The Mid-Season Awards

Well, it's the All-Star Break. Baseball's built-in hiatus that gives us fans an opportunity to reflect on the build-up of hopes and expectations of the first half, and prepare for the grind of the second half, where the true identity and destiny of our favorite teams will be discovered. Which can only mean that's it's time to ask that traditional mid-summer question...

Am I really watching The Celebrity/Legends Softball Game right now?

At I Bleed Orange, the All-Star break is also time to recognize the best and worst of a 2010 that thus far has seemed to be made entirely of bests and worsts.

This last weekend, I took a non-Giants-related road trip to the Bay Area, and to my delight was able to listen to KNBR most of the way there and back. On the drive back on Sunday, the first caller on the Post-Game Show claimed that Giants would not only win the pennant this season, but win four World Series titles in the next ten years... and this guy was taken seriously by the host. How I do miss The Sports Leader. My expectations may not be quite that high, but the root-root-root for the home team vibe at KNBR put me in an appreciative mood, so without further ado, here's the bests of the first half of 2010:

BEST SURPRISE:

Aubrey Huff

I thought about giving this award to Barry Zito, since he's strangely been the most consistent guy on the starting staff. Could have easily gone to Andres Torres as well, for the way he took the leadoff role and ran with it like some kind of less conceited version of Rickey Henderson. I was already expecting good things from Torres, however, so I couldn't call him a surprise. For me the biggest surprise is Aubrey Huff, who could have easily become another underperforming aging veteran and most Giants fans wouldn't have even blinked. Instead, Aubrey defied those who scoffed at the deal that brought him here and hit 17 home runs in the first half. Currently tied for eighth in the NL with Ryan Howard and Scott Rolen, sluggers who hit at two of the most hitter-friendly parks in the league. No AT&T Park inhabitant has kept that kind of company in awhile, so for bringing offense back into the conversation, this award goes to you, Aubrey.

BEST GAME:

April 17 - Giants 9, Dodgers 0

No-brainer for me. This game had everything: Offense, a dominant Tim Lincecum (7K's in 6 innings), and silent Dodgers fans on national TV. I was thinking of picking a game with some walk-off jubilation, or maybe a game where most of the offense came from the lineup rather than Lincecum himself (he had three hits and three RBIs), but what put this one over the top is that without this win, the Giants would currently be 0-6 versus the bums and I don't think I could stomach that.


BEST FRONT OFFICE MOVE:

Bengie Molina to Texas for Two Players who Aren't Bengie Molina

Okay, okay. I've got a lot of love for Bengie. He did a great job calling for a young, developing staff until they became a young dominant staff. He was a decent cleanup hitter when we needed one. There were also many stretches in the past couple seasons where he carried the team on his back. I won't forget him for any of that. I also did take his side in thinking that ESPN was unfair to play the Chariots of Fire theme during a slo-mo clip of him trying to score from second. But when you lose a step, you lose a step. And Bengie lost steps on the offensive and defensive side. That, plus his tendency to mope around when he wasn't on the field made it a clear what the Giants had to do. And to the fans' surprise, Sabean did it. Now, not only are we enjoying the fruits of what Buster can do when Buster is free to do what he wants any old time, but Bengie has moved on to a more Bengie-friendly environment. Everyone's happy. Especially me. More like this please, Mr. Sabean.

I'm going to take a cue from the softball legends and run out of gas for the evening. The All-Star break is three days long, right? Terrific. I'll see you after the National League breaks the curse.

Coming Wednesday: The Worsts of the First Half of 2010, and Predictions for the Second Half.