OOTP5-- Hangin' The Halos

[Chief Rum]

Simming July, 2003...

I figured I would start tossing these posts out there, so the readers will at least get the sense of progress. I don't know if my series of monthly posts is enough to convey the sense of a passing season.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

It was an exciting and difficult month. It took quite a while to get through it, and yet this still just gets us to the halfway point. Wow!

I have a lot to go over, so I'll see how far I can get tonight.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

The Standings

Game Date: August 1, 2003 (halfway through the delayed 2003 season)

AL West

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Oakland			54   30  .643   --
Anaheim			44   39  .530  9.5
Seattle			45   40  .529  9.5
Texas			37   47  .440 17.0

Oakland has begun to pull away and looks to be incommand of this division. The Angels and Seattle are two of the better teams in the AL right now, but they are just short on the consistency they need to make a push at Oakland. Texas remains a solid looking team in a tough division.

AL Central

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Cleveland		43   41  .512   --
Minnesota		43   41  .512   --
Chicago			40   44  .476  3.0
Detroit			39   44  .470  3.5
Kansas City		27   57  .321 16.0

Does someone really want to win this division? It seems so sad that there is all this great competition in the west and east, but this division sits in the middle, just plainly sucking. Minnesota has gotten back into it and has tied Cleveland. Chicago is playing closer to their talent and staying close. Detroit turned it around after a bad June. And Kansas City continues to be one of the league's two main whipping boys.

AL East

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Boston			60   24  .714   --
New York		55   30  .647  5.5
Toronto			41   43  .488 19.0
Baltimore		35   49  .417 25.0
Tampa Bay		26   60  .302 35.0

Boston continues to be the best team in MLB, and New York is almost certainly the second best. It's definitely interesting to watch these two mortal enemies battle each other for this division, even if visits to the playoffs for both seem to be practically guaranteed. Toronto was looking very good after June, but a bad month and being in the same division as the Red Sox have essentially removed them from the race entirely. Baltimore also had a bad month after flirting with respectability, and now they are way out. Tampa Bay is the second whipping boy.

NL West

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Los Angeles		48   38  .558   --
San Francisco		46   39  .541  1.5
Arizona			44   44  .500  5.0
San Diego		40   45  .471  7.5
Colorado		38   47  .447  9.5

Welcome to the league's tightest division. Less than 10 games separates first from last and no one is out of it. LA continues to surge, as they have finally overtaken San Francisco, the division leader up until now. San Francisco remains just behind them. Arizona is just at .500, but they are still very much in range of first. Is San Diego's early success dying a slow death toward reality or did they just have a bad month? We'll see... Colorado is probably the best last place team in the league.

NL Central

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Chicago			52   33  .612   --
Cincinnati		47   38  .553  5.0
St. Louis		44   41  .518  8.0
Houston			38   47  .447 14.0
Pittsburgh		37   48  .435 15.0
Milwaukee		31   52  .373 20.0

Chicago still has the best record in the NL, but Cincy doesn't seem willing to give this one up without a fight. They remain close. St. Louis now seems fully back, and is beginning to creep up on Cincinnati. The big improvement of the month came from Houston, which finally seemed to figure out it had too much talent to stay down for as long as it had. The Astros still have a long way to go, though. The Pirates seem to have settled into a team out of contention, and Milwaukee is bringing up the rear now--as originally expected.

NL East

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Atlanta			49   35  .583   --
New York		43   39  .524  5.0
Florida			43   40  .518  5.5
Philadelphia		43   42  .506  6.5
Montreal		34   49  .410 14.5

Atlanta and New York were the two hot teams in the NL East in June. Only Atlanta kept it up. So now the Braves are back on top and with a bit of a lead. The Mets came back to Earth a bit, but still managed to hold on to second. They lead a group of three working to break from the pack and approach the Braves. The Marlins looked like they were going to fall out of it last month, but they have rebounded. Philadelphia continues to be one of the year's bigger disappointments, although they do have a .500-plus record. Thanks to Milwaukee, Montreal doesn't have to carry the worst record in the NL.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Anaheim The Team

The Angels have been wavering from 6th to 14th in the power rankings for most of the month. It seems fitting they should end it at 10th, right in the middle, with 96 points.

Several games have been played since the last power rankings (they come out on Mondays and it is currently a Saturday), but overall there seems to be little difference. The Red Sox weren't quite so hot in July, so they dropped to 133 points and not so commanding a lead in the rankings, but they are still on top. The A's actually have the second spot, with 127. The A's record is just a shade better than the Yanks at this point, but the Yankees are a little back with 116 points. They are just ahead of the Cubs, the best NL team, with 115 points. And the surging Dodgers take the fifth spot with 106 points.

Here are where we stand in major categories, with MLB rank in parentheses:

Team AVG: .255 (20th)
Team HRs: 89 (13th)
Team Runs: 410 (17th)

The average hasn't improved, nor has our horrible plate patience (29th in the league in walks taken), but we are finally seeing improvement here. It seems obvious that the big reason is a jump in HRs. We were in the bottom third of the league in taters, but a powerful July has us in the league's top half and inching toward the top ten power teams. That is almost certainly responsible for a corresponding jump in runs scored, where we are now just about average, as the league goes. I will go into more specifics about the power renaissance when I go over the individual player performances.

Team ERA: 4.18 (12th)
Team AVG Allowed: .250 (8th)
Team Runs Allowed: 375 (7th)

Of course, we have also seen the trend of steadily declining pitching performances continue, as we have slid further from the top. The ERA is now out of the top ten, and average allowed and runs allowed are inching closer as well. I'm hoping we can reverse this trend, of course. While such a decline is not welcomed, it is still quite certain that pitching remains the team's strength at the moment.

Financials

As Oakland pulls away a bit, and we waffle with our consistency, it should be no surprise that fan interest is beginning to take a hit. It is small, dropping from 91 to 90, but it is still a big red flag. OOTP5 (along with previous versions of the game) does not handle fan interest very well, IMO.

That said, this particular decrease is understandable, considering that it approximates a lagging of interest that would be present in real life fans whose expectations of a repeat championship season are being tested by a team several games out of both first and the wildcard.

Our fan interest of 90 is now 4th in the league. San Francisco (92) and the Chicago Cubs (93) are both still ahead of us. The surprise (or not) is Boston, which improved only slowly early on from tehir success, but finally jumped past the top three teams to 94 in FI, the top figure in the league. Are diehard BoSox fans beginning to believe after all? Or is this just another of the Bambino's cruel jokes?

Our FI may be declining, but it hasn't hurt us in attendance just yet. We are still selling out our games, and have sold out all 43 homedates so far this season. In fact, the indomitable persistence of our fans has finally proven too much for other teams like Oakland and Texas to contend with, and we have passed them to become the top team in attendance in the league. The Cowboy is probably rolling in his grave at that one.

The attendance figures for Anaheim now stands at about 1,936,000 for the season.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Transactions & Injuries

FOR JULY, THE THIRD MONTH OF THE 2003 SEASON

The first couple months, I simply placed this section under the Anaheim The Team section. I didn't have anything to report essentially, because I suffered no major injuries nor did I make an changes to the 25-man roster.

Well, that changed in July, big time. In fact, it turned this particular sim into a marathon session, taking more than an hour-and-a-half to go through just one month. And this is just for the Angels...I'm not even sure just yet what big trading news might have come down for the trading deadline, which I was unable to change from July 31 (it is effectively a month earlier than usual).

Before I get into the month's day-by-day Angels' transactions, I thought I would explain something about my approach to trading in this dynasty. I currently recognize that the trade AI may have some flaws in it. As a result, I had to be prepared for at least two different scenarios--the situation where they offer me squat for good players (which is easy--I just turn them down, of course, like anyone would), and the situation where they offer me far more than they should for what they are asking.

The second one is the problem--if you wait long enough, you will eventually get some ridiculous offer that is pretty much a straight rip-off for you. Who knows why the AI does this? This seems to be a difficult aspect to program, so I am not surprised that the AI doesn't always make the smartest decisions.

So I am trying to approach this realistically. With every trade offer, I ask myself, "Is this a deal that might be proposed by an actual real life GM, given what we know about these players?". If I feel the balance is too far in my favor, I will turn it down, simply from the belief that the AI doesn't know what the heck it's doing.

As it turned out, I had to employ that a few times this month.

On July 1, pursuant to what I went over with my upcoming contract decisions and whatnot, I placed several players on the Trade Block. Here they are, with a quick reason assessment:

SP Kevin Appier--poor performance; old; big contract
MR Scott Schoenweiss-- no future with team
C Ben Molina-- hoping another team will make my choice between the Molina brothers easy
C Jose Molina-- " "
2B Jose Nieves-- no future with team
SS Benji Gil-- FA at end of year
LF Jeff DaVanon-- no future with team
CF Julio Ramirez-- no future with team
RF Tim Salmon-- FA at end of year
RF Eric Owens-- FA at end of year
DH Brad Fullmer-- FA at end of year

Now here's a Day-To-Day account of the activities and commentaries from this month:

July 1

Placed the above players on the trading block. Later that day, I got a fierce message from Salmon, asking me what was up with putting him on the trading block. He was pissed, and said if i didn't want him, get him out quick. Well, since I only intended to move Salmon if I get bowled over for a deal, I figured that was a longshot, especially with my plans to decline every trade offer that was too far out of whack.

So I removed him from the trading block, apologized to my monitor, and cowered in the corner while the sim continued.

July 3

I received my first trade offer today. Baltimore offered me MR Kerry Ligtenberg for Fullmer, straight up. I actually considered this one, since I think a real GM might deal a quality, but older reliever for a young, power-hitting DH. In the end, I allowed this offer to expire because I felt that, as good as Ligtenberg is (a four-star reliever), I didn't really need another reliever right then. I wanted to see if I could get prospects or help in other areas for Fullmer.

July 6

I received a trade offer from Montreal today. The Expos wanted to send me young star SP Javier Vazquez for LF Robb Quinlan and MR Omar Ramirez. Quinlan, of course, is at AAA and was probably a fringe major leaguer. Ramirez is a decently-talented reliever, but he was just a third rounder (and a low one) and he's in Single A. I just couldn't conceive of the Expos trading one of the best young pitchers in the game for a fringe major leaguer and a decent prospect. So I turned it down.

July 8

Fate through a wrench in my plans, and suddenly turning down the Vazquez deal for altruistic reasons may have been visionary.

Regular CF Darin Erstad broke his finger trying to make a catch. The injury seemed small to me, but then I have never tried to hit a 95-mph fastball with a broken finger either. The computer somberly (well I thought it was somber...) informed me that Erstad would miss seven weeks. He isn't expected back until September!

And suddenly I realized that while I had some good depth, I did not have an obvious replacement of potentially starter quality in my system. It really threw my expectations out of whack, because I thought my depth was extraordinary. It took just one injury to strip that illusion away.

I had to do something. My options were to immediately pursue a trade, check out the free agents, or try to swing it with a backup OF or a call up. I discounted option one because I feel that the trade AI is even more faulty when the player initiates the trade talks. I didn't feel I could fairly pursue that option. I also discounted two, because the season isn't going as well as I thought it would and I need to keep payroll down, even if it would just be for under four months.

So that left me with my internal options. The only legit players I could start in the OF besides Salmon and GA (already starting) was middle infield backup Benji Gil and backup outfielder Eric Owens. The season is not going as well as I like, but I certainly wasn't going to throw the season away by giving these two mediocre to poor backups legit starts for two months. Fullmer could play OF, but he is horrible in the field. I couldn't do that.

That left me with call ups. There was one obvious one--Michael O'Keefe. He seemed ready and he was hitting the crap out of the ball at Salt Lake. But if there's one thing I hate, it's bringing up good kids and blowing their first cheap season on a short season of play. O'Keefe's ETA was 2004, and i decided to keep it that way.

My other options were Jeff DaVanon, Elpidio Guzman, Nathan Haynes, and Robb Quinlan. I rejected DaVanon and Guzman right away on the grounds that they were backup material at best. That left me with Haynes and Quinlan.

I decided on Quinlan. Stoneman wasn't telling me either player was ready for the bigs, but he had said so of Quinlan in the past. Quinlan is also an older prospect (26) who can no longer really improve at AAA, while Haynes (23) still had some potential development to do. And Quinlan was the last cut from the final 25 before the season started. So I promoted Quinlan, with the intent to give him this tryout and see how he does. This may be his one chance, outside of being a backup to prove that he is worth more than that.

I moved Garrett Anderson to CF to replace Erstad in the field, and Quinlan will start in LF to replace GA.

July 14

The Yankees came in with an offer today. They would send MR Randy Choate, a young lefty approaching arbitration, and minor league starter Simon Pedrosa, their top pick in the 2003 draft (but last overall pick in the first round), for Fullmer.

Choate is a four-star reliever and Pedrosa a 2.5 star talent. Fullmer was a 2.5 star talent as well. I decided this wasn't as farfetched as I first thought it. For one, Choate is a reliever--unless they're closers, they just aren't as valuable. And Pedrosa might be a first round pick, but he was really just an okay pick. Fullmer is a young (28), power-hitting DH who has the ability to hit 20+ HRs in any given year.

So I asked myself if it was understandable that a team might offer a very solid, but young reliever and a decent pitching prospect for a 20-25 HR hitter who himself is young and cheap, and I decided, yes, that is within the realm of reason.

Then I looked at the deal itself. I was inclined to reject it on the same notion as the Ligtenberg offer, the fact I didn't really need another reliever. But then I noticed Choate was a lefty. My only southpaw in the pen is Schoenweiss, and he is by far my worst reliever and on the trade block himself.

So I decided to do it. I sent Fullmer to the Yanks for Choate and Pedrosa. I sent Pedrosa to Rancho Cucamonga and promoted Choate to the major league squad. Not needing Schoenweiss anymore, I then attempted to send him down to AAA. He agreed to the assignment, and I replaced Fullmer's spot amongst the hitters with Elpidio Guzman. While I had no illusions Guzman was anything more than a backup, I figured, he, too, could get a shot at some PT to see how he does, since he is also a veteran minor leaguer who was probably on his way out.

Choate had just over a 3.00 ERA in about 25 IP when I acquired him. Fullmer still hadn't really come out of his slump in his increasingly limited at bats, with about a .250 average and a couple homeruns in about 110 ABs.

July 17

Over the course of three days, I received two notices from the team's medical personell that Erstad wasn't healing as fast as expected. The first time he was bumped back a week. The second time it was two weeks! So Erstad's original target of seven weeks became out for 10 weeks (from his injury on July 8).

July 27

The Dodgers approached me about Schoenweiss, now laboring at Salt Lake City. They offered veteran 3B Ron Coomer and pitching prospect SP Jonathon Figueroa.

Coomer has apparently come to the point of falling apart. He is 36, and signed to approximately a $500K contract all the way to 2006, when he would be 39. The game description said he was likely on the verge of retirement.

Figueroa was a nice prospect I added to the game (one of the 144). But I didn't know just how nice until I checked him out. He was rated as a five-star prospect, one of the more elite prospects in the league.

To the Dodgers, Schoenweiss was probably a potential starter, which had been his primary role prior to June, 2002. As a seemingly decent lefty with starting and relief ability--and being decently young at 29, cheap heading toward arbitration, and a three-star talent.

So while Figueroa was quite a find for Schoenweiss, Coomer with his potential salary weight contract was a huge negative. I decided that Coomer's negative aspects did enough to bring Figueroa down to the level where this could be considered an acceptable offer.

Then I took a closer look at the trade and decided to reject it on the grounds that I didn't need another good pitching prospect enough to take on Coomer's remaining contract (at least to risk that he might not retire).

July 30

Today was the big day. On the eve of the trading deadline, I received no less than five different trade offers for my available players. I'll go over the offers and what I did with them one-by-one.

TRADE OFFER #1

Milwaukee offered me slugging 1B Richie Sexson for Quinlan and my top hitting prospect 1B Casey Kotchman.

Spiezio is holding down the first base job just fine. Acquiring Sexson would thus be unnecessary. Sexson was also doing pretty poorly. He was also being paid near $3 M per year. Kotchman is my best hitting prospect. And Quinlan was holding is own in LF, with Erstad still almost two months away from returning.

This was an easy one for me to turn down.

TRADE OFFER #2

Texas offered me struggling SP John Thomson and low-end 1B prospect Joseph Hartl for SP Kevin Appier.

I knew this one was a thinker right away. First of all, Texas is a division rival--and it's never a good idea to trade inside your division. Second, Appier had actually started to turn it around, lowering his ERA to 5.21, and had been solid most of the month of July. Third, Thomson was struggling badly with a 6.38 ERA.

But in the end, this was about the future. Appier has a $4.84 M contract that runs through 2005. He's also 35, and up until recently, had been pitching pretty poorly. Thomson was doing badly this year, but he's just 29. He pitched well in Colorado of all places in 2001 (and not too bad with the Metsk the next year either). His contract calls for a $2.39 M contract, and he is arbitration eligible, so I can cut him without further loss at the end of the season. Hartl, a fourth-round pick in this most recent draft, is just a two-star talent, but the game called him a sleeper prospect.

So I bit. I sent Appier and his contract and the risk away to Texas, for a pitcher doing badly (but with the potential to do better) and a marginal-decent prospect. No matter what Thomson gives me, I think it could be a great move. Now I just have to cross my fingers that Appier won't come back to haunt me in the near future (or his absence from my still inconsistent rotation).

I switched Thomson onto the MLB roster to take over Appier's spot and I sent Hartl to Rancho Cucamonga. I really wanted to elevate Matt Wise instead, but I thought Thomson might refuse a minor league assignment. And besides, he is supposed to be better than this. If he does well over the last half of the season, I might even keep him.

TRADE OFFER #3

Montreal continues to push Vazques. They sent me an offer of SP Javier Vazquez--still young, still good-- for power prospect RF Michael O'Keefe and MR Omar Ramirez, one of they guys they asked for last time.

Well, at least this one is more even. But with me considering the Thomson deal at the time and still a lot of depth in pitching in the minor leagues, and a definite need to keep O'Keefe around to replace Salmon, I knew I couldn't do this deal. I turned the Expos down again.

TRADE OFFER #4

Seattle offered me veteran MR Jeff Nelson and minor league SP Greg Wooten--no relation to Shawn that I know of--for SP Kevin Appier.

This was the competition with the Texas trade. And it wasn't really much of one.

Nelson is a fine reliever, one of the better ones in the league. But considering I turned down the younger (and maybe better) Ligtenburg earlier in the month, completed the Choate deal, and still was pretty deep in the pen, I didn't see a need to move Appier to Seattle.

Making the deal look even worse was the fact that Wooten is a one-star talent 29-year-old vet minor leaguer at Seattle's AAA club. While he was doing well at AAA, gimme a break! Also, the Nelson thing is personal. In real life, Nelson acted like a bitch about being snubbed for the All Star game last year, and then prior to the ALDS, he said the Yankees were going to sweep us easy. I can't stand the guy. So fuck 'im.

Obviously, I went with the Texas offer for Appier.

TRADE OFFER #5

The Astros were apparently looking for pitching depth as they tried to get back into the NL Central race. They offered veteran minor league slugger LF Jason Lane and Single A prospect C Oscar Leon for MR Scott Schoenweiss.

To be honest, considering that Schoenweiss was a three-star talent southpaw with starter ability, I thought this might be a reach. But when you're up against the deadline and you just don't want or need a guy around anymore, you get what you can for him.

It was the Astros' lucky day, and I accepted the offer.

Lane is just a one-star player, but he isn't without possibilities. He had hit 18 HRs so far for Houston's AAA squad and I remembered from real life as being a guy with some skills. He also has good speed and is a decent outfielder. And he is just 26. I figured if Quinlan played himself into a larger role (and he is currently doing well), Lane might be handy as a bat off the bench and as a backup outfielder after Owens leaves (a role Quinlan was to fill next year). I put him at AAA.

Leon is no one special, but he kinda reminds me of Hartl in the Texas deal. A two-star prospect at Single A, Leon is just another guy to add to the mix and see what he can do. I don't have many hitters on my Single A team anyway. Leon was a fifth round pick in this last draft.

And that's where it ended. My month ended with Erstad hurt and Quinlan in the lineup, Appier gone to Texas and replaced by John Thomson, Schoenweiss gone to Houston and replaced by Randy Choate from the Yankees. So we had an exciting roster turnover-filled month.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

The Major League Squad

HALFWAY THROUGH THE 2003 SEASON

The Rotation

Thank God for Jarrod Washburn (8-6, 3.43). Without him, my rotation would seem hopeless right now, I think.

Ramon Ortiz (6-7, 4.71) had his first real solid month of the year. Hopefully this is a sign he's getting things back under control and will return to the solid strikeout pitcher he was last year.

John Lackey (4-7, 5.03) had a horrible month, as his ERA dropped almost a whole run. I need him to regaint he form he had earlier in the year.

Aaron Sele (4-7, 5.56) has followed his amazing 2.72 ERA May with two straight 7.00+ ERA months, and is basically now in the same position as Appier was last month. I just can't afford to keep a guy in the rotation pitching like this.

Kevin Appier (6-6, 5.21) had his first effective month, but I think I explained enough why I felt it necessary to move him. I am hoping John Thomson (3-8, 6.41) will rebound from his first half struggles.

If not Matt Wise waits in the wings at AAA, among others, and I will use him.

The Bullpen

Troy Percival (21 sv in 25 opps, 1.06) continues to be absolutely dominating. It's so wonderful having a guy like that around.

Of course, this bullpen as a whole continues to dominate. I don't know where I would be without these guys saving the starters' butts so often.

Frankie Rodriguez (5-2, 2.16) has become the workhorse of the relief staff, with 58.1 IP. Ben Weber (4-1, 2.00) continues to put up effective work at middle relief, and he now has the best ERA besides Percy.

Brendan Donnelly (2-0, 2.04) is just behind Weber and also has a couple of saves. Since coming over from the Yanks, Randy Choate (4-0, 3.07) has done well, making me wonder how I got by with Scott Schoenweiss as my lefty out of the pen. Lou Pote (3-0, 3.86) has seemingly settled in around a 3.00 to 4.00 ERA, and is doing well.

I guess now that Schoeny is gone, someone has to take over the role of worst reliever, and in that case, it has to be Scot Shields (0-2, 5.79) doing mop up work. In his defense, he only appeared in one game in July (entering which his ERA was just fine), and he got blown out in that game. That went directly to a two-run increase in his ERA.

The Infield

Could I possibly have two worst offensive catchers than the Molina brothers? Ben Molina (.227, 1, 12) at least seemed to get a little better last month. Jose Molina (.193, 2, 16), supposedly the more talented one, is hitting the skids.

It is time for what I suggested I would do last month. Defense be damned, Shawn Wooten will be the Angels' regular catcher for at least this month. Ben Molina seems to be the steadier of the two brothers, so he will backup.

Scott Spiezio (.286, 7, 33) isn't hurting the team at 1B, but he isn't really helping them either. I know he's more capable of offense than he is showing, so I hope he turns up the power a notch. He and Wooten split lineup time replacing Erstad at the #2 spot in the order. On the opposite side of the field, Troy Glaus (.219, 21, 64) finally woke up, hitting .306 with 9 HRs and 30 RBIs on the month. I think this is far more indicative of his abilities, and his improvement was a big reason the Angels did a little better in the league rankings for power and runs scored.

David Eckstein (.259, 5, 27) inched his way back toward respectability after his bad June, but he still has a ways to go. He does have 17 SBs now. Adam Kennedy (.224, 3, 27) seems like he's been put her to test me. I have been thinking over bringing up Figgins, who is doing great at AAA, for some time now, but I haven't worked out a spot for him yet. I am also not sure if I want to blow a cheap year on him yet.

The Outfield/DH

Darin Erstad (.236, 3, 25) only got a handful of games in before breaking his finger. Judging by his performance thus far, this might be a good thing. His subtraction may also have a lot to do with the Angels' increase in run production.

Garrett Anderson (.269, 13, 45) moved over to Ersty's spot in CF. He has produced more power this month, but at the cost of average. He should be able to produce both at the same time.

Tim Salmon (.290, 16, 57) continues to test my resolve on the decision to not sign him to an extension. Man, losing this guy is going to hurt if O'Keefe ain't all he's cracked up to be next year.

One way to deaden that pain, though, may be Robb Quinlan (.299, 3, 16). He is doing surprisingly well since he was called up to replace Erstad in the lineup. I don't think it's out of the question that he can continue to perform at this level either, since he is a decent 2.5 star talent. He's making a case for sliding over to DH when Erstad comes back, rather than a return ticket to Salt Lake City.

Shawn Wooten (.298, 9, 41) continues to be one of our most consistent hitters, and now he'll get a shot behind the plate. While he does that, Jose Molina will compete with recent call up Elpidio Guzman for the DH duties until Erstad returns.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

The Minor Leagues

HALFWAY THROUGH 2003 SEASON

Between the fluctuations on the major league staff, some more disabled list use in the minor leagues, another round of promotions and the trade additions, our minor league system was almost in as much flux as the major leagues.

AAA SS Alfredo Amezaga was returned to the lineup from the DL at the beginning of the month, but the list was not empty for long. Salt Lake City’s veteran backstop Sal Fasano broke his hand on July 1. He did prove to be a quick healer and is just now getting off the DL, having missed just one month. Arkansas’s rotation was hit by a switcharoo of injuries in the middle of the month. SP Bobby Jenks pulled a bicep tendon on July 20 and will be on the shelf for 4 weeks. This is his second injury of the year, although his first one did not require a visit to the DL. He was soon replaced, though, by Richard Fischer, who came back from bone chips in his elbow on July 24. Fischer had missed most of June and July with the injury.

As noted. Quinlan and Guzman weren’t the only players to get promoted. The big news was the promotion of #3 prospect Joe Saunders from Arkansas to Salt Lake City. He was just moved up near the end of this month. Elvin Nina, sent to AAA with Chris Bootcheck at the beginning of the month, was sent back down to Arkansas to make room in Salt lake City’s rotation.

Fasano will get a rude welcome when he returns from the DL, because he will be sent to Arkansas instead of back to Salt lake Coty. That’s because #7 prospect C Jared Abruzzo continues his shocking rocket climb through the system and will now debut in Salt Lake City as the AAA squad’s new catcher. In addition, 3B prospect Dallas McPherson got the nod to move up to Arkansas from Rancho Cucamonga.

Trade acquisitions SP Simeon Pedrosa, 1B Jason Hartl, and C Oscar Leon have all been added to Rancho Cucamonga’s roster.

We did lose some skills in player development. AAA 3B Oscar Salazar’s talent in average dropped, and so did A MR Omar Ramirez’s ability to avoid walks. 1B Matt Whitney came a big step closer to permanent DH status by losing both range and momentum at his position. He is now virtually worthless at the position and slow as hell.

The Angels now feature the second best farm system in the major leagues, behind only Tampa Bay. I don’t know what caused the rise from fourth to second (which was gradual, stopping briefly at third place before moving on), but something apparently agrees with the system ranker. It can’t be the trade acquisitions—I don’t think any of the new Angels made the Top 100 list and the ranking improvement before most of the trades anyway.

Here’s a team-by-team look at our minor leagues:

Salt Lake Stingers (47-36)

Stoneman has penciled in four names for possible advancement, down from his eight last month. Bart Miadich, Oscar Salazar and Steve Green were removed from the ready to play majors list for whatever reason, and Elpidio Guzman was promoted to the big ball club.

Two of the four names that remain should be familiar, since Stoneman has been pushing them since the beginning of the season. 2B Chone Figgins (.319, 2, 45) continues to have a fine season at AAA. His double-play partner SS Alfredo Amezaga (.325, 2, 20) seems none the worse for wear for having missed most of June with a pulled anterior cruciate ligament.

#6 prospect RF Michael O’Keefe (.339, 16, 64) continues to be the true talent and star he looks to be. Stoneman is still recommending his promotion as well.

SP Matt Wise (7-3, 3.23) is the last name on Stoneman’s list, and as you know by now, I have been trying to get him into the major league rotation to see what he can do.

The rest of the roster is as filled as ever. With Quinlan and Guzman in Anaheim, it is handy that the Angels acquired Houston’s LF Jason Lane (.253, 18, 53). Lane isn’t too talented, but apparently he can hit the smack out of the ball. The underrated Larry Barnes (.331, 6, 46) continues to chug along.

#7 prospect Jared Abruzzo will debut this month at C for Salt Lake after going .258-5-28 in 217 at bats at Arkansas.

Pitching will also receive a boost with the overall of #3 prospect Joe Saunders (7-5, 2.66 at Arkansas), although the rotation has always been solid with Wise, super minor leaguer Mickey Callaway (8-1, 2.17) and Steve Green (4-8, 4.79). Last month’s promotion, Chris Bootcheck (2-0, 6.41) is still learning the ropes at AAA.

Arkansas Travellers (42-41)

Arkansas had a bad month, record-wise, although that should be expected with the injury and promotion problems it has had.

Abruzzo and Saunders are gone to Salt Lake, but plenty of talent returns.

Top hitting and #5 Angels prospect 1B Casey Kotchman (.279, 7, 38) continues to not produce at the power level that is expected of him, and his average is dropping.

SS Brian Specht (.285, 8, 36) are eerily similar to Kotchman’s but the difference is that he is hitting according to his listed talents. Stoneman suggests that Specht is still on the fence for a possible promotion to AAA (not that there’s room for him).

C Wil Nieves (.258, 5, 23) may find his prospects at catcher for the Angels dimming now. Abruzzo leapfrogged him to Salt Lake, and the Angels added Oscar Leon to Single A, where he will share time with another solid catching prospect Jeff Mathis. And now vet Sal Fasano is coming to Arkansas.

3B Dallas McPherson (.227, 3, 7) has struggled some, especially with his average, since his mid-month promotion, but he should come around. He was hitting .333-7-28 when he was moved up.

Veteran minor leaguer LF Barry Wesson (.261, 12, 57) hasn’t really done so hot since May, but he continues to be the one major power source on the squad.

With Saunders and Bootcheck gone to AAA, and Jenks and Fischer doing stints on the DL, the touted rotation has had more problems than expected.

Jenks (2-3, 4.31) still hadn’t really found his groove when he got hurt again, and Fischer (3-5, 4.63) is still trying to find his again after coming back from injury. Chris Waters (3-7, 5.07) has been healthy all year, much to the disappointment of Arkansas fans. Elvin Nina (3-4, 4.94) will return to AA to help out a little this month.

Second round pick Jeremy Tetrault (2-2, 2 sv, 3.97) is getting a crash course at closer and is holding up pretty good. Derrick Turnbow (1-1, 3.25) also continues to pitch well in middle relief.

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (48-35)

It’s amazing how a few trades and a draft can fill up a roster so quick. The Quakes’ roster is still decently full, despite losing guys like Specht and Abruzzo and McPherson as the season has gone on.

Jeff Mathis (.278, 10, 51) remains the one solid bat who has been around all season. He leads the team in most hitting categories.

2003 draftees 2B Bennie Brant (.224, 9, 23), 1B Jason Hartl (.207, 8, 24) and C Oscar Leon (.172, 0, 6) are around now to provide support. Brant, of course, has been around since June. Leon’s numbers look bad, but part of the reason seems to be that the Astros misplaced him at AA for a while, where he did equally bad.

CF Julio Ramirez (.332, 9, 31) continues to play out the string toward free agency.

Pitching is all of a sudden a strength now. Top 10 prospects Johan A. Santana (4-7, 3.23) and Joe Torres (6-7, 4.65) are both thought of as possibly headed to AA soon. The best pitcher, however, continues to be 2003 first round draft pick David LaBoy (5-1, 2.57). Another 2003 first rounder, Simeon Pedrosa (2-4, 5.86) is still trying to find his groove.

Third round pick Omar Ramirez (3-1, 2 sv, 2.84) is doing well, but fifth rounder Aurelio Ruiz (2-1, 1 sv, 5.31) hasn’t been so hot.

The Angels’ Top 10 Prospect List

1. SP John Lackey—majors (4-7, 5.03)
2. SP David Laboy—A (5-1, 2.57) 17th best prospect in MLB
3. SP Joe Saunders—AAA (just promoted, 7-5, 2.66 at AA) 70th best prospect in MLB
4. SP Bobby Jenks—AA (2-3, 4.31—currently on DL) 65th best prospect in MLB
5. 1B Casey Kotchman—AA (.279, 7, 38) 13th best prospect in MLB
6. SP Joe Torres—A (6-7, 4.65) 31st best prospect in MLB
7. RF Michael O’Keefe—AAA (.339, 16, 64)
8. C Jared Abruzzo—AAA (just promoted, .258, 5, 28 at AA, .270, 6, 18 at A) 62nd best prospect in MLB
9. SP Chris Waters—AA (3-7, 5.07)
10. SP Richard Fischer—AA (3-5, 4.63)

(It should be noted that the Top 100 MLB prospects list is compiled by an average scout--Stoneman, who puts together our Top 10 list, is supposed to be better).

Other Angels prospects on MLB Top 100 list

SP Johan A. Santana-- A (4-7, 3.23) 69th best prospect in MLB
SP Chris Bootcheck—AAA (2-0, 6.41) 88th best prospect in MLB

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Major League News

HALFWAY THROUGH THE 2003 SEASON

Offensive League Leaders-- American League

For all the commanding lead Boston's Manny Ramirez had in the Triple Crown categories, it was surprising to see him come down to Earth so suddenly. He droped from .401 to .352 over the course of July, and even lost the top spot to his teammate Johnny Damon, hitting .353. Finishing off an impressive trio, Jeremy Giambi rounded out the Boston trio of outfielders and batting leaders with a .343 average. Jeremy's brother, massive Yankees' 1B Jason Giambi was fourth with a .338 average, and Minnesota's Corie Koskie was fifth at .336. It seems likely that New York's Bernie Williams's injury put him below qualifying plate appearances; he had been first and then second the previous months.

I don't know what is more amazing: that the Angels' own Troy Glaus is now tied for the AL lead with 21 homers, or that Ramirez only hit one homerun in July after hitting 12 in June. Alex Rodriguez is third with 18. His teammate Juan Gonzalez is tied with Chicago's Jose Valentin with 17 HR.

The one Triple Crown lead Ramirez was able to maintain after his phenomenal June was in RBI. He's still leading the AL, now with 75. Jason Giambi has 68, and Glaus 64 to follow him up. Chicago's Frank Thomas is tied at 61 with the surprising Dmitri Young of the Tigers.

Ramirez also still leads in OPS, with 1.088, although that's a bit of a drop from last month. Jason Giambi is second at 1.070. Toronto's Carlos Delgado is a surprise third in OPS with a 1.058 OPS.

Offensive League Leaders-- National League

Houston's Lance Berkman continues to put on an amazing show at the plate, flirting with .400 as late as halfway throught he season. He is far in the batting lead at .388. A pair of Rockies hold the next spots. Todd Helton is second at .351, and Larry Walker is third with .340. Walker's average continues a precipitous fall that began shortly after he finished the first month of the season batting well over .400. A pair of second basemen rbing up the rear. Jeff Kent gives the Atsros another bat in the top five with .334, and the Mets' Roberto Alomar is fifth with a .333 average.

Future Hall of Fame slugger Barry Bonds had an incredible July, slugging 15 homeruns in the month alone to move up to a major league lead 31 HR on the season. The Cubs' ever present slugger Sammy Sosa is second with 26. Mike Piazza of the Mets led the way after last month, and now he's third at 24. The Braves' Gary Sheffield has 23 HR. Ken Griffey Jr. of Cincy and the Dodgers' Shawn Green pair it up with 21 HRs each at the back end.

Sheffield also had a great month for RBIs, and he leaped out to the lead with 81. Bonds and Sosa have matching 74s behind him. Kent has 71, and Griffey has 67. Surprisingly, the leader after last month, Piazza, had just 10 ribbies in July and he's now a bit off the pace.

Bonds' great month pushed him up once again into the upper echelons of historic OPS's. He leads the league with 1.263. Batting leader Berkman is second with 1.172, and Coors Field-aided Helton is third at 1.132.

Pitching League Leaders-- American League

Boston's Pedro Martinez had his second straight downer month, but it was still enough to hold onto the ERA lead at 2.71. Minnesota's Johan A. Santana is right behind him with an imprssive 2.71. Andy Pettitte of the Yanks is a new addition to the ERA ranks with 2.99. Oakland's Mark Mulder follows with 3.07, and Roger Clemens shows that age is not yet an issue, as the 40-year-old is fifth int he league with a 3.21 ERA.

Seattle's Freddy Garcia is pulling away a little in wins, with a 13-3 record. Mulder (11-5) and the Yankees' Mike Mussina (11-5) are tied for second in wins. Four pitchers have ten wins, including Martinez and Pettitte.

Martinez remains far out front for strikeouts with 144. The Rangers' Chan Ho Park is second with a distant 90. Mussina has 89 Ks, good for third. Kelvim Escobar of the Jays has 87, and Mulder is fifth with 86 Ks.

The Yankees' Mariano Rivera has surprisingly passed up Boston's Chad Fox for the save lead, 26 to 24. Fox is now tied with two others-- Keith Foulke of Oakland and the M's' Kazutoshi Sasaki. The continually surprising Buddy Groom is fifth with 22 saves for the Orioles.

Pitching League Leaders-- National League

John Smoltz is having a season for the ages. The veteran Braves' starter now has a misiscule 1.34 ERA and is far, far ahead of everyone. The Dodgers' Odalis Perez is second with 2.59-- a whole run and a quarter back of Smoltz. Brian Lawrence of the Padres is third with a 2.73 ERA. He is followed by NL East aces Randy Wolf of the Phils with a 2.89 ERA, and Florida's young Josh Beckett at 2.93.

Smoltz has company with him at a league-leading 11 wins, but he's the only one who is undefeated. Perez matches him, but with an 11-4 record. They are joined by Chicago's Matt Clement at 11-3. The Padres' Adam Eaton is fourth with a surprising 10-5 record. Several pitchers have 9 wins.

Up until now, Randy Johnson of the DBacks has had a Martinez-esque strikeout lead. He is still in the lead now at 151. But his lead is no longer so inviolate, as the Cubs' Mark Prior is not far behind with 130. Johnson's teammate Byung-Hung Kim is third with 118 Ks, and followed closely by Houston's Roy Oswalt with 115. Beckett is fifth with 111.

Chicago's Mike Remlinger remains on top of the saves list, with 27. Jason Isringhausen is proving invaluable to the Cards' attempt to re-enter the NL East race. He has 25 saves. Arizona's Greg Swindell has 23 saves, and Florida's Vladimir Nunez 22. The Braves' Ray King andEric Gagne of the Dodgers are fifth with 20 saves each.

League Awards

Players of the Week-- AL

June 29-July 5-- 3B Corie Koskie (MIN)
July 6-12-- 3B Troy Glaus (ANA)
July 13-19-- SS Jose Valentin (CHW)
July 20-26-- RF Chris Richard (BAL)

Players of the Week-- NL

June 29-July 5-- RF J.D. Drew (STL)
July 6-12-- LF Barry Bonds (SF)
July 13-19-- LF Lance Berkman (HOU)
July 20-26-- 2B Jeff Kent (HOU)

American League Batter of the Month for July: CF Johnny Damon (BOS)

Okay, yeah, Damon hit .405, with 3 HR and 23 RBI in July. I still think Glaus should have won.

American League Pitcher of the Month for July: Johan A. Santana (MIN)

Santana maneuvered himself amongst the best pitchers in baseball by going 4-0 with a 1.50 ERA and a shutout in six starts.

National League Batter of the Month for July: LF Barry Bonds (SF)

This one was even easier than Ramirez last month. Bonds hit .348-15-35...that's in a month, people.

National League Pitcher of the Month for July: John Smoltz (ATL)

Wow, you know how hard it is to win one of these things? Can you then imagine what it must be like to win THREE IN A ROW?!? Smoltz was just 2-0 in his five games, but his ERA was all of 1.07 for the month.

Significant Events

There were a lot of intersting key events, but there was only one big one.

Roger "The Rocket" Clemens racked up his 300th career win on July 29, going 7 IP and allowing just two runs in an 8-2 victory over the Mariners. I don't think I have to stress just how incredible it is in this day and age to see a pitcher get 300 wins. Greg Maddux of the Barves will likely do it, too, but after that we may not ever see another 300 game winner again.

The White Sox's ace Bartolo Colon came within a hit of no-hitting the Royals on July 7, and the Twins' Joe Mays duplicated the near miss against Detroit on July 15.

At least one Detroit hitter was hitting on another day, though. Veteran outfielder Ray Lankford hit for the cycle against Toronto in an Independence Day game. Some other siginificant events was Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki's 7 hits against Detroit on July 9, and Colorado's Ben Petrick's 8 RBIs against the DBacks on July 26.

Three hitters got collected their 200th career hits this month: Texas's Ruben Sierra got a fourth inning single against Boston on July 9; John Olerud of the Mariners got his with a single against the A's on July 18; and Cleveland's Omar Vizquel also got his hit off of Boston, this one a single on Luly 30.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Major League Transactions

This particular set of transactions will only be releases and signings, and then I will follow it with important contract extensions, which the AI signed on the last day of the month.

Trades, as in the trade deadline deals, will be dealt with in another post, including commentary.

Day by Day Transaction List

July 8

Releases (refusal of minor league assignment)

Mets: RF Al Martin

Commentary: I don't know who returned that would make the Mets want to let loose this guy. Martin was doing surpisingly well (.294, 7, 26).

July 13

Releases (refusal of minor league assignment)

Bluejays: SS Mike Bordick
Astros: CF Craig Biggio
Mariners: SP Jamie Moyer
Phillies: CL Jose Mesa

Commentary: You see, now this is just upsetting. I really hope Markus (designer of OOTP) realizes the ridiculous AI decisions that are being made. No taking into account of stats or of the historical significance of a player. No attempt to trade these players if they refuse assignment. Utterly deplorable and potentially able to give me an unfair (and undesired) advantage, because I don't do stupid things like this. Bordick (.294, 4, 15) was a part-time starter for the Jays. Biggio (.244, 3, 18) hasn't been doing too well, but he's a full time starter, and we all know he would never, ever, ever be outright released byt he Astros. Moyer (4-8, 3.90) doesn't have a great record but he's having a very solid year. And Mesa (1-3, 3.04, 16 sv) was among the NL save leaders!

Releases

Oakland: MR Larry Leubbers

Commentary: I can't tell why this was done either. Leubbers was 0-1, with a save and a 4.09 ERA in 19 appearances.

July 20

Releases (refusal of minor league assignment)

Brewers: LF John Vander Wal

Commentary: Yeah, I'll bet the Brewers can afford to throw away even semi-decent players. Vander Wal was hitting .239, 7, 28 as a near full-time starter.

July 21

Releases (refusal of minor league assignment)

Rangers: LF Ruben Sierra

Commentary: Yeah, that's how it works. He gets his 2000th hit and then a few days later he gets the boot, despite putting up decent power numbers (.223, 10, 36) as a fulltime starter. At least the AI waited until after he got to 2000. Usually they make this decision just before such a milestone has been reached, thereby making even more sense of course.

July 27

Releases (refusal of minor league assignment)

White Sox: C Sandy Alomar Jr.
Orioles: 3B Jeff Conine

Commentary: Another day, two more releases of veteran full time starters. Alomar was hitting .279, with 1 HR and 27 RBI. Conine's release was downright diabolical, considering he was putting up .277, 10, 35.

Signings

Pirates sign 3B Jose Hernandez to a one-year, $380K contract.

Commentary: Hernandez hasn't played yet this year. So why is this significant? Because he is a 2.5 star talent, and he was just released a few days before this--by the Pirates.

Contract Extensions

The AI did its main contract extensions today, although it will do another final round in a month. Here are the more significant signings, by team:

Yankees sign 1B Jason Giambi (.338, 16, 68) to a 7-year, $12.88 M contract.
Yankees sign SP Mike Mussina (11-5, 3.44) to a 3-year, $8.91 M contract.
Yankees sign 3B Robin Ventura (.258, 9, 43) to a 3-year, $3.52 M contract.
Yankees sign DH Brad Fullmer (.250, 3, 14) to a 3-year, $599K contract.
Yankees sign SP Roger Clemens (7-6, 3.21) to a 1-year, $798K contract.

Commentary: Wow, the Yankees really opened up the vaults. Giambi and Mussina are both among the top 30-40 paid players in the game (Giambi probably top ten). And they still had enough left over to give cotnracts to start Ventura and former Angel Fullmer. I guess it's kinda nice to see Clemens sign an extension, although I still think he may retire at the end of the year.

Devil Rays sign SP Chuck Finley (2-11, 4.84) to a 1-year, $315K contract.

Commentary: As an Angels fan, you have to know I love the Chuckster. But this deal just doesn't make sense. I know a lot of those losses are from the D-Rays being a very poor team, but it's not like a 4.84 ERA is anything to write home about. Why would Tampa Bay want to keep around an old guy on a bad team?

Bluejays sign SP Kelvim Escobar (4-6, 4.17) to a 3-year, $2.65 M contract.
Bluejays sign RF Frank Catalanotto (.294, 6, 41) to a 3-year, $2.14 M contract.

Commentary: Rats, the rest of the league says. I'm sure most of us would have liked a shot at one of the better young strikeout pitchers in the league in Escobar.

White Sox sign SP Bartolo Colon (7-4, 3.42) to a 3-year, $4.10 M contract.
White Sox sign 1B Paul Konerko (.223, 9, 39) to a 3-year, $3.59 M contract.

Commentary: Colon's signing was not welcomed by league GMs either. Konerko is having an offseason, but that also has to be considered a key signing.

Indians sign MR Bob Wickman (1-2, 5.59, 2 sv) to a 4-year, $3.28 M contract.

Commentary: Wow, this sure looks like a bonehead signing. Wickman has a nice enough talent rating (4.5 stars), but he's 34, not being used as the closer he once was, and he's pitching horribly.

A's sign CL Keith Foulke (4-1, 1.96, 24 sv) to a 3-year, $5.13 M contract.
A's sign MR Jim Mecir (1-3, 3.55, 1 sv) to a 3-year, $2.30 M contract.

Commentary: You see, Philly? This is how you treat a closer doing good work. You DON'T release him! The A's are definitely taking care of their bullpen here.

Expos sign 3B Fernando Tatis (.185, 10, 33) to a 3-year, $1.88 M contract.

Commentary: You think maybe the Expos could have spent this money better?

Mets sign SP Al Leiter (8-6, 3.69) to a 1-year, $4.63 M contract.
Mets sign MR David Weathers (3-2, 2.43) to a 4-year, $1.97 M contract.

Commentary: The Mets probably did well to sign Leiter when they did. If I was Leiter, I would be firing my agent over this one, since all you have to do is look at decently effective older pitchers like Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens and Chuck Finley to see that Leiter might have been worth a multi-year contract in the free agent market.

Phillies sign SP Kevin Millwood (6-5, 3.11) to a 3-year, $4.28 M contract.

Commentary: Another quality pitcher is off the block. Signing Millwood was a smart thing for the Phillies, considering his youth and effectiveness--and the fact they gave up just a backup catcher for him.

Cubs sign C Damian Miller (.243, 8, 34) to a 3-year, $2.39 M contract.

Commentary: I sure hope the Cubs know what they are doing. This guy shouldn't have been an All Star in 2002, and he doesn't seem worth even this money.

Reds sign 3B Aaron Boone (.237, 10, 45) to a 3-year, $2.65 M contract.
Reds sign 1B Sean Casey (.297, 10, 45) to a 3-year, $2.14 M contract.

Commentary: The Reds are smart to ink their corner spots for a few years. Boone seems to be sacrificing average for power now, but he is a good hitter. Casey is probably the best "professional" hitter on the team.

Astros sign RF Richard Hidalgo (.256, 16, 49) to a 3-year, $3.59 M contract.

Commentary: The Astros seem convinced Hidalgo is back. These aren't the numbers he put up in his great season a few years ago, but he is in line to do much better than the past two years. The Astros are banking it will continue for at least three more years apparently.

Brewers sign SP Todd Ritchie (6-8, 3.89) to a 3-year, $817K contract.

Commentary: This is a pretty good contract for the Brewers, who are getting an underrated pitcher. Ritchie should have waited for free agency, where he could have gotten more money and gone to a better team.

Pirates sign SP Jeff D'Amico (3-5, 5.11) to a 3-year, $1.88 M contract.

Commentary: Not much to say here. D'Amico is a bit of a risk, but he's a solid talent who is clearly underachieving. He's also young, and the contract is the kind that fits well for a small-market team like the Pirates.

Dodgers sign SP Hideo Nomo (4-7, 4.78) to a 3-year, $855K contract.
Dodgers sign 1B Fred McGriff (.269, 12, 44) to a 1-year, $638K contract.

Commentary: The Nomo contract could go either way. He's signed to a decent amount for what he produces, but it's a multi-year contract to a 34-year-old pitcher. McGriff's signing, like Clemens's with the Yanks, is a nice extension given that the player in question is doing quite well in spite of his age.

Padres sign CF Mark Kotsay (.283, 4, 23) to a 3-year, $3.59 M contract.

Commentary: This will be one to watch. Kotsay is a good young player coming off his best year in 2002. He has not proven himself over the long haul, though, and he's not off to a great start. So this could either be a risky move or great foresight.

Chief Rum

[korme]

good read, Chief.

No matter what it is, you always have a knack for writing a good dynasty.

[Chief Rum]

Thanks, Shorty. I do seem to have a style that draws people on. Bully for me, I guess.

Have fun in Florida. Maybe I'll have a world championship by the time you get back.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Trade Deadline Deals

These are the trades I removed from the Major League Transactions. Although I am calling them trade deadline deals, it is actually all the deals made in July. The Angels trades already gone over above are not included.

Here's a day-to-day look at the trades in July:

July 17

Arizona gets:

SS Barry Larkin

Cincinnati gets:

1B Jesus Cota

Commentary: An obvious trade a decent prospect for veteran help deal. Larkin is playing younger than his age (39) with .258-7-37 stats as a fulltime starter. Cota is a 2.5 star talent Single A player who is just 21 years old. Larkin still seems to have the skills and the leadership ability to contribute, while Cota could develop into a solid keeper of a player.

July 23

Tampa Bay gets:

SP Chuck Smith
SP Mike Jones

Milwaukee gets:

C Pete LaForest

Commentary: Interesting deal in that neither team seems to be doing it for this year. Smith is a decent enough pitcher (4-6, 4.67), and I am sure lowly Tampa Bay can use a decent starter, but I think this deal was made for Jones, a three-star talent pitching wonderfully at Single A. Still, I have to think this deal was a reach for Tampa Bay because they gave up LaForest (.176, 9, 29). Sure, he's hitting badly but he has the ability to do better there, he's just 25, he's a 3.5 star prospect, he plays a tough to fill position (and one the Brewers aren't particularly deep at), and he was among the team's power sources (sadly enough).

Kansas City gets:

SP Brian Tallet
1B Shunso Matsuo

Houston gets:

SP Chris George

Commentary: The Tallet hot potato continues on its merry way. I have to think the Astros didn't exactly improve much upon their horrible Stanley-for-Tallet (4-10, 5.58) deal earlier in the year with Cleveland, although they did cut salary, and George (6-8, 4.98) has better upside. Matsuo is a decent bat, a 2.5 star talent with some power and great plate patience. He makes up fpr Tallet's shortcomings compared to George, although it should be noted that Tallet still does have above-average talent.

July 27

Baltimore gets:

SP Ryan Dempster
1B Markus Folse

Cincinnati gets:

SP Rodrigo Lopez

Commentary: Cincinnati is gearing up for a run at the Cubs here, I would imagine. Lopez (5-5, 4.11) is solid, young (27) pitcher who was pitching well in a hitter's league. Dempster (4-8, 6.10) is actually listed as having the same talent level as Lopez (2.5 stars), but he is clearly performing worse. I would guess he has the upside to put up similar numbers, and he is 26 and cheap (playing for the minimum whereas Lopez has reached arbitration). Folse is a decent hitter, and has climbed the ladder very quickly. He was drafted in the fourth round this year, and he is already at AAA, although he's not doing so hot. His outlook is as an all-around average hitter. Basically, the O's got a slightly younger, cheaper pitcher of similar talent and a decent hitting prospect in exchange for the better performing Lopez. This might be a winner for both sides.

Baltimore gets:

3B Todd Zeile

New York (A) gets:

RF Keith Reed
SP Mike Paradis

Commentary: I don't really understand this one. I guess Baltimore needed a 3B. Zeile (.300, 3, 17) was getting at best part time starts for the Yanks. He still seems to be a productive player, but he's 37 and his contract is almost $2 M until 2006. In return, the Yankees get a couple of relatively marginal players (Reed could play his way into a starter), but the big thing for them was moving Zeile's contract. The Orioles better hope he kicks ass for them.

July 30

Kansas City gets:

LF Gabe Kapler

Colorado gets:

C Mike Tonis
Andres Blanco
1B Shunsho Matsuo

Commentary: Another one of those "not sure what to make of it"s. Kapler (.308, 5, 38) is having a nice year and he's young, but his approaching arbitration, he's just a 2-star talent player, and he's been hitting in stats-inflating Coors Field for half of his games. On top of that, Kansas City isn't playing for anything but pride now. Sure, they can use a decent young player like Kapler, but why give up three prospects for him? And then there are those prospects. The best is Blanco, a 2.5 star talent who is just 19. Tonis has good talent, but he's 24 and at Single A, so his value is limited. Matsuo had just arrived to KC in the Tallet deal, and now moves on to his third team since being drafted in the third round this year.

Detroit gets:

CF Roosevelt Brown

Chicago (N) gets:

SP Preston Larrison

Commentary: The haves are just eating up the have nots. I can't understand this one either. I guess the Tigers really needed a CF. Brown (.268, 4, 8) looks like a decent player and he's young. He can hit for power and he's well-rounded at the plate. He was only seeing limited time with the division-leading Cubbies anyway. But it's a crime to be able to send a guy who is probably just a decent starter for a good, young prospect in Larrison. Larrison is a 3.5 star talent who is doing very well in AA--meaning while the Tigers continue to waffle, new centerfielder and all, the Cubs could be adding a well-above-average pitcher to their rotation by 2005.

July 31

Texas gets:

1B Hee Seop Choi
LF Ramon Lopez
3B Pedro Farina

Chicago (N) gets:

MR Rudy Seanez

Commentary: Chicago decided it needed pitching help to keep the Reds off their backs, so they went to get a nice reliever in Rudy Seanez (3-1, 2.84, 1 sv). The question is, did they pay too much? Choi looks like he will develop a nice major league stroke with some power. He isn't doing so hot in AAA right now, but he was murdering AA pitching and he is a three-star talent. Lopez and Farina, the Cubs' last two picks in the 2003 draft, are mostly forgettable Single A prospects, but that does hit at depth, too. I think the Cubs could have gotten close to as good a reliever from other teams for much less.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Injury News

Here were the significant injuries of the third month of play. The injury to Erstad is not listed here:

July 3

Rangers: 1B Rafael Palmeiro broke his ankle while running the bases, which will put him out for 7-8 weeks. Ouch, I'll bet that made the highlight reel. The veteran slugger was doing well, too (.302, 6, 32), although his power numbers seem low. This will be a huge block out of his season.

July 9

White Sox: 3B Joe Crede was injured while running the bases, and apparently the injury progressed to the level of an inflamed posterior cruciate ligament. He had to sit three weeks to rest his knee up, although he just returned from the injury. He is hitting .274, with 8 HR and 32 RBI.

July 11

Marlins: SP Mark Redman apparently wrenched his back through an awkward pitching motion and herniated a disk. He is going to miss 5 weeks. He was 2-6, with a 4.32 ERA at the time of the injury.

July 13

Astros: SS Julio Lugo strained his anterior cruciate ligament while running the bases, and will be out 5 weeks. Like the Astros can afford to lose anyone in their attempted charge back toward respectability. He was doing decently (.240, 6, 19).

Cardinals: SP Woody Williams tore a bicep muscle while on the mound, and will miss 4-5 weeks. This must be a bad day for former NL East powers trying to get good again. Williams hasn't had much luck, at 3-8, but he had a 4.16 ERA.

July 28

Twins: CL Eddie Guardado ruptured a bicep tendon while pitching. He will be out for 3-4 weeks. Guardado (0-2, 3.21, 17 sv) is one of the AL's better closers.

July 30

Brewers: C Pete LaForest broke his hand in a homeplate collision, and will be out for about 4 weeks. Wow, such irony. LaForest, of course, was just dealt from Tampa Bay, and is a solid up-and-coming young player who has shown good power this year (.176, 9, 29). The funny thing is that back in Tampa, the D-Rays are using a platoon, and one of its members, Hector Ortiz, also broke his hand in a homeplate collision just a few days before. I decided Ortiz, a platoon and fringe major leaguer, wasn't important enought o mention in these lists (at least until the LaForest injury came up).

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Simming August, 2003

CR

[Chief Rum]

The 2003 All Star Game

One of the changes I made to the schedule when I worked out how to fix it was to move the All Star game back to early August. I moved it to August 9 (a Sunday, LMAO). The game was played at at Pac Bell Park, so pitchers hit.

Here are the All Star rosters (with stats after four months):

**- starters

NL Pitchers

ATL SP John Smoltz (14-1, 1.78)
**LA SP Odalis Perez (13-5, 2.42)
CHC SP Matt Clement (12-6, 4.41)
STL SP Jason Simontacchi (11-8, 3.46)
PHI SP Randy Wolf (12-5, 2.85)
CHN SP Kerry Wood (12-4, 4.42)
ATL SP Paul Byrd (9-7, 3.44)
STL CL Jason Isringhausen (4-4, 1.86, 27 sv)
LA CL Eric Gagne (9-0, 1.06, 25 sv)

NL Hitters

NYM C Mike Piazza (.273, 27, 74)
**FLA C Ivan Rodriguez (.262, 22, 67)
MIL 1B Brooks Kieschnick (.346, 4, 21)
**COL 1B Todd Helton (.387, 24, 83)
HOU 1B Jeff Bagwell (.305, 24, 85)
**HOU 2B Jeff Kent (.341, 23, 93)
NYM 2B Roberto Alomar (.316, 10, 61)
PHI 2B Placido Palanco (.308, 8, 49)
**CHN 3B Mark Bellhorn (.289, 23, 72)
**SF SS Rich Aurillia (.290, 17, 63)
**SF LF Barry Bonds (.323, 39, 93)
HOU LF Lance Berkman (.369, 21, 75)
**PIT CF Brian Giles (.298, 19, 75)
ATL RF Gary Sheffield (.313, 26, 100)
CHN RF Sammy Sosa (.303, 34, 88)
**COL RF Larry Walker (.325, 17, 78)

AL Pitchers

SEA SP Freddy Garcia (16-3, 2.94)
OAK SP Mark Mulder (16-5, 2.64)
NYY SP Andy Pettite (12-4, 3.34)
**BOS SP Pedro Martinez (14-6, 2.62)
NYY SP Mike Mussina (15-7, 3.38)
OAK SP Barry Zito (12-6, 3.14)
DET SP Mike Maroth (11-6, 3.98)
SEA MR Arthur Rhodes (2-1, 0.89, 4 sv)
NYY CL Mariano Rivera (4-1, 0.74, 33 sv)
OAK CL Keith Foulke (4-1, 2.24, 33 sv)

AL Hitters

OAK C Mitch Meluskey (.313, 7, 56)
**NYY C Jorge Posada (.263, 13, 61)
**NYY 1B Jason Giambi (.335, 21, 87)
TOR 1B Carlos Delgado (.282, 19, 64)
**BOS 2B Todd Walker (.305, 9, 59)
**MIN 3B Corie Koskie (.330, 7, 63)
OAK SS Miguel Tejada (.314, 19, 72)
BOS SS Nomar Garciaparra (.332, 14, 71)
**TEX SS Alex Rodriguez (.297, 23, 64)
**BOS LF Manny Ramirez (.362, 31, 105)
**BOS CF Jason Damon (.313, 4, 51)
BOS RF Jeremy Giambi (.350, 13, 69)
DET RF Dmitri Young (.311, 8, 82)
ANA RF Tim Salmon (.282, 22, 74)
**CHW RF Magglio Ordonez (.309, 21, 67)

Commentary: We got screwed, of course. I wish I wouldn't have simmed right through the entire month, as I think now I would have preferred to have stats at the break, rather than after four months, and I could have taken a look at who was close, but no cigar (Percival and Glaus come immediately to mind...Washburn, too--and that's just on the Angels).

The Game

Here's are the inning by inning highlights:

1st Inning

Perez is excellent to start, getting Damon and Jason Giambi to strike out looking to open the game. Ramirez got a shallow single, before A-Rod grounded out to third. no runs, 1 hit, no errors

Martinez has a one-two-three inning, getting Kent to line out, striking Rodriguez out looking, and throwing it by a swinging Helton for out number three. no runs, no hits, no errors

National 0, American 0

2nd Inning

Perez gets a quick two outs again, getting Ordonez to fly out and striking out Posada swinging. But then he ran into trouble. Koskie singled to center, and then Walker doubled to deep right-center, scoring Koskie. Martinez, the pitcher, then struck out swinging to end the inning. 1 run, 2 hits, no errors

Martinez walks Bonds to open the inning. He gets Giles striking out looking, though. With Walker at the plate, Bonds is thrown out attempting to steal by Posada. This is bad news, because Walker proceeds to double to the gap in right-center. Aurillia grounds out to end the threat. no runs, 1 hit, no errors

American 1, National 0

3rd Inning

Perez got into trouble right away, when he beaned Damon to open the frame. Damon then stole second. Jason Giambi lined out, and then Ramirez grounded out to second, moving Damon to third. Rodriguez squeaked out an infield hit, scoring Damon. Ordonez struck out swinging to end the inning. 1 run, 1 hit, no errors

Martinez is just chugging along. He put the NL down 1-2-3 again. Bellhorn grounded out. Perez struck out looking. And Kent struck out swinging. no runs, no hits, no errors

American 2, National 0

4th Inning

Simontacchi came into the game for Perez. Why didn't they just pinch-hit for Perez? Simontacchi walked Posada, and Koskie got his second hit of the day, a single to left-center, moving Posada to second. He got Walker to ground into a double play, though, and then Martinez grounded out to short to end the inning. no runs, 1 hit, no errors

Sigh...Maroth in for Martinez, and another pinch hit opportunity ignored. Maroth ran into immediate trouble, as Pudge Rodriguez doubled down the left field line. Helton flew out to shallow left, but then Bonds doubled down the right field line, scoring Rodriguez. The damage done, Maroth induced groundouts from Giles and Walker. 1 run, 2 hits, no errors

American 2, National 1

5th Inning

Simontacchi got the NL's first 1-2-3 inning. Damon grounded out to short, Jason Giambi struck out looking and Ramirez flew out to shallow left. mo runs, no hits, no errors

Aurillia opened the inning with a single to the left-center gap off of Maroth. The Detroit pitcher erased that with a Bellhorn double play, though. Then Simontacchi grounded out to second. no runs, 1 hit, no errors

American 2, National 1

6th Inning

Isringhausen replaced his teammate Simontacchi, and the third obvious pinch hit opportunity of the game is lost. ARod flies out to right-center, but Ordonez laces a single to left with one out. Pudge throws Ordonez out trying to steal second, and then Insringhausen got Posada to fly out to right-center to put the AL down. no runs, 1 hit, no errors

Foulke replaces Maroth. Foulke proceeds to put up the AL's 3rd 1-2-3 inning. Kent and Pudge watched the ball go by for third strikes, and Helton grounded out to second. no runs, no hits, no errors

American 2, National 1

7th Inning

Koskie is just hot right now. He gets his third hit of the game with a dribbler down the third base line. Walker then sacrificed him over to second base. Delgado, pinch-hitting for Foulke, lines out to third, getting the NL close to out of it. Isringhausen doesn't play it easy, though, walking Damon to put runners at first and second. Garciaparra bats for Jason Giambi, but he grounds out to second. no runs, 1 hit, no errors

Rhodes replaces Foulke on the mound, and Jeremy Giambi replaces his brother at 1B. Bonds deposits a ball into San Francisco Bay behind rightfield to tie it up, much to the excitement of the hometown fans! Rhodes strikes out Giles swinging, but Walker then comes up and singles to right. Sammy Sosa pinch hits for Aurillia, but before he can get the bat on the ball, Walker steals second. Posada's throw goes errant into the outfield, and Walker moves on to third. As it turns out, Sosa never did get the bat on the ball, as he struck out looking. Bagwell was sent up for Bellhorn, and Rhodes grooved another pitch--Bagwell got all of it and powered a two-run homer over the left field wall to give the National League the lead. Pettite replaced Rhodes, and got pinch hitter Piazza (for the pitcher) swinging. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error

National 4, American 2

8th Inning

Byrd replaces Isringhausen on the mound. Piazza stays in the game in place of Pudge, and Sosa takes over in right for Walker. Polanco takes over Bellhorn at 3B, and Alomar goes in at SS for Aurillia. Meluskey, pinch-hitting for Ramirez, hits a bouncing comebacker back to Byrd for the first out. Tejada bats for ARod and singles to right. Gagne replaces Byrd. Salmon pinch hits for Ordonez, but he goes down swinging for the second out. Posada then hits a short single to left, moving Tejada to second. Dmitri Young, in for the hot Koskie, grounds out to second to end the threat. They should have left in Koskie. no runs, 2 hits, no errors

Meluskey moves into right for Ordonez, and Salmon replaces Ramirez in left. Tejada takes over for ARod at SS, and Young goes to third for Bellhorn. Kent draws a walk from Pettite, and then Gagne sacrifices him over to second. Sheffield pinch hits for Kent, but grounds out to short. Berkman bats for Bonds and draws a walk to put two runners on. Alas, Giles ends the threat with a deep fly to center. no runs, no hits, no errors

National 4, American 2

9th Inning

Kieschnick replaces Helton at 1B, and Berkman goes to left for Bonds. Gagne gets Walker to ground out to second. Then the Dodger closer blew pitches by Pettite (who should have been pinch hit for--did they have anyone left?) and Damon, both swinging, to end the game. no runs, no hits, no errors

Final: National 4, American 2

Hometown star Barry Bonds takes the All Star Game MVP, going 2-for-2, with a run-scoring double and a solo homerun, putting up two ribbies. Isringhausen got the win, and Byrd got a hold and Gagne a save in support. Rhodes earned the loss for giving up the winning rally in the bottom of the seventh.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

The Standings

Game Date: September 1, 2003 (four months into delayed 2003 season)

AL West

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Oakland			68   41  .624   --
Anaheim			58   52  .527 10.5
Seattle			57   54  .514 12.0
Texas			51   58  .468 17.0

Oakland didn't put much further distance on Anaheim and Seattle, but then they didn't lose any ground either and a month of baseball has passed. It's beginning to approach panic time for Anaheim and Seattle. The fact that even Texas isn't an easy out doesn't help.

AL Central

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Minnesota		57   53  .518   --
Cleveland		57   54  .514  0.5
Chicago			54   57  .486  3.5
Detroit			46   63  .422 10.5
Kansas City		37   73  .336 20.0

There are two ways to view this division right now. The first is that this is clearly the worst division in baseball. No other division leader is anywhere near as low as Minnesota. The second way to view this is that it might end up being the most exciting race in baseball. Chicago is finally beginning to play with some skill. Minnesota and Cleveland have been decent all year. Even Detroit isn't out of it. Kansas City is, though.

AL East

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

New York		74   36  .673   --
Boston			74   37  .667  0.5
Toronto			52   58  .473 22.0
Baltimore		48   63  .432 26.5
Tampa Bay		38   72  .345 36.0

How's this for excitement? The Yankees were making noises that they could still catch the Red Sox, and here we are, four months into the season, and look who's on top? Both teams are pretty much assured of being in the playoffs, so this is just for pride now--but if you think it means nothing to the fans of these teams, then you have never been to New York or Boston. At one point, Toronto looked like a potential contender, but sadly time has proven otherwise. Baltimore has steadily wavered between Toronto and Tampa Bay all year. The Devil Rays are actually playing a little bit better, not that you would notice.

NL West

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

San Francisco		63   47  .573   --
Los Angeles		63   49  .550  1.0
San Diego		53   58  .477 10.5
Colorado		52   58  .473 11.0
Arizona			50   62  .446 14.0

This division is still one of the tightest and quality-filled divisions in the league, but San Diego and Arizona have largely marched backwards over the past 30 days. The result is that it is now probably a two-team race between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Arizona's drop from just outside of first to last place is rather shocking, even given that last place in thge NL West is not that bad. Colorado is just keeping its place in line.

NL Central

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Chicago			66   43  .606   --
Cincinnati		60   49  .550  6.0
St. Louis		58   52  .527  8.5
Houston			51   61  .455 16.5
Pittsburgh		46   64  .418 20.5
Milwaukee		43   66  .394 23.0

Chicago is keeping the hounds off, but just barely. They hold a decent lead, but six games isn't enough just yet. Cincy has done well to stay with them, and St. Louis has played great ball since the first month of the season. They are right there. Houston moved themselves to approaching decent last month, but they unfortunately stayed in place for this last one. Pittsburgh may be overtaken by a Milwaukee team that is playing better now than earlier in the season.

NL East

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Atlanta			63   47  .573   --
New York		57   51  .528  5.0
Philadelphia		57   54  .514  6.5
Florida			52   57  .477 10.5
Montreal		46   62  .426 16.0

As in the NL Central, this one may not be over yet either. Atlanta has a similarly shaky lead, although they have been playing very well since May. New York and Philly are just outside, and even Florida could make it interesting. Montreal is, of course, pretty much done.

AL Wildcard

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Boston			74   37  .667   --
Anaheim			58   52  .528 15.5
Cleveland		57   54  .514 17.0
Seattle			57   54  .514 17.0
Chicago			54   57  .486 20.0

I put up five teams out of courtesy to my format, but this didn't need more than one entry. I don't exactly take a lot of pride in currently being second int he wildcard either. This is about as sure a thing as you could get, I guess--the loser of the AL East divisional race will be the AL wildcard. Right now, of course, that's Boston.

NL Wildcard

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Los Angeles		63   49  .563   --
Cincinnati		60   49  .550  1.5
New York		57   51  .528  4.0
St. Louis		58   52  .527  4.0
Philadelphia		57   54  .514  5.5
San Diego		53   58  .477  9.5
Florida			52   57  .477  9.5
Colorado		52   58  .473 10.0

Now, this wildcard race is more like it. LA and Cincy are dueling it out on top and for their respective divisions. New York and St. Louis are still very much in range, and Philly right behind them. Seven teams are within 10 games of the wilcrad-leading Dodgers.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Anaheim The Team

We just can't seem to make any headway on Oakland. We have been way too inconsistent, winning in spurts, but then going through horrible stretches of losses as well, which nearly erase what good we did with the previous victories. We even flirted with .500 again before we reasserted ourselves in the end.

The Angels dropped from 10th to 12th in the power rankings this month, but we still have 96 points. We're listed third of three teams with 96 points actually, so I guess we're anywhere from 10th to 12th.

The stunning Yankees comeback has them far ahead of everyone else in the power rankings, with 130 points, even if they are just a shade ahead of second place Red Sox in reality. Boston has 116 points, just ahead of Oakland with 115. The NL division leaders hold 4 thru 6, with Atlanta (109) just ahead of Chicago and San Francisco (both 107).

Here are where we stand in major categories, with MLB rank in parentheses:

Team AVG: .257 (19th)
Team HRs: 125 (8th)
Team Runs: 546 (15th)

We seem to be locked into just a shade over a quarter for our average, but power keeps sooming up. Once in the ranking 20s, we are now in the top ten in power. I thought that it was just Glaus's offensive explosion in July, but no one player can do this--it seems to be a team effort. Correspondingly, our runs scored have inched up and now we're right smack in the middle in the most obviously key offensive stat.

Team ERA: 4.16 (11th)
Team AVG Allowed .253 (9th)
Team Runs Allowed: 492 (5th)

After two months of steadily declining pitching numbers, we finally stalled the fall. We didn't exactly climb, but we held up at least. The ERA dropped a couple points, and we went up a ranking spot. Average allowed increased three points, unfortunately, but the ranking drop was mild (just one spot). And in runs allowed, we actually improved significantly, jumping from 7th to 5th (a spot we haven't really held since early in the season). If hitting continues to improve and pitching maintains status quo, maybe we can still make a race out of this thing.

Financials

Our fan interest has gone down again, one more point, to 89. We are still fourth in FI, though, so relative to the league we seem to have lost little.

Further solidifying this point is that we are still selling out our homedates. After 58 games, we stiull haven't had an available seat in the place. We have 2.611 M in season attendance right now, and seem to be on our way to 3.6M+. The only team with higher right now is division rival Oakland, with 2.655.

In fact, just two-thirds of the way through the season, we are already just $1.5M or so short of a certain profitable season.

Transactions & Injuries

Last month, I gave this its own post, but since we are past the trading deadline, this isn't as information filled as in July. Still, there was more action here than in the first two months.

First of all, the amazing saga of Darin Erstad's incredible broken finger continues. Erstad broke his finger on July 8 and was expected to miss 7-8 weeks. A few days later, these estimates got bumped back one and two weeks, putting him down for a grand total of 10-11 weeks. Well, the team medical personnel have informed me that the finger is remaining bothersome, and if you can believe it, I received two more emails extending his expected return--once again by a total of three weeks.

So now Erstad is likely out for 13-14 weeks total. He is currently listed as being five weeks away from returning, which basically means he comes back for the last 2-3 weeks of the season at best.

The bad news doesn't end there. The Shawn Wooten at catcher experiment hit a bump in the road, when he went down with a bruised cheekbone in a homeplate collision. The injury, which happened August 16, is expected to put Wooten down for 2-3 weeks. This has left me with some dreadfully poor choices to fill out my lineup. Elpidio Guzman and Jose Molina were supposed to be trying to prove they deserved to be kept on after 2003, and neither were doing particularly well at it. So now I was forced to play them both--regularly. Ouch.

Fortunately, Wooten is almost recovered from his injury and should be back a couple games into the September sim.

In the meantime, career minor league Larry Barnes was brought up to hold Wooten's spot. He was the choice because he isn't regarded as a player with much future prospects (so a cheap year may be wasted), he was doing well at AAA, and he plays 1B, the position Wooten was serving as a backup to.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

The Major League Squad

THROUGH FOUR MONTHS OF THE 2003 SEASON

Rotation

Jarrod Washburn (11-8, 3.44) has been amazingly consistent on an otherwise hapless rotation. He hasn't had higher than a 4.00 ERA in any one month yet this season. I hope he keeps it up.

John Thomson (5-11, 5.78) has rewarded our decision to pick him up by outpitching everyone buyt Washburn. He had a 3.89 ERA in August, and has lowered his ERA almost a run.

John Lackey (7-9, 4.85) rebounded somewhat from his horrible July, and got his ERA below 5.00 again. Still, I expected better from this guy, and he has a long way further to go before my confidence will be restored.

Ramon Ortiz (9-9, 5.01) returned to his early season poor form, and posted his third 5.00+ ERA in the past four months. A good July led me to hope he might be on his way back to respectability, but instead he had his worst month yet in August (5.82).

Aaron Sele (7-9, 5.21) had his first solid month since his amazing May. But the two months in between were so horrible that it barely makes an impact. Still, it's nice to see him closer to a 5.00 ERA.

The Bullpen

Troy Percival (2-2, 1.45, 28 sv) was jobbed for an All Star spot. This guy should have been in it. He continues to amaze.

Almost as amazing is his setup cohort Francisco Rodriguez (5-2, 1.93). Rodriguez has already racked up 74.1 IP in 53 games, and he has had a sub-1.50 ERA in each of the past two months.

Unfortunately, a couple of the Angels' other bullpen aces had pretty bad months. Ben Weber (4-1, 2.61) and Brendan Donnelly (2-0, 2.59) were both well below a 2.00 ERA when August began. They both suffered from 5.00+ ERA's this month.

Lou Pote (3-0, 3.48) and new Angel Randy Choate (4-0, 2.94) did a lot to cover up for the August problems of Weber and Donnelly. Scot Shields (0-2, 5.79) surprisingly didn't see any mound time from his mopup spot, so he was unable to improve an ERA that tanked off of one horrible performance in July. Otherwise, he has been pretty solid this year.

The Infield

Shawn Wooten (.293, 9, 44) seemed to play well at catcher before his injury. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to further evaluate him. So now September will be another test month for him. Jose Molina (.212, 4, 29) returned from DH duties to take over behind the plate after Wooten got hurt. And, believe it or not, he actually had a solid August, at least for what he has put up. He's above the Mendoza line again, and displayed some of the same limited power he showed in May.

Just when I was lamenting the team's need for Scott Spiezio (.296, 13, 50) to step it up with power, he has his best overall month. He hit almost half of his HRs, with 6 in August, and he matched his season-high for RBIs in a month with 17. He also hit .326. Troy Glaus (.227, 28, 81), across the way at 3B, wasn't quite the team-lifter he was in July, but he still had his second best month yet of the season, and his average continues to inch its way back up to respectability. He still ranks among league leaders in the power categories.

David Eckstein (.254, 5, 32) continues to just hold par. He should be a better hitter than this, and I still hope he can get the average up to the .280-.290 area. He has 19 SB as the Haloes' leadoff hitter. Adam Kennedy (.224, 3, 31) continues to show he shouldn't be in a major league lineup. Were it not for the fact that I don't want to blow a cheap year for Figgins, AK wouldn't even be starting right now. He has two months to turn it around.

The Outfield/DH

All I wanted Rob Quinlan (.312, 5, 31) to do was play solidly while we wait for Erstad to return. Instead, he is playing himself into a factor on this team and maybe even beyond 2003. If Erstad were back in the lineup tonight, Quinlan would be at DH, no questions asked.

It's amazing how quietly Garrett Anderson (.280, 22, 68) sneaks up on you. He had a great August (.311-9-23) to pump his stats back up to near-league-leader status. Another month like this, and he will be up with Glaus in the power numbers, but with average--which is about where a star like GA is supposed to be in the first place.

Our lone All Star, Tim Salmon (.282, 22, 74) is to the offense what Washburn is to the rotation. Seriously, you could set a watch to this guy. I'm glad to have him aboard right now, and I really wish he didn't want to have a whole four years in his extension.

Thanks to the Wooten and Erstad injuries, DH has been a sore spot in the lineup for most of the past month and even longer. Elpidio Guzman (.253, 3, 9) was splitting time there with Jose Molina, before Molina had to go back to catcher. Since Wooten will be back shortly, these guys will continue to split time at DH while awaiting the eventual move of Quinlan to the spot.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

The Minor Leagues

THROUGH FOUR MONTHS OF THE 2003 SEASON

We dropped from the second best farm system to the third, but our points (102) have stayed about the same. Basically, Detroit leaped us to get back into second place with 107. Tampa Bay is still on top with a lower, but still commanding 115 points.

It was another busy month of DL, promotion/demotion, and player development in the Angels' minor league system.

On the injury front, it was fortunately a good month. We didn't suffer any minor league injuries, and Bobby Jenks and Sal Fasano returned from their injuries during August. So we have a full system once again.

Fasano went down to Arkansas to make room for catching prospect Jared Abruzzo. Those matching roster changes were made at the beginning of the month. Abruzzo is notable for having jumped from A to AAA in four months, and three weeks later, he was joined by another. SS Brian Specht made the jump to AAA on August 25, showing another amazing rise through the Angels' system.

Two of the Angels' best pitching prospects, Joe Torres and Johan A. Santana, also proved ready to move to AA after being on the fence for a couple months. Santana went up August 18, while Torres was just promoted today. They may soon be joined by top 2003 draft pick David Laboy, who is on the fence for the next step up.

At Arkansas, top hitting prospect Casey Kotchman and the just-returned Jenks may also be ready for Salt Lake.

There were also two demotions besides Fasano's but neither figures to be too critical. Stoneman recommended I send Barry Wesson down to Rancho Cucamonga because of poor performance, and I myself sent Elvin Nina down to the same club to make room for Torres and Santana in Arkansas's rotation. Since both are career minor leaguers, I don't figure to be hurt by this too much.

Maybe their skills have risen, but overall our prospects had a bad month with overall talent development. Jenks suffered a drop in his talent to avoid hits, Jared Mathis's talent in hitting doubles took a hit, and just acquired Yankees prospect pitcher Simeon Pedrosa had a fall in his talent for avoiding homeruns. We did get an increase in Chone Figgins' talent at avoiding strikeouts, though.

Here’s a team-by-team look at our minor leagues:

Salt Lake Stingers (65-45)

Well, the Stingers are certainly playing well, even with a roster constantly in flux for having to support some injury problems at the major league level, and also taking on a bevy of Arkansas talent.

Stoneman is still pushing for the major league debuts of SS Alfredo Amezaga, 2B Chone Figgins, RF Michael O'Keefe, and SP Matt Wise. To that list, he has re-added MR Bart Miadich.

Amezaga (.304, 2, 35) is playing just well enough for me to consider letting Adam Kennedy go altogether. Benji Gil's removal is all but certain, but I was still considering keeping Kennedy as a backup. If Amezaga keeps it up and AK continues to suck, I may even make the decision to drop AK at the end of the year and use Amezaga as my primary middle infield backup. My only concern in that respect is the possibility that Figgins might not translate well to the major league level.

Of course, if Figgins (.328, 2, 55) can't make it as a major leaguer, he sure ain't showing it at Salt Lake. He continues to display a good stroke, great speed (27 SB) and surprising gap power (.864 OPS).

O'Keefe (.321, 24, 86) remains a prominent figure among AAA stat leaders this season and is still in line to start in RF for the Angels next year (where hopefully he could be a ROY candidate).

Wise (10-5, 3.97) is still biding his time waiting for a shot at the rotation. I will certainly be considering it for next year at the very least. But I have an awful lot of other starting pitchers already on the major league squad that I need to make decisions on first.

Miadich (2-3, 4.14, 10 sv) has bounced back from a poor July to put up respectable numbers again. He is also taking a part time role as a closer and is doing decently there. Of course, our major league pen is so deep that your guess is as good as mine for when Miadich will get the chance to move up to Anaheim.

The Stingers's roster is full of players with a shot at moving up, or playing their way into a role next year. Even now, Guzman may yet secure a backup outfield spot with the Angels next year, and that would be bad news for Jason Lane (.266, 21, 68) the low-end Astros vet minor leaguer we got in the Schoenweiss deal. Lane and O'Keefe are currently the primary power sourcdes on the Stingers' roster.

Fringe prospects with marginal futures at the major league level are still trying to prove their worth. Speedster CF Nathan Haynes (.280, 9, 54) has shown good power and speed (26 SB). He is still considered a possible future starter. The versatile Oscar Salazar (.262, 6, 50) is on course for a future backup spot somewhere. And Matt Whitney (.219, 11, 42), the prospect picked up from the Braves, continues to royally suck for whatever reason.

Among the recent promotees, Abruzzo (.242, 2, 16) is off to a rough start as he tries to adjust to AAA pitching. The just promoted Specht (.292, 0, 2) is doing well, but he has just 24 ab so far.

How Stoneman can continue to ignore Mickey Callaway (10-2, 2.46), I couldn't tell you. He's performed on par with some of the best pitching prospects in the minor leagues. Steve Green (7-11, 4.48) continues to hover on the edge of respectability. Two of the Angels' recent promotees are filling out the rotation and aiming for Anahaim. Chris Bootcheck (6-0, 3.08) is pitching very well now after a bad start. And Joe Saunders (1-1, 6.46) is still considered to be one of the Angels' top pitching prospects, despite the rough stats.

Arkansas Travellers (54-56)

If any team has been hurt by the constant demotions and promotions, it is this one. The Travellers have also the bulk of the minor league injuries in the Angels' system as well.

Kotchman and Jenks are on the edge to join some of their former Traveller teammates up in Salt Lake, although I'm not sure either truly deserves just yet. Kotchman (.268, 8, 46) seems to be getting worse, and his supposed power has still not come on display. Jenks (2-4, 3.81) has had two injuries this year, including a stint on the DL, and I think he could use more time to.

With Wesson (.249, 12, 59) sent down to Rancho Cucamonga and Kotchman basically being punchless, the lone seeming power source on the Travellers is fringe major leaguer Jose Nieves (.268, 16, 54), surprisingly enough. That does not bode well for Arkansas hitters.

Dallas McPherson (.229, 5, 18) continues to struggle at AA in his first full month here, and fringe catching prospect Wil Nieves (.245, 8, 33) has yet to impress. Specht and Abruzzo barely stopped for pots of coffee on their way up to Salt Lake in the fast lane.

For pitching, former Braves' prospect Chris Waters (7-8, 4.39) is still just getting by at AA. Richard Fischer (4-8, 5.14) may be back from injury, but he isn't really pitching like it. Santana (0-2, 11.00) hasn't done well in his first two starts since he got promoted. And Torres has just arrived to take over the fifth spot.

In relief, Derrick Turnbow (1-1, 2.57, 3 sv) lends a steady hand if not a real future as a pro. Second round pick Jake Tetrault (3-5, 6.47, 5 sv) has hit a very bad stretch, and isn't doing well at all. Perhaps the problem is that he is splitting roles between closing and middle relief.

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (63-47)

The Quakes' best offensive talents have been stripped of them for the benefit of Arkansas and Salt Lake, but they are still doing very well. We'll see if they can also survive the loss of Torres and Santana to AA, and perhaps Laboy soon as well.

The best remaining hitter at Rancho is Jeff Mathis (.291, 11, 58), the only hitter to stay in A all season so far. Mathis, of course, suffered a talent drop this month. Demotee CF and free-agent-to-be Julio Ramirez (.351, 12, 45) continues to crush Single A pitching--too bad he doesn't do this at higher levels. The addition of Wesson should help the offense, even if Wesson won't like it.

The three fringe minor leaguers (all 2003 draftees) continue to try to increase their respective worths. Fourth round pick Bennie Brant (.213, 0, 15) made very little progress in August. C Oscar Leon (.172, 0, 11) is still trying to get above .200. And 1B Jason Hartl (.224, 1, 12) seems to be the "best" of the trio. The only thing these guys got going for them is youth, it seems.

The strength of the team has been the rotation. Losing Torres (8-10, 4.32) and Santana (4-8, 3.30) doesn't figure to help much, but at least veteran minor leaguer Nina (5-5, 4.57) was added to help out with depth. He should do well against Single A hitters.

Top 2003 pick Laboy (7-2, 2.03) continues to amaze, and Stoneman has tabbed him as a possible promotee in the near future. Trade pickup Pedrosa (4-7, 4.94) is still trying to get into a groove (and he isn't being helped at all by losing some talent).

In the pen, the Angels' two Single A 2003 draftees are imrpoving a bit. Third rounder Omar Ramirez (4-1, 2.67, 2 sv) has done very well since a bad July. Aurelio Ruiz (4-2, 5.09, 1 sv) may not look so hot, but his numbers after last month were simply atrocious.

The Angels' Top 10 Prospect List

1. SP John Lackey-- majors (7-9, 4.85)
2. SP David Laboy-- A (7-2, 2.04) 20th best prospect in MLB
3. SP Joe Saunders-- AAA (1-1, 6.46; 7-5, 2.66 at AA) 70th best prospect in MLB
4. 1B Casey Kotchman-- AA (.268, 8, 46) 12th best prospect in MLB
5. SP Joe Torres-- AA (just promoted; 8-10, 4.32 at A) 29th best prospect in MLB
6. RF Michael O'Keefe-- AAA (.321, 24, 86)
7. C Jared Abruzzo-- AAA (.242, 2, 16; .258, 5, 28 at AA; .270, 6, 18 at A) 59th best prospect in MLB
8. SP Chris Waters-- AA (7-8, 4.39)
9. SP Richard Fischer-- AA (4-8, 5.14)
10. MR Francisco Rodriguez-- majors (5-2, 1.93)

(It should be noted that the Top 100 MLB prospects list is compiled by an average scout--Stoneman, who puts together our Top 10 list, is supposed to be better).

Other Angels prospects on MLB Top 100 list

SP Johan A. Santana-- AA (0-2, 11.00; 4-8, 3.30 at A) 66th best prospect in MLB
SP Chris Bootcheck-- AAA (6-0, 3.08; 8-1, 2.06 at AA) 86th best prospect

In case you didn't notice, SP Bobby Jenks, formerly the #4 prospect for the Angels, dropped off both the Angels' top list and the MLB Top 100 list for losing some talent in the always critical avoiding hits area.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Major League News

THROUGH FOUR MONTHS OF THE 2003 SEASON

Offensive League Leaders-- American League

Boston's Manny Ramirez is apparently doing an on-again, off-again thing, because he took the harsh drop of July (.401 to .352) and used it to motivate him to climb up to a league-leading .362. His teammate Jeremy Giambi is second with a .350 average. They outdistanced the next group by a bit. That group starts off with a couple of Yankees, Jeremy's brother, Jason Giambi at .335, and Bernie Williams at .333. Williams was a regular on these lists until last month, when an injury forced him below the number of plate appearances needed to qualify for the batting title. He has apparently re-qualified. Rounding out a list of Yankees and Red Sox, Boston's Nomar Garciaparra makes his first visit of the year to the top five batters with a .332 average.

When you see the AL HR leaders' list, you not only cease to wonder at the Angels' meteroic rise up the power charts, but you even begin to wonder why the heck they aren't higher than eighth. Ramirez leads the way with 31 HR, but Anaheim's Troy Glaus isn't far behind him with 28. No one else is particularly close to these two. A pair of Rangers sit at 23. One is Alex Rodriguez, but you would never guess the other...Carl Everett! Three players sit at 22, including the Angels' Garrett Anderson and Tim Salmon.

Ramirez appears inclined to win the Triple Crown with leads like these, and now four months into the season, it's a heck of a lot more legitimate. His 105 RBI are far ahead of anyone else in the AL. Jason Giambi is second with 87. The surprising third place player is Detroit's Dmitri Young, with 82. That puts him just ahead of Glaus at 81. Four players are tied for fifth with a distant 74, including Salmon.

Ramirez is going for four! He is almost a full 100 points above the next player, with a 1.150 OPS. That next player is Jason Giambi, with a 1.057 OPS. These two are the only players above 1 OPS. Giambi's brother Jeremy is third with a .998 OPS. He is tied there with Toronto's Carlos Delgado.

Offensive League Leaders-- National League

Houston's Lance Berkman seemed like a sure thing with his average the past couple months. Not so fast, though. Colorado's Todd Helton leaped past him and then some, moving up to .387. Being so close to .400 four months into the season is remarkable, and brings up memories of Tony Gwynn and Jon Olerud going for it this late in the mid-90s. Still, you have to wonder how legit it would be if Helton hit .400 playing half his games in offense-happy Coors Field. Berkman is second down at .369. These two are far ahead of the pack. Berkman's teammate Jeff Kent is hitting .341, which is good for third. Atlanta's Chipper Jones is fourth at .333, and Helton's Rockies mate Larry Walker is fifth at .325.

Is it a real shock to find that the Giants' Barry Bonds and the Cubs' Sammy Sosa are 1-2 in HR? I didn't think so. Bonds has 39, and Sosa, 34. The Dodgers' Shawn Green is another full step back at 29. His heels are dogged by three hitters at 27 HR-- Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr., Philly's Jim Thome, and the Mets' Mike Piazza.

The Braves' Gary Sheffield is really producing the runs. He leads the NL with 100 RBI--the only guy in MLB who is within 12 of Ramirez and his incredible season. Bonds and Kent share second with 93. Another pair, Griffey and Sosa, sit at 88.

Bonds is still the king of OPS, leading all of the majors with a 1.274 OPS. Helton is second at 1.177, just ahead of his batting title competition, Berkman, at 1.167. No one else is near these three, though.

Pitching League Leaders-- American League

Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez continues to dazzle, putting up a league-leading 2.62 ERA. And that's not counting the four flawless innings in the All Star game. Oakland's Mark Mulder is right on his ass, though, with a 2.64 ERA. The Mariners' Freddy Garcia is far behind the top two at 2.94, but is a good deal ahead of Mulder's teammate Barry Zito at 3.14. The Yankees' Andy Pettite wraps it up at 3.34.

Garcia (16-3) and Mulder (16-5) lead the AL in wins. New York's Mike Mussina is third with 15 wins (15-7). A pair of Boston pitchers fill out the top five in wins with Martinez (14-6) and Derek Lowe (13-5).

Martinez is so far ahead of everyone else here, he can barely be seen from the pack. He has reached a solid 200 K just two-thirds of the way throught he season. The Rangers' Chan Ho Park is second with 122, and Mussina is right on his tail with 121. Toronto's Kelvim Escobar has 109, and Garcia is tied with Chicago's Bartolo Colon with 108.

New York's Mariano Rivera and Oakland's Keith Foulke both have a league-leading 33 saves. The difference is Rivera's subterranean 0.74 ERA, which makes Foulke's still great 2.24 look positively pedestrian. Boston's Chad Fox has 31 saves. The M's Kazutoshi Sasaki is fourth with 30, and the Angels' own Troy Percival rounds out the top five with 28.

Pitching League Leaders-- National League

I guess John Smoltz had an off-month--you know, maybe something around a 2.50 ERA? He's up to a still league-dominating 1.78 ERA for the Braves. The Dodgers' Odalis Perez should be proud to be within a run of Smoltz, at 2.42. San Diego's Brian Lawrence continues to go on strong at 2.75. A pair of Philly pitchers are witness to their team's returnt o the fringe of NL East playoff possibilities-- Randy Wolf at 2.85, and followed closely by Kevin Millwood with a 2.89 ERA.

Smoltz still leads the way with wins (14-1), although he finally picked up a loss along the way. Perez is second with a 13-5 record. No less than six pitchers sit at 12 wins, including Wolf and Lawrence.

Arizona may have hit a cold spell,b ut it doesn't seem to be because of their strikeout pitchers. Randy Johnson leads the NL with 188, teammate Curt Schilling is at 163 and third, and former reliever Byung-Hyun Kim is fifth with 146. Interspersed among them is Chicago's Mark Prior, second with 165, and Florida's Josh Beckett, tied with Kim for fifth. But the real shocker is the Reds' Scott Williamson--who is slated to relieve and has been a reliever in real life for some time. Apparently the AI made a change, converted him into a starter like the DBacks did with Kim, and now he's fourth in the league in strikeouts with 148 K.

How's this for weird? The leader of the NL is still Mike Remlinger with 28. But he's no longer a Cub--he's now a Dodger! No, there was no trade I didn't announce--this is AI stupidity at its finest. More on that in the transactions section, although I am guessing you can figure it out already. Jason Isringhausen os the Cardinals is second with 27. The Braves' Ray King has 26 saves to nab third, and Florida's Vladimir Nunez is tied at 25 with none other than...the Dodgers' old closer Eric Gagne.

I did a little checking just for fun. Gagne IS actually still the Dodgers' closer--and the league-leader in saves, Remlinger, is the primary middle reliever in the pen. LOL! Also for the curious-seekers-- trade deadline acquisition Rudy Seanez is the Cubs' closer now.

League Awards

AL Player of the Week

July 27-August 2-- RF Dmitri Young (DET)
August 3-9-- RF Jermaine Dye (OAK)
August 10-16-- CF Carl Everett (TEX)
August 17-23-- LF Manny Ramirez (BOS)
August 24-30-- 1B Doug Mientkiewicz

NL Player of the Week

July 27-August 2-- CF Brian L. Hunter (HOU)
August 3-9-- 1B Jeff Bagwell (HOU)
August 10-16-- CF Preston Wilson (COL)
August 17-23-- CF Jim Edmonds (STL)
August 24-30-- LF Albert Pujols (STL)

American League Batter of the Month for August: LF Manny Ramirez (BOS)

Ramirez wins his second Batter of the Month award in 2003, with a .398 average, 10 HR and 31 RBI.

American League Pitcher of the Month for August: SP Mark Mulder (OAK)

Mulder was amazing, winning all five of his decisions, and throwing two shutouts on way to a 1.28 ERA in August.

National League Batter of the Month for August: 1B Todd Helton (COL)

You can't really blame them for this one. Helton was incredible, and much of August was taken up by his 40-game hitting streak, the longest streak I can remember since Pete Rose got up to 44. Helton hit. 495 for the month! He also hit 4 HR and drove in 28 runs.

National League Pitcher of the Month for August: SP Grant Roberts (NYM)

Who? Yeah, I don't know either. Probably another one of the Mets' seemingly endless pitching prospects. Anyway, Roberts went 4-0 in six games, and had a ridiculously good 0.89 ERA with a shutout. It would take something like that to finally strip the award from Smoltz, who won the first three this year.

Significant Events

There was really not that much to say about August outside of Helton's amazing run to a 40-game hitting streak. Okay, I take that back--there wasn't even a hitting streak!

Stupid OOTP5. Yeah, Helton was fantastic in August, but I couldn't help but notice three separate dates suring the streak which had a big fat '0' beside hits for Helton in that game. Even so, the .495 average in a month is still quite worth mentioning.

In other news, the Padres' Ryan Klesko set a new single-game NL record for walks with 5 on August 21. But that's nothing. How about this game? The Yankees' Robin Ventura set an AL-single-game record for RBIs with 11 on August 22! He had a grand slam, a three-run homer, and a bases clearing triple by the fifth inning. But it was the bases loaded walk in the eighth that got him the rcord-breaking 11th ribbie. He walked two other times in the game as well, and scored five runs in a 22-5 victory over the Orioles.

Two milestones were reached this month. Chicago's Frank Thomas collected his 2000th hit on August 17, and he did it with style. He crushed a three-run homer off of Baltimore's new pitcher Ryan Dempster to do it. Near the end of August, Texas's Rafael Palmeiro finally achieved a milestone held off a bit earlier in the year by injury. He hit homerun number 500 off of Minnesota's Eric Milton on August 27. As the game suggests, it seems very likely Palmeiro will shortly be headed to Cooperstown.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Major League Transactions

With trades out of the way, I suspect this will be a significantly smaller section. That said, the computer has already shown an amazing ability to pull off incredibly stupid releases, so I wouldn't put it past them to do some more. After all, we already know about Remlinger.

Day by Day Transaction List

August 10

Releases (refusal of minor league assignment)

Cardinals: 1B Tino Martinez

Commentary: Yeah, that makes sense. You're trying to make a run to catch the Cubs and Reds, and you decide to just drop a nice solid starter like Martinez (.252, 8, 43). Okay, he isn't going to win MVP, but he's decent and even capable of much better. Why release a full time starter?

Releases

Cubs: MR Mike Remlinger
Dodgers: MR Paul Quantrill

Commentary: Next to these deals, the Martinez deal almost makes sense. Remlinger was (and still is) leading the NL in saves with 28. He also has a 2.28 ERA. So releasing him sounds like a great idea. Meanwhile, as if anticipating to make room, the Dodgers release the perfectly serviceable Quantrill (4-3, 4.38, 1 sv). Hmm...what on Earth is the AI thinking?!?

August 17

Releases (refusal of minor league assignment)

Yankees: SP Roger Clemens

Commentary: LMAO! The Rocket got 300 and now he's gone, eh? What really sucks is that he is 8-6, with a 3.30 ERA. I don't care how old you are, that's just a pitcher you don't cut loose. I sure hope Markus fixes this kinda stuff before I got too far into this career, but this sort of thing can absolutely ruin a dynasty like this.

Releases

Orioles: SP Rick Helling

Commentary: I ain't seeing this one either. Sure, Helling isn't doing that great (7-4, 5.09), but he's holding his own at least. Certainly, lowly Baltimore can't do much better at all five rotation spots, can it?

August 24

Releases (refusal of minor league assignment)

Rangers: Ed Sprague

Commentary: Sprague is another example of a release that just isn't too likely. The Rangers are in a tough division and need what help they can get. The real life counterparts wouldn;t freely sacrifice a veteran hitting .275-8-31 in part-time duty.

August 31

Signings

Dodgers sign MR Mike Remlinger to a one-year, $346K contract. Rewind laugh track (and what's funnier...that he was released, or that it took three weeks for another team to pick him up for a touch over the minimum?)

I only wish I hadn't decided to adhere to the rule that I can't go after guys in mid-season that were released against all logic by the faulty AI.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Injury News

Here were the significant injuries of the fourth month of play. The injury to Wooten is not listed here.

August 2

Devil Rays: SP Jorge Sosa ruptured an elbow ligament while pitching and will miss 5 weeks. I'm a little surprised, because that sounds like a lot more serious of an injury than to miss just over a month. Still, maybe this is all a part of Tampa Bay's curse, since Sosa is 2-10 with a 7.80 ERA--they could have used him going away for a lot longer.

Rangers: SP Kevin Appier also ruptured an elbow ligmanet while pitching, and also will miss about 5 weeks. HAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh man...that's great...(tears in my eyes)

August 4

Giants: 3B Edgardo Alfonzo pulled a tricep muscle throwing the ball, and that will shelve him for 6 weeks. Alfonzo (.267, 8, 52) is having a decent year, so you have to figure this hurts the Giants in their tough division matchup with the Dodgers.

August 26

Cardinals: SS Edgar Renteria broke his hand after getting hit by a pitch, which will put him down for around 5 weeks. Renteria (.222, 3, 33) is doing amazingly bad for a starter (Adam Kennedy anyone?), so this is probably a wash for the Cards, depending on who they have to replace him.

August 27

Red Sox: 1B Kevin Millar pulled his achilles tendon while running the bases, and will miss 3 weeks. Is this what the BoSox fans mean about a curse? Just now, when the Yankees are right on them and even passing them, they lose one of their better power hitters. Millar is putting up .243-13-63.

August 31

Cardinals: 2B Fernando Vina is diagnosed with bone chips in his shoulder, and he's out for the season! Ouch...the Red Sox ain't cursed--the Cards' middle infield is! Unlike Renteria, the loss of Vina (.285, 1, 27) will probably sting a little more.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Simming September

CR

[tucker342]

Great dynasty!!! I love the depth that you're putting in to it! Keep it up!

[Chief Rum]

Hey, thanks, tucker. I always encourage the readers to speak up and let me know how I am doing. What they like and what they don't like. I'm not above tailoring my dynasty to the readers' needs.

I'm glad you enjoy the depth. My purpose is to immerse the reader in the baseball and Angels' world, with the hopes you might actually begin to care about these guys.

Keep reading.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

The Standings

Game Date: October 1, 2003 (one month left in the delayed 2003 season)

AL West

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Oakland			80   55  .593   --
Seattle			74   62  .544  6.5
Anaheim			69   66  .511 11.0
Texas			67   67  .500 12.5

Unfortunately, the Angels did not have a great September, faltering again with their consistency. This has essentially taken them out of the AL West race, which of course also means they will be out of the playoffs altogether. Oakland actually didn't play well either, allowing the Angels to stay back about the same amount of games (10.5 to 11), but another month turns off the calendar. Seattle took advantage of Oakland's bad turn to pass up the Angels and even move within distant striking distance of the A's. Oakland still has a nice lead with just a month left, but it's a little less certain now. The best team in the division last month was Texas, of all teams. They are now just behind us, and all four teams in the division are at .500 or above. It's sad to say that not only are we virtually elminated from the playoffs, but we may end up in last place!

AL Central

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Cleveland		71   65  .522   --
Minnesota		68   67  .504  2.5
Chicago			67   70  .489  4.5
Detroit			57   78  .422 13.5
Kansas City		43   93  .316 28.0

This remains one of the more exciting races in baseball right now. Cleveland has moved ahead a little, taking over for Minnesota again, but the Twins are right behind them. Chicago remains in third and just outside. Detroiut is keeping pace with the leaders now, but they aren't moving any closer, so they are as good as done. Kansas City was passed last month by Tampa Bay, and is now the worst team in baseball.

AL East

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Boston			90   45  .667   --
New York		88   47  .652  2.0
Toronto			69   67  .507 21.5
Baltimore		58   77  .430 32.0
Tampa Bay		47   89  .346 43.5

The back-and-forth race between bitter rivals Boston and New York continues. Boston has retaken first and have a slight lead on the Yanks. By record, these two teams are the best in baseball. Toronto continues to stick around .500, which, of course, gets them nothing in this division. Baltimore and Tampa Bay are just playing out the string.

NL West

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Los Angeles		75   62  .547   --
San Francisco		71   64  .526  3.0
Colorado		68   66  .507  5.5
San Diego		66   69  .489  8.0
Arizona			61   76  .445 14.0

The Dodgers have opened a slight lead, but this one is far from over. Not only is San Francisco just behind them, but what had been a two-horse race has become a little more than that, with Colorado playing well and closing in. Even San Diego made gains on the leaders and is not out of it. The only team seemingly not doing anything is mystifying Arizona, which entered the season as one of baseball's best teams.

NL Central

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Chicago			78   57  .578   --
Cincinnati		74   60  .552  3.5
St. Louis		74   60  .552  3.5
Pittsburgh		58   77  .430 20.0
Houston			58   78  .426 20.5
Milwaukee		56   78  .418 21.5

Despite odd moves like releasing Remlinger, the Cubs are still atop the division. The difference, though, is that the Reds and Cards have now nearly halved the distance to the division-leaders, and this is one of the best races in the league now. The other half of the division is similarly pathetic. They are just trying not to end up last, I'm sure.

NL East

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Atlanta			76   59  .563   --
New York		69   67  .507  7.5
Philadelphia		69   67  .507  7.5
Florida			66   69  .489 10.0
Montreal		62   72  .463 13.5

Last month, the Braves had opened up a little lead, but it seemed likely the pack of NL East teams might bring them back. That has not turned out to be the case, as Atlanta has even managed to extend its lead a little. While it's far from over, the Braves are sitting on the most secure lead in the National League now. New York and Philly are playing solid ball, but they just haven't bumped it up to the level needed to reach Atlanta. Florida is right behind them, but probably too far out. And, believe it or not, Montreal hasn't played bad recently, and is one of the better last place teams in baseball.

AL Wildcard

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

New York		88   47  .652   --
Seattle			74   62  .544 14.5
Anaheim			69   66  .511 19.0
Toronto			69   67  .507 19.5
Minnesota		68   67  .504 20.0
Texas			67   67  .500 20.5
Chicago			67   70  .489 22.0

Once again, I mostly put this up for posterity. This has been in the hands of the AL East and decided for a couple months now. It should be noted that Seattle's hot run has actually put a small dent in the Yankees' lead, but too little, too late. It's too bad that third place in the AL wildcard doesn't mean anything, because it would have been fun to see five teams within three games of each other competing for the right to be third.

NL Wildcard

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Cincinnati		74   60  .552   --
St. Louis		74   60  .552   --
San Francisco		71   64  .526  3.5
Colorado		68   66  .507  6.0
New York		69   67  .507  6.0
Philadelphia		69   67  .507  6.0
Florida			66   69  .489  8.5
San Diego		66   69  .489  8.5

Now for the most exciting rave in baseball--or the race to most mediocre. Cincy and St. Louis are right there for the NL Central division title, but right nwo they are also dueling each other for the wildcard. The Giants are as close to the wildcard as they are the NL West division lead. And a group of five other teams are within 10 games of the wildcard spot. This race is going to bear a lot of watching.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Anaheim The Team

Well, this month was pretty bad for us. It wasn't really our record--we were only three games below .500, after all--but the fact that we had a chance to stay in it like the M's did, and we blew it. And now we're flirting with .500 and last place. That's just not what I envisioned for the ballclub this year.

Of course, everything is relative, considering we are still ahead of most AL teams, and we are above .500 after all. I just think we're better than that.

In the power rankings, we seemed to revolve around 12th and 18th (usually closer to 18th). We're right in the middle now, at 15th, with 92 points.

Boston is back on top of the rankings with 126 points and the rival Yanks are just behind them at 122. The Cubs are still trying to put the naysayers to bed, and having the NL's best record is helping to do that. They are third with 108 points. One of the Cubs' closest competitors in the NL Central, St. Louis, is 4th with 105 points, and faltering AL West division-leading Oakland is 5th with 103 points.

Here are where we stand in major categories, with MLB rank in parentheses:

Team AVG: .257 (18th)
Team HR: 151 (t-9th)
Team Runs 653 (18th)

The average is the same, but we bumped a spot as someone else passed us on the way down. Still, the real life Angels led the league last year in average, so this is pretty disappointing. Our power numbers faltered a little, but we're still solid there. The real problem was just in simply producing runs, where we dropped from a right-smack-in-the-middle 15th to 18th--closer to where we were when we were slumping offensively at the beginning of the season.

Team ERA: 4.18 (11th)
Team AVG Allowed: .255 (10th)
Team Runs Allowed: 607 (6th)

Overall, the pitching numbers fell a bit. We added a couple points in ERA, which is relatively small, but we also had added two points to the average allowed, which is more significant. Our runs allowed rose from 5th in MLB to 6th. So combining that with our offensive slump, you can see why we had a sub-.500 record i September.

Financials

This is where we took a hit. Before, we were skirting the edge of first and staying close enough to not see a huge drop. Well, our bad September apparently opened the eyes of our fans and we took a much more precipitous drop in fan interest, down to 83. This also drops us down to 7th in the MLB.

Our string of sold out homedates also ended. We're still drawing 40,000 plus, but not every seat is filled anymore. I suspect this will drop even further this month, even if we put in a good month. We are just too far out of first to reverse what has started.

We are still second in attendance, so don't entirely buy the woe is me bit. We have already assured ourselves of a profit this year--every cent gained the rest of the way goes into the team's coffers. And we have almost reached 3 M fans, an incredible achievement for us.

Transactions & Injuries

We went back to a quiet month in this area. Shawn Wooten returned to the lineup a couple days after the month began, and Darin Erstad remains on the DL (but will return inside of a week, God willing).

Since the game doesn't realize that I have simply added another month of play after September, they expanded to 40-man rosters. The result of this is that I don't have to send Larry Barnes down to make room for Wooten. I like that, since Wooten was the backup 1B, and I want him more rested playing catcher. Now Barnes can spell Scott Spiezio if needed.

I didn't bring anyone else up, although I thought about it. In the end, it came down to either relatively worthless minor league vets who wouldn't make an impact with us, or prospects I didn't want to waste the year on.

Chief Rum

[DolphinFan1]

Great job, Chief. I was worried when the Yankees passed my Sox in the standing. But when I saw your last update I see my Sox back on top. Hopefully to stay. I really enjoy your depth with your Angels and the rest of the league.

[Chief Rum]

The Major League Squad

THROUGH FIVE MONTHS OF THE 2003 SEASON

The Rotation

I knew even as I wrote about Jarrod Washburn's consistency last time that I was jinxing him. Sure enough, he had his worst month of the year, with a 4.63 ERA. Still, Washburn (13-10, 3.64) is having a fine year and remains the best pitcher on staff.

John Thomson (6-13, 5.33) still has the worst ERA of the five starters, but that just doesn't properly state how he's done. Remember, he had a 6.38 ERA when he was traded to the Angels. He has now put up a sub-4.00 ERA two months in a row.

Aaron Sele (10-11, 4.92) had his second straight solid month and has gotten his ERA below 5.00 on the season.

John Lackey (9-10, 4.82) still isn't dominating like he think he can and one day will, but he didn't hurt himself too much this month, also putting up a sub-5.00 ERA. But he didn't do it by too much.

The real disappointment is Ramon Ortiz (9-13, 5.15), who had his fourth 5.00+ ERA in five months. I am giving serious consideration to allowing Wise to take Ortiz's spots for the rest of the month.

The Bullpen

Troy Percival (4-3, 1.38, 30 sv) continues to be dominant. What was disappointing was that he only got three save opportunities in September, and he blew one of them. So it wasn't exactly a banner month for Percy or the Angels.

Francisco Rodriguez (5-3, 2.31) wasn't as untouchable as he was in July and August, but he still did pretty damn good. Brendan Donnelly (2-1, 2.36) rebounded from a bad August to be untouchable again in September.

Randy Choate (5-0, 3.18), Lou Pote (3-0, 3.78), and Ben Weber (4-1, 3.72) all struggled this month. For Weber, usually one of the more reliable relievers, this is two straight very poor months. I am guessing that the struggles of these three guys and K-Rod's slightly more touchable stats were a big part of why leads didn't survuve to reach Percival this month.

Mop up reliever Scot Shields (0-2, 5.28) did actually get in a game last month, but he didn't pitch enough to fix his ERA.

The Infield

Shawn Wooten (.303, 12, 58) returned from his minor injury to become a steady bat in the #2 spot of the lineup. He is exactly as expected--a nice hitting catcher with little to no actual catching ability, it seems. Still, he seems to be about as good as the Molina brothers behind the plate, and he's a heck of a lot better with a bat in his hand.

Scott Spiezio (.277, 16, 57) still has good looking numbers, but he had an awful September, easily his worst month of the season. He hit just .192, although he did hit 3 HR. Troy Glaus (.231, 35, 100) enjoyed a virtual carbon copy of his August, producing power aplenty and increasing his average by a few points.

David Eckstein (.26, 5, 40) is doing his damndest to get down to the level of his doubleplay partner. In Eckstein's defense, he was limited by a day-to-day injury from late August through most of September. So I hope we will see his average climb to a more appropriate level. Meanwhile, Adam Kennedy (.218, 3, 35) continues to chug along, making doing badly with consistency an utter art form.

The Outfield/DH

Garrett Anderson (.292, 25, 77) had an interesting month. He was actually red hot, hitting .348 for the month. But he displayed his worst power numbers since May, hitting just 3 HR and driving in 8 RBI. This is after three straight months in which he never hit less than 6 HR, no4 drove in less than 16 runs.

Robb Quinlan (.303, 11, 47) is really hitting his groove, now that he knows he'll be up for the rest of this year and probably next year as well. Had he been brought up earlier, he might be a candidate for ROY. Heck, whatd o I know? He might be considered anyway. In any case, he had his most HR this past month with 6.

Tim Salmon (.277, 23, 79), like several other Angels, had his worst month, although it shows what level he has been playing it when you realize he stiull hit .250. His truly bad performance was in producing power, where he and GA must have been quite a punchless pair. He had just 1 HR and 5 RBI.

Jose Molina (.226, 7, 42) may be playing his way into a backup spot on next year's team with his second straight solid month. No, he'll never fool anyone that he's Woten at the plate, but he is suppsoedly not without some talent--and I'm pretty sure I'll need to keep at least one of the Molina brothers as a backup catcher.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Thanks, DolphinFan. Yeah, it has been staying tight on top of the AL East. No matter how it ends up, though, you guys are going to the playoffs. I mean, you haven't clinched a spot yet, but you might as well have.

Keep reading.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

The Minor Leagues

THROUGH FIVE MONTHS OF THE 2003 SEASON

While we struggled at the major league level, the minor leagues seem to be coming along fine. Detroit had passed us up last month in the rankings and dropped us to third, but then they dropped again and hard. Technically, the whole list seems to have taken a step backwards, but some dropped further than others. So now we have the second best farm system once again.

Like I said, there seemed to be an overall drop in the farm system points. Tampa Bay, still tops for farm systems, dropped from 118 points to 113. Despite moving up to second, we dropped from 103 points to 100. And Detroit went from second and 107 points to all the way down at 89 points. San Francisco (88) and Philadelphia (84) rounded out the top five farm systems.

We signed three new prospects that were oddly dropped by other teams. None of them are elite prospects, but they lend further depth at least. SP Matt Bruback is a 24-year-old 2.5-star talent at the Double A level. Enrique Cruz is also a 2.5-star talent, plays 2B and is at AAA. SP Dennis Ulacia is a 22-year-old, 2-star talent currently at AAA. Bruback was released by the Cubs, Cruz by the Brewers, and Ulacia by the White Sox.

We did get one bit of huge bad news, though. SP Mickey Callaway (10-2, 2.52 at AAA) tore a tricep muscle while pitching, and the devastating injury has apparently ended his career.

No, Callaway had an iffy future, what with being 28 and a 1-star talent, but the guy was just putting up some phenomenal pitching numbers. I really wanted to give the guy a shot at the bigs, at least maybe out of the pen, and see how he does. But now I'll never know what I lost.

Callaway is on the DL right now, but I suspect he will retire at the end of the year.

Single A CF Julio Ramirez suffered a broken league as well, putting him out for five weeks near the end of September. Since that should take him to the end of the season, and he is a free-agent-to-be (at least once I release him), he has probably batted his last with the Angels and their affiliates.

There wasn't much in the way of promotions. Elvin Nina lit it up at Rancho Cucamonga, and Stoneman suggested I bring him back up to AA. Of course, Nina, a fringe major leaguer, can perform to an extent on all three minor league levels. Anyway, I decided "why not?" and moved him back to AA. There's no room in the rotation, so I stuck him in middle relief and mop up work.

Here’s a team-by-team look at our minor leagues:

Salt Lake Stingers (80-55)

Wow, we're the Yankees of AAA! Well, it seems like it anyway.

Stoneman still has five players listed for possible promotion, although he has dropped his interest in Bart Miadich for Steve Green, another pitcher he was propping earlier in the season. I wonder on what these decisions are based? There must be some consistency to it, since the other four (Chone Figgins, Alfredo Amezaga, Michael O'Keefe, Matt Wise) are all the same as in previous months.

It's just a lot of fun to see how Figgins (.318, 3, 63) is doing. He has 162 hits, 40 doubles, 12 triples and 35 SB. He has an .846 OPS. I can't wait to give him a shot in the bigs.

I am, of course, as excited about O'Keefe (.337, 32, 113) as I am Figgins. O'Keefe is one of the most dominating hitters in minor league ball. But that's old news--I have been giving O'Keefe props all season.

Amezaga (.295, 2, 41) and Wise (13-6, 4.11) continue to position themselves for future careers with the Angels. Wise's career just might start today (I haven't decided yet).

Green (9-11, 4.28) is back on Stoneman's good side, but his stats have stayed relatively the same the entire time. To be honest, Miadich (3-4, 4.60, 12 sv) hasn't changed much either statistically.

Recent AA promotees Brian Specht (.288, 4, 16) and Jared Abruzzo (.276, 4, 27) seem to be settling in better at the AAA level. They will probably be on Stoneman's list next year.

Nathan Haynes (.281, 13, 71) is beginning to look like he's about to turn this into a productive season, but Oscar Salazar (.255, 6, 55) seems to have regressed a little. The surprise of the month, though, is Matt Whitney's return to prominence after a seeming year of malingering. He used a hot month to get to .251-18-61.

Pitching-wise, with Callaway done and Wise and Green already covered, there is little else to talk about except for recent promotees Chris Bootcheck (8-1, 3.25) and #3 prospect Joe Saunders (4-2, 5.31). Obviously, Bootcheck is handling the transition a bit better than Saunders.

Arkansas Travellers (66-69)

The Travellers seem to be walking in place, as they always seem to be just a game or two below .500.

Stoneman is still pushing Bobby Jenks and Casey Kotchman as soon-to-be AAA players, but he hasn't given the full green light yet. He is also, of course, noting that Nina can play at AAA, mimicking what he said about Nina and AA when I had him down at Rancho.

Jenks (4-6, 3.78) seems to be pitching better and better as the months go by, and I anticipate he will indeed be in Salt Lake soon. Kotchman (.263, 9, 52) is still doing poorer than I think he should, given his talent, no matter what Stoneman thinks about a potential move up to AAA. I hope he's one of those oddities that actually gets better as he moves up, because right now, I don't really have a lot of confidence in my top hitting prospect.

Dallas McPherson (.239, 7, 27) is the only other hitter really worthy of note (read: has a future), and he's still coming around since his promotion from Rancho.

We do still have some vets around, like Sal Fasano (.261, 17, 38), Wil Nieves (.246, 8, 42) and Jose Nieves (.269, 18, 64).

Pitching remains the key in Arkansas. Just about every major pitching prospect in the Angels' system has seen time at Arkansas this year. Chris Waters (9-9, 4.17) has been here all year and finally seems to be improving. No such like with Richard Fischer (4-11, 6.07), whose troubles are just mystifying.

Johan A. Santana (2-4, 5.70) and Joe Torres (2-1, 5.06) are still learning how to pitch to AA hitters, but they'll get there. Heck, they're already doing better than Fischer.

In the pen, Jeremy Tetrault (4-7, 5.56, 9 sv) is still trying to get back into form after a bad July knocked him off course. His partner Derrick Turnbow (2-2, 3.05, 4 sv), however, continues to impress. Nina, Bruback and Ulacia are also now around to help out, so Arkansas has pretty much a full staff in place.

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (76-59)

The Quakes are doing a much more effetcive job of imitating Salt lake than Arkansas is.

Stoneman is still hinting that first round pick David Laboy is nearing readiness for AA, and to that list he has added third round pick Omar Ramirez. Both pitchers are doing extremely well in their parts of the staff.

Laboy (10-2, 2.17) has simply been dominant since joining the Quakes. The Angels #2 prospect will probably be in Salt Lake by midseason next year the way he's doing right now.

Ramirez (4-3, 2.61, 3 sv) is the leader of the pen, and looks to be a fine reliever.

Jeff Mathis (.301, 14, 69) really has turned it on and is now having a very solid season. He is the lone remaining starter on the Quakes from the beginning of the season.

Ramirez (.352, 13, 54) may be done for the year and as an Angel, but another vet minor leaguer Barry Wesson (.389, 7, 30) is just killing the ball right now, much like he was at the beginning of the season in Arkansas. Will he cool off here, too?

It's hard to say if the Mediocre Three hitters are actually getting better or if they are re-asserting their natural skills. But for what it's worth, these guys did improve a touch--not much, but a little.

Bennie Brant (.208, 2, 20), the Angels fourth round pick, is hitting for a little more power. Oscar Leon (.207, 0, 26) enjoyed a fine September, getting above the Mendoza line and more than doubling his RBI production. Jason Hartl (.236, 1, 19) was doing the best of the three, and continues to do so, inching his average up toward respectability.

With Santana, Torres and Nina all at Arkansas, Laboy has been going it with only one other legit member of the rotation: former Yankee farmhand Simeon Pedrosa (6-10, 4.97) is still trying to find his form in pro ball, but he seems to be getting better.

Fifth round pick MR Aurelio Ruiz (4-3, 4.96) is also seeing some improvement in his numbers.

The Angels' Top 10 Prospect List

1. SP John Lackey-- majors (9-10, 4.82)
2. SP David Laboy-- A (10-2, 2.17) 20th best prospect in MLB
3. SP Joe Saunders-- AAA (4-2, 5.31; 7-5, 2.66 at AA) 65th best prospect in MLB
4. 1B Casey Kotchman-- AA (.263, 9, 52) 15th best prospect in MLB
5. SP Joe Torres-- AA (2-1, 5.06; 8-10, 4.32 at A) 32nd best prospect in MLB
6. RF Michael O'Keefe-- AAA (.337, 32, 113)
7. C Jared Abruzzo-- AAA (.276, 4, 27; .258, 5, 28 at AA; .270, 6, 18 at A) 56th best prospect in MLB
8. SP Chris Waters-- AA (9-9, 4.17)
9. SP Richard Fischer-- AA (4-11, 6.07)
10. SP Bobby Jenks-- AA (4-6, 3.78)

(It should be noted that the Top 100 MLB prospects list is compiled by an average scout--Stoneman, who puts together our Top 10 list, is supposed to be better).

Other Angels prospects on MLB Top 100 list

SP Johan A. Santana-- AA (2-4, 5.70; 4-8, 3.30 at A) 67th best prospect in MLB
SP Chris Bootcheck-- AAA (8-1, 3.25; 8-1, 2.06 at AA) 86th best prospect in MLB

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Major League News

THROUGH THE FIVE MONTHS OF THE 2003 SEASON

Here we are. Five months into the season means we're coming down the homestretch, and the guys near the top are probably having the best seasons of anyone in the league.

Offensive League Leaders-- American League

Boston's amazing Manny Ramirez decided he didn't want to do the on-again, off-again thing, so he remained "on" this month. The result? A commanding lead in the AL batting race. He is on top at .354. It's actually stunning how far ahead of the rest he is. The Yankees' Bernie Williams is a very distant second at .332. A pair of Ramirez's teammates--Jeremy Giambi and Nomar Garciaparra share third at .329. A little bit behind them is Minnesota's Corie Koskie, who has flirted with the edge of the list all season.

Ramirez led all four major categories listed here, and he may be approaching the amazing feat of a Triple Crown--which hasn't been achieved since past Sox great Carl Yasztremski did it in 1967. Ramirez still leads in HRs with 39, although his lead doesn't feel as safe as AVG is. Our own Angels' Troy Glaus remains his primary contender for the power prize, with 35 HR. Texas's Alex Rodriguez is the only other player within 10 of Ramirez, at 31. Toronto's Josh Phelps sits at 27, and three players are tied at 26-- ARod's teammates Carl Everett and Juan Gonzalez, and Chicago slugger Magglio Ordonez.

Checkmate. Ramirez has 122 RBI-- and he's pulling away. The Yanks' Jason Giambi is way back at 102, and Glaus is right behind him at 100. The Tigers' Dmitri Young continues his fine year with 98, and new face Erubiel Durazo checks in with 93 for the A's.

Well, Ramirez only needs the first three to secure a Triple Crown, but what the hell! Ramirez is way in the lead here, too. This is amazing-- how can one player so easily dominate a league? I am reminded of Barry Bond's dominance in recent years. Nothing else really approaches it. Ramirez is at 1.146 to lead the AL in OPS. Toronto's Carlos Delgado and Jason Giambi are the only two others above 1 OPS, and that just barely (1.004 and 1.001 respectively). ARod leads those in the triple numbers, with .978.

Offensive League Leaders-- National League

Wow, could we see a Triple Crown and a .400 season in the same year? Even tainted by Coors Field, how can you ignore the significance of the Rockies' Todd Helton sitting at .379 with a month to play? He's just a fine month away from a possible .400 average. Not surprisingly, he is way, way ahead of everyone else. Houston's Lance Berkman is second down at .339, where he is tied by teammate Jeff Kent. Another Rocky, Larry Walker, sits right behind them at .338, and the Braves' Chipper Jones is fifth, down a little further at .329.

Bonds may not be heading for a Triple Crown or a .400 season, but I doubt anyone is climbing. He is far ahead in the major league lead for HRs with 49. His and McGwire's duelling buddy, the Cubs' Sammy Sosa sits at second with 41 HR. The Reds' Ken Griffey Jr. has been proving all season long that his career of dominating isn't quite over yet. He is third with 36. Philadelphia's big offseason signing Jim Thome is next with 35, and the Dodgers' Shawn Green sits at 34.

Now for a rave where the winner isn't already decided. Once again, Bonds leads the way with 117 RBI, but he has some company. Griffey Jr. has 115, the Braves' Gary Sheffield--the RBI leader after August-- has 112, and Kent is fourth with 110. You have to think that any of the four can end up on top with a good month. You'll never guess who shares fifth place with Sosa at 106. That's right, the Rockies' Charles Johnson?!?

I don't need to go into too much depth here. We all know who leads. Bonds is at 1.280, in traditional dominating fashion. The amazing Helton is second at 1.149. Another big drop brings us to Sosa (1.069) and Berkman (1.068).

Pitching League Leaders-- American League

Last month, Pedro Martinez almost seemed human, rising up to 2.62 in ERA and almost allowing himself to get caught from behind. But, hey, he wouldn't be Pedro if he wasn't a little bit of a tease, right? The Boston ace stepped it up again, and now he's back in commanding lead with a 2.32 ERA. Mark Mulder of the A's-- the other contender-- sits at 2.62, Martinez's old ERA. The Mariners' Freddy Garcia hasn't budged one bit, still sitting at third with a 2.94 ERA, and Mulder's teammate Barry Zito also hardly moved, jumping up just two points while retaining fourth with a 3.12 ERA. Far back of Zito, Chicago's Mark Buehrle is at 3.41-- and even he's ahead of the pack by a bit.

Garcia's got Pedro's number for wins, though. The Seattle ace leads the league in wins at an incredible 21-4. Mulder (19-7) and Martinez (19-6) share second. Gee, any guess who the top three pitchers in the league are? The Yankees' Mike Mussina, himself flirting with the leaders all year long, is a close fourth at 18-8. Behind the top guys a bit, Pedro's teammate Derek Lowe (15-6) and Moose's teammate Jeff Weaver (15-8) are tied for fifth.

Martinez could get a Triple Crown of his own if he can catch Garcia for the wins lead. He has no worries here. He's almost 100 up on the next guy with 240 K. Chicago's Bartolo Colon is that guy, with 148. Garcia and Texas's Chan Ho Park are third with 144 K. Mussina brings up the rear with 140.

The Yanks' Mariano Rivera and Oakland's Keith Foulke have been duking it out for the saves lead since July. They are still knotted up at 39. They better be careful to keep it up, though--the Mariners' Kazutoshi Sasaki is just behind them with 38, and Boston's Chad Fox is just another step back at 37. More distantly, Baltimore's surprising Buddy Groom sits at fifth with 32.

Pitching League Leaders-- National League

The Braves' John Smoltz reasserted himself after an "off month" in August, and is still putting up an amazing 1.63 ERA. Let's face it-- this might be the most dominating performance by a National league starting pitcher since Bob Gibson's incredible 1968 season (when he had a major league record 1.12 ERA from a higher mound). You have to give some credit to Odalis Perez of LA for keeping up the pressure. He's at a just as dominating 2.03 ERA. Far, far below the clouds holding Smoltz and Perez, Philly's Kevin Millwood heads the rest of the pack with a 3.01 ERA. The Cards' Matt Morris in next with a 3.07 ERA, and the Padres' stunning Brian Lawrence has a 3.09 figure.

Perez and Smoltz are also duelling for wins, but this time, Perez (18-5) has the edge over Smoltz (17-1). Four players are tied at 14, including Morris and Lawrence.

The strikeout list remains the same and in the same order--including the three DBacks' hurlers. The Big Unit, Randy Johnson is on top with 224. The Cubs' young flamethrower Mark Prior is next with 210, and Johnson's cohort in Arizona, Curt Schilling is the third NL pitcher above 200 K, with 201. That group will soon be joined the Reds' Scott Williamson, fourth with 199, and the Diamondbacks' Byung-hyun Kim wraps up the Arizona power trio with a fifth-place 179 K.

Now that former saves leader Mike Remlinger has been reduced to a middle relief role for the Dodgers, his former division rival, the Cards' Jason Isringhausen has taken the save lead with 33. Remlinger's new teammate Eric Gagne is tied with Florida's Vladimir Nunez for second with a close-behind 32. Atlanta's Ray King is tied for fourth with 30, but I'm pretty sure you won't get the other guy--Milwaukee's Jayson Durocher. Man, he must have saved ALL of their wins!

League Awards

AL Player of the Week

August 31-September 6-- LF Shannon Stewart (TOR)
September 7-13-- SS Alez Rodriguez (TEX)
September 14-20-- SP Jose Contreras (NYY)
September 21-27-- DH Josh Phelps (TOR)

NL Player of the Week

August 31-September 6-- RF Sammy Sosa (CHC)
September 7-13-- RF Larry Walker (COL)
September 14-20-- 1B Jeff Bagwell
September 21-27-- LF Moises Alou

American League Batter of the Month for September: SS Alex Rodriguez (TEX)

No offense to A-Rod, but .297-8-24 is really not that great a month. It looks like it was a poor one for the league in terms of individual dominance. Or the POW logic is screwed up (fifty-fifty shot).

American League Pitcher of the Month for September: SP Jose Contreras (NYY)

It shouldn't be a surprise that this guy would win it, after becoming the first pitcher on the year to win the POW award this past month. The Cuban "rookie" went 5-0, with a 0.91 ERA and 1 shutout.

National League Batter of the Month for September: LF Luis Gonzalez (ARI)

.407-7-19. Now that's more like it. Sure ARod's power numbers are slightly better, but hitting .400 in a month is an accomplishment (which is why Helton's year-long flirtation is so incredible).

National League Pitcher of the Month for September: SP Odalis Perez (LA)

It seems fitting that Perez should finally win this award. He was also 5-0, but with an incredible 0.62 ERA.

Significant Events

Whereas August was relatively boring, September had a lot of major events going for it.

There were two huge items of note. One was the arrival of an anticipated future star in Colorado's Jeff Francis. The powerful southpaw ace-to-be announced his arrival with, of all things, a NO HITTER in just the second start of his career! Francis no-hit the Pirates on Sept. 26, struck out 9 batters, walked just 2, and even got his first hit as a batter, in a 13-0 blowout. I suppose Colorado shouldn't have blown a cheap year by bringing him up this late in the season, but, wow, how can you pass up on this?

The second happened on Sept. 18 in Cincy-- and was considered by some to be long, long overdue. Griffey Jr., once on the fast track to catch Hank Aaron's career homerun record of 755, finally collected his 500th dinger, jolting a solo shot off of the Mets' Al Leiter.

A couple other milestones were reached this month. Walker got his 2000th hit on Sept. 7, smacking a double off of the Brewers' Dave Pember. And on Sept. 7, Arizona's Mark Grace got his 2500th hit, a single off of Houston's ace Roy Oswalt.

Try this one for incredible-- the greatest debut in baseball history? Now, not Francis. He missed it by a game. No, I'm talking about Boston's hot catching prospect Steve Lomasney. He did nothing short of hitting a cycle in his first ever game on Sept. 24, a 21-1 rout of the hapless Royals. He got 5 hits altogether, adding a second HR for emphasis. He also scored 5 times and drove in 7 runs. The funniest thing about it? Boston has yet to play him again!

Lomasney's wasn't the only cycle of the month, though. Chicago's veteran backup outfield Armando Rios was getting some more starts in September, and he made the most of it. He also hit for the cycle, this one coming on Sept. 28 against Detroit, in a 9-6 White Sox victory. He didn't have as dominating a day as Lomasney, though (4 hits, 2 runs, 2 RBI), but who in Chicago is complaining?

I have been remiss in not closely following the career leader boards. I mistakenly assumed I would get notices as the higher up guys passed up notables on the career lists.

So it was not too obvious until I just looked right now that Bonds just passed his longtime idol Willie Mays in career HR. Bonds now has 662, to Mays' 660. Sosa is up to 540 now, and his 500th of his career seems like a distant memory rather than just the first homerun of the year this year. He has passed several Hall of Famers, and now sits between Mick and Mike-- Mantle at 536, and Schmidt at 549. Griffey has padded his homerun totals a little and actually moved past Rafael Palmeiro, who hit his 500th homerun late last month. Griffey is now tied with Eddie Murray at 504, and Palmeiro has 503. Another to keep an eye on-- the Dodgers' Fred McGriff is at 490 right now, although he's going to need a very good October to make it happen this year.

Back to Bonds. Barry is still a bit behind Rickey Henderson in walks, but he did just move past Babe Ruth for second on the list. He now as 2067, eclipsing Ruth's 2062 career free passes. Henderson, who actually is still playing, is up at 2179 walks.

You will recall that Roger Clemens got his 300th win--he is now at 301 (and staying, since no one has signed him since he was released by the Yanks). The Braves' Greg Maddux, in the midst of another one of his usual fine years, has 287 wins, and will probably break 300 next year.

Strikeouts features two great chases, both of which can happen this month, although one is currently and pathetically derailed. Johnson is fast approaching 4000 K. He is at 3970 K for his career, and 30 more fans in 5 or 6 more starts should be a cinch for the powerful and gangly lefty.

The sad story is back on Clemens though. He got 300, but he hasn't gotten 4000 yet. He sits at 3982, and I am certain if someone were to sign him right now, he would get to that number this year as well. But I fear no one will do so (stupid AI), and The Rocket may indeed walk into the sunset at the end of the year just short of this great achievement that no one else but Ryan and Carlton (and soon Johnson) have achieved. I had resolved to not sign the players that were ridiculously released by their teams, for fear I was benefiting from pure AI stupidity. That said, I am now out of the race (essentially) and can only sign free agents to contracts for the length of this remaining season. So I am considering forgoing my own little rule, and signing Clemens to give him those starts he needs to accomplish this great feat. I haven't checked what he wants, nor have I really decided yet to do this-- but I am giving it serious consideration. 18 strikeouts--that's all he needs!

Chief Rum

[Katon]

Do it. The point of the rule as I understand it is to prevent you from exploiting the AI's poor decisions for your own benefit. This would be for Clemens' benefit.

[DolphinFan1]

I agree with Katon. You said you are already out of the playoff race so you wouldn't be taking advantage of the AI to win anything. Also I think someone else would have already signed him by now and it's clear no one will. IMO.

[General Mike]

Go for it. If you can help Clemens add another accolade to his career, and it's not going to help you, then there's nothing wrong with signing him.

[tucker342]

go for it. If it won't get you into the playoffs, than you might as well

[Chief Rum]

Thanks for the support and suggestions, guys.

It wasn't going to take much to convince me, since I don't think this will get me in the playoffs. I'm not mathematically eliminated yet, but 11 GB with a month to go is pretty hard to overcome. Plus, the game description of Clemens basically says be careful about using him. Of course, he also has an 8-6 record, with a 3.30 ERA, so who know what I'll get? As long as he gets 18 K.

It also helped that Clemens would sign for the minimum, $300K (he actually asked for $300K, not a minor league contract, interestingly enough). I'm pretty sure that's graded over the whole year, too, so I am pretty much paying him one-sixth of $300K ($50K, for you math nuts out there).

Welcome to the Angels, Mr. Clemens.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

League Transactions & Injury News

I decided to combine these two for this month, although I suspect even in this current form, this will be shortlived. I have given some thought to moving to a day-by-day telling of major events, which would replace the transactions, injuries, and significant events sections, as well as major happenings with the Angels as well.

I would still stop every month to give a standings report and a general progress report on the franchise, the major league squad and the minors, and then, of course, the league leaders and award winners.

So, we'll see if this may be the last of these particular types of posts. I think the other way will do a lot more for getting a sense of things moving along than the stop-and-go fashion in which I have things going right now.

DAY BY DAY TRANSACTION LIST

September 7

Releases (refusal of minor league assignment)

Mariners: DH Edgar Martinez
Giants: C Benito Santiago

Commentary: Another week, another round of solid vets hit the waiver wire. Considering the M's are making a run at the A's, you would think they would want to keep around a consummate professional hitter like Martinez (.279, 13, 61). Even at his age (38), Santiago (.262, 8, 38) is still putting up numbers that equal many other catchers in the league.

Releases

Devil Rays: SP Chuck Smith

Commentary: I guess that settles in with the LaForest deal with Milwaukee. It was about the prospect pitcher they get more than Smith. Still Smith didn't do too bad-- 5-7, 4.81, 109 K in 129.1 IP. He probably deserved better than this-- and especially from Tampa Bay of all teams.

Signings

Bluejays sign 3B Matt Williams to a one-year, $303K contract.

Commentary: Finally, a released vet gets signed. The Jays apparently needed a decent bat at third, and Williams has been stewing since his release by Arizona in early June. He hasn't really paid much immediate dividends, though (.205, 3, 17).

September 14

Releases (refusal of minor league assignment)

Orioles: SP Pat Hentgen

Commentary: Hentgen's numbers on the year-- 2-17, 7.52 ERA. What the heck took them so long?

September 28

Releases (refusal of minor league assignment)

Devil Rays: CF Tom Goodwin

Commentary: Goodwin (.247, 4, 22) probably deserved it, but I thought the AI only sent people down to make room for other players. Does Tampa Bay really have its entire expanded (40-man) major league roster filled up right now?

DAY BY DAY INJURY LIST

September 2

Mets: SP Tom Glavine got his teeth knocked out in a bar fight. The injury is only day-ti-day for two days, but come on, that's hilarious!

September 11

Dodgers: MR Guillermo Mota tore his tricep muscle while pitching. That's the same injury that ended Callaway's career. "Fortunately" for Mota, he's only done for the season. Too bad for the Dodgers, too, since Mota (4-1, 3.98, 1 sv) was doing pretty good.

September 12

Astros: CF Brian L. Hunter dislocated his shoulder trying to make a catch, and that will pretty much shelve him for the rest of the regular season. Well, he's listed as out 9-10 weeks, but who are we kidding? He was doing decently (.301-3-30) and getting regular starts.

September 13

Red Sox: C Jason Varitek broke his finger in a home plate collision, putting him down for 4 weeks. This was no doubt key in getting Lomasney a chance to play (one he capitalized on by having that amazing cycle and two-homer day in his debut). Varitek (.283, 7, 58) is no creampuff himself and one of the better hitting catchers, so this probably hurt the Sox a little.

September 17

Rangers: MR Tood Van Poppel suffered a fractured elbow, which will knock him out for 8 weeks (i.e. for the rest of the season). This is probably a blessing for the Rangers, since Van Poppel (4-1, 6.55, 1 sv) hasn't exactly been Mr. Put Out The Fire this year.

September 18

Marlins: SP Josh Beckett suffers from bone chips in his elbow, and this will shelve him for 5 weeks. Well, this is a big one, although Beckett (13-7, 3.10) certainly should be able to get in a start or two at the end of the year. But he won't be there to help the Marlins catch the Braves in the NL East or nab the wildcard. They were already on the outside looking on with him healthy.

September 24

Cubs: MR Rod Beck also has bone chips in his elbow, but apparently he has more in there than Beckett--he's out for 7 weeks, which should mean his 2003 is done. I suppose Beck (3-2, 5.25) could come back for the playoffs.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Some other quick notes to toss out there. It is my plan to promote Matt Wise up to the pros as well to take a rotation spot, so two current starters will be displaced (with Wise and Clemens taking a turn every fifth day).

The other note is that I will do my first day-by-day major events post next, where I will detail the month of October, which will feature the wrap up of the season and of the playoff races. It was my plan to detail how the races were going to turn out that led me to do this in the first place.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Simming October

NEWS, EVENTS & INJURIES OF THE LAST MONTH OF THE 2003 SEASON

Day By Day

October 2

How's this for big news? The Cubs' SP Kerry Wood suffered a ruptured elbow ligament against the DBacks today. Wow, this could have a huge effect on both the races and on the playoffs themselves, since Wood (12-5, 4.33) is certainly out for the regular season, and probably for the playoffs, too.

October 4

Roger Clemens gets his first start with the Angels. The good news is that he only allowed two runs in eight innings of work. The bad news is he didn't get a single flippin' strikeout! WTF!

October 5

The Devil Rays released SP Nick Bierbrodt today. He hadn't pitched in the majors, but he is a 2.5 star talent who is just 25. He's also a lefty. It seems to me they should have kept him. He was 10-7 with a 3.36 ERA at AAA.

Playoff Race Update

No division leader's magic number has fallen below 10 yet. Oakland is the closest at 16. That means, of course, that with 16 combined of either Oakland wins or Seattle losses, and the A's will have clinched the AL West title.

Oakland: 7.5 up on Seattle
Minnesota: 1 up on Cleveland, 2.5 up on Chicago
Boston: 3 up on New York

Los Angeles: 3 up on San Fran, 6 up on Colorado
Chicago: 3 up on both St. Louis and Cincy
Atlanta: 6 up on Philly, 8 up on New York

Wildcards

Disappointingly, they don't list magic numbers for the wildcards yet (if ever). New York is 13.5 games up on Seattle in the AL, which has me thinking they have already clinched a playoff spot, regardless of what happens with Boston and the AL East lead. In the NL, it's still tight. St. Louis and Cincy are tied on top, and four other teams are within 7 games of them.

October 7

After three months on the shelf for a lousy broken finger, CF Darin Erstad has finally returned to full health and the starting lineup. This will bump Quinlan to the DH spot for the remainder of the season.

Livan Hernandez of the Giants suffered a strained back while pitching, which will knock him out for 2-3 weeks. This could be critical, as Hernandez (13-7, 4.33) is one of the Giants' most dependable starters, and they are still trying to catch first in the NL West or the wildcard.

October 8

This must be the day of the cycle. Both Arizona's 2B Junior Spivey and the Mets' 1B Tony Clark hit for the cycle today. Spivey got hive hits, including an extra single, against the Marlins. He got the most difficult hit--the triple--in the ninth inning. Clark just had the four hits, in a game against the Dodgers. Both players drove in and scored three runs apiece.

October 9

Clemens racked up four K against his old teammates, the Yankees today. 14 more to go.

October 12

Playoff Race Update

Once again, no division leader's magic number has been reduced to single digits, but we're getting close. Oakland is now down to 11.

AL West: Oakland is 6 games up on Seattle.
AL Central: Minnesota is pulling away slightly--they are 3 games up on Cleveland and Chicago.
AL East: This one really will go to the last day, I think. The Yanks use a good push to get back to a tie with the Red Sox.
NL West: The Dodgers are up 2.5 on the Giants. Colorado is now at 7.5 GB and is pretty much out of it.
NL Central: The Cubs are pulling away a little. The Cards are at 4 GB, and the Reds 5.
NL East: Philly is making a late run at Atlanta--the Braves' lead is down to 3. The Mets sit at 6 GB.

AL Wildcard: I'm calling it--an AL East team (to be determined) has clinched this spot.
NL Wildcard: The Cards are on top alone right now--barely. Cinsy and San Fran are a game back, and Philly is 2.5 back. New York is 5.5 back, and Colorado 6. Wow!

Helton and Ramirez update: Todd Helton is still sitting at .379 average. He's going to really need to go on a tear to reach .400. Manny Ramirez is still handily leading average and RBI, but Troy Glaus is proving to be a bit of a gnat in Ramirez's quest for the Triple Crown. Ramirez has 42 HR, and Glaus has 40.

October 14

Clemens notches two strikeouts against Tampa Bay to get to 3988 K for his career. Man, he needs to pick up the pace. At most, he has three starts left.

October 19

Playoff Race Update

Now, we're getting somewhere. Almost all of the races have been reduced to single digits. Oakland is still the closest to clinching. They now have a magic number of just 4. But the Cubs have continued to pull away in the NL Central, and their number is at 5. The Dodgers are at 6, and Minnesota at 7. All of these teams have expanded their leads since last week. In the NL East, the Braves have managed to keep the Phillies at bay, and they are still 3 games up (magic number of 8). The Yanks are still right on the Red Sox tail, just 1 GB. The magic number is 10.

Could a wildcard race possibly get tighter? The Cards and reds are tied now for the wildcard, and Philadelphia is just 0.5 GB of the two. The Giants sit at 2 GB.

I bumped Clemens up a spot to face Texas. He struck out 3, so he has 9 K to go, with maybe two starts left on short rest.

October 22

SP Darren Driefort suffered a pulled elbow ligament while pitching, disabling him for 2-3 weeks. This could, of course, affect the Dodgers deep into the playoffs. Driefort is 7-8, with a 4.43 ERA.

The Cubs clinched the NL Central today. They did it in style, with their power pitcher Mark Prior facing off with Arizona's Randy Johnson. The Cubs lit up the Big Unit, and won 12-1 in front of the hometown fans at Wrigley. The victory was keyed by separate three-run dingers by Mark Bellhorn and Damian Miller.

This is the Cubs' first playoff visit since 1998, and first NL Central title since 1989.

Oakland clinched the AL West today, defeating the Mariners 2-0 at Safeco Field. They did it behind the amazing pitching of rookie stud/September callup Rich Harden, who did nothing less than throw a one-hitter at the M's. The lone hit was by Dan Wilson in the fifth inning.

This is Oakland's second straight AL West title, and its fourth consecutive visit to the playoffs.

October 23

Clemens again, in another shifted start. He's pretty much going the second I get him rested enough to do so. Today, he went up against Detroit and got his first win as an Angel. But he only struck out 2. He is still 7 K away.

October 25

The Twins backed into the AL Central title today. They lost 5-3 to Baltimore at Camden--their second loss in a row, but both Chicago and Cleveland, tied for second lost their games today, allowing the Twins to take the division. This is the Twins second straight AL Central title.

The Braves also backed into their division today, but considering they had won five straight going into today, I hardly think you can blame them. They lost 4-2 to the Giants, but their streak had put the Phillies on the brink of elimination. The Phils tried to stave it off by taking Colorado to extra innings, but the Rockies took it in 10, 4-3. The Braves celebrated on the road at Pac Bell. The Braves have not failed to win the AL East since 1991, making this their incredible 13th straight division title.

October 26

Playoff Race Update

Four division races and a wildcard spot have been decided. The only remaining races are in the AL East, which is all for pride; the NL West; and the still supertight NL Wildcard. There are just four days remaining in the season.

Boston has put on a good run and gotten up to four games up on the Yanks. They have clinched a tie at the very least, with their magic number at 1. Boston plays two at home against Seattle, and then two on the road at Oakland. The Yanks are on the road for two with the White Sox, then they come home to finish off with the Indians.

Los Angeles hasn't quite put away San Francisco as expected. They do still have a nice lead at this point, three games up. The magic number is 2. The Dodgers host the Mets for two games, and the Giants host the Braves. But if it isn't decided by then, the last two games are mano-y-mano in Pac Bell. Wouldn't that be great?

The Giants, who have won six straight, lead the wildcard right now, with a 1.5 game lead over the Phillies, and a 2 game lead on top of Cincy and the Cards. I'm not even going to try and break this one down except day-by-day.

Helton and Ramirez update: Helton hit .500 last week, and was named the POW. This has gotten his average up to .385, but it may be too late with just four games left. Ramirez is also putting his achievement at risk. Glaus has tied him with 45 HR!

The Days Events:

Clemens went on short, short rest this time--he was still fatigued from his last start. But I needed to throw him out there today to give him a shot at starting in three more days, on the last day of the season. He lasted just 4 innings against the Bluejays, and he struck out 3. He is 4 K away from 4000!

The Yankees beat the White Sox, 6-1, and the Red Sox lost to the Mariners, 12-6, so the Bronx Bombers live to fight another day. The magic number remains at 1.

The Dodgers clinched the NL West with a tense 4-3 extra-inning victory over the Mets at Chavez Ravine. Los Angeles had to face the Mets' young ace Grant Roberts, and had the upperhand 3-2 going into the ninth. But Jason Phillips crushed a solo shot out of the park with two outs to tie it up. The Dodgers won it in the bottom of the tenth in workmanlike fashion. Mike Kincade was walked by Mets' closer Armando Benitez, and replaced by pinchrunner Cesar Izturis. Izturis stole second, and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Adrian Beltre. After an intentional walk to Dodgers' slugger Shawn Green, Benitez gave up a deep fly to left by Daryle Ward. Izturis tagged up and scored the winning run without a throw.

The Dodgers went into the game knowing a win would get them the title, because the Braves thrashed the Giants 20-9 earlier in the day. It is the first playoff for the Dodgers since 1995, and first NL West title since 1988.

The Giants' loss to the Braves has tightened things up for the wildcard. Philadelphia lost to the Rockies, 13-6, and the Cards fell to the NL Central champ Cubs, 5-1, to stay 1.5 and 2 games back respectively. The Reds maintained the pressure on the Giants, though, beating Milwaukee 7-2 to move within one.

Neither Ramirez nor Glaus hit a homerun today, so they are still knotted at 45. Helton went 3-for-5, raising his average to .387.

October 27

The Yankees are amazingly resilient. The Red Sox are...umm...choking? Seattle shut out Boston 7-0, while the Yankees handed the White Sox another five-run loss, this time 7-2. The Yankees are now just 2 games back, and the magic number is still at 1 for Boston.

San Freancisco continues to give the other wildcard contenders a shot at the ring. They got squashed again by the Braves, this time 10-2. Cincy could have tied them, but fell in a tough one to Milwaukee, 1-0. They are still a game back. Philadelphia won an exciting game over Colorado in the bottom of the ninth at Veterans Stadium. The score was tied 3-3, and Dan Miceli was pitching for the Rockies. Bobby Abreu stroked a single to right-center, then amazingly stole second and third base! Pat Burrell then knocked another basehit into center, and Abreu scored to give the Phillies a backs-against-the-wall 4-3 victory to move within 0.5 games of the Giants. The Cards also staved off elimination with a tight game at Busch against the Cubbies. Notched at three at the end of the ninth, they went to extras. In the bottom of the twelfth, Edgar Renteria hit a two-out solo homerun down the leftfield line off of Kyle Farnsworth to give the Cards a season-extending 4-3 victory. They are now just 1 game back of the Giants.

The Giants play two against the Dodgers at Pac Bell. St. Louis plays two at Montreal, and Cincinnati hosts Florida for two. Philly has October 28 off (quirk of the extended schedule), but they play Milwaukee at home on the last day of the season.

Randy Johnson struck out 7 in a bid to get to 4000 himself. He fell just short, with 3997 K. Hopefully he will come back for another year.

Helton went 2-for-4, but his average remained at .387. The longshot just got longer. Like the rest of the Red Sox, Ramirez was held without a homerun today, but fortunately for him, Glaus didn't even get a hit, despite the fact his teammate slit up Toronto 12-3.

October 28

Heh...this is fun...

The Yankees keep their hopes to catch their hated enemy Red Sox alive by defeating the Indians at Yankee Stadium, 3-1. The Red Sox failed once again to stave off the Yanks, falling in an extra inning heartbreaker to the AL West champ A's at Network Associates Coliseum in Oakland, 1-0 in 10 innings. The Yankees are now just a game behind the Red Sox with one game to play.

The NL Wildcard is now officially nuts. The Giants finally broke their bad string of play, defeating the Dodgers 5-3. But the Cards kept right on their tail, beating Montreal on the road, 6-3. And so did the Reds, beating Florida 8-0 behind the pitching of Scott Williamson. So the Cards and Reds are still just a game back of the Giants. And the Phillies' with their off day, fell back by 0.5 games because of the Giants' victory, so basically we have a three-way tie at one game back of the Giants.

Not helping matters is that the Giants suffered a major injury to one of their relievers. MR Lance Painter was diagnosed with bone chips in his elbow, and will miss the rest of the season and the playoffs, if the Giants ever get there. Painter was 1-1, with a 5.40 ERA.

Ramirez and Glaus both went homerless today. Does it count as a Triple Crown if one of the stats ends in a tie? They are still tied for the league lead at 45 HR. Helton went 2-for-4 to move his average up to .388. While his run has been incredible, I just don't think it's possible for him to reach .400 now.

October 29

I'll go game-by-game for the important stuff.

I'll start off with the Angels. I doindeed have Clemens starting again, on short rest again. He must be incredibly tired. Nevertheless, I went under team tendencies, put Clemens individual hook to the slowest possible, put the team's hool on starting pitchers to the slowest possible, and I ordered the pitchers to not pitch around players. Will this be enough for Clemens to get the 4 K he needs? God, I hope so.

The Angels are playing the White Sox. Here we go...

Alas, it did not work. The Rocket went longer (5.1 IP), but he only struck out 1 batter. That puts him three short and tied with the Big Unit. Just watch--they'll both retire this way, at 3997 K. Oh, and P.S. Glaus did not hit a homerun--history is in Ramirez's hands...

...and he fell short, also going homerless. So I guess it's up to historians as to whether his season constitutes a legitimate Triple Crown. The Red Sox continued to choke, BTW, losing 7-4 to Oakland, so the Yanks have a chance to catch them...

...and incredibly enough, they do! They beat Cleveland 5-2 to move in a tie with Boston for the AL East lead, and pull off an amazing four game comeback in four days. I doubt these guys will play a playoff, since they're both assured of being in the postseason, but it sure as heck would be fun to see them do it. Maybe OOTP will anyway.

The Colorado game was anticlimactic, because the AI chose to sit Helton down at the end of the year, maybe acknowledging that he could not reach .400 no matter how good a day he had. So Helton finishes the season with an amazing .388 average, even if it's short of that almost mythical .400 mark.

Now to that wacky wildcard in the NL. It's still in the Giants' hands. If they can beat the Dodgers today, they will win the wildcard, no matter what the Reds, Cards and Phillies do. LA's Hideo Nomo (5-15, 4.98) goes against SF's Damian Moss (8-13, 4.74)...

...and the Giants finally lock it up on the final day of the season, and in front of the hometown crowd. They defeat the Dodgers 6-4, and the rest of the games are meaningless.

One notable injury occurred, although no one but the player is going to feel its impact. Texas's SP Ismael Valdes suffered a ruptured disc in his back while pitching, and is "out for the season". Hopefully he will return as good as new next year, but, damn, that's a rough way to end the year.

October 30

You see, every now and then, OOTP actually improves upon real life. This is one such instance-- they are making those bastards in the AL East play this one!

The Yankees and Red Sox, knotted up at 102-60 and atop the AL East and the AL Wildcard, will duke it out at Yankee Stadium in a one-game playoff. Boston's Casey Fossum (14-8, 4.61) will go up against Andy Pettite (13-8, 3.94). You know what the real question is? If Ramirez hits a homerun, does it count? Hmmm...

And here's the sim...

The Yankees jump out to a 3-0 lead through three innings, scoring two runs in the second and a run in the third, all pretty much with small ball tactics. Then in the top of the fourth, the Sox exploded, scoring five runs, keyed by a two-run Doug Mirabelli homerun, a Nomar Garciaparra triple and a Lou Collier double. Manny Ramirez drew a walk and scored. 5-3 Red Sox. Rondell White would open the bottom of the fourth with a solo shot, though, to inch it closer to 5-4 after four innings.

The score remained that close until late, when the BoSox broke it open. Garciaparra got a double in the eighth, and was later driven in by a pinch hit basehit. Then in the ninth inning, Kevin Millar smashed a three-run homerun to put the Red Sox up far for good, and that's how it ended. The Red Sox win, 9-4, and take the AL East crown.

The division title is Boston's first since 1995. New York has now reached the playoffs nine years in a row, although it is their first visit as the wildcard team since 1996, the year they won their first world championship of the 90s.

And the first regular season of this dynasty is officially in the books!

Chief Rum

[DolphinFan1]

Great job Chief. I like the detail. Go Sox!

[tucker342]

That sucks that Clemens didn't get it
Oh well, great dynasty!

[Neuqua]

Rum,
If I EVER need a paper to be written, I'm coming to you man. You can make 2 sentences worth of information turn into a 5 page paper.

You rock

Neuqua

[Chief Rum]

DolphinFan1: Thanks. I prefer the detail, too. The Sox are going great right now, huh? So what do you think? Does it count as a Triple Crown if you share the lead in one of the categories?

tucker342: Yeah, it does suck that Clemens fell short. It will be interesting to see if he and Johnson return next season or not, but since this game doesn't consider the significance of achievements like this, I would have to think they won't.

Neuqua: So, what are you saying, Neuq? I am the master of the bullshit paper?

I hope I haven't just been giving out two lines of information here.

Chief Rum

[DolphinFan1]

Chief, I think it should still count as a triple crown even if you share in one of the catergories. He still led the majors and no one had more than him. I wonder what the game will do.

[Chief Rum]

I figure I'll acknowledge it as such. As for the game, I'm not sure it recognizes the Triple Crown, although it would be nice if it would. I'm pretty sure Ramirez will get the MVP, of course.

Chief Rum

[Katon]

Actually, Yaz's 1967 triple crown was also a tie. Harmon Killebrew hit just as many homers.

[Chief Rum]

Really, Katon? Good.

I have never heard Yaz's '67 campaign referred to as anything else but a Triple Crown season. The legitimacy of it has never been questioned to my knowledge, although I suppose it would have been interesting to read the sports media's take on it the day after the 1967 season ended.

So, as far as I am concerned, Manny Ramirez just completed a Triple Crown season and had one of the alltime best seasons in the history of baseball.

It will be interesting if he can use that to break the great curse this year.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Final 2003 Season Standings

AL West

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Oakland			97   65  .599   --
Seattle			90   72  .556  7.0
Texas			85   77  .525 12.0
Anaheim			80   82  .494 17.0

As you can see, the downward turn our team started to take in September did not really reverse itself for the rest of the season. Meanwhile, Texas just continued its roll and passed us and then some. So, embarrassingly enough, the world champion team I took over, I subsequently led to a last place and sub-.500 finish. Oakland, of course, took the division, and really finished strong. Seattle made a run, but eventually ended up closer to Texas than to Oakland. Still, you can't fault a 90-win season.

AL Central

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Minnesota		88   74  .543   --
Chicago			80   82  .494  8.0
Cleveland		80   82  .494  8.0
Detroit			65   97  .401 23.0
Kansas City		58  104  .358 30.0

It may have made for an exciting division race, but once again the AL Central brings up the rear when it comes to all around divisional strength. Seattle and New York both would have won this division. Our own last place Angels would have been tied for tied. Minnesota once again gets the golden rod for being master of a big pile of crap. Chicago and Cleveland tie for second, but they were inconsistent all year. Detroit just went downhill after a good start. And only a really poor October by Tampa Bay saved Kansas City from the ignominy of finishing with baseball's worst record.

AL East

Team			  W    L   PCT   GB

Boston			103   60  .632   --
New York		102   61  .626  1.0
Toronto			 81   81  .500 21.5
Baltimore		 71   91  .438 31.5
Tampa Bay		 55  107  .340 47.5

I don't need to talk too much about this division, since how it ended up was well covered in the October day-by-day news events. Needless to say, Boston and New York easily finished with the best records in baseball. Toronto did well to finish at .500. Baltimore showed flashes of solid play, but were eventually undone by inconsistent play. And as mentioned, Tampa Bay managed to drop itself down to first overall draft pick status.

NL West

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Los Angeles		90   72  .556   --
San Francisco		88   74  .543  2.0
Colorado		79   83  .488 11.0
San Diego		79   83  .488 11.0
Arizona			71   91  .438 19.0

Los Angeles and San Francisco ended up staging a two-man show for this division, but for much of the year, this was one of baseball's deepest and tightest races. Dodgers won the two-team tug-o'-war, but the Giants just managed to sneak into the playoffs via the ultracompetitive NL wildcard. Colorado and surprising San Diego finished just outside of contention. Arizona was a division contender early on, so its mystifying drop to the end of the division is going to be something I'll be interested in checking out. Like the Angels, the DBacks, just two seasons removed from a world championship, were expected to be much better.

NL Central

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Chicago			93   69  .574   --
Cincinnati		87   75  .537  6.0
St. Louis		86   76  .531  7.0
Milwaukee		72   90  .444 21.0
Pittsburgh		72   90  .444 21.0
Houston			67   95  .414 26.0

This is just weird. I saw it developing during the season, and I thought things would even up, but they never did. This division remains a seemingly uncomfortable combination of two three-team groups, a strong one and a weak one. The strong one is highlighted by Chicago, tied with Atlanta for the NL's best record, and backed up by St. Louis and Cincy, both prime competitors for the wildcard right down to the last day. The weak one is a group of teams only saw .500 for brief moments at the beginning of the year. Milwaukee and Pittsburgh never seemed to even make a move to mediocre status, and Houston, the shocker of the year, was just horrid for most of the season. As with Arizona, the story of Houston, a supposed title contender, should be an interesting one.

NL East

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

Atlanta			93   69  .574   --
Philadelphia		87   75  .537  6.0
New York		82   80  .506 11.0
Florida			75   87  .463 18.0
Montreal		75   87  .463 18.0

I suppose it shouldn't come as a shock to see the Braves on top again, but they really weren't expected to return to this level. Credit the Braves' AI for making the key decision of returning Smoltz to the rotation. Philadelphia, for how close it came to getting into the playoffs, has to consider this season a vast disappointment. They were widely thought to be the best team in this division at season's start, but they waffled with inconsistency for much of the year. By the time they turned it on, it was too late to catch the Braves and just enough to get them maddeningly close to the wildcard. New York is the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of baseball. On one hand, you could say the season was a success because they did better than last year's horrible season. On the other hand, they still supposedly have some of the best talent in baseball, and one of its highest payrolls--and they ended up here. For last place teams, you can't do much better than Florida and Montreal. There weren't too many easy outs here.

AL Wildcard

Team			  W    L   PCT   GB

New York		102   61  .626   --
Seattle			 90   72  .556 11.5
Texas			 85   77  .525 16.5
Toronto			 81   81  .500 20.5
Anaheim			 80   82  .494 21.5
Chicago			 80   82  .494 21.5
Cleveland		 80   82  .494 21.5

While the result of the wildcard was never in doubt even as soon as halfway through the season, Seattle should be commended for getting as close to New York as they did. Texas's strong finish was also a big eye opener, showing how strong things are out west. The next four teams, including the Angels, are examples of just not quite getting it together to push it to the next level.

NL Wildcard

Team			 W    L   PCT   GB

San Francisco		88   74  .543   --
Cincinnati		87   75  .537  1.0
Philadelphia		87   75  .537  1.0
St. Louis		86   76  .531  2.0
New York		82   80  .506  6.0
Colorado		79   83  .488  9.0
San Diego		79   83  .488  9.0

When wildcard proponents designed the system, this was the kind of year they envisioned. Will we ever again see as competitive and as challenging a wildcard playoff race as we witnessed in this league this year? San Francisco was strong all year, but they were still very lucky to get that last spot into the postseason. Cincy dogged the Cubs heels from the very beginning, and the Phillies finished very strong. The Cards, like the Phillies, are a tale of what might have been. They were something else after their horrible start. The fact that there were six teams within nine games of the Giants shows how parity thrived in the NL this year.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

2003 Season Leaders

Normally, this section follows the Angels' personal team stats and story, including the minor leagues. For the end of the season, though, I decided to bump this up in the postranking a bit, and include other key stats as well. Here we go.

Offensive League Leaders-- American League

The Triple Crown quest of Boston's Manny Ramirez was indeed successful, and average was one are where he utterly dominated. He was easily the AL batting champion, finishing with a .346 average. Second went to Minnesota's Corie Koskie at .329. Koskie is an enteresting story, since he was always ont he fringes of the league leaders and never had a truly dominant batting average, but when it came down to the end, he stayed consistent while others who had been ahead of him fell behind him. To me, this is a sign of a damn good hitter. The next two are surprises, since they haven't been in the Top 5 all season long, but they are hardly unknown in these rankings usually. They are the Mariners' Ichiro Suzuki at .320 and John Olerud at .318. Ramirez's teammate, Nomar Garciaparra, was there, too, tied with Olerud for fourth.

Here are the top ten batters:

Batter			 AVG   AB   R    H   HR  RBI

Ramirez, BOS		.346  566  123  196  45  139
Koskie, MIN		.329  541  115  178  15   89
Suzuki, SEA		.320  604  101  193   8   76
Olerud, SEA		.318  506   78  161  18   89
Garciaparra, BOS	.318  616   95  196  20  109
Hudson, TOR		.317  571  109  181  10   78
Giambi, BOS		.314  513   90  161  18   92
Young, DET		.312  584   75  182  12  108
Walker, BOS		.311  457   83  142  12   72
Giambi, NYY		.310  549  115  170  32  121

As noted in the events of October, Ramirez vied with the Angels' Troy Glaus for the homerun title, and it ended up in a dead heat at 45. No one else was really close. A pair of Rangers came next, with Alex Rodriguez at 37, and the surprising Carl Everett fourth with 36. Toronto's Josh Phelps, who started off the first month of the year leading this category, finished fifth with 33 dingers.

As with average, this one was really n contest for Ramirez. He finished with 139 RBI on the year. Glaus was once again on his tail, albeit distantly. The slugging third baseman finished with 121 runs driven in, tying him with New York's Jason Giambi. Phelps was fourth with 115, and Oakland's Eric Chavez rounds out the top five with 111.

Ramirez is on top of OPS as well, with an easily out on top 1.118. Jason Giambi is the only player above 1 OPS, and that's barely (1.005). Toronto's Carlos Delgado has remained solidly at third in this category for some time now. He ended up at .989. ARod was fourth with .980, and Koskie fifth at .972.

Here are some other category leaders:

Runs: 123 by Johnny Damon and Ramirez (BOS); Tejada (OAK), 116
Hits: 196 by Garciaparra and Ramirez (BOS); Suzuki (SEA), 193
Doubles: 49 by Koskie (MIN); Garciaparra (BOS) and Greg Colbrunn (DET), 48
Triples: 17 by Aaron Rowand (CHW); Christian Guzman (MIN), 15; Mike Cameron (SEA), 14
Walks: 133 by Jason Giambi (NYY); Delgado (TOR), 125; Robin Ventura (NYY), 117
Stolen Bases: 47 by Damon (BOS); Suzuki (SEA), 39; Derek Jeter (NYY), 36
Extra Base Hits: 90 by Ramirez (BOS); Glaus (ANA), 88; Alfonso Soriano (NYY), 81
Total Bases: 378 by Ramirez (BOS); Glaus (ANA), 319; Garciaparra (BOS), 318
On Base Percentage: .452 by Jason Giambi (NYY); Ramirez (BOS), .450; Koskie (MIN), .436
Slugging Percentage: .668 by Ramirez (BOS); Rodriguez (TEX), .597; Delgado (TOR), .556

Offensive League Leaders-- National League

The Rockies' Todd Helton's dominance of this category the past few months has been well-documented. He was far ahead of everyone in all of the majors with an amazing .388 average. That's incredible even for a Coors Field hitter. His teammate Larry Walker, and the first month batting leader, finished second at .337. Lance Berkman of the Astros seemed to lead the league in hitting for much of the season, bridging the gap between Walker at the beginning and Helton at the end. He ended up at .333. Cincinnati's Sean Casey was fourth with a .329 average, and he was followed by the Braves' Chipper Jones, at .326.

Here are the top ten batters:

Batter			 AVG   AB    R    H  HR  RBI

Helton, COL		.388  577  128  224  36  119
Walker, COL		.337  523  132  176  23  112
Berkman, HOU		.333  555  116  185  25   91
Casey, CIN		.329  596  109  196  21   79
Jones, ATL		.326  543  104  177  28  105
Kent, HOU		.322  569   91  183  26  115
Sosa, CHC		.320  550  130  176  49  122
Giles, PIT		.316  535  116  169  35  119
Bonds, SF		.316  513  133  162  55  126
Griffey Jr., CIN	.312  558  113  174  38  129

San Francisco's brooding slugger Barry Bonds held onto this one, finishing with 55 HR. Philadelphia's Jim Thome surged forward a bit to tie Chicago's Sammy Sosa for second with 49. Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr. tied with Houston's Jeff Bagwell for fourth with 38 taters.

The Braves' Gary Sheffield has led the NL in runs driven in for some time, so it's no surprise that he finished on top with 137. Griffey and Bagwell also tied in RBI, but this time at second place with 129. Thome and Bonds tied for fourth with 126.

Bonds was the OPS god as usual, finishing with a league-leading 1.231 OPS. Thanks to his terrific average, though, Helton was able to provide Bonds with some semi-close company, at 1.184. Thome and Sosa tied at 1.094, and the Pirates' Brian Giles was fifth at 1.063.

Here are some other category leaders:

Runs: 133 by Bonds (SF); Walker (COL), 132; Sosa (CHC) and Cliff Floyd (NYM), 130
Hits: 224 by Helton (COL); Casey (CIN), 196; Berkman (HOU), 185
Doubles: 63 by Helton (COL); Berkman (HOU), 58; Ray Durham (SF), 50
Triples: 13 by Juan Pierre (FLA); J.D. Drew (STL) and Juan Encarnacion (FLA), 12
Walks: 168 by Bonds (SF); Thome (PHI), 149; Giles (PIT), 132
Stolen Bases: 50 by Luis Castillo (FLA); Roberto Alomar (NYM) and Rafeal Furcal (ATL), 44
Extra Base Hits: 105 by Helton (COL); Bonds (SF), 102; Berkman (HOU), 93
Total Bases: 407 by Helton (COL); Bonds (SF), 381; Sosa (CHC), 364
On Base Percentage: .488 by Bonds (SF); Helton (COL), .479; Thome (PHI), .457
Slugging Percentage: .743 by Bonds (SF); Helton (COL), .705; Sosa (CHC), .662

Pitching League Leaders-- American League

Boston's Pedro Martinez has pretty much been incontrol of this all year. And, true to form, he ended up far ahead of the pack in the AL with a 2.36 ERA. Oakland's Mark Mulder was second with a 2.76 ERA, and he was closely followed by the Mariners' Freddy Garcia at 2.81. Then there is another siazble jump before we get to the next pitcher, Mulder's teammate Barry Zito, at 3.14. The White Sox' Bartolo Colon is fifth with a 3.34 ERA.

Here are the top ten pitchers:

Pitcher			 ERA   Rec    IP     H    BB   K

Martinez, BOS		2.36  22-7   270.2  211   55  281
Mulder, OAK		2.76  22-8   257.2  223   57  156
Garcia, SEA		2.81  25-4   269    202   90  173
Zito, OAK		3.14  17-9   241    207   90  148
Colon, CHW		3.34  16-11  245.1  219   88  187
Beurhle, CHW		3.35  13-14  257.2  231   59  118
Peavy, BAL		3.52  13-12  215    198   76  158
Santana, MIN		3.56  12-4   167    142   80  115
Rodriguez, CLE		3.69  15-12  221.2  194   90   79
Escobar, TOR		3.74  11-8   195    172   82  146

Garcia easily led the AL in wins, with a 25-34 record. Martinez and Mulder tied for second with 22 wins apiece. New York's Mike Mussina was fourth, carrying a 20-10 record. After that, there is a short fall before you reach five pitchers tied with 17 wins each.

Martinez had this one locked up early. The only question was if he would finish over a 100 K ahead of the next pitcher. He finished with 281 strikeouts. For the record, he did not beat #2 by 100. Colon came in with 187 K. Texas's Chan Ho Park was third with 174 K, where he was just ahead of Garcia with 173. Mussina was fifth with 167 total strikeouts.

For much of the last half of the year, Oakland's Keith Foulke and New York's Mariano Rivera fought for the saves title. It ended up falling to Foulke, with 44 saves. Rivera was second with a close-behind 42. Boston's Chad Fox and Seattle's Kazutoshi Sasaki finished tied for third with 41 saves. So it was close up top. The step down to fifth was more significant, with the Rangers' Ugueth Urbina checking in with 36 saves.

Here are some other category leaders:

Innings Pitched: 270.2 by Martinez (BOS); Garcia (SEA), 269; Brad Radke (MIN), 267.1
Opponents' Average: .207 by Garcia (SEA); Martinez (BOS), .211; C.C. Sabathia (CLE), .226
Complete Games: 12 by Radke (MIN) and Roy Halladay (TOR); Colon (CHW), 11
Shutouts: 4 by Colon (CHW) and Martinez (BOS); 3 pitchers with 3
Quality Starts: 29 by Martinez (BOS); Mulder (OAK), 28; Mark Beurhle (CHW), 25
Hits Per 9 IP: 6.8 by Garcia (SEA); Martinez (BOS), 7.0; Sabathia (CLE), 7.6
Walks Per 9 IP: 1.8 by Radke (MIN), Mussina (NYY), and Martinez (BOS)
K Per 9 IP: 9.3 by Martinez (BOS); Jeremy Affeldt (KC), 7.4; Sabathia (CLE), 7.0
Save Pct. (min 20 SVO): 91.9 (34 of 37) by Buddy Groom (BAL); Sasaki (SEA), 91.1 (41 of 45); Foulke (OAK), 88.0 (44 of 50)
Holds: 13 by Francisco Rodriguez (ANA); Kerry Ligtenberg (BAL), 11; Cory Bailey (KC), 10
Reliever ERA: 1.60 by Rivera (NYY); Sasaki (SEA), 1.64; Percival (ANA), 1.76

Pitching League Leaders-- National League

The Braves' John Smoltz was dominant for most of the season before he got serious competition from the Dodgers' Odalis Perez in this category. Smoltz held off Perez with a 1.94 ERA. Perez finished at 2.06. Florida's Josh Beckett, who missed the last month and change of the season, ended up third with a 2.98 ERA. The Cards' Matt Morris and Brian Lawrence of the Padres were next, with 3.08 and 3.09 figures, respectively.

Here are the top ten pitchers:

Pitcher			 ERA   Rec    IP     H    BB   K

Smoltz, ATL		1.94  19-3   222.1  147   59  186
Perez, LA		2.06  22-7   235.2  161   47  205
Beckett, FLA		2.98  13-7   193    143   55  169
Morris, STL		3.08  17-7   233.2  202   52  158
Lawrence, SD		3.09  17-12  241.2  216   63  137
Milwood, PHI		3.10  12-8   220.2  215   64  163
Williamson, CIN		3.15  15-6   202.2  166   98  250
Padilla, PHI		3.29  13-11  241    223   78  151
Vazquez, MON		3.35  14-10  209.2  190   54  167
Maddux, ATL		3.37  15-7   205.2  196   29  121

Perez did take wins, and then some--he was the NL's only 20-game winner this year, with a 22-7 record. Smoltz, for all his incredible 19-3 record, finished one-short of 20, good for second in the league. The Giants' Jason Schmidt was third at 18-12. He was followed by Morris (17-7) and Lawrence (17-12), tied for fourth.

What do you know? The strikeout race went right down to the wire. And sure enough, Randy Johnson of Arizona ended up on top again. But just barely, he had 251 K on the year, beating out Cincinnati's Scott Williamson and the Cubs' Mark Prior by just one strikeout (they had 250K each). His teammate Curt Schilling also made a run and ended up fourth with 247. The pack was back considerably from that foursome. The best of the rest was another Diamondback, Byung-hyun Kim, at 211.

After just seeming to tag along most of the year, Florida's Vladimir Nunez pushed it into high gear and finished atop the NL save leaders with 39. He just edged out the Cards' Jason Isringhausen and LA's Eric Gagne, who each had 38 saves. Two of the next three are shockers. Milwaukee's Jayson Durocher made a splash by getting 37 saves and finishing fourth. And another surprise, the Reds' John Riedling, tied with longtime stalwart Padre closer Trevor Hoffman for 35 saves.

Here are some other category leaders:

Innings Pitched: 241.2 by Larwence (SD); Vincente Padilla (PHI), 241; Roy Oswalt (HOU), 239.2
Opponents' Average: .186 by Smoltz (ATL); Perez (LA), .191; Beckett (FLA), .205
Complete Games: 7 by Padilla (PHI); Schilling (ARI), 6; 4 pitchers with 4
Shutouts: 3 by Padilla (PHI); 5 pitchers with 2
Quality Starts: 27 by Perez (LA); Smoltz (ATL) and Prior (CHC), 25
Hits Per 9 IP: 6.0 by Smoltz (ATL); Perez (LA), 6.1; Beckett (FLA), 6.7
Walks Per 9 IP: 1.3 by Greg Maddux (ATL); Schilling (ARI), 1.4; Perez (LA) and Tomo Ohka (MON), 1.8
K Per 9 IP: 11.1 by Williamson (CIN); Johnson (ARI), 10.6; Prior (CHC), 10.2
Save Pct. (min 20 SVO): 93.3 (28 of 30) by Mike Remlinger (LA); Isringhausen (STL), 92.7 (38 of 41); Gagne (LA), 88.4 (38 of 43)
Holds: 23 by Mike Matthews (MIL); Mike Crudale (STL), 22; Feliz Rodriguez (SF), 21
Reliever ERA: 1.03 by Gagne (LA); Isringhausen (STL), 1.64; Shuey (LA), 2.22

League Awards

AL Player of the Week

September 28-October 4-- CF Aaron Rowand (CHW)
October 5-11-- CF Carl Everett (TEX)
October 12-18-- CF Carlos Beltran (KC)
October 19-25-- 2B Orlando Hudson (TOR)

NL Player of the Week

September 28-October 4-- 1B Jim Thome (PHI)
October 5-11-- 1B Jim Thome (PHI)
October 12-18-- CF Brian Giles (PIT)
October 19-25-- 1B Todd Helton (COL)

Note: There may be a P.O.W. for the final four days of the season, but I don't know this just yet, since I will have to sim the postseason to see it. And I haven't ran the postseason yet.

For the same reason, I am also as yet unaware of the Players of the Month (assuming any will be rewarded).

Chief Rum