ADAM ULREY LOOKS AT THE 2001 SEASON

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Opening Day is the most anticipated day in all of sports. After thirty grueling days of spring training the players are glad to get the season started. This spring there were more injuries than at any other time that I can remember. I understand that the players come into camp in better shape, but I think that the extra weight lifting that the players do today is taking away their flexibility. You see a lot more strains and pulled muscles that can end up hampering the player all year long. You could make an all-star team out of those players who will begin the year on the DL or who will miss some time. You have Garciaparra, Travis Fryman, Kevin Brown, Ken Griffey Jr. and the first three starting pitchers of the Pittsburgh Pirates rotation. In any case, here's a look at my perception of the coming year.

The Yankees are still the favorites until someone knocks them off. I really believe that GM Billy Beane has given the Oakland A's the best chance at being the team to dethrone the champs. In the West I like the A's to withstand a great challenge from the Seattle Mariners. The A's added Johnny Damon to give them a legitamate leadoff hitter. He batted .327, scored 136 runs and stoled 46 bases while only being caught 9 times. Look out for the 2001 rookie of the year to come from the A's, second baseman, Jose Ortiz. This kid is the real deal.

The A's, of course bring, back the reigning MVP, Jason Giambi. All he did was hit .333 with an incredible .476 OBP, smash 43 home runs and drive in 137 runs. You add to this lineup shortstop Miguel Tejada, Eric Chavez and Terrance Long and it looks pretty scary for opposing teams. The Mariners will trot out their Japanese import Ichiro Suzuki, who is a six-time batting champion. The Mariners don't have as good a hitting team as they are used to, but that will happen when you lose two Hall of Fame caliber players in consecutive season like Ken Griffey Jr and Alex Rodriguez. Don't feel sorry for them, as GM Pat Gillick will find the right pieces to get them back to the top. They have a strong pitching staff, with Freddie Garcia on the verge of a monster year. He will be followed by Aaron Sele, John Halama and Jamie Moyer, who looks like he'll be back this year. The Rangers went out and spent a ton of cash for Alex Rodriguez to be their shortstop and hopefully lead them to a title. I hate to disappoint the Ranger brass, but last time I checked you need pitching to win and the Rangers have none of that. They have Rick Helling, who has 49 wins in the last three years, but a very high ERA over that period. After that they will roll out four starters that just wont cut it: Kenny Rodgers, Darren Oliver, Ryan Glynn and Doug Davis, who is only in his second year. This team will have to flat out score you to have any chance.

In the AL Central I think there could be a great race between the Indians and the White Sox. The White Sox added David Wells to be that big number one starter they so desperately needed. After that though it gets iffy with James Baldwin coming off an injury, along with Cal Eldred and a very inconsistent James Parque. They do have some good young pitchers in Jon Garland, Mark Buehrle, Kip Wells and Jon Rauch. They have Frank Thomas back, along with a load of young power hitters like Carlos Lee, Paul Konerko and a great rightfielder named Magglio Ordonez. They added the veteran and former Indian Sandy Alomar Jr. to help the young pitchers and catchers. The Indians have a solid front three in their rotation, starting with Bartolo Colon, who should finally have his breakout year. Chuck Finley, who had a very solid year even though the record doesn't quite show it, will be back as the number two man and he will be followed by Dave Burba who won 16 games last year and has never won less than 15 in his three years with the Tribe. As usual, they will have one of the best lineups in the majors with Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel and Roberto Alomar at the top of the order to get on base for all the power that follows. Look for Juan Gonzalez to have a MVP type year for the Indians. Jim Thome, Travis Fryman, Russell Branyan, followed by the great veteran Ellis Burks. This team missed the playoffs by one game and they weren't too happy about it, so look out. The rest of the central, with the Tigers, Twins and the Royals will be much improved. Look for the Twins to be around .500 record by season's end. Manager Tom Kelly said this is the deepest starting pitching rotation he has ever had.

Unless there is a team like the Red Sox or even the Blue Jays who have an incredible season it will still be the Yankees winning the East. I'm amazed at all the people that think the Red Sox are going to beat the Yankees, like that's every happened. The Red Sox will have to start the first two months without their best hitter, Nomar Garciaparra, who had to finally have wrist surgery. They have the best pitcher on the planet in Pedro Martinez, but after that they don't have much. Yes I know that they finished with the third best ERA in the league. Most of that was due to the bullpen. Even with that they didn't even make the playoffs. They have to find at least two more pitchers among Frank Castillo, Hideo Nomo and Tomo Ohka to step up or the Red Sox again will finish out of the playoff hunt. They added Manny Ramirez to the lineup, but it will be interesting to see if he can drive in as many runs as he did during his Indian days. The Yankees basically bring back the same cast of characters except they were able to add Mike Mussina to the pitching staff, making it the best starting four in baseball. The last three years though the Yankees wins have declined significantly and with a few players getting older this just might be the year that the great Yankee dynasty falls. They still have Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams, arguably two of the greatest players in the game. You then look at Tino Martinez, Paul O'Neill, Scott Broisus and even David Justice, who are all up there in age and have shown a decline over the last several years. Still, until somebody beats them they are still the defending champions. If the Blue Jays can get any kind of pitching they will be a factor as they will bring out one of the best lineups in baseball. When your able to have a player of Carlos Delgado's ability in the middle it makes them a tough team to beat. Delgado hit .344, with 57 doubles, 41 homers and 137 RBI's. They had an interesting off-season, trading David Wells and getting back damaged goods in Mike Sirotka, who they were counting on to be their number one starter. The Orioles will be the worst team in baseball and personally I couldn't be happier. Owner Peter Angelos has run a good solid organization right into the ground. The Orioles said that they were going to go with younger players and rebuild and what do they do but add 35 year-old David Segui and 36 year-old Mike Bordick to the infield to go with 40 year-old Cal Ripken Jr? I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like getting younger to me.

In the National League East there will be a new team to make the division interesting: the Florida Marlins. The Braves will still be the team to beat as long as they have Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and a healthy John Smoltz. They will also have two of the best players at their position in CF Andrew Jones and 3B Chipper "Don't call me Larry" Jones. Look for the top of the lineup to put fear into teams with Rafael Furcal and Quilvo Veras able to get on and steal at will. The Mets will come back as one of the better teams, but need to find a bat for RF, as Timo Perez is not the answer. I like the infield with Todd Zeile and Edgardo Alfonzo, maybe the best second baseman in the NL. They welcome back the slick fielding shortstop Rey Ordonoz to solidify a great infield. Back at third will be Robin Ventura who played all of last year on a bad wheel, as his leg was dragging behind him all year long. With Al Leiter, Kevin Appier, Steve Traschel and Rick Reed the Mets have a decent starting staff. The Florida Marlins will be a threat and I think have a very good chance of getting the wild card spot this year. I love this lineup, with all the very good young hitters. It all starts with Luis Castillo at the top of the order. He led the league in steals and had a very good OBP. Then you have Cliff Floyd, Derek Lee, Preston Wilson, Mike Lowell and Charles Johnson, who all could hit 20 homers and drive in 100 runs. They have a great number one starter in Ryan Dempster and a good number two in Brad Penny. Chuck Smith came out of nowhere last year to establish himself as a very solid number three starter.

The NL Central could be crazy, as I see at three teams, the Cardinals, Reds and Astros as serious threats to win the division. The Milwaukee Brewers could challenge if they get exceptional pitching. The Cubs and the Pirates are basically already out of it. The Cardinals have a healthy Mark McGwire and that could mean trouble for the rest of the league. They added Dustin Hermanson to the starting staff to help make it the best in the division. The one concern for the Cardinals is if they can get Rick Ankiel back on track. He had a rough spring and showed a lot of wildness. The Reds will have a solid club with Griffey Jr., Barry Larkin and Sean Casey, but their real concern is that they have a weak starting staff. When Pete Harnisch is your number one starter after winning only 8 games last year, you have an indication of how bad the rest of the staff is. The Astros fell off the map last year after moving into Enron Field and the fact that they lost Craig Biggio, their catalyst at the top of the order for the year. This year with Biggio back and a lineup that features 141 home runs between Jeff Bagwell (47), Richard Hildalgo (44), Moises Alou (30) and Lance Berkman (21), they will be a tough team to beat. The biggest question is if they can get Jose Lima back to being the dominant pitcher he was in 1999. The Astros went out and traded for Brad Asmus, who had player for the Astros in 1999 when Jose had his big year, to do the catching. He will hopefully make this staff better. They have a stud in Scott Elarton, who has tremendous potential.

Now to the best division in baseball, the NL West. This could be one of the better races we have ever seen. The Dodgers, Rockies, Giants and Diamondbacks all have legitimate chances of winning this division. The Giants are still the favorite. Mangaer Dusty Baker is one of the best in the game and he can run out a very good starting pitching rotation. Livan Hernandez is the workhorse, followed by Shawn Estes, Kirk Rueter and Russ Ortiz. They will be a little thin in the hitting with the departure of Ellis Burks to the Indians. But as long as you have a 3-4-5 of Bonds, Jeff Kent and JT Snow you have a chance to repeat. The Diamondbacks are the least likely to pull it off, as this is a very old team maybe the oldest in baseball after the Orioles. When you can run out a one-two punch of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling you can cause problems, especially this year with all the inter-divisional match-ups. The Rockies have a strong nucleus of hitting and always will, but their Achilles heel has always been pitching. They went out and added Mike Hampton, one of the best lefthanders in the game, along with Denny Neagle. I see Neagle getting lit up many times this season and would be surprised if his ERA is anywhere near 5.00. With Larry Walker and Todd Helton you have two of the best hitters in the game, especially at Coors Field. I also am a big fan of Jeff Cirillo who doesn't get as much ink as he should for being a great hitter for average. He also plays a great third base. The Dodgers are the interesting team with new manager Jim Tracy. They will bring the best starting staff in the division with Kevin Brown, Chan Ho Park, Darren Driefort and Andy Ashby, who had a very good spring. I love this pitching staff and as long as Gary Sheffield doesn't cause any problems I actually like the middle of the batting order. Gary Sheffield had an incredible season last year with 43 homers while batting over three hundred. You add Shawn Green and Eric Karros and you have a very good middle- of-the-lineup. If they can get any kind of defense they could be a serious contender for the title. Whoever wins the division will have earned it, as this will be a hell of race.

I am so glad that baseball is starting to pull its head out of it's butt by bring back the unbalanced schedule and that they say they will call the high strike. I am so looking forward to this year, as it could be the changing of the guard, as I don't see the Braves or the Yankees ending up in the World Series. So sit back and enjoy the ride.

Read more of Adam Ulrey's work.