The Major League Baseball season is underway and like normal, every pontificator who screamed from the mountain tops about how the season was going to go are now burning every recording device in their office. Baseball is an amazing sport, extremely difficult in many ways and a great reward for the patient. The difficulty necessitates a grueling 162 game season so that the best teams can advance to the post season, making it a certainty that the two teams that survive the process are in fact the best two teams that year. However, the same thing that makes Baseball a great sport can also be seen as something of a negative, they play 162 games! Admittedly its hard to stay engaged around game 50, by early June even the Philly Fanatic is simply Phil the Reasonably Enthusiastic. To help you keep tabs on the long season lets take a look at how things are going around the league at this point. The All Star break is a ways away and teams are still jockeying for position, lets see the early surprises per division.
American League East
At a glance, it looks like business as usual in the AL East, The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are at the top. However, the early season prognosis didnt have the Yankees leading anything. Derek Jeter has yet to appear in a game this year after suffering a devastating ankle injury last season. The Yankees disabled list (DL) looks like it could be a starting roster in and of itself including names like Mark Teixeira (1st Base) and Joba Chamberlain (Relief Pitcher), add to that three starting pitchers and the teams top 2 third basemen and its a wonder they are above .500 let alone atop a division that features an equally surprisingly good Red Sox team and a resurgent Baltimore Orioles team that is determined to change the perception of the AL East being a two team division. The Red Sox were a mess last season, with managerial issues, a post Theo Epstein (General Manager) hangover, and a roster that was starting to come apart at the seams. All signs pointed to rebuilding, but so far the Sox are eight games above .500 and thats not a bad place to be. David Ortiz (Designated Hitter) and Dustin Pedroia (2nd Base) are essentially the last members of the Red Sox Championship teams left on the roster, so the Sox havent exactly stood pat since then. There have been key additions to the starting rotation that has borne fruit in the likes of starting pitchers Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester specifically; both have had some good outings thus far. The offense is pretty balanced with speed and power, with Ortiz (continuing to try and knock the moon out of the sky) as the teams offensive anchor that shares the team lead with 8 homeruns and the teams best batting average. The Orioles are still in great position to make some noise, but at this point the perennial powers arent quite ready to relent to the upstarts.