THE OUTER EDGE

By James Floto

WEEK FIVE May 1- May 7

STANDINGS:

At the start of play on Tuesday, May 8, Boston and Toronto were tied for the ALE lead at 19-12, with the Yankees right behind them at 19-13. Things are tightening up in the AL Central as well; the Twins continue their high-flying ways with a 21-8 record, but the Indians are closing in, a game out at 20-9. In the ALW, Seattle is far above its fellow Left Coast teams with a 23-8 record. Second place Anaheim couldn't even manage a .500 record (15-16) and trail by 8.

In the NL, the Phils are alone in the East, their 19-12 (.613) record being the only one above .500; the Braves and Mets, both of whom have 15-17 records, trail by 4 1/2. The Cubs have a cozy 3 1/2 game lead in the Central at 20-11, followed by the 'Stros at 16-14 , and the Reds and Brewers at 16-15. Only three games separate the top of the NL West from the bottom. The Dodgers lead that division at 18-14, their arch-rival Giants are 1 1/2 out at 16-15, then come the D-backs at 16-16, the suddenly hot Padres (8 of 10) at 15-16 and the Rockies slipping into last at 15-17, but only 3 out.

LEADER BOARD:

OBP

AL: Giambi (Oak), .490; Ramirez, Bos, .486; Mientkiewicz, Minn, .478; E. Martinez, Sea, .478; Delgado, Tor, .458.

NL: Edmonds, SL, .467; Sheffield, LA, .455; C. Jones, Atl., .453; Helton, Col., .450; Berkman, Hou., .448.

SLUGGING PERCENTAGE

AL: Gonzales, Clv., .707; Ramirez, Bos, .686; Mientkiewicz, Minn., .681; Delgado, Tor, .654; A-Rod, Tex, .649.

NL: Bonds, SF, .783; Gonzales, Az., .779; L. Walker, Col., .748; Pujols, SL, .704; Drew, SL, .697.

HOME RUNS

AL: Delgado, Tor, 12; Ramirez, Bos, Gonzales, Clev, A-Rod, Tx, 10; 5 with 9.

NL: Gonzales, AZ, 16; Bonds, SF, 14; C. Jones, Atl., Drew, SL, L. Walker, Col, 11

RBI

AL: Gonzales, Clv, 37; Ramirez, Bos, 36; Fulmer, Tor, 28; 4 with 27.

NL: Gonzales, AZ, L. Walker, Col. Pujols, SL, 35; Helton, Col, 33; Casey, Cin, Sosa, Chi, 30.

WINS

AL: Radke, Minn, 6-0; Sele, Sea, Moyer, Sea, 5-0; 8 with 4.

NL: Schilling, Az, 5-0; Brown, LA, 5-1, W. Miller, Hou, 5-1; 8 with 4.

ERA

AL:P. Martinez, Bos, 1.44; Radke, Minn, 2.22; Milton, Minn, 2.30; Sele, Sea, 2.37; Suzuki, KC, 2.57

NL: Brown, LA, 1.31; Tavarez, Chi, 1.49; Maddux, Atl, 1.94; Reed, NY, 2.17; Morris, SL, 2.25.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Radke won his fifth on May 1, the first 5-0 start in the Minnesota/Washington franchise since Walter Johnson in 1913! And did it with a 2-1 victory over the Yankees. Five days later, he won his sixth.

Japan continues to loom large in the 21st century majors. Ohka in Boston, Hasegawa in Anaheim, Suzuki in KC, Shinjo on the Mets. But the big matchup of the week occurred on Wednesday with the first meeting between the premier Japanese pitcher, Hideo Nomo, and the apparently premier Japanese hitter, newcomer Ichiro Suzuki. Ichiro is the 7-time Japanese batting champ who may win his first US championship as a 28-year old American rookie. The Mariners won it, 5-1 Ichiro was 0-for-2 when Nomo plunked him in the back--hard in the fifth inning. . That started a 2 run rally, that broke up the 1-1 tie. Then in the 7th, facing Lowe, Ichiro tripled home another run. Sele won it, for his 5th win.

Kevin Brown is one of the main reasons the Dodgers have climbed into first. He is pitching as well as he ever has in his career. After a 1-2 start, he won his 4th straight on Wednesday, when he also hit his first big league homer. Eric Karros and Gary Sheffield are leading the charge. Sheffield is slowly living down his spring training controversies by his play and his demeanor, while Karros is finally beginning to get some of the attention he has been denied in a steady, decade-long career. He is Steady Eddie with the bat, a .270 hitter, 242 homers and 840 RBI going into this season.

The Yanks are coming alive, winning 8 of 10, and Mike Mussina (3-3) is beginning to pitch like the pitcher they thought he was. Sunday he pitched a beautiful game in his first return to Baltimore since signing with the Yanks--and he was about as popular as A-Rod in his return to Seattle. Except he fared better, giving up a run and six hits in a seven inning stint at the Yanks won, 2-1.

Even though the Braves are struggling, what with John Smoltz still in the minors (he posits that what he does in Sept. and Oct. are more important than what he does now; however, if the Braves don't turn it up soon, it may be a moot point) and Kevin Millwood, who was just starting to come around, out with a bad shoulder, it's Glavine and Maddux and hope for some luck. The two Hall of Fame bound veterans are pitching like they usually do. Glavine is 4-2, with a 3.77 ERA, 28 K's and 29 BBs in 45 innings. Maddux is pitching far better than his 3-2 record suggests; he has a 1.94 ERA, has fanned 38 in 42 innings--and has walked but two batters!

So far, Manny Ramirez' move to Boston and Juan Gonzales replacing him in Cleveland is working out well for everyone. Ramirez has kept the Sox in the hunt, especially with Nomar out for at least half the season. Without him, their only slugger would have been the combustible Carl Everett. As for Juan Gone, he is hitting like he used to in Texas before his ill-advised season in Detroit last year. The Indians were concerned that he might be going downhill, but he is back on the track to the Hall.

SHORTS: Johnny Oates quit before he got fired. He was tired of being a rich man's toy--Texas' owner thought that paying a quarter of a billion for A-Rod would ensure a decade's worth of pennants. But you can't win a pennant with the highest ERA in the AL. The Rangers lead the league in hitting, the pitchers give the runs right back...It was a sad day for this writer when Ramon Martinez retired. He was a class act, and during his prime in LA, one of the best pitchers of our time. Then his arm went bad, he struggled for years to recover from surgery, but just didn't have it. Even though Pittsburgh was willing to keep him, he felt he had to quit because he just didn't have it anymore...the horrifying Tampa Bay club may not be as good as former Yankee catcher Rick Cerrone's independent league Newark Bears. With the signing of Jose Canseco, they know have Jose and his twin, Ozzie (the league MVP last year); Jack Armstrong, Reds' pitching star of the early '90s; Jim Leyritz, the man who comes alive in October, and Lance Johnson, who lead the majors in triples during the '90s. All these former stars, especially Jose, are trying to showcase their talent near New York's media. It's a good deal for them--rather than be stuck in one team's Triple A system, they can remain free agents and sign with any team that wants them...Willie Mays turned 70 last week. It's hard to believe, even if you are in your fifties and say him play when you were a kid. The Say-Hey Kid is one of those rare people who always seems young. I always think of him playing stickball with the kids of New York after a major league game. Can you imagine one of today's player's doing that?...I am no fan of President Bush, especially his recent statements on energy, focusing on going after the little oil that is left rather than on conserving our use. Anyway, he invited a bunch of little kids to the White House for what is to be a weekly T-Ball game on the White House lawn. Nomar Garciaparra was there with him to help open the festivities on Sunday. Gotta give Bush credit for that one...

STAT'S A FACT:

Saturday, the Dodgers had their worst whupping since Brooklyn, when the Cubs massacred them 20-1...Julian Tavarez, the Cubs' starter, dropped his ERA to 1.49, second to the Dodgers' Kevin Brown...During Week 5: Craig Biggio got his 2,000 hit. Ray Lankford climbed to third on the all-time Cardinals' home run list after Ken Boyer and Stan Musial. Robin Ventura hit his 15th career grand slam. Eric Karros passed Roy Campanella for 7th place on the all-time Dodger RBI list. Randy Johnson had his 5th straight double-digit strikeout game, the 154th of his career. He has 72 strikeouts already this year. Barry Bonds hit his 13th homer in 19 games. A-Rod got his 1,000th hit. Chipper Jones hit his 200th homer. Raul Mondesi had a career high 6 RBI game vs. the Mariners. And Omar Daal won his fourth game. So what, you say? This is the same guy who was 4-19 last year.

SAN DIEGO

Bruce Bochy won his 500th game as manager of the Padres. Rickey Henderson had a 10 game hit streak, right after the Pads announced he was on special waivers. He is now hitting .288, (17/59), with 11 walks and 13 runs in 19 games. It has been during this period that the Pads climbed out of the cellar, and from 9th to 1st in walks. Rickey is teaching them the value of patience at the plate. You get runners on base, there is the chance of driving them in. The Pads probably don't have the horses to stay in the race, but they are making an already interesting NL West race more so.