With the All-Star Game on Tuesday in Chicago, it's a good time to hand out the awards for the first half. Here are our picks:
NL MVP: This is no contest.
Forget Barry Bonds and his 30 homers. Forget Preston Wilson and his 91 RBIs. Forget Todd Helton and his .347 batting average.
Atlanta's Gary Sheffield is having a monster season, but there hasn't been a better player than St. Louis' Albert Pujols. He is first by far in the NL in average, fourth in homers and second in RBIs.
That makes him a Triple Crown threat and our easy choice for first-half MVP.
AL MVP: If we were starting a team, our first choice might very well be the Yankees' Alfonso Soriano. He has middle-infield speed and corner power. He can hit for average, power, drive in runs and seems to always deliver a key hit.
Toronto's Carlos Delgado is putting up RBI numbers that are just plain sick. He's on pace to drive in more runs than games played. Anaheim's Garrett Anderson, Texas' Hank Blalock and Cleveland's Milton Bradley all deserve mention, as do Ichiro Suzuki and Bret Boone of Seattle and Manny Ramirez of Boston.
But we're going with Boston's Nomar Garciaparra. First, he plays the toughest position in baseball, not extremely well but adequately. Offensively he's having one of his most productive seasons in a career full of productive seasons.
Garciaparra's power numbers are down. He had only 13 homers, but 60 RBIs. And he leads the league in triples and is tied for third in runs. The race for AL MVP will be the closest individual race in the second half.
NL CY YOUNG: Chicago has two pitchers that have put up similar numbers. Coming into the weekend Mark Prior was 8-4 with a 2.69 ERA and 145 strikeouts (second in the league). Kerry Wood was 9-6 with a 3.19 ERA and a league-high 156 strikeouts.
San Francisco's Jason Schmidt had a major league-high three shutouts and five complete games. He was tied with Los Angeles' Kevin Brown with a league-low 2.30 ERA.
Florida rookie Dontrelle Willis pitched two shutouts in the first half and looks as if he'll be a candidate in this category for years to come.
In a close call, we'll go with the Cards' Woody Williams, who came into the weekend tied for second in victories (11) and eighth in ERA (3.09).
AL CY YOUNG: Two years ago Toronto's Roy Halladay was in the minors. Today he's one of baseball's most dominant pitchers. His first-half numbers were superb: 12-2 with a 3.48 ERA. And check this out: 109 strikeouts compared to only 21 walks in 145 innings.
The usual suspects - veterans Jamie Moyer of Seattle, Roger Clemens of New York and Pedro Martinez of Boston - continue to defy time and hitters.
The choice here, though, is Estaban Loaiza of the White Sox, who had an ERA below 2.00 until a few starts ago and is on pace for 22 victories. And to think any team could have had him in the offseason before the Sox picked him up for $500,000.
NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Willis not only is the best rookie but the most fun to watch, too. His crazy leg kick, high fives and the goofy way he wears his cap make him a joy to watch, unless you're a hitter who has to face this 21-year-old who went 8-1 with a 1.98 ERA after being called up from the minors.
AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: For the first month the Rays' Rocco Baldelli was the top rookie, pounding a rookie record 40 hits through April. Since then, though, he has had his ups and dows and his average has dipped.
The Yankees' Hideki Matsui is showing how polished a player he is after a slow start. Officially he is a rookie, but he really shouldn't be considered because of his career in Japan.
That's why we like Kansas City closer Mike MacDougal. He has been consistent all season and has an outside shot at 50 saves. MacDougal deserves as much credit as anybody for the Royals being baseball's surprise team.
NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR: Jimy Williams has done a nice job in Houston, but we refuse to reward a manager from a division as bad as the Central. If the Astros were in the West or East they would be well out of first, not even second.
In the West, Felipe Alou has the Giants playing well, and Arizona's Bob Brenley has dealt with a slew of injuries.
The guy who never gets enough credit, though, is Atlanta's Bobby Cox. Yes, his lineup and rotation are loaded year after year, but he manages to push the right buttons, not over-manage and get the big egos to play nice. That's good enough for our vote.
AL MANAGER OF THE YEAR: At first glance, it appears to be a no-brainer to give the award to Kansas City's Tony Pena. Who thought the Royals - the Royals! - would be in first after the first week of the season let alone the All-Star break? Then again, that says as much about the Central as it does the Royals.
Just stop for a second and consider the job done by New York's Joe Torre. Sure, Torre has baseball's largest payroll at his fingertips, but he had to deal with criticism by owner George Steinbrenner as well as major injuries to shortstop Derek Jeter, centerfielder Bernie Williams and closer Mariano Rivera. And the Yankees managed to finish the first half in first place.
We applaud Pena, but we award Torre.
Here are some other first-half awards:
BIGGEST STORY: Say It Ain't Sosa, CorkGate, whatever you want to call it. Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa getting busted for using a corked bat (against the Rays, no less) was so big ESPN practically was forced to start a new network.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT (PLAYER): Tom Glavine was supposed to be the ace the Mets needed to finally topple Atlanta in the NL East. Instead, he came into the weekend with a 6-9 record, and the Mets, who already fired their general manager, were three games out ... of last place! What's sad is Glavine is blaming his poor performance on Questec, the machine used to evaluate umpires.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT (TEAM): We won't pick on the Mets anymore, so we'll set our sights on Texas. A team with Blalock, Rafael Palmeiro, Michael Young and Alex Rodriguez should not be 20 games out of first place.
BIGGEST SURPRISE (TEAM): The Royals, of course. But how about Arizona? No Curt Schilling or Randy Johnson for a good chunk of the season, 10 rookies on the team at one point this season, and still within striking distance of the Giants in the NL West.
BEST TRADES: The White Sox getting Roberto Alomar and Carl Everett for a few no-name prospects.
PREDICTIONS: The division winners at season's end will be Atlanta, St. Louis and San Francisco in the National League with Los Angeles sneaking into the wild card. The American League divisions will be won by the Yankees, Minnesota and Seattle with Boston getting the wild card.
And the World Series? The Yankees over the Braves.
