Josh Hamilton may have lifted the spirits of the bored, home run-hungry 2008 All-Star crowd with his long home runs, but the real story was the disastrous debut of what would have been the oldest rookie pitcher 71-year-old Clay Council.
The story of Albert Belle can be summed up in one word: controversy. His talent on the field was matched by very few, and his propensity to deal with the media the way he did, made national headlines.
RealGM Search
By Christopher Reina
At RealGM, we use the Field Impact Counter (FIC) to objectively measure how effectively teams are performing. We combine the position players and pitchers' FIC scores to measure which teams have played the best so far in 2008.
Team: FIC Per Game Total (FIC Position Players/FIC Pitchers)
1. Boston Red Sox: 19.5 (9.1, 10.4)
The Red Sox are first, second, or third in just about every major statistical category.
2. Chicago Cubs: 19.1 (8.7, 10.5)
No team has a greater run differential than the Cubs.
3. Chicago White Sox: 18.4 (8.2, 10.2)
The White Sox lead the AL in homers with 129.
4. Philadelphia Phillies: 18.3 (8.5, 9.8)
Jimmy Rollins has an .872 OPS during the month of July, exactly what the Phillies need in the second half.
5. New York Mets: 17.8 (8.0, 9.8)
The Mets entered the break winning their previous nine games.
6. Texas Rangers: 17.7 (9.2, 8.5)
The Rangers lead the entire MLB in OPS with an .816 mark, and the Texas summer isn’t half over.
7. St. Louis Cardinals: 17.2 (8.0, 9.3)
The Cardinals lead the MLB in road OPS with .797.
8. New York Yankees: 17.1 (7.4, 9.7)
Johnny Damon currently has a .847 OPS which is his highest total since 2004.
9. Tampa Bay Rays: 17.0 (6.4, 10.6)
The Rays have a very good .244 batting average against.
10. Minnesota Twins: 16.6 (7.0, 9.6)
Minnesota leads the the majors in triples with 28.
11. Milwaukee Brewers: 16.3 (6.5, 9.9)
CC Sabathia has a 2.40 ERA and a 2-0 record in his two Milwaukee starts.
12. Toronto Blue Jays: 16.2 (5.9, 10.3)
Thanks largely to Roy Halladay, the Jays have had nine complete games.
13. Detroit Tigers: 15.9 (7.4, 8.5)
The Tigers have a .799 OPS against left-handed pitchers.
14. Los Angeles Angels: 15.8 (5.1, 10.7)
The Angels continue to hit like an NL team but get enough pitching to win.
15. Baltimore Orioles: 15.8 (6.9, 8.8)
The Orioles are deceivingly good this season despite the trades of Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard.
16. Atlanta Braves: 15.7 (6.5, 9.2)
Mark Teixeira has an .858 OPS in his walk year.
17. Houston Astros: 15.2 (6.3, 8.9)
Lance Berkman has a .347 average, 22 homers, and 73 RBI's and is my MVP of the first half.
18. Pittsburgh Pirates: 15.2 (6.3, 8.9)
The outfield of Jason Bay, Nate McLouth, and Xavier Nady have kept the Pirates scoring runs.
19. Cincinnati Reds: 14.8 (5.7, 9.1)
Beyond strikeouts, the Reds are trailing most teams in the NL in every major statistical category.
20. Los Angeles Dodgers: 14.4 (4.6, 9.7)
Joe Torre’s first half with the Dodgers has been a mixed bag particularly because of Rafael Furcal’s injuries and Andruw Jones’ overall ineffectiveness.
21. Florida Marlins: 14.4 (5.5, 8.9)
The Marlins lead the MLB in homers with 135.
22. Arizona Diamondbacks: 14.3 (4.7, 9.6)
The D-Backs pitching staff is third in the MLB in strikeouts with 741.
23. Cleveland Indians: 14.3 (5.6, 8.6)
Grady Sizemore leads the AL in homers but Travis Hafner only has four as he’s been battling a shoulder problem.
24. Oakland Athletics: 14.2 (4.3, 9.9)
The A’s lead the MLB in ERA with a 3.39 mark but have struggled at the plate.
25. Colorado Rockies: 13.8 (5.8, 8.0)
The Rockies lead the MLB in sacrifice hits.
26. Seattle Mariners: 13.5 (5.1, 8.4)
The Mariners were clearly not ready for the close up many baseball pundits predicted.
27. San Francisco Giants: 13.4 (4.2, 9.2)
The Giants are dead last in AB/HR with 57.0.
28. Kansas City Roylas: 13.2 (4.2, 8.9)
After a quick start, the Royals are very much back to reality.
29. San Diego Padres: 11.1 (2.5, 8.6)
I can hardly imagine how horrible the Padres' offense would be without Adrian Gonzalez.
30. Washington Nationals: 10.8 (2.7, 8.1)
John Lannon, Odalis Perez, and Tim Redding have all pitched well enough to be better than a combined 14-19.
