But eliminate those teams and you are still left with 21 who have at least a punchers chance of qualifying for one of the seven remaining playoff spots. Now for a mid-season update on a very competitive year.

AL EAST � After an off-season of trying to find ways to keep up with the Jones� (or Yankees in this case), the Red Sox are finding themselves in a fight for their playoff lives. How many games would the Yanks be up by now if half their team wasn�t being ravaged by intestinal parasites??? Last year Boston led the majors in batting average and scoring (Rockies included), this year the Sox are merely 10th in MLB in batting average and ninth in runs scored. Still there�s David Ortiz�s 76 first-half RBI along with Manny Ramirez. Meanwhile Pedro Martinez failed to make the All-Star team, and rightfully so. Pedro insists at that wasn�t a big deal, that he�s an �old goat�. Think he�ll give himself the same analysis when he asks for $20 million per this off-season??? Playoff pressure baseball starts early this year in Boston, starting with this week�s critical three-game set with Oakland. That will actually bode well for those who own Red Sox players. As far as the Yankees are concerned they should be in cruise control during the second-half, they don�t even pop the champagne after winning a first-round series � let alone winning the division. Look for most regulars to be rested in September, an annual ritual in the Bronx. Toronto will be one team looking for some salary to unload, with Carlos Delgado being one of the top trade-deadline targets.

AL CENTRAL � Far more dynamic than in recent years. After trading for Freddy Garcia last week, the White Sox appear to be the most popular pick in the garage. The southsiders are second in the Majors in home runs, which might be a first in the history of the franchise. Paul Konerko, Frank Thomas, and Jose Valentin are all on pace for better than 30 HR/100 RBI. But Twins ace Johan Santana may be the hottest pitcher in baseball, Ben Sheets included. Santana has recorded double-digit K�s in five of his last six outings while allowing two or fewer ER�s in his last five appearances. Cleveland and Detroit are vastly improved, but remain in the pretender category for the second half. The tribe has definitely gotten the attention of the experts, placing four players on the All-Star roster (don�t know about Ronnie Belliard and Matt Lawton though). Meanwhile the fire sale continues throughout July in Kansas City, Juan Gonzalez and Benito Santiago are among those who could be dealt to contenders when they return off the DL.

AL WEST � You can make a case for any of the three contenders. Many think Texas will fade in the end, but I wouldn�t rule out the Rangers who very much like the Red Sox last year, appear capable of slugging it�s way to a title. The team leads the majors in runs and slugging percentage and have the divisions most reliable closer in Francisco Cordero. Oakland has already consummated one major deal for Octovio Dotel and GM Billy Beane, as usual will be looking for more blockbusters at the deadline. The Angels injury spate appears to have gotten to them in June, but they will be another team looking to deal. Seattle, who usually stands pat when contending, will be unloading a few of their familiar faces of recent years, most notably Jamie Moyer and Edgar Martinez.

NL EAST � Does anyone want this division?? The Braves appeared ready to end their 12-year run as division champions and retool this year, but even at .500 Atlanta finds themselves within three games of the Marlins, Phillies, and Mets. There will be plenty of trade activity among those four, and the Marlins have even reportedly discussed acquiring Nomar Garciaparra. From Fenway to Pro Player Stadium, Nomar must really love reading that. And then there are the Expos, baseball�s version of Dead Team Walking. Most of the top talent is gone, the one fruitful farm system has gone bare, and MLB is shying away from involving the team in much trading activity. Look for the team to go 20-60 the rest of the way, hopefully new owners and the long-awaited move from Montreal will not get delayed for yet another year.

NL CENTRAL � The St. Louis Cards were not a popular pre-season choice with a pitching staff that on paper simply did not match up with the Cubs or Astros. But much like Texas in the AL, the Cards have been piling it on offensively, ranking on top of the NL run scoring table along with the Phillies and Rockies. That�s very significant considering the bandboxes Philly and Colorado play in. If the team can stay intact and the new ballpark becomes another Citizens Park, the offensive potential could be downright scary two years from now. The Cubs are still my pick to win the World Series with their surplus of pitching, but that may be on shaky ground. In a microcosm of the entire season, the Cubs pitching staff allowed only eight hits over two games, but allowed ten walks while the offense scored two runs while losing both games to the Brewers. On a positive note, Kerry Wood is slated to return this Sunday � that means more strikeouts, and more walks for the pitching staff. Meanwhile the Astros remain in fifth place, nine games out of first and four out of the Wild Card. A July slump could put Carlos Beltran back on the trading block.

PRIORITY SCORE ALERT: We interrupt regularly scheduled programming as high drama is building in Game 6 of a first-round playoff series on my X-Box. The Brewers bolted to a 3-1 lead before the Phillies won Game 5 to send the series back to Milwaukee. An Alex Rodriguez (95 HR, 216 RBI in the regular season) 2-run shot gives the Crew and early lead, which appeared would hold up with the stout pitching of Josh Beckett. A tiring Beckett was replaced in favor of Ben Sheets in the seventh, but Sheets allowS a base hit � then faster than you can say �Bucky Dent�, Jerry �F�n� Hairston Jr. lines an unlikely three-run shot over the left field wall to put Philly ahead 3-2. Everything suddenly appears headed toward Game 7 with the Brewers imploding in Cub-like fashion, we�re expecting Bartman to interfere with a foul ball at any moment. Jorge Julio comes out to close things out in the ninth, but opens by walking Arod along with a pinch-hitter. Julio rebounds with a strikeout then gets Victor Martinez to line out to second. Julio now has two strikes on Michael Young, Young�s power has not developed in the video game world like it has in real life � including the playoffs Young has exactly zero home runs in over 600 plate appearances. So obviously Young is just looking to slap a single to send the game into extra innings. Let�s pick up the call.

�Julio delivers, THAT BALL�S BELTED � DEEP TOWARDS THE LEFT FIELD CORNER, (color commentator starts screaming in background) GO CRAZY!!!!! GO CRAZY!!!!! GO CRAZY!!!!! MICHAEL YOUNG HAS JUST LINED A TWO-IRON SHOT FOR HIS FIRST HOME RUN OF THE YEAR, AND THE BREWERS HAVE WON THEIR FIRST PLAYOFF SERIES IN 21 YEARS!!!!! EVERYONE IN PHILLY CAN NOW CURSE JORGE JULIO AND MITCH WILLIAMS IN THE SAME BREATH!!!!! THOUSANDS OF FANS STORMING ONTO THE PLAYING FIELD AT MILLER PARK!!!! THEY DID NOT CHOKE!!!! THEY�RE GOING TO PLAY THE BRAVES IN THE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES!!!!! HOW ABOUT THAT ONE FOLKS!!!!!

'NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!, NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! THE PHIGHT - ING PHILS HAVE BEEN EL - IM - IN - AT - ED FROM THE PLAYOFFS IN DIS - HEART - NING FASH - ION...'

Someone figure this one out for me, the Angels Tim Salmon (a right-handed hitter, mind you) is a perfect 0-37 hitting against lefties, I�m guessing he�s not nuts about John Kerry. Thankfully for his sake Salmon is 24-70 (.343) v. righties. Last year Salmon�s split was .274/.275 and in 2002 Salmon was .299 v. lefties, .280 v. left-handers. But here�s one anomaly I won�t ignore again, coming into Tuesday�s game Keith Ginter was 4-9 with 2 HR, 5 RBI in his career v. Mark Prior. Sure enough Prior was lit up again by Ginter, a two-run shot in the first. Ginter joins Albert Pujols as the only players to go deep three times on Prior, whose stat line suddenly got much worse after the game when an error call was changed to a bunt hit by the official scorer, that suddenly made Prior�s four unearned runs, earns while also adding another hit to his line. Send all mail regarding the scoring change to Tim O�Driscoll, ATTN: Athletic Department, Hartland Arrowhead High School, Hartland, WI 53029. Oh, and one more thing, Kerry Wood (59 pitches in five shutout innings in a AAA rehab start) comes off the DL to take Prior's start this coming Sunday.

I mentioned about the White Sox power earlier, as it turns out U.S Cellulite Field has yielded the most home runs this year at 3.2 per game, with Citizens Bank in Philadelphia a close second at 3.1. Coors Field, Ameriquest Field (Arlington), and Yankee Stadium round out the top five. To the surprise of no one, Petco Park has wasted no time become #1 in allowing the fewest home runs at 1.2 (have a feeling those fences will be coming in soon), Shea Stadium and Safeco Field (Seattle) are second and third on the least home run list, not a surprise neither. #4 through #7 are Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee (somewhat surprising, but the Brewers don�t hit homers), and Anaheim.