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Daily Cover Biggest Surprises From the First Half of the MLB Season

Four losing teams from last season are in playoff position this season. The average game takes less time with more runs than anything seen in 70 years. Chases for 62 home runs and a .400 batting average are in play. Every baseball season is full of surprises, but this one, which kicked off with new game-changing rules, is the mother lode of surprises.
Tom Verducci|

Four losing teams from last season are in playoff position this season. The average game takes less time with more runs than anything seen in 70 years. Chases for 62 home runs and a .400 batting average are in play. Every baseball season is full of surprises, but this one, which kicked off with new game-changing rules, is the mother lode of surprises.

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Tom Verducci
TOM VERDUCCI

Tom Verducci is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. He also serves as an analyst for FOX Sports and the MLB Network; is a New York Times best-selling author; and cohosts The Book of Joe podcast with Joe Maddon. A five-time Emmy Award winner across three categories (studio analyst, reporter, short form writing) and nominated in a fourth (game analyst), he is a three-time National Sportswriter of the Year winner, two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient. Verducci is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, Baseball Writers Association of America (including past New York chapter chairman) and a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 1993. He also is the only writer to be a game analyst for World Series telecasts. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, with whom he has two children.

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