Questions to ponder as we go from the creation of timed baseball (read: The 2015 Home Run Derby) to the second half (read: Actually the second 45 percent, as more than half the games are always played after the break): 

*Who will the playoff teams for MLB’s OctoberFest? You heard it hear first! In no particular order:

NL: Cardinals, Pirates, Nationals, Dodgers and (drum roll, please…………………………) Giants. Yes, THOSE Giants (ugh).

AL: Royals, Blue Jays, Angels and (bonus for risky pix here): Orioles and Yankees. Yes, I’m calling BS on the Astros’ run and three teams from the AL East.

World Series Victor: Have no clue.

MVPs: Hmmm, toughie? Not. Trout and Harper. Done.

Cy Youngs: Hmmm, toughie? You bet. But I’ll go Greinke (over Scherzer) in the NL and David Price in the AL.

Rookies of the Year: It’s the young Jewish phenom, the Dodgers’ Joc Pederson, and the Cubbies’ Kris Bryant, in the NL. Cubs fanaticism will give the nod to Bryant, alas. As for the AL: Im picking the dark horse, Astros’ Lance McCullers. A 156 ERA+, are you freaking kidding me? 

Other stories that will dominate Second Forty Five Percent The Show 2015:

*Ruben Amaro will be fired before he’s pilloried in Philly. Seriously, this guy couldn’t rebuild in Little League. If Cole Hamels isn’t traded, we’re pretty darn scared of what might happen in that town.

*At least one more Cardinal will take a deep fall on AstroGate (sounds way better than HackerGate), but Mo and DeWitt will skate by.

*Speaking of the Cardinals, look for at least a lefthanded power bat to grace the incoming trade wire, and very possibly a back end starter (Dan Haren?). No, Carlos Martinez will not be traded. I won’t go there on Stephen Piscotty, though, not yet.

*One of the best calls into a MLB radio show ever noted that just because we only know that Pete Rose bet for his own team rather than against, what did the bookies infer when Rose DIDN’T bet? Maybe that was their cue that he was tanking games and they placed their bets accordingly. Can’t prove a negative, but given the decades-long weaseling we now know Rose to have employed, anything’s possible. Maybe he’ll come clean. On the other hand, the Cubs could win the World Series, too.

Yeah right.