Baseball's Second Half of the 2009 Season

The All-Star buzz has settled, and pro baseball's 30 teams are focused again on the remainder of the 2009 season. There are two months to go in the regular season, and fans finally have a little clarity when it comes to which teams and players to keep an eye on as the season winds to an end. As in most years, there are some intriguing storylines. Following are the Top 10 things to watch from now to the playoffs.

1. It's been more than 60 years since a National League player earned baseball's Triple Crown by leading the league in batting average, home runs and RBIs. Joe "Ducky" Medwick was the last to do it, and it appears that Albert Pujols might join that select group. Just 11 players have earned the Triple Crown, which was last achieved by Boston Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski in 1967, since the modern era began in 1900. Two of them, Rogers Hornsby and Ted Williams, achieved it twice. Can Pujols manage it? His batting average hovers around the .330 mark almost every year, and he's right on track again in 2009. He might need a little help from other National League batting average leaders, but he's well ahead in homers and RBIs. To be sure, the odds are stacked against him. Many players have finished just short of the mark since Medwick did it in 1937. Pujols, though, appears to have almost every baseball fan in his corner. That can't hurt his chances.

2. Who'll land Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay? The powerful right-hander could be the final piece in the puzzle for several Major League teams. St. Louis Cardinals fans let Halladay know he's welcome in their city, but he'll not come cheap. That means the New York Yankees are a more likely option. The Philadelphia Phillies also have shown interest. Toronto has fielded offers, but nothing has transpired just yet. ESPN reported that Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi thinks he'll hear lots more about Halladay's availability before the July 28 trade deadline.

3. The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is picking up steam as New York has moved into first place, a spot held by Boston for most of the season. The Red Sox lost their fifth straight game midweek, and the Yankees moved two games ahead with Tampa Bay, last year's American League representative in the World Series, 5.5 games back. The second-place team in the A.L. East appears to be the most likely wild-card team, and that means there's a chance that Boston and New York will play some post-season games, also. Boston's pitching has been superior this season. Meanwhile, New York's offense, as usual, ranks tops among all 30 teams.

4. Can the San Francisco Giants make the playoffs? Had the question been asked at the conclusion of the 2008 season, most sane folks would have issued a hysterical laugh. But it just might happen. With most of the National League's second-place teams hovering just above the .500 mark, the Giants, led by 2008 Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, have been in the wild-card spot for much of the past month. Colorado, though, just moved ahead of San Fran this week, and the Giants are without starting pitcher Randy Johnson, who is as old as dirt. Folks should find some answers this weekend, when the Giants travel to play a three-game series against the Rockies. But here's the incredible part. San Fran plays seven of its last 10 games against the Rockies. So stay tuned.

5. Can the Philadelphia Phillies repeat as world champs? The team certainly has the offense to bash away at opponents' pitching, but the Phillies seem to lack the pitching they'll need to win in the post-season. Only one starting pitcher has an ERA below 4.00, and only three of the five starters have an ERA below 5.00. The team's winningest pitcher is Jamie Moyer, who is 567 years old at this point. Moyer is 9-7 so far, but his ERA was 5.65 as of July 23. If the Phillies land Roy Halladay, their chances will increase, but they'll have a lot of competition for the 2008 American League Cy Young winner. Of course, nothing is easy to predict with Philly. The team is 15 games over .500 when playing on the road and just .500 at home. Go figure.

6. Will some team step up to claim the National League Central? St. Louis has been coasting behind Pujols and the re-emergence of starting pitcher Chris Carpenter, but the team appears to be slipping. Houston and Chicago pulled to within a game of the first-place Cardinals on July 22, and Milwaukee sits just two games out. Even Cincinnati and, gulp, Pittsburg, can't be excluded from contention. The Reds are just 5.5 games back, and the Pirates are just 7.5 games back despite starting their annual fire sale by shipping Adam LaRoche, the team's leader in homers and RBIs, to Boston.

7. Can Arizona pitcher Dan Haren become just the ninth pitcher in 80 years to record an season ERA under 1.70? Carl Hubbell (1933), Spud Chandler (1943), Dean Chance (1964), Bob Gibson (1968) Luis Tiant (1968), Nolan Ryan (1981), Dwight Gooden and Greg Maddux (1994 and 1995) have achieved it. Haren allowed one run on four hits to beat the Cardinals on July 18. That lowered his ERA to 1.96. He'll need at least four more strong starts to make a run at 1.70. In the American League, Zack Greinke has an ERA hovering around the 2.00 mark. So the Kansas City hurler also has a shot at joining a select group.

8. How many doubles can Brian Roberts hit this season? The Baltimore second baseman has been completely overlooked, but he's on pace to hit 56 doubles after smacking 32 in his first 92 games. He has four doubles in his past seven games, and he hit 51 doubles during the 2008 regular season. If Roberts continues his pace, he'd become just the 15 player to tally 56 or more doubles in a season. Most recently, the feat was accomplished by Todd Helton (2000), Carlos Delgado (2000), Garret Anderson (2002) and Nomar Garciaparra (2002). Helton hit 59 doubles. The all-time mark is 67 doubles by Earl Webb in 1931. The last time someone tallied 60 or more doubles was in 1936, when both Joe Medwick (64) and Charlie Gehringer (60) did so.

9. Can Ichiro Suzuki, who was batting .357 as of July 22, break his own single-season hits record? Suzuki missed the first eight games of the season due to a minor injury, but he's still on pace to finish the season with 242 hits. If you factor in those games he missed, there's no reason to think Ichiro doesn't have a legitimate shot at his own single-season record of 262 hits. Through July 22, he had 135. Thus, he'd need to tally 128 hits over his team's final 68 games. It might seem far-fetched, but he had 127 hits over his final 68 games in 2004, when he broke the modern-era record of 257 hits in a season, which was held by George Sisler (1920).

10. Which pitcher will make the biggest comeback in baseball's second half? Pedro Martinez is ready to join the Philadelphia Phillies after spending the first half of the season as an unsigned free agent. San Diego Padres starter Jake Peavy is beginning to rehab from an ankle injury that has kept him out since early June. Meanwhile, Arizona starting pitcher Brandon Webb elected to nix shoulder surgery and hopes to be back by September to help the Diamondbacks. Or perhaps it'll be Jason Schmidt. The 36-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers starter returned to action July 20 after missed most of the 2007 and all of the 2008 seasons. How well did he do? He got the win despite allowing three runs in five innings of work.

Stay tuned. It's still July, and anything can happen.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/earned_run_avg_season.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/2B_season.shtml
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/07/cards-willing-to-make-strong-offer-for-halladay.html