Except for a mid-month blip from the Mets, all the pennant races were sewn up by the end of August with the exception of the AL West. The juiced ball and bandbox ballparks have robbed the home run and home run records of their meaning. The other younger, healthier Cardinals have ripped shit all season long and easily took the pennant. 50 home runs this season. The Cubs still suck.
Baseball stifles a collective yawn.
The Astros, who won the NL Central in the spacious Astrodome last year, finished a pathetic 23 games behind, playing less than .430 ball. Oh, and as it turns out, it's still really fucking hard to hit .400 or win the Triple Crown. Smaller market teams can't compete. I'd like to introduce the Oakland A's, the Seattle Mariners, the Chicago White Sox, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the SF Giants, none of whom participated in the postseason last year. I know that none of these fall in that free-spending top three, but if you want exact market rankings you could look it up.