On Baseball | First-half success, unofficial awards

The all-star break arrives today. Sounds like a good time to hand out some first-half accolades, for entertainment purposes of course.

National League MVP. At age 23, Milwaukee's Prince Fielder is living up to the hype he received on his way to the majors.

And he's doing it as the leader of a first-place team.

Entering the final weekend before the break, he led the NL in homers (27), was second in RBIs (66), third in extra-base hits (48) and sixth in runs (59). His .604 slugging percentage was second only to Barry Bonds'.

Fielder gets the start at first base for the NL in Tuesday night's All-Star Game. He beat out Albert Pujols, Derrek Lee, Ryan Howard and Adrian Gonzalez for the honor. That says something.

American League MVP. Alex Rodriguez is putting up big numbers for a struggling Yankees team.

But Magglio Ordoñez gets the nod here because he's doing it for one of the best teams in the majors.

On Friday, the Tigers rightfielder was leading the majors with a .370 batting average. He was first in the AL in doubles (35) and on-base percentage (.448) and second in slugging (.613), extra-base hits (48) and total bases (187).

The Tigers lead the majors in runs. Having Ordoñez hitting fourth behind Curtis Granderson, Placido Polanco and Gary Sheffield is a big reason why.

National League Cy Young. Very tight race among three NL West righthanders - Chris Young, Jake Peavy and Brad Penny.

We're going with Young by a nose over San Diego teammate Peavy and Dodgers ace Penny.

Young, a 6-10 Texan who played two years of basketball at Princeton, is 8-3, and his 2.00 ERA is the best in the game. In his last 12 starts, Young has allowed just 10 earned runs in 662/3 innings for a 1.35 ERA.

American League Cy Young. Oakland's Dan Haren entered his final start of the first half Friday night with a 10-2 record and a league-best 2.20 ERA. He had held opponents to a .202 batting average.

He's the winner here over Josh Beckett, C.C. Sabathia, Johan Santana, John Lackey and Justin Verlander.

Watch out for Santana the rest of the way, though. The two-time Cy Young winner has great career numbers in the second half (45-10, 2.55 ERA) and closed the first half by winning four straight, posting a 1.29 ERA over that span.

National League rookie of the year. If you watched the Phillies in Houston last week, you'll probably agree with this one.

Hunter Pence, who reminds us a little of a young Matt Williams, went 7 for 16 with four runs, three homers and four RBIs in the series. That performance helped the Astros centerfielder, who didn't debut in the majors until April 28, qualify for the top 10 in batting. He entered Friday hitting .345, second in the league. He had 11 homers and 40 RBIs in his first 61 games.

"He's made adjustments quicker than any other rookie I've seen," Astros infielder Mark Loretta told the Houston Chronicle. "They've tried to pitch him every which way - all curveballs, fastballs in - and he seems to make the adjustment. Just when you think, OK, they've kind of figured him out or the scouting report is out on him a little bit, he seems to find a way to keep going."

Pence, 24, is a native Texan, and Astros fans love him. One young women recently attended a game with her boyfriend and held up a sign that read: "I'll dump this guy for you, Hunter."

American League rookie of the year. Lots of candidates here, including Tampa Bay outfielder Delmon Young, Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia, Angels outfielder Reggie Willits and Baltimore righthander Jeremy Guthrie.

Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka, who has a chance to win his 11th game today, has also impressed.

We're going to mix it up, though, and give props to one of those often overlooked setup men - Red Sox lefty Hideki Okajima, one of last winter's best signings. Yeah, he's 31 and has a decade of Japanese ball under his belt. But the rules say he's a rookie and he's been a darn good one for the team with the best bullpen in the AL.

Okajima has almost given the Red Sox a closer in the eighth inning. While setting up for all-star Jonathan Papelbon, he allowed just four runs in his first 41 innings (38 appearances). Okajima is also heading to the All-Star Game.

National League manager of the year. The Brewers, who have been in first place in the NL Central every day since April 21, are loaded with young talent. Still, it takes someone to steer it all in the right direction. Ned Yost has done that.

He may have a tough test holding off the Cubs in the second half, but this isn't about the second half.

American League manager of the year. Big expectations can be like a bull's-eye on a manager's back. Cleveland's Eric Wedge came into the season in the final year of his contract with a talented ready-to-win team. When the Indians opened 7-7, the heat got turned up on Wedge. But he never panicked, and eventually things straightened out. The Indians entered yesterday leading the difficult AL Central by a game over Detroit.