In the American league, six, maybe seven teams are serious post season contenders.

The National League presents a more difficult analysis.

I realized this last night at Pac Bell Park when I felt the vibes around the Giants.

Here’s what I saw.The Giants came home from “the road trip from hell” (only 12 games) with a 15-10 season mark.

Pretty Good.

Not if you listen to the buzz around the team and the media.

The word is they are worried about Jason Schmidt’s pitching (he’s only had two starts since coming back form his groin injury), Shinjo doesn’t hit, Felix Rodriguez has been inconsistent, Jeff Kent hasn’t hit, JT Snow is an offensive liability, Barry Bonds hasn’t homered in 31 at bats (he’s hitting .379) and Benito Santiago looks tired already, one month into the season.

You get the idea.

Why are they complaining with a 15-11 record, including Tuesday’s loss to the Phillies?

First reason, Dusty Baker is a high energy manager. He shows his emotions in the dugout on virtually every situation during the game. Fans and players pick up on this display.

Baseball is played over six months, 162 games. If you live and die on every pitch during the season, you’ll never make it to September.

Right now, the Giants are living and dying on each swing and pitch during a pivotal moment in the game.

This approach to the game makes players, fans and management hypercritical, when patience should be the mantra of the day.

Just appreciate the 15-11 mark. The Giants need to maintain the confidence that they are playing good baseball, in spite of a lousy road trip (5-7).

Heck, it was the first extended trip of the year.

Quit griping about every facet of the team, relax, you can’t win every game, just play ball.

The Giants are a solid ball club.

Reason number two.

The NL West is starting to look like a three team race for sure, and the two tailenders San Diego and Colorado, are beginning to win some games.

This scenario is making the Giants more uneasy. SF thought they would be chasing the Diamondbacks for the division crown. Now, the dreaded Dodgers are in the mix.

Worry for the Giants anytime LA is in the race.

The Giants think they need to win the pennant within the first 30 games of the year.

No way.

Stay the course, and let the pitchers and hitters settle in. Livan Hernandez, Russ Ortiz, Kirk Reuter, Jason Schmidt, and whoever the fifth starter turns out to be, are a solid group for the marathon run.

The bull pen is solid. The defense is excellent.

If you lose two or three in a row in May, no big deal, the Giants are a well balanced team with a pleasant summer to look forward to.

Now, the Phillies.

Manager Larry Bowa is tense even in the best of circumstances. Seeing his team blow leads late in the game, hasn’t helped Bowa’s blood pressure.

The question around the Phillies is, how low will we go before we start to play like contenders?

The Phillies are 9-18. They have a legitimate offense. They also have 135 games left to play. They trail the Braves by three games. The Mets by 7 1/2. They haven’t played the Mets or the Expos this season. The Phillies are 6-7 in the East this year.

Once the bull pen settles down, the Phillies will be in the thick of the NL race.

The Expos and the Marlins are better this year. They will keep the division a close race. I think 88- 90 wins, will take the East.

Larry Bowa should relax and then maybe his team will start to play better.

You had to see the long faces around this club last night, before Vincente Padilla pitched his gem against the Giants, to believe it.

Hey guys it’s May 1st. You can make up the ground with a nice seven game winning streak.

Point being, this race will be exciting all year and is too tough to call right now.

The NL Central is looking very tight. The Cubs are probably thinking of firing manager Don Baylor because of the team’s poor start.

But wait.

Cincinnati is leading the division without any starting pitching, a very young, untested offense and a great bull pen.

Pittsburgh is better so far with tight defense, decent pitching, and no appreciable offense.

The Reds and Pirates will keep the division closer than last year.

Houston hasn’t started to really hit. St. Louis has injuries that would cripple most teams for the whole year. Somehow, the Cards will be close to the pack at the end of September.

So Cub fans, don’t panic. This division is too close to call right now as well.

I don’t know if I can pick one team who is a lock for the postseason in the National League.

This is why the Giants and every other contender is nervous. They don’t know who they are chasing.

So, they started chasing themselves by over analyzing every misplay in April.

My advice.

Just go out and play the games. Check the standings in August and you’ll see how you are doing.

Then, if things haven’t come together, you can worry all you want.

Until then, 15-11 is pretty good.