For some teams, the difference between their first half and second half performance is dramatic. The hottest teams would want the playoffs to be based only on their second half performance. Here's what that would look like:

 

Playoff Spot	Team	W	L	Pct
NL West	Los Angeles Dodgers	28	23	.549
NL Central	Pittsburgh Pirates	26	24	.520
NL East	New York Mets	32	16	.666
Wild Card	Florida Marlins	32	21	.604

 

Playoff Spot	Team	W	L	Pct
AL West	Oakland Athletics	35	16	.686
AL Central	Minnesota Twins	33	19	.635
AL East	New York Yankees	33	19	.635
Wild Card	Los Angeles Angels	32	20	.615

 

Note: based on games through Wednesday, 9/6/06.

 

If the season ended today, only five teams currently qualifying for the playoffs also qualify on this second-half playoff list. For example, the Detroit Tigers, the team that's had the best record in baseball (until they were recently passed by the Mets), wouldn't make the playoffs based on their second half performance. The World Champion White Sox have a 22-27 record since the All-Star game. They had the second best record in baseball for the first half.

 

On the other hand, the Pirates had the worst record in the National League in the first half, but "win" the NL Central in the second half thus far. Their turnaround has been lost in the news. The Marlins haven't been lost in the news; they are the first team ever to go from 20 games under .500 and then pass the .500 mark in the same year. The Angels also wish they played this way all season.

 

The best hitting teams in the second half:

Team	Runs per Game
Philadelphia Phillies	6.20
Atlanta Braves	5.85
New York Yankees	5.82
New York Mets	5.40
Texas Rangers	5.33

 

The best pitching teams in the second half:

Team	ERA
Minnesota Twins	3.65
Houston Astros	3.66
Oakland Athletics	3.78
Detroit Tigers	4.05
Cleveland Indians	4.06