Time’s Arrow

Middle of May

          AL East        W   L    GB      WPBAL    24  13     -    .649BOS    22  15   2.0    .595TOR    20  18   4.5    .526NYY    19  19   5.5    .500TBD    14  25  11.0    .359

Despite winning two out of three from Boston to open the season, the Yankees swiftly moved to the lower half of the AL East and are are playing some very poor baseball. The offense looks sluggish with Posada and Matsui looking uncharacteristically feeble. Bernie and Womack have been terrible, but no surprise there. The wild card of the Yankees’ lineup coming into the season, Jason Giambi, simply looksfinished. Author of a .202/.383/.326 line, it’s time to stick a fork in the guy. He still has the good batting eye, but pitchers will figure out soon enough that he looks like he’s swinging underwater. Farewell, Jason. Overall, the Yankees’ starting pitching has been below average, with solid work by Mussina and Johnson completely negated by new Yankees Pavano and Wright.

Over in the AL Central the surprising White Sox have grabbed a super-quick five-game lead over the preseason-favorite Twins.

          AL Central        W   L    GB      WPCHW    27  11     -    .711MIN    21  15   5.0    .583DET    17  19   9.0    .472CLE    16  20  10.0    .444KCR    11  27  16.0    .289

TheIndians, whom some hoped might contend, look like they already might be out of it after a poor start by Travis Hafner (4 HR, 16 RBI and remember, folks, we’ve played a quarter season already) and a trulyhorrendous start by Vic Martinez (.210, 2 HR, 10 RBI).

Elsewhere around the majors, Miguel Tejada has picked up where he left off in his 150-RBI 2004 campaign, leading the majors thus far with 38 runners driven home. Alex Rodriguez paces MLB with 12 home runs. Among hurlers, the early standout is Dontrelle Willis, who seems to have rediscovered his top rookie form of 2003 and then some. The likeable lefty has won all seven of his starts, posting a nifty 1.08 ERA and a K/BB ratio of 4.00. Next on the ERA leaderboards come two greyheads, Roger Clemens (3-1, 1.11) and, surprisingly, Kenny Rogers, who checks in at 4-2, 1.49.

Early July

Well, the All-Star Game is at hand and, lo and behold, the Washington Nationals are the surprise of the season, as they rule the roost in the NL East and by a sizeable 4.5 games:

          NL East        W   L    GB      WPWSN    48  31     -    .608ATL    44  36   4.5    .550FLA    40  37   7.0    .519NYM    40  39   8.0    .506PHI    40  40   8.5    .500

The Nationals’ starting pitching has been very solid, with staff ace Livan Hernandez (11-2, 3.32) flanked by newcomer Esteban Loaiza (3.81 ERA) and youngster John Patterson, who has posted an ERA of 3.17 thus far. RFK Stadium appears to be playing as a very tough park for hitters, but Jose Guillen (.300-15-44) has put up fine numbers. Nick Johnson is also having a fine season (.320/.444/.508) and, most importantly, has been healthy thus far.

For Phillies fans there is bad news (they are in the cellar in the NL East), and there is good news (they are playing .500 ball), and there is more bad news (they have been outscored 370-392). Pitching has been the thorn in their side, as they rank 13th in the league in runs allowed. Jon Lieber has been the main culprit, posting a frightening 5.18 ERA in 17 starts.

Derrek Lee, whose name is getting mentioned in Triple Crown discussions, is first in the NL in batting (.379), second in home runs (23), and second in RBIs (65). Lee has always been a solid and under-appreciated player, but I don’t think even Mrs. Lee was expecting him to be quite so dominant this year. Before you run off to look up the last Triple Crown winner (Yaz, ’67), note that Lee will have a hard time leading the Senior Circuit in RBIs with Corey Patterson and Neifi Perez, with on-base percentages of .301 and .276 respectively, batting in front of him.

Elsewhere on the leaderboards, we find Andruw Jones and his 25 homers, Carlos Lee with his 72 RBIs, and could anybody have foreseen Brian Roberts, who toils as pivotman for the Baltimore club, painting this masterpiece: .365/.439/.614? Isn’t baseball great?

Mark Buehrle gets the All-Star Game starting assignment after a stellar first half, going 10-1 with a 2.42 ERA.

2005 All-Star Teams
American League

Starters: C - Varitek1B - Teixeira2B - B. Roberts3B - A. RodriguezSS - TejadaOF - M. Ramirez, Damon, GuerreroDH - OrtizSP - BuerhleReserves: C - I. Rodriguez1B - Sweeney, Konerko2B - Soriano3B - MoraSS - M. YoungOF - G. Anderson, Podsednik,      Sheffield, SuzukiDH - HillenbrandSP -  Colon, Clement, Garland,      Halladay, Rogers, SantanaRP - Rivera, Baez, Nathan,     Ryan, Wickman, Duchscherer

National League

Starters:C - Piazza1B - Lee2B - Kent3B - A.RamirezSS - EcksteinOF - Beltran, Edmonds, AbreuDH - PujolsSP - CarpenterReserves:C - Lo Duca2B - Castillo3B - Ensberg, RolenSS - Izturis, LopezOF - L. Gonzalez, Alou, A. Jones,      Bay, C. LeeSP - Clemens, L. Hernandez, Willis     Peavy, Pedro, Oswalt, SmoltzRP - Cordero, Fuentes, Isringhausen,      Lidge, B. Wagner

Early August

          NL West        W   L    GB      WPARI    52  55     -    .486SDP    51  54     -    .486LAD    47  58   4.0    .448SFG    45  59   5.5    .433COL    37  67  13.5    .356

What is going on in the NL West, anyway? We’re already into August, and nobody seems to be able to get their heads above the .500 mark. Arizona, after losing several hundred games last season, sits on top, but what does it all mean? The Giants are on pace for 72 wins, and since they won 91 games last year, can we conclude that Barry Bonds is worth almost 20 wins a year?

While you ponder such deep questions, I’ll come out and say that about the only thing you can count on in the NL West is seeing the Rockies in last place. Boy, the Rockies’ offense really, ahem, stinks. Despite playing in a park that turns baseballs into Flubber, they have scored fewer runs than the Diamondbacks and (virtually) the same number as the Dodgers and Giants. Yuck.

Let’s turn to a more cheerful subject, league leaders: Red Sox Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz are performing a pas a deux atop the RBI leaderboard, while the longball crown is a three-way dispute right now among Andruw, Derrek and Adam Dunn. In OPS, Lee still commands the top spot by a wide margin, followed by Pujols (ok) and Miguel Cabrera (wow). Among pitchers, along with Houston’s Big Three of Clemens (9-4, 1.46), Oswalt (14-8, 2.40) and Pettitte (9-7, 2.58), the Cardinals’ Chris Carpenter has elbowed his way into NL Cy Young talk with an ERA of 2.33 and a 15-4 record. In his last 14 starts, all quality starts by the way, Carpenter has gone 10-2 with five complete games, three shutouts and a 1.35 ERA.

Middle of May

          AL East        W   L    GB      WPNYY    30  15     -    .667BOS    27  19   3.5    .587TBD    21  22   8.0    .488TOR    19  25  10.5    .432BAL    16  28  13.5    .364

Despite losing two out of three to Boston to open the season, the Yankees swiftly moved to the top of the AL East and are playing excellent baseball. On the offensive side, the Yankee attack as been led by Alex Rodriguez, .327-13-35, (not so surprising) and the resurgent Jason Giambi, .252-11-36 (very surprising to many). With only a quarter of the season gone, it’s too early to talk about postseason awards, but Giambi certainly looks like a candidate for comeback player of the year. On the other side of the ball, Randy Johnson quickly showed why the Yankees acquired him in the offseason, going 6-1 with a 2.59 ERA in 10 starts. Almost as good has been Aaron Small (who?), 6-0, 3.56 ERA.

Over in the AL Central things are a little more unexpected:

          AL Central        W   L    GB      WPCLE    30  14     -    .682CHW    25  21   6.0    .543MIN    22  22   8.0    .500KCR    18  27  12.5    .400DET    15  30  15.5    .333

The Twins, preseason favorites of many pundits, have dug themselves a hole and are already eight games back of the Indians, who have bolted out of the gate thanks to red-hot starts by Travis Hafner (.296/.401/.667) and Vic Martinez (.354/.424/.544). Is this going to be the long-awaited breakout year from C.C. Sabathia? The big southpaw has started the season on fire, posting a 7-1 record and a miniscule 1.82 ERA.

Turning to other League Leaders, we find Carlos Pena second (tied) for home runs in MLB with 15. Pena has never fulfilled his potential since being a highly hyped prospect a few years back. Is this, his age-27 season, the breakout for which we’ve by now stopped waiting? Other interesting names on the leaderboards are Matt Holliday (third in RBIs with 43) and Randy Winn, third in OPS and author of the downright Ruthian .381/.406/.714 line, at this, admittedly early, stage of the season.

Among pitchers, Johan Santana is the early ERA leader, which might have been expected, but seeing Tom Glavine (5-3, 1.71), Jose Contreras (8-1, 2.42) and rookies Brandon McCarthy (3-1, 1.69) and Paul Maholm (3-1, 2.18) on the pitching leaderboards is probably more of a surprise.

Early July

          NL East        W   L    GB      WPPHI    48  34     -    .585ATL    46  36   2.0    .561NYM    43  40   5.5    .518FLA    43  42   6.5    .506WSN    33  50  15.5    .398

Well, the All-Star Game is almost upon us, and the Phillies are atop the NL East, as they have been for most of the first half. Rookie Ryan Howard, who has taken over first base duties for injured slugger Jim Thome, has exceeded even the lofty expectations that we had for him, clouting 21 homers and driving in 62 runs in this half-season. Jimmy Rollins, who of course started the season with an amazing 36-game hitting streak, has cooled off some, but he still has had a fine first half.

It would have been a nice, feel-good story to report that the Nationals, Washington’s first major league team in 45 years, were contending in their division, but alas, such is not the case. The Nats languish in last place in the NL East, 15.5 games back, with few prospects of competing in the division. It’s been a tough beginning for the Washington club.

David Ortiz has streaked to the top of the HR and RBI leaderboards (28 and 82) in the AL, with A-Rod tied in HR but a ways back in RBI (64). They are neck-and-neck in OPS though: A-Rod 1.049, Big Papi 1.046. Who knows, this might be the start of an MVP race.

On the other side of the ball, Andy Pettitte has emerged as the dominant pitcher in the majors this season, posting a glittering 13-2 record to go with his sparkly 1.69 ERA. Rookie phenom Zach Duke is the buzz of the NL, with his 8-2, 1.81 effort. Felix Hernandez, the 19-year-old pitching in Seattle, has the same types of numbers, sans the winning record, due mostly to a lack of run support from his teammates.

2005 All-Star Teams
American League

Starters: C - V. Martinez1B - Giambi2B - Mark Ellis3B - A. RodriguezSS - Michael YoungOF - Manny, Damon, VladDH - OrtizSP - SantanaReserves: C - Varitek, Mauer1B - Teixeira, Konerko2B - Polanco3B - MoraSS - PeraltaOF - M. Cabrera, Crawford, SheffieldDH - HafnerSP -  Felix, Millwood, Sheets,       Lackey, Mulder, ContrerasRP - Rivera, Nathan, Street,      Howry, Wickman

National League

Starters:C - Barrett1B - Pujols2B - Utley3B - WrightSS - RollinsOF - Jenkins, Winn, BayDH - Delgado SP - PettitteReserves:C - LaRue1B - Helton, Howard2B - Kent3B - EnsbergSS - FurcalOF - Tracy, Holliday, AndruwSP - Duke, Clemens, Glavine,      C. Zambrano, Pedro, CarpenterRP - Turnbow, B. Wagner, Dempster,      Lidge, Linebrink

(Editor’s note: I was too lazy to observe the rule that requires a player from each team.)

Early August

          NL West        W   L    GB      WPCOL    52  59     -    .468SFG    52  59     -    .468SDP    49  60   2.0    .450ARI    47  62   4.0    .431LAD    45  65   6.5    .409

OK, what is going on in the NL West? Here we are into August and nobody is within seven games of .500. Can we send these guys home and call in five teams from the Pacific Coast League? And, look, the Rockies are in first place! Sort of. ToddHelton is having his usual great season, .352/.472/.591, a great lineeven if Coors-assisted. Some other Rox are coming through as wellthough: Garret Atkins (who?) has driven in 79 runs thus far (more thanAlbert Pujols!) and Matt Holliday has continued his earlyhard hitting, with a .942 OPS. I know these numbers arehelped out by playing half the games in Coors Field, but I’m justsayin’.

Looking at the leaderboards, we see Hafner leading everybody in OPS(1.094), and if there’s any justice in the world (hah!), Hafner will get some MVP consideration. Giambicontinues to rake, getting his average up to .287 and his OPS to1.077. Derrek Lee has been quietly make his way up the offensiveboards and now sits sixth in HR and fifth in OPS. Sort of came out ofnowhere. Speaking of coming out of nowhere, on the pitcher board wesee Joe Blanton putting together a fine season (12-7, 2.53ERA). Another Bay Area youngster, Noah Lowry, is also looking verysolid with an 11-8 record and 3.14 ERA.

Final Recap

Here at The Hardball Times we love the graphical depiction of thedivisional races that can be found in our Teams section. Once you getused to looking at those graphs, a quick glance tells you how thedivisional race proceeded. So to wrap upthis piece, I’d like to present a one-sentence summary of eachdivisional race along with the corresponding graph of the race. Normaltime is on the left again and backwards time is on the right. I findthat the season played in reverse had a few more interestingraces. Have a look and see what you think.

AL East

Baltimore bolts, New York trips and falls, but by midseason thingsare back to normal: New York and Boston fighting for the division.

AL Central

Chicago charges out of the gate and never looks back. Well, almostnever, but they hang on for the division crown.

AL West

Oakland’s blazing June and July cannot compensate for a hellish beginning andblah finish: Anaheim hangs on easily in the end.

NL East

Atlanta plods towards 90 wins, while the Nats turn into a pumpkin onJune 30.

NL Central

The Redbirds steam ahead toward 100 wins, and nobody else is close aftertwo weeks.

NL West

Nothing to be proud of here.

AL East

Everything according to script, Yanks and Sox battle for the divisiontitle from the get-go.

AL Central

The Tribe go ahead early and lead most of the way, but succumb to the White Soxin September in a great divisional race.

AL West

The Angels inexorably pile up wins, while Oakland stumbles, then soars, andfinally crashes and burns.

NL East

A good old-fashioned pennant race between the Braves and the Phillies,with you-know-who prevailing. Nobody noticed, but the Nats had a goodsecond half.

NL Central

The Astros go toe-to-toe with the Cardinals right up into August, butthe Cards pull away at the end.

NL West

Nor here. Some things are ugly no matter how you look at them.