Mid-Season Thoughts

What an amazing first half of baseball, full of surprises and thrills. Perhaps the one thing nobody is really talking about because it is the most expected things in baseball these days, the Angels are dominating the AL West with excellent pitching. They have the largest lead of all the divisional leaders with 6.0 games over the 2nd place team, and they own the 6th best team ERA and the most saves in baseball. Their offense is better than it has been in past years but they are still only 20th in baseball in BA. Still I would not want to play them come october.

The AL East has surprisingly emerged as the best division in baseball, and its not the Yankees making the division its the Tampa Bay Rays being the best in baseball, the O's over .500 when they were supposed to loose 100 games this season. The Blue Jays are hovering around .500 in last place and the Red Sox are getting healthy at over 10 games over .500. This division will proved two major contenders to the AL post-season likely and one of them won't be the Yankees! Their fall from grace is far from unexpected, their pitching coming into the season was not good enough to contend with the Red Sox or other wild card contenders in the AL and their offense is a year older. Derek Jeter is officially old and not the same defensive player he was in the 90s and should be talked about being moved to a corner spot.

There were two falls from grace in the AL that were very much unexpected, the Tigers didn't just stumble out of the gate, they broke their legs. It was not just one thing with the Tigers, the entire team failed to live up to expectations. Their power pitching was supposed to be the most intimidating in the game, utterly disappeared. Young gun Justin Verlander got off to a horrid start giving up 27 ER in April alone and while he has turned it around he has yet to have a scoreless outing. Their power bullpen was derailed from the start when Zumaya and Rodney both started the season on the DL. The offense that was supposed to score 1000 R is barely in the top half of the Majors in Rs. Further West the Seattle Mariners, a team that turned alot of heads last season is on pace to be the worst team in baseball when they were supposed to contend with the Angels this season. Their major off-season trade for Eric Bedard has been a total flop and their offense has struggled from top to bottom. Ichiro is having a very un-Ichiro-like season, their young shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt has stopped progressing. Richie Sexston shouldn't be in the majors, and the injury to Felix Hernandez has made the hole that much deeper.

On the other end of the spectrum the Chicago White Sox, a predicted bottom feeder of the AL Central is now solidly a top the heap and shows no signs of relenting. A year after being one of the most woe full pitching staffs in baseball they are top 2 in team ERA and their offense is one of the most power packed in baseball. Their offense is so dependent on HRs its not even funny and as a result its one of the most inconsistent offenses in baseball. While shocking they will likely need to add a bat before they are a real threat to other post-season teams.

Over in the NL another team has risen from the ashes riding a power surge, in the NL East the Florida Marlins are leading the world in HRs with 126 and are contending for a post-season birth just after finishing at the bottom of their division. The NL East is a mess of teams scrambling with a handful of games over .500, and all of the teams have major flaws. The New York Mets flaw seems to be a utter lack of leadership and intangibles, they seem to wilt under the pressure of expectations. The Braves are one of the worst teams in baseball and can't win one run games. Nothing compares to the NL west however with no teams over .500, this after being the best division in baseball the year before! The NL Central as the three best teams in the NL, the Cubs, Cardinals and Brewers and three of the worst Reds, Astros and Pirates. The Cubs are an offensive powerhouse when healthy and own excellent pitching, they look to run through the NL to the post-season. The Cardinals are lead by Albert Pujols and have put together a contender with scotch tap and chewing gum and are likely to fade down the strech. The Brewers made a statement with the CC trade and look to be major players for the NL Central crown and post-season player.

The absence of steroids was felt heavily in baseball, HRs are down, pitch MPH are down, and overall offense numbers are low. Teams are struggling to win on the road, players don't look as fresh after long trips as they have in past seasons. Players have seen what happens to those who are caught using and testing is finally part of being a baseball player. And for HGH, which there is no test, the feds have made sure there is no safe way to purchase with out being caught. We are seeing natural baseball this season.

All in all this first half featured more disappointments than surprises, the entire NL West collapsing, the Tigers, New York Mets and Mariners all wilting under the bright lights and the Cleveland Indians calling it a season at the start of July. The surprise of the Tampa Bay Rays and all their young talent has made so many head lines i needn't say more, the Twins are still contending with out lefty starters named Santana or Liriano. The White Sox for went from worst to first riding pitching that brings back memories of 2005. If the the 2nd half is as exciting as the first half we are in for a whole bunch of fun.

In terms of individual stories most pale when compared to the momentous tale of Josh Hamilton this season. A #1 draft pick by the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays he was ticketed for a meteoric rise through the minors and sure baseball fame, but after 3 years of mixed results he was out of the game due to a serious drug problem, and no not steroids. Josh was addicted to among other things crack- cocaine and in 2002 he dropped out of baseball and entered rehab. His star had fallen and he became a tale of caution to baseball players preparing to sign their first minor league deal.

Hamilton, as all people who leave rehab, is going to fight his addictions for the rest of his life and needed something to lean on to keep from falling back into old ways. He decided to redavote himself to baseball and entered back into the Tampa Bay Devil Rays minor league system in 2006 to little fan fare. It was likely a local interest story in Hudson Valley when he first returned to baseball, but in Low A Ball he did not impress the Rays enough to warrant Rule 5 Draft protection in the off season. The Cubs took him the Rule 5 draft, but immediately dealt him to the Reds in a prearranged trade. There was a small article, a "hmm strange" on Cubs.com but nothing big. At the start of the 2007 season Josh was placed in AAA in the Reds system and exploded hitting .350 with 4 HR and in just 11 games and soon found himself in a place many thought he would never see in 2002, the Major Leagues. Even then it was treated as a feel good story with little substance, but he quickly won over Reds fans with his outstanding hustle and great play. The Reds, thinking they caught lighting in a bottle and that Josh was destine to fade dealt him to the Texas Rangers for pitching.

Now Josh is leading the world in RBIs, on pace to challenge the single season RBI record with 93 not yet at the All-Star Break. He is hitting .313, slugging .560 and has 21 HRs, at this point you can hand him the AL MVP. He has been so outstanding this season and its a story amazing that Hollywood would reject it. Josh Hamilton is an amazing man.

Other stories include the return of Cliff Lee, after spending half a season in the minors now has the 2nd best ERA in the game with 2.31, Carlos Quentin tied for 2nd in HRs for AL in his first full season as a starter, the tiny Tim Lincecum over powering batters to lead the majors in strikeouts in his 2nd year starting, and of course the second coming of Pedro in Edinson Volquez leading the NL with 2.36 ERA and with 11 Wins.