Did you know that during

the last five seasons the

Giants and Diamondbacks

are the only teams to

have won the N.L West?

By Amaury Pi-GonzálezNational League (West)

1-Arizona

2-San Francisco

3-Los Angeles

4-Colorado

4-San Diego

1-Arizona. Somethings are

easy to analyze. When your

team has Randy Johnson and

Curt Schilling they already have

half the battle won.

The Diamondbacks had

a 98-64 record in 2002.

Of those 98 wins a total

of 47 were by those two hurlers.

Randy Johnson won another

Cy Young with a 24-5 2.32

and Curt Schilling was 23-7

with a 3.23 ERA.

The D-Backs needed a

quality third starter behing

those two future Hall of

Famers so they went after

and got veteran right hander

Elmer Dessens. The Mexican

pitcher was with the Reds

and will make their

rotation look deeper

with Miguel Batista and

good looking rookie

John Patterson.

Luis González magical season

of 2001 was not this past

season when he hit .288

with 28 HR and 103 RBI.

He needs to “pump it up”

a little more this season.

However, they lead the

league in runs scored with

819 wich is a very important

statistic since in baseball

there is no tie(well except

All Star Game)and unlike

Soccer you can play the

best defense in the world

but If you can’t score you

can’t win…

They have a nice bench with

David Delluci,Greg Counsell,

Mark Grace(who will play

his last yar)and the switch-

hitter McCracken.

By-the-way Counsel can

play every infield position

but first and he has

demostrated he can play

everyday and might still

do that this season.

One of the best bullpens

in the division with Kim-

Mantei-Prinz.,Swindell

and Myers.

Bob Brenly still a young

manager with already

one World Series ring.

One of the best

managers around, with

a lot of enthusiasm and

a “good touch”with his

players.

They have the look of

a Divisional Champion.

2-San Francisco.

Bienvenido Felipe !

Felipe Alou won his first game

as a Giants manager on

March 31, 2003 at Qualcomm

Stadium, San Diego in front

of over 60,000 fans on the

last opener for that stadium.

Right after the win he said:

“I am keeping this lineup

card” and went on to say:

“this is my first game with

Giants since 1963″. An emotional

67 year old Felipe Alou has

high hopes for the defending

National League Champions.

Barry Bonds could catch his

godfather Willie Mays(660 HR)

this season. Barry makes

everybody much better in

the Giants lineup.

This season Rich Aurilia is

hitting third. Last time that

happened a couple of

years ago when Barry hit

73 Homeruns Aurilia hit

37.

The Giants were busy in the

offseason getting a very

interesting group of players

like Edgardo Alfonzo from the Mets,

José Cruz Jr from Toronto,

Marquis Grissom from the

Dodgers, Damian Moss

on a trade(Russ Ortiz)from

Atlanta, Ray Durham(A’S)

and Neifi Pérez, K.C.

They have improved their

bench by keeping Marvin

Benard and bringing back

El Gato Grande (The Big

Cat)Andrés Galarraga who

started his career playing

for Felipe Alou in Montreal.

Plus they kept Pedro Feliz.

Felipe Alou told me

Feliz could play everyday

but that Edgardo Alfonzo

is his regular thirdbaseman.

I think Yorbit Torrealba could

take over as catcher, although

Benito Santiago still the

undefeated champion with

the Giants in that position.

The Giants rotation is mixed.

The first two starters are

well known and can win,

Kirk Rueter and Jason Schmidt.

Damian Moss is an efective

lefty, very similar to Reuter.

Then comes young Kurt Ainsworth

and Ryan Jensen.

Very impresive in Tripe A, Fresno

is right hander Jesse Foppert.

(in case Ainsworth or Jensen

falter, be ready to see this

young kid in San Francisco, he

has great stuff).

Defense is always good for the

Giants with a bunch of

above average defensive

players like Bonds,Santiago,

J.T. Snow(best fielding firstbaseman

in San Francisco’s history)

and Marquis Grissom who

brings 4 Gold Gloves with him.

Dusty Baker era has gone and

we have Felipe Alou’s troops

on a 25-man roster that has

a total of 10 Latino players.

May I say there will be no

lack of communication between

manager and players in this

bunch.

Giants (if young pitchers come

through could win this division)

I pick them to finish second and

win wild card.

3-Los Angeles. Management of

the Dodgers was delighted with

Kevin Brown’s Spring Training

performance. They also got

Darren Dreifort healthy, but

it is almost the same old story.

Would this fragile rotation

stay intact all season ?

Brown-Nomo-Pérez-Ishi

and Ashby is their rotation

with a very strong bullpen

Eric Gagne (52 saves)

Mota-Shuey and Quantrill.

Their offense is not very

impresive. It seems they

only have one real hitter,

Shawn Green plus they

picked up Fred McGriff

(Cubs) Todd Hundley(Cubs)

and Chad Hermansen(Cubs).

In 2002 they finished 92-70

but….no playoffs. As a matter

of fact Dodgers have not

won a Playoff game since

1988. The Kirk Gibson Homerun

Year against Eckersley and

their win over the A’S.

The Bumbs might look just

like Bumbs if their pitching

gets hurt again. The management

has spent huge money with

Kevin Brown’s over $100

million contract plus Darren

Dreifort’s $55 million. Dreifort

is hard to understand, what

they saw on him but just

pure velocity.

The Dodgers defense? Bad,

as in bad….many errors.

Oh yes, the Dodgers are

of the “unknown”quantity

this season. I put them

third.

4-Colorado. The Rockies

with 73-89 last season

have now suffered four

losing seasons in the

last five years.

Where is this going to

end in the land of no-pitching?

The Rockies had a 5.20 ERA

combined, worst earned run

average allowed in the

American League. This

is a big hurdle for manager

Chris Hurdle. I am trying

to see what pitching they

can offer this season, but

it is not much. A rotation

of:Jason Jennings-Denny Stark-

Denny Neagle-Aron Cook and

Shawn Chacón. With a

bullpen of José Jiménez

and 4 others that will

throw just about in

every game.

Their offense will always

thrive in this Mile High City

inside a beautiful park

named Coors Field.

Todd Helton and Larry

Walker is as good one-two

punch as any in baseball,

both lefties, both can hit

for average and power.

Next to last is the perfect

location for the Rockies.

5-San Diego. The good news

first: Their beautiful new park

in downtown San Diego is on

schedule to open in Spring ’04.

The bad news: No Trevor Hoffman

and no Phil Nevin. Arguably their

best two players on the team

are out for most of the season.

One of the real good managers

in the game, Bruce Bochy who

has a great relationship with

General Manager Kevin Towers

are going to take their vitamins

and watch the team play and

play for respectability but with

little chance of finishing

any higher than fourth.

Padres own the cellar.

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COMING UP: CENTRAL DIVISION.