The summer swelter is upon us, and the action in Major League Baseball is just heating up.  After suffering through a first half malaise, New York Met fans got their wish: the head of manager Willie Randolph on a platter.  

Granted, the Met organization handled the firing of Randolph in a disgraceful manner, but the results are what matter.  Randolph may not have been the problem, but the ongoing Willie Watch was wearing the team down.  With the weight lifted, the Mets have finally found their stride and begun winning in the exciting fashion that fans became used to two seasons ago.  

A ten game win streak wrapped around the All-Star break got the Mets all the way back to the top of the National League East.  Sitting in a tie with rival Philadelphia, the Amazin’s proceeded to take two out of three from the Phillies in a big-time battle for first place.  This after suffering a heart-wrenching loss in the first game of the series when ace Johan Santana had pitched an eight-inning gem, only to see the makeshift bullpen who was without closer Billy Wagner blow it.  The resilient Mets put the loss behind them and bounced back to take over first place for the first time since giving it away to the Phillies in their historic collapse of ’07.

Now the Mets are in prime position to erase all the bad feelings of last year.  Randolph is gone, and new manager Jerry Manuel has the club playing loose.  Carlos Delgado has returned to being Carlos Del-got-it, delivering big hits and mammoth home runs while silencing his critics.  Jose Reyes is back having fun and setting the table for this offense that seems to be getting leads for their pitchers before the game even starts.  And David Wright is continuing to show why he deserved to be on the All-Star team.
The Metropolitans have fought all the way back; all while getting very little from Pedro Martinez, and not winning any games that Johan Santana pitches.  If those two deliver the goods down the stretch, Shea Stadium may get its post-season sendoff after all.
Across town in the Bronx, the New York Yankees are starting to play like a team that doesn’t want to leave it’s historic stadium without some action.  After playing .500 baseball at Yankee Stadium for more then the first half of the year, the Bronx Bombers have run off ten straight wins in the house that Ruth built.

Pitching, and some hitting have carried the Yankees surprisingly enough.  Frontline starter Chien-Ming Wang suffered a foot injury and is out for an extended period of time.  Andy Pettitte has been up and down, perhaps suffering from distractions by behind the scenes steroid controversy relating to old pal Roger ‘the roider’ Clemens.  Still, the Yankees find themselves winning low scoring ballgames, and being led by the revived Mike Mussina.  ‘The Moose’ has had a complete rebirth, seemingly being in complete control and even pitching late into games.  Former set-up man Joba Chamberlain continues to develop as a starter, getting more and more out of his outings each time out.  

The bullpen hasn’t suffered like it was feared when Joba left them behind.  Besides a few blow-ups by the ageless Mariano Rivera, the future hall-of-famer has been better then ever.  Former whipping boy Kyle Farnsworth has been sailing along, gaining more confidence after each scoreless outing.  Whether he can handle the big spot still remains to be seen.  Whether injuries to Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada and Johnny Damon will slow the team down in the second half will also be something to watch.  

Of course, there is also the sideshow that is scarlet letter A-Rod as well.  A-Rod has been at his tabloid headline filling best lately, running around with pop diva Madonna (who is now fifty by the way) while his wife was crying on the shoulder of rocker Lenny Kravitz as she issued divorce papers.  

Winning at home has calmed the nerves of the new Joe, manager Joe Girardi.  Girardi had been showing signs of agitation as the team struggled during the first half.  Now his closed-door meetings seem to have sparked his club.  He will have to stay calm in the stretch run while the team finally has to endure some long road trips.  By the time this article hits the streets, they will have finished a three-game series in Boston.  

The Red Sox have been winning at home all year long; it’s been the continued letdowns on numerous ten game road trips that has kept the BoSox from holding onto first place and keeping the Yankees in the distance… that and the absence of super-slugger David Ortiz.  Big Papi has missed two months, but returns for the mega-mid season series with the Yanks.  Maybe the return of Papi will help but Boston’s other slugger Manny Ramirez in a better mood.

Man Ram has been lighting up the headlines with his usual Many Being Manny antics.  Ramirez has suffered a couple of slumps, but continues to be a bad man, delivering big hit after big hit.  Perhaps with his slugging partner back in the lineup in front of him, Manny can settle down and the Sox can get on a roll as the enjoy a stretch run filled with home games.

Both the Yankees and the Red Sox shockingly are looking up at the first place Tampa Bay Rays.  The Rays have youth, pitching and defense and have been the biggest surprise of the season.  The heat is about to be turned up on the young up-starts.
Tight races can be seen in all the divisions.  The Chicago teams are fighting off the competition in both the NL and AL Central divisions.  The Southside and Northside are also fighting each other for bragging rights in the Windy City.  Maybe the Cubbies will have to facedown the cross-town rival White Sox to end their hundred years of solitude in the World Series.  They will have to hold off the hard charging Milwaukee Brewers and surprising St. Louis Cardinals first.  Meanwhile, the White Sox need to keep the new look Minnesota Twins and suddenly resurgent Detroit Tigers at bay.
The NL West is a battle of fruition, as the Joe Torre-led L.A. Dodgers are fighting to get over .500 and past the Arizona Diamondbacks.  The other LA team, which is really an Anaheim team, the Angels, is the only team running away from the pack in the AL West.
All in all, it looks like pennant fever will be playing out all over the Major Leagues this season.  Get the cooler out, pull up a lawn chair, turn on the radio and let the sounds of summer get you though the heat wave.

Scott D. Lewis can be seen talking sports with WXCI’s Justin Mazzarese on the live call-in show, The Sports Bar on Monday Nights @ 5pm on Comcast Cable Channel 23.