If you want to get a good read on the season, you must wait until the peaches are ripe on the trees.I love peach season in California. My old friend Jack Berman, who passed away this week, and I used to joke all the time that we never knew what to expect from a baseball team until we could buy some really nice peaches in the market.

Peach season is at its fullest about the last week in June, early July. Point being, until that time, Darren Oliver may pitch a good game here and there, but let’s take a good look at him around game number 75.

Jason Giambi may be struggling right now, (although he went 4-4 last night) but in July he’ll be hitting his usual .330.

Baseball is a game of percentages and averages. Most hit around the marks we expect. What separates the best teams year after year are those players who jump up and have career seasons.

Who knows what the Dodgers will be like in July? What will happen to Ishii the second time through the NL? How will Kevin Brown and Andy Ashby’s surgically repaired elbows feel after 140 innings? Will leadoff man Dave Roberts fulfill the hope of manager Jim Tracy?

All these questions and eventual answers, are what makes a memorable baseball season.

Can the A’s count on the bats of Dave Justice and Carlos Pena to carry them for three months? Will Justice be hitting .280 or Pena .240 in July? One thing I will count on, is Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez having big seasons, if they remain healthy.

The Rangers are not as bad as they look right now. Art Howe always told me that you are never as bad as you look when you lose or as good as you look when you win.

Who knows what a rejuvenated Chan Ho Park will be in July? Will Doug Davis be an all star? I believe we can count on Texas hitting when the pitching wears down as the season moves through summer. The only problem will be, can they still see Seattle by then?

Will John Burkett come back from the DL and give the Red Sox quality innings? Will Pedro still be healthy in July?

Once these questions are answered during peach season, we will know what the rest of the season holds for our favorite teams.

Can Barry Bonds dominate every single game as he is doing right now, for the summer as well?

Will Livan Hernandez continue on his diet and hit .333?

How will David Wells’ back feel in June? What about Andy Pettitte’s elbow? El Duque’s neck?

Can Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling keep Arizona in the race until August 1st before they absolutely need some mound help?

Will Ellis Burks, Omar Vizquel, and Travis Fryman be able to carry Cleveland’s offense through July?

Early season performances by the players raise all these questions.

We aren’t making preseason predictions. We can watch regular season games and still we really don’t know very much about how the 2002 season will turn out.

I kinda like that.

Will the Mets pitchers be there among the leaders in summer? Al Leiter has done it before, so has Shawn Estes (they are both throwing well), what about Jeff D’Amico, can he stay off the DL?

Will Mo Vaughn be cheered or booed in July?

Will the Angels score some runs anytime before the fall?

All these questions and more will be answered in July and then we can start to really analyze the pennant races. Until then, enjoy the games, revel in your favorite’s good times, don’t get too down about the bad times, there is plenty of baseball to be played before those fabulous babcock peaches are in the fruit stores.