Who's Winning (and Losing), and Why

Last night, with reservations, we watched the Jerry Seinfeld movie, “Unfrosted” about Pop Tarts. I say that we watched it with reservations because there have been some utterly scathing, “This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen,” reviews. But there have also been some, “This is harmless nonsense, and you’ll get a chuckle or two out of it,” reviews, and we were in that kind of mood last night—turn off the brain, embrace the silliness, watch a gaggle of very funny people goof around, laugh a little about breakfast cereals and Pop Tarts.

I have been a Jerry Seinfeld fan for literally 40 years; my college buddy Joe and I still greet each other like so: “Hey it’s that guy! That same guy!” That’s from a bit that Seinfeld—long before he became the billionaire TV guy—used to do about how dogs react every time they see you.*

*Speaking of dogs, check out Kathryn Schultz’s New Yorker piece revolving around my buddy Tommy Tomlinson’s new book, Dogland! Quick reminder, if you’re in the Charlotte area, I’ll be doing a Q&A with Tommy at Park Road Books next Thursday, May 23. They’re expecting a pretty big crowd for this one, so come early if you can.

Point is, I’m pretty sure we went into “Unfrosted” with exactly the right attitude. We were the target audience.

We did not laugh one time, either one of us.

Your mileage may vary. I hope it does.

All right, let’s go around the divisions and try to figure out why teams are winning and losing. At the end of each capsule, I’ll write down my confidence level—which is just that, how confident I am that what we’re seeing will continue.

American League East

Leading: Baltimore (26-14) and New York Yankees (27-15)

Why the Orioles are winning: