Following a truly exciting World Series and a tumultuous off-season that threatened to contract two teams, it was more of the same in the American League East marked by absolute mediocrity of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, absolute disappointment of the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees splurging on overpaid talents to win another division title.
In all fairness to the Yankees, their high-price acquisitions, such as Raul Mondesi, Rondell White and John Vander Wal, were far less than scintillating. However, one Jason Giambi, who came to New York in the off-season via free agency and one Alfonso Soriano, who came one home run short of the 40-40 club and established himself as the premiere second baseman in the league, carried the Yankees offense.
Yet another strong season from seasoned pitchers Roger Clemens and David Wells, the latter leading the Yankees in wins and earned run average, also helped the Yankees to another division title with a 103-58 record, tying the Oakland Athletics for the best record in the majors, and 10 games ahead of the division rival Red Sox.
Boston, who for the 84th time came in with the mantra "This Is The Year" and at times has been the best team in the majors, struggled with mediocrity in the second half of the season as they fell out of the post-season hunt.
Although Derek Lowe, armed with a no-hitter, became the second best pitcher in the league, and although Pedro Martinez stayed healthy and dominant, the pitching staff fell apart.
Despite strong performances at the plate from Nomar Garciaparra, who missed most of last season with injuries, third baseman Shea Hillenbrand, who became an all-star in his sophomore season, AL Batting Champion Manny Ramirez and the midseason acquisition Cliff Floyd, the team struggled with Ramirez out for a significant part of the season with an injury and an atrocious performance from Tony Clark, who hit .207 and three home runs to follow up his All-Star season in Detroit last year.
In the AL Central, Cleveland, for the first time since the early-'90s, was out of contention early in the season, prompting the management to enter the "rebuilding phase," trading ace Bartolo Colon to Montreal Expos for prospects and reportedly shopping franchise slugger and a free-agent-to-be Jim Thome.
The Chicago White Sox were equally disappointing this season, after coming into the season as consensus choice to win the division. Despite the hot performance of their newest superstar Magglio Ordonez and an emerging slugger Paul Konerko, the White Sox' campaign was affected by Kenny Lofton's dramatic cool down after a hot April and the worst full-season performance by a healthy Frank Thomas of his career.
The story of the year in the division, or rather in all of the AL, was the almost-contracted Minnesota Twins winning the division, not by a couple games, but by 13.5 games, proving that last-year's almost-there season was not a fluke, and also providing a perfect antithesis to the New York Yankees and another call for Bud Selig's resignation.
Torii Hunter (.289 BA, 29 HR, 23 SB) and Jacque Jones (.300 BA, 27 HR, 85 RBI) were the emerging superstars among a crop of bargain basement performers such as catcher A.J. Pierzynski, Cristian Guzman and David Ortiz. "Everyday Eddie" Guardado set a team record with 45 saves for a solid-if-unspectacular pitching staff.
Much like its counterpart in the senior circuit, the AL West was by far the most exciting division in the league, three of the four teams vying for the division title into the last month of play.
The victim of this race was the Seattle Mariners, who followed on their record-tying 116-win season with a hot start and a four-homerun game by Mike Cameron, cooled down as their superstar, Ichiro Suzuki, suffered cold streaks several times during the season, unable to follow up on his spectacular MVP-winning rookie season.
The Anaheim Angels were another pleasant surprise of the season. Behind Jarrod Washburn (18-6, 3.15) emerging as an ace and Garret Anderson (.306, 29 HR, 123 RBIs) having a career year, the Angels had a quiet but an excellent season that no one could foresee in the preseason.
It was the Oakland Athletics, however, that grabbed the headlines throughout the year. The A's started slow, as they did last year, but became the hottest team in the major league, setting the AL record for wins in a row with 20, climbing to the top of the hotly contested AL West division.
Shortstop Miguel Tejada fully propelled himself into the ranks of the elite shortstops such as Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra by hitting .307 with 34 homeruns and 130 RBIs, filling the void left by slugger Jason Giambi.
Free-agent signing Billy Koch, in his first year with the A's, set his personal best by saving 44 games, filling the gap left by the departed Jason Isringhausen to close out the games won by the best 1-2-3 starting rotation in the league, Barry Zito (23-5, 2.75 ERA, .218 OBP), Tim Hudson (15-9, 2.98 ERA, 1.25 WHIP) and Mark Mulder (19-7, 3.47, 1.14 WHIP).
AL Playoff Preview
American League Divisional Series
Oakland Athletics vs. Minnesota Twins
This series should serve as a lesson to the George Steinbrenners and Tom Hickses out there: it is possible to win without spending too much. Both teams have a low payroll and are both division winners. However, in the playoffs, only one team can survive, and that team is the Athletics. The 1-2-3 punch of Zito, Hudson and Mulder is more than any team needs to win and more than any opposition can handle.
Athletics in 4.
New York Yankees vs. Anaheim Angels
Unfortunately, the feel-good Angels just don't stand a chance. The Yankees pitching staff is both talented and experienced, and Roger Clemens is exactly the kind of a pitcher who thrives in these situations. The Angels may eke out a win with a superior bullpen performance and gutsy plays by Adam Kennedy and David Eckstein, but it won't be enough to stop the Yankees.
Yankees in 4.
American League Championship Series
Yankees vs. Athletics
This should be an exciting series. Old-blood (Joe Torre, Rocket, Boomer, and Bernie, along with a history of excellence in Pinstripes) facing a team full with young, ambitious, and talented players (Zito, Hudson, Mulder, Tejada, and Eric Chavez) led by proven winners such as David Justice. Although it's incredibly hard to count out the Yankees in October, the Yankee Mystique is as broken as Luis Gonzalez' bat. The young Athletics have something to prove, and they are set out to prove it.
Athletics in 6.
