2008 Woodie Awards
MLB Came Hot Out of the Oven Part 1
Bryan Fogle Sports Columnist
Issue date: 4/14/05 Section: Sports
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Both with records of 5-2, they join the Atlanta Braves atop the charts for best record in the league. Yes, it is only a week into a long season, but I'm sorry to say that both the New York Yankees, and those pesky World Champion (it still hurts to say that) Boston Red Sox are both 3-4 and reside at the bottom of the AL East.
Beyond the Blue Jays and White Sox as teams who have come out of the gate quickly, there are a few other positive surprises. You need look no further then the AL East to find two of these surprises. Both the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Devil Rays are 3-3 and playing some very good baseball.
Baltimore just came off a win of their weekend series against the Yankees and the Devil Rays are coming off a win in their weekend series against the Oakland A's. The other AL team that has shown me they are playing for something this season is the Detroit Tigers. With some solid offense lead by Dmitri Young and his three opening day homeruns, Ivan Rodriguez and his .333 batting average, and some timely hitting by Carlos Guillen, the Tigers are no joke this season.
In the NL my biggest surprises are the Philadelphia Phillies and the Milwaukee Brewers. In what looks like it could be a breakout year for Philly left fielder Pat Burrell, he has already four big flies and leads the league in that category.
They have also gotten some good pitching from their starters and Jon Lieber has continued his good form from last year with the Yankees and is off to a quick 2-0 start.
Finally, the Brewers. Off to a 4-2 start and first place in the NL Central, the Brewers are hitting the ball well as a team, and have two players who are batting near .400 or better (Russell Branyan and Damian Miller). Just Sunday night Branyan hit a homerun that was estimated at 465 feet.
And for the biggest flops... yes folks, the New York Mets. Now with a bigger payroll then last year, they truly are the worst team money can buy. At 2-5, they have the second worst record in the majors, only behind the 1-5 Colorado Rockies. I feel sorry for Willie Randolph, what did he get himself into?
The biggest surprise player so far is the Cincinnati Reds' Joe Randa. After a walk-off homerun against the Mets in the season opener, the next day he went out and promptly hit a grand slam off the Mets. In a sense, the Reds' offense is the big story, as Adam Dunn has again hit a homerun that has been estimated at over 500 feet.
All in all the season has been great so far and with a whole 155 games left, there is much more room for amazing plays and more heroes and goats.