(Photo by Michael Heiman/Getty Images)
NL Central Manager of the First Half
Tony La Russa, and I don’t think it’s close. Ken Macha has done a nice job in Milwaukee keeping the Brewers in the race without CC Sabathia or Ben Sheets, but La Russa has the Cardinals in first place with one legit hitter in his lineup. Yes, that hitter is the great Pujols, but look at the rest of the team’s offensive stats. Putrid.
It’s not like their pitching has been lights out either. Ryan Franklin has been a revelation in the bullpen, and getting Chris Carpenter back has helped, but this is still a rotation that counts on guys like Kyle Lohse, Joel Pineiro, and Todd Wellemeyer. That La Russa has the Cardinals in first place is a testament to his managerial genius (and to Pujols’ utter dominance, of course).
AL Central Manager of the First Half
I really want to say Ozzie Guillen, and I think that he’s done a great job, but my vote goes to Jimmy Leyland of Detroit. It’s not just that the Tigers are in first place; it’s that they’ve been able to rebound from last season’s disappointment with a far less potent offensive attack and without the benefit of an above-average bullpen.
Leyland has navigated his way through the struggles of Dontrelle Willis and Armando Galarraga, plus had to deal with Magglio Ordonez’s sharp decline.
Leyland essentially has a lineup with only three hitters who have been consistent producers (Miguel Cabrera, Brandon Inge, Curtis Granderson), yet there the Tigers sit, a couple games up and eight games over .500.
2009 has been an excellent rebound season for Detroit, and Leyland deserves credit as the man steering the ship. He also deserves credit for having one of the most hilarious old school baseball cards ever. The hat, the mustache, the sunburned face...I’m not sure if he’s at Spring Training, a train conductor, or working at a carnival.
And with that, let’s transition into a few “alternative” awards for the first half.
NL Central Least Valuable Player of the First Half
Milton Bradley wins this one. Signed in the offseason after putting up terrific numbers in Texas, The Angry One has only gotten 203 ABs so far this season and hasn’t done much with them.
He’s hitting .236 and, even worse, is slugging only .374. Ouch. Plus, he is being his usual distracting self and getting into public pissing matches with his manager when he’s not forgetting how many outs there are in an inning. Like most things having to do with the Cubs, you just get the feeling that this is not going to end well.
AL Central Least Valuable Player of the First Half
Fausto Carmona of the Indians. We touched on his stats above, and they really say it all. This guy has just gone straight downhill since 2007, and the Indians have to be wondering if he’ll ever be able to recapture the ability that made him appear to be one of the bright young pitching stars in the big leagues.
Despite a rough 2008, a lot was expected out of Carmona this year. Well, the Indians have gotten a lot out of him...it’s just all been bad.
AL/NL Central Worst Manager of the First Half
Hands down, Eric Wedge. You need look no further than this site, where our very own AJ Kaufman calls for Wedge’s head in pretty much every article he writes. The Indians were expected to contend for the AL Central crown, yet they are 13.5 games out and 19 games under .500 already.
AL/NL Central Manager with the most potential to give his kids truly awful awesome names
Eric Wedge. If he had any sense of humor, he would name his kids Orange, Potato, and Cheese. No such luck though. As it is, he and his wife named their kids Ava and Dalton Cash. Oh well.
Come to think of it though, Dalton Cash Wedge is a pretty sweet and unique name. The kid is either going be a scrappy middle infielder/No. 2 hitter in the majors or the lead actor in his generation’s version of Dawson’s Creek. Well done, Eric. (See, we don’t always criticize you on Midwest Sports Fans.)
AL/NL Central Quote of the First Half
This one is easy and goes to (who else?) Ozzie Guillen. There were a few of them, all of which were gloriously derogatory towards the team from the North Side.
“But one thing about Wrigley Field, I puke every time I go there. That’s just to be honest. And if Cub fans don’t like the way I talk about Wrigley Field, it’s just Wrigley Field. I don’t say anything about the fans or anything now. But Wrigley Field, they got to respect my opinion. That’s the way I feel...I don’t care if they hate me. They don’t feed my kids. If they hate me, that’s cool.”
That’s just a great quote, although the part about Ozzie not talking about Cubs fans may not be entirely true. Ozzie also had this gem:
“...our fans are not stupid like Cubs fans.”
AL/NL Central Home Run Call of the Year
Hawk Harrelson, two days ago. Hell yeah!
That’s all I’ve got. Sorry for not even mentioning your teams, Reds, Astros, and Pirates fans...they’ve all been pretty uninteresting so far this year, at least as far as I’m concerned. But feel free to add your own midseason awards in the comments.
The White Sox bring out the brooms again tonight and then play the Twins in a pivotal pre-All Star Break series. As Hawk might say, I loooove baseball.
We're going to send you the most entertaining MLB articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
4 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete