No question, Yankees team to beat
Posted: Tuesday June 30, 1998 05:45 PM
ATLANTA (CNN/SI) -- As the 1998 baseball season reaches the halfway mark,
there is one clear-cut leader -- the New York Yankees.
The Yankees have produced the best major-league record by any measure.
Overall: Yankees 55-20 (.733), Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres 53-29
(.646).
Home: Yankees 27-6 (.818), Padres 30-9 (.769).
Road: Yankees 28-14 (.667), Cleveland Indians
23-15 (.605).
Interleague: Yankees 10-3 (.769), Houston Astros 8-3
(.727).
Joe Torre's troops maintained their torrid pace when Derek Jeter went
down for two weeks with an abdominal strain, and they haven't missed a beat
the last two week without Bernie
Williams (out with a sprained right knee).
After Atlanta lost three out of four to the Yankees in the so-called "World
Series preview," Braves general manager John Schuerholz stated "Right now,
they're a better team than us. But it's only June."
The "only June" theme was re-emphasized by Braves pitcher Tom Glavine.
"Last year, the Braves and Orioles met in June in a so-called World Series
preview and neither one of us made it."
There are solid challengers out there -- the Braves, the Padres, the
Astros, the Indiana and the Angels -- and somewhere, a sleeping giant might
be laying, ready to repeat the Florida Marlins' wild
card trip to the World Series last season.
Until proven otherwise, though, the Yankees are the team to beat.
Mid-term expansion grades | The good and the
bad | | Best and worst starts by first-year
teams | | Team | Midpoint
record | Finish | The Best
1969 Seattle Pilots
1993 Florida
Marlins
1961 Washington Senators
1969 Kansas City Royals
1998
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
The Worst
1962 New York Mets
1969
Montreal Expos
1969 San Diego Padres
1998 Arizona
D'backs
| 36-44
36-44
35-45
35-45
34-46
23-59
26-56
27-55
28-54
| 64-98
64-98
61-100
69-83
--
40-120
52-110
52-110
--
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The mid-season mark is also a good time to grade the performance of the
game's newest entries. Through Monday, the Tampa Bay Devil
Rays had the fifth best record for first-year teams at this point of
the season. The Arizona
Diamondbacks had the fourth worst.
The 1961 Los Angeles Angels finished with the best record for a first-year
expansion team, at 70-91. The 1962 Mets had the worst (40-120). Making
hay
Richmond Braves first baseman Randall Simon went 4-for-5 with a double,
three home runs and 10 RBIs in a 15-5 win over Charlotte on Saturday night.
After the game, he was called up to Atlanta to replace the injured Curtis Pride.
Sunday afternoon, Simon drove in three more runs with a pair of singles and
a sacrifice fly in Atlanta's 10-3 win over Toronto. Gregg
re-visited
Atlanta Braves hitters were openly critical of umpire Eric Gregg's strike
zone in Game 5 of last season's National League Championship Series (a 2-1
loss to the Marlins' Livan
Hernandez). There were no such complaints Saturday night with Gregg
working the plate as Greg Maddux shut
out the Blue Jays 2-0, with a career-high 13 strikeouts. The Stieb
factor
The comeback of 40-year-old Dave Stieb with the Toronto Blue Jays --
after a five-year absence from the game -- makes him the role model for
others attempting shorter-term comebacks. Lee Smith is
currently under contract with Houston's Class AAA New Orleans affiliate.
Jim Abbot recently was promoted from Winston-Salem (Class A) to Birmingham
(AA) by the White Sox. And Mike Bielecki
worked out for the Braves in Baltimore and is considering a restart in his
career. Against the DH
New York Yankees hitting coach Chris Chambliss believes the time is right
to dump the designated hitter in the American League. "The DH was put in to
give the game more offense," says Chambliss, "but look at the offense in
the game today. We don't need the DH any more. It's a better game without
it. If we still need gimmicks like that, this game is in trouble."
Pete Van Wieren is in his 22nd year covering the Atlanta Braves for TBS.
His column appears every week on CNNSI.com.
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