|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
World of Oz Rockies reach summit with speed and defense
Posted: Wednesday June 21, 2000 02:10 PM
Coming into this season, the Colorado Rockies made a brave move to overhaul their roster and change their playing philosophy. It's worked, maybe even better than they hoped. Tom Goodwin is on pace to steal more bases than the Rockies did all of last season, and he's a big reason Colorado leads the NL lead in fielding percentage. Even though the Rockies are in the middle of the pack in home runs, they're first in the league in runs scored. Goodwin told me being forced to play without Larry Walker for big chunks of time has brought the team closer together. He says the Rockies make sure they do the little things on offense, and concentrate on good defense because they know that's what wins games.
Professional hitterAt 37, Edgar Martinez is putting together what could be his best season at the plate. Finally out of Ken Griffey Jr. 's shadow, Martinez is even getting early consideration for American League MVP. He told me he may not get many votes because he's a DH, but just look what Martinez has done over the last five years. He's the only guy in baseball to average at least .320, 25 home runs, 100 RBIs and 35 doubles per season since 1995. Only Dante Bichette and Albert Belle even come close.
Supply and demandWith Cleveland and Cincinnati looking for rotation help as usual, and the Yankees and Braves looking for the first time in years it's shaping up as a seller's market for starting pitching. When you consider Sterling Hitchcock is out for the year and Andy Ashby has pitched so poorly, the Orioles may be sitting on a gold mine in Scott Erickson and Mike Mussina . Still, Baltimore's vice president for baseball operations, Syd Thrift, told me he won't make any deal that would hurt the O's in the short term, because he thinks his team can still contend. Ozzie Smith, a 15-time All-Star, is a baseball analyst for CNN/Sports Illustrated and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
