In a series of polls that drew more than 1,300 votes, the Batter's Box community projected -- and here's a shock! -- the 2007 World Series title to be won by the Toronto Blue Jays. Oh, those Jays weren't picked to win the AL East, no sir, but the championship? Indeed!
Let's take a look at how it broke down ...
NL West: The Boys of Summer v. 2007, the L.A. Dodgers, nabbed the division title projection with 43 percent of the vote, well ahead of San Diego's 34 percent. Every team in the division received at least one vote, with Colorado getting exactly one vote.
NL Central: The defending champion Cardinals just edged popular pre-season choice Milwaukee to take the division poll, with just a hair under 40 percent of the vote, to the Brewers' roughly 35 percent. Again, every team received at least one vote, with Pittsburgh bringing up the rear of the line with its two ballots.
NL East: No NL team received at least half of the votes in its divisional balloting, but the Mets came close as the Shea-hey kids took 49 percent of the total, well ahead of Philadelphia's 33 percent. Three people voted for the Washington Nationals to pull off what would be the biggest upset since that earlier Mets team did the Miracle thing in '69.
NL Wild Card: Of the six teams who finished second and third in the divisional polling, the Phillies drew nearly 35 percent of the votes, far outpacing the Brewers at 22 percent and the other four teams, all of whom received roughly 8-13 percent.
Now, over in the junior circuit ...
AL West: In a ridiculously balanced race, the Angels took home 44 percent of the vote, beating out the A's and Rangers, who were each at or near 25 percent. Yes, the Mariners received half a dozen votes as well.
AL Central: Bauxites like Pythagoras and project Cleveland to take the Central, with fully 46 percent of the vote, far ahead of defending AL champ Detroit's 25 percent. Like the Mariners in the West, the Royals received six votes -- what can only be presumed to be "mercy" ballots, one presumes.
AL East: The dreaded and feared Yankees were the pick of 42 percent of votes to slug their way to the division crown, while the hometown Jays finished second at 31 percent, just ahead of the feared and dreaded Red Sox at 26 percent. The Devil Rays received two votes (!!) while the Orioles turned out to be the only team in the entire major leagues not to receive a single poll vote from anyone.
AL Wild Card: The Blue Jays, as careful readers already know, took this one with nearly 62 percent of the vote -- math majors will confirm that this is more than all the other candidates combined. Detroit was second, just ahead of Boston, while Oakland got one vote, meaning Baltimore's aforementioned "honor" remained intact.
In the playoffs ...
In the NL, those Mets (just shy of 40 percent) edged out the Phillies (just shy of 35 percent) with the Dodgers (around 25 percent) and the Cardinals (one vote -- no respect for the defending champs!) trailing.
In the AL, the hometown favorites took more than 43 percent of the vote, more than the #2 Indians (22 percent) and #3 Yankees (19 percent) combined. Meaning a World Series matchup of ...
Carlos Delgado and the New York Mets
vs.
Roy Halladay and the Toronto Blue Jays
The final poll in this (World) series showed Bauxites siding, unsurprisingly, with the Hall-of-Fame-talent pitcher over the great ex-Jay and Another New York Offensive.
Edging the Yankees in the playoffs and the Mets in the World Series. Is that really gonna happen?
