Weekend Playlist: When You Say Nothing At All

Last week I spotlighted Alison Krauss and James Taylor's duet "How's the World Treating You". This week Alison Krauss returns with her band Union Station with "When You Say Nothing At All". It's hard to single out just one song from Allison Krauss + Union Station but this has to be my favorite by far. This live recording is also the best that I have heard. Enjoy.

Daily Links 10-4-13

Monopoly street view, how to clean up bacon grease, combating busyness, some interesting facts about The Princess Bride, and more in today's roundup of links.

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Ever wonder what the streets in the Monopoly board game actually look like? One blogger decided to take a trip through Atlantic City and put together a photo tour of the city.

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There have been quite a few complaints about the "one and done" format of baseball's wild card game. One proposal to make it better comes from Bob Costas (via Theo Epstein): schedule a day-night doubleheader and make the wild card teams play a best two out of three. The more I think about this idea the more it seems to have merit.

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After you've fixed your bacon and eggs for breakfast, how do you clean up the bacon grease? This is a clever tip on how to make your job easier. 

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Some practical tips on combating busyness. This is an area I struggle with all the time. (Hat tip: Challies)

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Without a doubt, The Princess Bride is one of the best movies ever made. Here are 26 interesting facts you may not know about the classic film.  (Hat tip: Mental Floss)

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One of my favorite songwriters is Sara Groves. In connection with her newest release, she recorded an acoustic version of one of her best known songs, Painting Pictures of Egypt. Check out the song here and find out a little more about the song.

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Five types of friends every guy should have. 

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I hadn't realized this until it was pointed out to me: five bookish moments from Person of Interest.

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Lancaster, PA is a lovely place to visit. Did you also know it once served as the nation's capital? Full story here. 

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Daily Links 10-3-13

A movie that was way ahead of its time, girls need dads, fixing the baseball schedule, and more in today's collection of links.

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I hadn't thought about the movie The King of Comedy until I ran across this article at Acculturated. But now that I think about it, the author has it exactly right. This movie was way ahead of its time and offers a grim picture of the state of popular culture today.

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Joe Maddon is one of the best managers in baseball. He's also a unique guy. Steve Wulf has a terrific profile of the Tampa Bay Rays skipper.

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More from Acculturated (one of my current favorite blogs): Girls need their fathers. An excerpt:

So much of who we are, and who we become for that matter, depends on where we came from, and how we were raised.  And for little girls, much of who we become depends on how invested our fathers were in our lives.

There are some women in the world with fathers who are very attentive and encouraging, and who actively help form their daughters into amazing women. There are other girls, who never knew their father or lost their dad at a young age, but many of these girls have an uncle, a cousin, a family friend, or some other father figure in their life, who led them in life and formed them into awe-inspiring women.

But, there is another section of society’s daughters that have fathers who seem to be present, but in actuality are completely disconnected and detached from his little daughter’s life. This has become a problem in the world today and it is getting worse every day.

Many parents have lost sight of what their children need, and the fact that kids don’t need their parents to be their “friend”, they need their parents to be parents. And this seems to be the case with many father-daughter relationships.

The fathers in question are a part of their little girls every day lives, but they neglect every aspect of their daughter’s formation and fail to be there for her in the moments she needs him most. Girls need their fathers to be strong and direct them in the ways of the world; otherwise these girls are forced to make adult decisions at a very young age.

Be sure to read the whole thing.

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Now that baseball has moved onto the postseason, it's time to start figuring out how to fix the regular season schedule. 

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The doubly thankful villages of the United Kingdom. It's a really neat story. (hat tip Neatorama)

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The fascinating story of the man who served as chaplain to war criminals during the Nuremberg trials. (Hat tip: Blogging Theologically)

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A wonderful tribute to the late Tom Clancy.

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How one company turned a failed government contract into a fashion icon.

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Here's a fun list: the 10 greatest baseball comedy bits.

Joe Girardi Should Say No to the Yankees

When the Chicago Cubs fired manager Dale Sveum earlier this week, rumors immediately began to swirl that Joe Girardi should be hired to replace him. It makes sense: his contract with the Yankees runs out on October 31st. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman met with Girardi's agent today. No doubt the Yankees would like to retain Girardi. He's a big reason why the Yankees were still in the wild card race until the last week of the season. But no matter how good the offer sounds Girardi's best bet would be to say no to a contract extension even if he doesn't take the Cubs' job. 2014 promises to be a tough season for the Yankees. Here are several reasons why:

1. The Yankees are looking to cut costs in 2014. After having the second highest payroll in 2013 at just over $228 million they have made a committment to be under the luxury tax threshold of $189 million in 2014. This is the reason why they will have an uphill battle trying to replace some key personnel (see below).

2. They may not be able to re-sign Robinson Cano. His demand for a 10-year, $305 million contract is not likely to be met. He's making $15 million this year and will likely get a raise with his next contract. But the Yankees aren't going to be a spending mood. If they can't re-sign him then they will have a big hole at second base to fill. But there are other personnel issues as well.

3. Derek Jeter may not be back in 2014. He was shut down for the year on September 11th after struggling with his rehab all season long. His age is also a factor - he'll be 40 next summer. It's not a certainty that he will be able to come back at all and even if he does he's not going to be up to full strength.

4. Then there's the issue of Alex Rodriguez. His appeal hearing got underway yesterday and it's not clear what the outcome will ultimately be. He's going to almost certainly be suspended. The question will only be how many games he will have to serve. Like Jeter, age is not on Rodriguez's side, either. He'll be 39 next summer. He's also battling hip issues too. Although he was somewhat effective when he came back earlier this year it's clear he's lost a step.

5. Mark Texiera has been out the entire year. If he manages to come back will he live up to the lofty expectations in his contract? He admitted in an interview before the season that he was overpaid.

6. The Yankees need pitching. With Andy Petite and Mariano Rivera's retirements this year, those are two huge holes in the pitching staff to be filled. Rivera's slot will be more difficult to fill since they don't have a reliable closer to step in.

7. The farm system isn't ready to help out. Yes, the Yankees have more talent than most folks give them credit. But the fact is that they don't have any players ready to immediately contribute to the major league club. With the payroll pressures that are already in place it's going to make it more difficult to restock the roster especially if one or more of their key players mentioned above

Given all of these factors, it may be wise for Girardi to think twice about accepting any contract extension offers. The next few years are likely to be difficult ones for the Yankees. Unless Girardi really wants to be presiding over an inevitable decline it might be a good time to quit while he's ahead of the game.

Just Don't Ask

Source

Daily Links 10-2-13

A little photographic history, words that don't exist in English (but should), John Coltrane, and more in today's link roundup.

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Why didn't people smile in 19th century photographs? The answer is somewhat surprising. (Hat tip: Neatorama)

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25 words that don't exist in English (but probably should) (hat tip: Eliana Johnson)

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A baseball fan's bucket list (and a mighty fine one at that).

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John Coltrane's handwritten outline for A Love Supreme. Check out the entire story here.

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Are you studying or reading? Unfortunately I can relate to this post. (Hat tip: Blogging Theologically)

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Disney quote of the day:

I'm not lost for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost. –Pooh
— Disney Words (@disneywords) September 24, 2013

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A profile of the real-life Indiana Jones. Yes, there is someone who really resembles the movie character.

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Wally Pipp is best known as the guy benched in favor of Lou Gehrig. But do you know the rest of the Pipp story? 

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Just how close did we come to nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis? If it weren't for one Soviet submariner disobeying orders we would have gone to war.

Should Christians Send Their Children to Public School?

Dr. Albert Mohler poses an interesting question in this artice at Answers in Genesis:

Should Christian parents send their children to the public schools? That question has emerged as one of the most controversial debates of our times. And yet, every family must come to terms with the issues involved in the public school debate—and fast.

Most parents already know that a great deal is at stake in this question. We start with the affirmation that it is parents who bear responsibility for the education of their children. God will hold every parent accountable for the decisions we make about our children and the context, as well as the content, of their education (Deuteronomy 6:1–26; Ephesians 6:1–4). In the truest sense, Christians understand that every home is a church, a government, and a school—the first church, the first government, and the first school that a child will come to know. The duty of Christian parents to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord cannot be delegated to anyone else—not to the state, not to the schools, and not even to the church.

Dr. Mohler goes on to trace the history of public education and helps us understand why it is increasingly difficult for Christian parents to send their children to public schools. His conclusion is compelling:

Many fine teachers and administrators serve in the public schools, and many Christians serve among them. In some parts of the country, the public schools still operate in some sense as community schools under local control. And yet, this is already not the case for the vast majority of schools and communities, and the handwriting is on the wall for the rest.

Is public school an option? For Christians who take the Christian worldview seriously and who understand the issues at stake, the answer is increasingly no. The number of Christian parents coming to this conclusion increases each year. We can understand the nostalgia that many Christians hold about the public schools. I spent every minute of my school life from the first grade to high school graduation in a public school. And yet, I saw the ideological transformation of the schools before my own eyes. Long ago, the public schools entered a Brave New World from which no retreat now seems possible.

Be sure to read the entire article.

Daily LInks 10-1-13

Accidental food inventions, the myth of seeker-sensitive worship, The War of the Worlds, and more in today's roundup of links.

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15 Delicious Foods That Were Invented By Mistake (via Food Riot)

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David Walker on the myth of "seeker-sensitive worship"

There are legitimate “seekers” of the Truth out there, but when it comes to musical worship, we’ve defined “seeker” as someone who wants a show, who we don’t want to offend. We do this in an attempt to lead them to make a decision for Jesus through our musical worship simply being the holster for the message.

Somehow, we’ve watered down our expression of worship in order to give them a sport to spectate instead of an expression that leads them to participate. Whether you're attractional, missional, in-between, charismatic, liturgical...and the list goes on...the Church has got to start processing through the worship of our King and the people the Church would define as seekers.

Hat tip: Worship Ideas

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Context matters a great deal when studying the Bible as this sermon from 1 Timothy 2:1-15 rightly points out. (Hat tip: Mollie Hemingway)

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Dispelling common misconceptions non-homeschool parents have about parents who homeschool.

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In 1938, Orson Welles terrified the nation with his radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds. You can hear the whole broadcast here.

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According to Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Madddon, Ben Zobrist "lacks chrome". It's a good example of what leadership should look like.

Hat tip: Chailles

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Daily Links 9-30-13

Ernest Hemingway's Reading List for young adults, just because a book is labeled "young adult" doesn't mean you should ignore it, Instragramming your meal, and more in today's link roundup.


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Ernest Hemingway once wrote out a reading list for a young man. But that's only the beginning of the story.
(Hat tip: Buzzfeed)

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Young Adult Fiction is better than you think. Or as my daughter (who pointed this out to me) put it, a good story is a good story.

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Disney quote of the day:

Any day spent with you is my favorite day. So, today is my new favorite day. –Pooh
— Disney Words (@disneywords) September 21, 2013

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Want to Instragram your meal? Bobby Flay is okay with that:

“Listen, if you want to come to my restaurant, where you’re paying for your meal, and you want to take a picture of my food and advertise it all over the world and the internet, be my guest,” Bobby responded.

Hat tip: Food Riot

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When someone says to you, "God Told Me", how do you react?

Hat tip: Blogging Theologically

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No Shirt, No Shoes, No Sagging, No Service? (via Food Riot)

Weekend Links 9-28-13

A little nostalgia, Alfred Hitchcock, some odd Disney facts, and more fun stuff for your weekend reading pleasure.


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If you are of a certain age, you likely had a Trapper Keeper while you were in school. Here's a wonderful history of our favorite school accessory.

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All of Alfred Hitchcock's cameo appearances in one video:




Source

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An assortment of odd Disney movie facts.

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Grammar rules: how to use a comma without looking like an idiot. (Hat tip: Neatorama)

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Five curious cases of international borders.

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Going the extra mile: A woman loses her wedding ring. A Panera Bread store manager finds the ring in their parking lot.  Key quote:‘This is Panera. This is what we do, we build relationships so our guests can come back."
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Ten baseball songs you probably have never heard (at least I had never heard of any of them).

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A guide to reading the Federalist Papers (hint: you don't have to read them all)

Weekend Playlist - How's The World Treating You

Last week I spotlighted the musical genius of pairing Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. This week is another example of musical genius in the form of pairing Alison Krauss and James Taylor. Their cover of the Louvin Brothers 1961 hit "How's the World Treating You" is a beautiful ballad featuring absolutely perfect harmonies. Although this song didn't make the charts it's still a classic recording. Enjoy.

Daily Links 9-27-13

Harnessing the power of introverts, the dangers of busyness, how a 1940's actress helped develop wireless technologies we enjoy today, and more in today's link roundup.

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One the best books I have read lately is Susan Cain's Quiet: The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can't Stop Talking. This article neatly summarizes her findings in the book and how businesses can apply its lessons.

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Three dangers of busyness. This looks like it's going to be a great book.

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Some fascinating facts about Walt Disney World that you may not know.

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Did you know that a 1940's Hollywood star helped make wireless technologies possible? It's a fascinating story.

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Recreating Ernest Hemingway's hamburger recipe. (Hat tip: Food Riot). I have to say that this looks delicious and may be well worth a try.

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Victor Davis Hanson on the decline of college:

For the last 70 years, American higher education was assumed to be the pathway to upward mobility and a rich shared-learning experience. Young Americans for four years took a common core of classes, learned to look at the world dispassionately, and gained the concrete knowledge to make informed arguments logically.

The result was a more skilled workforce and a competent democratic citizenry. That ideal may still be true at our flagship universities, with their enormous endowments and stellar world rankings. Yet most everywhere else, something went terribly wrong with that model. Almost all the old campus protocols are now tragically outdated or antithetical to their original mission.

Be sure to read the whole thing.

Daily Links 9-26-13

The darker side of Peter Pan, money and marriage, pocket notebooks, what the next generation considers normal, youth in church and more in today's links.

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J. M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan, had a sad life. Neatorama has the complete story. Although Barrie faced a lot of tragedy, his story of the boy who never grew up has brought joy to countless children over the years.

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This seems a little obvious: pooling your money leads to a happier marriage.

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This is a fascinating article: the six hours aboard Air Force One following the assassination of President John Kennedy. (Hat tip: Stephen Mansfield)

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This is cool: the pocket notebooks of 20 famous men.

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We're doing youth a disservice by segregating them from the rest of the congregation:

Simply put, we do teens a disservice when we segregate them from the life of the church. When we build youth ministries that don't fold students into the life of the congregation, the unintended consequence is a future of empty pews. Pew Research reports that 20- to 30-year-olds attend church at half the rate of their parents and one-fourth the rate of their grandparents. These young adults were teens a decade or two ago, and many of them were active in youth ministries. As result, many today ask what we can do to reverse this
regrettable trend, wondering how to get formerly churchgoing youth "back" into church. In my view, we must engage students in the life of entire congregations. Then and only then can we model and shape a biblical view of the church as we entrust the faith from one generation to the next.

We've always made it a point to try to worship together in a family. I can remember once visiting in a church and almost getting into a heated argument because we wanted our children with us rather than the rest of the youth. This article makes an excellent point and is well worth reading.

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The Mindset List helps understand what the current generation defines as "normal". It's a surprising list.

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How one pilot's sweet tooth helped to defeat communism.

If You're Reading This, It's Already Too Late

Full story here.

Daily Links 9-25-13

Where to find the best burgers, why men aren't singing in church, Babe Ruth getting plunked, pitfalls of modern technology, and more in today's link roundup.

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When I lived in Raleigh, North Carolina years ago I used to frequent a little dive of a burger joint that had some of the best burgers that I have ever tasted. I was happy to discover they are still in business (and still very reasonably priced). So, if you're in the Raleigh area and you want a great burger you have to visit Char-Grill. You will not be disappointed. (Hat tip: Serious Eats)

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I hadn't noticed this but I wonder if it's true that men have stopped singing in church. (Hat tip: Challies)

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A little baseball history: How Babe Ruth brushed off getting plunked.

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I am ashamed to say I can totally relate to this:

This morning I awoke to discover I had no internet access. I don’t mean that after a leisurely breakfast and shower I eventually sat down to my computer and couldn’t get online. I mean I literally “awoke to discover” it, because the first thing I did when my eyes opened was to grab the cell phone from my night stand and check my emails. My inability to do so immediately left me as agitated as a junky in need of a fix, highlighting for me just how addicted I, like countless others, have become to being perpetually connected to the outside world through my phone.

Except that it doesn’t really connect me at all; if anything, my phonedisconnects me from the outside world. Yes, it links me to a multiverse of information and distractions. But there is something about experiencing the world through the addictive central portal of a smartphone that creates a psychological and spiritual distance from the experience and from the world itself.

Read the whole thing.

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I'm not sure whether any of these tips would really be effective, but here are 25 productivity secrets of successful historical figures.

Merlke's Boner - 105 Years Later

For those not familiar with baseball history, Merkle's Boner refers to the most infamous error ever committed not just in a baseball game but arguably in any major sporting event. Keith Olbermann took time on his TV show this week to mark the anniversary with a helpful lesson on what happened and why this muff took on a life of its own (hat tip Rob Neyer)




A couple of points Olbermann doesn't bring out that are worth considering:

There were only two umpires working this game. In fact, for most regular season games it would be normal to only have a home plate umpire. Despite all the controversy surrounding this incident, multiple umpires would not be used in regular season games on a normal basis until 1920.

Merkle's mistake was magnified in large part because the stakes were so high. In those days, you didn't have multiple layers of playoffs and a wild-card system that allowed the fourth and fifth worst teams in the league a shot at the championship at the end of the regular season. If you didn't finish first in the league you went home. Thus, the pressure was much greater on players then than it is today.

It's a little bit of a stretch, though, to say that this one play was somehow responsible for keeping the Cubs from winning another World Series. Johnny Evers was simply enforcing the rules of the day no matter how much they might not make sense to our modern sensibilities. The Cubs appeared in seven more World Series after 1908 so it's a little bit of a stretch to say that somehow this play and how the team handled it are somehow responsible for the last century-plus of failure.

Otherwise this is a terrific lesson in baseball history. It's also a tragic story of how one man suffered the wrath of fans for far too long. Mistakes happen every day. Sometimes the stakes are higher than others. But that doesn't mean we need to make the person responsible for the mistake a pariah.

Daily Links 9-24-13

Things you won't find on a playground anymore, how to remove yourself from the internet, the war on men, and more in today's links.

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Here are a list of 11 things you don't see on the playground any more. How did we ever survive our childhood

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Want to delete your internet accounts? Just Delete Me is designed to help you how to remove yourself from the internet.

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Dr. Albert Mohler has a fascinating interview with Dr. Helen Smith about her book Men On Strike. Here's her take on why men are going on strike against college:

I have a chapter in the book called “The College Strike.” And maybe that’s almost beyond what’s happening. Because what’s happening is men are just not making it into college. Right now it’s about 57% women, 43% men, and that’s growing where they think in the next ten  years it could be as many as 60% women going to college. One of the reasons for that is younger men in the elementary school grades often having failing grades, they often don’t do well, a lot of boys can’t read or don’t do well in those areas. And they’re disconnected from schools because schools in some sense over the last forty to fifty years have become places that are much more suitable for girls than they are for boys. And we worry so much about what girls need and how we make that happen. Like if we see that girls are lagging behind in science we immediately say okay we have to do something; we have to find books that girls like to read; we have to find a way to teach girls that will make them want to go into science or make them want to understand math better. But we don’t look at boys and we don’t say okay these boys can’t read; what can we do? And a lot of boys are sitting in schools and they’re told to stay quite. We’ve taken away recess, and Christina Hoff Sommers talks about this in her book The War on Boys, she talks a lot about what young men are facing in this country and how we don’t have any competition in schools. We have done away with dodge ball, we’ve done away with recess, and boys are sort of left sitting there and being handed books written by Toni Morrison or other female writers that sometimes they really can’t connect to. The saddest thing to me is that I’ve talked to boys around the country and one of the things a 14 year old boy said to me was that he wanted to start a boy’s group in his school. And he said that not one male teacher or female teacher in his school in New York City was brave enough to help him start that club. But they just said you know we can’t do that because they didn’t want to have an all-boys club in the school, whereas there are a million all-girls clubs, a Latino club, there’s an African-American club, but they can’t have a boys’ club. And I talk about that some in the book about there was one southern school that did start a men’s law group in a law school. And they were able to successfully do that. So I talk to men in the book about how do you go about reclaiming some of that space. And some of that can be worked out, but some of it is some of the schools they just will not allow that type of thing.

Read the whole thing. Or you can listen to the podcast here.

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Now this looks tasty: how to make your own gourmet bacon. (Hat tip: Fine Dining Lovers)

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Baseball history: film of Babe Ruth's called shot



Hat tip: John Thorn

Who To Follow On Twitter: Potpourri Edition

I've covered a number of different categories of Twitter feeds to follow in previous posts. Today, a roundup of other Twitter feeds that should not be missed.

Art of Manliness (@artofmanliness)

As their website explains, they are dedicated to the recovering the lost art of manliness. How does a gentleman become a gentleman? What are the skills that every man, husband, and father need to learn? This is where you will find the answers to these questions.

Honest Toddler (@HonestToddler)

Imagine how a three year-old would sound on Twitter and you get the idea behind this wonderful creation of writer Bunmi Laditan. This is a feed that frequently makes me laugh out loud. She also just wrote a book. This is one of the great bright spots on Twitter.

Mental Floss (@mental_floss)

The official feed of Mental Floss magazine is chock full of fun facts and links of interest. If you have an interest in trivial stuff then this is the feed for you.

Lifehacker (@lifehacker)

Lifehacker is an indispensable website full of shortcuts and tips to getting things done. If you ever need to know how to do something this is a good place to start. They are constantly sending out all sorts of tips and links to downloads and apps that will make life easier. 

Neatorama (@neatorama)

 

If your interests skew towards the geeky stuff (or the just plain unusual) this is another feed that you should certainly follow. Some of the most unusual and fascinating stuff can be found on the site. They also have one of the most fantastic collections of geeky fan gear in their web shop.

Acculturated (@Acculturated)

Pop culture permeates our culture but the big question is why? That's the question that Acculturated tries to answer each day by taking a critical look at pop culture and its influence on our culture as a whole. This is an excellent blog to follow and you can keep up with all the latest posts through their feed.

To view the other posts in this series, click here. 

Weekend Links 9-21-13

Here are a few links of interest for your weekend enjoyment. How to visit a museum without leaving home, keeping up with current events, and Star Trek episodes imagined as vintage movie posters.

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A father dying of cancer knew he wouldn't live to see his daughters get married. But he came up with a way to walk his daughters down the aisle.

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Too busy to keep up with current events? Wikipedia's Date View can help with that.

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How to visit the world's best museums from the comfort of your own home.

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An artist has conceived all of the original episodes of Star Trek as vintage movie posters. The results are pretty amazing. (Hat tip: Gizmodo)

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Disney's Peter Pan is celebrating its 60th anniversary. You can commemorate the occasion by owning this wonderful tea pot.

Who Will Be Baseball's Wild Card Teams?

Major League Baseball's Wild Card games are in their second year and the races in both leagues are much tighter than anyone could have anticipated even a couple of weeks ago. Sure, nobody really likes the game but having the opportunity to play one more game to advance into the playoffs is something a lot of guys would want to have the opportunity to do.

What makes things more complicated this year is that there are no clear favorites in either league with just ten days left in the regular season. In both leagues there are teams in the mix that at the beginning of the year wouldn't have been picked to have a chance to make the playoffs. In one league not only are the two wild card spots but one division title is in play while in the other there are six teams with a legitimate shot at the two wild card spots.

Let's start in the National League. As of right now, the St. Louis Cardinals hold a one game league over the Pittsburgh Pirates for the division title and a two game lead over the Cincinnati Reds. The Pirates have a one game lead over the Reds in the wild card standings and the Washington Nationals are the only other NL team with any chance at the wild card trailing the Reds by five games.

This is where it gets interesting: Thanks to some brilliant planning by the scheduling office, the Pirates and Reds get to face each other six times in the final ten days. I seriously doubt that whoever put together the schedule thought that the Pirates would be playoff contenders. Consequently, games at the end of the season that would have probably thought to have very little significance become incredibly important.

Also, thanks to the fact that the NL Central has been such a tight division down the stretch, it's conceivable that any one of the three teams (Cardinals, Pirates and Reds) could end up the division champ. Or we could end up with a tie for either the wild card or the division (or both) and then chaos would ensue.

Let's suppose for a moment, however, that on the final day of the season we will know both the Central Division champ and the NL Wild Cards. Which team has the best chance of making it to the playoffs? Here's the remaining schedule for the contenders:

Cardinals:   3 games @ Milwaukee, 3 vs. Washington, 3 vs. Chicago Cubs
Pirates:       3 games vs. Cincinnati, 3 at Chicago Cubs, 3 at Cincinnati
Reds:         3 games @ Pittsburgh, 3 vs. New York Mets, 3 vs. Pittsburgh
Nationals:   3  games vs. Miami, 3 @ St. Louis, 3 @ Arizona

The one team I'm not sure about in this list is the Nationals. I think they're a pretty good team but they have a lot of ground to make up (5 games with 9 to play). Of course, they benefit greatly from having Pittsburgh and Cincinnati facing each other 6 times. If it weren't for that little scheduling quirk I'm not sure they would have a chance. The only series they have remaining that would be of concern to me is the 3 games at St. Louis. By that point, they may be playing the role of spoiler rather than contender.

As for the other three teams, both Cincinnati and Pittsburgh have the toughest road by virtue of the games against each other. The Pirates and Cardinals both must also face the Cubs who could do some real damage as spoilers in the final week. I would give the Reds a better shot at winning the division if they didn't have those six games against the Pirates.

Final prediction: NL Central Division Champ - Pirates, wild card - Reds and Cardinals

The American League has its own set of issues. As of right now, there are six teams that can be considered legitimate contenders for the two wild card spots. For the sake of simplicity, I am going to assume that Detroit and Oakland will win their respective divisions though there is a slim chance that one of the wild card contenders could slip into the division lead if everything plays out just right.

Here's how the wild card standings stack up right now:

Team                    Record                      Games Back
Texas                   83-69                              --
Tampa Bay          83-69                              --
Cleveland            83-70                              1/2
Baltimore             81-71                              2
Kansas City         80-72                              3
New York           80-73                              3 1/2

Let's take a look at them in reverse order:

New York Yankees - games remaining: 3 vs. San Francisco, 3 vs. Tampa Bay, 3 @ Houston
The Yankees are getting older by the day. Every New York fan knows that time is running out for this team to win another championship. With Alex Rodriguez's suspension looming chances are good he's not playing next year. Derek Jeter is still battling ankle issues. Mariano Rivera is retiring. Today we find out that Andy Petite is calling it quits too. Manager Joe Girardi's contract runs out at the end of the year and there are rumors he may leave New York to manage the Chicago Cubs. There's also the fact that Girardi has been working miracles with this team to keep them in contention. Their offense at time has been pitiful and if it hadn't been for the mid-season acquisition of Alfonso Soriano from the Cubs they might not even be here.

But the question remains whether they can win the wild card. The big worry for me is the three games against Tampa Bay. That's the most difficult series facing them on their remaining schedule. The Yankees seem to be one loss away from a complete collapse for the past couple of months. There's no doubt they've been successful. But given the teams they would have to move past in the standings to get to the playoffs I don't see it happening.

Kansas City Royals - games remaining: 3 vs. Texas, 3 @ Seattle, 4 @ Chicago White Sox
The best and worst news for one of the two AL Cinderella teams (Cleveland is the other) is that their next 3 games are against Texas. (see my analysis of the Rangers below) The key for the Royals will be taking at least 2 out of the three games from Texas. If they can do that they have an easier path to one of the wild card slots.

Baltimore Orioles - games remaining: 4 at Tampa, 3 vs. Toronto, 3 vs. Boston
The AL Cinderella team of 2012 won the inaugural wild card game against Texas before losing the division series to New York in five games. The 2013 incarnation has not been as lucky as the 2012 version particularly in close games. To make matters worse, they have the toughest schedule of any of the remaining contenders. The key series for them will be the four games against Tampa. If they can take three of the four games. If not, then they will likely be out of the race. My predicition: they just miss making the playoffs.

Cleveland Indians - games remaining: 3 vs. Houston, 2 vs. Chicago White Sox, 4 at Minnesota
The Indians certainly represent this year's surprise team in the American League. They have the biggest advantage going into the home stretch: none of the three teams they will face have a winning record. At only 1/2 game behind the Rays and Rangers they are the team best positioned to make a move. My predicition: Cleveland wins one of the wild card spots by winning 6 of 9 games down the stretch.

Tampa Bay Rays - games remaining: 4 vs. Baltimore, 3 @ New York Yankees, 3 @ Toronto
Their remaining schedule might be a little cause for concern but the fact is that Tampa has become a consistent contender for one simple reason: their manager, Joe Maddon, is a genius. Some would say a mad genius. Maddon is somehow able to figure out how to maximize the use of every single player on his roster in a way that no other manager can. The key for Tampa will be how they do against Baltimore and New York. If they can win both of those series they will make the playoffs yet again. The fact that they also control their own destiny as they are tied with Texas in win/loss record helps a great deal. My prediction: Tampa wins the other wild card slot and will host the Indians in the Wild Card game.

Texas Rangers - games remaining: 3 @ Kansas City, 3 vs. Houston, 4 vs. Los Angeles Angels
The Rangers are coming off one of the worst two week stretches they have had this season: a seven game losing streak including being swept by both the Pirates and Indians before snapping the streak during a four game split with Tampa. The Rangers definitely don't have the same kind of offense they had in 2010 and 2011 during their back-to-back World Series appearances. It's bad enough that rumors of Ron Washington's dismissal at season's end  if the Rangers miss the playoffs (though both Nolan Ryan and Jon Daniels say that's not going to happen). If they can survive the series with the Royals then they stand a fair shot at making the playoffs. My predicition: the Rangers will just miss winning the wild card.