It’s Sunday and it’s officially summer time, a good time of year for a baseball fan.

If you are a fan of a team in the American League, you are starting to get the feel that this race will be very interesting in each division.

Peter Gammons wrote in his column yesterday his just discovered revelation that as the big three of the A’s rotation goes, so goes the Athletics.

Hey, Peter when did you drop in from outer space?

I’ve been saying the same thing for two months ever since Mark Mulder pulled up lame in April.

Plus, Peter, the AL West isn’t going away.

Peter, you better start worying about your Red Sox because all of a sudden they aren’t beating any righthanders and are getting that New England “I told you it wouldn’t last look.”

Plus there’s more, read on.Boston and New York are coming pack to the pack. I know, a steady diet of the Devil Rays, Orioles, and Blue Jays lies ahead for these two, but even so both teams aren’t looking as invincible as they did one month ago.

Boston has lost 9 0f their last 14 games. They have lost eight of nine against righthanders. Brian Daubach and Tony Clark are in deep slumps. Rickey Henderson is wearing down. Nomar hasn’t creamed the ball as in the past.

Only Johnny Damon and Shea Hillenbrand are reliable right now.

Manny Ramirez where are you?

More importantly, Pedro Martinez is still in transition, seemingly pitching one solid game and then struggling in the next.

His velocity varies from one start to the next like the stock market does on a daily basis.

John Burkett, Rolando Arrojo, and Frank Castillo are pitching on borrowed time.

Gammons should be beating the drums for Jeff Weaver, Sidney Ponson, or Bartolo Colon for his beloved Red Sox.

The Yankees have not hit righties very well either. The Bombers have lost 8 of 15 to their last righthanded opponents.

Andy Pettitte, El Duque, and David Wells are not clicking on the hill. The Yanks need a rightfielder as well as another starter on the mound.

Mariano Rivera has a groin pull, not a good injury for a pitcher.

This means that the wild card is up for grabs.

The Angels are hanging in, but their brush with reality is not far off.

Seattle has not hit for two months. They are one tough team, but everyone gives them trouble.

Jeff Cirillo, Mike Cameron, and Bret Boone are driving Lou Piniella crazy with their slumps.

This week the A’s face the whole Seattle rotation except for Joel Pineiro. Seattle faces everyone on the A’s except for Mark Mulder.

I think this series is important to both teams for different reasons.

The A’s have rolled up National League teams with their “get a good pitch philosophy.” It’s time for them to outhit, outhustle, and outplay Seattle in a series that means something. If the A’s go up to Seattle and win three of four, I think it will give them the true confidence that they can catch anybody in this league.

Seattle has hung in behind Jamie Moyer and Freddy Garcia while waiting for the hitters to heat up.

Seattle needs to show the A’s who is boss right now or run the risk of fighting with Oakland for the remainder of the year.

The Angels wait patiently. Kevin Appier pitches today and is now due for a good game against the hapless Brewers. The Angels keep hitting. Every night it’s a different hero, that is the sign of a good team.

Their pitchers keep going to the post like clockwork every day.

Most teams have played 90 games already. July 4th looms ahead, another marker for the season, then the All Star game. The Angels need to make it for another thirty games, if they do and stay close, they will be confident enough to take on the Mariners next month.

As much as I’d like to say the AL Central is a competitive division, to me it is still one sided in favor of the Twins. Chicago has some hope of catching the Twins if everything goes perfectly for the Pale Hose, but come on, the Sox pitchers are so inconsistent that it wouldn’t surprise me if the pitching coach was fired next week.

Last month, I picked the White Sox to be the surprise team of the second half of the season. Maybe the surprise will be how poorly the Sox finish.

Anyway, I’m not conceding anything to the Twins and their overworked bull pen just yet.

The whole point of this Dish was to tell Peter Gammons to wake up and take a look around the AL West.

The AL West is one tough division and yes the A’s pitchers are pitching well ( a major reason for the turn around),but the rest of the team hustles and plays a tough game every night just like the Angels and the Mariners do.

That’s why these teams win consistently.

Pretty soon, the Eastern writers will be looking West once again to see who will keep the Yankees or the Red Sox out of the playoffs.

I like the summer.