It’s All-Star Game break time in Major League Baseball, which means that there are no chances for the Astros to lose again until Thursday. Surprisingly, the team’s record is an even 44-44 and they somehow find themselves in contention for a playoff spot. Of course, the Astros are also seemingly playing in the worst division in baseball. There can be no other explanation for why the team is actually in contention.
But since this is the so-called halfway point of the season, I thought we would give out some midseason awards.
Half-Season MVP: Michael Bourn. Bourn’s average has been hovering around the .290 mark most of the season. He’s always on base, and he’s had no difficulty with being able to steal bases or score runs. He’s also playing a fantastic defense — the two runners he nailed at the plate on Friday night helped the Astros to a victory.
Half-Season MVP (Runner Up): Hunter Pence. Pence is going to his first All-Star Game tomorrow night. He’s settled into right field and he and Bourn cover tons of ground. He’s hitting for a decent average with some decent power numbers. He’s still got a great arm on defense. Pence and Bourn have the makings of a fantastic outfield for years to come. Now if the team could just do something about that lump in left field.
Best Pitcher: Chris Sampson. Because of injuries throughout the
pitching staff, Sampson has turned into this season’s Doug Brocail,
which means Cecil Cooper’s using him just about every game, and which
means that Sampson is about to break down from overuse.
Most Shocking Development: The mere fact that the pitching staff hasn’t murdered Cecil Cooper yet
has to be the most amazing, shocking thing about the season so far. Russ Ortiz and Brandon Backe have accused him of being a liar. Roy Oswalt has expressed his displeasure. To me, the big question isn’t whether
Cooper gets fired, it’s whether one of the pitchers goes Shawn Chacon
on Cooper.
Most Shocking Development (Runner Up): Miguel
Tejada lied to Congress about HGH and was convicted for so doing, yet
Major League Baseball chose not to suspend him. So much for that saying
that it’s not the crime, it’s the lying about the crime that brings
about the most grief.
Most Non-Shocking Development: Kaz
Matsui’s continued visitations to the disabled list. Seriously, didn’t
anybody with the Astros check this guy’s injury history before giving
him that giant contact last year?
Biggest Whiner of the Year: Geoff Blum. Blum decided to loaf it
around the bases the other night, and was booed by the fans. Blum
proceeded to argue with some fans during the game, then, instead of
apologizing for doing his best Carlos Lee impersonation, he came out on
the attack the next day and said no matter what, the home team should
never be booed.
Most Puzzling Decision of the Season: The Astros at best have three legit starting pitchers — and that comes
only from combing Russ Ortiz, Mike Hampton, Brian Moehler, and Felipe
Paulino into one pitcher. But for some reason, Cecil Cooper decided to
go with a six-man rotation, but while telling Jim Deshaies he was doing it, forgot to inform his pitchers that he was going to the six-man rotation.
Most Puzzling Decision of the Season (Runner Up): Geoff Blum, infielder, claims he’s injured. Darin Erstad, backup
outfielder and infielder, is injured. Kaz Matsui is a slight breeze
away from an injury. As a result, the team sends one of it’s few
healthy infielders to the minors so that they can pick up a third
catcher off waivers and put him on the roster.
This article appears in Jul 9-15, 2009.
