Brian: just talkin' baseball

The Twins played their 81st game of the season today (Saturday), so while the All Star Game might be the event that divides the season into the first and second half, I guess now is an even better time to look at the season so far, since it is exactly half over, at least for the Twins. Watching the Twins game today on FOX, I noticed when the graphic game up with the National League standings. I was aware of who all was in first place, but it never really hit me how neat of a story they all were until I noticed them all grouped together. The Braves lead the NL East, which really isn't anything new, but where all the experts expected the Phillies to run away with the East, maybe only to be contended by the Mets, the Braves are actually quite a story in that regard. But if the Braves are a good story, then seeing both the Reds and Padres in first place in their respective divisions pretty much speaks for itself. The Padres, like the Braves, are an amazing 15 games over .500, which kind of reminds me of the 2001 Twins, who got off to such a hot start only to fizzle a little after the All Star Break. I remember they had a five game lead at the break, which was pretty amazing for a team that no one expected anything from. Things didn't work that year for the Twins, but that season still set the stage for the impressive run of postseason appearances that they have had ever since. Maybe the Padres will fall like that later this season, maybe they won't. Funny thing is, I remember predicting that the Twins might make a trade deadline deal with the Padres for closer Heath Bell, figuring the Twins would be in contention and the Padres would not. Well, Rauch has done nicely for the Twins in place of Joe Nathan, but the Padres won't need to move anyone right now, that's for sure. As for the Reds, they lead the NL Central, and for me, they've done it very quietly. People always know what the Cardinals and Cubs are doing, but the Reds have just played good ball all season, really without any superstars to speak of.

In the American League, of course it's business as usual in the East -- Yankees and Red Sox on top, although the Red Sox have been pretty amazing lately, considering how slow they started. I guess that's no different than what the Yankees have done for about the last five straight years. Go Rays and Jays! - please?? In the West, the Angels were expected to be on top, as usual, but thanks to a slow start, they're still four games behind the Rangers, who are a very impressive 16 games over .500, which is a bit of a surprise, as far as I'm concerned.

And so that brings us to the AL Central, and for me it has been awesome to see the Twins start as strong as they did, but they did struggle quite a bit in June, which has helped the Tigers, and even the White Sox hang around. Now, after the Twins blew it today against the Rays, the Tigers have pulled back even with the Twins for first place. The pitching had better come around again, and if it does, I think we're in for an exciting second half of the season. Four words for the Twins: Go get Cliff Leee!! The most frustrating thing for me as a Twins fan this year? They've been in first for most of the season, but they have yet to go as many as 12 games over .500 to this point. By contrast, as mentioned, teams like the Padres and Rangers are 15 and 16 over, and I don't think one would have to argue too loudly to make people think the Twins are better than both of those teams. Okay, so the Rangers offense is pretty scary, but the Twins did sweep three from Texas a few weeks back.

A few other thoughts:
**Twins fans - if you didn't before, do you find yourself nowadays just dropping whatever you're doing when Jim Thome comes up to bat?
**Tigers fans - Joel Zumaya has a special arm, but if he doesn't change something for the rest of his career, he's really going to have a "special" arm before long.
**A lot has been made of the 4 no-hitters thrown so far this season. Two perfect games (ok 3, to be fair to Armando Gallaraga), which have been amazing, but the two non-perfect no-hitters have been about as ho-hum as they can be. By that I mean, how many guys can you allow on base before your no-hitter starts to lose its luster? Ubaldo Jimenez walked six batters in his no-no in April, and Edwin Jackson walked eight in his last week. Yielding no hits is great, but when you have to pitch half the game from the stretch, is it really that great? Incidentally, I had neglected to make Roy Halladay active on my fantasy team the day he threw his perfect game. :o( No worries, I'm still running away with the league. :oP
**A lot is also being made of Stephen Strasburg and whether he should make the All Star Team or not. The kid is 2-2 without a win in his last 3 starts, after a no-decision today. He's gonna be great -- he's already great -- but do we really have to debate this subject? I'd say not even close. Maybe they should play a "Futures Game" like they do during the NBA All Star Weekend, and then Strasburg would be worthy of trip to Anaheim next week.

Speaking of All Stars - here are my votes for who should be starting (some not so conventional):

AMERICAN ----- NATIONAL
C - Joe Mauer, Twins ----- Miguel Olivo, Rockies
1B - Miguel Cabrera, Tigers ----- Albert Pujols, Cardinals
2B - Robinson Cano, Yankees ----- Dan Uggla, Marlins
3B - Michael Young, Rangers ----- Scott Rolen, Reds
SS - Alex Gonzalez, Blue Jays ----- Hanley Ramirez, Marlins
OF - Josh Hamilton, Rangers ----- Cory Hart, Brewers
Carl Crawford, Rays ----- Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies
Vernon Wells, Blue Jays ----- Chris Young, Diamondbacks
DH - Vladimir Guerrero, Rangers ----- Aubrey Huff, Giants
P - David Price, Rays ----- Ubaldo Jimenez, Rockies

HONORABLE MENTION
1B - Justin Morneau, Twins ----- 1B - Joey Votto, Reds
Paul Konerko, White Sox
2B - Dustin Pedroia (inj.), Red Sox ----- 2B - Martin Prado, Braves
3B - Adrian Beltre, Red Sox ----- 3B - David Wright, Mets
OF - Shin-Soo Choo, Indians ----- OF - Ryan Braun, Brewers
Alex Rios, White Sox ----- Marlon Byrd, Cubs
SP - Andy Pettitte, Yankees ----- SP - Josh Johnson, Marlins

Plenty of food for thought here, but it's not like we've given you much to read lately anyway. Happy Birthday, America! And way to go, Brock Lesnar!!
- Radiooo