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First of all, let me apologize for not writing lately. Things have been very busy lately but starting to settle down now.
The two Ohio teams are among the most interesting now. In case no one has noticed amid the Griffey injury, the Reds are 7-5 and trail the Cardinals by one game. Joey Hamilton has been all that Jim Bowden could have hoped for and more. Apart from Hamilton, its difficult to pinpoint any other players that are performing very well. Griffey's hurt, Larkin isn't hitting, and the other starters have not been good. The Reds bullpen has been effective, as usual. The Indians are 11-1 right now. Of course, they have had some luck during Ryan Drese's starts, but ten game winning streaks always involve some luck. The keys to their winning ways have been exceptional plate discipline, plus the pitching of Bartolo Colon and C.C Sabathia. Ellis Burks has been a sparkplug, while Omar Vizquel, Travis Fryman, and Matt Lawton have hit well. If Thome comes around soon, the Indians fan could quickly forget about Robbie Alomar. On the other hand, the Twins are 8-2 apart from the sweep by the Indians. They are a year older and are ready to compete for the division this season. The White Sox were terribly overrated before the season, it appears. They have some big problems in the rotation to work out after Buehrle. Look at the American League ERA list, and it looks upside down with Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens near the bottom. Both have had injury problems. Even if the Clemens problems continue throughout the season, the Yankees have the pitching depth to overcome. The National League East has been the most mediocre division. Every team was 1-1, 2-2, and 3-3 at the same time. I wouldn’t even want to guess which team will end up winning this division, but baseball fans should be rooting for Montreal. The best story of the early season was the Pirates and their quick start out of the gate. Sadly, they have fallen back down to planet Earth. The Cardinals have a tremendous offense without Mark McGwire. The Cardinals’ biggest problem has been a struggling bullpen, especially Stechschulte and Matthews. The bullpen has been especially important on the nights that Andy Benes and Garrett Stephenson start. The Most Exciting Division Award goes to the NL West. Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, and Barry Bonds have dominated SportsCenter every night that they play. The Giants have jumped out to take the division lead and have gotten great performances from their starters. When your worst starter has an ERA of 2.57, you’ve got something. Even with the Giants winning so often, this is another tough division to predict. San Diego has gotten good play from its youngsters, and the Dodgers have a (potentially) great starting rotation. The D’Backs must find someone to pitch besides Johnson and Schilling. Go To Page: 1
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