EVENTS
 Sportsman of the Year
 Heisman Trophy
 Swimsuit 2001

CNNSI.com GROUP
 Sports Illustrated
 Life of Reilly
 Television
 SI Women
 SI for Kids
 Press Room
 TBS/TNT Sports
 CNN Languages

COMMERCE
 SI Customer Service
 SI Media Kits
 Get into College
 Sports Memorabilia
 TeamStore

Ready, get set ...

No time like the present to get going on pennant races

Click here for more on this story

By John Donovan, CNNSI.com

	• Storylines • Series to See • All Thumbs • Heroes & Bums • Short Hops • Yogi-isms

The halfway point of the '00 baseball season has come and gone. The All-Star Game has been played out.

Mark McGwire is injured, the Mets are busy losing to the Braves and the Yankees are starting to pull away again.

Ahhhh ... everything's getting back to normal, now isn't it?

As baseball slides toward the final two months of the new millenium's first season, players are finding their groove (or rut) and teams are settling into the business of trying to make the postseason (or, in some cases, giving up altogether).

This is how things are shaking out: There are six divisions in baseball, and half of them are pretty close to being decided already.

For sure, things can happen. The Chicago White Sox, one of the biggest surprises of the year, are running away with the American League Central. But they could somehow revert to being the White Sox of old and blow their double-digit lead. Maybe.

The New York Mets, though they haven't shown the ability to do it thus far, could overtake the Atlanta Braves in the National League East. Possibly.

And, yeah, the Cincinnati Reds could slog through this soap opera of a season and leapfrog the currently McGwire-less St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central. And Barry Larkin could get traded to the Mets. Yeah. Right.

No, the three hot spots for the rest of this season, or so it seems, won't be in those divisions but in the AL East and West, and in the NL West.

So, purely as a public service, we take a Glance-like view at those divisions and what may come down in the next two months.

AL East : When the Yankees added Dave Justice for pop, then added Glenallen Hill for bench strength, well ... these guys play for keeps. The Red Sox still have Pedro Martinez, but he can't do it alone. Neither can Nomar Garciaparra, even if he hits .400. And Carl Everett's suspension doesn't help. The Blue Jays have a chance, but David Wells will have to be flawless, unlike his last two starts, and the rest of the rotation will have to be darn good, too. Best bet for the Jays and Sox: That wild card thing.

AL West : Who would've figured the Mariners? They'd love to add a bit of power before the July 31 trading deadline to fend off the big-swinging A's and pesky Angels, but with Alex Rodriguez back, that'll work just fine. Still, they have their problems -- just as their competitors do. The Angels have a young pitching staff that hasn't faced the heat of a pennant race, and the A's are said to need some bullpen help and a good right-handed bat. This division is probably too close to call, but the M's have the edge now. And if the Mariners hold on, one of those other two teams could give the American League the first wild card not to come from the East.

NL West : The Diamondbacks have been flying high all season despite a load of injuries, but those hurts are starting to catch up to them ... along with just about everyone else in the division. Never count out the Giants, with Barry Bonds being Barry Bonds. Manager Davey Johnson thinks the Dodgers, with decent pitching and homer happy Gary Sheffield, may be on the verge of breaking out. Even the Rockies, despite a recent slide, could bounce back. Still, look for the Giants and Dodgers to slug it out for the pennant -- unless the D'backs come up with an awesome trade before July 31.

On to The Week at a Glance, which asks: Is it really too early to be looking at the September pennant stretch?

The answer: Aw, c'mon! It's never too early.

The Larkin Files All right, after all that, he's staying put, where he belongs, in Cincinnati. But will that be enough for the Reds, who have tried their best to jettison this season's hopes in favor of future hopes? Well, we shall see.
The Trade Deadline The Mets, who must feel a little like the acne-laden wallflower at the junior-high dance about now, are still looking for someone. And so are a few other teams. Are there still matches to be made before everyone turns pumpkin-like on July 31?
Speaking of the Mets ... Two wins in their last 20 tries in Atlanta's Turner Field just isn't going to cut it for the New Yorkers. Mark down Sept. 18-20, the Metropolitans' next chance at making some inroads into the NL East.
The NL West The tightest division in baseball only figures to get tighter. The pacesetting Diamondbacks have St. Louis, Florida, Atlanta and the New York Mets coming up. Things could get interesting. Verrry interesting.
Toronto Blue Jays at Seattle Mariners, July 27-30 The Mariners may be running away with the AL West. The Blue Jays may be fading in the East. Neither team can afford too big a swing in this four-game showdown.
Cincinnati Reds at Montreal Expos, July 28-30 The Expos somehow are still hanging around, hoping for a chance at a wild card. The Reds are ahead of them there and are thinking that maybe, just maybe, they can challenge the Cards for the Central title. Will someone make a move already?
Orioles in Canada . Woo hoo! The first win in two years in Toronto, after losing 14 straight. Whoopee! Congrats! Because there is no such thing as a sarcastic thumb-up (believe us, there's not), this will have to do.
Andy Ashby . Nice trade. The Braves' hurler threw his second straight complete-game win since being traded, keeping Atlanta on top in the East. We'll forget about that blowup that was rained out. Never happened.
Marty Brennaman . You can't keep a good mouth down. Agree with him or not, you have to applaud the Reds' play-by-play man, and new Hall of Famer, who stuck to his guns in calling for Pete Rose's induction into the Hall even as his friends told him to keep quiet.
Lance Armstrong . Because there is no cycling week at a glance and, darn it, because he deserves some recognition. What an athlete. What a story. What a shining beacon for cancer victims everywhere.
Hero -- Troy O'Leary: A baseball-high 12 RBIs during a .571 (16-for-28) week. And a pair of homers to boot.
Bum -- Jose Hernandez: Oh-for-18, and now batting about .239. Even in Milwaukee that's underachieving.
Hero -- Johnny Damon: Had 15 hits over a span of four games, and 21 hits on the week (.553). That's hot.
Bum -- Rafael Palmeiro: Rarely a bum in his career, Raffy had a rough week, hitting .091 (2-for-22) with only a single home run.
Hero -- Dave Justice: Oh, to be a Yankee. A .478 week (11-for-23), three homers, eight RBIs, the Yanks in first ...
Bum -- Bobby Bonilla: Aw, c'mon. He's been called worse. A 1-for-12 week (.083) just is not tearing it up.
Hero -- Manny Ramirez: The Cleveland star clubbed six homers, knocked in 11 runs and hit .360. Nice effort.
Anaheim's Darin Erstad leads the majors with 163 hits, including 54 muli-hit games, and remains on pace to break George Sisler's single-season record of 257 hits set in 1920.
Andruw Jones of the Braves is the only major-leaguer to play every inning so far this season.
Baltimore has scored three runs or less in 14 of Mike Mussina's starts.
The Dodgers have not had a home run champ since moving to Los Angeles. Duke Snider was the last Brooklyn Dodger to lead the league in homers with 43 in 1956.
Andy Benes tied a major-league record Sunday by allowing four homers in one inning. Jose Lima had been one of those previous 16 to accomplish that feat, doing it earlier this season against the Chicago Cubs.
Kansas City's Johnny Damon and Toronto's Shannon Stewart each had a major league record-tying four doubles Tuesday night. Damon and Stewart became the 42nd and 43rd players to accomplish the feat.
John Wetteland has 25 saves for the ninth straight season, the second longest streak in major league history, behind Lee Smith's 13 (1983-95).
Our tribute to the banal banter of baseball "When you've done well against a pitcher, you have some confidence against him." -- Arizona's Luis Gonzalez.

Statistics are through Sunday's games unless otherwise noted.

CNNSI.com baseball producer Lonny Krasnow contributed to this report.

The Baseball Week at a Glance appears every Tuesday.

 

Related information
Multimedia
Visit Multimedia Central for the latest audio and video
Search our site	Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day
	Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV.

Copyright © 2001 CNN/Sports Illustrated An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.