Baseball

Thankfully, for the Braves, the first half is over. Well technically, the first 54 percent of the season is over, but I digress.

Due to the up-and-down nature of Braves baseball in '09, I have decided to split this article up. The past will refer to the time period between April to late June. The present will cover late June to now. And, as day follows the night, the future will refer to the second half of the season.

Now that I've dedicated an entire paragraph to setting the article up, it's time to get to it!

The Past

Here is the un-official mid-way point of the Major League Baseball season.

It's the All-Star break!

We've got a day of long balls, followed by a day of a game that is supposed to mean something, followed by the one true day in America where the sports world stops.

Nothing happens in any major sport. MLB, the NBA, NHL, NFL, NASCAR, and the PGA are all idle.

That is, it really feels like a day that never ends. I'm working on that day this year, so who knows about that?

Rumors have been flying around Nationals sluggers Josh Willingham and Adam Dunn. Most of the rumors have Willingham and Dunn headed to Boston, Kansas City, Atlanta, and the Mets, among others.

This article hopes to break down the reasons why and why not for trading Willingham and Dunn.

The first half of the Major League Baseball season is over. For the first time since becoming a full time player, Alex Rodriguez will not be an all star.

Truth be told, he hasn't played like one either. Not for a long while.

OK, he missed the first month after hip surgery and still has 17 home runs on the season and got his average from a dismal .212 to around .257.

In the series against the Angels this weekend, he did slug three home runs and now has 570 career home runs, putting him 10th on the all-time list.

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Sports fans are entitled to various idiosyncrasies, and mine include disproportionate affection for Brad Radke, Twins pitcher from 1995 through 2006.

“Disproportionate” is the term others would apply; I feel entirely justified in proclaiming Radke among my all-time favorite players.

Now that the Twins have inducted him into their Hall of Fame, here’s my three-point case for Radke.

On Monday, Major League Baseball will embark into its 24th annual State Farm Home Run Derby in St. Louis.  With the contestants already announced, the fans will anxiously await to see if anybody can repeat Josh Hamilton's incredible feat of 28 jacks in a single round. 

All will be on their seats as hometown favorite Albert Pujols, a man who has a legit shot at breaking Barry Bonds' 762 career home runs, will set the standards.

There are going to be a lot of Mets fans that are not going to be too happy with me after they finish this article.

In fact, I'd venture to say that there will be a few who will refuse to finish it because they will say I'm not a true fan, I am being too negative, and that I am giving up the remainder of the 2009 season.

All of the above may be so, but since this is definitely an opinion piece, if you don't mind, allow me to fire away.

If there is one player Red Sox fans will feel happiest for, and most proud of this Tuesday, it will be Tim Wakefield.

The 17-year veteran was one of six Red Sox players selected to represent the club at this year's mid-summer classic, joining Dustin Pedroia, Jason Bay, Kevin Youkilis, Josh Beckett, and Jonathan Papelbon.

With the notable exception of Wakefield, none of them is older than 30. Yet the elder statesman is the only first-timer among them.

A few days ago, I wrote this article, which looks at the fastball effectiveness of the   Oakalnd Athlectics' pitchers.

It was surprising to me that lefty Craig Breslow's 90-mph heater was the most effective, and that the hardest thrower, Santiago Casilla, had the third-least effective fastball of the group.

Intrigued by the results, I decided to take a look at fastballs in general, and see if velocity had anything to do with effectiveness.

When I woke up this morning and saw that the Cincinnati Reds' had recalled Adam Rosales to fill the vacant roster spot, courtesy of Jay Bruce's broken wrist, the second word I thought was "trade".  The first word is not printable.

This Thursday, my "Spidey Sense" tells me that we will have traded Edwin Encarnacion and possibly a highly touted outfielder (either Drew Stubbs or Chris Heisey) to the Blue Jays for Scott Rolen.