MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / July 8, 2000

If the baseball season is indeed a rose as the late baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti used to describe it, then Tuesday’s All-Star Game iswhen it begins to bud.

The season has reached its midpoint although technically, all the teams played their 81st game earlier this week. And if the second half isanything like the first, expect the unexpected.

As expected, there is a runaway leader in the American League Central.

Unexpectedly, it’s not the Cleveland Indians but the Chicago White Sox, the biggest surprise of the season so far. The White Sox also have perhaps themost surprising player of the first half in Frank Thomas who has shaken off two off seasons to bat .340 with 25 home runs through Thursday.Boston and New York, as expected, are competing for first place in the AL East but have been joined by the surprising Toronto Blue Jays. And it’sbeen the Blue Jays’ David Wells, not the Red Sox’s Pedro Martinez, who has been the most dominating pitcher in the league so far.

The AL West has been as unpredictable as expected with Seattle, Oakland and Anaheim all making a run at the top. The Mariners, without Ken GriffeyJr., are being led by a pitching staff that is the second best in the AL. Butthe biggest surprise might be that the defending division champion Texas Rangers are in last place and may be sliding out of the race.

Atlanta and New York are dueling again for the lead in the NL East.

Surprisingly, it’s the batting order and not the pitching staff, that has carried the Braves. And both Florida and Montreal have hovered around .500throughout the first half.

St. Louis is running away with the NL Central in what was supposed to bethe best multi-team race in baseball. As of Thursday, the Cardinals were10 games ahead of their closest pursuers, Cincinnati, who despite the addition of Griffey were under .500. Houston, the biggest disappointmentof the season, is 26 games under .500 and 21 1/2 games back of St. Louisafter winning the division last year.

Arizona and Colorado have taken turns atop the NL West, the Diamondbacks led by strikeout leader Randy Johnson and the Rockies by batting leader Todd Helton. Both San Francisco and Los Angeles figure to make a race ofit in the second half.

Individually, there have been surprises too. Who would have thought thatMontreal’s Jose Vidro, who batted .204 two years ago, would be second inthe National League with a .373 average and lead the league in hits? Orhow about the season that St. Louis’ Jim Edmonds is having, ranking highin average, runs and home runs? In the American League, how about Anaheim’s Darin Erstad leading the American League in hits? Edgar Martinez of Seattle leads the league in RBIs and is up there in home runs. Kansas City’s Mike Sweeney is amongthe league leaders in average, RBIs and hits. Corey Guzman of Minnesota isthe runaway leader in triples.

On the pitching front, what about Chicago’s Cal Eldred, all but given up on in Milwaukee, going 10-2 through Thursday? Or teammates Jim Parque and James Baldwin, another castoff, going 8-2 and 11-3, respectively? How about Aaron Sele, let go by Boston, having a better record than Pedro Martinez? In the National League, who would have thought Pittsburgh’s Brian Anderson would be among the leaders in winning percentage? Or that Florida’s Antonio Alfonseca would lead the majors in saves? On the other hand, who would ever predicted that Houston’s Jose Lima, a 20-game winner last season, would be 1-13? Or that David Cone would be 1-7? There have been stories both good (Thomas, Atlanta’s Andres Galarraga returning from cancer, the White Sox’s run) and bad (John Rocker, the brawl between the Dodgers and Cubs’ fans). There have been trades(Griffey, Cleveland’s David Justice to New York) and non-trades (Sammy Sosa, Juan Gonzalez).

Look for more trades (John Wetteland, Andy Ashby, Mike Mussina?) in the coming months. And as usual, look for more of the unforeseeable as thepennant races heat up.

A few thoughts on the Midseason Classic this week. Yes, it’s the fans’game and the fans should be involved in the selection of the players, but how can Griffey make it over Edmonds? How about giving the fans, the game’s beat writers and the general managers or managers each a 1/3 of the vote? Also, the All-Star Game also magnifies which are the deepest positions in each league. In the AL, first base is so deep that Thomas could not makethe team despite the season he is having.

In the NL, second base is so strong that Pokey Reese and Quilvio Veras did not make it despite both having good years. But how did Florida’s RyanDempster get picked over teammate Alfonseca? As for the argument about all teams need to be representative, I believe they should be. After all, if it’s supposed to be the fans’ game, it should befor all the fans.

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