2021 NL Central Preview

We're halfway through Major League Baseball for the 2021 season, and with the West slated for tomorrow, it's time for me to get back to work and start the second half of the preview series for 2021.

Earlier today I attacked the AL Central, so this afternoon I'll swap leagues and attack my home division.

Let's look at the NL Central.

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Quarterfinals

We're down to the final eight teams as the 2019 MLB Tournament of Champions rolls on!

We've finally moved beyond the confines of group play, as the 90 round robin games and three playoff rounds were enough. We now have group "champions" as we move on to the tournament's quarterfinals.

There was a good blend of chalk and upsets through the first three rounds, as only three round robin group winners have advanced to this stage alongside a two, three, four, five, and six seed apiece. Some of the most legendary teams are included in this group, including a playoff team from the 2017 tournament as well as the defending Champion of Champions.

At this point, for all intents and purposes, seedings based on finish in group play are being dropped and home field advantage will go to the team with the better record from group play. For this round, the higher "seeds" did have better records, but I'm making this change for this round onward because I think the sample size speaks for itself. For the remainder of the tournament as well, we're expanding the rounds from best of five to best of seven to be played in a 2-3-2 format as used in Major League Baseball's postseason. We have one series that this will impact in this round, but since the 1984 Detroit Tigers played in the DH era, all of their home games will be played with a designated hitter. All other games will have the pitcher batting ninth.

You can view the updated bracket, as well as scores and standings from group play, here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play ball!

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Group Finals

I'm breaking from football again for a little bit because the 2019 MLB Tournament of Champions is still rolling on!

We've managed to narrow the field down to 16 teams from the original 128, including every World Series champion. It's a little amazing when in other sports that I've done Tournaments of Champions for it's all more modern teams, while here, half the remaining field is from before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. Our two highest seeds from group play, as well as our defending Champion of Champions from 2017 are all still in contention.

So today I'm going through the third round, which is the last set of series that will be played within the confines of the groups I set up at the beginning of the tournament. It's also the final round of a best-of-five. Home field advantage goes to the higher seed based on group finish in a 2-2-1 format. This is only a factor for three teams and thus three series, but any home games for American Leagues from 1973 onward are played with a designated hitter; all other games have the pitcher batting ninth.

You can view the bracket so far, as well as go back to see how group play went, here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's set up the Elite Eight!

2019 MLB Preview: NL Central

The preview series continues on with, for all intents and purposes, official Opening Day coming on Thursday. And with four divisions left to cover before then... I'd better get to work.

As in prior years, I'm going across the country and alternating leagues, ending with the defending champion's division. That means tomorrow afternoon is when I'll have a gander at the AL East. But for now, let's visit the middle of the country and look at the NL Central.

2018 MLB Preview: NL Central

We're onto the second day of MLB previews as I've condensed this year's batch down to three days instead of six. We're still working our way across the country, alternating leagues, before ending with the division containing the defending World Series champion.

This brings us to the country's center, and after ending yesterday in the American League, we go to my division of greatest familiarity in the NL Central.

2017 MLB Preview: NL Central

It's the sixth day, which means we're all set on baseball previews after today. As is my tradition, I've been going division by division, alternating leagues, and finishing with the division of our defending champion.

Speaking of our defending champion, they are taking part in my newest project, the MLB Tournament of Champions. You can check out information on that tournament here, and check out the action starting this coming week.

Without further ado, let's get to the NL Central. Let's note once again that both wild cards are taken.

2016 MLB Predictions: NL Central

We're just a day away from the start of the season! The excitement is mounting, and I'm nearing the end of my series of baseball preview posts.

I've handed out one predicted wild card on the National League side of things, and after looking at each coast so far, it's time to come to nation's heartland and preview the final two divisions. Today, it's the NL Central.

Fandom, Generalizations, and "The Best Fans In Baseball"

Photo from @BestFansStLouis

Friday was a great day for me as a Cubs fan. The much discussed topic of the past week was the landing spot for outfielder Jason Heyward, who just finished his first season with the St. Louis Cardinals. Needless to say, Cardinals fans wanted him back. The announcement broke early Friday afternoon that Heyward was leaving the Gateway to the West behind and coming to the North Side. This set off a firestorm.

I've referred to the "Best Fans St. Louis" Twitter account a couple of times before. It's one of my favorite follows on social media just because of the collection of sheer idiocy on display. Also, schadenfreude is fun. It's especially fun when the fanbase of the team you hate is exploding with rage at the loss of their premier free agent to their biggest rival. It's also kind of fun to rile them up a little bit. I've traded jabs with a few, attempting to be respectful (most of the time), only to be called a "faggot", "self-righteous" for calling out one fan's self-righteous elitism, and been blocked by a "juggalo" who stupidly suggested that Yadier Molina is a better catcher than Yogi Berra was, though that may have just been a successful attempt at trolling. I don't know.

And that gets to the crux of the argument that I wanted to make today. The so-called "Best Fans in Baseball" are anything but. There is a very vocal portion of the fanbase of the St. Louis Cardinals that are racist, homophobic, elitist, outright dumb, or a combination of the four. The purpose of @BestFansStLouis is to expose these people to the criticism that they deserve. When you tell me that Matt Carpenter deserved to make the All Star Game over Kris Bryant, claim that "All Stars aren't based on stats", then use stats to justify your argument, you deserve to be raked through the coals. When you glorify a drunk driving murderer who just so happened to play baseball for your favorite team, you deserve to be raked through the coals even more so.

All of that said... this should not represent the entirety of the St. Louis Cardinals fan base. Yes, the people retweeted on @BestFansStLouis are scum and deserve to be called out for their idiocy/hate/whatever, but we need to not judge the entire area or fan base based solely on this sample. I know multiple Cardinal fans who absolutely disagree with the notions this vocal minority express and are in fact the classy people that the so-called "Best Fans in Baseball" claim to be.

Jay Rush, a WONC alum who just barely overlapped my time there and Quad Cities radio personality, is a die hard Cardinals fan, but he expressed respect when Heyward signed with the Cubs, was respectful when the Cubs knocked the Cardinals out of the playoffs, and I've never noticed the self-righteousness about the franchise that other Cardinals fans express. He epitomizes what the fan standard of conduct should be.

I went to St. Louis in 2009 with my dad for a couple games at Busch Stadium when the Twins were in town. I wore Cubs gear because I was a 19 year old idiot (though let's be honest, I'd do it again), and I only got two comments about it: a pastor who joked about how my dad and I "need to be saved" (and while some people might take offense at being told that, it's clear he was joking and we'd had a respectful conversation up to that point), and a concession worker said that I was "a brave soul" for wearing Cubs gear to Busch Stadium. That was it. I also saw the fans in attendance that second day give Mark DeRosa, who had just been traded to St. Louis, a standing ovation for his first at bat. It was painful to see after seeing DeRosa in Cubbie blue the two years prior, but I appreciated the respect he got. I'm sure a large chunk of those people wouldn't agree with the hate speech expressed online.

Long story short, there are plenty of classy Cardinals fans. What @BestFansStLouis wouldn't have showed were the Cardinals fans that expressed disappointment that Heyward was leaving, but thanked him for his time in St. Louis and wished him well. It doesn't fit the agenda of the account, and that's fine. What it does is shows that the St. Louis Cardinal fan base, as a whole, is no better and no worse than any other fan base. I'm a Cub fan, and I know there are a ton of drunk idiots that are Cubs fans, and former Cubs have claimed that they heard fans say racist things at Wrigley while they were wearing Cubbie blue. I hate that that happened, and those actions deserve to be condemned, but they don't represent the entirety of the fan base. Likewise, not all Cardinal fans are elitist, racist homophobes who deify an aging catcher who spits on umpires.

I guess the tricky part for me is that no other fan base has the audacity to call itself the "best fans in [insert sport]". Organizations will claim such on behalf of its fans, but the self-declarations as far as I'm aware exist only with the St. Louis Cardinals' fans. It can be tricky to find that balance, but it needs to be done. Of course, personal vendettas that I may or may not have don't help the matter either. Whatever the case, it's important not to judge the entirety of the fan base to be these horrible people... but when the horrible people surface, call them out on it.

2015 MLB Preview: NL Central

First things first: Happy birthday to my dad, who helped nurture my love of sports in general and baseball in particular. He also helped birth my love of the Cubs, which may or may not be a good thing given history.

We're onto the National League Central as we move past the halfway point of the division previews. If you want to refer back to my predictions from last year, you can find them here.

2014 MLB Preview: NL Central

We're moving right along in this year's series of MLB previews. The West Coast is done, and now I'm heading to America's heartland and my homeland.

I pegged the top of the division right last year, if only because it seemed to be a given. St. Louis was the division winner last year, but Pittsburgh outperformed expectations and finally became that feel-good story, making the playoffs for the first time in 21 years. Maybe there will be a changing of the guard? We'll have to see this summer. For now, here's how I think the division shakes out.