Ranking the 12 best moments from the MLB first half

By foxsports
Published

The MLB All-Star game is in the books, meaning we've officially turned the page to the second half of the MLB season.

But hold up. Where are you going? We're not done here.

The first half of the MLB season was pretty damn cool across the board. We saw Clayton Kershaw morph into a living torch, rookie batters teeing off on veterans and human potato salad Bartolo Colon break the spirit of another man with one swing of his bat.. And that's just poking the surface.

So before we direct our eyes to October, let's give this first half of baseball its due respect and rank some of its most incalculable goodness.

Without further ado:

Corey Seager is developing in short order in his first full season in the league.

ACTUAL LAMB. 

WITH A SOMBRERO.

Get used to the name "Michael Fulmer," because the Tigers rookie minted a scoreless pitching frenzy in the first half of the season that lasted from—wait for it—May 21 to June 17.

No Tigers pitcher, rookie or veteran, has eclipsed the 33 and 1/3rd consecutive scoreless innings Fulmer threw in said stretch since 1961. And no rookie pitcher in the league has thrown as many clean sheet since Dodgers phenom Fernando Valenzuela's 35-inning scoreless streak in 1981.

Colorado Rockies rookie Trevor Story started his MLB career out with a historic, mutant-like seven home runs in six games. He's gone on to bash 21 on the season—good for a four-way tie for fifth place overall in home runs batted.

In April, Jake Arrieta made Les Miserable Cincinnati Reds even more miserable by stamping them with his second career no-hitter, chalking up his second no-no in as many seasons.

For about 15 seconds, Dylan Cressy lived every fan's dream.

YAMS.

This is not an anti-Jose Bautista sentiment as much it as a "Dear God, Rougned Odor is Captain Falcon" sentiment.

Guh.

His entire season, really. 

The Dodgers ace is in position to mint his career-best year and one of the most dominant seasons of pitching in recent memory—if he can return healthy in the second.

Shh. Hush and be still, and think about where you were when Bartolo Colon dinged a dong off James Shields. 

I was on a run, and I turned around and ran home upon receiving the news. I'll always regret that I missed it. I regret that I wasn't there to catch the ball. And I regret that the Topps card they made in honor of Bartolo's dinger sold out before I could purchase it. (I have many regrets).

You hit a game-winning dong for an embattled youth, you get number one.

These are just the rules, which is why David Ortiz earns top first-half honor for his blast in tribute to Maverick Schutte--a six-year-old Red Sox fan suffering from a congenital heart disease.

Before a tilt against the Yankees in April, Ortiz promised Maverick he'd hit him a home run. And not only did he do the damn thing, Big Papi's homer won the game for Boston.

You hit one for Maverick and take the W, you get number one. 

Dan is on Twitter. He hopes Shields isn't a broken man.