Streaks and Swoons

As we head toward the end of the first half, the men are starting to separate from the boys. There's just a handful of games left before the All-Star Break -- probably not enough to drop down the six teams at the top of the standings or move up the six at the bottom. There's just two teams hoping that a hot streak will propel them over the .500 mark at the end of the half.

It's been an interesting first half for the Philadelphia Endzone Animals. After going 4-10 to start the season, the Animals roared back into contention, going 34-21 (.618 W%) over the next six weeks. But recently the Animals have fallen on hard times, losing eight out of their last nine, including six in a row. Tonight's 7-4 loss to the Newark Sugar Bears dropped the Animals to .500 at 39-39, 2 1/2 games out of the final playoff spot. Chipper Jones led the way for Newark, going 3-for-4 with two home runs and a stolen base. The Sugar Bears will be looking for the four-game sweep tomorrow.

It doesn't get any easier after that for the Animals -- after Newark, they close out the first half with a three-game series in Georgia against the first place Marietta Mighty Men. The Mites are the hottest team in baseball right now -- their 8-6 win over the Carolina Mudcats was their fifth straight win. Ervin Santana picked up the win despite allowing 13 hits, 5 walks and 5 earned runs in 6 innings.

With the win, the Mighty Men remain a game ahead of the Sugar Bears for the Hanover Division lead (and the league's best record). Also keeping pace, 2 games behind Marietta, were the las Vegas Rat Pack, who put away the D.C. O-Bombers by a score of 5-1. Las Vegas's Tim Lincecum was dominant, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 11 in 8.0 innings pitched. He's now 10-1 on the season.

Carolina's loss opened the door for the Hillsborough Hired Hitmen, who are now just a half-game out of first in the Morris Division after a wild 10-9 win over last place New Jersey Team Buddah. The Buddahs jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the 2nd, only to watch the Hitmen come back with 3 runs in the 3rd; the Buddahs picked up 3 more in the 5th, but then the Hitmen scored 2 in the 6th and 5 in the 7th to finally take the lead, 10-7. But the Buddahs cut the lead to one on a two-run shot by Ian Stewart -- his second home run and 6th and 7th RBIs on the game. But Mike Gonzalez struck out David DeJesus to finally end the game and give the Hitmen the victory.

The Vancouver Iron Fist, meanwhile, are heading in the opposite direction as they dropped their second in a row, a 3-1 loss to the Hoboken Cutters. The Iron Fist are now 4 games out of the Morris Division lead and remain 2 1/2 games ahead of Philly for the final wildcard berth.

The Arkansas Golden Falcons failed to take advantage of the losses by Vancouver and Philadelphia and remain in 8th place, 3 games out of the playoffs, after a 2-0 loss to the Amityville Ant Slayers. Amityville's Jon Lester gave up 10 hits and a walk but escaped from every jam with the help of some outstanding defense -- the Ant Slayers turned four double plays and didn't commit an error. Arkansas's Ricky Nolasco was the tough-luck loser.

Today's final game was between two teams still trying to get back to .500 -- the Blue Ridge Bombers and the Sardine City Straphangers. The Hangmen had been hot recently, having won four in a row and seven out of their last nine, but couldn't recover after a seven-run 3rd inning by the Bombers capped by a grand slam by Mark DeRosa.

If you're waiting 'til the last minute to vote for your All-Stars... this is the last minute! The results will be announced early next week. So fill out your ballot before it's too late! If you're not sure who to vote for, check out the write-ups of the batting candidates and pitching candidates.

Vancouver, Sardine City, rally to victory

Vancouver won their 4th in a row by rallying from a 6-0 deficit to defeat Hoboken 7-6. The Cutters jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the third inning, but their bullpen couldn't hold the lead. Troy Glaus dealt the final nail in the coffin with a 2-run double in the 8th inning that gave Vancouver the lead. Billy Wagner finished the 9th for his 14th save. For Hoboken, Mike Napoli went 3-4 with a homer run and 3 RBIs.

Another comeback story last night was Sardine City's extra-inning affair with Blue Ridge. The Bombers jumped out to a 9-4 lead by the end of the 4th inning, but a 3-run 8th inning put the Sardines within one run of the Bombers. In the 9th, Evan Longoria lined a double to tie the game. In the top of the 10th Stephen Drew hit a solo homer to give the Sardines the lead. Carl Crawford led off the 10th with a single for Blue Ridge, but was picked off by pitcher Brandon Morrow. "He fell for the old untied shoelace trick" said Sardine City first baseman Lyle Overbay.

Chien-Ming Wang became the league's first 10-game winner in a 7-1 defeat of Philly yesterday. Wang pitched 7.1 innings and gave up only one unearned run on 5 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 8.

All-Star 2009: Meet The Pitchers!

Remember, it's time to vote for the DMBL 2009 All-Stars. A couple days ago we looked at the interesting batters on the ballot; now we'll go over the starting pitchers and relievers. Remember, you can vote for whoever you want. The important thing is that you vote!

Morris Starting Pitchers
Despite an 8-7 record, Carolina's Roy Halladay has to be considered the favorite to start the game for the Morris Division. The veteran leads the DMBL in ERA (2.95) and R/9 (9.5), and is tied for the league lead in QS (12) and QS% (.800). Doc's 7 losses are really a reflection on how deep he pitches into games -- he leads the league in decisions (15), complete games (7) and innings pitched (119.0), and in fact, his 8 wins are tied for the Morris Division lead. The problem is the Mudcats score him just 3.7 runs per start, which gives him very little margin for error. Compare that to his teammate, Daisuke Matsuzaka -- he has an 8-2 record because the team averages 4.7 runs in each of his starts. But Dice-K has certainly earned his way to the All-Star Game as well. He leads the league in batting average allowed (.166) and slugging percentage allowed (.317), leads the Morris Division in Ks (101) and is tied for the division lead in wins (8), and is 2nd in the division in ERA (3.15), W% (.800), and 4th in R/9 (10.2).

Another strong candidate is Vancouver's Zack Greinke (8-4, 3.50 ERA, 10.5 R/9). The 25-year-old right-hander is among the league leaders in wins (tied for 4th), R/9 (tied for 7th), ERA (tied for 8th), plus he's 3rd in complete games (4), 5th in innings (108.0) and 7th in OPS allowed (.678). The voters also should check out Arkansas's Cliff Lee (7-5, 3.62 ERA, 9.8 R/9), who leads the league with a 5.7 K:BB ratio and is tied for 3rd with a .733 QS%; Hillsborough's C.C. Sabathia (6-5, 4.32 ERA, 11.6 R/9), who has 97 K in 106 IP; Philly's Shaun Marcum (6-5, 3.50 ERA, 9.8 R/9, .670 QS%), who is tied for second in both R/9 and IP (110.2); and Vancouver's Ben Sheets (7-3, 3.88 ERA, 11.3 R/9), who is tied for 7th in W% (.700).

Veteran's Day? Vancouver's Greg Maddux has made no secret that this will be his final DMBL season. Will the voters send him out an All-Star? Maddux, who finally decided to come back after contemplating retirement all off-season, had to tune up in extended spring training and missed the first month of the season. Since he's been back, he's been vintage Mad Dog -- 3.29 ERA, 10.0 R/9, and 6 quality starts and 3 complete games in his eight starts. His 5.7 K:BB ratio would be tied for best in the league if he had enough innings to qualify -- but that brings up another point, starters with 3-2 records and 52 innings pitched usually don't make it to the All-Star Game. We'll see what the voters think.

Don't Forget: Blue Ridge's Justin Duchscherer (7-6, 4.06 ERA, 10.8 R/9), who returns to the DMBL after missing all of last season with a hip injury. The former reliever has been converted into a starter and so far has largely avoided the injury bug. There's also Blue Ridge's Adam Wainwright (3-5, 4.19 ERA, 11.4 R/9); Carolina's Tim Hudson (6-4, 4.29 ERA, 11.0 R/9) and Carlos Zambrano (8-5, 3.63 ERA, 13.4 R/9); Philly's Brandon Webb (8-6, 3.57 ERA, 11.8 R/9); and Vancouver's Chad Billingsley (5-5, 3.71 ERA, 11.4 R/9).

Not This Year: A few fan favorites might get some votes, but their first half numbers don't warrant All-Star status: Arkansas's Johann Santana (4-7, 6.57 ERA, 15.8 R/9); D.C.'s Erik Bedard (6-6, 4.60 ERA, 13.9 R/9); Hillsborough's Felix Hernandez (6-5, 5.20 ERA, 14.2 R/9); Philly's Scott Kazmir (5-3, 5.53 ERA, 12.4 R/9); and Vancouver's Jake Peavy (5-4, 4.77 ERA, 13.1 R/9).

Hanover Starting Pitchers
Las Vegas's Josh Beckett (6-3, 2.96 ERA, 10.5 R/9) will likely be this year's starter for the Hanover Division. Beckett's 2.96 ERA ranks only behind Halladay (2.95) for the DMBL lead, and he's tied for the DMBL lead in shutouts (2), quality starts (12) and QS% (.800); he leads the Hanover Division in H/9 (7.5), is 2nd in the division in OPS allowed (.664), and is 3rd in the division in R/9.

Who should join him in the Hanover rotation? Teammate Tim Lincecum (9-1, 3.35 ERA, 12.2 R/9) leads the league in W% (.900) and is tied for second for the league lead in wins; he's tied for 3rd in QS (11) and QS% (.733), is 4th in Ks (109), and is tied for 6th in K/9 (9.4)... Hoboken's Jeremy Guthrie's 7-6 record isn't too notable -- until you remember he plays for the 11th place Cutters! His .538 W% is exactly 100 points better than his team's. He's 5th in ERA (3.30), tied for 5th in R/9 (10.4), tied for 3rd in H/9 (7.6), and is tied for 3rd in QS (11) and QS% (.733). His .663 OPS allowed is best in the Hanover Division and 3rd in the league... There's also Newark's Chien-Ming Wang (10-2, 3.51 ERA, 11.4 R/9), leads the league in wins and ranks 3rd in W% (.833) and leads the Hanover Division in innings pitched (118.0).

Young Guns: Sardine City rookie Joba Chamberlain may have a losing record (5-6), but that's for the 31-43 Straphangers. The rookie leads the league in K/9 (11.3) and ranks 4th in ERA (3.19), 3rd in Ks (110), 3rd in SLG allowed (.359), tied for 3rd in HR/9 (0.6), 8th in OPS (.685), tied for 9th in QS (9) and tied for 10th in QS% (.600). Other youngsters of note include Amityville's Chris Volstad (6-4, 4.35 ERA, 13.4 R/9); Hoboken's Matt Garza (7-5, 3.70 ERA, 12.7 R/9); Marietta's Ervin Santana (8-6, 3.33 ERA, 10.7 R/9, .670 QS%);

Left Out? It's not any easier for southpaws in the Hanover Division. This year only a handful put up solid numbers over the first half, led by Sardine City's Cole Hamels. The 25-year-old is 7-7 but with a 3.81 ERA, 10.4 R/9, and .600 QS%. There's also Amityville's Jon Lester (5-5, 3.84 ERA, 11.6 R/9, .600 QS%); Marietta's Jon Danks (8-2, 4.63 ERA, 13.7 R/9); and Newark's Joe Saunders (7-5, 4.20 ERA, 13.5 R/9). Hoboken rookie Clayton Kershaw (2-2, 3.41 ERA, 14.6 R/9) has had mixed success (15 BB, 30 K in 29 IP), and with only 5 starts this season, might not make his All-Star debut until next year.

Don't Forget: Amityville's Roy Oswalt (8-4, 4.60 ERA, 11.4 R/9); Las Vegas's A.J. Burnett (7-3, 4.12 ERA, 11.9 R/9), Rich Harden (6-5, 3.61 ERA, 11.9 R/9); and Marietta's Mike Mussina (9-4, 4.40 ERA, 12.9 R/9)

Not This Year: Some big-name hurlers will likely get a three-day vacation during the All-Star Break, including New Jersey's Edinson Volquez (3-7, 5.65 ERA, 15.1 R/9); Marietta's Ryan Dempster (4-5, 5.00 ERA, 15.3 R/9); New Jersey's Andy Pettitte (2-10, 7.67 ERA, 17.5 R/9); and Newark's James Shields (5-5, 6.41 ERA, 14.7 R/9).

Morris Relief Pitchers
Is it a fluke, or a trend? Three of the top closers in the Morris Division are southpaws this season. Carolina's Brian Fuentes (2-1, 14 SV, 2.04 ERA, 11.3 R/9) is tied for the league lead in saves and leads the Morris Division in relief points with 26; he's also struck out 46 batters in 35 innings for an astounding 12.0 K/9, and has stranded all but 3 of his 20 inherited runners (.150 IR%). Hillsborough's Mike Gonzalez (1-0, 12 SV, 3.16 ERA, 9.3 R/9) also is having a great year, with 37 Ks and just 8 walks in 31 innings; Vancouver's Billy Wagner (1-4, 13 SV, 2.88 ERA, 12.4 R/9) is still getting it done, with 39 Ks in 34 IP.

Right On! There are some right-handed closers too, of course, with the best in the Morris being D.C.'s Jonathan Papelbon (1-3, 8 SV, 3.42 ERA, 10.4 R/9) and Philly's Huston Street (3-2, 7 SV, 3.03 ERA, 9.2 R/9). It wasn't such a great first half for Arkansas's Joakim Soria (2-3, 12 SV, 6.10 ERA, 12.8 R/9) or Blue Ridge's Francisco Rodriguez (1-0, 11 SV, 4.18 ERA, 13.5 R/9).

Strong Up The Middle: Closers get all the glory, but some of the best bullpen work is done by the guys who get the tough outs in the 7th and 8th innings, including D.C.'s Arthur Rhodes (3-0, 0 SV, 2 holds, 2.15 ERA, 9.3 R/9), who has apparently found the fountain of youth in D.C.; the 39-year-old has struck out 39 batters in 29 innings while walking just 6. There's also Arkansas's Kerry Wood (3-3, 1 SV, 9 holds, 2.64 ERA, 13.5 R/9); Carolina's Edwar Ramirez (3-1, 1 SV, 7 holds, 2.90 ERA, 10.5 R/9); Hillsborough's Jose Arredondo (6-1, 2 SV, 7 holds, 1.91 ERA, 10.3 R/9); Philly's Dan Wheeler (0-0, 3 SV, 1 hold, 3.60 ERA, 9.8 R/9); and Vancouver's Cory Wade (3-0, 1 SV, 3 holds, 2.75 ERA, 8.5 R/9)

Hanover Relief Pitchers
The Hanover Division appears to have the upper hand when it comes to relief pitching. Leading the way is veteran closer Mariano Rivera (4-0, 14 SV, 1.82 ERA, 4.6 R/9). Marietta's Mo leads the league in relief points (34), is tied for the league lead in saves (14), and is second in save percentage (.875), and he's struck out 35 batters in 29 innings -- while walking just 2! Even more impressive, he's inherited 17 runners, but has yet to allow one to score. Newark's Joey Devine (2-1, 13 SV, 2.10 ERA, 11.1 R/9, .125 IR%) and Sardine City's Taylor Buchholz (3-1, 10 SV, 2.93 ERA, 7.7 R/9, 0.100 IR%) have also been outstanding. But the division's other closers haven't been as strong -- Las Vegas's Brian Shouse (1-2, 9 SV, 2.84 ERA, 11.3 R/9) and New Jersey's Bobby Jenks (2-3, 10 SV, 3.67 ERA, 11.8 R/9) have been solid but not lights out, while Amityville's Heath Bell (1-3, 10 SV, 5.12 ERA, 13.9 R/9) and Hoboken's Takashi Saito (0-3, 9 SV, 5.12 ERA, 15.1 R/9) have caused a lot of heartburn.

Set 'Em Up: The Hanover Division has a number of outstanding set up men, led by Newark's Brian Bruney (3-1, 2 SV, 9 holds, 2.14 ERA, 8.8 R/9), who is tied for the league lead in holds; Las Vegas's Carlos Marmol (4-3, 4 SV, 2 holds, 3.34 ERA, 8.1 R/9), who has 43 Ks in 32 IP; and Marietta's Grant Balfour (2-0, 2 SV, 2 holds, 1.20 ERA, 10.5 R/9), who has yet to allow an inherited runner to score this year. There's also Sardine City's Jim Johnson (1-1, 1 SV, 1 hold, 1.91 ERA, 10.8 R/9), a groundball machine who has induced 11 double plays in 61 innings.

Hey Lefty! All those right-handers need to get balanced out from the other side of the plate. Three of the best southpaws in the Hanover Division this year have been Hoboken's Craig Breslow (3-3, 2 SV, 2 holds, 3.40 ERA, 9.8 R/9), Las Vegas's Hideki Okajima (2-2, 2 SV, 9 holds, 2.14 ERA, 10.0 R/9) and Newark's Matt Thornton (2-1, 3 SV, 6 holds, 2.38 ERA, 9.5 R/9). There's also Marietta's Hong-Chih Kou (1-2, 2 SV, 4 holds, 3.72 ERA, 11.5 R/9) and Jesse Carlson (3-0, 1 SV, 0 holds, 2.51 ERA, 11.5 R/9), and New Jersey's Rafael Perez (1-2, 1 SV, 1 hold, 1.29 ERA, 13.1 R/9).

Welcome Back!

Yesterday was a day filled with welcome back parties. After many injuries, several players returned to their respective lineups.

D.C. welcomed back Ryan Zimmerman, who had been out almost two months with a rare disease he suffered while in the jungles of Borneo. Zimmerman responded by getting two hits, including his first home run of the season in D.C.'s 2-0 blanking of Hillsborough. But Zim wasn't the only O-Bomber to return. First baseman Todd Helton also returned to the lineup after being out 3 weeks and contributed a double and an RBI. That's all well and good for the O-Bombers, but Hillsborough also had a return. Ron Belliard had missed several weeks as well, but came right back into the leadoff spot. Unfortunately for Belliard, he was 0-2 with a walk and was lifted for a pinch hitter late in the game. By the way, despite the 2-0 final result, this was far from a pretty game from the two hurlers. Both teams had trouble locating the strike zone, and issued a combined 13 walks. Felix Hernandez went the distance for the Hitmen and accounted for 7 of the walks himself, while his opponent, Todd Wellemeyer, issued 5 and a wild pitch in his 6.2 innings of work.

Sardine City activated Evan Longoria, but the Sardines were idle Wednesday. Amityville also activated starter Jered Weaver, but after giving Manny Parra one more good-bye start. Parra gave up only 2 earned runs in 5.2 innings in the 2-1 loss, but walked 5 and struck out 9. Parra was sent back down to the team's farm team to work on his control. Weaver will take Parra's next start in the rotation.

I guess this whole pitching decently while walking a ton of batters was a recurring theme of the day. John Maine improved to 7-3 on the season in a 10-2 blowout of the Falcons. Maine only allowed 2 runs but walked 5 in 6 innings. Meanwhile, Vancouver's Jake Peavy limited the Endzone Animals to only 3 hits and 2 runs in 7.2 innings, but also walked 5 in the Fist's 7-2 victory. Maybe those 10 strikeouts helped a bit?

Falcons roll into crowded Morris playoff mix

How about those Arkansas Falcons? After languishing near the bottom of the Morris Division for most of the season, the Falcons have put together a 5-game winning streak that put the club back up over the .500 mark. Yesterday's 3-1 win over Carolina pushed them to 37-36. Though they're still in 5th place, they're only 1 1/2 out of 4th and 6 1/2 out of first. Johan Santana pitched 7 solid innings to earn the win and Ivan Rodriguez had 2 RBIs in the game.

Vancouver and Philly battled it out in 16 innings with the Iron Fist earning the 10-8 victory. Vancouver rallied from a 4-0 deficit and took the lead with a 5-run 5th inning. Philadelphia tied the game at 6 in the 7th and the two teams didn't score again until the 16th inning. Michael Cuddyer, just signed off the scrap heap, hit a 2-run go-ahead home run in the top of the inning to give the Animals an 8-6 lead. But it didn't last. Frank Francisco quickly loaded the bases, then with no one out and Justin Masterson relieving Francisco, Chase Utley hit a walkoff grand slam to win the game for Vancouver. Utley ended the night with 6 RBIs.

Marietta and Newark saw a matchup of DMBL future Hall of Famers as Mike Mussina faced Randy Johnson. Mussina won the game, improving to 9-4, though it wasn't pretty, but Mussina tied Tom Glavine for #7 on the all-time win list (170). He's now one behind John Smoltz, who is sitting out this season. Of course Johnson made a little history himself - his loss tied him for the #7 spot with Kevin Appier (120).

The Sardine City Straphangers scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the 9th to steal a game from Hoboken 5-4. Carlos Quentin's double tied up the game as Alfredo Amezega scored from second. Ryan Braun won the game for the Sardines with a sac fly. Kevin Kouzmanoff was 2-4 in the game with a homer and 3 RBIs. Taking over for the injured Jorge Cantu (who was filling in for the injured Evan Longoria), Kouzmanoff has been putting up some good numbers (.348 average, 1.130 OPS, 3 HR, 7 RBI in 23 AB). The bad news for Kouz? Longoria is expected to return in time for today's match.

All-Star 2009: Who's On Your Ballot?

The votes for the 2009 All-Star Game are coming in fast and furious. Be sure to fill out your ballot! If you're having trouble sorting out the candidates, here's a quick rundown of the leading contenders. But remember, you can vote for whoever you want. The important part is... you have to vote!

Today we'll run down the batters. In our next installment we'll take a look at the starters and relievers.

Catchers
D.C.'s Brian McCann has to be considered the favorite in the Morris Division, as he's hitting .324 (.968 OPS) with 14 HR and 44 RBI. He leads all DMBL catchers in batting average and runs created per 27 outs (8.4)... Vying for the job of backup backstop are Carolina's Bengie Molina (.290, .786 OPS, 8 HR, 30 RBI); Hillsborough's Kelly Shoppach (.255, .859 OPS, 8 HR, 31 RBI); Philly's John Baker (.313, .819 OPS, 12 2B, 26 RBI) and Vancouver's Ryan Doumit (.268, .727 OPS, 8 HR, 30 RBI)... All-Star favorite Ivan Rodriguez is likely staying home this year (.231, .633 OPS, 4 HR, 11 RBI), as is Blue Ridge's Chris Iannetta (.168, .550 OPS, 2 HR, 15 RBI).

There's not much of a race in the Hanover Division either, as Hoboken's Mike Napoli (.266, .971 OPS, 23 HR, 47 RBI) leads all DMBL catchers in OPS, HR and RBI... Fighting for second place are Amityville's Dioner Navarro (.318, .758 OPS, 2 HR, 25 RBI), Las Vegas's Joe Mauer (.294, .787 OPS, 19 2B, 46 R) and Newark's Jarrod Saltalamacchia (.284, .835 OPS, 15 2B, 35 R)... Marietta rookie Geovanny Soto has been a huge disappointment (.176, .494 OPS, 4 HR, 18 RBI in 222 AB). You also won't find much help from New Jersey's Chris Snyder (.169, .586 OPS, 9 HR, 19 RBI) or Sardine City's Miguel Montero (.238, .644 OPS, 1 HR, 16 RBI).

First Basemen
There's a fierce competition for the honor of being the first sacker for the Morris Division between Arkansas's Justin Morneau (.317, .928 OPS, 18 2B, 7 HR, 37 RBI), Hillsborough's Ryan Howard (.252, .928 OPS, 27 HR, 72 RBI) and Philly's Albert Pujols (.310, .925 OPS, 21 2B, 16 HR, 65 RBI). Finishing just outside the top three is Blue Ridge's Prince Fielder (.274, .840 OPS, 17 HR, 51 RBI) and Carolina's Carlos Delgado (.284, .886 OPS, 19 HR, 54 RBI). Bringing up the rear are D.C.'s Todd Helton (.248,. 669 OPS, 10 2B, 18 R) and Vancouver's Adam LaRoche (.240, .718 OPS, 8 HR, 25 RBI).

On the other hand, there's one clear favorite for Hanover first base -- Marietta's Adrian Gonzalez, who is hitting .304 (.925 OPS) with 22 2B, 14 HR and 45 RBI. There's a big dropoff until you can talk about second place -- Las Vegas's Carlos Pena (.232, .867 OPS, 13 HR, 34 RBI) and Newark's Jason Giambi (.252, .861 OPS, 18 HR, 45 RBI) are having productive years despite low batting averages, while Hoboken's Miguel Cabrera (.283, .821 OPS, 13 HR, 40 RBI) is having a solid but not spectacular season... You probably won't be voting for Amityville's James Loney (.256, .657 OPS, 3 HR, 24 RBI), New Jersey's Joey Votto (.246, .715 OPS, 10 HR, 31 RBI), or Sardine City's Conor Jackson (.252, .695 OPS, 6 HR, 35 RBI).

Second Basemen
There are some very good second basemen in the Morris, but standing head and shoulders above the crowd is Carolina's Dustin Pedroia. The dimunitive second sacker is proving his '08 Rookie of the Year campaign was no fluke, hitting .346 (.859 OPS) with 28 2B and 45 R. Pedroia's strongest competition was coming from Hillsborough's Ronnie Belliard, who was hitting .333 (.935 OPS) with 15 2B and 24 R before going down with an injury that cost him 31 days; he's expected to return just before the All-Star Game, but he'll likely have only about half as many at-bats as Pedroia. (Oddly enough, Belliard's replacement, Freddy Sanchez, has been even more impressive, hitting .380 with a .994 OPS, 9 2B, 6 HR and 23 RBI in just 35 games, but he's not on the ballot.) The next best options are Blue Ridge's Mark DeRosa (.276, .813 OPS, 9 HR, 31 RBI), D.C.'s Dan Uggla (.268, .848 OPS, 14 HR, 30 RBI) or Vancouver's Chase Utley (.278, .817 OPS, 19 2B, 49 R)... Some voters will instinctively vote for veterans Ray Durham (.263, .715 OPS, 16 2B, 34 R) of Arkansas and Brian Roberts (.251, .713 OPS, 16 2B, 49 R) of Philadelphia.

Over in the Hanover Division, it's a tight race between Hoboken's Ian Kinsler (.316, .875 OPS, 16 2B, 9 HR, 28 RBI) and Newark's Mike Fontenot (.308, .838 OPS, 22 2B, 6 HR, 31 RBI). The two also are well-matched defensively, with Kinsler ranking first in total chances per game (5.84) and Fontenot second (5.45)! However, Fontenot has made just one error in the field (.997 fielding percentage) while Kinsler has made 12 (.960 fielding percentage). Both should likely go to the All-Star Game; the question is really who starts. Third place goes to Las Vegas's Placido Polanco (.281, .700 OPS, 14 2B, 37 RBI); the other four candidates have really struggled: Amityville's Kelly Johnson (.238, .637 OPS, 12 R, 20 RBI), Marietta's Orlando Hudson (.231, .612 OPS, 9 2B, 27 R), New Jersey's Ian Stewart (.210, .667 OPS, 9 HR, 29 RBI).and Sardine City's Alexei Ramirez (.225, .530 OPS, 8 2B, 21 R).

Third Basemen
If they gave out a first half MVP Award, it would likely go to Hillsborough's Aubrey Huff in a landslide. He's leading the DMBL in OPS (1.131), SLG (.709), runs (69), extra base hits (51), total bases (207), runs created (87.4), RC/27 (11.9) and total average (1.250), and he's second in batting average (.353), OBP (.422) and HRs (26). He certainly should be the starting third baseman for the Morris Division... Solidly in second place is Arkansas's David Wright (.282, .898 OPS, 19 HR, 51 RBI), followed by Philly's Alex Rodriguez (.251, .824 OPS, 10 HR, 23 RBI) and Vancouver's Omar Infante (.293, .781 OPS, 10 2B, 31 RBI)... Only a total homer can justify voting for Blue Ridge's Edwin Encarnacion (.206, .619 OPS, 9 HR, 28 RBI), Carolina's Aramis Ramirez (.214, .718 OPS, 13 HR, 38 RBI), or D.C.'s Felipe Lopez (.260,. 654 OPS, 9 2B, 23 RBI).

The hot corner is usually one of the deeper positions in the Hanover Division, but this year Marietta's Kevin Youkilis (.285, .919 OPS, 18 HR, 57 RBI) is running away with it. Having good-but-not-great years are Hoboken's Hank Blalock (.269, .809 OPS, 12 HR, 47 RBI), Las Vegas's Alex Gordon (.255, .813 OPS, 10 HR, 28 RBI) and Newark's Chipper Jones (.288, .794 OPS, 9 HR, 49 R)... The career of highly touted Sardine City rookie Evan Longoria is not off to a great start (.235, .730 OPS, 8 HR, 32 RBI), and veterans Garrett Atkins of Amityville (.246, .710 OPS, 10 HR, 36 RBI) and Casey Blake of New Jersey (.231, .675 OPS, 9 HR, 33 RBI) are having tough years as well.

Shortstops
Arkansas's J.J. Hardy is having his long-awaited breakout season, hitting .290 (.817 OPS) with 9 HR, 35 R and 41 RBI. His only competition this year is coming from Philly's Jimmy Rollins (.304, .782 OPS, 26 2B, 12 SB, 44 R, 36 RBI); if for whatever reason you don't like either one of those guys, you can make a case for Carolina's Mike Aviles (.282, .733 OPS, 6 HR, 34 R), D.C.'s Jose Reyes (.265, .717 OPS, 52 R, 10 3B, 14 SB) or Vancouver's Jerry Hairston (.293, .743 OPS, 22 2B, 37 R)... Only blood relatives are likely to vote for Blue Ridge's Michael Young (.256, .664 OPS, 15 2B, 38 R) or Hillsborough's Ryan Theriot (.262, .608 OPS, 3 2B, 30 R).

If you're looking for a Cutter to send to the All-Star Game, look no further than Hanley Ramirez. The Hoboken shortstop is hitting .285 (.860 OPS) with 17 2B, 12 HR, 44 R and 43 RBI. It's a long way down until you get to second best -- take your pick between Amityville's Orlando Cabrera (.305, .737 OPS, 11 2B, 33 R) or Marietta's Derek Jeter (.287, .691 OPS, 11 2B, 26 R)... Rounding out the ballot are Las Vegas's Yunel Escobar (.238, .713 OPS, 7 HR, 19 RBI), New Jersey's Jhonny Peralta (.211, .631 OPS, 8 HR, 26 RBI), Newark's Ramon Vazquez (.254, .740 OPS, 5 HR, 25 RBI), and Sardine City's Stephen Drew (.250, .714 OPS, 20 2B, 25 R).

Morris Outfielders
There are a number of supremely qualified Morris Division outfielders. Remember you can only vote for three, and then look at these five: Arkansas's Ryan Ludwick (.305, 1.006 OPS, 22 HR, 62 RBI); Blue Ridge's Carl Crawford (.322, .846 OPS, 46 R, 10 3B, 15 SB); Carolina's Grady Sizemore (.305, .929 OPS, 12 HR, 37 RBI), Hillsborough's Shin-Soo Choo (.311, .963 OPS, 20 2B, 35 R), Philly's Andre Ethier (.312, .936 OPS, 11 HR, 40 RBI). Tough decisions!

Speaking of which, the voters will have a difficult time deciding what to do about Arkansas's Rick Ankiel. The pitcher-turned-outfielder is hitting an impressive .320 (1.095 OPS) with 17 HR and 52 RBI, but has just 191 plate appearances, far short of the 226 required to qualify for the leaderboard. Ankiel is in a strict platoon, with just 17 at-bats coming against lefties compared to 152 against righties, and it's hard to predict if the voters will love him for his numbers or ignore him as a part-time player.

Even after you consider those six for just three spots, you're still leaving off a number of guys with impressive numbers -- Arkansas's Skip Schumaker (.330, .804 OPS, 12 2B, 41 R), Blue Ridge's Nate McLouth (.257, .802 OPS, 11 HR, 41 RBI), D.C.'s Carlos Beltran (.251, .771 OPS, 14 HR, 48 RBI, 13 SB), Hillsborough's Nick Markakis (.269, .827 OPS, 24 2B, 64 R), Philly's Fred Lewis (.281, .777 OPS, 12 2B, 9 SB) and Alex Rios (.285, .770 OPS, 24 2B, 8 SB, 48 RBI), and Vancouver's Curtis Granderson (.277, .875 OPS, 12 HR, 41 RBI) and Ryan Spilborghs (.297, .825 OPS, 6 HR, 35 RBI).

On the bubble -- at best -- are Blue Ridge's Hunter Pence (.240, .731 OPS, 8 HR, 25 RBI), D.C.'s Jay Bruce (.253, .772 OPS, 15 HR, 43 RBI) and Hillsborough's Carlos Lee (.241, .680 OPS, 12 HR, 54 RBI). The "I heard of this guy" voters are the only ones who will be casting ballots for Carolina's Magglio Ordonez (.232, .618 OPS, 4 HR, 30 RBI) and Randy Winn (.239, .579 OPS, 7 2B, 23 R), D.C.'s Hideki Matsui (.244, .648 OPS, 4 HR, 40 RBI), or Vancouver's Adam Lind (.182, .533 OPS, 7 2B, 12 RBI).

Hanover Outfielders
Of the top five batters during the first half, four play in the Morris Division. The Hanover Division's sole exception is Josh Hamilton, who put up some ridiculous numbers (.359, 1.031 OPS, 21 2B, 16 HR, 61 RBI). The Marietta center fielder is surely going to the All-Star Game; who will be standing on either side of him? The most logical choices are New Jersey rookie Elijah Dukes, who is hitting .284 (.945 OPS) with 15 2B, 14 HR and 35 RBI, and Newark veteran Manny Ramirez, who bounced back from a disastrous first month to finish the half batting .270 (.902 OPS) with 13 2B, 22 HR and 71 RBI. A few other possibilities are Marietta's Brian Giles (.287, .825 OPS, 8 HR, 44 R), New Jersey's David DeJesus (.292, .843 OPS, 11 HR, 51 R) and Newark's J.D. Drew (.245, .874 OPS, 19 HR, 61 RBI).

Then there's a dropoff to the next tier of guys: Amityville's Pat Burrell (.234, .816 OPS, 12 HR, 34 RBI), Las Vegas's Matt Holliday (.263, .778 OPS, 9 HR, 34 RBI), New Jersey's Fernando Tatis (.278, .782 OPS, 9 HR, 31 RBI), Newark's Bobby Abreu (.275, .793 OPS, 21 2B, 38 RBI).

Name recognition is probably the only reason anyone would vote this year for Amityville's Torii Hunter (.240, .652 OPS, 12 2B, 32 R) or Jacoby Ellsbury (.218, .584 OPS, 2 3B, 9 SB, 20 R), Las Vegas's Vladimir Guerrero (.254, .626 OPS, 2 3B, 5 SB, 23 R) or Ichiro Suzuki (.254, 2 3B, 23 R, 5 SB), or Marietta's Jason Bay (.240, .705 OPS, 10 HR, 30 RBI).

It's tough to make a case for any of the outfielders from Hoboken -- Marlon Byrd (.279, .718 OPS, 10 2B, 17 R), Ryan Church (.245, .661 OPS, 3 HR, 14 RBI), or Denard Span (.269, .712 OPS, 12 2B, 39 R). Ditto for Sardine City -- Ryan Braun (.258, .751 OPS, 13 HR, 43 RBI), Raul Ibanez (.249, .712 OPS, 7 HR, 41 RBI), and B.J. Upton (.241, .675 OPS, 16 SB, 41 R).

Designated Hitters
With Pujols the incumbent at first base, the Endzone Animals have to use Mark Teixeira as the Designated Hitter -- which is bad news for the other Morris Division candidates for DH. Teixeira is hitting .339 (1.068 OPS) with 18 HR, 25 2B and 69 RBI. It's tough to make a case for anyone else, but the also-rans would be Arkansas's Lance Berkman (.265, .813 OPS, 12 HR, 50 RBI), Carolina's Xavier Nady (.301, .829 OPS, 7 HR, 25 RBI), and Hillsborough's Brad Hawpe (.280, .882 OPS, 9 HR, 32 RBI). Blue Ridge's Jeremy Hermida (.227, .621 OPS, 5 HR, 21 RBI) and D.C.'s Derrek Lee (.236, .661 OPS, 6 HR, 28 RBI) are having truly awful seasons... Vancouver's David Ortiz has missed two months with an injury, but that didn't stop the Commissioner's Office from putting him on the ballot. He's hitting just .233, but his .880 OPS (8 HR, 27 RBI) is impressive; on the other hand, he has just 122 plate appearances. Ortiz might return in time for the All-Star Game but he'd probably be better served taking the three extra days off.

Newark's Jack Cust leads all Hanover DH candidates in OPS (.849) -- but you have to be able to overlook his 116 K in 73 games. (He also has 19 HR and 48 BBs, making him master of the Three True Outcomes.) If you can't put your trust in Cust, then maybe try Amityville's Johnny Damon (.282, .825 OPS, 9 HR, 34 RBI) or Marietta's Milton Bradley (.281, .833 OPS, 10 HR, 54 RBI)... Sardine City's Carlos Quentin is hitting .250 with an impressive .835 OPS (9 HR, 20 RBI), but he's played in just 43 of his team's 74 games (186 plate appearances). He rakes against righties (.863 OPS in 141 AB) but sits against lefties (.629 in 19)... There's also Las Vegas's Chris Davis (.257, .796 OPS, 16 HR, 53 RBI) and New Jersey's Mike Jacobs (.254, .829 OPS, 19 HR, 48 RBI)... There was a time Cust was thought of as the Poor Man's Adam Dunn; now the Hoboken DH is the one hoping to move into Cust's tax bracket (.179, .735 OPS, 15 HR, 27 RBI, 69 K in 62 G).

Well, that's it for the batters. Remember, you can vote for whoever you want -- including a write-in candidate! Next time we'll discuss the pitchers. But you don't have to wait for us -- if you're ready, go ahead and vote!

Huff sets eyes on MVP prize

Yes, we're still recovering from a nice long holiday weekend, but we'll fulfill our solemn duty to name our award winners anyway.

The JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week can go to no other than Aubrey Huff, our first half MVP frontrunner. Sure we'd like to give the award to someone else and spread the love, but when Huff puts up numbers like he does, what can you do? Huff hit .434 with a .500 OBP and .962 slugging (all tops for the two week period). He hit 8 homers, scored 15 runs, and drove in 12.

His competition consisted of Arkansas' David Wright (.390/.463/.780, 6 HR, 18 R, 13 RBI), Hoboken's Adam Dunn (.355/.487/1.097, 7 homers, 9 R, 10 RBI), and Philadelphia's Mark Teixeira (.347/.407/.673, 4 HR, 12 RBI). We have to give a hearty pat on the back ot D.C.'s Casey Kotchman who has admirably filled in for Todd Helton, who is currently on the DL. Kotchman hit .360/.373/.560 this week.

Our Part-time Powerhouse has to be Arkansas' Rick Ankiel who hit 7 home runs in 28 at bats. Ankiel hit .500/.588/1.286, scored 13 runs, and drove in 14 runners. Not bad for a platoon guy!

The pitching side wasn't so cut and dried though, but for the second straight time, we're voting a Sardine City Straphanger to the prize. This time it's lefty Cole Hamels who takes the My Cat Hates You Pitcher of the Week Award. Hamels first start was a 1-0, 1-hit blanking of Amityville. Hamels fell just one out shy of a complete game shutout. But karma is a nasty thing and Hamels ended up on the losing end of another 1-0 duel with Brandon Webb and Philadelphia. Hamels only allowed 3 hits in the complete game loss. In his third start, at least Hamels got some run support - 8 runs in fact! - and got the W in an 8-3 win over Las Vegas. For the two weeks, Hamels was 2-1, with a 1.52 ERA, 0.51 WHIP and 20 strikeouts in 23.2 innings.

Josh Beckett provided the main competition (1-0, 1.52, 0.93 WHIP, 23 K), but there were others: Blue Ridge's Gavin Floyd (2-1, 1.99, 1.01), and Jake Peavy of Vancouver (2-0, 1.48, 1.03).