It's late and I'm tired, but this is too good to not mention.
On Wednesday Oct. 6, 2010, Roy Halladay joined former Yankees pitcher Don Larson as the only two pitchers in MLB history to throw no-hitters in the post-season. Of course, Larson's was a perfecto in the 1956 World Series and Halladay's was only a no-no in the ALDS. I am not trying to take anything away from Halladay by any means.
Roy Halladay is the most ridiculous pitcher of my generation. **Correction: starting pitcher. Doc got screwed for the first 12 seasons of his career because he had to pitch for the Blue Jays. No disrespect to the Jays, but they were mediocre in the best division in baseball that boasts an AL East representative in the World Series nine of the 12 seasons he was there.
Roy is unreal and I couldn't have more respect for him. He is a phenomenal pitcher, far above anyone right now. He has been great and deserves a ring, but I'm just hoping it won't come at the expense of my Yankees.
Good luck to him and if only his pinstripes were blue instead of red.
It’s been a long hiatus, but thankfully baseball is a long season. Looking back on the first part of the season has offered a lot of incredible story lines. There’s the incredible performances of Ubaldo Jimenez, the deaths of The Boss and The Voice, and a complete dominance of big league pitchers. There are potential triple crowns and pitchers throwing their brains out and more than likely not breaking ten wins on the year. So with that, let’s take a look at how each team stacks up at the half way point of the season.
AL East Let’s start things at the top, and by the top, I mean with three of the four best teams in baseball, who all happen to be playing in the same division.
New York Yankees: They lead the majors in runs. They’re deadly from top to bottom in the lineup. And as though that's not enough, they have a lot to play for. What better way for the Bombers to send off Steinbrenner than taking a championship home in his honor. Really, there’s no reason apart from injuries or their own division to keep the Yanks from putting up another banner come next season.
Tampa Bay Rays: Always the brides maid, never the bride. And this season looks to be playing out similarly. Behind a top 5 pitching staff and a very solid middle of the lineup the Rays are a dangerous team, and probably the best shot at knocking New York off their pre-made pedestal come postseason.
Boston Red Sox: Injuries, injuries, injuries. With an all-star lineup sitting on the DL, it’s impressive that the Sox have hung on as long as they have. As great as it is to have a gritty underdog, an August swoon looks inevitable for this club. The bullpen has been atrocious, and apart from surprising contributions from minor leaguers like Bill Hall, this season has turned into a feel-good wash.
Toronto Blue Jays: They’re leading baseball in homers, but that doesn’t do much when no one is on base for them. They’re probably the best .500 team in baseball, and in a weaker division may be making a playoff push. They’re starting to look like the Rays from a few years back when they showed flashes of promise but ultimately were left without a helpful result. Look for them to make a one and done attempt akin to what the Marlins do in the next year or two.
Baltimore Orioles: Anyone who saw this team going somewhere at the start of the season was either a season ticket holder or thought Matt Wieters could magically play every position. Neither happened, although the latter was probably for the best. Wieters is having a porous sophomore season after all the hype from tearing up the minors. This is a team that reeks of rebuilding, and probably should get used to their spot as division bottom feeders for the foreseeable future.
AL Central
Chicago White Sox: There is absolutely nothing special about this ball-club, and I’d be shocked to see them do anything come playoff time, assuming they’re still in position to even make the post season. Literally middle of the pack in every offensive and defensive category, this team is a testament to all that is good about Ozzie Guillen. Apart from being a great sound bite, he can coach a team. They make playoffs and this is a coach of the year candidate.
Detroit Tigers: Miguel Cabrera is putting together an MVP season and willing this team to stay in the division. Currently he’s sitting either second or first in all three of the triple crown categories, and the Tigers need every bit of it if they’re going to hope to hang in there until the end. This is a three team race, and they’re probably on the short end of the stick when it comes to a supporting cast for their star players.
Minnesota Twins: Probably the best team in the Central to seize control of the division, Minnesota is only just out of first despite losing their closer to start the season and having Joe Mauer play through quite the slump this season. They’ve found a diamond in the rough in Carl Pavano, and Francisco Liriano is showing some of the flash that made him so great a few years back. Once they start clicking they’ll be repping the division come playoff time.
Kansas City Royals: They have the best batting average in baseball. They have a top of the line starting pitcher. They’re everything you’d want in a sleeper team, but they just haven’t clicked quite yet. Still a year or two off, this is a team on the rise in a winnable division, just not quite ready to break over the hump. Get Billy Butler another season under his belt, and get some run support for Zack Greinke (who may not break ten wins despite a great statistical season), and this team can make some noise at the top of this division. A second place spot next year isn’t out of the question by a long shot.
Cleveland Indians: The Cleveland Indians are a shell of the team they were just three seasons ago. Fausto Carmona is the only player on this team even worth mentioning by name. Like the Orioles, they are in clear rebuilding mode, but don’t seem to have the depth of talent to make that a quick transition. Get used to the basement fellas.
A weekly feature on the good, the bad, and the ugly happening around the diamond.
Single: A nice little win streak, mostly the sweep of the Rays, have the Red Sox dreaming of a turnaround.Yes, they’re better than .500.But no, they’re not good enough to sweep the Rays all year round.Look for a regress to the norm, but way to stave off selling the farm boys!
Double: The Cincinnati Reds are in sole possession of first place.This is not a misprint.The loveable losers (sorry, not you Cubs fans), are atop the NL Central podium for what feels like the first time in years, and they’re celebrating.And why not?It’s been 20 years since a World Series ring and they haven’t made the playoffs since ’95.With Phat Albert doing his best disappearing act (and still hitting over .300), the big boy at first has torn things up.The Central is going to be won on sheer power, and with Pujols struggling, there’s no power outage for the Reds.
Triple: Even though he can’t leg ‘em out anymore, and he was considered a wash-up and the odd man out in a very crowded outfield, Vlad The Impaler is back and doing what he does best for the not surprisingly AL West front running Rangers: raking.Leading baseball in RBI’s and amongst the leaders in homers, Vlad is taking a nice little victory lap in Arlington, giving the league a friendly reminder of why he’s so, so good.
Home Run: Ozzie Guillen, no matter what you do in your career as a manager (now that you have that ring, of course), you will always be quotable and entertaining.This little tirade following your ejection just goes to show your passion, drive, and really, just how funny it is to watch you blow up.No matter how relevant the state of your team, you, Mr. Guillen, will always hold a place in our hearts.
Strikin’ them out: Josh Johnson, the unheralded pitcher on the we-only-win-every-7-years Florida Marlins, is trying to bring some peace to the OTHER team from the sunshine state.Sitting pretty at 5-1 with an ERA under 2.50, Johnson is reminding us all of why the Marlins are able to go on the little tears that they do.With the Phillies recent struggles, the NL East is more open then ever (the Marlins are in LAST and still above .500 and down in the standings by under 5 games).If the fish are going to make a swim for the division title, look for JJ to be reelin’ um in (ok, I get it, too many fish jokes).
Popping Up: It’s not shocking that the Toronto Blue Jays are having trouble keeping pace in the 3-legged race that is the AL East.They’re still clobbering the ball like nobody’s business, leading the league in team homers, but the average is tinkering near the bottom.It was a nice little run from our Canadian friends, but without a truly stable pitching rotation and so many free swingers at the plate, it’ll take a bat and another arm for them to stay within striking distance as summer rolls in.
Caught Looking: If you missed baseball’s night games this week, you’re hardly at fault.With series finales of great shows like Lost and 24, there was plenty going on to excuse yourself.I mean, that’s what the Cubs did.Just a few days after celebrating the anniversary of the night time baseball game, the folks at Wrigley reminded us of why we couldn’t do so in the first place, treating us to a lovely blackout on the ivy.Of course, Wrigley wasn’t at fault, but this may be the most exciting thing to happen to the Cubs all year.
The Philadelphia Phillies have said they have reached an agreement on a 3-year deal worth upwards of $60 million. Oh, I forgot to mention that the deal is with Toronto Blue Jays all-star Roy Halladay. The deal would send Halladay to the Phillies for prospects and in the process the Phillies would send could-have-been World Series MVP Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners for prospects.
This is the kind of deal that baseball fanatics, such as myself, love to see in the offseason because baseball disappears for a few months. So it is nice to see the MLB making headlines in the middle of December. However, it is even better to see that a divisional foe of my Yankees got rid of its ace/Yankee killer. Halladay was always spectacular but especially against the Yankees so I am glad to see him cross over to the NL. However, it is not nice to see that the Phils dealt Cliff Lee, who was phenomenal against the Yanks in the World Series, to the Mariners who are in the AL. Now Seattle has King Felix to go along with Lee and if you as me, that is one of the best one-two punches in the majors.
The Phillies are also looking to sign outfielder-first baseman Ross Gload to add some depth to the team. However, a more notable action is their pursuit of Fernando Rodney or John Smoltz to bolster up their bullpen.
