by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

As the first half of the season concluded today, there are some surprises and some others that we found to be what we expected. Mathematically, the first half of the season ended around July 4. After all 30 teams concluded their action today, and now will recess until next Friday, after the All Star Game this Tuesday the 14th, some teams have played approximately a minimum of 89 games and a maximum of 98. Most teams have between 64 to 72 games left to play in the post All Star part of the season.

American League West: Today, the LA Angels who last season won this division and won a total of 98 games, most in baseball, took over first place, as Houston lost their sixth consecutive game and dropped to second. Mike Trout and Albert Pujols are the best “one-two”punch in the league.The Oakland Athletics who played 91 games are in last place nine games from the Angels with three teams in-between. Who is going to win it? There will be trades for most of these teams, maybe with the exception of the Seattle Mariners who loaded-up this past winter and they ended this first half next to last, one game on top of the A’s. The two teams which I broadcast for, the LA Angels for Fox Sports West and the Oakland A’S for KIQI San Francisco/Multicultural Radio network, are book-ends, one in first the other one in last.

How would have predicted that? Well the LA Angels were expecting to win this season, so maybe they are not “suprised”at where they are today. There are two surprises in this division. #1 Seattle Mariners, who were the “trendy”pick in Spring Training to win the west, and #2 the Oakland Athletics, which produce good young pitchers every year, leading the league in pitching but first in the world in errors, a decent hitting team, with a very toxic bullpen the past four months. The A’s star is 25 year old Sonny Gray, easily the best pitcher on both sides of the bay, on his way to a 20 game victory season with the best earned run average. I do not think the A’s will finish last, but I am not very sure they can win this division or even make a run as a wild card. I would be greatly surprised if I am wrong. Bob Melvin is an excellent manager, two-time winner of Manager of the Year, but he cannot walk on water.

American League East: Used to be “the beast of the east”, but as we ended Sunday this first half, actually there is no beast here, but all the teams separated by just 6 1/2 games from the New York Yankees in first to the Red Sox in last. Now, how many times in recent history we have seen the Yanks in first and Red Sox Nation in last? This is anybody’s division to win. Surprise: Few expected the Yankees to be leading here, and many never expected the revamped Red Sox to be in last. Sensational finish by September is possible here, because there is no team much superior than the other. The ideal team here would be the offense of the Toronto Blue Jays with the pitching of the Tampa Bay Rays. These two teams can still win this division. The Red Sox are not far behind for a last place team, but I do not think they have the horses, they should go after Phillies Cole Hammels, they really need him, but the Dodgers might also have a shot at Hammels. We will see.

American League Central

The American League Champions Kansas City Royals ended with 52 wins(most in the American League)and on top of this division making it a two-team race with the Minnesota Twins in second place just 4 1/2 games out. Detroit nine games back. After that Cleveland and Chicago are both 11 games out. There should be no surprise the KC Royals are on top, this is the most athletic team in this league and by far the most confident, dangerous combination of youth and talent lives in KC these days. Surprise: Detroit Tigers, once a powerhouse, so far a mediocre .500 team, but the biggest surprise here are the Minnesota Twins with a payroll that Marlins Giancarlo Stanton alone could afford, are in second place, like their veteran player Torii Hunter would say “awesome dude!” I do expect Kansas City to win this division, they are hitting more home runs this year, they still are a fast team, (speed never takes a day off or have a slump)their defense is solid and their bullpen is the best in baseball. The Chicago White Sox might not end the season with Manager Robin Ventura at the helm, they are a huge disappointment in the south side of Chicago. Oh, if the Tigers fire their manager Brad Ausmus, do not be surprised if Omar Vizquel get his first shot at managing in the major leagues, he is their first base coach and he is waiting for the opportunity to manage, he is totally bilingual and as respected and qualified as anyboy I know today.

National League West. The LA Dodgers finished this Sunday on first place 4 1/2 over the San Francisco Giants, and that might be the same way this division might finish at the end of September. The only thing the Dodgers have to do is to beat San Francisco, which head-to-head they can’t seem to do it, the Giants are an interesting bunch, playing for a great manager like Bruce Bochy, they cannot afford any more injuries and they have to play much better against Arizona and Colorado, two teams that give them trouble. The trick for the Giants is staying close, I am not completely sold on the Dodgers, they do not have the fire the Giant have. But I expect the Dodgers to pick up a starting pitcher. The Giants could also use the same. To advance into the playoffs here you have to win the division, the wild card will probably not come from the west this season. Surprises: There are none here, I think the teams would finish just like they finished as of today.

National League East. The Washington Nationals were the pick to win this league last year and also this year. In 2014 they finished with 96 wins, tops in this league and second to the LA Angels in baseball. Hard to find a better starting rotation than the Nationals. They are in first as we speak with a two game lead over the NY Mets and seven games ahead of Atlanta. Atlanta still could make a run, but it looks like a two team race. Miami is 11 games out and the Phillies who just visited San Francisco, the only thing they took out of San Francisco is some good sourdough bread, they are playing for 2016, no 2017? Maybe. Surprises: The Mets have great young arms and although they do not score much, we know that pitching can carry you a long way, so in a way they are a surprise here. But the San Diego Padres, who a month ago fired their excellent manager Bud Black(look for him to get a real shot as the GM with the LA Angels next year)are by far the biggest disappointment here in the west.

National League Central. The St Louis Cardinals are on top with record of 56-33,(also the best record in all of baseball) but they had a much bigger lead until they ran into the Cubs and the Pirates recently, then they sputtered and ended with just a two game lead over second place Pittsburgh. The Pirates are a solid team that could overtake the Cards, however, I still think the Cards will find a way to cross the finish line. How about them Cubbies? New manager Joe Maddon said he was going to win this year and he didn’t disappointed, so far. In a place where winning is a novelty, he has his Cubs eight games out of first. Cincinnati and Milwaukee are done this season. Wild Cards in the National League could come out from this division. Surprises: To me the Chicago Cubs and the way they have played, they still could make a run to win this division, or a very possible wild card spot. For the north siders anything above .500 is a bonus. The New York Mets are another pleasant surprise and I think they may fade during the second half that begins by the end of this week.

Enjoy the All Star Game. My prediction: American League 5 National League 3.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for A’s baseball and the Spanish TV voice for the Angels and does News and Commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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