Opinion

There are currently two pitching phenoms in Major League Baseball.

One, though, is getting an absolutely massive amount of media attention in Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg.

The other is David Price, the Tampa Bay Rays starter who recently started the All-Star game in Anaheim this past Tuesday.

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It is a notion that dates back as far as Don Newcombe's 1956 season with the Brooklyn Dodgers: if a pitcher is the Most Valuable Player in his league, then he must be the best pitcher as well.

Logically, this is a very straightforward proposition: pitcher is subset of player; a pitcher who is the most valuable player must also be the most valuable pitcher.

We begin the season's second half tonight living in a post-Boss world, and I for one am a little uneasy about it.

We heard from Hal Steinbrenner's people on Thursday that the family doesn't plan on selling the Yankees. But since Hal kind of looks like a bad guy from an Eighties ski movie, I'm not quite buying it just yet.

A sample conversation:

The second half of the Major League Baseball season began Thursday night, and many in Puerto Rico are with a lot of good expectations.

Just as a start, everybody is happy that Carlos Beltran returned with the New York Mets, and Joel Piñeiro won his seventh straight decision as the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Seattle Mariners.

However, not every baseball fan is cheery and festive these days.

So...two or three weeks of anger management classes and suddenly Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano is a new man, huh?

You'll have to forgive me if I'm not buying what the Cubs are selling.

Apparently "cured" of the anger issues that have prevented Zambrano from reaching the full potential of his obvious talent, Big Z has been cleared to begin his baseball rehabilitation in Mesa.

From one "rehab" to another "rehab" and—Poof!—magically, all is well again.

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 New York Yankees enter the second half of the 2010 MLB season with the best record in the league and to much to complain about other than the inconsistent bullpen.

For the first time in 14 seasons, the NL finally won the All-Star game 3-1. They displayed a great show of pitching, defense, and just an all-around great performance.

It will be the first time an NL team has home field advantage since the Diamondbacks had it back in 2001. The only problem is, it's not going to help them win the World Series this year.

The AL will reign as World Series Champions and here are five reasons why.

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In some recess of his or her brain, every San Francisco Giants fan is thinking the same thing now that Dontrelle Willis has signed a Minor League contract with the club.

Does this mean someone in the current rotation is on his way out?

It's natural.

Although rookie Madison Bumgarner's name has popped up on the trade radar, it's doubtful the Gents would be interested in moving the 20-year-old lefty, given he's twirled a quartet of blinders since being called up at the end of June.

Always An Angel - Playing The Game With Fire And Faith
By Tim Salmon with Rob Goldman
220 pages, Triumph Books