Here are the standings from just past the halfway point of the season.
We're starting to see some separation in the standings, as some of the lesser teams are falling fast. The Andujar Jar Binks and the Master Bateman continue to lead their respective divisions, while Mike Lambchop's Playalong, the Going Going Thon, and the Kiwis have slipped quite a bit. But with half the season remaining, anything can still happen.
Here's what happened over the last couple weeks:
6/28 - Mike Hampton threw a 3-hit shutout against Nacogdoches, walking 2 and striking out 8. According to Hampton, "There are three important elements in pitching success: location, location, location." The Constable echoed his comments, saying, "He hit his spots time and time again."
7/1 - Jeff Bagwell was named Batter of the Month in the Astros Division after hitting 4 homers with 16 RBI and 13 runs while posting a .393 OBP for the month.
7/1 - Bill Doran won the Colt .45s Division Batter of the Month for June. He hit .391 on the month, scoring 17 times while batting in 15.
7/1 - Larry Dierker earned the June Pitcher of the Month for the Astros division. He was 5-1 in six starts with a 2.36 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 49.2 innings.
7/1 - The Colt .45s Division Pitcher of the Month was Wade Blasingame. He went 4-0 with a 1.16 ERA during June.
7/3 - JR Richard continued to dominate opposing hitters with a 16 strikeout game against the Andujar Jar Binks. He now has 216 strikeouts in 142 innings on the year.
7/3 - Mike Hampton threw another shutout, this time against Mike Lambchop's Play-Along. This time he credited his catcher Mark Bailey saying, "Me and him are just locked in out there. He's so great at having a feel for hitters. I couldn't do what I'm doing without him."
Now, here's a look at the stat leaderboards
Jeff Bagwell has taken the batter WAR lead away from Glenn Davis after his strong June. Bagwell is now hitting .326 with 12 HR and 12 SB on the year. Davis is still the more feared slugger, though, as he leads the league in both HR with 19 and RBI with 65 while hitting .290.
As mentioned in the news ticker above, JR Richard is having an amazingly dominant season against the best Astros history has to offer. He's allowing just 5.9 H/9 with striking out 13.7 per nine innings, though Larry Dierker has the WAR lead right now while going 14-5 with a 2.59 ERA.
