NL West

As the unending pageantry of the All-Star pregame show continues its free-fall from glitzy longing for past glories to sob story shlock, I think it's high time to take a look back at the first half of the season that was for yours, mine, and our Colorado Rockies.

On May 27, when the Rockies record stood at 18-28 and the team had just suffered through a, well, insufferable three-game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers, the outlook appeared a bit grim for the boys in the purple pinstripes.

The Los Angeles Dodgers (56-32) played their final game before breaking for the All-Star game. They took two out of three from the Milwaukee Brewers (45-43) over the weekend and capped off the first half with a 7-4 win on Sunday afternoon.

The offense kept on rolling for the Blue Crew as James Loney went 2-for-4 with two RBI, Brad Ausmus hit his first home run of the season, and All-Star second baseman Orlando Hudson homered from both sides of the plate.

Some guy named Manny Ramirez also went 3-for-3 with two doubles.

We obviously have seen just the beginning of the wheeling and dealing to commence before the trade deadline. 

One day after dealing Yuniesky Betancourt for a pair of minor leaguers the Mariners have struck again nabbing 3B Jack Hannahan from the Oakland Athletics for Double-A pitcher Justin Souza. 

We still have 20 full days until the trade deadline, and still have all of our trade chips intact like Jarrod Washburn, and Miguel Batista, both will be subject to plenty of Hot Stove rumors. 

In a first half of mostly pleasant surprises for Giants fans, Jonathan Sanchez's no-hitter is by far the best story. Sanchez's struggles and demotion were all forgotten for nine magical innings, made much more special for Jonathan by the presence of his father, who joined his son in the dugout after the game against the San Diego Padres.

Just 24 hours ago, a pretty good portion of San Francisco Giants fans were wondering what the heck Jonathan Sanchez was doing back in the rotation after struggling so mightily before his demotion to the bullpen.

But because Randy Johnson was placed on the disabled list and, with much fanfare beforehand, Sanchez was put back in the rotation for the immediate future. It was one last shot to either show he is a valuable trade commodity or an arm that can stick with the club through the rest of the season.

In baseball there is a saying that every team wins 60 games and every team loses 60 games. What each team does with the other 42 games determines whether they are contenders or basement dwellers.

If Thursday night against Atlanta was one of those 42 games for Colorado, it was a good sign.

Twice the Rockies battled back from two-run deficits and overcame a sluggish start from ace Aaron Cook.

The All-Star break is less than a week away and it’s time to take a look at how the first half has treated the five NL West teams.

Last week I updated the progress of the Dodgers, Giants, and Rockies in the month of June. This breakdown will be focused on the entire first half production (or lack of production) for all of the NL West clubs.

Now is not a good time to be a Mets fan. Injuries to three key everyday players have left the Mets with what looks like a AAA lineup that can’t score any runs. The possible return of Oliver Perez this week sounds like nails scratching on a chalkboard. Oh yeah, and the team with the best record in baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers, come to town for a three-game set starting Tuesday.

The Colorado pitching staff is chalk full of talent.

They have Ubaldo Jimenez who throws 99 MPH heat with movement, to go along with breaking pitches that buckle opposing hitters knees. They have Aaron Cook, an All-Star a year ago who throws a sinker that ranks in the top-10 in all of baseball. They also have Jason Marquis, the newest All-Star Rockie who leads the National League in wins on good pitching, but mostly pure competitive drive. Jorge De La Rosa throws in the mid-90's from the left side and has a change up that falls off the table.

The Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed Manny Ramirez back into the starting lineup, at a sold-out Petco Park in San Diego.

Dodger fans made the trip south en masse, at times out-vocalizing the home town Padre fans, to welcome back their slugging outfielder from his 50-game banishment for violating baseball's PED rules.

In his first at bat, Manny drew a walk in the middle of a Dodger five-run outburst, which pretty much ended the game as soon as it started.