MIDSEASON REPORT Halfway through this season, Pujols, Delgado standing out

Here's a look at one writer's picks for midseason awards.
By JIM SALISBURY
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
PHILADELPHIA -- Deciding on baseball's awards -- even the fictitious midseason variety -- usually requires the burning of at least a few brain cells.
But when it comes to the midseason most valuable players this year, there is little debate.
In the National League, it's Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals.
In the American League, it's Carlos Delgado of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Hands down.
Or in this case, wings down.
Both are having eye-popping offensive seasons. Both will be starters in Tuesday night's All-Star Game in Chicago.
High praise
Pujols, the 23-year-old wunderkind, has received some high praise this season.
Cardinals skipper Tony La Russa, who has run a game or two in his life, has called Pujols the most talented player he's ever managed.
And then, just the other day, Pujols received some more high praise, this time from fans, who made a late push to make Pujols the highest National League vote-getter in all-star balloting with 2,030,702.
Pujols deserved to be the highest NL vote-getter because he is having a potentially historic season.
Baseball hasn't had a triple crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski of the 1967 Impossible Dream Boston Red Sox. Pujols has a chance -- a good chance -- to end the drought.
Entering Friday, he was the majors' leading hitter at .365. He was second in the NL with 82 RBIs and tied for third with 26 homers.
Can he do it? San Francisco Giants manager Felipe Alou wouldn't put it past him.
"There's no pattern for pitching to this guy," Alou told reporters earlier this season. "To get him out, you have to hope he misses."
Pujols is in just his third season in the majors. He was the NL rookie of the year in 2001 and the MVP runner-up in 2002. He's halfway to his first MVP award.
Strong showing
Despite hitting at least 30 home runs and driving in at least 100 runs each of the last five seasons, Delgado has finished in the top 10 of AL MVP voting just once. If the season were to end right now, he'd win the award.
The pesky Blue Jays may have slipped recently, but they've still had a terrific first half, and they've done it with offense.
Delgado has been their leader. He entered Friday hitting .310 with 94 RBIs and 28 home runs, both league highs. He was the ninth player to have 90 RBIs before the all-star break. Hank Greenberg set the record with 103 RBIs by the break in 1935.
Some other midseason awards:
NL Cy Young
Very tough call here. The Dodgers' Kevin Brown and the Cubs' Mark Prior are having tremendous seasons, and Brandon Webb has been a lifesaver for Arizona.
But we're going with Jason Schmidt, the hard-throwing San Francisco righthander who has blossomed into one of baseball's best after coming up with the Braves and treading water in Pittsburgh for several seasons.
Schmidt entered Friday night's start against Arizona at 8-4, but his ERA was a dazzling 2.30. He had allowed just 89 hits in 125 innings. He had 131 strikeouts and 31 walks.
AL Cy Young
There are several deserving candidates, including Jamie Moyer (Seattle), Pedro Martinez (Boston), Tim Hudson (Oakland), Mark Mulder (Oakland) and Mike Mussina (New York Yankees).
But the pick here is Esteban Loaiza of the Chicago White Sox.
It would have been impossible to predict this before the season because Loaiza went to spring training as a non-roster invitee after posting a 5.71 ERA in 25 starts for Toronto last year.
Loaiza has lost three straight starts, but he is still 11-5 with a 2.21 ERA.
The White Sox are hoping that manager Mike Scioscia picks him to start the All-Star Game in his home park, but there's also a lot of sentiment for Moyer, the 40-year-old lefty who is heading to his first All-Star Game.
For Moyer's continued, unheralded excellence, it would be nice to see him get the start.
NL rookie of the year
For the excitement he's brought with his high leg kick and funky delivery, and for the way he's helped keep the injury-riddled Florida Marlins rotation together, we have to go with lefty Dontrelle Willis.
Since coming up from double-A on May 8, he has gone 8-1 with a 1.98 ERA in 12 starts.
Willis was initially left off the all-star team by NL manager Dusty Baker, but he was added to the roster when Brown went on the DL on Friday.
Willis is the latest phenom to come out of Encinal High School in Alameda, Calif. The others: Willie Stargell, Tommy Harper and Jimmy Rollins.
AL rookie of the year
At age 21, and with comparisons to Joe DiMaggio hanging over him (thanks to owner Vince Naimoli) Tampa Bay outfielder Rocco Baldelli has been brilliant.
The kid played all of 40 games above Class A before this season, yet he went out in April and set the major-league record for most hits in a month by a rookie with 40.
Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui and Kansas City closer Mike MacDougal deserve strong consideration, but Baldelli is the pick here. He's not as hot as he once was, but he was still hitting .308 with six homers, 43 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases entering Friday.
Baseball is showing off a new generation of stars this week, and it would have been great to have seen Baldelli in Chicago. For that matter, Aubrey Huff would have been a good Tampa Bay representative.
But the AL was in need of a pitcher, so the Devil Rays' representative is reliever Lance Carter. We'd rather see Rocco.
NL manager of the year
Frank Robinson has managed to keep the vagabond Expos in the wild-card hunt despite a torturous schedule, the loss of superstar Vladimir Guerrero, and injuries to several key pitchers.
AL manager of the year
How can it not be Tony Pena of the Kansas City Royals? They lost 100 games last year, parted with their ace (Paul Byrd) and their closer (Roberto Hernandez), and had their already low payroll of $47 million scaled back to $40 million (second lowest in the majors).
Yet, all the Royals have done is hold down the lead in the AL Central for much of the season. And it hasn't been easy.
Injuries have hit the rotation hard. Ace Runelvys Hernandez was out for two months before returning this weekend.
With the all-star break here, we can safely say that the Royals are for real and Pena's leadership is a big reason why.