Crasnick: Starting 9 -- What to watch for in the second half

A total of 19 clubs sported sub-4.00 ERAs at the break. In 2001, only five MLB pitching staffs achieved that feat. And ESPN Stats & Information duly notes that there have been 87 double-digit strikeout games this season, the most in 10 years. Run production in the two leagues is at its lowest level in two decades.

"The game in general has been headed in that direction the last few years," said Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun . "If you look at it, there are a lot of young starting pitchers coming up who have really good stuff. It feels like guys are throwing harder overall, and velocity always gives you room for error.

"Now that they've cleaned the game up -- the drug testing is legit -- there are far less guys who are able to hit 30 homers and drive in 100 runs. That's really changed the game in its entirety. There's more focus on pitching and defense and baserunning."

Braun, Michael Cuddyer and other hitters aren't just imagining things when they point to a rampant uptick in gun readings. According to FanGraphs, 41 starting pitchers this season have an average fastball velocity of 92 mph or above. Only 16 pitchers fit that description in 2002.

Although pitchers are thriving, lots of established hitters are giving new meaning to the term "struggling." Adam Dunn looks so lost and forlorn, Jose Canseco is giving him hitting tips. Dan Uggla has been a major disappointment in Atlanta. Ichiro Suzuki has a .640 OPS. Joe Mauer is homerless with a .288 slugging percentage. And Jayson Werth , Washington's $126 million man, is in a deeper funk than Teddy Roosevelt, who's still riding a career oh-fer in the between-innings presidential races at Nationals Park.

Airtight races

In the six major league divisions, the biggest gap between first and second place is in the NL East, where Philadelphia leads Atlanta by 3½ games. The most jumbled mess exists in the NL Central, where the Brewers, Cardinals, Pirates and Reds are separated by only four games.

The most compelling heavyweight smackdowns are taking place in the two East divisions. In the American League, the Yankees are within a game of first-place Boston even though they're 1-8 head-to-head against the Red Sox this season. Still, good luck finding a Boston player who'll so much as chuckle at the perception that the Red Sox "own" Team Steinbrenner this season.

"I remember a few years ago people said the same stuff and [the Yankees] ended up winning like eight in a row against us," said Boston's Josh Beckett . "You never feel like they're out of a game. It doesn't matter if they're down eight runs. If they're down eight, you feel like, 'We've still got to make pitches here. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Nullspace: More NYT coverage / also Hispanics in Pittsburgh during ...

Web site is an essay on Latino's in the US during World War II. There is a brief mention of Hispanics working at the Pittsburgh Heinz plants making gliders. There were severe shortages of skilled wood workers here during the war, shortages of all workers for that matter. Thus communities of workers were attacted here from near and far. Below is a picture of glider wings leaving the Heinz plywood factory during the war. And below that is a picture of a shop floor at Heinz during the war... it's hard to tell in the online resolution, but it is amazing how many women appear to be doing the actual work. For that picture, if you click on it, it should bring up a very high res version of the same.

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