At the end of first month, Braves in second place behind Nats

The first full month of the major league baseball season wrapped up recently, and a few teams have surprised us while a few others have fallen short of preseason expectations.

As of Monday afternoon, the Baltimore Orioles had the best record in the major leagues. They were 19-9 overall and sitting atop the American league East standings. Other teams close behind were the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Cleveland Indians, the Texas Rangers, the Washington Nationals, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

As of Monday afternoon, the Atlanta Braves were18-11 overall for a winning percentage of .621. They were second in the National League East standings, a half-game behind the first-place Nationals.

----- 0 -----

The Alabama High School Athletic Association playoffs are still ongoing and a number of teams from Southwest Alabama are still in the mix. Those teams include St. Luke’s of Mobile (Class 1A), Leroy (2A), Flomaton (2A), UMS-Wright (4A), Spanish Fort (5A) and Fairhope (6A).

The semi-final round of the state playoffs consists of a best-of-3 series, and those games will be played on Friday (and Saturday if necessary). The winners will advance to the state baseball championships in Montgomery on May 16-19.

The Alabama Independent School Association held its baseball state championships this week at Patterson Field in Montgomery. Those games started on Tuesday and were set to wrap up today (Thursday). Teams competing in the finals included Cornerstone Christian and Jackson Academy in Class A, Edgewood Academy and Autauga Academy in Class AA, and Pike Liberal Arts and Tuscaloosa Academy in Class AAA.

----- 0 -----

I’ve ridden a horse only a handful of times, and I read somewhere once that to become a really good horseman you’ve got to fall off a few times. I’ve never fallen off a horse, but the same cannot be said for Robert “Chocolate” Thornton, who was featured in Saturday’s Ripley’s Believe It or Not! cartoon.

Thornton, a 33-year-old British horse jockey, has suffered 367 falls and 42 serious injuries since 1995 – including breaking every rib and his right collarbone six times.

Despite his reputation for falling, “Choc” is considered to be one of the United Kingdom’s best horse racing jockeys. In a sport dominated by the Irish, Thornton is considered to be the top English rider. He won his 1,000th racing win in March 2011. That’s not bad for a guy who’s fallen off a horse almost 400 times.

----- 0 -----

The NBA playoffs are still ongoing and as of Monday only one team had made it out of the first round. The Oklahoma City Thunder earned a spot in the Western Conference Semifinals by sweeping the Dallas Mavericks, 4-0.

The Thunder will likely play the Los Angeles Lakers in the conference semifinals. As of Monday, the Lakers held a 3-1 series lead over the Denver Nuggets with the potentially deciding game in that series set for Tuesday night.

Other teams that looked in good shape to advance as of Monday included the San Antonio Spurs, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Philadelphia 76’ers, the Miami Heat, the Indiana Pacers and the Boston Celtics.