Game 162

It's the final day of the 2012 Major League Baseball season and there are major storylines still on the table. 

1.  While both Baltimore and NY are guaranteed playoff spots, the division title is still up for grabs. My Yanks hold a one game lead in the AL East - here's hoping they keep it. Who do the Yankees play? None other than their perpetual foe, the Red Sox. 

2. The Rangers and A's face off for the AL West crown.

3. Future HOF'er Chipper Jones and longtime Brewer Ben Sheets have played their last game. 

4. Perhaps the greatest race up in the air - Miguel Cabrera might clinch a Triple Crown today, quite literally the first Triple Crown of my lifetime. 

He leads the AL in batting average at .331, well ahead of the Angel's rookie Mike Trout. He's the leader in home runs with 44, but prolific slugger Josh Hamilton is only one behind. He doesn't have to worry about the RBI title, since he's ahead in that category by 11. 

I hope he gets it :)


Two thoughts:

AL MVP - In my opinion, it has to be Cabrera. Trout is having a massive year, truly one for the record books, and he's doing it as a rookie.

There are SABRmeteric agreements that put Trout ahead of Miguel. And pound for pound Trout's arm, fielding, and baserunning might make him a better contributor than Cabrera.

But I don't see how you take a Triple Crown winner, on a team that slugged it out all year and took their division, and pass him over for an award you then hand to a rookie on a team that won't be playing again in 2012.

No matter which one wins, they'll be deserving of the honor. But if I had a choice? Trout is ROY, Cabrera is MVP. 

Secondly, I don't care one way or the other for any of the teams competing for the NL pennant, so long as the Cardinals are sent packing. 

In the AL, naturally I'm rooting for the Yankees. If they falter, my heart is with the Tigers, a gritty, blue-collar Midwest team that features a great manager, the before-mentioned Cabrera, and former Brewer Prince Fielder. 

If the Yanks don't grab ring # 28, I hope the Tigers take the Series. 

Oh, one last thing - I really have no love lost for the 2012 Orioles, an overachieving little Bad News Bears team that's annoyed my Yankees and annoyed me. Like the Cardinals, I hope they go kaput in the playoffs as soon as they begin.