Loveable Numbers.

If you're a Toronto Blue Jays fan you can't help but love the current numbers.  The Jays are 5 games over .500.  They currently lead the American League East by a game and a half over Baltimore, and 2 games over the Yankees.  They've won 8 of their last 10.  And last night's win was over the Oakland A's, who are tied with the San Francisco Giants for most wins in the majors.

The general thought starting the season was that Toronto would be in the basement once again, just as they were last year.  Even as the season began there was talk manager John Gibbons should be fired.  You won't hear that kind of talk as much now, although there will always be people who want any manager fired.  Instead we have a contending team at the moment. 

Of course one of the big numbers is 115.  That's the number of games left in the regular season.  That's a lot of games.  So it's a bit early to be thinking about hoisting the pennant. 

Meanwhile, the fans of the Tampa Bay Rays(all 10 of them) are in the same position Jays fans were at this time last year, wondering what the hell is going on, and how much longer they have to turn things around before the season is lost.  At least they have one more win that the Jays had.  And Boston Red Sox fans are having a nasty case of deja vu, as it looks uncomfortably like their disastrous 2012 season all over again.  Except at this point in 2012 they had a .500 record, not the 7 games below .500 they do today.  I would imagine they'll be out for John Farrell's blood before long.  At least Farrell has last's years World Series win to tamper some of that.

The Yankees situation is also interesting.  There had to be some fear in their fan base that this year might be a mess.  Mariano Rivera has retired.  Derek Jeter is in his last year.  Robinson Cano signed with the Mariners in the off season.  But, as usual, they're in contention.  Sure, most people wouldn't have expected them to be 2 behind the Jays at this point, but as I noted above there's a lot of season left.  No one in New York is going to be panicking yet.(I should also note that the absence of Alex Rodriguez probably led to a few sighs of relief, as he would have pretty much been clubhouse poison this year.)

Whatever happens today the Jays will still be in the lead at day's end.  But Jays fans are hoping that today sees them increase their lead, and that it's just the beginning of a successful run to the playoffs.