Howard's Homers Ring True
Although I'm not for asterisks or erasing records from the book, if Phillies slugger Ryan Howard reaches 62 homers (or more) this season, he will, in the mind of this fan, be the single-season record holder. All of the other men to best 61 (and you know who they are) did it under a cloud of steroid suspicion. Interestingly, Roger Maris still holds the American League mark, even after the syringe-soaked 1990s and early 2000s.

Too Good To Be True
Francisco Liriano was arguably the top story of the first half of the season. Entering the All-Star break with a 10-1 record and ERA under 2.00, he helped Minnesota overcome a slow start and leap back into contention. Then, just as quickly as he appeared, he vanished. An elbow injury wiped away the Dominican's bid for Rookie of the Year and possibly the Cy Young award. The Twins held out hope that he would return in time for their post-season push, but that hope was dashed on Sept. 13 when the 22-year-old's attempted comeback was aborted after just two innings. Now, the phenom has been officially shelved for the season.

The Good That They Do
Here's some unsung heroes of the 2006 season. Florida's Dan Uggla has tied the rookie record for home runs by a second baseman. Pittsburgh's Freddy Sanchez is the front-runner for the NL batting title. Frank Thomas is back with a vengeance in Oakland and is approaching 40 homers for the season and 500 for his career. Washington's Alfonso Soriano will have a 40/40 season. Carl Crawford of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays has stolen 50 bases for the third time in four years. And last, but not least, Seattle's J.J. Putz is having a fine year with more than 30 saves and an ERA in the low 2.00's.