[Moriarty9]

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']The regular season has come to an end, so lets take a more in depth look around the league.[/FONT]

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']ANAHEIM ANGELS (93-69; AL West Champs)[/FONT]
The Angels won the AL West by just one game, edging out the Mariners.
The pitching staff was led by Cy Young candidate Brad Radke (21-9, 2.77 ERA, 34 starts) and closer Troy Percival (4-6, 36 saves, 2.83 ERA, 51 games).
Anaheim, as a team, had many hits and runs - which came from a number of players. Homer Bush led the team in hits with 180 and runs with 77. There were nine players with 99 or more hits and seven with at least 59 runs scored. One player who struggled was Greg Colbrunn, who hit .239 with five homers in 120 games.


[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS (68-94; 4th place in NL West)[/FONT]

In their first year of existence the Diamondbacks had the third worst record in baseball, largely due to a lack of offensive ability. Arizona was last in baseball in runs scored and second to last in team batting average and total home runs
Left-hander Pete Schourek was one of the better pitchers on the staff, going 11-8 with a 4.45 ERA in 30 games, 27 starts. Tom Gordon was arguably the most impressive hurler, going 8-5 with four saves and a 2.21 ERA in 67 games, including nine starts. The biggest disappointment was Rick Aguilera, acquired in late May from Tampa Bay, posting a 5.33 ERA and a 3-8 record with 24 saves in 49 games with the Devil Rays and Diamondbacks.
Offensively, Paul Sorrento was the team leader (although acquired in late July) by hitting .268 with 25 home runs and 82 RBI in 141 games with Seattle and Arizona (.277, 10 HR, 41 RBI, 60 G w/Diamondbacks). Aaron Boone, acquired in late June, was a surprise offensive force, hitting .281 with 14 home runs and 84 RBI in 150 games with Arizona and Cincinnati (.282, 8 HR, 39 RBI, 195 ABs with Diamondbacks).
Kevin Elster (.185, 6 HR) and Russ Davis (.212, 12 HR) were the chief offensive disappointments for Arizona.

[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif'][FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']ATLANTA BRAVES (89-73, 2nd in NL East)[/FONT][/FONT]
The Braves missed the NL East title by just one game and were six games back in the Wild Card.
Chipper Jones had a monster season for Atlanta, hitting .322 with 43 home runs and 118 RBI, scoring 145 runs and stealing 22 bases. Fred McGriff was solid as well, hitting .306 with 21 homers and 92 RBI. Late acquisition Greg Vaughn helped the Braves down the stretch as well, hitting .292 with seven homers and 30 RBI in 96 at bats; bringing his season numbers to .250 with 36 home runs and 97 RBI in 128 games and 408 at bats.
Kenny Lofton was a disappointment, hitting .244 with 75 runs in 139 games. It was just two years ago the speedster hit .317 with 132 runs and 75 stolen bases for Atlanta.
Greg Maddux had another impressive season, going 17-7 with a 3.42 ERA and 29 walks in 239 2/3 innings. John Smoltz (15-9, 3.26 ERA) was also strong.
Tom Glavine struggled, going 9-12 with a 4.21 ERA in 34 starts. He was especially poor on the road, going 2-8 with a 4.93 ERA and .286 average against in 17 starts away from home.

[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']BALTIMORE ORIOLES (83-79, 3rd place in AL East)[/FONT]
The Orioles has a potent offense this season as six players hit 20+ home runs and their weakest season-long regular was shortstop Neifi Perez (.288, 6 HR, 49 RBI in 124 G). Glenallen Hill led the team in home runs with 27, although Jose Canseco hit 26 homers in 114 games with Baltimore and 11 more in 42 games with Oakland for a total of 37 on the year. Brian Daubach led the team in RBI with 89 while Roberto Alomar led in runs (104).
The pitching staff was less of a team effort as Shane Reynolds (19-11, 3.55 ERA) was the ace of the staff. Mike Mussina was inconsistent and finished at 13-13 with a 4.89 ERA in 34 starts. Rookie hurler Mark Redman was impressive though, going 8-6 with a 3.58 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 19 big league starts. Brian Powell had a rough season, going 3-6 with a 6.66 ERA and a .324 average against in his 15 starts with the O's while left-handed reliever Arthur Rhodes went 4-5 with one save and a bloated 5.95 ERA in 46 appearances.

[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']BOSTON RED SOX (76-86, 4th place in AL East)[/FONT][FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']
The Red Sox won their last seven games of the seven, putting them in a tie for last place with the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Boston was a major disappointment this season, due in large part to the ineffectiveness of Reggie Jefferson and a down season for Mo Vaughn. Jefferson, a .299 career hitter that hit .322 in 273 games in 1996 and 1997, but hit just .224 with one home run and 13 RBI in 98 games with Boston this year - earning himself a spot on the bench despite his five-year contract worth more than $56.3 million.[/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']Vaughn, who has hit .300 or better with at least 37 home runs and 103 RBI in the last three seasons, hit just .246 with 27 homers this season, driving in 99, in 156 games.[/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']The biggest bright spots for the Boston lineup were shortstop Nomar Garciaparra (.299, 27 HR, 92 RBI, 23 SB in 149 G with only six errors in 1,318 innings at short) and rookie catcher Jason Varitek (.289, 24 HR, 77 RBI, 146 G with 30.6% of would-be basestealers thrown out).[/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']The pitching staff struggled mightily with Ramon Martinez (12-11, 3.99 ERA, 33 G) and Jeff Suppan (10-8, 3.14 ERA, 26 G, 24 GS) putting up the best performances. Veteran Bret Saberhagen had the worst performance of his career at 11-15 with a 5.31 ERA in 36 starts while rookie Brian Meadows got his lumps at 9-13 with a 5.00 ERA in 29 starts.[/FONT]

[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']CHICAGO CUBS (71-91, 5th place in NL Central)[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']The Cubs were among the worst in baseball in a number of catergories, most notably being last in team average (.252) and second to last in team ERA (5.20).[/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']The troubles began before the season started when free agent Ryan Klesko was lost for the season during spring training with a knee injury. Klesko hit .275 with 22 home runs and 68 RBI in 105 games with Atlanta last year. Infielder Andy Sheets hit .203 with three homers in 132 games, outfielder Geronimo Berroa hit .222 with four home runs in 137 games, J.T. Snow hit .232 in 116 games, and slugger Sammy Sosa hit .251 with 29 homers and 95 RBI after hitting .280 with 87 home runs and 233 RBI in the previous two seasons.[/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']Brian Bohanon (9-9, 4.04 ERA, 29 G, 26 GS) and Frank Castillo (10-10, 4.94 ERA, 33 G, 30 GS) were the best starters while Kent Bottenfield (4-6, 32 saves, 2.96 ERA, 66 G) was clearly the best pitcher on the staff. Conversely, Larry Casian managed to be brought into 76 games as a reliever despite posting a 7.25 ERA and allowing opponents to hit .307 off him. Steve Trachsel (7-15, 5.80 ERA) also struggled.[/FONT]

[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif'][FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']CHICAGO WHITE SOX (76-86, 3rd place in AL Central)[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']The White Sox battled a number of injuries and, despite being 10 games below .500, finished just five games out in the division. Sluggers Magglio Ordonez (.308, 29 HR, 94 RBI), Frank Thomas (.305, 30 HR, 96 RBI) and Albert Belle (.284, 34 HR, 128 RBI) each stayed healthy to keep the team afloat with the help of shortstop Mike Caruso (.314, 8 HR, 84 R in 146 G). Infielder Jed Hansen hit just .233 with six home runs in 145 games while catchers Joe Girardi (.238, 4 HR, 307 AB) and Todd Pratt (.247, 5 HR, 308 AB) split time behind the plate.[/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']Warren Morris started the year strong at second base (.299 with 6 HR in 60 G) but spent the majority of the season on the DL with a dislocated shoulder and then a a back injury.[/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']The pitching staff was plagued with poor performances from closer Roberto Hernandez (6.20 ERA in 62 games), starter Jaime Navarro (9-17, 6.03 ERA, 35 GS), Bobby Witt (5-9, 6.01 ERA, 30 G, 19 GS) and reliever Bill Simas (5.46 ERA in 44 appearances).[/FONT]

[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif'][FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']CINCINNATI REDS (78-84, 4th place in NL Central)[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']Moises Alou hit .280 with 28 homers and 108 RBI with Wally Joyner hitting .299 with 16 home runs and 74 RBI, but the MVP of the Reds lineup was catcher Mike Redmond who hit .322 and scored 73 runs in 146 games. Chris Stynes also surprised, hitting .298 with 14 home runs and 77 RBI while Deion Sanders hit .305, scored 80 runs and stole 61 bases in 429 at bats.[/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']Ozzie Guillen struggled at the plate, hitting .236 with one home run in 121 games.[/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']Mike Remlinger (12-8, 3.61 ERA, 34 G) and Jeff Shaw (5-10, 37 saves, 3.78 ERA, 65 G) led the pitching staff while relievers Joey Eischen (6.45 ERA in 54 G) and Stan Belinda (5.79 ERA in 73 G) brought up the rear. John Smiley suffered an elbow injury in early August, ending his season - and possibly delaying his start to next season - at 9-4 with a 4.23 ERA in 24 starts. Felix Rodriguez suffered a back injury to end his awful season at 1-3 with a 6.65 ERA in 34 games.[/FONT]




More team recaps to come...