Peering into baseball’s crystal ball, Part III

If you’ve been following this column, you’ve taken a trip around the majors for 2003. Now, it’s time to take a look at baseball in October. What will it look like? Who will make the postseason? Who’s in line for awards this winter? Here, at “Splinters”, we’ll peer into our crystal ball one last time…

Projected Order of Finish

AL East
New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox
Toronto Blue Jays
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Baltimore Orioles

AL Central
Minnesota Twins
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Kansas City Royals
Detroit Tigers

AL West
Oakland Athletics
Anaheim Angels
Seattle Mariners
Texas Rangers

AL Wild Card Race
Boston Red Sox
Anaheim Angels
Chicago White Sox

NL East
Philadelphia Phillies
Montreal Expos
Florida Marlins
Atlanta Braves
New York Mets

NL Central
St. Louis Cardinals
Houston Astros
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Pittsburgh Pirates
Milwaukee Brewers

NL West
San Francisco Giants
Los Angeles Dodgers
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies
San Diego Padres

NL Wild Card Race
Houston Astros
Los Angeles Dodgers
Chicago Cubs

Playoffs

AL Division Series
New York over Minnesota
Oakland over Boston

AL Championship
Oakland over New York

NL Division Series
St. Louis over Philadelphia
San Francisco over Houston

NL Championship
San Francisco over St. Louis

World Series Oakland over San Francisco

Postseason Awards

AL MVP
OF Manny Ramirez, BOS

NL MVP
OF Barry Bonds, SF

AL Cy Young
SP Barry Zito, OAK

NL Cy Young
SP Roy Oswalt, HOU

AL Rookie of the Year
OF Hideki Matsui, NYY

NL Rookie of the Year
OF Xavier Nady, SD

AL Gold Gloves
P – Mike Mussina, NYY
C – A.J. Pierzynski, MIN
1B – Doug Mientkiewicz, MIN
2B – Adam Kennedy, ANA
3B – Eric Chavez, OAK
SS – Omar Vizquel, CLE
OF – Ichiro Suzuki, SEA
OF – Torii Hunter, MIN
OF – Bernie Williams, NYY

NL Gold Gloves
P – Greg Maddux, ATL
C – Ivan Rodriguez, FLA
1B – Todd Helton, COL
2B – Fernando Vina, STL
3B – Scott Rolen, STL
SS – Jack Wilson, PIT
OF – Andruw Jones, ATL
OF – Jim Edmonds, STL
OF – Larry Walker, COL

AL Silver Sluggers
1B – Jason Giambi, NYY
2B – Alfonso Soriano, NYY
3B – Eric Chavez, OAK
SS – Alex Rodriguez, TEX
OF – Magglio Ordonez, CHIW
OF – Manny Ramirez, BOS
OF – Garret Anderson, ANA

NL Silver Sluggers
P – Jason Jennings, COL
C – Mike Piazza, NYM
1B – Todd Helton, COL
2B – Jeff Kent, HOU
3B – Scott Rolen, STL
SS – Edgar Renteria, STL
OF – Barry Bonds, SF
OF – Vladimir Guerrero, MON
OF – Sammy Sosa, CHIC

AL Fireman of the Year
Keith Foulke, OAK

NL Fireman of the Year
Eric Gagne, LA