MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / March 25, 2000

The late baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamonti once compared thebaseball season to a rose, the way it grows throughout the summer to bloom in the fall with the World Series.

Spring training is the time to plant the seeds. This Wednesday, thoseseeds will begin to burst open as the Cubs and Mets open the season in all places, Tokyo, Japan.

Some of the plants will wilt during the long days of summer. Others willmake it to the cooler days of September and early October. Only one plantwill come out in full bloom in late October. But at this time of the year,all the plants can dream of being the best of the bunch by the end of the season.

Welcome to baseball 2000, a season that the game hopes will be most memorable. And if the last two seasons are any indication, it definitelywill be. The sport is well removed from the dark days of the workstoppage of the 1994 season. Players like Cal Ripken Jr., Mark McGwire,Sammy Sosa and Pedro Martinez have brought the game back into the spotlight. Now, it must work to make sure it never returns to those dayswhen strike and lockout were in the news more than home runs and strike outs.

As for the game on the field, the road to the World Series is open wide.

Yes, the gap between large and small market teams is still huge. There isstill a large disparity between the haves and haves not in the league. ButOakland and Cincinnati showed last year that even small market teams can have realistic dreams of challenging for the postseason.

Who will step up to challenge the Yankees’ supremacy in 2000? New York, while not as strong as the last two seasons, is still the team to beat.

Players like Roger Clemens and Chuck Knoblauch had down years in 1999.

Whether that was a sign of them starting to see an end to their careers or a one-year aberration remains to be seen.

Boston challenged the Yankees last season but will be hurt by the season- ending injury to reliever Tom Gordon. Toronto will be tough but it remainsto be seen what the team chemistry will be like with the loss of Shawn Green and the addition of Raul Mondesi. Speaking of team chemistry,Baltimore will be improved with manager Mike Hargrove on board but the Orioles are perennial underachievers. Tampa Bay will have the offense buta weak pitching staff filets the Devil Rays’ pennant chances.

In the AL Central, Cleveland again is the prohibitive favorite. But how theIndians will react to a new manager is up in the air. The Indians also didlittle to improve their pitching staff in the offseason. Chuck Finley maynot be the answer. Chicago is a rising young ballclub and could contend,especially if Frank Thomas gets back on track. Detroit should be better ina new ballpark and with the addition of Juan Gonzales. Kansas City andMinnesota both have good young players but probably not enough to contend in 2000.

The AL West may be the most wide-open in baseball. Texas has aquestionable rotation and a young lineup. It’s wait and see how Seattlewill perform in a new stadium without Ken Griffey Jr. and question markssurrounding Alex Rodriguez. Oakland will try to prove that 1999 was nofluke while Anaheim will try to prove that it was.

In the National League, Atlanta has been the top dog for most of the past decade but it appears the Braves may be coming back to the pack. Itsvaunted pitching staff is getting older. Kevin Millwood has risen to be oneof the top pitchers in the game but the Braves will have to weather the loss of John Smoltz and the controversy surrounding John Rocker. At leastthey get Andres Galarraga, Javy Lopez and Kerry Ligtenberg back this season.

The Mets looked to close the gap on the Braves by acquiring Mike Hampton in the offseason. But a number of the Mets also had career years lastseason and the rest of the lineup is getting old. Philadelphia will bebetter, especially if Curt Schilling can come all the way back. Montreal isan up-and-coming team while Florida is still feeling the effects of its rebuilding process.

The National League Central may be the most exciting division to watch in 2000 with the likes of Sosa, McGwire, Griffey and Jeff Bagwell. It mayalso be the closest. St. Louis has the advantage with potentially the bestpitching staff west of Atlanta. Cincinnati got a whole lot better with theacquisition of Griffey.

Houston is not going away, not as long as Bagwell and Craig Biggio are there to anchor the infield and Shane Reynolds and Jose Lima the pitching staff. Pittsburgh has a lot of good, young talent and an improving pitchingstaff. Chicago will miss Ismael Valdes and Kerry Wood at the beginning ofthe season. It appears to be 55 years and counting for the Wrigley Fieldfaithful. Milwaukee has a new manager and new uniforms but it looks likean eighth-straight losing season in Brew Town.

As long as Arizona has Randy Johnson, the Diamondbacks will contend in the NL West. But players like Matt Williams and Matt Mantei must repeattheir 1999 seasons in order for the Diamondbacks to repeat their division title. Colorado will be better with Don Baylor at the helm butunfortunately its pitching staff still has to pitch in Coors Field for half the season. Los Angeles is similar to Baltimore in good manager, goodplayers, little chemistry. The addition of Green may change that. SanFrancisco remains a contender with Dusty Baker at manager and Barry Bonds returning to left field. San Diego is yet another World Seriesparticipant of the 1990s in a rebuilding phase.

All this could change, however. Who knows when a key injury may occur.The season ending injuries to Gordon and Smoltz has already proven that.

Trades, such as ones involving Rodriguez or Minnesota’s Brad Radke, could upset things. And there is always a Oakland or Cincinnati that could pullanother surprise.

Another reason why baseball is like gardening. You can plant the seeds butyou never know what will blossom at the end of the season.

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