Who Would've Thought In March...

• Who would've thought that by August 21, these things would've happened:
  

That the Tampa Bay Rays would be fighting for the best record in baseball and be ten games ahead of the Yankees.
That Manny Ramirez would finally aggravate the Red Sox to the point where they decided to get him out of town once and for all and pay his salary to leave.

That the Yankees would undergo such a rough transition with a

new manager in Joe Girardi (who still appears to have a lot to learn) and that their young starters would be injured and terrible, respectively. (Actually, someone called the Ian Kennedy disaster----meeeeeeeeee!!!)
That the Orioles, having cleared out their veterans and started a legit rebuilding project, would be flirting with .500 and playing very respectably.
That the Minnesota Twins, sans Johan Santana and Torii Hunter and with a patchwork lineup, would be fighting for first place.
That the Detroit Tigers would become the latest version of The Worst Team Money Could Buy?
That after coming within one win of the World Series, the Cleveland Indians would stumble

badly enough to clear out most of their veterans and start another rebuilding project.
That Josh Hamilton and Milton Bradley would post such massive offensive numbers and that Ian Kinsler would even get himself into the

conversation for MVP.
That the Seattle Mariners would see everything go wrong far beyond a worst case scenario; Stephen King couldn't come up with a series of nightmares as disastrous as the Mariners 2008 season.
That Mike Pelfrey of the Mets would develop this quickly to become a top young starter in the National League and win a probable 15-16 games.
That Ryan Howard would start morphing into a kind, gentle version of Dave Kingman and that his numbers would tumble so rapidly; and that reigning NL MVP Jimmy Rollins's play wouldn't live up to his mouth.

That the historically durable Tom Glavine and John Smoltz would both be lost for the season; the Braves pitching staff so top-to-bottom rotten; and that they'd be sellers instead of buyers at mid-season starting a rebuilding project.
That the Marlins would be in contention spending less money on their entire roster than Alex Rodriguez makes all season.
That the Brewers would go for broke so completely by dealing for C.C. Sabathia, who they have no chance of keeping after the season.
That even Tony La Russa, baseball's resident genius, would be able to keep the Cardinals patchwork and bargain basement roster (aside from Albert Pujols) in contention this long, especially without a closer.

That Ken Griffey Jr would allow the Reds to trade him.
That the Diamondbacks, with their excellent on-paper roster; dual-headed Cy Young Award contenders in Brandon Webb and Dan Haren; a resurgent Randy Johnson; and solid mid-season acquisitions, would be so relentlessly and unexplainably inconsistent.
That the Dodgers would acquire two future Hall of Famers for almost nothing within three weeks of each other in Manny Ramirez and Greg Maddux.
That the Padres would be so poisonously bad and that their arrogance and cheapness would permeate their organization to become almost hopeless.

These surprises----among many, many more----prove that no matter how one makes their

predictions, based on numbers or observation, there's no way to know what's going to happen in a season; no way to judge what's going to work and what isn't. The only thing to do is to watch and learn and try not to make the same mistakes again. If anything, this season is a prime indicator of why they play the games on the field rather than in a room with a bunch of nerds alternating between their stats and World of Warcraft.

Does Josh Hamilton Deserve The Applause?

Years ago, Mike Tyson appeared at a British awards show and was greeted with an extended standing ovation as if he'd gone to the tribal areas of Afghanistan/Pakistan and

personally killed Osama Bin Laden while simultaneously negotiating a peace settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians and, while on leave, stopped the genocide in Darfur. The reality of the matter is that if Tyson weren't a famous boxer and was merely the misanthropic, antisocial deviant he was before (and after) his talent for boxing was discovered, 99% of the people in the audience at that awards show would have crossed the street in a panic if they saw him coming toward them. I'm not equating Josh Hamilton with Tyson, but the accolades Hamilton is receiving are in the same ballpark as that unfathomable standing ovation.
What, other than finally making use of a talent so rare, has Hamilton done to warrant being treated so reverently? I completely understand that the applause is for the recovery and not

the addiction; I completely understand that Hamilton's comeback is reason for others to see him as an example of rehabilitation because I'm sure many have either experienced Hamilton's problems firsthand or through family members; but it's getting a little out of control with the relentless promotion of Hamilton as someone to be admired because he was able to overcome addictions to cocaine, crack and alcohol and make use of his once-in-a-lifetime talent. And it's not as if his recovery is complete, end of story; he's only been clean for two and a half years. If I were the Rangers, I wouldn't even consider signing him to a long-term deal until it's absolutely necessary; and I wouldn't be standing and cheering for him as lustfully as the fans everywhere are now; and I wouldn't be writing such romantically-themed stories of redemption before a sufficient amount of time has passed to be able to state with confidence that he's going to be able to maintain his sobriety and on-field performance.
With Mike Tyson, people put up with his outside the ring issues because he still had

something that they could use. When he was younger, he still had that boxing ability that made him so wealthy; as he aged and got into more and more trouble, his mere image sold tickets as more of a sideshow freak than a champion. People didn't want to see him fight; they wanted to see him get into a brawl at a press conference; scream and attack people like a maniac; do something outrageous or take a brutal beating in the ring. Hamilton has been with four organizations in the past two years and not one of them was interested in Hamilton because they were concerned about him as a human being or because they were running a halfway house.
The Rays dumped him because they didn't want to protect such a player on their 40-man roster; the Cubs drafted him in the Rule 5 draft in a prearranged deal to send him to the Reds and make their organization a quick $50,000; the Reds wanted to take a chance on his talent; and the Rangers needed a center fielder after their other options fell through. If his skills had eroded due to the layoffs and self-abuse, Hamilton wouldn't have been an All Star; he would've been bouncing from organization to organization trying to recover what it was that he lost. That his gifts are still present is the main reason he's still in the big leagues and flourishing. It's not a question of "helping the fellow man" on the part of the Rangers or anyone else; it's a mutually beneficial arrangement. Hamilton can still play, so he's in the big leagues; the Rangers, Reds and Cubs had some use for him, so they benefited from it.
Hamilton can be an inspiration; he can be an example of what's lost by addiction and what's gained by faith and recovery; but to idolize him after such a brief time sober (with

relatively few valleys) is jumping the gun a bit. It's also a little out of line to be feting Josh Hamilton for getting himself clean when there are so

many players----Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, David Wright----who comport themselves in such a classy and positive way on and off the field and are basically expected to behave correctly and receive no credit for it; or players who've made the most of limited ability----David Eckstein----and didn't have the option of wasting years of their careers with out-of-control behaviors and expect to be given chance after chance. If he stays clean for an extended period of time, then Hamilton should receive a fair amount of credit; but to me, that time hasn't elapsed and these "inspiring stories" are premature for a player and person for whom "one day at a time" couldn't be a more apt description.

Mid-Season Award Winners

Here are my picks for the mid-season award winners:

• AL MVP: Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers

I shook my head in confusion after seeing that Jayson Stark had selected Kinsler as his MVP considering the massive numbers that both Josh Hamilton and Milton Bradley have put

up, but in looking at the numbers, it's bizarre. Like previous Rangers players (Mark Teixeira, Hank Blalock), both Hamilton and Bradley have huge numbers at home and solid enough (but nowhere close to MVP) numbers on the road. Kinsler has far better power numbers on the road than at home; his batting average is .376 at home and .299 on the road. He's obviously benefiting from the cozy confines of Arlington and by having Bradley, Hamilton and Michael Young in the same lineup, but his production can't be denied especially since it's been so consistent at home and on the road.

• AL Cy Young Award: Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians

Lee has been unappreciated for several years as a solid and consistent winner, but this year his fastball appeared to have picked up some life; combined with his control, he's been dominating on a struggling team with a shaky bullpen. He's been brilliant across the board, throwing strikes, not allowing homers and racking up wins.

• AL Rookie of the Year: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
  

Longoria has 84 hits and 40 are for extra bases. An All Star as a rookie, a very good fielder and an emerging voice in his clubhouse simply by the professional way he carries himself.

• AL Manager of the Year: Ron Gardenhire, Minnesota Twins

Before the seven game losing streak to end the first half, it would have been Rays manager Joe Maddon, but a team with an eye on

making the playoffs cannot get swept in a four-game series by an Indians team that has pretty much thrown in the towel on the season. Because the Twins aren't in a playoff position and they're more of an under-the-radar story, many miss the fact that their roster is weaker and in many ways, less established than that of the Rays. Gardenhire is nursing a very young pitching staff to an over .500 record when they were expected to have a rebuilding year. This is also a body-of-work award because Gardenhire has been such an unappreciated top-tier manager for so long without recognition; Maddon is in his third year, let him pay some dues.

• NL MVP: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
  

Pujols is almost alone in that lineup which accounts for his league-leading (by a lot) 22 intentional walks. To be able to put up the numbers Pujols puts up while seeing maybe one or two pitches to hit a game is indicative of how great he is. Chase Utley was an early favorite, but has petered out in the past couple of months and if Pujols were in the Phillies lineup, he'd win the Triple Crown.

• NL Cy Young Award: Edinson Volquez, Cincinnati Reds

Many are picking Tim Lincecum because of his quirky personality

and motion; his diminutive size and interesting story, but Volquez has been better across the board. He's given up fewer hits, runs and homers (pitching in a far easier home park to hit in than Lincecum), has a lower ERA and a better strikeout/innings pitched ratio. If the Reds were in contention and Volquez hadn't had those extra few days in the big leagues while with the Rangers, he's have an argument for being the Cy Young winner, Rookie of the Year and the MVP.

• NL Rookie of the Year: Geovany Soto, Chicago Cubs
  

Cubs manager Lou Piniella is rough on his catchers and to have a rookie come in and perform as well as Soto has at and behind the plate is very difficult and implies a mental toughness that portends a great career.

• NL Manager of the Year: Lou Piniella, Chicago Cubs

Tony La Russa is the obvious choice because of his ability to do a lot with limited talent, but that thinking can distract from a manager

whose team also had question marks coming into the season. Piniella has the Cubs in first place with a rookie catcher (Soto); a closer in training (Kerry Wood); and a scrapheap pickup as his center fielder (Jim Edmonds); he's also been without Alfonso Soriano for a big chunk of the season and still managed to drag the Cubs into first place by sheer force of will just as he did last year. Managers are often rewarded not for winning, but for having their teams play above their heads with what was perceived to be a lack of talent. Results are what they are and Piniella has the results so far this year to get the nod over La Russa.

*Note: I do not care about the home run derby; I do not want to know about the home run derby; I think the home run derby is a colossal waste of time.