Category: MLB General

mlb-general

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Sweeps season

1. Bring out the Brooms: Sunday’s games featured 5 teams that completed a sweep. Two of them are the aforementioned Yankees and Braves, while the others are the LA Angels, St. Louis Cardinals, and Cincinnati Reds. The Angels crushed the D-Rays by a combined 20-7 in the series, including a 7-5 win yesterday. Howie Kendrick, their highly touted prospect, went 3-4 with two RBIs. The team is now above .500 for the first time in months and appears to have finally recovered from their awful start to the season. Meanwhile, the Reds completed a Rockies sweep with a 6-4 win. All four of this series’ games were decided by two runs or less, meaning this is one of the closest sweeps you’ll ever see. Adam Dunn hit his 30th homer of the year, becoming the third-fastest Red ever to reach that mark in a single season. For the Rockies Jose Mesa blew his 6th save of the year. The final sweep was in St. Louis, as the Cards used a 4-5, 3-RBI performance by Albert Pujols to finish off the Dodgers. Brad Penny, in his first start since the All Star game, allowed 6 runs and 10 hits in five innings. The combined score of that series was 21-6.

2. Another Braves Streak: The Braves’ 14-year division title streak arguably isn’t the most important 14-game streak for the team right now. Chipper Jones, the former All-Star and NL MVP, notched an extra-base hit for the 14th consecutive game last night. He did so by nailing a homerun and going 3-3 in the Braves’ 10-5 win over the Padres. The win gave the Braves a much-needed road sweep of San Diego, with a total of 36 runs in the series. Chipper’s extra base hit streak has tied an 80-year-old major league record, first set in 1927 by Paul Waner. Jones is now hitting .564 with a remarkable 1.836 OPS in July. He has raised those stats from .291/.839 going into the month to .329/.976 now, both good for fifth in the NL. Jones has also hit 6 of his 15 homeruns and 18 of his 57 RBIs this month and is a sure-fire lock for NL Player of the Month. Atlanta is still a dozen games behind the Mets, though they are just 5.5 back in a loaded NL Wild Card race.

3. The worst beats the best: Kansas City, who owns the worst record in the AL, had yet to beat the division-leading Tigers on the season going into Sunday’s game. Well that finally changed, as the Royals edged Detroit 9-6. Before the loss the Tigers were 11-0 against the Royals on the season with 3 series sweeps. They narrowly missed out on their fourth as they were up 3-0 in the series until yesterday’s loss. Leading the Royals was Joey Gathright, a Devil Rays outcast, who hit 4 RBIs and a triple. Underrated David DeJesus, likely the Royals’ best hitter, went 4-6 on the day to improve his average to a team-best .309. The loss ruined a great day by the Tigers’ Marcus Thames, a breakout player this year who homered twice and drove in 5 runs. It’s not that this game truly matters–the Tigers still own a 29.5 game lead over incompetent Kansas City.

4. Ready for battle: Many thought the Red Sox owned the AL East going into the All Star break. The Yankees changed that kind of thinking when they completed a sweep of the defending champion White Sox on Sunday. That moved New York to a mere half-game back of the stumbling Red Sox, who went 1-3 against the A’s over the weekend. The Yanks defeated the White Sox 6-5, 14-3, and then 6-4 yesterday to capture the sweep. The big news from Sunday’s game was Mariano Rivera, who worked two innings to complete his 400th career save. He is one of only four players–including Padres All-Star Trevor Hoffman–to reach that mark. 21 of Rivera’s saves have come this season and he has a 2.02 ERA. His career ERA is just 2.31 with a 1.04 WHIP. While many closers–including the all-time saves leader, Lee Smith–have struggled getting into the Hall of Fame, Rivera is one who will be first-ballot.

5. O Brother, Where art thou?: While rookie Jered Weaver is tearing it up for the Angels with a 1.12 ERA and 6-0 record, his brother Jeff is just trying to start over. Big Weaver was recently traded to the Cardinals for a minor-leaguer, and he will have to prove that he is even worth that. He went 3-10 with a 6.29 earlier this year for the Angels, and he will make his first start for his new team tonight against the red-hot Braves. Weaver is one of the most overpriced players in the majors this year, with the above performance for an 8 million dollar price tag. The Cardinals need him to perform, as Mark Mulder is on the DL and much of their staff has struggled.

Categories
MLB General

MLB Power Rankings Roundup for July 14 2006

Not much changes in the power rankings the week of the All-Star break. However, TSN took the opportunity to juggle their top 10 — go figure. But they finally have the Tigers at #1 and so it’s almost unanimous in our survey. ESPN is the lone holdout with the White Sox on top but they didn’t even bother updating their rankings this week.

Here are the Power Rankings by major sites this week.

Rank Sportscolumn ESPN FoxSports Sportsline USA Today TSN.ca
1 Tigers White Sox Tigers Tigers Tigers Tigers
2 White Sox Tigers White Sox Red Sox White Sox Twins
3 Red Sox Yankees Red Sox White Sox Red Sox White Sox
4 Mets Red Sox Mets Mets Mets Yankees
5 Yankees Mets Yankees Yankees Yankees Red Sox
6 Cardinals Twins Blue Jays Twins Blue Jays Dodgers
7 Blue Jays Blue Jays Twins Cardinals Twins Blue Jays
8 Twins Padres Rangers Blue Jays Cardinals Padres
9 Padres A’s Padres Padres A’s Mets
10 A’s Rockies A’s A’s Reds Angels
11-30 more more more more more more

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: The return of Mark Teixeira

1. Big Tex’s Big Game: Of all the disappointing players from the first half of the season, perhaps none was more puzzling than Mark Teixeira. The slugger, who was an All Star in 2005 with 43 homers and 143 RBIs, only had 9 and 49, made his first step to a comeback yesterday. He crushed 3 homers and 7 RBIs off the weak Orioles pitching. That means in one day he achieved one-third of his first-half homerun total and one-seventh of the RBIs! Tex wasn’t the only offensive star in the Rangers’ 15-1 rout of the O’s. Mark DeRosa went 4-4 and homered, and Brad Wilkerson drove in four runs. The awful Baltimore bullpen combined to allow 11 runs, including 5 homers.

2. Albert Again: When people think of the great clutch hitters in baseball, David Ortiz and Derek Jeter usually come to mind. But now that short list should definitely include Albert Pujols, who once again won the game for the Cardinals yesterday. Pujols homered in the 14th inning to break a long-lasting 2-2 tie. It was his 30th homer of the year, and he also has 77 RBIs. Pujols also won a game last Saturday with a homerun.

3. Offense rules: That saying is apparently upheld by the Rockies and the Reds, two perennially high-scoring teams who combined for 4 multi-run innings at the Great American Ballpark last night. The Reds started the scoring with a three-run first, including a two-RBI single, a steal, and a run by Adam Dunn. The score was 4-1 Reds in the sixth when the Rockies’ Todd Helton connected with a two-run shot. The seventh inning was all-Reds, as Ken Griffey Jr. and Juan Castro both hit shots to right to lead a 5-run inning. The game was apparently sealed in the ninth, with the Reds up 9-3. But no lead is too large when you have the Reds’ bullpen, and Jason Standridge and Eddie Guadardo nearly blew the game in the ninth. They allowed four runs, all charged to Standridge, but Guadardo struck out Helton with two outs to finally end this showdown.

4. Why’d they do that?: The Reds had more action last night than just their game. They were also involved in a semi-blockbuster trade. Cincy sent shortstop Felipe Lopez and outfielder Austin Kearns to the Nationals, but they didn’t acquire a big-name player from the willing-to-deal Washington organization. In return for these two offensive standouts, the Reds got relievers Bill Bray and Gary Majewski in addition to three other players. The Reds are desperate for bullpen help, but this might be going a little too far. They traded two everyday players to get relievers with mid-three’s ERAs on the year. In our esteemed opinion, that’s not a good deal.

5. His life: That might be the only thing that Jose Canseco is not willing to give federal officials. Yesterday Canseco told investigators the names of more former major league players who used steroids. Even more importantly, he told them the names of managers and administrators who might have known about the illegal drug use but did nothing to stop it. Canseco is even willing to join the investigators and “use his friendship with [the players] to talk to them comfortably [about steroids].” Canseco probably isn’t the most trustworthy of sources in our books. He recently called baseball the “mafia” and said they played favorites with drug tests.

Categories
MLB General

July 13 in Sports History: the saga of Carl Mays

In 1919: Pitcher Carl Mays of the Boston Red Sox abruptly left the field during a game at Chicago in protest of what he thought was a lack of support in the field from his teammates. He refused to pitch again for the Red Sox. This caused a major controversy in baseball and would set off a course of history that would change the game. First, Mays was traded to the Yankees (right before another famous Boston player), but league president Ban Johnson would not let him play. The Yankees were able to get a court order allowing him to play, thus eroding Johnson’s power. This would be a main reason (along with the Black Sox scandal) for the need for a commissioner the following season. As a member of the Yankees the following year, Mays – a known spitballer and very unpopular player – would throw a pitch that would hit Cleveland’s Ray Chapman, which Chapman would die from. The spitball, although not directly blamed for Chapman’s death, would be outlawed the following year.

In 1999: Ted Williams is honored before the Fenway Park faithful in a touching ceremony before the All-Star Game in Boston. Teddy Ballgame was carted around the field and doffed his cap (finally) to the adoring fans before meeting with the All-Stars from both leagues. Williams, always known as surly with the Boston crowd, is moved to tears by the tribute and thoroughly enjoyed talking hitting with the players. The spontaneous and poignant moment delayed the game’s start by 15 minutes. In the game, Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez struck out the first four batters and five of the six he faced in a 4-1 AL victory. He would become only the second player in All-Star history to win MVP honors in his home park (Sandy Alomar did it in Cleveland in 1997).

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Michael Young saves the AL



Showing off his MVP trophy

1. Young talent: Michael Young wasn’t about to let the American League lose for the first time in a decade. The three-time All Star shortstop wasn’t in the best position–two outs and two strikes in the ninth inning against a future Hall of Fame closer. But Young rocked an 0-2 fastball from Trevor Hoffman into right center, scoring Jose Lopez and Troy Glaus and giving the lead to the American League. The National League, who had been leading for five innings and had been setting up the victory, suddenly found themselves trailing 3-2 and needed a desperation run off Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth. They didn’t get it, as Rivera was perfect in the inning and Young made the final out. The AL stunned the NL, and they are now 9-0-1 in the last 10 All Star games. That, by the way, is the second longest streak of dominance in the game’s history (the NL went 19-1 from `63 to `82).

The NL had certainly set themselves up to win, however. Starting pitcher Brad Penny came out throwing heat, striking out Ichiro, Jeter, and Ortiz in the first inning with 95+ mile-per-hour fastballs. But he did give up a run in the second inning, as Vladimir Guerrero swung at a high fastball and it ended up in the right-field bleachers. But the National League was quick to answer that. David Wright, who finished second in Monday’s Home Run Derby, showcased the same swing as he lined a Kenny Rogers pitch into the left field stands. Carlos Beltran scored a run in the third on a double, a steal, and a passed ball that gave the National League the lead for the next five innings.

The rocking atmosphere in PNC Park was about 90% NL fans, and they supported them all they could. Jason Bay and Freddy Sanchez of the Pirates both made some plays, and the crowd was boisterous in their support. But it wasn’t enough, so the NL will look to win in San Francisco next year.

2. Giving him up: Despite numerous rumors for years, the Devil Rays had held onto slugger Aubrey Huff for years. But that changed in the first big-name deal before the trade deadline. The Rays sent Huff to the Astros, who desperately need bats, for two minor-league prospects. Huff has been injured the past few years but has made multiple All Star appearances in the past.

3. The 83-year-old slugger: The record for the oldest professional ballplayer in history was set yesterday. Jim Eriotes appeared for the Sioux Falls Canaries, striking out in his only plate appearance. Eriotes is actually taking this seriously. He said that he doesn’t care about the record, but just wants to get a hit. We still think it’s more of a publicity stunt.

4. Giles is an ostrich: Bill Giles, part owner of the Phillies, claims that the Randy Myers incident was blown out of proportion. Giles said in an interview, “I do know what really happened was a lot less than what the public thinks happened and that’s the sad part because some bystander saw something that really didn’t happen. Brett was trying to help his wife. One of our employees [marketing manager Debbie Nocito] saw the whole thing. She said, ‘He did not hit her at all, and he didn’t grab her hair or anything.’ So all the reports were untrue, from what I understand.” Meanwhile, Phillies President David Montgomery is running damage control and saying that he explained it poorly to Giles and that the incident did happen.

5. Separation of Church and Baseball?: The Tulsa Drillers recently gave away Moses bobbleheads to 1,500 fans as part of a faith and family night. The promotion was sponsored by Oklahoma Wesleyan University and a Christian radio station. There might not be crying in baseball but there certainly is praying.

Categories
MLB General

July 12 in Sports History: Disco Sucks!

In 1976: Owner Ted Turner of the Atlanta Braves offers perhaps one of the goofiest promotions of all time to fans attending the game versus the Mets. First, 34 couples were married in a ceremony at home plate. Then, Turner held a card for his fledgling Championship Wrestling league on the field; thus the (I guess) appropriately named “Headlocks and Wedlocks” promotion.

In 1979: As strange as Turner’s promotion might have been, it doesn’t hold a candle (or should I say blowtorch?) to a charter member of the Sick Promotions Hall of Fame: Disco Demolition Night at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. The White Sox were playing a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers, and White Sox owner Bill Veeck encouraged fans to exchange their unwanted disco records for a dollar admission to the game. Fans also brought records into the game and were tossing them like Frisbees. It quickly got ugly, as Chicago DJ Steve Dahl blew up a box of disco records in center field (and tearing a hole in the field). Fans quickly rushed the field, started their own fires, and police in riot gear had to clear the field. The White Sox forfeited the second game of the doubleheader.

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Home Run Derby report

1. Pennsylvania Power: The Phillies can’t seem to win a ballgame, but they sure have power. Last night Ryan Howard became the second consecutive Phillie to win the Home Run Derby, joining teammate Bobby Abreu, who won it last year. Full Count scribe Jackson Govatos was there to take it all in. Howard came in as one of the favorites but was on the brink of elimination in the first round. He only had 4 dingers with 9 outs left, and he needed 7 to join Jermaine Dye. But then Howard’s power stroke kicked in, and he crushed 4 homeruns to get to the second round.

But even then he was still a long shot to win it all. With the new rule that homeruns carry over from round 1, Howard found himself in last place before the round even started. David Wright actually had twice Howard’s total at 16. Also, David Ortiz was looking good after crushing 10 in the first round. Ortiz quickly became a favorite at PNC Park, as flashbulbs were going off like crazy during his at-bat, and he slugged multiple balls into the Allegheny River. The fourth competitor is the second round was Florida’s Miguel Cabrera, who came into the Derby with the lowest home-run total of all competitors. But in the first round he slugged 9, launching balls into the right field stands and earning a standing ovation from the crowd.

Every second-round slugger’s total dropped off from round 1. Expect
for Howard, who electrified the crowd by slamming 10 homeruns. It was announced that Howard had the longest average total of 442 feet, and it sure felt like it. He hit balls on the fly into the river, over the ESPN tent deep in right-center, and halfway up the batter’s eye in this round. Meanwhile, David Wright’s total dropped to just two in this round, as he kept swinging on top of the ball. However, his combined total of 18 was enough to tie Howard and make it to the finals. The other competitors, Ortiz and Cabrera, were eliminated with two-round totals of 15 and 13, respectively.

Now it was time for the finals, which started more than two hours after the Derby began. Wright was up first, and he showed signs of the power that had led him to the second-best single-round total ever in the first round. Wright smacked some big flys early, but then dwindled and only put up four for the round. Anyone could then tell you that Howard, whose power was increasing as the competition wore on, would come out the champion. And he did, crushing some of the longest shots of the night. one of his hits went completely over the batter’s eye, another landed in the water, and another over the ESPN tent again. Then he had a total of four dingers with 5 outs left to play with. Howard wasted no time getting the victory, crushing a ball and electrifying the crowd. As a further exclamation point, his last shot hit the “Hit it Here” sign in right, winning one lucky fan 500 free flights. Howard is the champ, and if he participates the next few years opponents will be hard-pressed to take his title.

2. Line me up: The batting orders for the All Star game were announced yesterday. There are few surprises as far as the batting orders go. The AL will lead off Ichiro as usual, and will have a tough Ortiz-Rodriduez-Guererro 3-4-5. The NL will bat Alfonso Soriano first, and will feature hometown hero Jason Bay as the cleanup hitter. The full lineups are available here.

3. Durability over merit: The starting pitchers for the All Star game were finally announced yesterday after weeks of speculation. The starters this year were mainly based on which pitcher had had the most rest instead of which was most deserving. Brad Penny of the Dodgers and Kenny Rogers of the Tigers will be the starters. Rogers will be in the spotlight, exactly the opposite of where he was last year at this time after his cameraman-pushing incident. Penny has gotten some negative press this year because of his tirade after being taken out with 4.2 innings pitched against Atlanta on Memorial Day. Either way, both are decent choices that have performed well this year.

4. Justice is finally served: Now we can finally stop listening to people complaining over the non-selection of Francisco Liriano for the game. Liriano, who has a 1.83 ERA this year for the Twins, will replace White Sox stud Jose Contreras on the AL roster. Contreras pitched Sunday and Ozzie evidently doesn’t want him to pitch again Tuesday. On the NL roster, Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein replaces injured Jose Reyes of the Mets.

5. Break amendment: By the way, does anyone think that the All Star break should be extended? For those players who go to the game and participate in the Home Run Derby, the break is only one day. We think that a day should be added so the Futures game can be Monday, the Derby on Tuesday, the game on Wednesday, and an off day on Thursday. This would also give pitchers who pitch on Sunday an extended break before the game.

Categories
MLB General

July 11 in Sports History: All Star Edition Part 2

In 1939: The first of only three All-Star games ever to be played at Yankee Stadium saw the A.L. defeat the N.L 3-1. Joe Dimaggio homered in the fifth inning to provide the offense. Later that year, New York would become the first team to host an All-Star Game and win the World Series in the same year (they did it again in 1977 and barely lost in 1960).

In 1944: Pittsburgh hosted it’s first All-Star Game at Forbes Field. The N.L. won 7-1, but both rosters lacked the big-name stars of the day as many players were serving in World War II. It was also one of the most poorly attended All-Star Games, with just over 25,000 fans.

In 1967: In Anaheim, CA, the N.L. defeated the A.L. in 15 innings in the longest All-Star Game in history. Played during the height of the last great pitcher’s era, the two teams combined for 30 strikeouts. Tony Perez of the Cincinnati Reds won the game’s MVP award with a solo home run off Catfish Hunter in the 15th inning.

In 1989: Bo Jackson of the Kansas City Royals stole the show with a towering, 448-foott leadoff home run off the first pitch in the bottom of the first inning of the 60th All-Star Game, once again hosted by the Angels in Anaheim. Jackson also doubled, stole third and made a great defensive play to win the MVP award.

In 1995: Pitcher Hideo Nomo of the Los Angeles Dodgers became the first Japanese player to appear in an All-Star Game as he started for the National League at the Ballpark in Arlington, Texas. Despite managing only three hits (and being no-hit through the first six innings), the N.L. scratched out the win with three solo home runs. Jeff Conine of the Florida Marlins hit the game-winner and was named MVP.

Categories
MLB General

MLB Cost Index for Mon July 10 2006 – All Star Edition

[The MLB Cost Index is a calculation of the amount each team pays for a win and the efficiency of the payroll that the GM has put together.]

Well, we’re halfway through the season and here are the winners and losers in cost efficiency.

Winners:
Rockies, Reds, A’s, Tigers, Padres, Rangers. All of these ballclubs are in the top half of the Cost Index and all have a reasonable chance of winning their division or at least making the playoffs. Meanwhile, special mention goes to the Marlins who despite having a payroll less than a Yankee starter have managed to put up a respectable 38 wins so far.

Losers:

Phillies, Braves, and Cubs. All three are in the bottom 10 of the Cost Index and all three have no shot of making the playoffs. Special mention goes to the Angels who despite having the #3 payroll, are at the bottom of the wide open AL West. They spent $40M more than the A’s this year and trail the A’s by 2.5 games.

** all $ are in millions.

Rank (Pv) Team 2006 Payroll GP Wins YTD Payroll Cost/Win
1 (1) Marlins $15.0 86 38 $6.11 $0.21
2 (3) Devil Rays $35.4 89 39 $17.52 $0.52
3 (2) Rockies $41.1 87 44 $15.30 $0.53
4 (6) Brewers $56.8 90 44 $17.39 $0.67
5 (8) Twins $63.8 86 47 $25.34 $0.68
6 (4) Reds $59.5 89 45 $26.54 $0.70
7 (7) Pirates $40.2 90 30 $24.54 $0.70
8 (9) D’backs $59.2 88 43 $25.22 $0.72
9 (5) A’s $62.3 88 45 $28.29 $0.74
10 (10) Tigers $82.3 88 59 $23.84 $0.77
11 (12) Indians $56.8 87 40 $35.56 $0.77
12 (14) Padres $69.7 88 48 $26.78 $0.79
13 (11) Rangers $65.5 88 45 $29.70 $0.82
14 (13) Blue Jays $71.9 88 49 $30.63 $0.83
15 (15) Royals $47.3 87 31 $27.73 $0.87
16 (16) Nationals $63.3 90 38 $37.12 $0.88
17 (18) White Sox $102.9 88 57 $42.35 $0.98
18 (19) Orioles $72.6 90 41 $31.81 $0.99
19 (17) Cardinals $88.4 87 48 $43.82 $1.00
20 (20) Mets $100.9 89 53 $19.85 $1.04
21 (22) Giants $90.9 89 45 $37.60 $1.11
22 (21) Mariners $88.3 89 43 $39.99 $1.11
23 (24) Dodgers $99.2 88 46 $38.70 $1.14
24 (23) Astros $92.6 89 43 $38.71 $1.14
25 (25) Phillies $88.3 87 40 $42.24 $1.17
26 (26) Red Sox $120.1 86 53 $49.67 $1.27
27 (27) Braves $92.5 89 40 $39.95 $1.33
28 (28) Angels $103.6 88 43 $44.14 $1.42
29 (29) Cubs $94.8 88 34 $39.81 $1.53
30 (30) Yankees $198.7 86 50 $82.16 $2.16

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Marathon baseball

1. The never ending game: The longest game of the year was played right when the two teams involved didn’t want it–the day before the All Star break. The Red Sox and the White Sox battled for a total of 19 innings–the longest game since April 2003. The Red Sox should have had it won it the ninth–Jonathan Papelbon was in and they were leading by one. But then Jermaine Dye homered, his 25th of the year and third in the last two days. That sent the game into extras, and in the 11th, both teams scored two runs. Then it was scoreless again until the 19th inning, when Tadahito Iguchi hit a game-winning RBI single. The White Sox’s win avoided a sweep, and they are only two back of Detroit now. Boston has kept their three-game lead. This was the longest game of the year at 6 hours and 19 minutes. Boston’s Trot Nixon became the first player to go 0-9 since 1991. Teammate Jason Varitek wasn’t much better at 0-8.

2. Another long game: The battle of the Sox wasn’t the only game to go into extras last night. The Astros-Cardinals matchup went into 12 innings–on Sunday Night Baseball. The Astros were down 2 runs in the eighth but battled back with a Chris Burke two-run homer and a Craig Biggio sac fly. So the game went into extras and was scorless until the 12th, when pinch-hitter Aaron Miles hit a two-run single off Houston closer Brad Lidge, whose struggles this year have yet to stop. The Cardinals now have a four-game division lead going into the break. Houston is six games out.

3. AL’s best pitcher?: Roy Halladay has just dominated this season. He picked up his 12th win yesterday against the Royals, becoming the first pitcher in the majors to reach that mark. His solid 7 inning, 1 earned run start lowered his ERA to 2.92 and his WHIP to 1.03. Halladay has now won four starts in a row, and 7 of his last 8 decisions have been victories. His excellent performance this year has earned him a trip to Pittsburgh for the All Star game and has helped out the Blue Jays’ somewhat inconsistent rotation.

4. They’ll welcome the break: The Pittsburgh Pirates are certainly glad the All Star break is here. They have fallen to 30-60 on the year, the worse record in the majors. Their 8-3 loss to the Phillies yesterday gave Philly their first series win in a month. The Pirates have gone 4-20 in their last 24 games and are even worse than the Chicago Cubs. They are five games behind the Cubs and 19.5 games behind the division-leading Cardinals.

5. Leading at the break: The first half of the season is now in the books, and here are some interesting notes from the statistical leaders. David Ortiz, who wasn’t on the leaderboard until recently, is now first in the majors in RBI (87) and homeruns (31). Also, Albert Pujols, despite missing 15 games, is first in homers (29) and second in RBIs (76) in the NL. Adam Dunn (28), Jason Giambi (27), and Travis Hafner (25) rank in the top 10 in homers but won’t be going to the All Star game. Now to the pitchers. Jason Isringhausen is first in the NL in saves (26) despite an underwhelming 3.35 ERA and 1.41 WHIP. Meanwhile, two rookies (Francisco Liriano and Justin Verlander) are in the AL’s top five in ERA, but neither will be going to Pittsburgh for the All Star game.