The  Memorial Day weekend is the traditional start of summer when it comes to baseball.  The pundits usually discount whatever the early trends may indicate, tending to wait until ‘summer starts’ before lending any credence to how any one team or individual player may be playing.  So now, I will check in with a few observations, by no means a complete survey, but rather a cursory impression of what has happened and what we may expect  to see play out in the next few months.

Jorge Posasda, yet ANOTHER catcher, leading the AL in hitting (.371)!  Last year Joe Mauer defied all logic by maintaining a league leading batting average to win the title, the first one for a catcher in many, many years.  Now Posada attempts to do the same.  He has become a much better hitter over the years, a more complete player, and though I have always regarded him as one of the best catchers anyway, his performance this year is a bit unexpected.  With this lineup around him, it is possible he will be “overlooked” by opposing pitchers and continue to hit.  

Derek Jeter is second in the league in hitting, leads the league in hits and has become a virtual hitting machine.  With over 2200 hits in his career so far, at age 32 he may very well eclipse the magic 3000 hit mark by far before he is finished with his stellar career.  No matter what his critics may say (lack of range in the field, etc.) he is the modern day standard to which all shortstops should be held.

Hanley Ramirez, my pick for the NL rookie of the year a year ago, continues to excel.  Last year he batted leadoff.  Now he is firmly ensconced in the batting order in the three hole, he is hitting .337 and is argueably a more valuable player than Jose Reyes, the budding star for the Mets who everyone has dubbed as possibly the best player in baseball right now.   It will be interesting to follow their careers over the next decade or two.

The resurgent Milwaukee Brewers are for real.  JJ Hardy, a shortstop, is leading the NL in homeruns AND rbis.  Followed closely by Prince Fielder in both categories, with a cast of young and energetic players surrounding him, the Brewers have a good chance of persevering through the summer months and going to the post season for the first time since 1982.   I remember sitting around in the midst of a group of scouts in LA

five years ago as Fielder and Tony Gwynn, Jr. were competing in the Area Code Games, and listening to these scouts talk about the Brewers young talent.  Their scouts have been single minded and fortunate, drafting good young players and developing them quickly in their farm system.  At that time, the team was the door mat of NL, but now they are a legitimate contender, an exciting team to watch.

Is Bonds finally showing his age?  After starting the season with 11 home runs in 72 official at bat, he has been in a slump.  His average has dropped 50 points but his on base percentage remains high as opposing managers will not allow him to hit in crucial situations. Usually.  But at a soon to be 43 years of age, it is possible Bonds is pushing the outside of the productivity envelope. Time will tell; he still looks good at the plate, but he has become too passive, taking too many pitches and missing the few good ones he might see in the course of a game.  Some years ago, he seemed to never miss the one good pitch he saw, but things have changed.  No matter how much criticism he has received for alleged steroid use, there is no doubt he is one of the best hitters we have ever seen.  

And for you Giant fans out there, remember Jeremy Accardo?  The relief pitcher traded last July to the Blue Jays for Shea Hillenbrand?  If you do not recognize the name, take note as you will be hearing more from this guy in the future as I predicted last year.  His era for the first 19 innings this year was zero… 0.00, giving up something like 8 hits and walking just two batters.  How much did Hillenbrand contribute last year to the Giants?  About the same as Accardo’s earned run average that now reads at 1.27, having finally given up some runs and blowing his first save.   Wonder if he blasted his teammates like Armando Benitez did upon blowing his latest save on Saturday night against the Rockies?  I doubt it.

The Oakland A’s continue to be competitive in spite of a rash of injuries (they lead the majors with players on the DL), they are missing their closer, their regular CF (Mark Kotsay) and RF (Milton Bradley, as usual, injured again), their set up man (Justin Duchscherer) and a starting pitcher (Rich Harden, as usual again).   And they still compete.  How are they doing it?  They have the best staff ERA in the major, Danny Haren is pitching like Clemens with a microscopic ERA (1.70, a full two runs and change better than the league average, and the AL pitchers face the designated hitter lineups on a daily basis), and good fielding. 

Again Eric Chavez is having a forgettable season (.230 batting average, .285 on base percentage), and Billy Beane should never have made this guy the face of the franchise with the lucrative long term contract he signed upon Tejada’s exit from Oakland.  On the other hand, the A’s develop talent.  For example, Dan Johnson is having a good season that may yet turn out to be a great season, hitting  .327 with an on base percentage of .438!  And rookie Travis Buck (outfielder) has five homeruns in limited duty (due to injuries) and a .370 on base percentage, displaying a good eye and the plate patience needed to excel for the A’s .   Undoubtedly they will press the Angels as might the Mariners in spite of the fact the Angels were the pre season favorites and are playing like they deserved those accolades.