MLB

The season isn't even half over, but there have been many spectacular performances out of unlikely, and likely, players so far this season.

Several players have stepped out of the shadows to showcase their abilities and many players have looked like stars in the first two and a half months of the season.

These players should not go unnoticed.

I recognize that you don't throw questions like this one around just because of a half season of mediocre baseball. Still, I want to know what the Cubs Community thinks: has Lou lost the fire in his belly?

Again, this is not an overreaction to what has occurred this season, though that is certainly part of it. The concern is based on the following:

Yesterday, before the Yankees walloped the Mets (very nice, I like), there was a bit of a tussle in the outfield. As anybody who cares knows, the confrontation was the culmination of two whiny jocks pretending to be tough.

Brian Bruney lambasted Fransisco Rodriguez for his excessive celebration on the mound. I agree that the excessive celebration (I'm looking at you Joba, Papelbon etc.) has got to go, but take it to him on the field.

Calling K-Rod out in an interview is cowardly and a desperate cry for attention.

Long after were all gone, people of the year 4718 will uncover some long lost DVDs. Scientists will analyze these videos for years upon years trying to figure out who it is. Some will say he was the prophet. Other may say he's God's second child. No one can figure out who this man was.

They will ask Peter Gammons (who reported on Jesus Christ's stickball league all them years ago) who this man was and if he has any relation to Christ. Peter will look up at the monitor and as if he was the old lady in the movie Titanic, he'll start having vivid flashbacks.

Is Hanley Ramirez talking his way out of South Florida? 

Marlins fans would certainly hope he is not, though his antics this season are certainly a growing concern.

In yet another bout of immaturity, the Marlins star player chose to speak out to the media regarding an 88 mph fastball he took off of the elbow in the sixth inning of yesterday's game. The pitch, coming from Toronto Blue Jays reliever Dirk Hayhurst, came two innings after a pitch found its way into Jeremy Hermida.

The All Star Game has taken its fair share of hits over the last 10 years. Whether it's ending in a tie or being the deciding factor for home field advantage in the World Series, the ASG has seen its better days.

Cliff Eastham just wrote a piece on the top 10 shortstops in the Hall of Fame and I was very interested in the piece.

One of the reasons it was so interesting to me is that I wrote a piece last week about the best 50 players in baseball history, but done considering positions so that I composed two teams who could theoretically play one another.

By doing the analysis in that way I had to consider who were the best catchers, who were the best third basemen, etc.

And of course, I had to consider the best shortstops.

32-29. That would be the Mets record through 61 games so far this season, sub par to many expectations. But fear not! There are still 101 games left in the season. 101 times we can scream out of immense joy, or out of even more immense pain. Because of this, I've decided to share my 6 bold predictions for the remainder of the season. Enjoy!

Angels fans suffered a blow this weekend, even while their team was romping on the field at home for a change, mercilessly sweeping a visiting Padres team from down the 5 freeway in San Diego.

What was lost in all of the positives this weekend, and also in the debacle that has been the Angels bullpen thus far, was the end of the season declaration from one Mr. Scot Shields.