What a race!

It is quite the race for numero uno in the American League East Division. The New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays are in a dead heat, as of this writing, and both teams go for their 80th win today as the Yankees visit the Chicago White Sox and the Rays entertain the Boston Red Sox.

Wins by both teams would put them 30 games over the .500 mark. Boston (74-56), arguably the third best team in baseball at this juncture, would be in first place in any of the other divisions or at worst a close second. And then you have Toronto at 68-61, a very good ball club, but 11 games out of first.

The cellar-dweller is of course the Baltimore Orioles (47-83) and I'd expect they'd have a few more victories under their belt, if they were competing in any of the other divisions. Instead, they find themselves 32 1/2 games out of first place and are looking toward 2011, along with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Washington Nationals, the Seattle Mariners and the Cleveland Indians -- just to name a few.

But, for the fans on the East Coast, it must be nice to pick up the Sunday morning paper, go to the sports pages and check out the standings. Out West, we don't have that luxury. The San Diego Padres (76-52) are rolling along in the NL West and the Texas Rangers (73-56) are cruising in the AL West.

As for a team eclipsing 100 wins this season, it may not happen, but if it does, chances it'll be one of those two powerhouses in the AL East. In fact, it just may take a 100 wins to garner the divison title.

The race is on!