Tonight, to mark the halfway point in the 2008 baseball season, Major League Baseball will send its best players to fabled Yankee Stadium for the 79th All-Star game, where it will once more be determine that the American League is indeed better than the National League. The 2008 season has been entertaining thus far, with enough drama and stories to satisfy even the casual fan. Consequently, I'm excited to see what the rest of the season holds in store.
In fact, there is probably only one thing I am more excited for than baseball's second half: the release of "The Dark Knight" this Friday. With both Batman and baseball returning this week, it will be hard to dampen my spirits.
Because I'm in such high spirits, and because you may not have been following along yet this season, I thought I would fill you in on some of the highlights of the season's first half -- three and a half months that can be characterized by two words: insanity and stupidity.
As far as insanity goes, how are the Tampa Bay Rays near the top of the American League East? The Rays enter the break just a half of a game behind the Red Sox. The play of the Rays has captured the attention of the nation, and Red Sox Nation in particular.
No longer is Tampa Bay the laughingstock of the league; their preseason name change from the Devil Rays to simply the "Rays" must have worked better than anticipated. Incredibly, the Rays have swept the defending champion Red Sox twice this year already, a feat that no team has accomplished since the 2001 world-champion Yankees.
Also insane is the fact that the Chicago Cubs are competent this year. My last column explored the many ways that I envision the Cubbies' season crumbling to yet another heartbreaking end, but respect must be paid to the North Siders. This story is insane in two ways. First, the "Loveable Losers" shouldn't be winning this much. Second, I should never have to personally give the Cubs respect.
Nevertheless, the Cubs have the best record in baseball going into the All-Star game, an accolade that I cannot deny Chicago or their ever-faithful fans.
Perhaps the most unexpected, but also the most satisfying, story of this season has been Ken Griffey Jr.'s return to prominence. Junior belted his 600th career home run this year, joining the likes of home run kings Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays.
Griffey was the golden boy of baseball when he first hit the scene, but a tragic spree of injuries over the better part of the last decade has hurt Junior's play. Now he's healthy, productive, and almost certainly steroid-free: an undeniable triumvirate for popularity in modern-day baseball. If anyone deserves to hit 600 home runs, it's Junior.
As for stupidity, notable players include Alex Rodriguez, Shawn Chacon and (of course) Manny Ramirez.
The big story recently has been the rumored fling between A-Rod and Madonna. A-Rod, in case you were wondering, is married to a gorgeous woman, but probably won't be for much longer, as his wife has filed for divorce with the news that A-Rod is attracted to 49-year-old divas.
I understand the "coolness" of being able to say that you "had relations" with Madonna, but you still have to wonder what A-Rod is thinking. He's not like normal people; what would be a novel, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Average Joe shouldn't be that special for a guy making almost $70,000 a day. It is slowly becoming apparent that New York City is poisoning A-Rod's reasoning skills.
Shawn Chacon of the Houston Astros did something all baseball fans have wanted to do at least once while following their respective team: he tried to choke Astros General Manager Ed Wade and threw him to the ground. Chacon was soon released by the team, raising the question of whether or not it was truly worth it for the ex-Texas hurler.
And what chronicle of stupidity is complete without Manny Ramirez? The man who high-fives fans during play and goes to the bathroom during pitching changes has now added a new level of unconventionality to his life: assault. When Red Sox employee Jack McCormick failed to procure 16 tickets to a sold-out game for Ramirez's guests, Manny felt it was necessary to shove him to the ground. As usual, the incident was "handled internally" by the Red Sox organization. "Manny being Manny" has clearly reached new heights of stupidity with this immature altercation.
Hopefully this is just the beginning of the insanity and stupidity to come. Whatever happens, I'm sure the rest of the season will continue to remind us all why baseball is America's favorite pastime.
