The first half of the Major League Season is over and we can sit back and watch the circus that is the All-Star Break. Here are some of the things we've realized.
1) The Cubs and the NL Central is garbage. When the Houston Astros have the 2nd best record within their division. There's no excuse for the St. Louis Cardinals to be trailing this division.
2) The Cincinnatti Reds are still an average team. Having Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips is nice, but this team is still average. To me, this team doesn't look like a playoff team. To have this team leading St. Louis is an absolute shock. I'm waiting for the Reds to fall from the wasteside in the division and in the Wild Card.
3) The Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres have the best records in the National League. Has hell frozen over? I'm not ready yet to swallow my pride and acknowledge the Braves are the best team in the National League. Their pitching is great, but when you look at their lineup, is it really that intimidating? It still seems average. Does this team really get past a healthy Philadelphia team? I think not. Plus, the New York Mets will have Carlos Beltran back. Though the Braves are 4 games ahead in the NL East, this race is far from over.
4) The addition of Cliff Lee made the Texas Rangers a dangerous team. It's nice to have Vlad, Josh Hamilton, and Nelson Cruz. The Rangers have the speed and the bats, but they've always lacked pitching, and what better way to fix that problem to add Cliff Lee to your starting rotation. I was skeptic of the Rangers run. However, with the Cliff Lee addition, I'm now a believer. The race in the AL just got more interesting with Texas, New York, Boston, Tampa Bay, Detroit, and Minnesota. The White Sox chances look grim with the loss of Jake Peavy. I now like the Rangers chances to dethrone the Yanks and appear in their first World Series.
What should we look for in the second half?
Can the Phillies and/or Mets make up ground from their injury plagued first half? I believe the Phillies will more than the Mets. There's a reason this team has made it to consecutive World Series. This roster is good, and when healthy, can be dangerous. Although watching them the past few weeks has been an abortion, this team will get healthy and show why they are the defending National League Champions.
Will Frank Wren make a move to get another bat or stay pat? He has no choice but to get another solid bat. The Braves are still an average team in a long marathon that is the Major League Season. Jason Heyward getting healthy helps, but they need another bat. Who will Frank Wren get and who will he send packing to get it? Stay tuned.
Are The San Diego Padres for real? They shouldn't be. In a divsion with the Dodgers, Giants, and a pesky Rockies team, it's a shock that this team is not only winning the NL West, but have one of the best records in the NL. Looking at this roster, you can't tell me that this is a playoff team. It won't surprise me to see San Diego take a dip in the second half. San Fransisco, Los Angeles, and maybe Colorado will eventually battle it out to win this division. Unless San Diego makes a blockbuster trade.
A friend of mine believes that Terry Francona should get AL Manager of the year. I tend to agree. A battered and bruised Red Sox team that was slow out of the gates at the beginning of the season still wins 50 games in the 1st half. The real question is can they get healthy and stay healthy? If the answer is yes, watch out Tampa Bay, your days maybe numbered. If you compare the pitching staff of New York, Tampa Bay, and Boston, you have to like the Red Sox. Tampa Bay's chances of duplicating 2008 look bad if this Red Sox team can avoid the injury bug.
The University of Tennessee's off the field issues can't seem to go away. Want more salt into the wound? University officials are now looking into VIP treatment of players at a local bar. The only question I ask is, what took so long??? By that I mean, why did it take so long for the UT brass to look into the local facilities and put their foot down? Let's look at the last few incidents involving UT athletes:
1) 3 UT players arrested for Armed Robbery
2) 4 UT basketball players face drug and weapons charges
and now our most recent incident.
The spotlight now shines heavily on Mike Hamilton. With each event, it shows the lack of control in this program. Is he powerless to avoid this time and time again? Derek Dooley has no blame in this, it's his job to clean up this mess.
King James has decided to join Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh to form the South Beach Superfriends. I don't understand why some people are labeling him the villian after all of those years of being an NBA hero. The only one to blame is the brass in Cleveland. The best you can get to support LeBron is Shaq and Antwan Jamison??? After seeing the letter Dan Gilbert wrote to the fans, I don't blame Chris Bosh or any future NBA Free Agent if they never wanted to play in Cleveland. I understand being hurt and disappointed that your meal ticket decided to go to Miami, but that letter was classless. How did LeBron betray you? Why is he being scorned for making a business move? Congrads Dan Gilbert, you just sealed the NBA Lottery fate for Cleveland for a very long time. How much blame do you put on Delonte West? Seeing all of the venom from fans about LeBron's decision, I look forward to cheering for the Miami Heat to win an NBA Championship.
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