MLB mid-season report

It’s been a wonderful first half of the 2005 MLB Season, and unless you’re in the NL Central, or watch baseball in Tampa Bay, Kansas City or Denver, you’ve got something to look forward to this year.

Check out what we thought of each team:
AL EAST

BOSTON: Pitching’s been poor, unless you’re Matt Clement and a rejuvenated David Wells. I agree with Johnny Damon- keep Curt Schilling back until he can start a game! The Sox must keep the bats of Ramirez and Ortiz going to preserve their slim lead atop the AL East, which went from 6 to 2 ½ over the third placed Yankees in the course of almost a week. Oh, and they will really miss Keith Foulke, unless I’m proved wrong about Schilling.

NEW YORK: Terrible start, strong finish. The hitting’s white-hot at the moment- in particular Jason Giambi, who’s comeback has been heartwarming. You can truly say “it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.” Unfortunately for George, Joe and the Yankee show, the money forked out on pitching would have been better used on Carlos Beltran.

BALTIMORE: Speaking of collapses, they led the division by 10 games at one stage this year. No longer. The pitching has absolutely collapsed (unless you’re Ricardo Lopez), and Sammy Sosa would have been better served sitting on the DL- he would have been more use there. Brian Roberts has been a ton of fun, though. Have two major cards in the deck in the form of a coming-back Eric Bedard and a 22-15 record against AL East teams.

TORONTO: Roy Halladay’s broken bone has put him out for a month, which will kill a Toronto team struggling with consistency. They’ve been victims of bad luck (Orlando Hudson’s pulling a hamstring hitting a home run is just one example), and bad closing. The upside is that they’ve won 8 out of 11 against the Bosox this year and their 44-44 record has at least been competitive this year.

TAMPA BAY: I feel sorry for Lou Pineilla. That’s all I have to say.

SO WHO’S GOING TO WIN? Too close to call.

AL CENTRAL

CHICAGO: Despite having an inconsistent July, the Chicago White Sox have been the model of a darn good team. Scott “Rickey Henderson” Podsednik (44) has more stolen bases than 14 franchises- and he’s batting .294. And if they don’t beat you by base-thieving, (they have 90 this year, incredibly),  Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye and Frank Thomas provide the long-ball. And the pitching’s good too- their team ERA is an absolutely filthy 3.62, lead by Jon Garland and Mark Buehrle.

TWINS: Santana’s great, Hunter gets injured too often, but their bullpen’s keeping them in games and they are good at clutch-hitting. Currently own the Wild Card.

INDIANS: Beat on Boston and got beaten on by the Yankees. Their AL East adventures apart, Johnny Peralta’s 200 at bats this year have been a whole lot of fun. The .297, 11 HR, 33 RBI numbers provide the evidence.

DETROIT: Improved mainly thanks to Jeremy Bonderman, Ivan Rodriguez and Dmitri Young. Considering this team was total crap two years ago, this is a vast improvement. Alan Trammell, take a bow.

KANSAS CITY: Every other team other than the Yankees just love playing the team with the second-worst record in the league. The only other one as bad is Tampa Bay, who also own the Yankees.

SO WHO’S GOING TO WIN? Chicago, Chicago, Chicago.

AL WEST

ANGELS: Vladi Guerrero, Garret Anderson and Steve Finley provide the power, Chone Figgins (26 SB) provides the wheels, and Bartolo Colon (11-5, 3.42 ERA) provides the pitching on the league-leading Angels. Although they were recently swept in Seattle, it didn’t do too much damage in the standings- they’ve still got a 5 game lead.

TEXAS: Chasing them are the Rangers, who’ve got serious power in the form of Mark Teixeira (24 HR) and Alfonso Soriano (21 HR). Five other players have over 13 home runs, they are a long-ball lovers wet dream. If you like good pitching, then get away from the Ballpark in Arlington- there are no Nolan Ryans here.

OAKLAND: The Oak Show’s young pitching staff are again proving their worth- watch out for Danny Haren. If you don’t love Eric Byrnes’ antics in left field, then you’re on crack.

SEATTLE: And now that Edgar’s stopped playing in Seattle, and Bret Boone’s season has been so bad that he’s been dropped from the majors altogether, Mariner fans can’t be happy. Nor would I.

SO WHO’S GOING TO WIN? The Los Angeles California Angels of Anaheim/Disneyland                —

NL EAST

WASHINGTON: If someone told me that the Washington Nationals would be leading the National League East by 2 ½ games at the All-Star Break, I would have called Arkham Asylum. But it’s true. The 52-36 record, gotten through excellent pitching and clutch hitting is outstanding, the Nationals have shocked the baseball world by actually playing well. The Yanks must be kicking themselves for shipping Nick Johnson to Montreal.

ATLANTA: Led by Andruw Jones (.272, 27 HR, 67 RBI), the young Atlanta Braves are still in the hunt, just don’t rely on Danny Kolb to do any shut-down duties.

PHILLIES: On the flip side, the only thing to talk about in Philadelphia is the Live 8 concert, now that Pat Burrell’s in a funk- although we love Bobby Abreu, Brett Myers, and Live 8.

FLORIDA: Great pitching, bad hitting. Dontrelle Willis has been THE shit, Mike Lowell’s been plain shit.

METS: Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran, Mike Piazza and Mike Cameron, and dead last shouldn’t all be things in common at the Mets this year- but they are. The only thing going for them is that they’ll play more of their games against divisional rivals- and they’ve got a 23-20 record in that category. It’s a pity they can’t do anything else right.

SO WHO’S GOING TO WIN? The Braves…again

NL CENTRAL

ST LOUIS: It’s over. The 55-32 record says it all. The batting line-up is as dangerous as they come- particularly if Albert Pujols and Larry Walker are on song, and the pitching, despite the inconsistent Mark Mulder, has been exceptional. But what really sets the Cards apart is the defence. Whilst it seems like a clichéd to say Jim Edmonds is a human highlight reel, it’s true…he is. This team’s going to be good for years to come.

CUBS:  For the Cubs, it’s the Curse of Injury and bad pitching. Although Kerry Wood’s been as stunningly awful as Derek Lee’s been stunningly great. Oh, and they have no bullpen to speak of.

ASTROS: Seeing Craig Biggio get hit is good for sticking runs on base, but if CB’s not scoring, what’s all the hurting for? And a message to the Astros from Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte: I NEED SOME RUN SUPPORT!

BREWERS: The Brewers can’t be too happy about Ben Sheets 5-6 record, but must be happy by the progress of lead-off man Brady Clark (.317) and double machine Lyle Overbay.

PIRATES: Good young arm in the form of Kip Wells, and Mark Redman’s been steady enough. The sad thing is is that the batting’s a far, far cry from the days of Van Slyke, Bonds and Bonilla. And when we say “far cry”, we mean “other-worldly.”

CINCINATTI: The 35-53 record is one of the worst in the Major Leagues. Griffey’s not been performing- and there have been streaks where the team couldn’t buy a win. Like in the first half of the season.

SO WHO’S GOING TO WIN? Er…I think we made that obvious.

NL WEST

SAN DIEGO:  Led by Brian Giles, Xavier Nady, and Ryan Klesko, The Padres have surprised many- but with Trevor Hoffman as your closer, should you be too shocked? We think not.

SAN FRANCISCO: With Barry Bonds gone, the NL West isn’t what it was. Nor are the Giants. 9 games out with a 37-49 record, the team has been terrible. More terrible have been Giants’ starting pitching trio Jason Schmidt, Brett Tomko and Noah Lowry, who all have over 5.00 ERAs).

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS: The post-Randy Johnson Arizona Diamondbacks have proved that there is life beyond the Big Unit. In fact, they’ve performed better without the Skinny One than with him. The 43-47 record isn’t that impressive, but we gotta love the 3 Gs- Gonzalez, Glaus and Green. Watch out for them getting hot in the second half.

LOS ANGELES: No-one’s really talked about the Dodgers, because with Eric Gagne out, and Shaun Green gone to greener pastures, they’re 40-48 and not very good. However, if they repeat their 24-18 inter-divisional record, things could yet get interesting.

COLORADO: Why oh why did hitting sensation Clint Barmes feel it necessary to carry deer meat midway through a breakout year? That’s all we have to say- Todd Helton hasn’t been much to talk about, has he?

SO WHO’S GOING TO WIN? Padres.