The Twins pulled away from the rest of the league in September. They await the winner of the 8 team playoff to try and be the first double winner of both League Championship and Playoff Championship.

1 Scott - Twins 6002

2 Brent - Yankees 5596

3 Steve - Mets 5334

4 Bryan - Giants 5311

5 Darrin - Cubs 5230

6 Dan-White Sox 5163

7 Andy - Phillies 5122

8 Zach - Pirates 5105

9 Chris - Indians 5080

10 Chris - Red Sox 5049

11 Bubba2u - Cardinals 5021

12 Matt - Orioles 4793

13 John - Braves 4783

14 Frank- Dodgers 4725

15 Greg - Colt 45's 4675

16 randy - athletics 4325

17 Frank - Angels 4254

18 Dustin - Tigers 4004

19 Rod - Reds 3847

20 Dave-Senators 3522

The Yankees have shave 150 points off the Twins lead over the past 5 weeks. Sorry, but there's not enough time and the Twins should coast in. The Giants have used up all their innings and are done for the year. Watch them slip a notch or two in the standings.

The Twins have exerted mastery over the field and have held onto first place now for at least 3 weeks. However, please Twins, do not thank me for any kind words on the message board. I find it not in the best interests of gamesmanship. When one thanks for kind words, the are often disturbed by barbs. Anyway, the big 5 starters have cooled a bit with a 10-9 record, and 61 runs in 147 innings (3.73). The bullpen, though, has been scintillating, allowing just 3 runs in 35.1 innings (0.76). Throw in a 2-0 record, and 19 straight saves with no blows, and you get a winning formula. Pat Burrell has 96 points in his last 27 games (3.6), Berkman 95 in 25, Rolen 87 in 27, Wilson 86 in 27, Mo Vaughn 85 in 26, and Sosa a "measly" 68 in 23. How do these numbers stack up? Well, that’s 517 points in 155 games. That is what the top players produce in a season. The Twins over the past 6 months have offensively been performing like a "great player" at 6 of their positions over the past month. The bullpen has been unconscious. The starters have been good. The team has been super.

Well, the Giants continue to exert their dominance as they have opened a 155 point lead over the Twins. Andruw Jones, Jacques Jones, and Bobby Abreu have been on fire over the past month and are leading the offense. Matt Clement and Jon Lieber have really righted themselves to lead the pitching. Julio Jorge was picked up from the scrap heap and has been outstanding in relief. Their +22 WL record is 10 better than the league's next best. However, their 775 innings is more than halfway home, and the Giants could start accumulating pitching points in early September at this rate. This may be the reason why the Giants have built up such a big league.

We are allowed 1450 innings per season. We should be at about 600 innings to be on pace for innings at the end of the season. The Giants extra 175 innings has got to be good for about an extra 200 points, and thus we have a much closer race than it seems.

1 Bryan - Giants 2632.00

2 Scott - Twins 2477.67

3 Steve - Mets 2420.67

4 Zach - Pirates 2335.67

5 Matt - Orioles 2271.33

6 Brent - Yankees 2250.33

7 Chris - Red Sox 2245.00

8 Darrin - Cubs 2182.00

9 Bubba2u - Cardinals 2163.67

10 Dan-White Sox 2141.00

11 Andy - Phillies 2100.67

12 Greg - Colt 45's 2016.00

13 Chris - Indians 1983.00

14 Rod - Reds 1947.33

15 Frank- Dodgers 1939.33

16 Frank - Angels 1863.33

17 randy - athletics 1852.67

18 Dustin - Tigers 1817.00

19 John - Braves 1798.33

20 Dave-Senators 1374.67

The Giants have taken back the top spot and built up a big 70 lead over the Twins, hanging tough in second. However, the team making the biggest noise has been Brent's Yankees, who have now climbed from 13^th a month ago, to 8^th two weeks ago, to 5^th. Over the past month the Yanks have put up 983 points, while for example the leading Giants have put up 877. Another month like that and Brent will be knocking on the leader's door, whoever it may be. On the final day of this report his pitchers went a combined: 19.2 Inn, 4ER, 4Wins, and 1Save - a HUGE Night!!! Oswalt and Zito both had great games for wins, and now are a combined 12-5 and 2.90 ERA. They have just traded CC Sabathia, their big lefty sophomore for the currently DL'd Pudge Rodriguez. I-Rod should be back a couple of days after the trade goes down. If healthy the rest of the season then they can make a serious run at the top. The Yanks also gave up on Carlos Hernandez, who looks like he'll never become the good hitting backstop they had hoped.

1 Bryan - Giants 2046.00

2 Scott - Twins 1977.33

3 Zach - Pirates 1950.67

4 Steve - Mets 1947.67

5 Brent - Yankees 1916.33

6 Matt - Orioles 1875.00

7 Chris - Red Sox 1855.00

8 Bubba2u - Cardinals 1790.33

9 Rod - Reds 1702.33

10 Greg - Colt 45's 1692.67

11 Dan-White Sox 1680.33

12 Darrin - Cubs 1665.33

13 Andy - Phillies 1609.00

14 randy - athletics 1547.00

15 Frank- Dodgers 1538.33

16 Chris - Indians 1535.67

17 Frank - Angels 1505.67

18 Dustin - Tigers 1500.00

19 John - Braves 1437.33

20 Dave-Senators 1156.00

We have a new leader! The NEW Twins led by GM Scott have wrestled the lead from perennial giant the Giants. Sammy Sosa and the pitchers have led the way. Joel Pinero is proving his rookie season was no fluke, Roy Halladay is realizing his vast potential, Odalis Perez is good, Maddux is just getting warmed up, and Kevin Brown has yet to get going. The starters are 18-8. Nen and Mike Williams have been scintillating in the bullpen with 29 saves in 31 opps. Joining Sammy in the hit parade is Lance Berkman who looks long term bonafide, a rejuvenated Darrin Erstad, and surprising Eric Hinske. This team looks like in will hang in the race for the whole season.

Brent and the Yankees made a bold move from 13^th to 8^th. While Oswalt and Zito are establishing themselves and future dominant pitchers, it's Josh Fogg who has stolen the spotlight with a scintillating 5-1, 2.36 record. Sabathia and Wolf are struggling a bit. By the way, what was C.C. doing at that hotel at that time of the morning?

1 Scott - Twins 1616.67

2 Bryan - Giants 1578.33

3 Steve - Mets 1557.00

4 Zach - Pirates 1538.00

5 Bubba2u - Cardinals 1503.67

6 Matt - Orioles 1478.00

7 Chris - Red Sox 1393.00

8 Brent - Yankees 1387.33

9 Greg - Colt 45's 1342.00

10 Andy - Phillies 1335.00

11 Rod - Reds 1333.33

12 Dan-White Sox 1322.00

13 Darrin - Cubs 1303.67

14 Frank - Angels 1266.33

15 Chris - Indians 1244.00

16 randy - athletics 1199.67

17 Frank- Dodgers 1189.67

18 John - Braves 1150.67

19 Dustin - Tigers 1145.67

20 Dave-Senators 936.0

 Games Ending May 5, 2002

While the Giants still maintain the lead, it was a wild two weeks. The Mets took over the lead for a few days. Now they lament the last few days with the following quote from Steve, "The Mets are on a freefall... Down to 3rd just this weekend after enjoying a near 50 point (can't remember for sure) lead." Of course, their problems are only a mere drop compared to the Phillies woes. Andy sobbed, "I had an entire week where I didn't get more than 50 points. I'm sure it was under that, and it is very possible that I got negative points for the week. Hence my moving from 3rd-5th place to 14th place." Andy actually got 290 points for the two-week period.

On the bright side the Twins have made a bold move to the top, sliding into second. Leading the way is Sammy and Lance Berkman. One expects Sosa to be slamming the ball like he's been doing, and Berkman is showing that last year was no fluke. The Twins should hang tough the rest of the year.

The Giants had over a 100 point lead for much of the past two week period, however the gap has closed considerably this past weekend. The Cardiinals have made the biggest move and now find themselves just 32 points behind. Vladimir Guerrero led the way with a 36 point week. Cliff Floyd has started the new week, not reflected in these stats with a fine 7 point night, giving him 33 in the past 8 days and 5 games. Eric Gagne recorded 3 saves and gives him 7 on the young season.

Colt's bullpen = 4-1 WL; 10-2 Sv-BS; 70.2 ip -18 er - 2.29 ERA = 164 pts. Scott Sulllivan and Paul Shuey lead the way with a combined 20 innings and 1 run allowed while each are 1-0.

The Giants have run out to a 50 point lead after the season's first week. They have done it from the bat and the mound. Morris and Colon are a scintillating 4-0 and have allowed just 4 runs in 28.2 innings. Jacques Jones leads the hit parade with 26 points. Bobby Abreu also cracked the 20 point club, while Andruw Jones and Bobby Abreu were right behind. Toby Hall has already emerged as a rookie force, while the infield is solid with Giles, Ramirez, and
Aurilia. This is a strong club.

Colts bullpen - 21.0 innings, 2 runs, 1-0-2-0 (W-L-Sv-BS) = 58 points.