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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 25, 1998)
Sports Wednesday • Marchii Furtick iiiiMiiiiimn msm - ' ■mwHin Continued from Page 7. Second baseman Eric Young was acquired in 1997 from Colorado, and Jose Vizcaino was signed this winter to play shortstop. The NL Central is definitely the division with the most question-marked teams that could make the trip to the postseason, but the West will be the most competitive divi sion in baseball. All four teams, excluding the first-year Diamondbacks, has made it to the playoffs in the past three years. But they are a combined 1 -15 in the postseason in that span. Important Additions: SS Jose Vizcaino. Big Losses: RHP Tom Candiotti; OF Otis Nixon. Projected Record: 88-74; 1st in NLWest. SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS 90-72; 1st In NL West San Francisco completed its amazing season with a quick exit from the playoffs. But the Giants showed a lot of heart last season, holding off the rival Dodgers and winning the division. The Giants will have to repeat that feat without some of the key components from last year’s team. Stan Javier takes over for Glenallen Hill in left field, Jose Vizcaino is gone to L.A. and Rob Nen will fill Rod Beck’s closer’s shoes. But any team with the amount of talent the Giants had last year that won a division with Barry Bonds having the mediocre sea son he had (by his standards) has a chance to win again. If Bonds has one of his typical years in 1998, the Giants will be around in September in the playoff hunt. The Giants’ bottom three members of the pitching rotation will have to keep them in the race until more help can be acquired as it was last season. But if Orel Hershiser can drop his career-high ERA from last sea son, the Giants will contend all year. Important Additions: 3B Charlie Hayes; RHP Orel Hershiser; RHP Robb Nen. 1998 GIANTS AVG. HR RBI SB C-Brian Johnson .279 11 27 0 1 B-J.T. Snow .281 28 104 6 2B-Jeff Kent .250 29 121 11 3B-Charlie Hayes* .258 11 53 3 SS-Rich Aurilia* .275 5 19 1 LF-Barry Bonds .291 40 101 37 CF-Darryl Hamilton .270 5 43 15 RF-Stan Javier .286 8 50 25 SUB-Bill Mueller .292 7 44 4 ‘Hayes with Yankees; Aurilia in 46 games with Giants W-L ERA IP LHP Shawn Estes 19-5 3.18 201 LHP Kirk Rueter 13-6 3.45 190.2 RHP Orel Hershiser* 14-6 4.47 195.1 RHP Mark Gardner 12-9 4.29 180.1 RHP Osvaldo Fernandez 3-4 4.95 56.1 W-L SV ERA RHP Robb Nen* 9-3 35 3.85 RHP Julian Tavarez 6-4 0 3.87 ‘Hershiser with Indians; Nen with Marlins Big Losses: LHP Wilson Alvarez; RHP Rod Beck; OF Glenallen Hill; SS Jose Vizcaino. Projected Record: 84-78; 2nd in NLWest. SAN DIEGO PADRES 76-86; 4th In NL West The Padres were the biggest flop of the Na tional League last year. From a division cham pionship to last place is not very impressive. But San Diego has rearmed its pitching staff and plans to battle down to the wire for the division crown it lost so pathetical ly last season. Kevin Brown’s place on the team make it an immediate contender for the NLWest ti tle. The addition also lets Joey Hamilton and Alan Ashby relinquish the role of staff ace neither of them wanted last season. The players were there, they were the same ones that won the division in 1996, but the pitching suffered. So aside from the addition of Brown, the Padres made anoth er big move on the mound, except this signee will never pitch in a game again. San Diego lured former All-Star Dave Stewart out of an office position and into the dugout as the new pitching coach. Stewart should bring some intensity to a starting staff that allowed almost five runs a game. The Padres probably will be out of the race in late August. If that looks like it may happen, don’t be surprised if San Diego un loads Brown to a contender; he’ll be a free agent after the season and will have too hefty a price tag for the Padres. Important Additions: RHP Kevin Brown; OF James Mouton. BigLosses:OFTreyBeamon; IBDerrekLee. Projected Record: 82-80; 3rd in NLWest. Rockies just need to come up with nine or ten guys for the last two spots in the rotation. Without Atlanta’s pitching staff, the Rockies will still have to power their way into the postseason. And without the Big Cat anchoring the lineup, Colorado will not have enough pop in its bats to be around for the playoffs. 1998 ROCKIES HR C-Kirt Manwaring .226 1 27 1 1 B-Todd Helton* .280 5 11 0 2B-Mike Lansing* .281 20 70 11 3B-Vinny Castilla .304 40 113 2 SS-Neifi Perez .291 5 31 4 LF-Dante Bichette .308 26 118 6 CF-Ellis Burks .290 32 82 7 RF-Larry Walker .366 49 130 33 SUB-JeffReed .297 1 7 47 2 'Helton In 35 games with Rockies; lansing with Expos W-L ERA IP RHP Darryl Kile 19-7 2.57 255.2 RHP Pedro Astacio* 5-1 4.25 48.2 RHP John Thomson 7-9 4.71 166 1 RHP Roger Bailey 9-10 4.29 191 RHPJamey Wnght 8-12 6.25 149.2 W-L SV ERA RHP Jerry Dipoto 5-3 16 4.70 RHP Curt Leskanic 4-0 2 5.55 *Astocio in 7 games with Rockies Williams and I .any Walker)s tionomiral numbers.And(W new premier power hitterinS McGwire, who gets to playir elevated parks now. Arizona, as Colorado didr ed not to wait on the youngs system to develop and signesa for its inaugural season. Buie; didn’t bring in these kindso! spend this kind of money.]} backs invested 10 yearsandi Matt Williams and Jay Belh other th bonus oi J| tion the $7 million spent toei Buck Schowalter’s services fo: But the bottom line is pitd: zona has no depth. It will|)e ; runs, but won’t be able toss with its pitching, even witi friendly new park. Important Additions: IF derson; SS Jay Bell; OF De Matt Williams. Big l x >sses: 1.11 PTom Maitin Projected Record: 72-90:: 1998 DIAMONDBK 1998 PADRES AVG. HR RBI SB C-Carlos Hernandez* .313 3 14 0 1 B-Wally Joyner .327 ,13 83 3 2B-Quilvio Veras .265 3 45 33 3B-Ken Caminiti .290 26 90 11 SS-Chris Gomez .253 5 54 5 LF-Greg Vaughn .216 18 57 7 CF-Steve Finley .261 28 92 15 RF-Tony Gwynn .372 17 119 12 SUB-Ruben Rivera* .250 1 6 1 ‘Hernandez in 50 games with Padres; Rivera in 17 games with Padres W-L ERA IP RHP Kevin Brown* 16-8 2.69 237.1 RHP Alan Ashby 9-11 4.13 200.2 RHP Joey Hamilton 12-7 4.25 192.2 LHP Sterling Hitchcock 10-11 5.20 161 RHP Pete Smith 7-6 4.81 118 W-L SV ERA RHP Trevor Hoffman 6-4 37 2.66 RHP Marc Kroon* 0-1 0 7.15 ‘Brown with Marlins; Kroon in 12 games with Padres COLORADO ROCKIES 83-79; 3rd in NL West The Rockies have consistently tried to hit their way into the playoffs since their inau gural season. But this year it seems Colorado may be taking a litde different approach. They let two-time defending National League RBI champion Andres Galarraga take his services to Atlanta in the off-season and replaced his contract with former As tros ace Darryl Kile. Why in the world a pitcher would choose to go to Colorado and bloat his ERA remains a mystery. Maybe the glare off the snow disillusioned him, or maybe it was the ridiculous run support the Rockies can generate that made him salivate. Whatever the case, Kile will help solidify a rotation that generally has a revolving door policy with its last three starters; now the Important Additions: OF Curtis Good win; RHP Darryl Kile; 2B Mike Lansing. Big Losses: IB Andres Galarraga; OF Quinton McCracken; SS Walt Weiss. Projected Record: 81-81; 4th in NLWest. THE INAUGURAL SEASON DM&ggD ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS This may be the year for Roger Maris’ 61 home-run record to fall, due in part by the league’s most recent expansion which in cludes the Arizona Diamondbacks. The new Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix has similar dimensions to the friendly fences of Baltimore’s Camden Yards, and with an elevation second only to Colorado’s mile-high mash-palace, the power hitters of the NLWest (namely Mike Piazza. Matt A High Desert W-L W-L Si ith A Tampa (Yankees Student Body President / Yell Leader Forum Meet Your Candidate. March 25, 1998 4r 12:30 4r MSC Flagroom presented by Student Government Association Election Commission & MSC Political Forum http://pf.tamu.edu The views expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of MSC Political Forum, the MSC, or Texas A&M University. Persons with disabilities please call 845-1515 to inform us of your special needs. We request notification three (3) working days prior to the event to enable us to assist you to the best of our abilities. OPEN DOOR The Vice President for Student Affairs Office wants you to be aware of our open door policy. Our office is here to help you. Please feel free to come by 10th Floor Rudder Tower or call 845-4728 http://vpsa.taimi.edu |) TVaiUk !\ 7^iu i $ 15.0 822-621 In & Out in SOf 2707 s. a, In Hi Tech Poind* :« ) GLOBAL FEMINISM ON FILM "The F-word: A Video About Feminism" "Beyond Beijing" A Film of the 1995 UN Fourth World Conference on Women Tonight 6:30-8pm MSC 201 Presented by Dangerous Liaisons <& MSC Film Society "Living the Legacy of Women's Rights" Coming this Thursday... A Women's Week Town Hall Meeting @ noon, Rudder 601 /bts r es KICKOFF CELEBRATION! at Barnes & Noble Saturday, March 28 1-3 p.m. Pick up a sckedute 0$ events, FREE coffee and refreshments'! sign up to win books and festival t-skittM and enjoif performances by the English 412 Honors Shakespeare class! N Sunday, /Idarck 29 Kenneth Branaghs Hamlet with lecture by Dr. Paul Parrish 2 p.m. Biochemistry Building Room 107 sponsored by MSC Film Society /Idonday, / // lda t ic\\ JO ^ Did Shakespeare really write Shakespeare? ^ lecture by Joseph Sobran, Dr author of Alias Shakespeare C' Rudder Theater ra 7 p- Keep an eye out for future announcements of Festival events! ce