so you can look back and point come October.