Exactly six months ago, I looked into my crystal ball and tried to predict the outcomes of the upcoming baseball season. Now that the season has come to an end, and half of my predicted divison winners are headed home instead of the playoffs, let’s take a look back at how things unfolded.
American League
East: Yankees
The Yankees went down to the wire, not with the Red Sox as expected, but with the surprising Orioles.
Central: Tigers
After picking up free agent Prince Fielder, the Tigers were expected to run away with the Central division. Instead, they underachieved much of the season and battled the overachieving White Sox for most of the season. However, a late season collapse by the White Sox offense helped the Tigers take the division.
West: Angels
The Angels just may have been the biggest disappointment in the league this year. After dropping over $330 million in one day on Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson, the Angels were expected to be at the top of the heap this year. Unfortunately, things just did not work out and, even with the addition of rookie of the year shoo-in Mike Trout, the Angels were unable to make a serious run and finished in third place, behind the surging A’s, who swept the Rangers in the last series of the season to take the division title.
Wild Cards: Rays, Rangers
The Orioles and the Rangers will face off in the first wild card play-in game.