Elijah Dukes is on the verge of a big breakout. Believe it!

Within the next week or so, teams will be coming up on the 81 game mark, the halfway point of the schedule. Think of it as sliding into second base. Some teams, like the Rays, Red Sox, Phillies, and Cubs have hit themselves a ground rule double, and will stride into second standing up. While the Marlins, and White Sox have had to turn on the jets a bit, and will slide in head first, hustling all the way. Still others, like the Diamondbacks, Cardinals, and Yankees are working harder than they should have to to be where they are, and are chugging into second, sort of like the fat kid on every little league team who hits ground balls that end up at the fences. In other words, home run effort yields a double, just barely. Then there are teams who hit the ball deep, trotted down towards first, turned it on a little for part of the way around the bases, and went into a slide that has left them a few feet short of the bag. These are the teams that needed to point to someone in the organization with the crooked finger of blame, and make someone accountable. In other words, this is the Mets, Mariners, and Blue Jays; teams that have looked in the mirror and decided that somebody had to go, had to be held responsible for the underachieving that has left the team embarrassingly short of where it should be.

Willie Randolph opened up to the public about his firing in an article printed in Friday’s NY Daily News. In an eloquent and classy way, Randolph pretty much forgives GM Omar Minaya, though he never really comes out and says that. Anyway, if you have time to read it, follow the link to see just how classy a guy Randolph is. I still think he deserved better. Just as I still think Minaya should be fired too. He built that mess, and there is nobody else to blame.

The owners of the Mariners realized that the “fish stinks from the head” and fired GM Bill Bavasi first. Then they let go of John McClaren, whom I am guessing did not want to follow the directives coming from above. Whereas the Mets are a team of highly paid superstars, that are too old collectively to do what management wants them to do, the Mariners are just a bad team. There are too many players in roles that are ill suited for their talents (or lack thereof), and several of the personnel moves have left baseball people scratching their heads, wondering what the heck they were thinking.

The Toronto situation is a little bit different. There have been problems with John Gibbons before, fights in the clubhouse, confrontations with players, and verbal jousting with GM J.P Ricciardi. But ultimately it was the underachieving players who cost Gibbons his job. Guys like Alex Rios, and Vernon Wells, who simply don’t always play to their potential. The Blue Jays are getting great work from their pitching staff, but little or no support from the offense, which should be a powerhouse, considering the pedigree and past accomplishments of some of them. Is Cito Gaston the answer? We’ll find out soon enough. The last time he stepped into the breach like this, back in 1989, he replaced Jimy Williams, and engineered a 77-49 turnaround to won the division.

It will be interesting to see if any other heads will roll. Jim Leyland could be the next victim of underachievement with the Tigers. The Milwaukee Brewers should be better than they have played also. Could Ned Yost be in danger? Of course, any Yankee manager is always in danger of incurring the wrath of the Steinbrenners. Don Mattingly could replace Joe Girardi any time, especially with punk Hank Steinbrenner at the helm. The Diamondbacks seem to be sliding, sliding, and sliding backwards too. Watch out Bob Melvin!

Before I roll into the baseball scores, I wanted to share a link to some astounding video. If you saw Sportscenter the other night you may have seen this already. I’ve always wondered what the rules would say about an ambidextrous pitcher and a switch hitter meeting in a game. This video does nothing to answer the question, but it sure is interesting to watch. BTW – a shout out to Bugs and Cranks for the video link.

Now lets look at some box scores.

Good to see that Troy Tulowitski is back with the Rockies, and Clint Barmes is supposed to follow very soon, but the team may have found itself a second baseman in the interim. Utility player Jeff Baker has been on fire lately. In 14 games since May 30^th, Baker has hit .452 with 5 home runs, 11 RBI, 15 runs, and a stolen base. He’s currently got a six game hitting streak going, and has homered in each of the last four games. He’s not likely to keep this up, but he is certainly forcing the Rockies to decide whether or not they want to just hand Barmes his job back.

Don’t look now, but methinks Randy Johnson might be done. His last four starts have be abysmal, with an ERA of 7.77 over his last 24.1 innings, and batters hitting him at a .324 clip. Reportedly his velocity is down to the mid eighties, and his slider is no longer biting. He has just seven strikeouts in his last three outings combined. The K’s were pretty much the only reason to gamble on him, so it’s time to let him go if you were taking that gamble.

The Mariners, under new manager Jim Riggleman, beat up on Atlanta Braves pitching Friday with 15 hits, including 8 doubles. Most prognosticators had the Mariners contending this season because of their pitching, so it will be interesting to see if Riggleman can turn this bunch of misfits around. In the meantime, Adrian Beltre is certainly surging of late. Over his last 7 games he is batting .393, with a home run, 5 RBI, and 5 runs. He is a great buy low target, and has typically been a better second half performer over his career.

Carlos Delgado is finally heating up during June; he is batting .275 over his last 18 games, with 3 home runs, 10 RBI, and 10 runs. He is another player who has performed better in the second half over his career. Don’t listen to the guys who say he is done. He’s going to have a big second half and is a great buy low opportunity.

Another guy who is quietly coming around is Robinson Cano. He’s not setting the world on fire, but over the last month he is batting .272, with 13 RBI, and 17 runs. He’s raised his average 32 points, and is poised for a big second half. In case you’re wondering, over his career he’s batted .334 over the second half as opposed to .279 in the first half. Go get him before his owner wakes up.

The Rangers and Nationals had a 14-inning marathon Friday in which Elijah Dukes went 5 for 6, with a home run, two RBI, two runs scored, and two stolen bases. Dukes is living up to his considerable potential lately; in June he is batting .347 with 2 home runs, 12 RBI, 10 runs, and 5 stolen bases. Most importantly, he is being patient at the plate as his .434 OBP shows. It could be that Dukes is going to bust out during the second half and show us why he was once one of the hottest prospects in the game. If you could use a five-tool player on your team, and are willing to gamble a little, Dukes could be a nice pickup for the second half.

In case you missed it Friday. Curt Schilling announced that he will have season ending shoulder surgery within the next week or so. It’s also very possible that his career is over. Let me be among the first to say, that if he isn’t a Hall of Fame player, then the Hall needs to rethink itself. Believe it or not, several writers are already saying that they don’t think he has the regular season stats to get in, and that his post-season resume won’t do it alone. Hog wash!

OK, that’s all for me today folks. Shake it easy.