MLB First Half Surprises

Charlie Klein

As the first half of the 2009 MLB season comes to a close, it is time now to evaluate all of the events that brought us to the Mid-Summer Classic. The list is in no particular order:

1. Manny Ramirez's 50 game suspension for usage of a banned substance. I remember the day I found out I could not believe that it was true. I had never really liked Manny as a person or a player (see my daily fail article on July 5) but I had always respected his ability to hit a baseball. When it came out that Manny had tested positive it threw all of his career accomplishments into debate and his inability to tell us anything about when he used steroids leaves us all at a loss as to what to make of him.

2. Alex Rodriguez announcing that he had used steroids during the 2001-2003 seasons with the Texas Rangers. Here is another player that I have always disliked but have respected his tremendous ability in the field and in the batter's box. This one I found just as difficult to believe and yet it all made sense. A-Roids has always been an impressionable player and susceptible to many a PR blunder, but I never expected him to be so insecure that he would juice.

3. The Fall of the New York Mets. While they did win last night versus the Dodgers they were very lucky to get by with only conceding three runs. Oliver Perez threw five innings with seven walks. The losses of Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, J.J. Putz, and Carlos Delgado to injury has thrown the Mets win percentage below .500 for the first time since 2005. Their embarrassing attempts at fielding baseballs have made many a not so top ten on Sportscenter and have put most Mets fans with Carlos on the disabled list.

4. The Emergence of the Texas Rangers. I don't think many people around the league were ready to utter this sentence, "The Texas Rangers are the 2009 AL West Champions," yet this coming October they could be saying just that. The overall balance of the Rangers lineup is outstanding especially when one considers the fact that their No. 3 hitter Josh Hamilton has been on the DL two separate times this season. Nolan Ryan's work with their pitching staff has made a huge difference on their performance and has the Rangers a game on top of the Angels in the West.

5. Zach Greinke. I do not think many people around the league before the season started were calling Zach Greinke a favourite to win the AL Cy Young award, and yet, during the first half of the season, Greinke has the numbers to be in consideration for best pitcher in the AL. Greinke has the best ERA in MLB at 2.12 and is fourth in strikeouts. For a team like the Royals who have had little to celebrate this season Greinke is their shining light in the darkness.

6. The Seattle Mariners Starting Rotation. I don't think many people around baseball would have said at the beginning of the season that the Seattle Mariners would have the best starting rotation ERA in the American League during the first half. Even I would not have said that, and I am as big of a Mariners fan as there is. Yet here they are, I give you Felix Hernandez (2.62), Erik Bedard (2.58), Jarrod Washburn (3.08), Jason Vargas (3.82), and Brandon Morrow (5.05)/Garrett Olson (4.50). Washburn threw a complete game one hitter facing one batter over the minimum versus the Orioles in his last start.

There are many more surprise performances by players that I chose not to include, because I did not want to flood the entire front page with only one article. My fellow writers will fill in the blanks and expect a full wrap of the first half of the 2009 MLB First Half by the time the next half commences.