Yanks, Mets headed towards Subway Series "'

Commentary by Nick Luchko

Let the encore begin.

Dodgers making almost as much as the entire Twins team, the future looks very cold in Minnesota. staff writer AL West

The 1999 baseball season will begin this week with ex0 pectations to be as great as last year. Throughout the I 998 season, many records were shattered and a newfound interest in the game was seen throughout America.

Once again baseball can be known as "America's Pastime" without having shame from previous years. Here is a look at the last season of the millenium.

American League }l:ast

The New York Yankees seem to ,15e the favorite once again; especially with the acquisition of pitcherRoger Clemens. Now, Clemens, a five-time Cy Young awardwinner, leads one of the best pitching rotations in the game.

The offense will once again be oQCof the stronp as well, with the resigning of Scott Bmsiusand Bernie Williams in the off-season.

David Wells, Pat Hentgen and Jo~ lfeiiltqn W the Toronto Blue Jays' pitching staff wpile Carlos Delgado anchor a lineup that-• '~

The most underachieving team M tht Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles spe • sign Albert Belle, Will Clark and place Rafael Palmeiro, Roberto

The new Orioles put up the same nu players who left.

The Boston Red Sox lost big thi Not only did they lose Mo Vau place him. They added Jose Offerm star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra. The pitching staff is lead by Pedro Tom Gordon.

In their second season, the Tampa B continue to build on last year's success. Canseco to add much-needed power to the low team in baseball. The pitching, however, needs to • in order for the Rays to be competitive.

AL Central

The Cleveland Indians had 12 former all-stars o opening day roster. The lineup features Jim Thome, Ramirez, Kenny Lofton, Sandy Alomar and quired oberto Alomar. Th and Gregg Jefferies. ony ark, d Damion Easley to make the offense st. is hurting right now. That is because Frank , the Chicago White Sox, have gone down e worst part about this is that the pitching, whic a a 5.22 era last season, is the most positive aspect o e team.

The Kansas City Royals lost more than they gained in the off-season.

The departure of Dean Palmer and Jose Offerman via free agency will hurt an already depleted offense. The Royals also lost their No. 1 starter, Tim Belcher, to the Angels and received nothing for it.

Once a prized organization, the Minnesota Twins are now the worst team in baseball. With Kevin Brown of the deals and draft picks, the Marlins have a young staff that includes Li van Hernandez and Alex Fernandez.

The AnaheimAngels have improved big with the signing of Mo Vaughn, who adds a power hitter and leader to a club who already has a variety of star players.

The Tau don't have the pitching that they would have liked to acquire this past off-season. They still have 1998 surprise Aaron Sele, but not much after that. Juan Gonz.alez and Rafael Palmerio lead a strong line-up.

The Seattle Mariners have maybe the two best .allaround players in all of the majors in Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez. However, they are not winning the pennant this year because of one thing: No Pitching.

They are not ready for the division crown just yet, but-the OaklM A's future looks good. Seven of their openi~-day starterswill be fromrheirfarmsystem and Eric Chavezis a favorite for rookie-of-tbe•year.

NL Central heim Angels - West • Toronto Blue Jays- Wtld Card

The Houston Astros have the division to lose in what will be the last year that they play at the Astrodome.

To make it to the playoffs this year they will have to overcome the loss of Randy Johnson to free agency and Moises Alou to injury. Fortunately, the "Killer Bs" are still intact with Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, who are still dangerous.

Mark McGwire is the St. Louis Cardinals. His 70 home runs brought baseball back to being fun again. However, the Cardinals will need some pitching if they are to make it to the playoffs. The always-controversial J.D. Drew will be tbe odds-on favorite for this year's Rookie of the Year award.

The fmclnnati Reds are the most unrecognizable team this ye--ar.There were a numberof trades and free agent pickups, which should boost the Reds'fan base.

Greg Vaughn was brought in to help Bany Larkinboost the offense. Denny Neagle and Steve Averywerepicked up through trades to give the Reds a good one-two combination in the pitching rotation.

N.L.: N.Y. Mets over Atlanta A.L.: N.Y. Yankees over Cleveland

Yankees over Mets in 6 games al League East g staff of Greg Maddux, Tom • wood make up one of all. ring from cancer.

The season ending injury to Kerry Wood kills the Chicago Cubs' hopes of winning anything this year. MVP Sammy Sosa will try to duplicate his 1998 campaign and will have backup in Mark Grace and Henry Rodriguez.

The Pittsburgh Pirates will try to boost their offense after acquiring OF Brant Brown and 3B Ed Sprague. Catcher Jason Kendell will lead off the lineup, a rarity in baseball.

The Milwaukee Brewers will try to win without much offense and a pitching staff that does scare the opponents. Jeremy Burnitz leads the offense while the Brew Crew will rely on Jim Abbott to turn their pitching around.

NL West

The Los Angeles Dodgers will try to win their first playoff game since their 1988 World Series championship. The Dodgers offered Kevin Brown a $105 million, sevenyear contract and he took it. Chan Ho Park and Carlos Perez offer him support. They also picked up C Todd Hundley in the off-season and still have Gary Sheffield and Raul Mondesi to drive in runs.

ladelphia Phillies are young red a contender. Curt Shilling leads a s playoff berth ,Rickey Hendership first new, with Chad Ogea, Carlton Lower and Pau bullpen has been revamped with the additions of Pau jaric and Jeff Brantley.

The offense is lead by Scott Rolen, Bobby Abreu and Doug Glanville, who make up one of the best young cores of players in the league.

Why Felipe Alou turned down offers elsewhere to stay with the Montreal Expos baffled many people.

This was the first off-season the Expos kept all of their young stars and did not let them slip away. Rightfielder Vladimir Guerrero is being compared to the late Roberto Clemente.

From first to worst was the story of the Florida Marlins during the 1998 season.

They acquired a 54-108 record last year, but the rain clouds might lead to sunshine once again. From a variety of he Colorado Rockies have a great power nucleus in Walker, Vinny Castilla, Dante Bichette and Todd Helmanager Jim Leyland needs to find some pitching arryl Kile is their only effective starter with bles. ohnson, Todd StottleF Steve Finley put the s in a position to win in the next couple of years.

Can the San Francisco Giants make it three years in a row to prove the critics wrong? They still have Barry Bonds, but how much longer can he hold up at the age of 35? Shawn Estes needs to regain his all-star form at the itcher position.

The San Diego Padres look to be the Florida Marlins of 1998 by going from first to worst in one year. Gone are Kevin Brown, Greg Vaughn, and Steve Finley and Ken Caminiti, but still riding tall is future Hall of Farner Tony Gwynn, who needs 72 hits to reach 3,000.