Boxscore

This week on the podcast, the CTS and I take the day off work to visit Victory Field where the Indianapolis Indians took on the Charlotte Knights for a business person’s special. The background noise is all AAA ball, but the subject matter is all NLC.

In addition to a minor sunburn, our seats on the third-base side gave us a great view of the Indians pitchers warming up in the bullpen.

I imagine the CTS took this photo in direct response to me giving him a hard time about taking pictures of the Reds cheerleaders at the last game we went to.

He’s safe!

You can’t beat the up-close experience of a minor league ball park.

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Boxscore

Rich Harden made his second start for the Cubs last night, and he was impressive. Harden went 7 innings and allowed only one run while striking out 10 batters. Unfortunately, Randy Johnson rose to the challenge and bettered him, shutting out the Cubs and allowing only 2 hits over his 7 innings.

The Cubs never scored, even after Johnson left the game. Perhaps those bats are missing Alfonso Soriano, after all. He made his first rehab start last night, so barring any setbacks, he’ll be back with the team soon. We’ll see if that’ll be enough to hold of the surging Brewers and the 100 year drought.

So the All Star break is over as of today. I, for one, enjoyed it. It’s always nice to pause and take a breath in the middle of a marathon. Get some water or Gatorade to drink, too, to replenish the fluids. Did you see that Powerade now has a zero calorie energy drink? It’s a little light, but not bad. I think it’s about time that the energy drinks got on the same caloric level as water.

But I digress.

The unofficial second half of the season starts today, and the Central’s looking much better than anyone predicted. The Cubs, Brewers, and Cardinals are all solid and looking to improve, while the Reds show promising talent but disastrously inept management. The Astros have fallen and the Pirates have a chance to improve.

So what do the bloggers of these teams think? Let’s find out.

Houston Astros

• The Crawfish Boxes sets some modest goals for the rest of the Astros season. Strangely, no choking of any kind is mentioned. Perhaps that should be the goal for the Cubs.
• Meanwhile, the Astrocast seems to be coming to grips with the teams’ suckage.

Milwaukee Brewers

• Milwaukee’s actually in a good spot for the second half, having replaced their worst starter with a recent Cy Young award winner. Still, Brew Crew Ball examines the team and thinks that there is room for improvement at second base. After his 3-error performance in the All Star game, my vote would be for Dan Uggla. Now there’s a winner!

St. Louis Cardinals

• There’s a lengthy post at Viva El Birdos (Wordy? Viva El Birdos?! Never!) arguing that the team should sign Barry Bonds to help the offense. That certainly wouldn’t bring back all the steroid-type allegations the team has faced over the past year. And we’ve seen how Rick Ankiel handles pressure.

Chicago Cubs

• After having 8 players be named All Stars, I don’t see a whole lot of trade rumors for the Cubs. Goat Riders writer Colin crunches some numbers and determines how awesome he thinks the Cubs players are. It’s nice that Cubs fans will always have that excellent first half to look back on.
• View From the Bleachers makes some fearless predictions about the Central race in the second half of the season. Strangely, he has the Cardinals choking and not the Cubs. I really can’t think of any better way to celebrate 100 years than that.

Pittsburgh Pirates

• The poor, lowly Pirates. They have a new GM this season, but so far he hasn’t done much noteworthy other than release Matt Morris. On the plus side, he’s not been fleeced in trades like his predecessor, but then he hasn’t really made any trades. Bucs Dugout picked up a quote from Huntington that indicates that might change soon.
• Pittsburgh Lumber Company looks at whether Jack Wilson should be traded. The answer is yes, yes, a million times yes.
• And Where Have You Gone Andy Van Slyke? presents some dream trades for the Pirates this year. Is there a more optimistic lot than Pirates fans? I want to see the team succeed, but after so many years of incompetent losing, I would find it hard to see a silver lining.

Cincinnati Reds

• The Reds are kind of in limbo. Everyone knows they should fire Dusty Baker if they want to actually capitalize on their talented youngsters, but there’s not much talk about it. It’s probably too depressing. The owner has hitched himself to Baker for several years, after all. Things could be turning around, though, assuming the Reds play basketball in the second half.
• And beat writer John Fay suggests the Reds should use a six-man rotation. Hey, if it’s a gimmick that sells tickets, I say go for it.

Boxscore

The Reds released their pent-up frustration at being mismanaged and being destroyed by the Cubs during the first two games of the series, exploding for 7 home runs and 12 runs.

It was a great offensive showing from Cincinnati, reminding me of years past when the offense was second to none. Back then, the team was limited by its pitching and front office more than anything. Now it’s limited by hitting and its front office. How things have changed.

The homer brigade members yesterday included Edwin Encarnacion, Brandon Phillips, Ken Griffey Jr., David Ross (who hit 2), Adam Dunn, and Joey Votto.

As for the pitching, the wind was blowing out at Wrigley. Ted Lilly sucked for the Cubs, which seems to be the case more often than not this year. Lilly never made it out of the third. Bronson Arroyo wasn’t much better, but he lasted 5 innings and had all the homers, so he got the win.

This week on the podcast, the Crack Technical Staff and I talk all-star selections, good players that bad teams out to trade, and everything in between. Specifically:

The Brewers signed C.C. Sabathia

Inspiring the Cubs to follow up with Rich Harden

The Pirates might like to send Jack Wilson to the Dodgers,

While the Reds may still think they’re in it.

Even though it’s clear that HAIRSTON SHOULD GO!

The Cubs represent in the All Star Game Roster

While the Reds represent in the List of Guys who Lied About Being Drafted in the 30th round.

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