Going into the last weekend of June in which Atlanta and Tampa were playing head to head, Atlanta was 30-43 and Tampa was 32-41. How could Atlanta be that bad? What if they lost the series in Tampa or worse, got swept. The season would have been OVER at that point. Instead, Atlanta quietly won the series 2-1. Just four weeks later, what are the records? Atlanta is 47-51 (just 4 games under .500) and Tampa is 41-59 (18 games under .500). Somehow in that 9-18 stretch since late June, Tampa managed to take 3 out of 4 from Boston. Imagine how bad things could be for them.

This just points out how momentum can easily turn for teams in baseball. It more emphatically points out that one team was playing well below its means while another maybe slightly above. Tampa is back to being Tampa, a breeding ground for talent available to teams in the stretch run. In another year or two, a team will make a big deal to get Carl Crawford to have a speedy left fielder. The name of Scott Kazmir will pop up in another big deal soon. Let’s just designate the two Florida teams as special AAA clubs. In fact, let’s give them the first AAAA status. These teams seem to exist only to provide young talent at the right time to needy franchises.

Things seem right again in Atlanta. While there is definitely some pitching concerns to attend to and some injuries to be cautious over, this team is surging and heading for the play-offs. 2006 is far from over. Atlanta has 64 games remaining with 9 head to head against New York. New York holds a seemingly comfortable 11 ½ game lead. Maybe it is not so comfortable after all.

Whatever happens this season, fans have been given an exciting season and a lot to look forward to. It seems odd to say this about a team that has not lost its division since 1990, but Atlanta has a bright future.