In 264 at-bats Berkman is hitting

In 264 at-bats, Berkman is hitting .364 with 20 homers and 60 RBI, and 65 runs scored. His OBP is an outstanding .447 and is slugging .701.Best of the rest: Chipper Jones, 3B, Atlanta Braves (.390 AVG, 16 HR, 45 RBI, 48 R); Edinson Volquez, P, Cincinnati Reds (10-2, 1.71 ERA, 110 K); Chase Utley, 2B, Philadelphia Phillies (.291 AVG, 22 HR, 63 RBI, 56 R). Cy Young AwardAmerican League: Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians Lee is usually great in the first half of the season. This year he has been exceptional and has the Indians in A.L Central contention, even with C.C. Sabathia starting the season off on a terrible note and Fausto Carmona on the DL.

Lee is 10-1 (losing to Volquez and the Reds) with a 2.45 ERA, 79 strikeouts, and just 15 walks.Best of the Rest: Joe Saunders, Anaheim Angels (10-3, 3.06 ERA, 46 K); Ervin Santana, Anaheim Angels (9-3, 3.17 ERA, 91K); Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays (6-2, 1.76 ERA, 61 K).National League: Edinson Volquez, Cincinnati Reds Volquez has been a surprise. The Reds picked him up in the Josh Hamilton deal, which is working out nicely for both teams Volquez is 10-2 and league-leading 1.71 ERA and 110 K He is fourth-worst in the N.L. with 45 walks but have not affected his performance at all.Best of the Rest: Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks (11-3, 3.27 ERA, 82 K); Ryan Dempster, Chicago Cubs (8-2, 2.76 ERA, 81 K); Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs (8-2, 3.06 ERA, 68 K). Rookie of the YearAmerican League: Evan Longoria, 3B, Tampa Bay Rays- Everyone knew Longoria would be good whenever the Rays decided to bring him up He's been better than good. Sure, David Murphy's numbers look better, but Longoria is in the playoff hunt, and that counts in voting no matter how much the voters deny it. Longoria's numbers yield a .255 average, 11 homers, 35 RBI, and 33 runs.Best of the rest: David Murphy, OF, Texas Rangers (.272 AVG, 10 HR, 48 RBI, 41 R); Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, Boston Red Sox (.279 AVG, 5 HR, 23 RBI, 52 R, 34 SB)National League: Geovanny Soto, C, Chicago Cubs- Soto has better competition for this award in Joey Votto, an upcoming Jay Bruce, and teammate Kosuke Fukudome.

Soto had one blazing month and has been solid at the plate and behind the plate all year for the Cubs. He's handled the entire pitching staff with incredible ease for a rookie catcher. Soto is hitting .282 with 12 home runs, 43 batted in and 26 runs scored for the first place Cubs.Best of the rest: Kosuke Fukudome, OF, Chicago Cubs (.298 AVG, 5 HR, 31 RBI, 48 R); Joey Votto, 1B, Cincinnati Reds (.286 AVG, 12 HR, 37 RBI, 34 R); Jair Jurjjens, P, Atlanta Braves (7-3, 3.43 ERA, 62 K). Reliever of the YearAmerican League: Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees. For those who have said Rivera is not the same closer, you were wrong He's off to his best start in about four or five years The Sandman is fourth in the A.L. with 20 saves and boasts a 0.79 ERA, only 15 hits allowed, a 0.53 WHIP, and 39 strikeouts in 34 innings He has only allowed three earned runs and three walks too. Rivera is 2-2 but has no blown saves this season.Best of the Rest: Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox (3-2, 1.95 ERA, 21 SV, 41 K, 3 BS); Francisco Rodriguez, Anaheim Angels (0-1, 2.25 ERA, 28 SV, 30 K, 2 BS); George Sherrill,Baltimore Orioles (2-2, 3.21 ERA, 25 SV, 32 K, 3 BS).National League: Brad Lidge, Philadelphia Phillies- This really came down between Lidge and Kerry Wood, but Lidge edges out Wood thanks to zero blown saves this season.

Lidge has 18 saves, a 0.90 ERA, with 39 strikeouts and a record of 1-0.Best of the rest: Kerry Wood, Chicago Cubs (4-1, 2.58 ERA, 45 K, 18 SV, 4 BS); Billy Wagner, New York Mets (0-1, 2.10 ERA, 35 K, 16 SV, 5 BS); Brian Wilson, San Francisco Giants (0-1, 4.40 ERA, 33K, 19 SV, 2 BS). Manager of the YearAmerican League: Joe Madden, Tampa Bay Rays If there was any doubt to this Madden turned theperennial cellar dwellers into actual A.L East contenders. The Rays really came out of nowhere this season and Madden has handled the young players nicely. Only question is, does his team have the experience to make a run for the postseason?Best of the rest: Ozzie Guillen, Chicago White Sox; Mike Scioscia, Anaheim Angels; Bob Geren, Oakland Athletics.National League: Lou Piniella, Chicago Cubs Sweet Lou has the Cubs leading the Major Leagues Last time they were doing that in June? 1908 What happened in 1908? The Cubs won their last World Series. Although the Cubs were expected to be good, very few expected them to be this good. Piniella has worked around two Alfonso Soriano injuries and now has the team back on track after putting ace Carlos Zambrano on the DL. He has also managed the bench nicely and used the bullpen well to keep the lead.Best of the Rest: Charlie Manuel, Philadelphia Phillies; Tony La Russa, St Louis Cardinals;Fredi Gonzalez, Florida Marlins..

Minutes into the NHL's 2008 Entry Draft the Florida Panthers traded their star center and captain Olli Jokinen to the Phoenix Coyotes.In return the Panthers received defensemen Nick Boynton and Keith Ballard, as well as the 49th overall draft pick.Jokinen is Florida's all-time scoring leader, and has led the team in goals and points for the past five seasons. He has also been the team's captain since 2003.For these reasons, I can see why many hockey fans would be angry with GM Jacques Martin for making this trade.However, I think this was a good trade.The only complaint that I have is that Martin should have pushed for a higher draft pick from the Coyotes. Phoenix had the 8th, 28th, 35th, and 49th overall selections in this years draft in the first two rounds The Panthers got the last one. Martin should have pushed for the 28th pick.Nevertheless, I still believe this trade was a good thing for the Panthers. During the middle of the 2007-2008 season I began to think that perhaps it would be best if Jokinen was traded. He did provide a good amount of offense, but he didn't do much else.Jokinen was often lackadaisical and slow to get back on defense. He rarely hustled to make a play on defense and seemed to only care about scoring.However, on the occasion that the opposing team pulled its goalie, Jokinen was on his toes, eager to pad his stats with an empty net goal. This was a poor example for the youngsters that Jokinen was supposed to be leading.Current GM and then head coach Jacques Martin began to grow tired of Jokinen.