Second Half Begins

It has been a while since our last post and for that, we apologize. We were taking our own July 4th/All-Star break.

Thesecond half of the season starts today and we couldn’t be more excited.
The first half saw Trevor Hoffman break the all time saves record,
Sammy Sosa made it to 600 home runs, Frank Thomas hit his 500th home
run, Craig Biggio got career hit 3,000, Ken Griffey, Jr. tied Frank
Robinson for 6th all time on the career home run list and Ryan Howard
became fastest player to ever hit 100 home runs. Several records are
still yet to be set and broken in the coming second half, including two
major milestones. First will most likely be the not so prestigious
10,000th loss for the Philadelphia Phillies. No team in sports
franchise history has as many losses as the Fightins, but few teams
have also been around as long as the Phillies (1883), and no other
sport plays 162 games a year. (Yes, I am a homer but I had to put it
into context.)

The other milestone to be reached will be the
little talked about home run record soon to be set by fan favorite
Barry Bonds. This will probably happen in the next couple weeks and I
would like to take a moment to go on record saying that I think
Commissioner Bud Selig should be in attendance when the record is
broken and that he should shake Bonds’ hand and congratulate him.
Regardless of whether Bonds is eventually found to have used steroids
or not, the home runs count, the record is going to be broken, and he
is going to be the home run king. End of story. Selig has just added
fuel to the already napalm like fire by holding out his decision.

Similarly,
I believe that Hank Aaron should also be in attendance. When Bonds was
asked about Alex Rodriguez eventually breaking the record that Bonds
has still yet to achieve (yes, the media is obsessed with this record)
and why he will be in attendance when it happens,

That’s
what you’re supposed to do. If we don’t stick together, you know, who’s
going to stick together with us. We have to stick together as
ballplayers, you know. It used to be, you know, the boy’s club. You
know, we used to have this fraternity and a little bit has been broken.
And we as ballplayers need to get that fraternity back and stick
together. Because it is about us and this is what we do, and it’s about the fans too, coming to the game, but that fraternity should last forever.

That
was almost certainly a jab intended for Aaron and I have to agree with
Barry. The players should stick together, regardless of what is going
on. If Bonds did indeed use steroids, he is certainly not the only one.
He would probably not be the only one to break a record. And by being
in attendance to congratulate Bonds does not mean he is condoning
steroid use. I just simply do not understand what the big deal is. They
both need to be there. They owe it to the fans, to baseball, and to
Bonds.

Anyway, it is going to be a really exciting second half.
The NL Central may actually become competitive. The Cubs are starting
to look like the stacked team that they were supposed to be. The Astros
are notorious for being ridiculous after the all star break. The
Cardinals will be getting back ace Chris Carpenter and won the World
Series last year despite being considered by many to be the weakest
team in the post-season. The Brewers will definitely have to watch
their backs. I pick the Cubs to win the division. I think they will catch fire and I also think the Brewers are a young team and will wear out down the stretch.

The
NL West is going to be a great story over the next couple months. The
Padres, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks are within 3.5 games of each other,
and played leap frog all through the first half. The upstart Rockies
were the hottest team in the majors the past month and won 6 of their
last 10 games coming into the break. The only team not in the race is
the disappointing Giants, but they have enough going on with Bonds to
keep them occupied. I pick the Padres to hold on to the division. Their pitching is just too good.

The
NL East is also going to be very exciting to watch. The Mets, Braves
and Phillies are all within 4.5 games of each other. The Braves and
Phillies have been taking turns for second place over the last month
and it’s all going to come down to pitching for all three teams.
Whichever team gets their pitching worked out first wins the division. I think the Mets hold on to the division.
This is the division I am the least sure of. It is very possible that
Pedro’s return is a bust and that Glavine and El Duque fall apart down
the stretch. Jorge Sosa had a great start but is still as yet an
unproven starter. Wagner at the end of the bullpen is a lock, when
healthy. He has been known to get injured and the rest of their bullpen
has highs and lows. The Braves are in second place with their best
player (Andruw Jones) playing like a career utility bench player. If he
gets back on track and if Chipper can stay healthy (a big if), then
they are a formidable team to contend with. Not to mention the fact
that Bobby Cox just somehow finds ways to win. They are still the team
that won 14 divisions titles in a row, albeit in the NL East. The
Phillies have the best every day lineup in the east, and arguably in
the entire NL. (For all you doubters, the Dali Llama Peter Gammons
agrees with me so there.) Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley are perennial
all-stars, and reigning MVP Ryan Howard has just been a home run
hitting machine since coming back from the DL. If he can start hitting
for average and getting some more extra base hits, watch out. Shane
Victorino has lived up to his nickname as the Flyin Hawaiin, including
some pop, and Aaron Rowand has the ninth best batting average in the
league and has been ridiculous with men on so far. This is all with Pat
Burrell batting .001 and -.800 with men on base, as well as a
completely decimated pitching staff. Cole Hamels is tied for the league
lead in wins with 10 and is second in strike outs. Kyle Kendrick has
five starts in his career, all this season, and has not yet recorded a
loss. With the return of ace Brett Myers and over the hill closer Flash
Gordon, they could be a starter and, umm, well I guess 4 or 5 relief
pitchers away from being the best team in the east. They really need to
address the bullpen, which loses game after game for them.
Unfortunately, there are not an abundance of relief pitchers better
than the current lot and that is why I do not think they can overtake
the Mets.

NL Wild Card Team: Dodgers
I
would really like to say that the Phillies will be the wild card team,
but I am cynical and have grown up a Philadelphia fan and know better.
I do think the Phillies are a better team than LA, especially if they
can work out the pitching concerns and I think the Padres, Dodgers and
Diamondbacks are just going to beat the **** out of each other, with
some help from the Rockies. But alas, it is the Phillies.

The AL
East seems to almost be a foregone conclusion. The Red Sox are 10 games
up on both the Yankees and the Blue Jays and show no signs on slowing
down. Their pitching is just insane. Their third best starter is hall
of fame probable Curt Schilling who is one of the top big game pitchers
of all time. Josh Becket is a top contender for the AL Cy Young. If
relief pitchers ever won the Cy Young I would say that Hideki Okajima
would win it. He has been riidonkulous with an ERA of .83 and a WHIP of
.83. In a little over 43 IP he has given up 4 runs. That’s right, 4.
And he’s only the setup man. The Yankees, despite Clemens and AL MVP
(yea, that’s right, I said it) Alex Rodriguez, just are too banged up
and don’t have enough pitching to pull it off. At best they are going
to compete for second place in the East, and have no shot at the Wild
Card. I pick the Bo Sox.

The
AL West is an interesting race. Many have picked the Angels to win it
all this year, although I am not convinced they are good enough to pull
that off. I am not 100% convinced they are going to win the division.
The Mariners are only 2.5 games behind the Angels and have been on a
roll of late. They won seven of their last ten games, including three
in a row. And if King Felix can be the pitcher he has shown us he can
be, then I think they can be a real contender. In addition, Oakland is
the Astros of the AL, notorious for getting red hot after the all star
break. That being said, I still pick the Angels to win the West. There are too many questions with Seattle and LA has the pitching neccessary to continue to dominate.

That
brings us to the most exciting division in baseball, the AL Central.
Detroit, Cleveland and Minnesota could all win the World Series, and
Chicago just won it two years ago with many of the same pieces that
they have now. The Tigers are hungry for another shot at the title,
especially after being upset by the Cardinals. If Verlander can stay
healthy and strong and if the flame throwing Zumaya can come back in
time, they have the lineup to return to the Fall Classic. The Indians
are one game back of the Tigers and no lead is safe on a team with C.C.
Sabathia at the helm. Somehow the Twins are 8 games back. This will not
stand. Santana has 10 wins, but should have several more. He was
touched up a little this year and did not get the run support that he
needed, but the Twins lineup is too strong to continue to let him down.
The most compelling point is that Santana is a staggering 40-4 after
the all star break since 2003. That is ridiculous. This is going to be
a very exciting race. In the end, I think the Tigers pull it off. I just don’t see them collapsing enough for the Twins to make up that kind of ground.

AL Wild Card Team: Twins
I
do however see the twins making up ground on the Indians and taking the
wild card. There is no competition from the East and there are too many
factors that have to go the right way for either the Mariner’s or the
A’s to make it. King Felix, Rich Harden and Mike Piazza all need to
stay healthy through the second half for either of those teams to have
a shot and that is not something any of them has convinced me they are
capable of. And even if they do, it will be almost impossible to stop
the best pitcher in all of baseball once he gets hot. Watch out for the
Santana Express.

We expect this to be a great second half and hope you will continue to join us as we follow the wonderful world of baseball.