*Aaron Gleeman is campaigning for Bobby Abreu for his first All-Star Team; you can vote online until tonight. Of course, you can vote in the AL as well, and I cast my ballot for Frank Thomas, who’s had no shortage of honors in his career but clearly deserves to be on this year’s team, as his .271/.563/.434 numbers are his best since 2000 and (on the Slg and OBP fronts) closely in line with his surefire Hall of Fame career averages.
*Really odd to see Barry Bonds pass Rickey Henderson’s career walks record while Rickey’s still out there playing ball.
*Through just past the midpoint of the season, Mike Piazza has appeared in all but one of the Mets’ games and is on pace for career highs in games and at bats while batting .310/.531/.399, close to his career averages, while catching in only about half of his appearances. Obviously, the move to first base has been a success on that score, and his glove work has been visibly improving. You can still see the catching instincts; I’ve never seen a first baseman do so many splits and I’ve certainly never seen one block throws in the dirt with his legs.
*Richard Hidalgo’s season slugging average is now .506. Just thought you should know that.
*Bret Boone has some unusually large splits this season: .246/.557/.361 vs. LHP, .237/.353/.286 vs. RHP, .284/.556/.348 in day games, .221/.333/.286 at night. What does that mean? Maybe nothing. But maybe it’s a sign of declining reflexes and/or vision.