Broad Street Heroes

At Broad Street Heroes I like to stick to my bias as a Philadelphia sports fan, but sometimes I have to give credit to people on other teams, and this is one of those times.  There have been many spectacular performances in the first half of the baseball season, both individual and team.  I would like to congratulate the players and teams that made these unforgettable moments possible throughout the first half of the 2009 season.

Most Valuable Player: Albert Pujols (1B – St. Louis Cardinals)

2009 Stats: .332 BA    73 R    102 H    32 HR    87 RBI    71 BB    35 K

Like many baseball fans I have been amazed by the career of Albert Pujols.  Since his rookie campaign in 2001, Albert has been the most consistent hitter in all of baseball.  The closest comparison that I can think of when it comes to batting for average and power while demonstrating exceptional defensive play would be Hank Aaron.  Yes, the Hank Aaron who was a 24 time All-Star, who had 755 career Home Runs (the record as far as I am concerned), 2297 RBIs (most ever), and 3771 career hits (3rd all time).  Hammerin’ Hank never hit 50 HR in a season, but he hit 30 or more 15 times, with 8 of those seasons being 40 homers or more.  Hank was the measure of consistency, and in his prime he averaged around 40 HR, 120 RBI, and a .320 batting average (1956-1965).

Now that Albert Pujols is in his 9th major league season, the comparisons to the greatest who ever played the game are starting to make sense.  He has a career batting average of .334, 29 points higher than Aaron’s.  Albert has 351 HR through 8 1/2 seasons and is on pace for 20-30 more dingers this season, bringing his career average to around 43-45 HR per season.  At that pace, 755 HR in a 20 year career is certainly attainable, and the only question is, how soon until Pujols has the home run crown?

So why is Albert deserving of the Mid-season MVP award?  Well, he is on pace to become the first player since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 to win the Triple Crown in hitting.  The Triple Crown, for those of you who aren’t too familiar, consists of leading the league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in for a season.  Yastrzemski was the last to do this for the Boston Red Sox in 1967 when he hit .326 with 44 HR and 121 RBI to lead the American League.  As of today, Pujols leads the league in HR and RBI with 32 and 87 respectively.  He is 4th in the league in batting average at .332, with Hanley Ramirez leading the league at .346.  What are the chances that we will have the first Triple Crown winner in 42 years?

Most Outstanding Performance: Jonathan Sanchez (SP – San Francisco Giants)

On July 10th, Jonathan Sanchez was called up to start in place of 4 time Cy Young winner Randy Johnson, who was put on the DL with a shoulder strain.  All that the Giants asked of him was to pitch effectively against the division rival San Diego Padres.  Sanchez responded with the first No Hitter of the 2009 MLB Season.  An error by 3rd basemen Juan Uribe in the 8th inning was the only blemish on what was a perfect night for the young starter.  It was the closest a pitcher has come to a perfect game since the guy Sanchez replaced, Randy Johnson, threw a perfect game against the Atlanta Braves on May 18, 2004.  The no-no was the first one since Carlos Zambrano’s no hitter for the Cubs on September 14th of last year.  With this spectacular performance, Jonathan Sanchez cemented himself into the record books, while also possibly earning himself a spot in the Giants starting rotation.

Biggest Surprise (So Far…): J.A. Happ (SP – Philadelphia Phillies)

When the defending World F****** Champions took the field in 2009 everybody expected World Series MVP Cole Hamels to be the ace of the staff.  After only using 7 different starters in 2008, the Phillies have used 9 different starters through 86 games this season.  Brett Myers landed on the DL with a hip injury, replacement Antonio Bastardo joined him after 5 starts, and Cole Hamels has been very inconsistent.  So who has kept the Phillies pitching staff level during this temultuous time?  Rookie J.A. Happ.

Happ started a few games last season and pitched fairly well, earning a few wins and no decisions.  This year Happ has been nearly unhittable.  He is 6-0 with a 2.90 ERA and 61 Ks.  At times when the Phillies haven’t been able to produce runs, J.A. has pitched effectively enough to let them win games.  Jamie Moyer has the most wins on the team with 9, but he also gets the most run support of all the Phillies starters.  Kudos the J.A. Happ for solidifying himself in the Phillies rotation while being the only starting pitcher to be 6-0 through the All Star Break (Johnathan Broxton, closer for the Dodgers is also 6-0).

Bonehead Play of the Mid-year: Luis Castillo (2B – New York Mets)

If I didn’t hate the New York Mets so much I would feel sorry for them.  They are fielding a minor league team, their pitching is decimated, and they can’t hit or field.  None of this was depicted in a grander fashion than in an Interleague matchup between the Yankees and Mets on June 12th.  The Mets were winning 8-7 going into the 9th inning.  The untouchable K-Rod came in to close his 17th game in 17 chances and got two outs while allowing two batters to reach base.  This set the stage for the biggest bonehead play of the year.  A-Rod came up to the plate, and K-Rod got him to pop up to second base to end the game.  But the game didn’t end with the ball being caught securely in Luis Castillo’s glove.  Instead, Castillo DROPPED THE BALL and allowed Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira to round the bases and score, giving the Yankees the come from behind win, 9-8.

When half of your team is on the DL and you are one of the only starters still playing you have to make the plays you are supposed to make.  Luis Castillo couldn’t do that.  He personifies the Mets season so far, missed chances.  When the Phillies went in a stretch where they lost 14 of 18 games, the Mets still weren’t able to capitalize and are currently 6 1/2 games out and in 4th place in the NL East.

Honorable Mention: Milton Bradley for throwing a fly ball into the stands when it was only the 2nd out of the inning, allowing two runners to score.  Fortunately for Bradley, his team was already losing the game, unfortunately for him, it reminds us all of how he tore his ACL while arguing with an umpire.  What an idiot!