It's On

So, we finally have the nominee. To me, John Roberts seems to be much more like Anthony Kennedy than Antonin Scalia. Say what you will about Kennedy, he is more conservative than O'Connor was, but he also is loathe to overturn Supreme Court precedent, like, for example, Roe. Do I think that this is a good nomination, no I do not. But he's not Bork either, he doesn't have that kind of history with regards to insane political views and statements. What we might have is a surprise down the line, but I doubt it. I think that we likely will see a confirmation, but it might get really interesting if we get some incredibly unexpected happening, like, oh yeah, Anita Hill.

Not surprisingly, the AL East is kind of an obsession here. With their win tonight, along with the Yankees losing in Texas, the Red Sox now are atop the division again. Every game from now on, every move, like the ones the Sox made tonight, getting Adam Hydzu, designating Alan Embree and training for Tony Graffanino. Really, it shouldn't be this way, at least until the end of August, after the waiver deadline, because by then we know what needs to be done in the stretch by each team. Both teams will make moves, because this is what they do, and now the Orioles will have to respond with something, just to show that they are trying to be competitive.

I am actually pleased right now with where the Tigers are now, two games under. Considering they haven't had Magglio Ordonez for the majority of the year, along with big chunks without Carlos Guillen, and virtually no production from first base when Carlos Pena was there. With Bonderman pitching very well, and the knowledge Justin Verlander will be up in September, the hope for the future is no very real.

Here would be my picks, right now for the MVP and Cy Young races: Now understand, I tend to take the hockey view of MVP, meaning "Player Most Valuable to His Team" as opposed to simply the best player.

AL MVP:
Under my criteria, I could say Javy Lopez of the Orioles, since they went in the tank for a while after he went out, but I'm going to say Miguel Tejada. He's the best leader in the sport, and along with Vlad Guererro, he's more than capable of single-handedly carrying his team. And he's had too. Lopez was hurt, Sammy Sosa is not Sammy anymore, and Raffy is near the end of his career. By the way, Rafael Palmeiro going for 3,000 and 500 plus HR's is automatic Hall of Fame. I don't care for the argument that people like Skip Bayless make, that he would be in "The Hall of Very Good" and not the Hall of Fame. Is he the flashiest guy in the world, no he isn't , but the numbers have to speak for themselves in this case. And I hate it when writers make the argument that "so and so only finished in the top ___ of the MVP voting this many times," and then not put out the fact its the writers who vote for the MVP, and also put people in the Hall. If a guy, like Palmeiro, flies under the radar, he'll always fly under the radar with them, don't hold that against him. When Palmeiro came out of Mississippi State, he was overshadowed by Will Clark. When he went to Texas and his first contract was up, after being overshadowed by Pudge and Igor Gonzalez and Canseco, the Rangers thought they would upgrade by bringing in, you guessed it, Will Clark. Palmeiro signed with the Orioles, where he was over shadowed by Cal, despite being a better player than Cal for nearly all of their time together on the team. Then it was back to Texas, to be overshadowed by A-Rod, now Baltimore again, and Tejada. Just because he's played with the greats and those who attract media attention, doesn't detract from his own greatness.

AL Cy Young: Mark Beuhrle - No one dictates a game to his pace like Beuhrle, and no one is as efficient. Plus, I'm not totally buying Jon Garland yet.

NL MVP: To me, this is easy, for the reason of the hockey criteria. Derek Lee has carried the Cubs on his back and kept them with in sight of the playoffs. There isn't the kind of production coming from the rest of the lineup they thought they'd get, so whatever they do get is based on Lee. Albert Pujols, as great as he is, plays on a team with an All-Star player at every single position.

NL Cy Young- This is where I make Kaiman happy. Last year, when Randy Johnson pitched brilliantly but didn't win a ton, showed that record is important, so take out Roger Clemens. I sense we're going to get another second-half fade from Dontrelle Willis. As much as I love the Nationals, they only give the Cy Young to closers who are just dominating, and Chad Cordero doesn't have the track record other such closers do. So the award goes to Chris Carpenter, who's been the anchor of the Cardinal staff which needed time to give Mark Mulder his bearings. Carpenter has been absolutely brilliant, while totally flying under the radar.