By David Gibb

Last year’s Major League Baseball season ended in memorable fashion, as the New York Mets made history. Unfortunately, the 2007 Mets will be remembered as historically bad, squandering what was a seven-game lead with only seventeen remaining on the schedule.?

With each team having approximately twenty games left to play this season, it is time to take a look at the standings and see who looks like a legitimate playoff team, and who looks like, well, the 2007 Mets. (Sorry, Mets fans. It?s just too easy.)?

Let?s start with a look at everybody?s favorite division: the American League East. As of Wednesday morning, the Tampa Bay Rays remained a game and a half ahead of the surging Boston Red Sox, against whom they still have a full three-game series to play before season?s end. Both these teams are legitimate contenders and surefire playoff teams. ?

Regardless of who takes the division and who receives the Wild Card berth, both these teams will be playing in October. Their remaining schedules are entirely comparable in terms of difficulty, so there is no reason to believe the standings will change, although it is certainly not out of the question.?

The AL Central is also a two horse race, but unlike the Eastern picture, only one of the teams will make the postseason. As of Wednesday morning, Ozzie Guillen?s Chicago White Sox had a single-game lead over the Minnesota Twins. Despite the persistence with which the Twins have stayed in the race, it is slightly difficult to picture them in the postseason, especially when their competition is the White Sox, who despite the injury to AL homerun leader Carlos Quentin, are still the far more potent team.?

The remaining schedule will not inspire the Twins or their fans, as the Twinkies still must play the Rays and the White Sox, while the Sox themselves will be playing teams like the Yankees and Royals in their final weeks.?

Call it a wild guess, but I like the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and their 16.5 game lead with 18 games remaining in the West. Oh well, not every division can be compelling down the stretch.?

On the other hand, the Western teams of the National League are still playing extremely meaningful games. The Diamondbacks led for much of the year, but even with the mighty Adam Dunn could not avoid being eclipsed by the Manny-powered Dodgers. The Snakes still have time to catch up, but haven?t been doing themselves any favors lately, as evidenced by the fact that the lowly San Francisco Giants only recently swept them in a very convincing manner.?

The National League Central has only recently gotten interesting again, largely because the Cubs finally decided to start playing like they have for the last century. Even manager Lou Piniella recently said that the team was performing ?like we?re waiting to get beat.? The Cubs should make the playoffs one way or another, but must begin to play better before October, or they may make an early exit.?

The Brewers sit four games out in the Central, but lead the NL Wild Card hunt. They have an incredibly tough schedule down the stretch, however. If they want to make it to the playoffs, they must perform well in the six head-to-head games they have remaining with the Cubs, and not get hurt too badly when they play the Phillies in the upcoming days.?

Those same Phillies are tied for second in the Wild Card race with the St. Louis Cardinals, four games behind the Brew Crew. They are also still very much in the National League East race, trailing the Metropolitans by three with no head-to-head meetings remaining.?

The NL East is arguably the hardest division to call this year, largely based on what happened last year. The numbers indicate that the Mets should come out on top at season?s end, but fans (as well as the organization) are acutely aware of the fact that this team is at times strikingly reminiscent of 2007?s big chokers.?

It is a truly interesting year for Major League Baseball, as so many playoff berths still remain (at least statistically) available this late in the season. After the dubious history made at the end of the 2007 season, the finish of the 2008 promises to restore the exciting reputation of baseball?s stretch run.