Also of note: The Dodgers are leading the league in attendance and it's really not close. They're averaging 49,235. The Yankees are 2nd with 45,667 and the Angels are 3rd with 40,601.

14 of their 24 games have been at home, with a three-game set in ARI this week.

They don't take an East Coast road trip until June, and don't visit the Marlins or Braves until after the ASB. It's the ultimate "stay as close as possible until Bonds returns" schedule.

Re: #5 - It's a covert MLB sched making operation entitled "keep the Giants close so ESPN pays any attention to the NL West."

To the Giants' credit, they should be getting destroyed, but they're not; and as soon as they got M. Alou back, they lost Benitez.

San Fran has scored 3 less runs than LA thru 24 games.

Did anyone (honestly) believe that Atlanta would be 2nd in the majors with a 2.97 ERA? Is everyone as surprised as I am at Colorado's MLB worst 6.37 ERA?

Not good news for Red Sox Nation when you add in the factoid Gammons mentioned in his column that the Sox bullpen's opponents' OPS is .838, worst in the American League.

Speaking of KC, the Royals are on track to win 45 games this year, which would put them square at fifth all-time worst record.

How's this for league parity: in the past three seasons (including this one, assuming the Royals remain on pace), we have seen 3 teams crack the top (?) 20 worst teams of all time.

Adrian Beltre's current line: .248 BA, .274 OBP, 2 home runs. Manager attributes it to "adjusting to a new league." Yeah, just like Richie Sexson. Or Vlad Guerrero last year, or Gary Sheffield.

Paul LoDuca's current line: .352 BA, .420 OBP, 1 home run.

Shawn Green's: .271 BA, .339 OBP, 3 HR.

Alex Cora's: .255 BA, .296 OBP, 1 HR, only 1 walk.

Steve Finley's: .149 BA, .227 OBP, 4 HR.

Juan Encarnacion's: .288 BA, .380 OBP, 4 HR.

Koyie Hill's: .182 BA, .300 OBP, 0 HR.

Now, of course, it's just a lame excuse, possibly the lamest excuse in baseball. With the advent of interleague play, free agency, many more spring exhibitions, and a single all-MLB umpiring crew, "switching leagues" is no longer any different than simply switching teams is. But people continue to use it as a crutch...

The Giants are batting Jason Ellison at leadoff now. Ray Durham has been exiled to the #6 slot most of the time. Michael Tucker still has a job. Perhaps Brian Sabean was a big fan of "L.A. Law" and is confused.

Ellison does have a .500 OBP, but I doubt that's going to last long.

After 20 minutes, the only scandal was this: Justine got accepted to Dartmouth, but Family Ties producers wouldn't adjust her schedule so that she could go.

I made a prediction when the O's traded for Sosa that he would most likely end up with between 25 and 30 homers this season. So far, that's about what he's on pace for.

He also said she was really nice.

Since making a stance adjustment late last June, he's hit at a .398 clip (and that's in 480 at bats... about 2/3rds of the length of an average season).

Ichiro has a reputation for being a relatively slow starter, and heating up as the season goes along. In seasons prior to this one, he's averaged .277 for April. Right now, in this current season, he's sitting at .346

To repeat: we M's fans think Ichiro may have a legitimate shot at .400 this year.

(You can read more about this at:
http://ussmariner.com/?p=2482)