Horsehide Chronicles

It's all about Felix Hernandez in Seattle. The Mariners revolve around him.

For now, anyway, and for good or ill. Of all the situations that must be handled with care in Major League Baseball, Hernandez's future with the Mariners is right at the top of the list.

The Oakland A's were quite good in the second half of the 2012 season. So good, in fact, that they had us all asking the same question every time they actually lost a game:

"Wait a second, how the heck did that just happen?"

Here we are on this Saturday night asking this question after Oakland's 3-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the American League Division Series. What the heck kind of person/thing/ominous force sucked the life out of this A's team?

It's difficult to believe that there could be much criticism for a pitcher who won the AL MVP and Cy Young Award last season. 

But Justin Verlander carried a question over whether or not he could win a big game—more specifically, a playoff game—coming into the postseason.

With less than two weeks remaining in the 2012 MLB season, most of the playoff field has been determined.

Thanks to the addition of a second wild-card playoff spot, however, hope is alive for more teams as we approach the end of the season. We count 16 teams that have a chance of playing past Oct. 3 on their schedules. 

What are the odds of those contenders making the playoffs? Well, that's what we're here to figure out.

Chris Perez may have had it wrong.

The image of Derek Jeter playing for a team other than the New York Yankees is difficult to visualize. 

Jeter wearing a different uniform (and likely playing a position other than shortstop) would seemingly cause a rip in the fabric of the universe. This is the sort of thing that just isn't supposed to happen.

When the going gets tough, blame it on the manager.

For good or ill, that's how it is in baseball. Managers aren't the ones throwing the pitches or swinging the bats, but it's almost always their fault when things aren't going well.

So it goes this year. The 2012 MLB season has seen several surprise contenders pop up throughout the landscape, and it's also seen some would-be contenders struggle to live up to expectations. As always, their managers are to blame.

In the last two weeks of the regular season, every contender in Major League Baseball will be hoping for things to go their way. The league's contenders will take as many lucky bounces and heroes as they can get.

Oh, and hold the goats, please.

We know from recent history and baseball history in general that the baseball gods tend to make it up as they go along in September. Sometimes they bless certain teams. Sometimes they curse teams. All teams can do is hope for blessings.