So before the All Star Break fully ends and get back into the chaotic battle for the AL East crown, we here at Ted's Army thought we would look back and see who shined and faltered in the 1st half of the season. We have six awards to dole out let's get right into it.

The Ted Williams Award for Best Hitter
Scott Priest: Kevin Youkilis. Sure, it's the obvious choice, but let's not get
cute here. His OPS is up near 1.000, he gets on base practically half
of his plate appearances; Youk is one of the toughest outs in the
league. Toss in the power and the contact (unlike your Adam Dunns and
Nick Swishers of the world, Youk can hit singles and doubles too) and
you have the most complete hitter on the team.
John Karalis: Youk. I'll still never understand how he gets that kind
of production out of that stance. I don't want to sound repetitive,
though... but Youk might be underrated in this league as a hitter.
Patient and able to put up good numbers in all offensive categories.
Maybe it's because he doesn't do any one thing exceptionally well...
but he does do a little of everything at the plate.
Aaron Gettings: Youk -- The man just flat out hits. Scott summed it up best; Youkilis
is one of the toughest outs in baseball, one of the most reliable
hitters, and he does it all with none of the fanfare of an Albert
Pujols or Mark Teixeira.
Ben Fountain: And it's unanimous. Youk is the heart of the offense and if he ever
went down for a significant amount of time, you can kiss any chance of
the playoffs goodbye. I never would have imagined when he came up as
that he could evolve into a .320/30/100 kind of guy. If he keeps up the
pace in the 2nd half and the Sox survive atop the AL East, he's the AL
MVP.

The Pedro Martinez Award for Best Pitcher
Scott: Jon Lester. He will earn this honor for roughly the next ten years on this team.
John: Jon Lester (in any month besides April). Dude is nasty.
Aaron: I'm going to mix it up and go with Daniel Bard. Not only does he seem
to pitch every night, but on a bullpen where we're paper-thin and our
closer isn't quite pitching as well as we'd hope, he's been our rock.
Ben: Jon Lester. He is the ace of the staff and has stepped it up big time.
The sudden emergence of a change-up in his repitore has now made it
even more difficult to figure the lefty out. I don't remember the Red
Sox having a left handed pitcher of his caliber in the rotation. How
long is he under contract for?
The David Ortiz Award for Most Surprising Hitter
Scott: Adrian Beltre. No question about this. Lots of people suggested
he'd have a good year in his contract year, playing in Fenway. But this
is outrageous. .330, 13 homers, several of which have come from one
knee. Adrian's been spectacular (but I still miss Mike).
John: How about David Ortiz? Remember when he was left for dead at the
beginning of the year? All he's done since is almost bat .300 with 17
dingers and 50+ RBI. I knew he'd snap out of his slump... but that's
vintage Papi stuff right there.
Aaron: Big Papi. I never stopped supporting him, but even as he was working
his way out of his slump early in May, his season seemed to be on track
for about 20 home runs and 75-80 RBI's at best. To already be
approaching those numbers at the All-Star break is a testament to the
hitter he still is, and a slap in the face to everyone that was calling
for his release.
Ben: While it's great to see Papi surge back in a "F*** the haters" way, I
have to give it to Adrian Beltre. When he was signed all we heard was
how great he was defensively and how many runs he'll save in the field.
Add that with the fact that he drew 16 walks in 468 PA's last year and
his batting average over the past two seasons was .266 AND he has to
deal with Mike Lowell over his shoulder waiting for him to mess up. So
he surpasses everybody and goes .330 with 55 RBI. That's craziness.
On Page 2, see who shocked us with their pitching and see who is absolutely slacked off in the 2nd half.