First half coming to a close...biggest surprises?

stitzen

I think without a doubt the Brewers being this year's Tigers one of, if not the, biggest story in MLB. Would love to see MLB do more to get these hot teams in front of a national audience, the way the NFL is altering its monday night football lineup. Also, Mariners 12 games over .500, and in strong contention for both the AL west and AL wildcard spots.

Any other surprises that come to mind?

yankeeno7

No Axtell, no surprises at all.

mercurynut

The biggest surprise to me is how bad the Yankees suck given the talent. Being Red Sox fan I love it but I would prefer to have the heated competition. It makes the season more fun.

joestalin

Ive always felt that if you pay someone a trillion dollars, what motivation do they have to perform well? THIS is the Yankees!

JS

stown

<< <i>No Axtell, no surprises at all. >>



I'm surpirsed she keeps coming back after being bammed so many times

stitzen

I'm surprised the M's are 13 games over .500 after handing Oakland 3 straight losses at home. I'm surprised that the yankees are still news despite being double digits out of either the division or the wildcard nearly all year.

I'm surprised that yankee and astro 'fans' are still talking, despite the beatings their teams have taken all year long.

yankeeno7

I'm surprised that you keep coming back, Axtell.....well, actually I'm not.

stown

That's how real 'fans' roll.

Not surprised you can't comprehend that concept, you cross-country bandwagoner.

WinPitcher

The brewers doing so well just proves that salary does not always mean a playoff spot. (see the 07 yanks) I expect them to roll into the post season this year ala detroit of 06.

every year we may just see a new team win. The Pirates could be next.

i applaud axtell and his self control (well not really)

Steve

stevek

Axtell ain't been lashing back. He must of found a girlfriend who is putting out. LOL

stown

He's tried but I've chosen to ignore most of them

Barndog

<< <i>The biggest surprise to me is how bad the Yankees suck given the talent. Being Red Sox fan I love it but I would prefer to have the heated competition. It makes the season more fun. >>



the Yankees' inability to win has surprised me the most too.

BobaFett72

I don't think it's a girlfriend thats putting out, unless its inflatable.

yankeeno7

<< <i>I don't think it's a girlfriend thats putting out, unless its inflatable. >>



Maybe she has a leak? But his desire to be a part of this board is commendable (insert sarcasm)

stitzen

edit: nevermind, no need to feed the trolls.

yankeeno7

<< <i>edit: nevermind, no need to feed the trolls. >>



I love it! And congrats on your longest living ID since original banishment! Now that the mods will see that you are back.....GONE!!!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

megatron

<< <i>I think without a doubt the Brewers being this year's Tigers one of, if not the, biggest story in MLB. Would love to see MLB do more to get these hot teams in front of a national audience, the way the NFL is altering its monday night football lineup. Also, Mariners 12 games over .500, and in strong contention for both the AL west and AL wildcard spots.

Any other surprises that come to mind? >>



I will stay clear of the personal vendettas, and stick to the topic. Here are my top ten team surprises, not in any order:

1. Yankees - Ouch. I like the Yankees, but this is not good thus far.
2. Red Sox - Expected them to be good, but this good?
3. Angels - Turning out to be the team to beat, perhaps, untillll...
4. Mariners - Who would have thought they would be breathing down the Angels' necks?
5. St. Louis - Defending world champs? Ummmm, I need to verify with the stats given the way they are playing.
6. White Sox - Where did the offense go?
7. SF - Bad, bad team. Seems fitting that the homers BB is hitting aren't doing much for the team.
8. LA - 9 games over? Great for them.
9. Milwaukee - Not all that surprised, really.
10. Cubs - Nice comeback after horrible start.

perkdog

1-Yankees
2-Brewers
3-Cubs, yes the Cubs! I really thought they would be fighting for the division lead
4-Ken Griffey JR, WOW he is healthy and back to old form!

gotsparks09

My top two:

Yankees - Wow
Red Sox - Thought by this point they'd be in 2nd place down a few games to the Yanks

I really hope the Yanks don't even make the playoffs. That would be sweet...and so would the offseason melee that would arise because of it.

Ichiro51fan

1- Mariners actually in contention, despite a horrendous performance to date from supposed clean-up hitter Richie Sexson: .205 avg, countless runners left on base, including many in scoring position or on 3rd with less than 2 outs! When their pitching was horrible early in the year, the bats came up big. Now the pitching seems better and they've made a good run at the Angels!

2- Mike Hargrove unexpectadly stepping down as Mariners manager. Wow... this one came from out of nowhere! Who the heck steps down in the middle of an 8-game winning streak anyway? There has GOT to be more to this story than meets the eye. Frankly, as an M's fan, I'm not at all disappointed that he's gone, just can't believe the way it happened. Personally, I didn't think he was a very good manager... he never seemed to get fired up when he should have, plus, he kept playing a sub-Mendoza Sexson game after game despite having a legit .300 hitter (Broussard) on the the bench. And, Hargrove going can only increase the chances of the M's re-signing Ichiro, so... a very nice surprise for me!

3- Griffey Jr back to his young self Who would have thunk he'd ever tear it up again like this?

4- Griffey Jr getting more support from supposed Mariners fans than the actual current Mariners! This was a bit shocking to me. Sure, the guy had a lot to do with saving baseball in Seattle, but the fact is, he wanted to leave there. Knowing that, it was surprising the support he got at Safeco.

5- Ordonez leading the league in hitting at .367 at the AS break. This has to be one of the biggest surprises so far. I strongly suspect that Ichiro will end up winning the batting title in the end, but it would be nice to see Ordonez in the .340-.350 range after battling back from injury.

6- Pay-Rod with only 5 errors at the AS break. Geeze... after a whopping 24 errors last year, I was hoping the jack-ass would push 30 this year. Instead, he's on pace for only 10? WTF is that? Dude needs to start gripping again, having a horid 2nd half, and at least make a run at 20 errors.

Cubby

Prince Fielder

stitzen

<< <i>1- Mariners actually in contention, despite a horrendous performance to date from supposed clean-up hitter Richie Sexson: .205 avg, countless runners left on base, including many in scoring position or on 3rd with less than 2 outs! When their pitching was horrible early in the year, the bats came up big. Now the pitching seems better and they've made a good run at the Angels! >>



While no one will debate he's had a miserable first half, to say that he's the lone blight on the Mariners landscape is wrong. Where's your hate for Jose Vidro? The 'DH' has the worst (by far) SLG in the AL, a mindblowingly low .349! He has a grand total of 13 extra base hits all year! While Sexson's had an abysmal first half, he's got Vidro beat by 60 points in SLG.



<< <i>2- Mike Hargrove unexpectadly stepping down as Mariners manager. Wow... this one came from out of nowhere! Who the heck steps down in the middle of an 8-game winning streak anyway? There has GOT to be more to this story than meets the eye. Frankly, as an M's fan, I'm not at all disappointed that he's gone, just can't believe the way it happened. Personally, I didn't think he was a very good manager... he never seemed to get fired up when he should have, plus, he kept playing a sub-Mendoza Sexson game after game despite having a legit .300 hitter (Broussard) on the the bench. And, Hargrove going can only increase the chances of the M's re-signing Ichiro, so... a very nice surprise for me!
>>



I think Hargrove's decision to leave came to him when he left the team to attend his kid's graduation..when he left the team for a few days and McLaren took over. I think he honestly looked around, saw his kid graduation, and thought to himself 'I've missed so much of my family's lives...I can't miss more'. The timing seemed to coincide with that perfectly. As far as playing Sexson, exactly how can you justify leaving $13 million in payroll on the bench? Sexson's a notoriously streaky hitter, and to leave him on the pine would be a mistake. Broussard is definitely not the answer either. And can we please quit talking about batting averages as a means of establishing a player's worth?




<< <i>3- Griffey Jr back to his young self Who would have thunk he'd ever tear it up again like this? >>



He's always had the ability, I'm glad to see him playing without injury...he'd be chasing Aaron with Bonds right now if he didn't miss all that time due to injury.



<< <i>4- Griffey Jr getting more support from supposed Mariners fans than the actual current Mariners! This was a bit shocking to me. Sure, the guy had a lot to do with saving baseball in Seattle, but the fact is, he wanted to leave there. Knowing that, it was surprising the support he got at Safeco. >>



He wanted to leave to be with his family, closer to home. Yes, he got a huge (deserved) ovation in Seattle. The Sunday finale in which he got 2 HRs and the m's got the win was the perfect way to wrap up a perfect homecoming for Junior. I'd like to see him come home in 2009 when his current big dollar contract runs out.



<< <i>6- Pay-Rod with only 5 errors at the AS break. Geeze... after a whopping 24 errors last year, I was hoping the jack-ass would push 30 this year. Instead, he's on pace for only 10? WTF is that? Dude needs to start gripping again, having a horid 2nd half, and at least make a run at 20 errors. >>



Wow, hating a guy for taking the big payday for a team who was contending more than the Mariners? Way to harbor that hate. He's a jackass because he signed for $252 million, a move everyone would have made? You're trying to tell me you wouldn't have looked at the Rangers at the time, a team who had been a playoff team 2 of the three years previous to his signing, and taken the money and thought you were going to a contender? And you had to think that last year was an aberration, didn't you?

Lot of hate for the ex-Mariners. How do you feel about Randy Johnson?

Estil

<< <i>The biggest surprise to me is how bad the Yankees suck given the talent. Being Red Sox fan I love it but I would prefer to have the heated competition. It makes the season more fun. >>



Careful what you wish for *cough*1978*cough*