Mid-season review and awards

After looking at the standings on Independence Day, there are a few things that stand out about the 2004 Major League Baseball season.

The log jam that is the National League Central is one of them.

How about the surprising Tampa Bay Devil Rays or the disappointing Kansas City Royals?

Perhaps the fact that Texas is flirting with .500 or the recent surge by the Giants to the top of the NL West tickles your fancy.

Those are all interesting stories -- and there are a few more that could have made the list -- but the story of the season so far is a familiar one.

The Red Sox still are playing the role of the Washington Generals to the Yankees' Harlem (or in this case, Bronx) Globetrotters.

Despite an early season sweep of New York which gave hope to Boston fans and, at one point, a five-game lead over the Bombers, the Red Sox currently find themselves in second place and seven games out of first in the AL East.

That's a 12-game swing in the standings over the course of two-plus months.

If you listened to most of the so-called experts before the season, you would have been enticed to believe the Sox and Yanks would be involved in a tight race down to the finish and, if New York didn't pick up a top-line starter before the trade deadline, Boston had a good chance to steal a division title.

Alas, even though the Red Sox have the top two right handers in the AL in Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez and their line up looked so good on paper, the Boston Red Sox just can't beat the Yankees. Ever.

I'm starting to think they never will.

Maybe there is something to this curse stuff. Maybe Babe Ruth is smirking somewhere as he continues to stick it to the city of Boston and past Red Sox ownership for selling him off nearly a century ago.

The chain of events really is amazing -- just in the past calendar year, much less the past 80.

Boston just can't beat 'em. From Dent to Boone to A-Rod, and so on, the Red Sox can't do it.

Heck, I'm surprised Don Zimmer didn't knock Pedro out last fall when the pitcher bum rushed the elderly New York bench coach.

No, the national story -- east coast bias or no -- this baseball season has been and will continue to be Red Sox/Yankees.

The truth is that Boston will not win the division -- sure, it might cut the lead to four or five games at some point -- but the Red Sox can still win the AL wild card.

This, of course, means that there is still a pretty good chance the two rivals will meet again in the playoffs.

Now, with that out of the way, let's get down to the nitty-gritty with the B-Side Break Awards.

Biggest Surprise, AL: Texas -- The Rangers have somehow, someway managed to stay at or near the top of the tough AL West despite losing the game's best player and having what was widely asserted as the division's weakest pitching staff. I don't know if they can keep it up, but the Rangers are having fun right now.

Biggest Surprise, NL:: Milwaukee -- Just to be over .500 at the break is a great accomplishment for Ned Yost's club. Wisconsinites were upset with the Richie Sexson trade when it went down, but have to be smiling now and Ben Sheets is asserting himself as one of the NL's best pitchers.

Biggest Disappointment, AL: Kansas City -- Remember when the Royals were threatening to run away with the AL Central exactly a year ago? Now they have the league's poorest record and Carlos Beltran is long gone to Houston. After one-half year in the sun, are Royals fans destined for another decade of bad baseball? The future doesn't look good in the improving AL Central for Kansas City.

Biggest Disappointment, AL: Houston -- This one could have gone to Arizona, but the expectations heading into the year for the Astros were too great to be only three games above the water mark at this point. Beltran will help, but Wade Miller's injury probably hurts more and the NL Central is baseball's toughest division.

MVP, AL: Ivan Rodriguez, Detroit -- The catcher has been everything the Tigers could have hoped for and much more. His .377 average is tops in the majors and his worth to a young pitching is something that can't be measured. he Tigers are improved, but just don't have the horses to compete for the playoffs at this point.

MVP, NL: Barry Bonds, San Francisco -- In my eyes, you're simply a fool if you don't pick Bonds. I don't care what anybody else has done this year, Bonds is still the only player in baseball who can change the course of a game simply by being in the line up. With or without the Balco controversy, Bonds is the best of his generation and is still in his prime. Could be the best of all time.

Cy Young, AL: Mark Mulder, Oakland -- Mulder has been lights out with 11 wins and an ERA under three. He is the main reason why the A's are right there in the West despite some other concerns on their pitching staff.

Cy Young, NL: Jason Schmidt, San Francisco -- Schmidt is 10-2 with a 2.61 ERA and 112 strikeouts. Enough said. Plus his team is in first place and he is also a big reason why. Now the Giants have a true ace in the rotation.

Manager, AL: Lou Pinella, Tampa Bay -- I don't know how he did it. I don't know how he got that team above .500. In the last three years, the state of Florida has produced champions in the NFL, MLB, NCAA football, and the NHL. The Devil Rays upswing this year continues a golden age of sports in the Sunshine State.

Manager, NL: Ned Yost, Milwaukee -- These Brewers are making baseball cool again in Wisconsin and Yost is the mastermind behind a dramatic change in attitude on the shores of Lake Michigan. I don't think they can stay in the race all year, but the Brewers have a good shot to finish .500, something that was unthinkable back in spring training.

Best Pennant Races for the second half of the season, AL: Central Division. The Twins and White Sox are tied right now and I expect that to remain virtually the case until the final week. Minnesota does need to make a move to counter the Freddy Garcia trade, though, and I believe it will.

Best Pennant Races for the second half of the season, AL: Central Division. August will be the month to separate the pretenders and contenders in this race and my money is on the Cubs and Cardinals. Houston may still be a dark horse, but Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Milwaukee will all be fighting for third place soon.

Oh yeah, there is one more thing. Memo to Bud Selig: Could we please, please get a plan in place to move the Expos out of wherever they're calling home now and give Washington D.C. another shot at baseball? I still think that 70% of the Montreal population wouldn't recognize a baseball if shown one and playing big league games in that stadium in San Juan is a disgrace.

Comments? Please email me at bryan_horwath@yahoo.com