Heading Into the Homestretch

Now that Spring Training is just about over and the Yankees-RedSox mega rivalry about to renew on Sunday night, what better time to have a look at who did what during the spring to impress or digress. (stats are only through last Friday so buyer beware)

1. The man called ee-chee-row, who battered the MLB record for most hits in a season with 262 to go along with his .372 batting average, picks up where he left off, currently leading the MLB spring in hitting, at .492 clip, nearly 20 points higher than Chisox CF Aaron Rowand. Joining Rowand from Chicago is Cubs rejuvination project Nomah, who is hitting .444 and the Yankees potential leadoff hitter, Tony Womack. What must be thrilling for the Yankees is that hitters 2 and 3 (Jeter and A-Rod) are hitting .364 and .362 respectively.

2. It's hard to take spring powah numbers seriously and in that department, we don't think it's noteworthy that Andruw Jones leads the spring with 10 homers for the Braves. He had a bit of a torrid spring though, hitting .405 as well so there may be a bat on the Braves after all. Brewers fans happily note that Carlos Lee, their ChiSox-imported powah man, has hit 7 homers this spring. Although he tied the Blue Jays spring record with 8 homers, it's taken all this time for OF Gabe Gross to make the team. He will platoon in RF with budding superstar Alex Rios where his power outing is not likely to continue. One name that sticks out for powah and hitting continues to be Albert Pujols whom many had already written off due to a painfully overstated foot injury. Pujols has only dominated in typical fashion, hitting .434 with 6 homers and 19 RBIs and not having struck out all spring and as the Anti-Bonds, will be everybody's favourite to win the NL MVP and Triple Crown.

3. Pitching is another fabulously overrated spring statistic and Toronto Blue Jay rookie lefty Gustavo Chacin who leads the leagues with a whopping 4 victories despite an abrasive 8.55 ERA. THAT's something I'd like to see repeated in the regular season: wins leader with an 8.55 ERA. Brandon McCarthy, who impressed and excited ChiSox fans whilst winning three games on a 3.79 ERA, is still headed for AAA Charlotte, so don't pencil him in for the Cy Young either. But my spring training favourite, Chien-Ming Wang, the 6'3" righty from Taipei Ti Wu college will not make the Yankess just yet despite his gaudy 3-0 record and 1.00 ERA over 9 innings. In fact, free agent signing Jaret Wright, who did nothing but compile an equally impressive 3-0 record and 1.06 ERA over 17 innings, won't even make the starting rotation ahead of The Unit, Mussina, Pavano and Angry Kevin Brown. It just goes to show you, pitching stats don't mean much in the spring.

What is perhaps the only pitching category that's telling in the spring is starts made. There were only 11 pitchers who had 6 starts so far this spring and their six starts are telling. First up is the last remaining ace on the A's, Barry Zito went 2-2 with a 3.46 ERA over 26 innings but perhaps telling was his 11 BBs and 12 Ks. If he does not have a Cy Young-type season this year, the A's are probably not going to get very far.

Another important pitcher in the AL West is Chan Ho Park. Oft-rumoured to be trade bait for the Rangers until they realised there were no takers, Park will likely make his first start against the Mariners on April 8th as the Rangers 4th, but key starter who will probably have to have a good season for the Rangers to have a good season. He has made $38 million for a total of 14 wins over the last 3 seasons and has another $27 million coming to him. Over 6 starts, he went 0-0 with a 6.29 ERA but had 18 K's and only 3 walks over 24 innings. A real enigma.

Other than Zito, the other mystery man on the A's pitching staff will be the long-heralded Rich Harden, their #2 starter. He only went 1-2 with 6.65 ERA with 12 Ks and 7 walks over 23 innings which doesn't bode well but after an 8 K performance last Monday, has now struck out 16 in his last two outings and 29 for the spring.

Can the Orioles get excited about Erik Bedard just yet? Not likely. Penciled in as third in the rotation but ahead of Fat Drunk and Brawling Sid Ponson, Bedard went 3-0 with a 3.71 ERA but had a 17-4 strikeout to walk ration over almost 27 innings. Although slammed recently against the bottom-dwelling Florida Marlins, Bedard had allowed only five earned runs in his previous five starts. Keep an eye out.

Over in Detroit, they're plenty excited about Jeremy Bonderman whose claim to fame to date is having skipped his senior year in High School to pitch. This spring he's gone 3-1 with a meagre 2.25 ERA, 17-11 K-BB ratio over 24 innings and is officially, the Tigers Opening Day starter at 22. That should tell you enough right there about the Tigers chances this season, the youngest since 1986, when Dwight Gooden opened for the Mets at age 20.

Right behind him in starts, as though eager to burn out their rotation quickly, is the number two man in the rotation, Jason Johnson who did not skip HS to pitch and was bumped off as Alan Trammel's original Opening Day starter. Johnson had a 7.97 ERA over 20 innings, won a pair and lost won and struck out 12 whilst walking 7. Small wonder he didn't get the nod.

Another man to get 6 starts this spring was Twins pitcher Kyle Lohse, the fourth starter in the rotation. He'd battled Joe Mays, who has pitched well this spring. Mays, who missed all of last season after Tommy John surgery, has been solid with a 2.50 ERA. Lohse, over 22 innings had a 3.27 ERA, 12-5 k-bb ratio and went 1-1.

Hoping to make a comeback after two stays on the DL last season, former Cy Young winner Roy Halladay will be the Opening Day starter for the Blue Jays against Tampa Bay, whom he hasn't done all that well in during his career. Halladay pitched almost 21 spring innings, struck out 19 and walked only 6 with a 3.92 ERA and a 1-1 record.

Another Oriole on the six spring start list is Opening Day starter Rodrigo Lopez against the A's and Zito. He is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 21 innings in spring training, struck out 20 and walked 10.

The last man standing with six spring starts, other than Ricardo Rodriguez for the Rangers, who isn't worth mentioning more than a name as he was recently demoted to the minors, is Scott Elarton, the Indian's fifth starter. Elarton threw a league high 27 innings trying to work himself back into pitching condition and went 3-0 with a 3-0 record.

A first-round draft pick by Houston in 1994, Elarton won 17 games for the Astros in 2000 and seemed destined for stardom before a series of injuries and surgeries slowed, then nearly stopped, his progress.

While he was on the disabled list in 2001, the Astros traded him to the Rockies for Pedro Astacio. He missed all of 2002 after undergoing shoulder surgery.

Although he was pain free in 2003, Elarton wasn't the same pitcher and spent the season bouncing between Triple-A Colorado Springs and the Rockies, going a combined 10-12.

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So that's it for the Spring wrapup for the moment. Look forward to the Sports Amnesia Season Preview coming soon, very soon, to a theatre near you.

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Lastly, how could we allow ourselves to consider baseball's opening day when the Final Four of NCAA Basketball is still to be played?

Illinois-Louisville where Illini get the edge but 3 timer Rick Pitino gets the glory.

and

UNC-Michigan State.

Sports Amnesia pick for the Finals: Illinois and Michigan State. Big Ten Final.

What the hell, right. If you pick enough of these bloody things, one of them is bound to come out right eventually, toch?