Yes, batting average does not tell the whole story, but the top five in the AL as of Saturday is worthy of some sort of short story, at least:
1. Hank Blalock, .360
2. Melvin Mora, .351
3. Milton Bradley, .342
4. Rocco Baldelli, .340
5. Michael Young, .333
Raise your hand if you had any of those guys hitting over .330 at this point of the season. Further, Mora has a .451 OBP and a .584 slugging, for a handsome 1.035 OPS. But don't raise your hand if you predicted that. Head to Vegas instead. Chances are, however, if you had predicted that you'd be in some sort of institution.
I mentioned this in an earlier in-game thread, but Edgar Martinez is simply amazing. He hit his 13th home run Saturday, and he's showing no signs of slowing down -- at least when it comes to hitting. He was already the slowest person in the universe before this season, and now his sore hamstrings don't permit him to run at even half-speed.
Is Albert Pujols underrated? Maybe it's just me. His OPS stands at 1.081, yet he's seldom mentioned as one of the best hitters in baseball, which he certainly is. Whether he's really 23-years-old or not, as a hitter he's Manny Ramirez without the dread-locks or the $20 million salary.
On his always fun-to-read blog, Aaron Gleeman had Rafael Furcal as his NL MVP of the first third of the season. Whether that is true or not -- my vote is for Gary Sheffield, but Aaron's thesis is just as valid -- Furcal is certainly one of the MEPs (most entertaining players) in the game. It's great fun to see a guy shorter than I am (I'm 5'7") swing for the fences all the time and it's great fun to see him throw to first base. For three out of the last four years I've had Furcal on fantasy teams, waiting, ostensibly, for the kind of year he's having in 2003. Try to guess which year I decided not to own Furcal.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20030601015136999