Halfway Home

At Major League Baseball's halfway point, this much is true:

1) The Tampa Bay Rays are for real
2) The NL West is a bigger disappointment than the Vern Troyer sex tape
3) Josh Hamilton is the greatest comeback story since New Kids on the Block
4) Don't raise your voice to Shawn Chacon

In the first season P.B. (Post Barry), most baseball fans have a lot to be excited about. Only 11 teams stand more than 6.5 games away from their respective division lead. Interestingly enough, one team that stands 6.5 games back is the beloved New York Yankees. Go figure.

Regardless, the half season has been full of surprises. The team formerly known as the Devil Rays are undoubtedly the biggest. After spending 10 years as the AL East's black sheep, the Rays finally accumulated enough number one overall draft picks to field not just a decent team, but a very good team. Powered by first half Rookie of the Year, Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton, they Rays have become a model franchise. They're young, athletic and hungry to win. Right now, I think they're another solid starting pitcher away from getting into the playoffs, but they will have much to pick from come trade deadline time.

Over in the AL Central, Ozzie Guillen's verbal diarrhea has once again fueled the White Sox into first place. Don't count on it to last. After a hugely dissapointing April and May It looks like the Tigers are finally putting things together.

Surprise, surprise. The Anaheim Angeles of Los Angeles and the O.C. are comfortably nestled into their usual spot atop the AL West. The Angels have too much pitching depth not to take the division. Cudos go to both the A's and Rangers for hanging tough for the first 81 games.

Meanwhile, the maddeningly frustrating Seattle Mariners are poised for a 100-loss system and have a roster loaded with overpriced underachievers. The pulled a Hootie and the Blowfish on fans (you thought they were pretty good and then they came back for a second act, tanked, and then you realized the never were that good).

In the Senior Circuit, the NL East will once again be the race to watch. Save for the Washington Nationals, the division is up for grabs. Even the Mets, who have looked old and over matched all season, are only 3.5 games back.

The NL Central looks like it's the Cubs division to lose, but they have a history of doing such and just might cough up their once solid lead. St. Louis' outfield of Ludwick, Ankiel and Schumaker are great examples in percerverence. Schumaker and Ludwick are video game free agents (player's who somehow end up in the free agent section in every baseball video game). And everyone knows Ankiel's story (actually would be a better comeback than Hamilton's if he developed a heroin problem during his conversion from pitcher to outfielder). Don't count out the Brew Crew either.

Few could have predicted the NL West would be so painfully bad. Those five teams are trying to determine who sucks the least. The D-Backs were April's best team in baseball. They've been anything but since. The Dodgers are the NL counterpart to the Mariners. The only difference is they have a farm system and some good young players. How much money can you throw at overpriced veterans? Somebody will lose their job over signing Andruw Jones. That was a Sexson-esque mistake.

So here's how I see the season playing out - It's not too far off from what I originally predicted:

ALDS
Red Sox over Tigers
Rays over Angels

NLDS
Cards over D-Backs
Cubs over Mets

ALCS
Red Sox over Rays
NLCS
Cubs over Cards

WORLD SERIES
Red Sox over Cubs

Johnny Mac Ain't Coming Back

In yet another unsurprising move, the Mariners put the axe to manager John McLaren's LensCrafters tinted glasses today.

McLaren couldn't even make it to the one-year mark with the M's. His 65-88 record probably will prevent him from ever getting a head managing job again. But McLaren was thrown into a hopeless situation, and to his credit, tried everything possible to squeeze some wins out of a roster filled with malcontents and no talent.

When McLaren inherited the M's from Mike Hargrove last July, the team, through sheer luck and the fact that the Angels kept trotting out Ervin Santana every fifth day, somehow found itself 11 games over .500. No team with Horacio Ramirez and Jeff Weaver in its starting rotation should ever find itself in such a position. The M's were bound to crash land back to the AL West cellar.

McLaren's replacement is the guaranteed to be canned in November Jim Riggleman. There's little reason to analyze this because a) Riggleman is a terrible manager and b) he won't be around long.

My pick to succeed McLaren would surely have been Billy Haywood. Back in 1994, Haywood took over an underachieving Twins team in mid season and came within a Ken Griffey Jr. wall climbing catch of making the playoffs. If anyone could reinvigorate Mariners fans on a managerial level, it would be Haywood.

Looking ahead to 2009, the Mariners would be smart to hearken back to their glory days and bring in a former player to spike these players in the throat when they got out of hand. Joey Cora, Norm Charlton and Jay Buhner come to mind.

So the house cleaning that should have taken place years ago is finally underway. Let's hope Rick the peanut guy isn't collateral damage.

Stifled!

Bostonians got redemption for the Patriots horrid 2007 season Tuesday when the Celtics annihilated the Lakers to capture their first NBA title in 22 years.

The Celtics closed out what truly was a phenomenal season, complete with high expectations that were all met. And despite looking old and tired throughout the playoffs first three rounds, the Celts must have stepped up with a strict regimen of Vitamin Water.

But two weeks ago when the Finals started, few thought the Celtics would be hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy.

The Lake Show steam rolled opponents with the efficiency and teamwork that championship teams possess. They also had the best player on the planet and the best coach. But come Finals time, the best player seemed to channel Harold Miner rather than Michael Jordan, and the best coach became a P.J. Carlesimo desciple.

Game 6 was an absolute joke. It honestly looked like a video game with a glitch in it, where every time you pass to Pau Gasol in the paint, the ball gets stolen.

For most of the Finals, the Lakers looked like the team that suffered first round playoff exits in 06 and 07. Everyone stood around waiting for Kobe to do something. But Kobe did nothing. Bryant's 08 Finals performance will undoubtedly haunt him until he gets back to the Finals and starts playing well in quarters 2-4.

Give Boston's defense credit for completely rendering Kobe useless. When has a legit superstar ever been shackled by a defense like that for an entire series It never happened to MJ. Never happened to Magic. And that was the general thought with Kobe.

Maybe it was karma? Maybe the basketball gods wanted Kobe to get so close, only to be completely embarrassed? Could it have been payback for this? Or this? Or this?

Whatever happened to Kobe and the Lakers, it sure makes them seem more than Andrew Bynum away from another title. And the way the Celtics played, they look like they've got at least another championship trophy in them.

Of course, I knew the Celts had this in them before 08 even started.

Get ready for NBA Draft Watcher 08...

Finally!

Mariner Nation can now exhale. Bill Bavasi's five year reign of terror is over.

No more hoping for the best, knowing the worst will inevitably take place.

This firing truly should have happened following either the 04, 05, 06 and 07 season's. Every move Bavasi made was the wrong move. It takes a true inability to do one's job to accomplish such a dubious feat. What it really comes down to is Bavasi was never a good fit for the position.

After compiling the best winning percentage in the majors between 2000-2003, the Mariners desperately needed to add some youth to the roster. Their solution was to stay old and hire Bavasi to make them even older, crappier and more bland than ever.

Only one winning season later (a lucky one at that), and this franchise is in complete disarray. The hitters can't hit. The pitchers can't pitch. The fielders can't field. And the manager can't manage. Lest we forget, the farm system that has about as much to offer as Spencer from The Hills.

So one last time, let us purge ourselves from Bavasi's indiscretions and remember the following:

• Giving away Carlos Guillen for two bags of sunflower seeds and a fungo bat
• Signing Rich Aurillia
• Signing Scott Spazio
• Trading Freddy Garcia for a pair of L.A. Gear cleats
  
• Hiring Mike Hargrove and giving him unlimited access to the food spread
  
• Signing Richie Sexson
• Signing Carl Everett
• Drafting Jeff Clement, passing up Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, Jay Bruce, etc.
  
• Signing Jarrod Washup
• Drafting Brandon Morrow instead of Tim Lincecum
• Trading Jamie Moyer for unlimited service to All-Star Auto Glass
• Trading Rafael Soriano for HoRam
• Trading for Jose Vidro, the worst DH ever
  
• Signing Miguel Batista
• Signing Jeff Weaver
  
• Signing Carlos Silva
• Signing Brad Wilkerson
• Signing Kenji Johjima to a 3-year contract extension

There are surely more boneheaded moves Bavasi made. But I need a break while I slam my head in my car door. Repeatedly.

Blow It Up

It's ironic that Jeff Pentland and Ken Griffey Jr. shared yesterday's headlines in Mariner Nation. I envisioned those headlines slightly different in a recent dream.

Regardless, part of that equation is complete. And it's a long time coming. I've been calling for Pentland's firing since early in the 2006 season, when it was clear that he had no clue how to teach guys how to hit. But Pentland's firing is a worthless move made in a worthless season. The only way to salvage this ship is to set it on fire and hope insurance covers it.

The only player on the M's roster who should be deemed untouchable is Ichiballz. This really has more to do with the fact that the organization will never trade him and because he's suffered enough with this miserable franchise that he should be rewarded at some point for his patience.

Everyone else is fair game. Even Felix. I realize I risk coming off slightly less stupid than Seattle Times columnist Steve Kelly when he said this, but at least here me out.

Felix is in his fourth major league season. Although he's only 22-years-old, his attitude, work ethic and head have all come into question. Come trade deadline time, there will undoubtedly be a team desperate for a front line starter. Why not make that guy Felix and stockpile a farm system that has produced as much as Heidi Montag's musical career?

In doing such a thing, Bill Bavasi would be entrusted with actually getting something in return for a trade, something that's about as likely as Barack Obama selecting the Rev. Wright as his running mate. So Bavasi would obviously have to go before any such thing happens.

This Mariners team could not be run any more poorly. Wladimir Balentien is called up to be the full time right fielder. After a month where he hits four home runs, but clearly is still adjusting to big league pitching, the M's inexplicably decide to platoon him with Jeremy Reed. Yes, the same Jeremy Reed who still has no business being on a major league roster, and will put up his typical Jeremy Reed numbers - .250 average, no power, no OBP, no speed. So why isn't Balentien playing everyday?

Nobody could have predicted the M's would be this bad. And things only seem to get worse. Whereas the team couldn't hit at the season's start, at least they had some great starting pitching. Now the pitchers are getting their heads cracked nearly every outing and save for one or two games a week, the hitters are incapable of scoring more than 3 runs per game.

This is baseball at it's worst. Uninspired, unprepared and untalented. Pentland was the first sacrificial lamb on the personnel side. He better not be the last.

JUNIOR!

It took much longer than anyone anticipated, but Ken Griffey Jr. furthered his legendary status Monday night by blasting his 600th career home run.

For those who have followed Griffey throughout his career, this milestone is yet another affirmation that Griffey is undoubtedly the best player from his generation. Junior did things his way. And unlike Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa, roided out of their minds while they assaulted the record books, Junior hit 600 the right way.

During his second big league season, Sports Illustrated featured Griffey on its cover with the title, "The Natural". How befitting for the player with the sweetest swing, slickest glove and biggest smile.

As for number 600, it was vintage Junior. Taking a hanging curve ball from Mark Hendrickson, the man who pulled off the backwards Danny Ainge, and launching it into the right field seats at Dolphin Stadium, dropping his bat and admiring it in that special way that only Griffey can.

Sure, Junior's career hasn't exactly turned out the way many predicted. Injuries have robbed him of at least 100 more home runs. But name a player who combined all of Griffey's attributes - power, high average speed, phenomenal glove, and done them all so well for so long. It's a very short list.

Junior is the only active major leaguer from 1999's All Century Team, where he rightfully belongs among the best ever.

Bruce...Jay Bruce

Something extraordinary is happening in Cincinnati.

No, it's not Ken Griffey Jr.'s quest to be the first non roider in 37 years to reach the 600 home run club.

For the last week, a 21-year-old phenom named Jay Bruce has been roaming the outfield alongside Griffey. What makes Bruce special isn't that he's considered the top prospect in baseball. Nor is it that his arrival possibly means an end to Griffey's oft injured stay in Natt Town. What makes Bruce special is the way he's punished National League pitching.

Granted, Bruce's career has lasted all of seven games. But in those seven games, Bruce has gotten off to a start unlike any player I've ever seen. Bruce is currently hitting .577 with 3 home runs, 7 RBI's, 2 stolen bases, and a 1.705 OPS.

Those numbers look like they came straight from a video game. It's like Paste from the classic Jersey squad in Bases Loaded. That's Sammy Sosa via World Series Baseball 95. It's Bret Boone juicing out his brains and launching bombs into the left field stands at the Safe in MVP Baseball 2004.

Even Ryan Braun, 2007's mid season call up who mashed his way to the NL Rookie of the Year award, never had his batting average go over .500, and that was after his second game.

Bruce obviously won't keep hitting at such an unprecedented rate. But baseball fans should enjoy this while it lasts.

I know I will. He's the only thing keeping my fantasy baseball team alive.