Now that the Labor Day weekend is over and we are all stuck inside waiting for Hurricane Hannah to pass and Hurricane Ike to make its way up the coast, us sports fans are also settling in for the most exciting couple of months of sports of the year. Football starts this weekend with hockey and basketball right around the corner. But before we get too immersed in those other diversions, we have the most exciting month of sports right here and now. That’s right folks, it’s September Baseball.

It’s been a season full of twists and turns (especially if you’re a Phillies fan), surprises and disappointments, as well as a little history. We’ve seen the emergence of the Tampa Bay Rays as perhaps the best team in the major leagues, the fall of the mighty Yankees who may not make the playoffs for the first time in well over a decade, and the Washington Nationals continue to be one of the worst teams in baseball (except for when they play the Phillies).

So join us as we go through the major leagues conference by conference, division by division and predict with uncanny prescient wisdom how the rest of the season and the postseason will turn out. We start in the American League.

American League East

The Rays are certainly the biggest story of the 2008 season as they currently hold a two and a half game lead over the reigning MLB Champion Boston Red Sox and eleven games over the beleagured Yankees. Led by Scott Kazmir, their young lefty who continues to baffle American League hitters with a dizzying aray of pitches, the Rays have been atop the East for most of the season. Despite only have 11 wins this season, due to a stint on the disabled list, Kazmir is in the tops of the league in ERA with 2.99, K/9 of 10.00 and a WHIP of 1.22.

On the hitting side, the Rays are led by one of the youngest and most talented lineups in the majors in a long time. Carlos Pena leads the team in homeruns with 27 and RBIs with 82, and is backed up by Evan Longoria at thirdbase and B.J. Upton in the outfield. This team has endured through its share of speed bumps this season, including injuries to Kazmir, Longoria, and veteran leader Carl Crawford and have maintained their first place lead throughout most of the year. They have been able to fend off charges by the Red Sox and the Yankees and appear to be finally earning the respect of the baseball world.

The Red Sox continue to be one of the best teams in the league and are making a strong run at the first place Rays. Despite being two and a half games back, the Sox have won four games in a row and were bolstered by the return of staff ace Josh Beckett, who threw five scoreless innings in his return fromt he disabled list on Friday. Despite losing Manny Ramirez in a trade to the Los Angeles Dodgers before the trade deadline, that pain has been eased by the addition of Jason Bay (batting .274 with three home runs and 23 RBIs in his last 30 games) and Big Poppy David Ortiz appears to be back in form, batting .314 with 20 RBIs of his own over the same period.

That being said, there are significant questions that plague the Sox. J.D. Drew is on his annual trip to the disabled list, and Beckett, Tim Wakefield and third baseman Mike Lowell are just coming off of stints of their own and it is unclear yet if they will be able to maintain a 100% level of play the rest of the season. Curt Schilling is, of course, out for the season and this is of course the time of year in which he is at his best and is most valuable.

The Yankees are out of it at this point. They are eleven games out of first and have lost two in a row. They are going nowhere fast, which is unfortunate as this is their last season in the House That Ruth Built. This will be the first time in almost fifteen years that the Yankees have not made the playoffs.

In the end I think the Rays win the division. Despite having to play each other six more teams, I do not think the Red Sox will be able to make up enough ground during those games and beyond it. The Sox still have to play Cleveland, who are one of the hottest teams in the majors right now, and the Yankees, who despite having a poor season always play them strong. The Rays, on the other hand, hanve handled the Yankees pretty well this season and Minnessota is the only real strong team left for them on the schedule.

AL Central

Speaking of the Twins, they are making a run at the White Sox for first place in the Central, just one and a half games back as of Saturday. Despite losing Torii Hunter and Johan Santana in the offseason, the Twins have defied all expectations behind the play of Kevin Slowey and Santana, Jr. Francisco Liriano, as well as closer Joe nathan who has 36 saves this season with a 1.07 ERA. Former MVP Justin Morneau leads the team with 22 homeruns and 113 RBIs with a .311 batting average, supported by Jason Kubel, Joe Mauer, and Dmitri Young.

They are chasing after the White Sox who held reign over the Central for the better part of the season, largely uncontested with the Indians and Detroit Tigers having such dissappointing seasons. Carlos Quentin is the current front runner for AL MVP with 36 homeruns and 100 RBIs. Jim Thome continues to defy age and time with 29 home runs of his own, as does Jermaine Dye, who has 32 homeruns and 83 RBIs of his own.

On the pitching side, the White Sox are led by an unexpected young former Phillie, Gavin Floyd. Floyd has 15 wins with a 3.61 ERA. This comes as quite a surprise to us Phillies fans, who vividly remember Floyd being absolute garbage. Mark Buehrle, John Danks, Javier Vazquez and Jose Contreras round out a veteran staff who understands what is required to compete in September baseball.

White Sox win the Central.

AL West

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are the best team in baseball and the rest of the division is garbage. Need I say more? No, but I will anyway.

The Angels continue to dominate the AL West despite many predictions that the Seattle Mariners would finally wrest the title away from them this season. (The Mariners, by the way, are the worst team in the American League) Ervin Santana, John Lackey, Joe Saunders, Jon Garland, and Jered Weaver make up one of the most dominant pitching rotations in the majors. Francisco Rodriguez is having perhaps the greatest season in history for a closer, with 54 saves and a 2.43 ERA. K-Rod has 68 strikeouts in 59 innings pitched with a WHIP of just 1.23.

Year after year the Angels are the most complete baseball team in America. They pitch well, they play small ball, they run the bases, and they can still hit for power. They are led, of course, by Vladimir Guerrero, who is batting .295 this season with 23 homeruns, 79 RBIs and an OPS of .863. Recently acquired first baseman Mark Teixeira has 29 homeruns and 104 RBIS, Torii Hunter has 20 homeruns and 72 RBIs of his own and Chone Figgins again has 30 or more stolen bases.

The next best team in the West is the Texas Rangers and they are 17 games back. Needless to say, the division is in the bag for the Angels.

Angels win the West.

Despite the recent surge by the Twins, I still think the Wild Card comes out of the East. Whether the Rays or the Red Sox take East, the other will take the Wild Card. The Twins are five and a half games back in the Wild Card race and the Red Sox are just too good for them to make up that much ground.

Red Sox win the AL Wild Card.

Check back tomorrow as we preview the National League and make our playoff picks.