Around the Major League

New York is 4-3 but has struggled offensively. Ricky Buckley is hitting .227 and has 3 errors already. Manfred and reigning MVP Brett Solo are hitting .143 and new addition Jason Foster is at .067 and will miss the next 5 games due to injury. Keith Lee and Chad White have hit fairly well, but the offensive highlight has been reserve 3b Jerrod Smith. Smith only plays against left-handed pitching and also pinch hits. So far he is 6-11 with 3 extra base hits and 4 RBI's. The story for this team has been in the bullpen. Bernie Grayson started the year as the closer and recorded a shaky save in his first outing. In his second save attempt, Grayson blew the game. The next day, Jaret Benser was called on for the save and he delivered. He may not ever give the job back. In fairness to Grayson, he is not in Eddie or Brad's doghouse. However, he is clearly the inferior pitcher to Benser, and more importantly, no longer has the ability to pitch on consecutive days (or even 2 out of 3 days). Because of this, its really not practical for him to be a full-time closer anymore. On the year, Grayson has a 3.86 ERA and has yielded 4 hits, 2 walks, with 1 strikeout in 2 1/3 innings. Benser has saved 2 games and has not yielded a run in 3 innings to go against 2 its no walks, and 2 strikeouts.

Philadelphia is also at 4-3 to start the year. Corey Sloan has hit .450 so far, to ease the pain of losing Zandar Dukakis. The pitching has been fairly good so far. Lee Harvey Oswalt, acquired in the Zandar trade, threw a shutout in game 2 and is 1-1 with a 1.13 ERA so far. Zito is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA and Steve King has not allowed a run in his 2 saves.

Florida is also 4-3 and Jake Cisco seems to have found the fountain of youth. Cisco is hitting .333 with 4 homers, 8 RBI's and 6 walks. Ray Brooks is also playing well with 2 homers. On the mound, Bryan Brooks is 1-1 with a 2.13 ERA with 9 K's in 12 2/3 innings. Also, 3 different pitchers have saved games for Florida as they are going with a closer by committee this year.

Toronto is 3-4 and they look pretty smart with their acquisition of Ryan Kashiwada and Everett Jimenez from Miami as a salary dump. Kashiwada is hitting .391 with 3 homers, and Jimenez is hitting .375 with 1 homer at shortstop. J-Rod has 3 saves but a 9.82 ERA. Amazingly, in long relief, Chick Norman has pitched 8 1/3 scoreless innings with only 1 hit and 4 walks allowed, vs. 8 strikeouts.

Alaska is off to a 5-2 start with their solid young team. Ryno has established himself as a possible front-runner for manager of the year with his unconventional strategy of batting his pitcher 8th. As a team, they are hitting .282 but have only 3 homers. Johnny Tusken is becoming a fan favorite with his .346 average and league leading 6 stolen bases. On the mound, Bill Lombard and Andy Randle have pitched 15 scoreless innings in the #4 and #5 spots in the rotation. Thomas Fasten is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in 14 innings. Jojo Lewis is 1-1 but has pitched very poorly, 6.00 ERA and 18 hits allowed in 12 innings. On the plus side, he does have 14 K's. Alaska has also found a solid closer in George Cunningham, 4 saves in 4 appearances with a 0.00 ERA.

Denver is 4-3 and has sported one of the best offenses in the league. Surprise player of the year is Joey Renseller, who seems to finally be putting it all together and then some with a .387 avg 6 homers and 16 RBI's. New additions Keith Cerrano (.389 2 homers), Butters (.364 1 homer), and Jack Hollis (.333 1 homer) have also played well. On the mound, standouts have been Steven Hyde (1-1 2.08 ERA, 13 innings 7 hits 2 walks and 11 strikeouts) and Luther Trautwein (3 saves 0.00 ERA).

St. Louis is 3-4 but still a very bad and boring team. Bobby Morris is hitting 13-26 to provide the offensive highlights. On the mound, rookie closer Jonathan Papelbrad has been shaky with 1 save and a 3.86 ERA.

Green Day is just as bad as St. Louis and has no chance to contend but is somehow 3-4 as well. The only team highlight is Ruben Carter hitting .412 with 2 homers and 7 RBI in 17 at bats. On the plus side, Jek Lewis is dominating AAA pitching right now....

Defending division champ Detroit is off to a 2-5 start. They are hitting only .194 with 2 homers. It hurt that cleanup hitter Travis Steele missed the team's middle 5 games due to injury. On the mound, new closer Fernando Benitez has not imploded yet, registering 2 saves and a 0.00 ERA in his first 3 appearances.

The Hawaii Hounddogs are a league best 6-1. They are doing it with timely balanced hitting, as 7 players have hit 1 homer apiece. Yoda Skywalker, .391 1 homer 6 RBI's has been the best offensive player. On the mound, Jared DeMario is 2-0 and has yet to allow an earned run in 15 1/3 innings. He's also allowed only 7 hits and 5 walks. The bullpen has been awesome with a 2.63 ERA in 13 2/3 innings. Torrealba has been dominant as a setup man with a 1.93 ERA in 4 2/3 innings with 8 strikeouts. Troy Lewis has appeared in 4 games and saved them all. He's got a 2.25 ERA and 2 hits, no walks, and 6 strikeouts in 4 innings.

Los Angeles is 4-3 and is getting solid production from all of their hitters. Crowell is .276 2 homers and 7 RBI's and Alex Salazar is hitting .444 to match his age. For the staff, newcomer David Mulder has been awesome, 2-0 with a 0.66 ERA and only 4 hits allowed in 13 2/3 innings with 13 strikeouts. Randy Wagner has saved 3 games with a 0.00 ERA.

Portland is 3-4 and lucky to be that good. Rookie Justin Headley made the team and starts at third base. He has been a bright spot with a .357 average. The team is hitting only .226 with 2 homers. Zandar Dukakis, the key piece in the Oswalt trade, is looking overmatched at the plate with a .125 average and 5 strikeouts in 16 at bats. The team is also 0-1 in stolen base attempts...yuck. Roger Lewis was torched in his 2nd outing, but he is 1-1 4.20 and 5 hits, 10 walks, 15 strikeouts in 15 innings. Joel Camels has pitched well, 1-0 1.00, 9 innings, 8 hits, 0 walks, and 11 strikeouts through his first 2 starts. Unfortunately, his last start was cut short in the 4th inning due to arm problems. He will be out for about 15-20 games.

Bay Area is 3-4 and has looked clueless at times. Otto Tingley is hitting .333 with 2 homers and 6 RBI's and might be the best catcher in the league. Bryan Curtis is looking much better in year 2 of his big contract at 1-1 0.56 and 16 innings, 9 hits, 4 walks, with 13 strikeouts.

Hollywood is 1-6 after losing 6 in a row. Miguel Tejawa looks good at .318 with 1 homer and 4 RBIs, and Geoff Favre is still hitting, .318 with 3 homers, 8 RBIs. Elvis Dixon is only hitting .160. They have a 4.50 team ERA and no players have pitched signifcantly well. Pitching phenom RD Phillips had a quality start with 7 innings, 8 hits, 1 walk, and 6 strikeouts.