A Look at the All-Star Break

The All-Star Break is only one week away, which means the league has already divided the good from the bad teams. Playoff races are starting to begin, rivalrys have been formed, and major prospects have made their mark on KJNL sqauds.

By: Matt Sanders

All-Star Break Top 5:
1. Chicago White Sox-The boys in black were projected to finish in the middle of the AL West, not lead it. The line-up isn't flashy, but Mike Jacobs and Pat Burrell lead a potent scoring squad while Zack Grenkie leads a no-name but effective pitching staff.
2. Housten Astros-A powerful offense led by Josh Hamilton has dominated the NL all but once, againt the cellar dwelling Braves. A weak rotation is padded by a stellar bullpen, which should lead it to the NLCS.
3. Seattle Mariners-The Mariners are really good, but they were supposed to be great. An All-Star line-up has been crippled by injuries and slumps, but one can only think that they will explode eventually. The bullpen has been devestated by season ending surgieries and ineffectivness, and must improve for Seattle to clinch the AL West.
4. St. Louis-The offense isn't flashy, but it's done a great job scroing runs for the best rotation in the league. The first four starters in St. Louis could be in the top two on any team, givign the offense plenty of room for only moderate production.
5. Colorado Rockies-Nobody talks about them, but they are tied for the second best team i nthe NL after Housten. They have lots of injury problems however, which could lead to their exit from the playoff race if another NL team steps it up.

NL MVP: Josh Hamiltion-When Housten signed Hamilton, it most likley wasn't becuase he was expecting 179 RBI. Thats wht he is on pace for, which would set the bar high for the league record in later seasons. Can Hamilton keep it up and lead Houston to a title?

AL MVP: Chase Utley-Seattle had a good idea what they were getting in Utley, but his current numbers are off the charts. Can Utley lead Seattle to a AL West title?

NL Cy Young: Edison Volquez: Like Hamilton, this kid came out of nowere. He now leads the NL in ERA.

AL Cy Young: Cliff Lee: Getting it over some very good pitchers in the AL. Lee, another guy who didn't have the bar set very high, has done great so far.

Okay, annoucing the first KJNL All-Star team
Annoucing from a loud, outragous, microphone:
AL
At Catcher, from the Twins...Geovany Soto!
At first...playing for the Bosten Red Sox...Adrian Gonzolez!
At second...for the Seattle Mariners...Chaaaase Utley!
At third...for the Toronto Blue Jays...Ryan Braun!(Braun is 3B eligible)
At short...for Chicago...Carlos Guillen!
In the outfield... for the White Sox...Pat Burrell!...Carlos Quinten!.....and from the Mariners...Carlos Lee!!
Now the pitchers...
From the Cleveland Indians, Brandon Webb!!...and Tim Lincecum!!!...from Minnesota...Cliff Lee!!!...and Ryan Dempster!!...and Carlos Zambrano!
The closer....out of Kansas City....Francisco Rodriguez!
And the manager....The White Sox GM!!!

Now..the NL...
At Catcher...from Housten...Brain McCann
At first...from Colorado...Lance Berkman!!!
At Second...wearing a big C on his chest..no not Cincy....Dan Uggla!!
At thirdbase...wearing a big C on his chest....no not Chciago...Chipppper Jones!
At shortstop...from Houston....Miguel Tejada!!!
For the outfeilders...from Colorado...Manny Ramirez!!...from the Astros...Josh Hamilton!!!....and from the Reds...Ryan Ludwick!
The pitchers....From Cincy...Edison Volquez!.....from LA...Javier Vazquez!!...from the Reds...Roy Halladay!!....from Colorado...Disuke Matsuzaka!!...and...the vet...from Arizona...Mike Mussina!!
The closer...from the Rockies...Jon Papelbon!
If you have any complaints, post them on the board..but who really cares.

KJNL Week 9 Recap

By Staff Writer: Brad Atkinson

Interleague play starts this week and runs almost until the end of the season . . . individual recaps are below.

Boston over Kansas City (6-5-1)
The Red Sox stay on their winning ways, albeit just barely, and move into a tie for first place in their division. The Royals winning streak stops at 3 because of a rather mediocre week . . . the Red Sox took advantage in a timely fashion.
MVP: Ryan Spilborghs - .409/1.389, 4 R, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 1 SB
Goat: Ian Snell – 2 GS, 9.0 IP, 2.56 Whip, 13.00 ERA . . . Royals lost ERA by 0.06.

Minnesota over Detroit (6-5-1)
Another squeaker in a week full of squeakers is found here. The Twins get back on the winning track while the Tigers continue to struggle. This game was so close that it could have turned on several individual performances. The bottom line is that the Twins keep pace with the rest of their division and stay in the race for the playoffs.
MVP: Ryan Dempster – 2 W, 12 IP, 10 K
Goat: Robinson Cano - .154/.308, 2 R

Seattle over Cleveland (8-2-2)
The Mariners dominate the batting side of the ball with near-record setting numbers and their mediocre pitching numbers give them a blowout against a suddenly stumbling Cleveland team. The Indians are now in a tie for first in their division and have two non-division leading teams ahead of them for the Wild Card in the AL. Losing four in a row is a hard pill to swallow for a team that started off 5-0.
MVP: Chase Utley - .391/1.587, 9 R, 5 HR, 14 RBI, 2 SB
Goat: Chris Young - .172/.502, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI

Chicago (AL) over Toronto (6-5-1)
The White Sox blast to 8-1 with their seventh win in a row riding great batting with just enough pitching to get by this week. The Blue Jays meanwhile continue to stake their claim as the worst team in the league . . . this is the closest they have been to the winner’s circle in some time.
MVP: Jose Reyes - .367/1.224, 10 R, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 3 SB
Goat: Jair Jurrjens – 2 GS, 0 W, 9 IP, 2.78 Whip, 9.00 ERA

St. Louis and Arizona tie (6-6-0)
A sister kisser between the first place Cardinals and the last place D’backs is a bit disappointing for both teams. None of the categories were really all that close so neither team can say that they nearly won. With the tie Arizona remains in last while the Cardinals remain in first, the only team in their division that is over .500.
MVP: Scott Kazmir – 2 GS, 2 W, 14 IP, 16 K, 0.64 Whip, 0.64 ERA
Goat: The most disastrous start for someone actually in a lineup – Carlos Silva 0.2 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 0 K.

Colorado over Cincinnati (6-5-1)
The fifth game of the week decided by half a win or less and the Reds could have really used this one. They go to two losses in a row but still tied for a wild card spot. The Rockies keep their streak of only losing to first place teams alive and are solidifying their early hold on a wild card spot in the NL.
MVP: Manny Ramirez - .320/1.153, 6 R, 3 HR, 8 RBI . . . Ellsbury had 8 SB this week.
Goat: Aaron Harang’s 10 H in 4 IP against the lowly Pirates cost the Reds the Whip win and this game.

Los Angeles over Chicago (NL) (7-2-3)
The Dodgers pull into a tie for the last wild card spot in the NL and keep the Cubs a half game behind themselves and the Reds in the race. This win was more about the Cubs underperformance than any dominance by the Dodgers . . . but at this point teams are taking wins any time they can get them.
MVP: Ian Kinsler - .360/.953, 6 R, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 1 SB
Goat: Dan Uggla - .120/.314, 2 R, 1 RBI

Atlanta over Houston (9-2-1)
Houston streak ends at 8 to start the season. A blowout might have been expected by some in this game between the best and worst of the NL, but not many would have picked it in this direction. The Braves get 14 starts from their pitchers and set records in wins and K’s while the Houston bats have a tough week in every category but HR. Atlanta is becoming the team we all thought they could be.
MVP: Texiera and Bruce combine for .404/1.353, 11 R, 5 HR, 18 RBI, 2 SB while Cueto, Santana and Colon combine for 6 W.
Goat: 6 batters with 3 or more starts with weeks batting under .200.

Week 10 Preview:

An eight week inter-league battle royale begins:

Braves (2-6-1) at Red Sox (5-4)
Two teams on minor winning streaks butt heads to see who can continue on and who will fall off just a bit. The Braves are 2-0 under new management.

Cubs (3-5-1) at Tigers (2-7)
Two struggling teams match up to see who can better right their ship and try to get back on track for the playoffs.

Cardinals (5-3-1) at Indians (5-4)
Two first place, but struggling teams meet up in an important game for each. The Indians are in danger of dropping out of first place and the playoffs altogether while the Cardinals are not in danger this week, but only have a 1.5 game lead to work with.

Reds (4-5) at Blue Jays (1-8)
The Reds are licking their chops at the chance to take on the worst team in the league while the rival Cardinals are facing a first place team. It’s time for them to get back in the divisional race.

Astros (8-1) at Royals (3-6)
Two teams that lost last week ending long winning streaks try to get back on track against each other. The overall records lean way in favor of the Astros, but last week proved that records are not a good indicator of week-to-week performance.

Dodgers (4-5) at Twins (6-3)
The Dodgers try to solidify their tenuous playoff hold while the Twins are simply battling to stay competitive in their division despite a great 6-3 record.

Diamondbacks (2-6-1) at Mariners (6-3)
The Mariners get what seems to be the easiest NL team for their first matchup, but Arizona just tied a first place team last week and the Mariners are battling in a really tough division.

Rockies (6-3) at White Sox (8-1)
The Rockies get the bad luck of drawing the only team in the AL with a better record than theirs in their first go in inter-league. The good news is that they get them out of the way early, the bad news is that winning with David Ortiz on the DL and Billy Butler back in the minors is going to be tough.

Good Luck to all this week!!