The first half of the baseball season was extremely confusing and exciting, We saw no-hitters thrown by Weaver, Santana, Humber, the Mariners staff, and of course the Perfecto by Matt Cain. We saw Josh Hamilton hit 4 homeruns in a game. Matt Kemp electrify the month of April. The Dodgers, Pirates, and Nationals lead the divisions. Mike Trout and Bryce Harper amaze us with their bats, legs, and gloves. Edwin Encarnacion, James Mcdonald, A.J. Burnett, Johnny Cueto and Brandon Phillips get snubbedd from the all star game. R.A. Dickey dazzle, and the Yankees and Rangers show dominance in the American League. We saw Jamie Moyer at age 49 get a win for the Rockies before he got released. Ozzie get in trouble for his Castro comments. Strasburg just being filthy. Beltran find the fountain of youth. Bobby V. treated like a villain in his local team market. Linncecum and Pujols struggle, the Phillies start to implode right in front of eyes, and Adam Dunn find his homerun stroke again. That is a lot to digest and a lot to recall.
How can the second half live up to all of that plus with 2 wild cards this year give us the same thrills and chills? Well several things will have to happen. Firstly, the Phillies got Utley and Howard back and they still keep losing. They get Roy Halliday back next week and with Cliff Lee finally getting a win, maybe they have the team that can put together a 10 game streak to send notice to everyone that they are not done. They have way too many good players to be this bad and with no one playing in the All star game too significantly, this team can get it done. As a Met fan, I am afraid. If I was Charlie Manuel, I would call a team meeting today and ask his team "who is all in with me"? Way too many great players with big contracts to be sub par.
Secondly are the Red Sox. I hate to keep giving the east coast teams so much publicity but they really do control the balance of power in all sports. The Red Sox got rid of Kevin Youklis and now he is flourishing in Chicago. This team gets back Ellsbury, Crawford, and if they can get a true closer, they too can make a run for the post season. Most people concede that the Angels are going to have one of the wild card spots so the Rays, Red Sox, Tigers, and Indians are going to have to step up their games and fight. The Red Sox could field an entire new team on the field that would surpass the underachieving one that has played in the first half. The Tigers just need to start to perform. Delmon Young is too good to being barely hitting .250 with only 10 homeruns. Prince Fielder showed his prowess at the all star game and with only 14 dingers, he must match Miguel Cabrera or this team is done. If the Rays get back Evan Longoria they have the pitching to get it done. We shall see.
The other huge story are the Pirates and Nats. Both teams are young and have potential to be a big pain for a lot of teams this second half. Last year the Pirates hung around until mid July and then after a blown call by the homeplate umpire, they went into the tank. They have solid starting pitching and the best closer in the N.L. and they have the league M.V.P. thus far in McCutcheon. Teams would be wise to make other guys beat them but if LaRoche and Alvarez keep getting clutch hits they may have enough to hold off the Reds and Cards. Joey Votto may have a lot to do with what team comes out of the Central. He too is having an M.V.P. season but the Reds tend to wilt in the hot Cinncinati sun. St. Louis is having a great season without Carpenter and Pujols. They need more from Craig and Freese if they intend on staying in the race.
Now the Nats have the biggest problem. They have announced to the world that Strasburg will be shut down after 160 innings. On the pace he is on, that could mean some time in August. Is he supposed to tank games so he can pitch in the meaningful September games? Bryce Harper has yet to hit the rookie wall. They haven't had their entire team all season either and would be devastating if they collapse in September because of no Strasburg and fatigue of Harper. Jason Werth and both Zimmerman's have not been around alot this year and they are still in first place. Will they make a move? They have two weeks to figure out who they are. The Mets still cant spend money. The Braves are giving Ben Sheets a chance. The Marlins just picked up Carlos Lee. Standing pat may not get it done for the Nats, but it will be fun to see how it unfolds.
The Dodgers, Giants, and Diamondbacks are getting ready for a war. Matt hopes to be healthy and restore order in the division. Colorado plays best in the second half and have not played well since Tulowitski was put on D.L. The Angels are hoping that Pujols can get his number up to normal and that their pitching can hold up in the heat of the O.C. A very tough 10 games to start the second half for them could bury them. (Yankees,Tigers, and Rangers) Will more than two players hit 50 homers? Will we see more no hitters? I hope so.. Cant wait!!!
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