Subscribe!Today is the opening day of the 2009 Major League Baseball season, so let's look back at the results of the 2008 season to see who will be playing for promotion and who can play in the World Series this year. For a review of the promotion/relegation criteria see my original entry and the 2007 report for an update to the criteria.
The 2008 final standings are shown in the table below.
| American League 2008 First Division | ||
| Team | Record | GB |
| Los Angeles Angels | 100-62 | - |
| Boston Red Sox | 95-67 | 5 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 90-72 | 10 |
| New York Yankees | 89-73 | 11 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 86-76 | 14 |
| Cleveland Indians | 81-81 | 19 |
| Detroit Tigers | 74-88 | 26 |
| Seattle Mariners | 61-101 | 39 |
| National League 2008 First Division | ||
| Team | Record | GB |
| Chicago Cubs | 97-64 | - |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 92-70 | 5.5 |
| New York Mets | 89-73 | 8.5 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 86-76 | 11.5 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 84-78 | 13.5 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 82-80 | 15.5 |
| Colorado Rockies | 74-88 | 23.5 |
| San Diego Padres | 63-99 | 34.5 |
| American League 2008 Second Division | ||
| Tampa Bay Rays | 97-65 | - |
| Chicago White Sox | 89-74 | 8.5 |
| Minnesota Twins | 88-75 | 9.5 |
| Texas Rangers | 79-83 | 18 |
| Oakland Athletics | 75-86 | 21.5 |
| Kansas City Royals | 75-87 | 22 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 68-93 | 28.5 |
| National League 2008 Second Division | ||
| Houston Astros | 86-75 | - |
| Florida Marlins | 84-77 | 2 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 74-88 | 12.5 |
| Atlanta Braves | 72-90 | 14.5 |
| San Francisco Giants | 72-90 | 14.5 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 67-95 | 19.5 |
| Washington Nationals | 59-102 | 27 |
In the American League, the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners were relegated to the second division while the Cleveland Indians and and Minnesota Twins would have played for spot in the first division. The Twins won the season series with the Indians 10-8 and so were promoted to the first division. The Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago White Sox were promoted to the first division as champions and runners-up of the second division.
In the National League, the Cincinnati Reds won the season series with the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2 to win a spot in the first division and relegating Arizona to the second division. The Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres were relegated to the second division while the Houston Astros and San Diego Padres were promoted to the first division.
The Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels would have met in the American League Championship Series and since the Red Sox won their actual meeting in their division series against the Angels, Boston would have gone on to play in the World Series. In the National League, the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies would have played for a spot in the World Series. The Phillies won the season series 4-3 and so would have played Boston in the World Series. Boston and Philadelphia played 3 times in the regular season with Boston winning 2-1. Since these games were played in Philadelphia it seems these results indicate clearly that Boston would win an actual series. Thus, Boston is my hypothetical 2008 World Series champion.**
In summary, the 2009 Major League Baseball First and Second Divisions are shown below.
|
American League 2009 1st Division | National League 2009 1st Division |
|
Boston Red Sox Chicago White Sox Los Angeles Milwaukee Brewers Minnesota Twins New York Yankees Tampa Bay Devil Rays Toronto Blue Jays |
Chicago Cubs Cincinnati Reds Florida Marlins Houston Astros Los Angeles Dodgers New York Mets Philadelphia Phillies St. Louis Cardinals |
| 2009 2nd Division | 2009 2nd Divison |
|
Baltimore Orioles Cleveland Indians Detroit Tigers Kansas City Royals Oakland Athletics Seattle Mariners Texas Rangers |
Arizona Diamondbacks Atlanta Braves Colorado Rockies Pittsburgh Pirates San Diego Padres San Francisco Giants Washington Nationals |
**Previous WS Champs: Hypothetical (Real): 2005 Cardinals (White Sox), 2006 Mets (Cardinals), 2007 Red Sox (Red Sox), 2008 Red Sox (Philadelphia).
