AROUND THE LEAGUE:
I want to believe that there will be three legitimate division races over the second half of the season. But the
Texas Rangers have been so dominant, the
Royals could match their real-life 102-wins total and still finish 6 or 7 games out. The
Minnesota Twins have lost 23 of their last 27 games. They were 35-30 when SPs Dave Goltz and Geof Zahn went down with serious injuries … All three other divisions promise plenty of thrills and drama in the months ahead. In the
AL East,
Boston has fallen and can’t get up, despite the fact LF’er Jim Rice is baseball’s most feared hitter. Rice is batting .356 with 21 HRs and 81 RBI. He’s not leading the AL in any of those three categories, but he’s the only hitter who is so strong in all three. The
Baltimore Orioles (56-38) are right on the defending AL champs’ heels after experiencing a month-long slump in May. It’s hard to tell which way the
Brewers will go, though they have the AL’s most popular player in 3B Don Money (no, really) … Over in the
NL East, the
Chicago Cubs are still out in front, but their hold looks tenuous. The
Phillies are 3-0 and still in the fight since star slugger Mike Schmidt went down with a season-ending injury, but the smart money would be on
Pittsburgh at this point … In the
NL West, the
Los Angeles Dodgers and
Cincinnati Reds look like they’ll be slugging it out till the last week of September, and
San Francisco’s going “Hey what about us??”
ALSO:
The
Cleveland Indians have raised the white flag on their 1977 season. Nope, they’re not even waiting for the trade deadline. In the past week, Tribe management has traded away ace
Jim Bibby (11-7, 2.79 ERA) to
Boston, closer
Dave Laroche (1-0, 5 saves, 2.22) to
Pittsburgh and former Kansas City Royals ace
Al Fitzmorris (5-8, 4.42) to
St. Louis, all for prospects with names like Earl Bass, Larry Littleton and Joel Finch. It’s going to be a long aimless summer for the long-suffering Indians fans.
ALSO:
In more distressing news (for the Royals), the
Oakland Athletics have traded two quality left arms to the
Texas Rangers in return for a young backup catcher nobody has ever heard of. I get a little irked just writing about it. In the deal, the
Rangers get LHP
Mike Kekich (3-0, 3 saves, 2.83 ERA) and LHP
Rick Honeycutt (5-7, 5.03 ERA in 107 IP). In return,
Texas is shipping 28 year-old backup catcher
Rick Stelmaszek, who had been filling in for regular catcher
Jim Sundberg. The Rangers lost Sundberg to injury in the first week of the season. Since then, Stelmaszek has hit .247 with 1 homer and 17 RBI. So yeah, he’s definitely worth two quality left-handers. The reason he’s expendable is Sundberg is healthy now, rehabbing in AAA, and will rejoin the big league squad after the All-Star Break. It makes me sick.
AMERICAN LEAGUE INDIVIDUAL BATTING LEADERS:
AMERICAN LEAGUE PITCHING LEADERS:
NATIONAL LEAGUE BATTING LEADERS:
NATIONAL LEAGUE PITCHING LEADERS:
This is where things stand in MLB at the All-Star Break.