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 “sports” guy. 

Like the song says, Camptown Race Track might be five miles long, but that’s nothing compared to 162 games.  As we find ourselves headed into the post-season, it’s time to see who can really win this thing. 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 “run for the roses,” 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 2026. 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.

The All-Star Break is bit past the half-way point of the season, but it also marks the time to separate everybody into the only two categories that matter; pretenders and contenders.

Now that the post-season picture is set, so is the run for the roses in the October Derby.

The Also-Rans

Now, were down to those who came up short, who is actually in the play-offs, and who can actually go all the way. We originally spotted sixteen teams running in the deciding part of this race. Only 12 make the post-season, and only 1 can win it all. That means our last set of categories for 2025.

Spit the Bit

To keep the horse racing analogy running, these are teams who had every chance to be playing in October, but fell apart when it really mattered. In short, these are the teams that decided they didn’t want to run anymore.

St. Louis Cardinals

• Original Category: There’s Just One Thing Missing
• Memorial Day Category: It’s Not “Panic” Time…Yet
• All-Star Break Rating: Contender/Sell
• Odds To Win World Series: Eliminated

Will the real St. Louis Cardinals please stand up? There had to be two completely different team wearing the same uniforms. One looked absolutely pathetic while getting railed in series against Baltimore and Philadelphia, then came to life and took two out of three from the Dodgers. It doesn’t really matter because both teams had the same problem; a beat-up pitching staff. Andre Pallante missed starts down the stretch recently and may or may not have been healthy, it could be 2028 before the Cards see Hunter Dobbins again, Kyle Leahy was on a restrictive pitch count, and their bullpen was “mid” at best.

Minnesota Twins

• Original Category: It’s Going To Be A Long Summer
• Memorial Day Category: It’s Not Too Early To Say It’s Over
• All-Star Break Rating: Pretender/Buy
• Odds To Win World Series: Eliminated

Take a lot of what I just said about the Cardinals, apply it to the Twins and you get a pretty close fit. The Twins are as “Jekyll and Hyde” as anybody; the same team that can sweep the Braves and look good doing it can immediately follow that by doing a complete face-plant against the Padres and the A’s.

Texas Rangers

• Original Category: At Least They Don’t Suck
• Memorial Day Category: Off To A Great Start, But There’s A Lot of Season Left
• All-Star Break Rating: Contender/Sell
• Odds To Win World Series: Eliminated

Every time I started thinking the Rangers could make a move, they lost a series in which they get outscored by 15 runs. But, being in a contender in the American League meant never having to say your sorry; it meant you can go 6-7 in a stretch against the A’s, Angels, and Nationals and still be considered in this discussion.

Still In The Race

12) Houston Astros

• Original Category: Why Wait Until Next Year?
• Memorial Day Category: Better Figure It Out Quick
• All-Star Break Rating: Contender/Sell
• Odds To Win World Series: +2200

Apparently when it comes to baseball, the old saying becomes changes to “everything is more mediocre in Texas.” As previously mentioned, the Rangers recently went 6-7 against three bad teams. Well, the Astros mirrored that in a stretch against the Mariners, A’s, Angels, and Giants. Both teams had chances to grab a commanding lead in the AL Weakest of the Weak West; instead they both knee-gagged a golden opportunity and ended up below .500. The Astros just made it back, winning this division at 81-81.

9) New York Yankees

• Original Category: There’s Just One Thing Missing
• Memorial Day Category: Just Like I Expected
• All-Star Break Rating: Contender/Buy
• Odds To Win World Series: +800

As previously noted, has anybody else noticed just how much time Aaron Judge has missed in recent seasons and how toothless the Yanks are without him? The Yankees are not keeping his status as a closely guarded secret, but we all know even if Judge is available, there’s no way he’ll be 100%.

It Could Happen

There’s an old saying about anything is possible once you make it into the race. So, who’s to say it couldn’t?

7) Chicago Cubs

• Original Category: Ready To Win Right Now
• Memorial Day Category: Just Like I Expected
• All-Star Break Rating: Contender/Buy
• Odds To Win World Series: +1900

Let’s put Pete Crow Armstrong’s ascent to being the best player in the game in perspective. Really, the Cubs have only had three players have seasons like this in the franchise’s history: Rogers Hornsby in 1929, Ernie Banks in 1959, and Sammy Sosa in 2001.

That not withstanding, the Cubs are easily the most mercurial team in the majors. Nobody has more “red hot to ice cold” stretches than they do. Nothing made that more evident than their stretch run in which they pressured the Brewers with a 9-2 run, then cemented a Wild Card spot with a 5-9 stretch.

That’s why Alex Bregman taking a foul ball in the face was so worrisome, he’s had one of the hottest bats in the game since the All-Star break. Sunday’s performance by Bregman (4 for 4 with 2 homers) bodes well for the Northsiders.

6) Boston Red Sox

• Original Category: There’s Just One Thing Missing
• Memorial Day Category: Better Figure It Out Quick
• All-Star Break Rating: Pretender/Buy
• Odds To Win World Series: +1600

Don’t look now, but the Boston Red Sox have been arguably the best team in baseball since the All-Star break. They have the best record since then, but more importantly they lead the bigs in come-from -behind wins during that time. As cliché as it sounds, winning teams find ways to win…and that’s exactly what the Red Sox do…despite a recent 4-7 streak down the stretch. Not to mention, the lineup seems to be gelling after the addition of Adley Rutschman.

The Real Deal

This section should be self-explanatory. These are the horses with the inside rail running neck-in-neck to the wire.

4) Milwaukee Brewers

• Original Category: At Least They Don’t Suck
• Memorial Day Category: So Far, So Good
• All-Star Break Rating: Contender/Buy
• Odds To Win World Series: +500

As it stands, the Brewers need someone behind Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson for their rotation. Will it be Robert Gasser or Shane Drohan? Either way, somebody has to step up, because this is still the usual Brewer team that can’t score.

3) San Diego Padres

• Original Category: Need Some Things To Go Their Way
• Memorial Day Category: Off To A Great Start, But There’s A Lot of Season Left
• All-Star Break Rating: Contender/Sell
• Odds To Win World Series: +2000

Here’s the value play for you “futures” bettors. The Padres had the worst offense in baseball before the All-Star break. Fernando Tatis didn’t hit his first home run until the end of May. They’ve had the best offense in baseball since the break; all while Tatis has been blistering the ball. Not only did the Padres have a better September than the Dodgers (19-6) wins in August, but their month including series wins over the Yankees, Arizona…and the Dodgers.

1) Los Angeles Dodgers

• Original Category: Ready To Win Right Now
• Memorial Day Category: Just Like I Expected
• All-Star Break Rating: Contender/Buy
• Odds To Win World Series: +230

FACT: The Dodgers were a .500 team in the month of August.

FACT: The Dodgers were 2-12 in August against teams who had winning records.

FACT: The Dodgers were 18-7 in September.

Here’s the question this team needs to answer. Can this team win a series against somebody with a winning record? They haven’t done that since July. That dismal August was loaded with series against the Red Sox, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Brewers, and Braves. That fueled a 2-14 stretch.

Then came a torrid September which was a parade through Washington, Cincinnati, Miami (where the Dodgers dropped 2 out of 3), and San Francisco. But the big blue band that marched through all those weaker teams dropped their trumpets when the show stopped in San Diego last week.

The Prediction

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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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