[Dukie98]

Here are some of the major storylines across the HRDL at the 2024 All-Star Break:

Exceeding expectations: After going 15 games under .500 during the first half of 2023, the London Werewolves quietly rebounded to flirt with the playoffs in the second half, and they continued their strong play into 2024, entering the break with a 44-30 record and a narrow lead over the Detroit Purple Gang. Despite finishing the first half dead last in baseball with just 30 homers (as part of a league-wide power outage), the Werewolves nonetheless had an above average offense, led by first baseman Geronimo Pena, who hit .292 and slugged .451, with 6 homers and 43 RBI's. London's pitching staff sparkled, allowing just 229 runs in the first half, led by Bert Blyleven, who rebounded from a dreadful 2023 to go 7-3 with a 2.12 ERA and 0.89 WHIP, and ace Reb Russell, who went 11-5 with a 3.04 ERA. The Omaha Falcons -- one of three franchises in HRDL history to never make the playoffs -- looked to end their drought, going 46-29 and leading the Great Plains Division by 3 games. Their offense ranked second in the league in runs scored, as Bobby Higginson hit .304 with 12 homers and 56 RBI's, while JD Drew hit .292 and slugged .506, popping 10 homers and driving in 48 runs. Ed Walsh and Larry Jansen anchored a deep pitching staff, each winning 10 games and sporting a sub- 2.00 ERA at the break. In the Continental League, the hard-hitting Hartford Huskies took baseball's best record into the break, going 48-27, as they looked to return to the postseason for the first time since the league's inaugural 2011 season. Hartford ranked second in baseball in homers, led by center fielder Gorman Thomas, who hit .322 with 17 homers and 64 RBI's, and second baseman Junior Spivey, who hit .307 with 15 homers and 48 RBI's. The Anaheim Antelopes went 46-29, leading the Southwest Division by 5 games. Third baseman Larry Parrish hit 15 homers and led baseball with 67 RBI's, while Kevin Slowey carried a borderline pitching staff, going 10-3 with a 2.35 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP.

Disappointments: The Boston Minutemen, after winning 106 and 108 games during the past two seasons, entered the All-Star Break on a six-game losing streak with a middling 38-37 record, 4 1/2 games out of first place. Boston's two major free agent acquisitions, Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Palmer, were tremendously disappointing. Yastrzemski suffered yet another season ending injury, shredding his PCL for the fourth time (!) after just five games in a Boston uniform. Palmer was completely ineffective, going 2-11 with a 5.14 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. The St. Louis Pilots appeared to have the makings of a burgeoning dynasty, with several young stars in their prime, but they went just 33-42, and entered the break 13 games behind Omaha, amid rumors of clubhouse strife. Gabby Hartnett hit just .258 and slugged .386 -- a decline of nearly 200 points from the year before. Francisco Lindor came down to earth after his brilliant MVP campaign- and suffered a concussion shortly before the All-Star Break, which threatened to sideline him for the rest of the season. The Memphis River Pirates appeared unlikely to duplicate their breakthrough season, going just 34-41 and entering the break in 5th place, albeit just 7 games out of first. The club struggled to replace All-Star center fielder Larry Doby, who decamped to Vancouver in free agency, and free agent signee Kevin Bass, who drove in 229 runs in the prior two season in Kansas City, drove in just 29 runs and slugged a modest .416. Cy Young Award winner Al Hollingsworth regressed, going just 5-9 with a 3.78 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP, and the back of the rotation was sub-replacement level, as Memphis finished 20th in the league in runs allowed. The Los Angeles Kangaroos vastly underachieved based on their pythagorean ratio, ending the half with a 36-38 record, 9 1/2 games behind Anaheim. Free agent signee Brett Tomko struggled, going 2-3 with a 5.06 ERA, while franchise mainstay Felix Hernandez was sidelined, as he was removed from the rotation after going 1-3 in 7 starts with a 4.37 ERA and ghastly 1.67 WHIP.

Power outage: Leaguewide offensive totals plummeted after an explosive 2023. In the Frontier League, the leaguewide slugging percentage declined from .406 to .362, and the league ERA declined by more than half a run, from 3.98 to 3.46. Not a single Frontier League team was slugging even .400 -- which would have been a below-average figure the year before -- as of the 2024 All-Star Break. In the Continental League, the league slugging percentage fell from .426 to .388 and the league's ERA declined from 4.60 to 4.03. While 7 teams had team ERA's over 5.00 in 2023, just one team -- the hapless Albuquerque Conquistadors -- topped 5.00 the following season. Perhaps most shocking: while 24 players topped 40 homers in 2023, at the 2024 All-Star Break, only one player- Birmingham's Carlos Pena -- had even 20 homers.

Larry's are King: The Frontier League saw a series of dominant performances by starting pitchers named Larry. The seven starting pitchers on the Frontier League squad included Calgary's Larry Jaster (8-3, 1.53 ERA, 0.96 WHIP), Omaha's Larry Jansen (10-2, 1.81 ERA, 0.85 WHIP), Boston's Larry Cheney (10-5, 1.74 ERA, 0.94 WHIP), and Seattle's Larry Benton (8-2, 1.61 ERA, 0.90 WHIP). Pittsburgh's Frank Lary, alas, was a middling 5-7 with a career-worst 3.81 ERA.

Mantle Slipped a Mickey?: After ten dominant years with the Denver Spikes, including 7 MVP Awards and 2 Triple Crowns, Mickey Mantle signed with the Houston Pythons as a free agent before the 2023 season. Mantle had a solid, if not quite spectacular 2023, hitting .326 with 32 homers and 110 RBI's. But his 2024 was an unmitigated disaster: Mantle entered the All-Star break hitting .199 with 8 homers, 35 RBI's, and a meager .321 slugging percentage, pulling his WAR above zero only in the final week before the All-Star game.

Major milestones: Wade Boggs, Del Ennis, Carney Lansford, and Paul Molitor each topped the 2,500 hit mark, with Lonnie Smith and Kirby Puckett expected to do so by year's end. Wes Covington, Glenn Davis, and Eugenio Suarez each joined the 300 home run club. Tom Henke notched his 400th career save, while Patrick Corbin earned his 200th win.

Major injuries: After signing with Boston as a free agent in the offseason, Carl Yastrzemski continued to be bitten by the injury bug, tearing his PCL for the fourth time after just five games. New Orleans' righthander Jack Chesbro tore his labrum in spring training and was expected to miss the entire season. Within a span of three days, Buffalo lost franchise catcher Dave Nilsson to a torn ACL, and righthander Bob Feller to elbow inflammation that would likely sideline him until September. Jacksonville closer Joakim Soria tore his UCL in spring training and was expected to miss the season. Chicago center fielder Willie McGee broke his kneecap, and would likely not return until Labor Day. Although defending MVP Francisco Lindor was healthy throughout the first half, he suffered from a concussion shortly before the all-star break, placing his second half in jeopardy.