A World Turned Upside Down

Legend has it that the British Army band played "A World Turned Upside Down" at some point during the day that Lord Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington, effectively ending the American Revolution.




Listen to me and you shall hear,
News hath not been this thousand year:
Since Heros, Caesar, and many more,
You never heard the like before.
Holy-days are despis'd,
New fashions are devis'd.
Old Christmas is kickt out of Town.
Yet let's be content, and the times lament,
You see the world turn'd upside down.

October 19, 1781

The MLB season is almost 33% complete, and at a glance all teams look to be reasonably placed in the standings, just as we may have all anticipated back on Opening Day, right?

Well no, they all don’t, not if you’re looking at the standings in the American League Central Division, where the Cleveland Indians (at 31-18) began Sunday a half game behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the best record in the Majors.

How the heck did that happen, and how is it that the (perennial contending) Minnesota Twins are so awful, they are making Seattle and Houston look like decent teams in comparison? How did things get turned upside down?

The Twins problems are many and varied, and as successful as they’ve been for a number of years, there has to be a fair amount of thought that they’ll get it together at some point soon, doesn’t there? I mean, once Joe Mauer gets back from the problem with his legs, Justin Morneau stops his Mario Mendoza impression, Francisco Liriano learns how to throw strikes again, Delmon Young starts to hit, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka returns from the DL, won’t they be back as a playoff contender?

Don't choke, Ozzie.

And if not the Twins, Ozzie Guillen’s Chicago White Sox should be able to take control of the division, right? Aside from Alex Rios stumbling around at .205, and Adam Dunn continuing to be horrible, the rest of the team has begun to hit, and Ozzie seems to have straightened his bullpen out. The starting rotation of Buerhle, Danks, Jackson, Floyd and Humber looks good enough to be an asset in the division, now that offense has started to come around.

The Detroit Tigers are a few stars in search of anyone else that can play the game. Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and Rick Porcello form three-fifth’s of a good rotation, but the rest of the staff has had problems. Beyond Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez, the hitting is iffy. I’m not putting big money on either Jhonny Peralta or Alex Avila to maintain their current production.

I still really like the Kansas City Royals to make a bit of a run, especially now that their front office has indicated a willingness to bring up some budding stars from the minors, starting with (first baseman) Eric Hosmer and (starting pitcher) Danny Duffy. A couple of guys named Mike await their call as well – third baseman Moustakas and starting pitcher Montgomery have a chance to form another M&M (or should it be MM&MM?) pairing that could dominate the game for the next 10 seasons. Billy Butler continues to evolve as a power hitter, and Eric Gordon has finally begun to live up to all the hype we’ve been hearing about since 2006.

So, what about the Indians? Are they here (at the top) to stay?

The Indians currently have the 5^th best team ERA in the AL, but aside from a possible breakout season from Justin Masterson, all of their other starting pitchers are pitch to contact guys. Is Fausto Carmona a good number 2 guy, or Josh Tomlin a good number 3? Maybe Carlos Carrasco will step up as many have predicted and become a dominant starter, but in the meantime, the Indian’s strikeouts per 9-innings rate is 12th in the league. Eventually, balls that are batted in-play tend to find holes in the defense, instead of gloves. Chris Perez is a solid closer, but the rest of the bullpen is comprised of many of the same shaky to bad performers of recent years. Will guys like Joe Smith, Tony Sipp, and Rafael Perez hold up over the rest of the season?

Cleveland has (arguably) a top 3 offense, but are they doing it with smoke and mirrors when Asdrubal Cabrera is leading the team in every offensive category, now that Travis "Pronk" Hafner has assumed his usual position on the disabled list? Asdrubal is a very good player, but is he this good, and even if he is, can he do it without more help during the next 112 games? How about Grady Sizemore? Is he really someone that will play the rest of the season and be productive, or will he again join Pronk on the DL?

On the plus side, the Indian’s have maintained their standing without much of an early contribution from right fielder Shin-Soo Choo, or catcher Carlos Santana. Some of the thanks goes to the third baseman Jack Hanahan, an unlikely source, and some must go to center fielder Michael Brantley, who looks like the real deal. Veteran Orlando Cabrera has been a steady presence at second base, and Matt LaPorta again appears on the verge of fulfilling the promise we’ve heard about for a couple years. There is a young stud third baseman named Lonnie Chisenhall that the Indians will probably bring up in June, and maybe he’ll contribute, but it’s far from a sure thing that he’ll produce enough.

Will the Indians win the division?

Maybe, but Chicago will have to lose it first.

I fart in your general direction.

I’ll close by saying that if the Indians are still playing on October 19, it will mark the 230^th anniversary of the British army surrender at Yorktown, and someone will have to stop me from standing on my head, and seeing a world turned upside down.