The 2006 American League Show! Same Plots, Scrambled Characters

If the American League was a sitcom, the 2006 season would have all the same plots as 2005, but all the charcters would be different. For example, if they did this on the Office, Jim would be the wacky boss, Pam would fall madly in love with the engaged Dwight, and Michael would be the creepy suck up.

The 7 playoff contenders in 2005 fell nicely into 7 different roles, and the 8 playoff contenders in 2006 can fit into those same 7 roles just as well (with 1 role having 2 teams). So without further ado, it's time to present the 2005 and 2006 cast of characters, in reverse order of contention...

Role: Solid Season, Never a serious threat
2005: Oakland A's 2006: Oakland A's, Toronto Blue Jays
The A's gave the Angels a run for the AL West title last year, but faded in September as the Angels got red hot and ran away with the division. This year, the A's currently lead the division but it would be surprising if they can hang on with the Angels and their monsterous budget chasing them. Even if they do manage to make the playoffs, they would probably run into an AL East or Central brick wall in the first round. The Jays are definitely a team to take notice of this season, but with the Yankees and Red Sox in their division, they'll need to step it up to 1992 levels in order to be considered a serious contender.

Role: The Underachiever
2005: Minnesota Twins 2006: Los Angeles Angels
Last season, the Twins were a popular World Series pick after coming off 3 straight Central titles, but they wound up just being slightly above average, got dominated by the White Sox head to head, and had the Indians blow by them in the 2nd half. This year, the Angels, with their high team salary and coming off an ALCS appearance looked like a cinch to win the low budget AL West and be a major player in the playoffs. They've played just over .500 ball, and only because of a recent run that pulled them out of last place. However, division alignments make this a much different role for this season. The Twins were buried in 3rd behind the White Sox and Indians, but the Angels have a good shot at still taking the division title, only to probably get smoked in the playoffs instead of making a decent run like many expected.

Role: Through Hell and Back...and then Back again
2005: Cleveland Indians 2006: Minnesota Twins
The Indians went from a team that was supposed to compete with the White Sox and Twins after a great late 2004 run, to an underachieving piece of crap, to the team that almost dethroned the wire to wire division leaders, only to be put in their place by the Juggernaut they were trying to catch. The Twins didn't come into 2006 with as high of expectations, but no one expected them to suffer as badly they did early in the season. Now after an amazing run fueled by excellent starting pitching and career years by Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, they are right back in the playoff race. Now can they keep the winning ways alive, or will they stumble and fall just short like last year's Indians? We'll know in 2 months.

Role: The Yankees
2005: New York Yankees 2006: New York Yankees
This one didn't change. The Yankees are the Yankees and always will be the Yankees. They aren't the team they were in the late 90's anymore, that just crushed everything in site, but they've been the same team every year since then. They slug it out with Boston, get a piece or 2 at the trade deadline, and steal the division away, only to get "upset" in the playoffs when their old guys finally get burned out. They aren't much different than the 1991-2005 Braves. Can they win the World Series this year? They always can. Will they win the World Series this year? Probably not.

Role: The Forgotten Recent Champ
2005: Los Angeles Angels 2006: Boston Red Sox
The Angels won it all in 2002, and in 2005 they still had some of the old gang around, replacing the ones that left with new talent. They had a nice combination of playoff experience and new guys hungry for a first title. However, heading into the playoffs, they were an afterthought. Then they "upset" the Yankees, and maybe if AJ Pierzynski doesn't wisely run to 1st on a dropped 3rd strike, they win it all again. I can see the Red Sox as that team this year. Now of course, the Red Sox are the media darlings, so you're probably wondering how I can say they're "forgotten." But actually if you listen closely, most of the talk has been about the great individual season of David Ortiz and I've heard almost every contender but them being declared the "Team to Beat in the AL."

Role: The Faded Defending Champs
2005: Boston Red Sox 2006: Chicago White Sox
Both of these teams came into their respective seasons as the defending World Series Champs, and both were very good once again, but they seemed to be missing the magic that they posessed a year earlier. The Red Sox had their "idiots" and a midget mascot in 2004 and the White Sox "Don't Stop Believing" campaign lead to what I think was the kidnapping of Steve Perry. Both teams came into the season with high hopes of repeating, but their style of play changed dramatically. The Red Sox lost most of their key starting pitching through free agency and injury and they faced more clubhouse drama. The White Sox "small ball" has turned into a home run derby and not capitalizing on baserunners, and their rotation is almost completely in tact, but is now magically terrible. Despite this, the slumping Red Sox stole the Wild Card from the surging then choking Indians only to get swept by the White Sox, and the White Sox are probably still the Wild Card favorite, since they had a nice lead on it until a recent poor stretch made it a tight race again, but don't expect much in the playoffs.

Role: The Unbelievable Juggernaut
2005: Chicago White Sox 2006: Detroit Tigers
The White Sox were clearly the best team in baseball last year, and the entire world outside of the South Side of Chicago refused to believe it. The entire season for them was marked by "They'll fade" and "They can never win in the playoffs." When the Indians made their late season run, everyone had Chicago's obituary written and declared them the biggest chokers since the 1969 Cubs, even though the Indians never actually caught them! They had that magic and passion for winning that all great underdog champions have, and the negative comments fueled them to be even better. They played smart ball, not leaving many baserunners, and had dominant pitching, and very few non-White Sox fans believed in them until they tore through the playoffs, only losing once, on the way to their first title in 88 years.

The Tigers are this year's White Sox. Nothing has ever been more obvious. No one believes in them, everyone says they will fade, but they just keep winning. Until this recent rough stretch for the White Sox, it was widely agreed that this was the White Sox' division, and the Tigers were just keeping first place warm for them, completely ignoring the negatives about the Sox that I mentioned above and discreditng all the things that Detroit is doing right. I was a doubter too, but now I'm a believer, and I'm sure if the White Sox and Twins go on another run people will start writing off the Tigers again, but they have what it takes (including that "we can't lose" mentality the White Sox have) to take them all the way this season.