AMERICAN LEAGUE YANKEES GET THEIR MAN.Byline: Doug Jacobs You had to figure George Steinbrenner George Michael Steinbrenner III (born July 4, 1930 in Rocky River, Ohio), often known as "The Boss", is an American billionaire businessman and the principal owner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees. wasn't going to stand still after losing the World Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks This article is about the baseball team. For other uses, see Diamondback. The Arizona Diamondbacks (also referred to as the D-backs) are a Major League Baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They play in the West Division of the National League. . The Yankees committed more than $171 million in free-agent deals, including $120 million to first baseman Jason Giambi Jason Gilbert Giambi (born January 8, 1971) is a Major League Baseball player who is the 1st baseman and designated hitter for the New York Yankees. He was the American League MVP in 2000 with the Oakland Athletics, and is a 5-time All-Star who has led the American League in (above). In addition to Giambi, the Yankees acquired outfielders Rondell White Rondell Bernard White (born February 23, 1972 in Milledgeville, Georgia) is an outfielder and designated hitter in Major League Baseball and currently is on the Minnesota Twins. His career batting average is .286 and his career slugging percentage is .465. and John Vander Wal John (Henry) Vander Wal (born April 29, 1966 in Grand Rapids, Michigan) is a former American Major League Baseball player, a left-handed hitter who played outfield and first base for eight different teams over 14 seasons. , starting pitcher Noun 1. starting pitcher - (baseball) a pitcher who starts in a baseball game baseball, baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played baseball in high school"; David Wells This article is about David Wells, American baseball player. For other uses, see David Wells (disambiguation). David Lee "Boomer" Wells (born May 20, 1963 in Torrance, California) is a Major League Baseball player who is currently a starting pitcher for the Los and reliever Steve Karsay INSULT TO THEIR INJURIES Baseball players can suffer many different injuries, but C.C. Sabathia of the Indians and Mark Quinn
Major League Career if he could confirm the cause of Sabathia's injury. Manuel said, ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. . I didn't sleep with him.'' Meanwhile, Quinn cracked a rib one week before reporting to camp while practicing kung fu kung fu Pinyin gongfu Chinese martial art that is simultaneously a spiritual and a physical discipline. It has been practiced at least since the Zhou dynasty (1111–255 BC). moves with his brother. POOR OWNERS? Apparently the word hasn't got around to Rangers owner Tom Hicks
A TWIN KILLING? Twins owner Carl Pohlad wanted out. His buddy, baseball commissioner Bud Selig, was only too happy to oblige since he was thinking about getting rid of two teams anyway. But something happened to Pohlad on the way to the bank. The lawmakers from Minnesota took baseball to court to stop contraction. And baseball finds itself in yet another mess. In addition, Disney doesn't want to own the Angels anymore. Meanwhile, something has to be done in Montreal, and Tampa Bay is not exactly packing them in. Also, the A's want to leave Oakland for anywhere that will give them a new stadium, and baseball completely bungled bun·gle v. bun·gled, bun·gling, bun·gles v.intr. To work or act ineptly or inefficiently. v.tr. To handle badly; botch. See Synonyms at botch. n. the sales of the Marlins and Red Sox. And the worse thing is, all of this is nothing compared to the labor problems that stare baseball in the face. Can a strike or lockout lockout, intentional closing up of a company, factory, or shop by an employer to prevent employees from working during a strike or labor dispute. The term lockout be far away? TICK ... TICK ... TICK There's another effort to speed up games, which took an average of 2 hours, 54 minutes last year, down four minutes from 2000. To be emphasized: Pitchers must throw the ball within 12 seconds of the hitter getting into the batter's box when no one is on base. HOW THEY'LL FINISH EAST 1. Yankees With Jason Giambi's offense added to this potent lineup, the team will have to fight boredom until the playoffs. 2. Red Sox: A healthy Nomar Garcia-Parra and Johnny Damon make Boston a contender for wild card. 3. Blue Jays: Toronto will continue selling salary so they can avoid being the Red Jays. 4. Devil Rays: This might be the year to escape the cellar. 5. Orioles: Forget Yogi Berra, it's over before it's over. CENTRAL 1. White Sox If young pitching comes through, then they're playoff-bound. If not, they're headed for third place. 2. Indians: Pitching should be better, offense will be worse. 3. Twins: It's got to be hard when your owner tries to fold you. 4: Tigers: New president Dave Dombrowski will get the ship turned around. 5. Royals: No pitching, no chance. WEST 1. Athletics Despite losing Jason Giambi, pitching will lead Oakland to the top of the division. 2. Mariners: Don't expect a repeat of last year. 3. Angels: The Angels finally are on right track. 4. Rangers: Chan Ho Park as the No. 1 starter? Haven't we heard this before? AROUND the horn MANAGER HOT SEAT 1. Mike Hargrove, Orioles. It's not his fault, but somebody has to take the blame. 2. Tony Muser, Royals. See Mike Hargrove. 3. Jerry Narron, Rangers. With Carl Everett, John Rocker and Juan Gonzalez in the same clubhouse, Narron will be begging to get out. NEW MATCHUPS Interleague play gets a new twist this season. While teams will still play their main opposite-league rival (Angels-Dodgers, White Sox-Cubs, Yankees-Mets, etc.), AL West teams will play the NL Central, the AL Central will play the NL East, and the AL East will play the NL West. What does this mean? How about Diamondbacks at Yankees, Mets at Indians, and Cardinals at Mariners. Of course, with the good comes the bad: Royals at Expos, Padres at Devil Rays, Texas at Pittsburgh. NUMBERS GAME 12 - Number of doubles Rafael Palmeiro needs for 500 20 - Number of wins needed by Roger Clemens for 300. 57 - Number of games Rickey Henderson needs to play to move past Ty Cobb and into fourth place on the all-time list. ON-BASE LEADERS These players were the best in getting on base in 2001. Player Team OBP OBP On Base Percentage (baseball, softball) OBP OpenBoot PROM (Sun Microsystems, Inc.) OBP On-Board Processing OBP On-Board Processor OBP Office of Border Patrol OBP Object Based Programming . 1. Jason Giambi, A's, .477 2. Edgar Martinez, Mariners, .423 3. Jim Thome, Indians, .416 4. Roberto Alomar, Indians, .415 5. Carlos Delgado, Blue Jays, .408 ON THE INTERNET Angels: www.angels.mlb.com Orioles: www.orioles.mlb.com Red Sox: www.redsox.mlb.com White Sox: www.whitesox.mlb.com Indians: www.indians.mlb.com Tigers: www.tigers.mlb.com Royals: www.royals.mlb.com Twins: www.twins.mlb.com Yankees: www.yankees.mlb.com Athletics: www.athletics.mlb.com Mariners: www.mariners.mlb.com Devil Rays: www.devilrays.mlb.com Rangers: www.rangers.mlb.com Blue Jays: www.bluejays.mlb.com ROOKIE WATCH Five rookies who should make an impact in 2002: 1. Hank Blalock, Texas: Just what the Rangers need, another bat. The third baseman had 18 HRs and 108 RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in combined in Double- and Triple-A. Baseball America listed him as the No. 3 prospect in baseball. 2. Carlos Pena, Oakland: The A's needed a replacement for Jason Giambi, so they traded first-base prospects with Texas. The former 10th overall pick in '98 of the Rangers, Pena can hit for average and power, walks a lot and will be a decent defensive player. 3. Nick Johnson, New York Yankees  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. : It must be nice to be a Yankees fan. With Johnson showing he was ready for the majors, the team went out and got Giambi to play first. So Johnson can ease into the majors at DH. 4. Michael Cuddyer, Minnesota: The move to right field from third base should help the 23-year-old, who had 30 homers and 87 RBI in Double-A last season. 5. Eric Hinske, Toronto: The third baseman has been traded twice in his minor-league career, both times for relievers (Scott Chiasson from Oakland to Chicago Cubs and Billy Koch from Toronto to Oakland.) He hit .282 with 25 homers at Triple-A Sacramento last season. WILD, WILD WEST The Yankees are the favorites to return to the World Series, but the West is probably the AL's strongest division. All you have to do is look at the starting pitching for the A's, Mariners and Angels. The five projected starters for the three teams had a combined 205-103 record with a 3.71 ERA in 2001. No other division's projected top-three teams had more wins. Here's a comparison look at the six divisions' top-three projected teams: Division W-L ERA AL West 205-107 3.71 AL Central 146-115 4.15 AL East 139-112 3.75 NL West 148-87 4.02 NL Central 167-89 3.70 NL East 146-138 3.99 CAPTION(S): 4 photos, 4 boxes Photo: (1) It looks like another good year for Derek Jeter and the Yankees, but 2001 showed getting to the World Series isn't enough for them. (2) You had to figure George Steinbrenner wasn't going to stand still after losing the World Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Yankees committed more than $171 million in free-agent deals, including $120 million to first baseman Jason Giambi (above). (3) Oakland's Tim Hudson is just one of many ace-quality pitchers in the AL West this season. (4) The good news: Some think Carlos Pena has the skills to be a superstar. The bad news: He has to replace Jason Giambi in the Oakland lineup - now. Photos by Associated Press Box: (1) HOW THEY'LL FINISH (see text) (2) AROUND the horn (see text) (3) ROOKIE WATCH (see text) (4) WILD, WILD WEST (see text) |
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