Weekly Hit Ground Ball: the Second Half

It’s one of those oddities of MLB that the second half begins not once teams have played half their games, but when the regular season gets going again after the All-Star break.  The fact that teams had less than eighty-one games left when play resumed on Thursday (some had just seventy-two) puts even more emphasis on this being the ‘business end’ of the season.

Judging by the first half, it’s going to be full of excitement, drama and intrigue.    

Pedro being Pedro

I couldn’t help but be excited at the news that Pedro Martinez has signed a contract with the Phillies. Mets fans will have spat out their tea upon reading that, but the dreamer in me is quite happy to throw common sense to one side in this case.

Every fan devours stories of the greats of the game when they first come to baseball; be it Babe Ruth’s game-changing home run swing, Willie Mays’ all-action brilliance or Sandy Koufax’s knee-buckling curveball.  While the press are always ready to lift players up to such lofty heights, primarily so that they can knock them back down again, it’s natural to be cautious at comparing current players with the ‘immortals’.

Even so, there are some players where it’s obvious that they will be remembered for a long time.  Several outstanding pitchers have dazzled in the Majors in the last ten years who fall into that bracket, not least Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens.  Yet there was always something extra special about Pedro for me. 

Timing was a large part of that. 1999 was my first full season of following baseball after becoming hooked in 1998.  Pedro’s 1999 season was one of the greatest by any pitcher of all time, indeed some would even argue it was the greatest season ever.  The numbers still leave you awestruck: 23-4, 2.07 ERA, 313 strikeouts in 213.1 innings.  That he followed it up with another stellar season in 2000 (18-6, 1.74 ERA, 284 K’s) further underlined his dominance.  Aside from his injury-interrupted 2001 season, Pedro’s pitching from 1997 to 2003 was otherworldly and he combined that on-field performance with a colourful character, something that is becoming increasingly rare these days as sportsmen look to project a sanitized image for their personal sponsors.

Now, to Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr all of that is irrelevant, just as it is when you look at Pedro’s return from an analytic slant.  Last year was a struggle with the Mets and expectations won’t be too high in Philadelphia.  It’s a low risk contract at $1 million (plus a potential $1.5m in incentives) and the Phillies are looking to Pedro for some solid starting innings, rather than to be an ace. 

However, the fan in me spies a potential fairytale: Pedro rolling back the years for a couple of months and helping the Phillies into the postseason (leaving the Mets in their wake). 

Halladay on his way?

The Phillies’ signing of Martinez caused a ripple of interest, but Roy Halladay is the pitcher everybody is focusing on.  The Blue Jays’ ace started for the AL in the All-Star Game this week and had to field endless questions about his future during the build up to the event.  It seems likely that he will be playing for a different team come August, but it’s anyone’s guess as to which team that will be.

The reigning World Series champs are one of the teams in the Senior Circuit to have been linked with Halladay as their rotation looks dicey beyond Cole Hamels, with Brett Myers out for the year.  The Brewers made the big pitching trade last year with CC Sabathia and it could be an NL Central team that creates waves in ’09.  Milwaukee probably don’t have the pieces left to do it again, but the Cardinals could really make themselves World Series contenders by building a very strong rotation in Halladay, Carpenter, Wainwright, Lohse and Pineiro. 

In the NL West, the Giants and the Rockies are chasing the Dodgers as well as the wild card and adding Halladay could make all the difference.  And L.A.’s early season form shouldn’t fool anyone, not least GM Ned Colletti, that they can stand pat and breeze their way into the playoffs.  Their record is partly due to bullying weaker division mates (25-8 against the D-Backs, Padres and Rockies) in an unbalanced schedule.

In the American League, the main suitors would appear to be the Angels, Rangers, White Sox and Yankees.  Acquiring Halladay would push either of the first two to the West pennant as the division is there for the taking.  He would be a perfect fit for the Angels as, in contrast to previous years, it’s been their pitching that has let down a very good offense so far this year.  The Rangers always need good pitching and have the advantage of a loaded farm system from which to make a trade happen. 

The White Sox had the will and the resources to agree a trade with the Padres for Jake Peavy earlier this year, only for the pitcher to invoke his no trade clause and veto the deal, so they are expected to be in the running in a tight Central division.  As for the Yankees, they are always involved in discussions when a top player becomes available, although whether the Blue Jays would trade ‘Doc’ to an AL East rival is in doubt.

All-Star game

The All-Star game in St Louis on Tuesday night was a pleasant surprise.  It was a crisply played, two and a half hour game that, while never exploding into immense excitement, was enjoyable to watch.  Another NL loss and an early Albert Pujols error wasn’t part of the script for the home crowd, although Yadier Molina made up for it slightly by driving in a run and scoring another.  And regardless of your league allegiance, you had to appreciate Carl Crawford’s catch at the wall, possibly robbing Brad Hawpe of a home run.

Of course, it was just a big shame that Five weren’t covering the game.