ATLANTA -- How about winning back fans to baseball? How about making fans
forget about the 1994 strike? Thank you, Mark McGwire.
Thank you, Sammy
Sosa. Thank you, New York Yankees.
Thank you to everyone in baseball for making 1998 arguably the greatest
season in the history of the sport.
So what's next for baseball as it enters the new millenium? Plenty of
fresh faces, new parks plus a lot of the old stars, traditions and emotions
that make it the national pastime.
Here are 70 reasons to watch baseball in 1999. The reasons are as wide and
diverse as the game and those associated with it. Many of these items are
grouped together but are in no particular order. And yes, there were many
more reasons not included here, but we had to stop somewhere. Thanks to the
users who helped contribute to this project. Many of your comments are
included here.
Leading off: Top nine storylines
for '99
1. Mark McGwire: Let's just get him out of the way now! While 71 may be the magic number a lot of
folks will be watching, the more realistic number to watch is 43. Big Mac
needs 43 homers to reach the legenday 500-homer plateau. If he does so -
and he might by the end of July if he's lucky - he'd be the first player to
hit his 400th and 500th career homers in consecutive seasons. The 500 mark
used to be the great number for power hitters to attain. Now it will be
just another side note for him. He'll just continue to pack stadiums,
breathing more life into baseball.
2. Sammy Sosa: He emerged from an overrated Chicago favorite to
an international darling by going head
to head with McGwire. Most people expect McGwire to approach his
heroics this year. Can Sosa do the same? Even if he can't, he's won over
thousands of fans both here and especially in his home country of the
Dominican Republic. And if you think Mark McGwire's batting practice bombs
are worth watching, check out Sammy's at Wrigley Field. Let's see how many
windows he can break along Waveland Avenue.
3. 3 for 3,000: Three players have a shot at reaching the 3,000-hit
mark this season. Tony Gwynn has
2,928 career hits, Wade Boggs 2,922
and Cal Ripken
2,878. Gwynn and Ripken's feat has a bit more magic to it, considering
they've played their entire careers for the same team just as 1999 Hall of
Fame inductees George Brett and Robin Yount did.
For Ripken and Boggs, it could also be the last hurrah for both this
season if they reach 3,000. Boggs is not the same player he was with Red
Sox or his early days with the Yankees. Ripken finally ended his Iron Man
streak last year and will probably take more days off this season. It also
remains to be seen how much his father's death will affect his game.
4. New York Yankees: They can't be that good again, can
they? Maybe so, after adding Roger Clemens
to an already deadly roster. This season will go a long way to determining
if they are building a
dynasty like many of their teams of yesteryear. However, while last
year's 125-win team actually
had a "lovable" feel to them (very strange for the Yankees), the
acquisition of the Rocket makes them the old Yankees - the ones you love to
hate.
5. Remembering Joe D: While the Yankees make another World Series
run, they will also be remembering the late great Joe
DiMaggio. Baseball's most well-known yet aloof legends passed away this
spring after a lengthy illness. For years, most baseball fans took him for
granted, knowing a lot about the 56-game hitting streak but little about
the man. Now that he's gone, a generation of baseball fans will begin to
learn the true magic that was Joe D.
6. Kevin
Brown and baseball economics: The Dodgers put themselves in
playoff contention immediately by signing Kevin Brown to a $105 million
contract this offseason. Brown has been a solid performer in recent
years, but many doubt he is worth the money, considering he has never won a
Cy Young award and reached the 20-win plateau just once. Is he the savior
Dodger fans are looking for, or will he become the modern-day version of
Andy Messersmith?
"Heaven's Gate, Hudson Hawk, Bonfire of the Vanities, Godzilla and Kevin
Brown ... They are all the biggest bombs to come out of Los Angeles."
--George Couch, Toronto
The Dodgers' move continues a very disturbing trend in baseball as it
appears the teams with the biggest payrolls have the best chance at
winning. It's now a novelty for teams like the Royals, Twins or Expos to
think they can compete. So if a small-market team competes for a playoff
spot, as the Pirates did in 1997, it will be a big surprise.
7. Hammerin' Hank and Junior: This season marks the 25th
anniversary of Hank
Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's career home run record. While McGwire might
break the single-season total again, it appears unlikely he'll top Aaron.
Instead, that honor might go to Ken Griffey
Jr., baseball's biggest star before the Big Mac show took off.
If Griffey can pull off a third straight 50-homer season, he will reach
the 400-homer mark before the age of 30. He's almost halfway to Aaron's 755
already and definitely has a shot at breaking that mark.
8. Cuba: The Orioles' decision to play an exhibition game against
a squad of Cuban all-stars brought plenty of controversy and protest. Then
they played the
game and got a great contest. Cuban-American relations were improved
greatly afterward. The Cubans will be back in May, and plenty of other
teams are clamoring for a chance to schedule more games with them.
9. Strike zone: Major League Baseball is trying to crack down on umpires
to call a consistent strike zone. Good idea, right? Not according to the
umpires' union, who are adamantly defending their own and their
oft-questioned calls. However, when you can identify umpires by their
strike zones (i.e. Eric Gregg's double wide zone), you know there's a
problem.
