You’ve had a trip to Japan to start the regular season half a world away from Fenway Park and you’ve had to pull out your passport a second time before making your first visit of the season to your home field. You’ve had three ten-game road trips and only one homestand longer than a week. You’ve had one player going for a home run mark held by only a couple dozen players. You’ve had a young pitcher who had beaten cancer and pitch the fourth game of the 2007 World Series less than a year later top that with a no-hitter. You’ve had your best offensive threat sitting on the bench since the start of June. You’ve had 38 players over the first 97 games of the season wear a Boston uniform as several youngsters have found themselves on the shuttle between Portland, Pawtucket, and Boston. Any way you look at what happened in the first half of the 2008 baseball season, the bottom line is that if you are Terry Francona and the Boston Red Sox, you are a half-game in front of the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the American League East division at the All-Star break and six ahead of the New York Yankees. Of course, that’s not reason enough to hold back our thoughts on who made the grade and who didn’t in the unofficial first half of the season.

Top Field Presence: Kevin Youkilis
First Runner-up: J.D. Drew
Honorable Mention: Dustin Pedroia

Is there anything Youkilis can do going forward that will amaze us? He currently stands in contention for the team’s Triple Crown honor (.314 average, 15 home runs, 63 RBI) coupled with a near-.400 OBP and a glove that transitions from first to third with seemingly little effort. Throw in his hustle and his “dirt-dog” approach to the game and it’s no surprise that the Fenway crowds crow “Youuuk!” whenever he comes to the plate. Drew, for his part, has been reborn in his second year with the club; he was AL Player of the Month in June and several of his totals have already eclipsed his numbers from last season. As for Pedroia, he is just tearing the cover off the ball, already with 124 hits this season; his defense has continued to impress, too, as he stretches like a player six or seven inches taller than he is to gobble up ground balls and line drives hit anywhere near his position.

Least Valuable Player: Julio Lugo
Also Painful to Watch: Jason Varitek

Unlike Drew, Lugo has not improved in his sophomore season with the Sox; the most glaring problem is that he has committed a whopping 16 errors at short, which ties him with former Boston farmhand Hanley Ramirez. The difference is that Ramirez is batting .311 with 23 home runs, 45 RBI, and a .391 OBP for the Marlins, while Lugo stands at .268 with one home run, 22 RBI, and a .355 OBP. He’s out four-to-six weeks and that’s seen as a blessing to many Red Sox loyalists. Varitek, meanwhile, may be a pitcher’s best friend but his numbers at the plate are awful. He hit .238/.325/.400 in 2006, brought those up to .255/.367/.421 last season, and now sits at .218/.299/.354 with two-plus months to play and little hope to resurrect the bat before season’s end. Honestly, he looks like he’s over-matched in nearly every at-bat this season.

Top Mound Presence: Jon Lester
First Runner-Up: Jonathan Papelbon
Honorable Mention: Tim Wakefield

Let’s see: Lester has a no-hitter, a 3.38 ERA, a 5-1 record in his last ten starts, which include two complete-game wins, and an All-Star nod. Five of his last six starts have seen him pitch at least seven innings. Red Sox fans have not seen this type of dominance from a left-hander starter since the days of Bruce Hurst. Papelbon, of course, continues to make opponents uneasy when he takes the mound; his 6-4 frame looks even more ominous from the top of the hill. He’s notched 28 saves in 32 chances and, like Lester, is an All-Star, the third time in three seasons. Boston has never had the privilege of seeing a closer dominate for more than a season, and he’s been doing it for three straight now. But what about Tim Wakefield, at age 41 still showing the kids how it’s done? He’s quietly putting together another memorable, late-career season with six wins, a 3.60 ERA, and 84 strikeouts; even more impressive is his 1.18 WHIP and .217 BAA, his best totals as a member of the rotation since his first season way back in 1995. Now, the clincher: in eight of his last nine starts, he has also pitched seven innings or more. Don’t forget that this is with Kevin Cash behind the plate and not his longtime battery mate, Doug Mirabelli.

Cy Not: Mike Timlin
Also Scaring Us: Craig Hansen

We’re of the opinion that Timlin needs to consider a change in career, possibly as the new host of Kettlebottom Outdoors on NESN. Wakefield’s contemporary is, for lack of a better word, just awful. Opponents are batting .308 against him and his WHIP is 1.71. He’s been a little better as of late but most of his recent appearances have been in games where the outcome has already been decided. He’s already been to the disabled list twice in the first half. What does all of this tell you, Mike? As for Hansen, this may be one draft pick that Epstein did not get right. After spending all of 2007 and most of the first month of the season in AAA Pawtucket, he still looks at times like he’s not quite ready for prime time. It’s true that he’s had a couple of stretches where he’s been dominant and kept runs off the board; in June, he posted a 2.92 ERA with four holds and a save, but in four appearances this month he’s blown one save opportunity and allowed four earned runs in 2-1/3 innings of work. Will he ever deliver as promised?

Tags: Boston Red Sox, Craig Hansen, Dustin Pedroia, J.D. Drew, Jason Varitek, Jon Lester, Jonathan Papelbon, Julio Lugo, Kevin Youkilis, Mike Timlin, Tim Wakefield