A hAlf-seAson full of surprises

As Major League Baseball passed 81 games, halfway to 162, a team which made the playoffs a year ago was on top of the AL East and a team from the Lone Star State led the AL West.

Only it was Tampa Bay, not the Yankees, and the Texas Rangers, not the Houston Astros, occupying those top spots.

Wait, there’s more. There’s Baltimore chasing the Rays in the AL East, Miami the closest pursuer to Atlanta in the NL East, Arizona leading the NL West and San Francisco second, ahead of L.A. and San Diego.

Cincinnati spent time atop the NL Central and St. Louis has spent most of the season in the cellar of that division.

Just like everyone predicted back in March.

Some might cringe at this upheaval, especially TV executive who keep putting the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets and Dodgers in prime viewing spots no matter what they’re doing while the better

Random Thoughts

Phil Blackwell

stories are elsewhere. Yet if you’re a true baseball, you’re loving this. Optimism is everywhere when a season starts, but usually when summer rolls around that’s replaced by stark realism and a long slog toward the autumn.

From the outset, the Rays set the surprising tempo, matching a modern MLB record with a 13-0 start. Despite some regression to the mean, Tampa Bay might have a club better than the two that won pennants in 2008 and 2020.

It will need to be. Baltimore’s 2022 progress wasn’t a fluke, and the Adley Rutschmannled Orioles have outperformed the inconsistent Blue Jays and Red Sox, not to mention the injury-prone Yankees, who just aren’t the same without Aaron Judge and aren’t sure when he’ll return.

Texas took an even bigger leap, from irrelevant to unstoppable at the plate, and the Rangers get enough pitching even with Jacob deGrom shelved (again). Yet it has to worry about Houston roaring back to life and the Angels with a healthy Mike Trout and incomparable Shohei Ohtani, who might as well secure the MVP now.

What’s not as pretty is the lame-duck A’s and rebuilding Royals careen toward 110 defeats or worse. Seattle hasn’t scored enough runs. Nor has Cleveland, who has seen Minnesota take the lead in an awful AL Central where the White Sox have disappointed and Detroit remains a few steps away from contending.

Over in the National League, it’s turned into a routine of sorts to report on the woes of the Mets and Padres, who combined to spend high nine figures for…teams below .500 stuck in fourth place. But it’s better to cel -