We have reached the all star break. (which is way past the actual half way point) However, since it is the only break in the season, so it is a good time to take stalk. I am going to write more in depth about the entire league tomorrow; but since he pitched today, I am going to focus on Dice-K. The question is, did he have a great first half? Looking at the numbers that we most associate with starting pitchers, (record and ERA) then Dice-K had an a amazing first half. He is 10-1 with a 2.65 ERA. On the other hand, he still gets his wild streaks and is thus near the top in bases on balls. If it was just the walks it would not be a big deal, but what the walks do is get his pitch count up which does not allow him to go deep into games(the most he has gone is 7 and a third). On the other side of all the walks is his really low opponents batting average which is around .200. Dice-K has shown an amazing ability to get out of tight situations unscathed; Don and Jerry gave the stat today that he has had bases loaded 11 times this season and given up 1 walk and no hits in that situation. For me, the 2 most important things a pitcher does is get out and not give up runs. On the not giving up runs front, Dice-K with his 2.65 ERA, Dice-K deserves an A. Regarding getting outs (or eating innings to put it another way) I would give Dice-K a C+. While he has not gone 8 innings at all this year, aside from the start before and after his DL stint, he has gone at least 5 innings in every start. So pretty much when he takes the mound, you will get somewhere between 5-7 innings. My overall grade would thus have to be B+ or A-. Not a dominant ace, but a damn good number 2 starter. In a way, I admire Dice-K for his stubbornness and not giving in to the American Style of pitching of using a lot of fastballs over the plate. Dice-K uses different pitches and tries (sometimes unsuccessfully) to nibble around the strike zone. It may not make for a quick flowing game, but most teams and hitters are not truly patient enough to make him pay for in a big way and end up striking out or not getting good wood on the ball when they swing.