EDITOR’S NOTE: Boyd Bergquist was the sports director at KETS-TV in East Tree Stump, Nebraska for almost 40 years.  Known across the Husker state as the voice of the Boy’s High School Basketball Tournament, Bergquist was a four-time winner of the Marv J. Butz “Golden Cob” Award For Excellence In Nebraska Broadcast Journalism.  That background, along with his quick if not cliché-riddled wit and love of single-malt scotch makes Bergquist a perfect fit to be our “Question” guy. 

Like the song says, Camptown Race Track might be five miles long, but that’s nothing compared to 162 games.  Well, now that it’s behind us, we can get down to the real nitty-gritty…post-season play. But before we get to October baseball, let’s let’s recap where we’ve been.

If you recall, I’m not about the usual “power ranking” stuff. Instead, I started this season by breaking down all 30 major league squads into six easy-to-understand groups based on what I thought these teams could realistically expect in 2023 Those original six categories were as follows.

• Ready To Win Right Now: These are teams which are ready to climb the mountain right now…no ifs, ands or buts.
• There’s Just One Thing Missing: Did you ever almost complete a jigsaw puzzle, but the three pieces you have remaining don’t fit the holes you have left? Welcome to the stories of these teams.
• Need Some Things To Go Their Way: Welcome to a collection of clubs who almost have the goods to win on their own; but anything is possible if they get more than one “lucky break.”
• At Least They Don’t Suck: Do I really need to explain this one?
• Why Wait For Next Year? One way or another, these teams need to make a decision about the future.
• It’s Going To Be A Long Summer: Everybody has hope on Opening Day, but some lose it far faster than others.

Once we got to Memorial Day, I had six new categories at the “far turn” which again should be fairly self-explanatory.

• Just As We Expected: Teams performing just as expected.
• So Far, So Good: Teams which are very much in the thick of the race at this point.
• Off To A Great Start, But There’s A Lot of Season Left:  Read this as teams potentially over-achieving.
• It’s Not “Panic” Time…Yet:  This is for teams who may have stumbled out of the gate, but still have plenty of time
• Better Figure It Out Quick: A category for teams whose problems are severe, despite the fact there a lot of race left.
• It’s Not Too Early To Say It’s Over: Even at this juncture, it’s a safe bet these teams are finished.

Half-way through the race, there were only two categories to worry about; is your team a play-off contender and should they be a buyer or a seller at the trade deadline? Here’s how I saw it.

American League

National League

Some teams helped themselves at the deadline, and some teams didn’t; you can see a breakdown of that here. Coming into the homestretch, you could really start to see who was running strong to the wire and who looked likely to spit the bit.

But October is here…and now it’s time to see who can seal the deal.

Biggest Second-Half Fade:

New York Yankees

• Original Category – There’s Just One Thing Missing
• Memorial Day Category – It’s Not “Panic” Time Yet
• Independence Day Category – Contenders/Buy

While the Yankees’ demise began before Independence Day, it was August when the post-season aspirations of the Pinstripes really bit the dust. Now we all just wait and see how much drama the off-season will bring for the Bronx Bombers

Cleveland Guardians

• Original Category – There’s Just One Thing Missing
• Memorial Day Category – It’s Not “Panic” Time…Yet
• Independence Day Category – Contender/Sell

Even though they were in the weak AL Central, all you have to know about this team comes in the Contender/Pretender chart above. The Cleveland Guardians had a chance to win their division, yet ended up behind the sorry-ass Detroit Tigers.

San Francisco Giants

• Original Category – At Least They Don’t Suck
• Memorial Day Category – Better Figure It Out Quick
• Independence Day Category – Contenders/Buy

God bless them, but the Giants hung on in this race just about as long as they could. But’s lets cut through the guano here…this team was running on fumes by Labor Day, and their collective tank hit “E” about three days later. There’s a reason why the Giants didn’t wait for the season to end before they fired Gabe Kapler.

Putted Just Short of the Cup:

To mix sports metaphors, these are the horses than ran a nose short of the money.

Cincinnati Reds

• Original Category – Why Wait for Next Year?
• Memorial Day Category – It’s Not Too Early To Say It’s Over
• Independence Day Category – Cotnender/Buy

For a period of time around the end of July, this team was the best story on baseball. Then they got man-handled at home in a series by the Brewers. They never really recovered from that.

Chicago Cubs

• Original Category – Need Some Things To Go Their Way
• Memorial Day Category – So Far, So Good
• Independence Day – Contender/Buy

Sure, they stumbled down the stretch, but it it was getting swept by Arizona in September in Wrigley Field which really put the Cubs behind the 8-Ball.

Seattle Mariners

• Original Category – Need Some Things To Go Their Way
• Memorial Day Category – It’s Not “Panic” Time…Yet
• Independence Day Category – Pretenders/Buy

A tale of three months: In August, the Mariners notch a 20-6 record. September saw Seattle go 11-17…which meant no October.

Got A Chip And A Chair:

This category is from the world of poker; it’s all about anything is possible as long as you’re playing at the “big boy” table. No matter what you may think about these teams, they are playing in October…which means anything could happen.

Milwaukee Brewers

• Original Category – Need Some Things To Go Their Way
• Memorial Day Category – Better Figure It Out Quick
• Independence Day Category – Contenders/Sell

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: This team is “fool’s gold” and I’m not buying until I see them win a play-off series. The shoulder injury to Brandon Woodruff doesn’t help.

It Could Happen:

This is really the post-season equivalent of “Need Some Things To Go Their Way.” The impact of the ball bouncing your way gets magnified in a play-off series.

Toronto Blue Jays

• Original Category – Ready To Win Right Now
• Memorial Day Category – Just As We Expected
• Independence Day Category – Contender/ Buy

The Blue Jays’ reputation over the last few years has been that of a “lumber company” living at the top of baseball’s power brokers. But the reality is that in 2023, Toronto was exactly in the middle of the pack for team home runs.

Arizona Diamondbacks

• Original Category – Why Wait for Next Year?
• Memorial Day Category – Off To A Great Start, But There’s A Lot of Season Left
• Independence Day Category – Contender/Buy

Two dominant starter starters in Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly in a three-game series against a team that can’t hit combined with the presumptive NL Rookie of the Year Corbin Carroll who can wreck your day with his bat and/or 50-stolen base speed says Arizona gets through the first round. After that, it’s anybody’s guess.

Houston Astros

• Original Category –  Ready to Win Right Now
• Memorial Day Category – Just As We Expected
• Independence Day Category – Contenders/Buy

Here’s a team that won enough games to get a first-round bye and home-field advantage up until the time they might have to face Baltimore. They are the defending World Series champs, and yet they were 39-42 at home in 2023. Nobody ever said baseball had to make sense..

Philadelphia Phillies

• Original Category – There’s Just One Thing Missing
• Memorial Day Category – So Far, So Good
• Independence Day Category – Contender/Buy

Just roll the calendar back one year to see what this team can do in October.

The Real Deal:

This section should be self-explanatory.

Los Angeles Dodgers

• Original Category – There’s Just One Thing Missing
• Memorial Day Category – Just As We Expected
• Independence Day Category – Contenders/Buy

While everybody is paying attention to Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts, the dirty little secret is the Dodgers’ pitching staff is the definition of “suspect.”

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