Josh Hamilton

Josh Hamilton only played in 89 games last season due to injuries and hit hit 10 home runs while driving in 54 runs and hitting .268 in 336 at bats.

So far, 2010 has been a different story as Hamilton has hit 22 home runs, which is one behind the major league leader Jose Bautista with 23. He has also driven in 64 runs and is leading the majors with a .349 batting average.

The All-Star teams were announced two days ago, and, as always, the fans, players, and managers all made some idiotic decisions .

So Bleacher Report's Featured Columnists decided to see if we could do better.

In this slideshow are the results of a poll conducted during the last week of All-Star voting.

NOTE: team and player statistics updated through Saturday, July 3.

1. Tampa Bay Rays (47-33)—Last Week: Second

Offense Rank: Fourth
Pitching Rank: Fourth
Last 10 Games: 5-5

2. New York Yankees (49-31)—Last Week: First

Offense Rank: Second
Pitching Rank: Ninth
Last 10 Games: 6-4

3. Texas Rangers (48-32)—Last Week: Sixth

These ballplayers put "the hurt" on the baseball all month long. The listed men rung up opposing pitchers and didn’t blink as they sent their ERA into space. Their team jersey sales have sky rocketed and they might end up on an upcoming episode of MTV cribs. The few, the proud, they are “The Kings of Swing”.

The grades are in as we approach the halfway mark of the 2010 season.

What teams have lived up to the hype in the American League West, and which have laid an egg and why?

Here is a team-by-team breakdown recapping the first 81 games (almost), and what to watch for in the second half.

Who will be the movers and shakers in the second half?

As of Monday night, the Texas Rangers are four-and-a-half games in front of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the race for the AL West crown, and don't look to be slowing down any time soon.

What's surprising about that is the fact that the Rangers currently have the fourth-lowest payroll in all of baseball, just in front of the Oakland A's, San Diego Padres, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

What has impressed me about this ball club is that it is doing all of this in the midst of the team going through bankruptcy proceedings.

In his last 10 games Josh Hamilton has hit .389 with five home runs and 17 RBI's.

Josh Hamilton, who played in only 89 games in 2009 for the Texas Rangers, has played in 62 of the 64 games in 2010 and is hitting better each month of the season.

In April Hamilton hit three home runs with 11 RBI's in while hitting .265 for the month. In May he hit six home runs and drove in 16 runs.

He completed the first half of June yesterday and already has six home runs and 20 RBI in the month. He is on pace to have 40 RBI in June.

The Rangers are in an absolute free fall, the Texas sky is falling and somewhere in the Dallas/Ft Worth Metroplex, Chicken Little is running around screaming about it.

Well, ok, it's not really that bad just yet but Chicken Little may as well be Ranger fans because they certainly believe the sky is falling down on top of The Ballpark at Arlington.

They want Ron Washington fired as quickly as possible, the bullpen needs a drastic makeover and no I'm not talking about hair and nails, and the team needs to stop this slide their on after losing six of their last seven.

There are already some c

I grew up and fell in love with a Rangers team that was much different from this one. Back then the outfield was the offensive strength of the team, much like it was for most teams.

I remember watching Juan Gonzalez, Ruben Sierra, and the fan-favorite Rusty Greer. Jose Canseco was also out there for a little while, but we’ll just forget about him.

In recent years, the outfield has been somewhat of a revolving door.

Whoever had under five hours in the “How soon into spring training will Josh Hamilton suffer an injury” office pool is a winner.

On the first day of full-squad workouts at the Texas Rangers camp, Hamilton suffered a left shoulder contusion diving for a ball during outfield drills. What on earth is Hamilton doing diving for a ball during outfield drills?

I would ask if he was on crack, but I already know the answer to that question.