At the end of play on Wednesday, August 11th, the Blue Jays (65-50) atop the AL East with the Baltimore Orioles (63-50) one game behind. At the same time last year, the Jays weren’t yet in first, but they were in the midst of a 48-23 second half that would eventually land them there.
Of course, last year’s playoff run was keyed by many factors, perhaps most significantly by the deadline additions made by then-GM Alex Anthopoulos and company. In case you’ve forgotten, the club added Troy Tulowitzki, David Price, LaTroy Hawkins, Ben Revere, and Mark Lowe before July 31st, and also Cliff Pennington after the non-waiver deadline.