Every summer some things happen like clockwork. Ichiro strokes hits and hustles his way around the field, the Royals and Pirates fail to make any progress on the field and Johan Santana dominates the hapless hitters of the American League. You can set your watch to those things as easily as the Naval Observatory. Then there's the things that come out of, if you'll pardon the pun, left field. The players and teams who outperform middling expectations or the ones who fall below of the standard we expected before the season started are what makes each summer interesting. That's what keeps us watching and makes us smile or shake our heads in disbelief. This year's been no different.
Surprises
1. Josh Hamilton's return from the crackhouse. The Reds may be going nowhere fast but Hamilton has given everyone a reason to keep their eyes on the Great American Ballpark. After years wasted in a drug stupor, the 1999 first overall pick has finally made it to the big leagues and proven himself worth the wait. 14 homers, a 914 OPS and a serious run at the National League Rookie of the Year has the Reds thinking about moving Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey to make room for Hamilton in the everyday lineup. That he's handled it with the proper humility only makes it all the sweeter.
2. The contending Seattle Mariners. Their first baseman is batting .205, their DH has a 698 OPS and their starting rotation included Jeff Weaver, Horacio Ramirez and Miguel Batista when the season began. Yet the Mariners have survived all that, and Mike Hargrove's resignation to boot, to go 49-36 in the first half and make an impact on the AL playoff race. Can they keep it up? Weaver's pitching better, three earned runs in his last 27 and two-thirds innings, the bullpen is lights-out and there's always Ichiro.
3. Gil Meche is earning his money. The unanimous opinion to the $55 million Kansas City handed to Meche in the offseason was raucous laughter. But he who laughs last laughs best. Meche has a 3.54 ERA and is pitching in tonight's All-Star Game. If he pitched for a better team he might actually get to 10 wins, even.
4. Chad Gaudin introduces himself to the world. Gaudin wasn't expected to be a world-beater for the A's this season but more injuries for Rich Harden has forced him to play a major role for Bob Geren's club. He's stepped up in spades. He's 8-3 with a 2.88 ERA, All-Star numbers in anyone's opinion, and has backed up Dan Haren and Joe Blanton with aplomb as Oakland tries to keep pace with the Angels and Mariners.
5. Carlos Pena reintroduces himself to the world. Few players have ever flamed out in more places than Pena. Texas, Detroit, Oakland, Detroit again, Boston, the Yankees...that's most of the American League. At some point you run out of chances. Pena was at the point of no return when this season started but it looks like he'll be staying a while. He's hit 20 homers, driven in 52 runs and has an OPS of 1004 and leads Tampa in each category.
Disappointments
1. The Yankees are mediocre. One hot streak is all that seperates the Yankees from the Royals and no matter how much you might hate the Bronx Bombers you couldn't have predicted that before the season. Bobby Abreu, Robinson Cano, Johnny Damon and Jason Giambi all struggled to hit and the pitching staff's hopes were foolishly hung on the likes of Carl Pavano and Kei Igawa. There's still a glimmer of hope in the Bronx because of a weak schedule and the names that aren't on the backs of the jerseys but the clock's at 11:49.
2. Andruw Jones falls on his face. It's hard to imagine a player with Jones's resume coming up as short as the centerfielder has for the Braves. He's hitting .211 and has struck out 87 times, numbers that don't bring you much money on the open market. That's where Jones is headed after this season making one wonder if he might be pressing a bit in the face of untold millions.
3. Did the White Sox really win the World Series two years ago? The guts of the 2005 champs have remained intact but maybe that's not such a good thing. Jose Contreras can't get anyone out, Jermaine Dye is hitting like Jermaine Jackson and Ozzie Guillen might need to spend some time at Trembling Hills when all is said and done. They weren't up to contending this year but no one thought they'd be quite this bad.
4. Carlos Delgado hits the wall. Delgado turned 35 this month and it might be time to start wondering if there's going to be a dramatic turnaround. He still hits for enough power but he's not hitting much of anything else with consistency. Throw in the fact that his never-good fielding may actually be getting worse and the Mets may have an albatross on their hands.
5. Young phenoms aren't so phenomanol. There haven't been any Francisco Liriano's or Justin Verlander's in 2007. Tim Lincecum has pitched well in his last three starts but had an ERA of 5.88 before that, Homer Bailey is back in the minors after six starts to the tune of a 6.99 ERA and more walks than strikeouts, Phil Hughes dazzled but got hurt in his second start and Mike Pelfrey is 0-7 with a 6.10 ERA.
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