Let's take a look more at the players that got these teams in their situations. For the Braves, it's been that great pitching. Javier Vasquez(is it just me, or did the Braves pick him up on waivers in the off-season? Nice grab, foolish mistake by that now ex-White Sox owner), and Jair Jurrjens have been the team's top 2 pitchers. Then there are the likes of Tommy Hanson and Kenshin Kawakami that have been lights out since the All-Star Break. Nick Blackburn was great in the early part of the year, but recently he hasn't been as good. Derek Lowe has had his moments, and Gio Gonzalez has been looking very good in the 2nd half. A big part of their pitching has been their bullpen. The mix of closers and set-up men they have. Ryan Franklin, Raffy Soriano, Ramon Ramirez, Peter Moylan, among others. The line-up was sort of hidden in the first half, but the 2nd half has been a different story. Garret Jones has been putting up Albert Pujols' like #s, Torii Hunter is again healthy, Mark Teixeira is the only American League player with 100 RBIs(MVP?). The rest of the lineup have really done well too.
The Cardinals are obviously led by God himself, Albert Pujols. But, the real leader of late has been one named......Rajai Davis. He's been doing his best impersonation of Ichiro the last 2 weeks or so, and he's been putting up great numbers of late. Rookies Elvis Andrus and Colby Rasmus have been great. Not too mention the surprise of Erick Aybar at SS. Their pitchers may be short in numbers, but they are big in points. Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter both make compelling arguments for the NL Cy Young, and both are aces of the real life Cardinals, and these Cardinals. Homer Bailey has had his ups and downs, but when he is up, he's up. Mr. Perfect(oh wait, Juan Uribe......) Jonathan Sanchez has had his bright moments where he has put up big points. A big part of their point production is too from their mix of closers, and set-up men. Andrew Bailey has flourished as the closer in Oakland. Matt Guerrier and Luke Gregerson have been fantastic as set-up men. I still haven't mentioned Todd "Speed Racer" Coffey(He tries to run from the bull-pen to the mound in under like 7 seconds...hilarious).
These teams are both very good teams. Though, neither of them wow you, but they get the job done. They consistently put up 500+ points, and they show up every week. This should be a match-up decided late on Sunday night, that's the only way I see it happening. Both these teams spent time on the bottom of the standings, and now it's one of their times to shine. Who will shine? The Cardinals? Braves? Will the Marlins lose to help the Braves? Well, even if I had the answer, I wouldn't tell you guys. Because it's damn fun to not know. The craziness of a play-off race is the reason we love this game of Baseball, and Fantasy Baseball.
But, because I have to pick a winner, I'm going to go with the Braves. But only because I want to have a chance at the play-offs ;).
610-600 --- Bra