You have to love what’s happening in Major League Baseball this year. Many were expecting a lackluster season in the face of more steroids allegations and other info that marred the integrity of the sport, but things are really looking like they did decades ago. Teams that we never thought had a shot at going anywhere somehow look good.

Nearly every divisional race, even though there’s plenty of season left, is surprisingly close. In fact, all but one division has a situation where the second place team is two games or less behind the leader.

Don’t be mistaken though, these aren’t just head to head divisional battles. There are also a handful of teams in the middle of their divisions that look like they have a shot, and even a few at the bottom somehow.

The conversation has to start with the NL East, which has certainly demonstrated more parity than any other division in the league. Just how interesting are things in this division?

What makes this race so interesting has everything to do with the constantly shifting balance of power within the division. A team can seemingly move from first to last place over the span of just a week. Every team seems to be neck and neck with the others in the division, which is very surprising to most fans.

Who would have expected the Nationals to be this good? Granted, they’re not great, but they’re playing near .500 ball and you can be certain that the arrival of Stephen Strasburg will fire this team up some more and breathe some new life into the pitching staff. What a debut he had!

It’s not only about the NL East though, there are plenty of other interesting scenarios too. How about the Western division, with the teams also playing with strikingly similar records to one another. While the Dodgers and Giants were both competitive last year (as were the Rockies), San Diego has suddenly emerged as a great team.

At the end of the day, there are now a handful of new teams that we never thought we’d be taking seriously. That’s what baseball is all about.

See more of this author’s writing regarding products such as Satellite Direct scam and Vince Delmonte review.