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.  As we find the calendar landing around Labor Day, every team in major league baseball has somewhere around 25 games to play, which puts us firmly in the home stretch of this horse race. And like a horse race, I break the baseball season down into four parts; the last obviously being the run for the roses.

But before we get down to the home stretch, 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 2024. 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, we had a bit of a glitch, so we had to combine that milepost with Independence Day. Despite that, we still 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.

Independence Day roughly marks the half-way point which the time to separate everybody into the only two categories that matter; pretenders and contenders.

American League

National League

Some teams helped themselves at the deadline, and some teams didn’t; you can see a breakdown of that here. But as we head toward October, it’s time to look at who can get to the Winner’s Circle, and who is going to spit the bit.

15) Boston Red Sox

• Original Rating: At Least They Don’t Suck
• Memoria-Dependence Day Rating: So Far, So Good – Pretender/Buy
• Odds To Win World Series: +6600

So much for buying on the BoSox. Since the All-Star break, they are 17-24, and they can’t win at home. The “conventional wisdom” for baseball success is winning 2 out of 3 at home and being .500 on the road. So far, Boston is 29-35 at Fenway.

14) New York Mets

• Original Rating: Why Wait For Next Year?
• Memoria-Dependence Day Rating: It’s Not “Panic” Time…Yet – Pretenders/Sell
• Odds To Win World Series: +3000

Yeah, you can sing all the songs you want about this team’s recent flashes, but they are such pretenders they should be playing Brass In Pocket at all their home games.

.Let’s talk about Groundhog Day. That’s really what the the last 25 years of Twins history is; have a moderately successful season, make the post-season, and get seal-clubbed by the Yankees. Do you think this year will be any different? <fart noise>

12) Kansas City Royals

• Original Rating: It’s Going To Be A Long Summer
• Memoria-Dependence Day Rating: Off To A Great Start, But There’s A Lot Of Season Left – Contender/Sell
• Odds To Win World Series: +2800

One the one hand, the Royals just got punched in the mouth by the Astros, and of the contenders in the AL Central, Kansas City has the least friendly remaining schedule. But on the other, led the American League in for August, led by the emerging super-stardom of Bobby Witt, Jr.

11) Atlanta Braves

• Original Rating: Ready To Win Right Now
• Memoria-Dependence Day Rating: Better Figure It Out Quick – Contender/Buy
• Odds To Win The World Series: +1400

I wasn’t worried about this team after the Ronald Acuna, Jr. injury, but since then the Braves have taken more casualties than the British at the Battle of the Somme. I didn’t think this was possible two months ago, but this team could be making tee times come October.

9) Cleveland Indians Guardians

• Original Rating: At Least They Don’t Suck
• Memoria-Dependence Day Rating: Off To A Great Start, But There’s A Lot Of Season Left – Contender/Buy
• Odds To Win World Series: +1600

Everybody’s down on Cleveland because they’ve come back to the pack a bit. Frankly, they are the only team in the American League being chased by two damn good teams… and have yet to be caught. Don’t look now, but the AL Central might just field three play-off teams.

8 ) Milwaukee Brewers

• Original Rating: At Least They Don’t Suck
• Memoria-Dependence Day Rating: Off To A Great Start, But There’s A Lot Of Season Left – Contender/Buy
• Odds To Win World Series: +1200

I was forced to “buy” this team as they are going to coast into October. But I’m still not going to believe in the Brewers until they win a play-off series.

7) San Diego Padres

• Original Rating: Need Some Things To Go Their Way
• Memoria-Dependence Day Rating: Better Figure It Out Quick – Contender/Sell
• Odds To Win World Series: +1700

There’s an old saying in baseball about how all things revert to the mean. Aside from a 19-3 run right after the All-Star break, The Friars have been a .500 team. Guess what they’ve been in their last 20 games?

6) Arizona Diamondbacks

• Original Rating: Ready To Win Right Now
• Memoria-Dependence Day Rating: Better Figure It Out Quick – Contender/Sell
• Odds To : Win World Series: +1600

This team can score runs by the truckload, but they find ways to lose games. If they figure that out, a return to the World Series is not out of the question.

4) Baltimore Orioles

• Original Rating: Ready To Win Right Now
• Memoria-Dependence Day Rating: Just As We Expected – Contender/Buy
• Odds To Win World Series: +650

The bad news: The Birds went 12-13 in July and followed that with a 13-15 August mark.  The good news: They’re still neck-in-neck with the Yankees.

2) New York Yankees

• Original Rating: There’s Just One Thing Missing
• Memoria-Dependence Day Rating: Just As We Expected – Contender/Buy
• Odds To Win World Series: +650

Everything I said back in July about the Pinstripes is still true. The Yankees are “star-driven,” and nobody gets more “star-struck” than the “highlight show” sports media. Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are “rock stars” in the Bronx, but why doesn’t anybody ever mention how slump-prone they can both be? If both those bats go cold at the same time, this team could have the floor drop out from under it.

1) Philadelphia Phillies

• Original Rating: There’s Just One Thing Missing
• Memoria-Dependence Day Rating: Just As We Expected – Contender/Buy
• Odds To Win World Series: +450

I know, the Phillies are a sub-.500 team since the All-Star break, but guess what? Nobody’s catching them. This team can got full “cruise control” for the next month and it won’t matter. That’s not likely as they have a schedule loaded with the likes of Toronto, Miami, and wraps in Washington. But there’s a series in Milwaukee which has paly-off preview written all over it…and that just may be when everyone finds out how tough taking a series from this team is going to be. The recent notching of two out of three against the Royals is another example. By the way, this team is 12-7 in the last three weeks, so that “sub-.500” feels like a problem solved at this point.

Next stop: Play-off Previews!

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Got a question for our 70’s TY Sports Anchor? Got your own take? Nothing is “off-limits,” and no take is “too hot.” The only questions or comments Boyd Bergquist can’t handle are the one you don’t send!

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