ATM report--AL West race; Henderson passes Cobb again

[nyy26wc]

1) Yesterday's games--

AL
Rangers 3, Redsox 2 (10)
Yankees 7, Angels 5
Orioles 7, Devil Rays 4
A's 6, Indians 3
Tigers 6, Mariners 3
Royals 6, BlueJays 5 (12)
Twins 5, Whitesox 0

NL
Cubs 14, Astros 12
Brewers 2, Phillies 1
Pirates 8, Cardinals 0
Rockies 8, Expos 6
Diamondbacks 5, Reds 3
Padres 6, Braves 2
Marlins 6, Dodgers 3
Giants 1, Mets 0

2) Standings--

AL EAST         WON  LOST  PCT  GB      HOME   ROAD   EAST  CENT  WEST STREAK
Yankees          78   45  .634   -     37-20  41-25  31-22 22-04 14-12 WON  1
Redsox           70   53  .569   8     31-28  39-25  37-16 14-12 14-12 LOST 2
Orioles          60   63  .488  18     29-29  31-34  20-29 18-14 13-11 WON  1
BlueJays         53   71  .427  25 1/2 30-34  23-37  24-27 08-11 12-24 LOST 1
Devil Rays       42   83  .336  37     25-40  17-43  18-36 12-17 05-19 LOST 1

AL CENTRAL      WON  LOST  PCT  GB      HOME   ROAD   EAST  CENT  WEST STREAK
Twins            75   52  .591   -     43-23  32-29  15-17 35-17 15-10 WON  3
Whitesox         58   68  .460  16 1/2 34-27  24-41  08-09 27-28 15-21 LOST 6
Indians          54   70  .435  19 1/2 29-31  25-39  16-10 22-31 10-17 LOST 3
Royals           51   75  .405  23 1/2 32-29  19-46  09-22 25-27 12-13 WON  1
Tigers           49   76  .392  25     30-30  19-46  10-16 24-30 09-18 WON  3

AL WEST         WON  LOST  PCT  GB      HOME   ROAD   EAST  CENT  WEST STREAK
Angels           74   50  .597   -     41-24  33-26  14-09 30-15 19-19 LOST 1
Mariners         75   51  .595   -     39-27  36-24  25-20 14-11 25-13 LOST 2
A's              75   51  .595   -     41-25  34-26  23-22 17-08 19-19 WON  7
Rangers          55   68  .447  18 1/2 32-32  23-36  16-07 18-27 13-25 WON  5

NL EAST         WON  LOST  PCT  GB      HOME   ROAD   EAST  CENT  WEST STREAK
Braves           80   44  .645   -     43-22  37-22  31-19 21-09 13-13 LOST 1
Expos            62   63  .496  18 1/2 39-25  23-38  23-27 17-13 10-17 LOST 1
Marlins          61   64  .488  19 1/2 38-28  23-36  24-26 14-16 13-14 WON  1
Phillies         59   65  .476  21     33-31  26-34  23-26 12-13 14-18 LOST 3
Mets             58   66  .468  22     30-34  28-32  23-26 17-13 08-19 LOST 9

NL CENTRAL      WON  LOST  PCT  GB      HOME   ROAD   EAST  CENT  WEST STREAK
Cardinals        69   54  .561   -     37-23  32-31  11-16 35-25 15-09 LOST 1
Astros           65   60  .520   5     34-26  31-34  16-14 39-33 05-07 LOST 1
Reds             63   61  .508   6 1/2 32-32  31-29  12-12 35-25 14-14 LOST 2
Pirates          55   71  .437  15 1/2 28-37  27-34  08-04 34-38 10-20 WON  1
Cubs             53   70  .431  16     28-36  25-34  10-14 25-35 12-15 WON  2
Brewers          44   80  .355  25 1/2 26-34  18-46  07-21 24-36 11-13 WON  1

NL WEST         WON  LOST  PCT  GB      HOME   ROAD   EAST  CENT  WEST STREAK
Diamondbacks     79   46  .632   -     40-20  39-26  21-11 17-08 30-20 WON  1
Dodgers          71   54  .568   8     33-27  38-27  16-11 17-13 26-24 LOST 1
Giants           68   56  .548  10 1/2 35-25  33-31  14-12 17-13 29-21 WON  2
Rockies          59   66  .472  20     37-22  22-44  16-11 16-14 20-30 WON  1
Padres           53   72  .424  26     32-29  21-43  14-13 11-19 20-30 WON  1

3) Today's schedule--

AL
Royals (Shawn Sedlacek) at BlueJays (Roy Halladay), 12:35
Angels (Ramon Ortiz) at Yankees (Orlando Hernandez), 1:05
Devil Rays (Victor Zambrano) at Orioles (Rodrigo Lopez), 7:05
Rangers (Kenny Rogers) at Redsox (Casey Fossum), 7:05
A's (Cory Lidle) at Indians (Nerio Rodriguez), 7:05
Mariners (Ismael Valdes) at Tigers (Steve Sparks), 7:05
Twins (Joe Mays) at Whitesox (Mark Buehrle), 8:05

NL
Cubs (Mark Prior) at Astros (Carlos Hernandez), 8:05
Phillies (Joe Roa) at Brewers (Ben Sheets), 8:05
Pirates (Josh Fogg) at Cardinals (Chuck Finley), 8:10
Expos (Masato Yoshii) at Rockies (Shawn Chacon), 9:05
Reds (Brian Moehler) at Diamondbacks (Curt Schilling), 9:35
Braves (Kevin Millwood) at Padres (Dennis Tankersley), 10:05
Marlins (Michael Tejera) at Dodgers (Omar Daal), 10:10
Mets (John Thomson) at Giants (Kirk Rueter), 10:15

4) Yesterday's HRs--

Lance Berkman--#33
Jason Giambi--#31
Brian Giles--#31
Pat Burrell--#30
Eric Chavez--#29
Jacque Jones--#22
Garret Anderson--#21
Raul Ibanez--#21
Todd Helton--#21
Mark Bellhorn--#20
Juan Encarnacion--#19
Aubrey Huff--#17
Jermaine Dye--#16
Ron Gant--#14 & #15
Rob Mackowiak--#15
Ben Grieve--#13
Todd Hollandsworth--#13 (#2 in AL)
Todd Hundley--#12
Ivan Rodriguez--#11
Austin Kearns--#11
Jay Payton--#11
Craig Wilson--#11
Aramis Ramirez--#10
Chris Gomez--#9
Bobby Higginson--#9
Shane Halter--#9
Adam Hyzdu--#9
Gary Matthews Jr.--#7
Damion Easley--#7
Gregg Zaun--#3
Kit Pellow--#1

5) HR leaders--

AL
1) Alex Rodriguez--44
2) Jim Thome--38
3) Rafael Palmeiro--34
4) Jason Giambi--31*
5) Alfonso Soriano--30
6) Eric Chavez--29*
7) Magglio Ordonez--28
8) Miguel Tejada--27
9) Ellis Burks--26
T10) Paul Konerko--25
T10) Robin Ventura--25

NL
1) Sammy Sosa--43
2) Shawn Green--36
3) Barry Bonds--34
T4) Vladimir Guerrero--33
T4) Lance Berkman--33*
6) Brian Giles--31*
7) Pat Burrell--30*
8) Albert Pujols--29
9) Fred McGriff--27
T10) Jeff Kent--26
T10) Andruw Jones--26
T10) Richie Sexson--26

*--hit 1 yesterday

6) The A's made it a 3 way virtual tie in the AL West, with the Angels and Mariners, while the Angels hold a 2 percentage point lead over the overs.

7) The Devil Rays will be mathematically eliminated today if they lose to the Orioles and the Yankees beat the Angels.

8) Ron Gant passed Ron Cey and tied George Brett for 85th place on the all time HR list, with 317.

9) Eric Chavez hit his 100th career HR.

After 14 RCAA/.850 OPS and 27 RCAA/.878 OPS the past 2 years, Chavez is off to a .531 SLG, .343 OBA, .873 OPS, 14 RCAA start in his first 119 games. He has a .846 career OPS, compared to his league average of .775, and 53 RCAA in 554 games.

10) Ben Grieve hit his 100th career HR.

After 5 RCAA/.845 OPS and 5 RCAA/.760 OPS the past 2 years, Grieve's off to a .404 SLG, .343 OBA, .746 OPS, 0 RCAA start in his first 105 games. He has a .814 career OPS, compared to his league average of .776, and 52 RCAA in 744 games.

11) Chris Gomez hit his 50th career HR.

Gomez is working on his 9th negative RCAA in his 10 year career, with the only exception being a 0 in 1998. He has a .416 SLG, .302 OBA, .718 OPS, -6 RCAA in his first 104 games and has a .682 career OPS, compared to his league average of .770, and -109 RCAA in 996 games.

[nyy26wc]

1) Rickey Henderson passed Ty Cobb into 4th place on the all time G list.

The new top 10--

1    Pete Rose                  3562   
2    Carl Yastrzemski           3308   
3    Hank Aaron                 3298   
4    Rickey Henderson           3035   
5    Ty Cobb                    3034   
T6   Stan Musial                3026   
T6   Eddie Murray               3026   
8    Cal Ripken                 3001   
9    Willie Mays                2992   
10   Dave Winfield              2973   

2) Yankees P Mariano Rivera says he plans on being ready by the postseason, while the Yankees aren't taking that for granted.

3) On Saturday, Jimmy Bloodworth died at the age of 85.

Bloodworth played 2B for 5 teams from 1937-51, except for when he spent 1944-45 serving in WW II. He had a .650 career OPS, compared to his league average of .742, and -185 RCAA in 1002 games. He finished in the top 10 in the AL in worst RCAA 5 times and the NL once, while he had 4 AL appearances in the top worst OPS and once in the NL.

4) Indians 2B Ricky Gutierrez's neck injury will sideline him for the rest of the season and he's concerned it could be career ending. According to a MRI, the discs in his neck and rubbing and pinching his spinal cord.

5) The Reds traded minor league OF Raul Gonzalez to the Mets, as the player to be named later in the Shawn Estes trade, while the Diamondbacks traded minor league P P.J. Bevis to the Mets, as the player to be named later in last week's Mark Little trade.

6) The Reds signed OF Jose Guillen to a minor league contract.

7) Giants RF Reggie Sanders missed yesterday's game, due to an illness.

After -16 RCAA/.705 OPS and 11 RCAA/.886 OPS the past 2 years, Sanders is off to a .438 SLG, .318 OBA, .755 OPS, 2 RCAA start in his first 109 games. He has a .827 career OPS, compared to his league average of .765, and 101 RCAA in 1276 games.

8) Tigers 1B Randall Simon's knee injury was healed enough for him to appear in the lineup, but then had to leave the game when he was hit in the right elbow by a pitch. X-rays showed no breaks and he's day to day.

9) Royals LF Chuck Knoblauch was out of the lineup due to tightness in his left forearm.

After -5 RCAA/.751 OPS and -9 RCAA/.691 OPS the past 2 years, Knoblauch's fell to .285 SLG, .293 OBA, .578 OPS, -19 RCAA in his first 66 games. He has a .785 career OPS, compared to his league average of .764, and 168 RCAA in 1618 games.

10) Marlins 2B Luis Castillo was scratched from yesterday's lineup, due to a sore right hand.

After 17 RCAA/.806 OPS and -12 RCAA/.685 OPS the past 2 years, Castillo's off to a .366 SLG, .364 OBA .730 OPS, 6 RCAA start in his first 116 games. He has a .710 career OPS, compared to his league average of .779, and -12 RCAA in 674 games.

11) Royals CF Carlos Beltran was given a day off.

After starting his career with -1 RCAA/.791 OPS and -21 RCAA/.675 OPS seasons, Beltran jumped to 31 RCAA/.876 in 2001. He's off to a .486 SLG, .339 OBA, .825 OPS, 1 RCAA start in his first 126 games. Beltran has a .803 career OPS, compared to his league average of .775, and 10 RCAA in 549 games.

12) According to the Houston Chronicle and the Chicago Tribune, the Astros are interested in Cubs P Tom Gordon.

13) The Phillies are moving Brandon Duckworth back into the rotation, starting on Friday, with Dave Coggin going back to the bullpen.

After a 3.52 ERA/6 RSAA in 11 starts as a 25 year old rookie in 2001, Duckworth's off to a 5.22 ERA/-22 RSAA start in his first 24 games (23 starts).

After starting his career with 4.43 ERA/-1 RSAA in 22 starts in 2000-01, Coggin's off to a 4.58 ERA/-7 RSAA start in his first 36 games (6 starts).

14) The Rangers are replacing Rob Bell in the rotation with Dennys Reyes.

After starting his career with 5.00 ERA/0 RSAA and 6.67 ERA/-38 RSAA seasons, Bell's off to a 6.40 ERA/-12 RSAA start in his first 16 games (15 starts).

After 4.53 ERA/2 RSAA and 4.92 ERA/-4 RSAA the past 2 years, Reyes is off to a 4.76 ERA/2 RSAA start in his first 49 games this year, with the first 43 with the Rockies. He has a 4.40 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.36, and 1 RSAA in 244 games.

15) The Astros activated OF Brian Hunter from the DL and sent OF Jason Lane to the minors.

Hunter is looking to avoid a negative RCAA for the first time since his rookie season in 1995. He's off to a .438 SLG, .320 OBA, .758 OPS, 0 RCAA start in his first 63 games. Hunter has a .659 career OPS, compared to his league average of .774, and -111 RCAA in 909 games.

Lane, a 25 year old rookie, is off to a .686 OPS/0 RSAA start in his first 14 major league games (18 PA).

[nyy26wc]

1) Pirates LF Brian Giles returned to the lineup, after missing 3 games with a strained calf.

Giles is closing in on 2500 career PA with the Pirates (he has 2488). When he reaches that mark, the .240 gap between him and his league average will set the team record--

                              DIFF  PLAYER LEAGUE
1    Brian Giles              .240   1.025   .785 
2    Ralph Kiner              .229    .971   .742 
3    Honus Wagner             .189    .862   .674 
4    Willie Stargell          .175    .889   .713 
5    Barry Bonds              .165    .883   .718 
6    Arky Vaughan             .152    .887   .735 
7    Paul Waner               .142    .896   .754 
8    Fred Clarke              .128    .797   .669 
9    Dave Parker              .126    .848   .721 
10   Elmer Smith              .125    .881   .756 

For purposes of this list, Giles does benefit from the fact that, as a 31 year old, he doesn't have a decline period to bring his figure down. Nevertheless, when I have the sabermetric baseball encyclopedia run the same list through the age of 31, Giles still ranks 2nd--

                              DIFF  PLAYER LEAGUE
1    Honus Wagner             .248    .930   .682 
2    Brian Giles              .240   1.025   .785 
3    Ralph Kiner              .229    .971   .742 
4    Paul Waner               .170    .932   .762 
5    Barry Bonds              .165    .883   .718 
6    Willie Stargell          .157    .866   .710 
7    Arky Vaughan             .152    .887   .735 
8    Dave Parker              .142    .864   .721 
9    Elmer Smith              .125    .881   .756 
10   George Grantham          .124    .901   .777 

2) The Tigers sent P Erik Sabel outright to the minors (where he was to begin with), after he cleared waivers. He had already been removed from the 40 man roster when he was designated for assignment late last week.

3) Twins 3B Corey Koskie missed yesterday's game, due to the flu.

After 9 RCAA/.841 OPS and 19 RCAA/.850 OPS the past 2 years, Koskie's off to a .434 SLG, .377 OBA, .811 OPS, 7 RCAA start in his first 109 games. He has a .834 career OPS, compared to his league average of .775, and 40 RCAA in 536 games.

4) Sammy Sosa had to leave yesterday's game, due to a sore toe. He originally suffered in the injury in his collision with Mark Bellhorn on Sunday and is expected to be able to be in the lineup today. Meanwhile, Bellhorn was also able to be in the lineup yesterday.

5) Pirates 1B Kevin Young was given yesterday off, to rest a sore knee.

After -17 RCAA/.744 OPS and -24 RCAA/.708 OPS the past 2 years, Young's off to a .419 SLG, .328 OBA, .747 OPS, -11 RCAA start in his first 116 games. He has a .768 career OPS, compared to his league average of .774, and -63 RCAA in 1123 games. This would be Young's 6th year with a double digit negative RCAA.

6) Some highlights from UnderTheKnife--

A discussion of the mystery involving Marlins P A.J. Burnett's injury.

While Larry Walker's injury is being reported as back spasms, according to UTK, it's a dislocated ribs.

If you haven't already subscribed to Will's excellent newsletter (with Rachael serving as an excellent 2nd stringer), don't worry. It's not too late to fix this major gap in your life. All you have to do is go to http://www.willcarroll.com You don't even have to worry about misspelling Will's name when you type into your browser. You don't have to worry about forgetting the URL. You don't even have to ponder the difficult question of how do I spell the www part. Just click on the link. There really is no excuse for not doing so. I'm taking away those excuses and I assure you that any other excuses you come up with can be disproven just as easily as those other trivial ones I've used as examples.