It has long been considered a good baseball omen to be leading your league or division on July 4th. This season things are different. Other than the Yankees in the East, every division is still up for grabs.

The late Hall of Famer, Leonard Koppett, my all time favorite baseball writer, maintained and it holds true today, that since the addition of the wild card no matter what record you have in July or August, if you are playing .500 ball on September 1st, you have a shot at the playoffs.

In addition, if you are in a tight race for the division crown, whoever plays the best over the last 35 games wins it all. Pitching down the stretch has always been the key.

Both the A’s and Giants took 5 of 7 from their SoCal rivals over the past ten days. Are the Dodgers and Angels dead? Absolutely not. With 85 games to go, teams should be pointing for September and not gloating about five game winning streaks in June or July.

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Tim Hudson should take his time coming back from his oblique muscle strain. Injuries like these tend to linger if not completely healed when a pitcher goes back on the hill. The A’s are going to need completely healthy pitchers if they are going to win the West.

Bobby Crosby looks like a lock to win AL Rookie of the Year. The only players with a shot at passing Crosby are catcher Joe Mauer in Minnesota and Boston’s third baseman Kevin Youkilis. Unfortunately for Youkilis, his playing time will decrease once Bill Mueller returns from his injuries.

I know Octavio Dotel’s fist pumping on the hill after a successful save is entertaining, but if he does that against the Red Sox or Yankees in October, the crowds will be all over him. Just picture the crowds this week in Yankee Stadium when the Red Sox were in town and triple the intensity. I don’t think he needs that added pressure. I’d like to see him walk off the mound like he’s been there before when he saves the game.

The Braves are serious about trading center fielder Andruw Jones and pitcher Russ Ortiz.
Ortiz would be a terrific addition for the Giants. Seems like a no brainer bringing him back to San Francisco. The Giants need a legit starter and Ortiz is a winner.

White sox GM Kenny Williams is itching to move outfielder Magglio Ordonez. Andruw Jones (39 mil for three years) for Ordonez is a real possibility.

Jason Giambi is now on the sidelines suffering from a stomach parasite. Now sore backed Yankee pitcher Kevin Brown says he too, also has the parasite. If I’m the Yankees caterer, I’m getting out of town if George Steinbrenner shows up sick.

MLB is all up in arms because Steinbrenner commented that he would love to add Randy Johnson to the Yankee pitching staff. What’s the big squawk about, Johnson’s already signed for the next two years? Anyone who follows the game knows that the Yankees are the only team that won’t blink at the remaining 25 million on Johnson’s deal. I guess the commissioner just found out that theYankees need starting pitching.

Baseball is finalizing plans to hold its World Cup tournament next spring. I think the timing is ridiculous. How many players are going to leave their teams in the middle of spring training to play meaningless exhibition games half way around the world?

Baseball teams plan spring training drills to the minute to get ready for the season. Does anyone care about a final World Cup game that might be played March 22nd in Pro Player Stadium in Miami?

Which organization is going to let an important part of their team play games in Asia in March? Bulletin: Barry Zito opens up for the US in Taiwan March 1st. I don’t think so.

Baseball is so consumed with marketing the game around the world, that it is jeopardizing preparation for the regular season with this exhibition tournament. Merely playing two games in Japan to start this season caused havoc for the Yankees and Devil Rays, imagine what this three week tournament could do.

Schedule it in November and maybe I’ll feel differently.

The Marlins are seriously looking for a leftfielder to replace 38 year old Jeff Conine, a set up man (Billy Koch won’t do) to help closer Armando Benitez, and a good back up catcher. Sounds like a long shopping list for the world champs.

Who replaced Philly skipper Larry Bowa as Padres manager in 1988? Current Marlin manager Jack McKeon took over for Bowa back then and believe me Bowa hasn’t forgotten the “McKeon Coup”. Everytime Bowa sees McKeon his blood pressure soars. Should be some summer as the Marlins and Phillies battle for the East.

I still like the Fish.

The A’s need more bullpen help. Ken Macha now relies exclusively on Justin Lehr, Chad Bradford, Ricardo Rincon (for one batter), and Octavio Dotel. That’s it folks, two more arms are needed post haste.

Felix Rodriguez needs a pitch he can control other than his fastball. Until that happens Rodriguez will keep Felipe Alou on the top step of the dugout.