As baseball enters its second half, the Red Sox, Indians, Astros, Phillies, Cubs and Dodgers lead their respective divisions. But how much does that really matter? We look back to see what history tells us.
(It is worth noting that this year's season started earlier and the All-Star break was later than normal, meaning that teams have played more games in the first half than they typically do. This means there's also less time left to make up or gain ground in these divisional races.)
HISTORICAL TRENDS
Since 1996, the first full season with at least one wild card, 85 of 132 division champions (64 percent) held at least a share of that division lead at the All-Star break.