Dustin Pedroia

Sometimes one reads an article that is so far from what one believes, it makes one scream and hastily hammer out an angry comment.

ESPN’s Bill Simmons wrote such an article today, about how the Boston Red Sox have been boring this year. Many things, he says, have contributed to this.

If you're like me and have been distracted by the World Cup and LeBron-gate over these past few weeks, you were probably shocked to learn that baseball's midway point is already upon us.

So to help you get into the swing of things as we head toward the playoffs, here are 50 Reasons To Be Excited For The Second Half of the season...

The Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be held tonight in Los Angeles. That means the 162-game season has reached its half.  Let’s review the AL East team performances so far this year.

New York Yankees (56-32)

Last week was filled with laser shows from coast to coast. There were 14 players who hit three or more home runs last week. There were a lot of hot streaks going on. But these few players stood out as the studs of Week 12.

This article should be called Tulowitzki Two for obvious reasons. For starters, one of the top three second baseman just landed on the DL with a broken foot.

Second, this position, like shortstop, has very few elite players on top, and then a tremendous drop-off in talent and statistical production. It’s important to remember that replacing this kind of player for the long run is a difficult task.

So let’s approach this a little differently than we did with Tulo because it doesn’t sound like Pedroia will be out as long.

For many fans of America's pastime having an insight into the thoughts and daily lives of the players is highly coveted.

You may have heard some rumblings about this Stephen Strasburg guy. Allegedly, he's pretty good.

Check that: he must be good, as usually the only time a Washington National warrants media attention is in relation to a comedy of errors (cough, cough, Nyjer Morgan , cough, cough).

Laser show.

Turns out Dustin Pedroia was right. He was one of the last remaining riders on the David Ortiz Bandwagon just a few weeks ago when he promised a mob of local reporters that Ortiz would be fine, referring to his own tumultuous start as a rookie three years ago.

His slump was followed by a campaign that earned him Rookie of the Year honors and prompted him to term his propensity for whistling line drives a "laser show."

Alright, I'm finally ready to talk some baseball.

Not that I haven't been paying attention, quite the opposite actually. Because of my line of work, I find myself watching more baseball than ever before—on Mondays and Thursdays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, not to mention the nationally televised games on Saturday and Sunday.

I see more of Buster Olney and John Kruk then I do of my own family. I even hear Tim McCarver and Joe Morgan's voices in my dreams, which as you might guess, very quickly become nightmares.

Whitaker and Trammell. Morgan and Concepcion. Tinker and Evers. Maz and Groat.

So often, the 2B and SS are linked together on great teams. Why should they not be? What part of baseball more encompasses teamwork than the ability to turn a double play?

While top defensive pairings are not exactly a dime a dozen, the majors definitely have their fair share of talent at the pivot. Let's take a closer look at the best.

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