seer stephenson picks the a l east having run completely out of time i ve got to get my prophesies and predictions for the a l out qualifications one of the worse finishes in last year s prediction contest al east baltimore orioles why the orioles well i pondered long and hard and it all came down to this the blue jays are going the wrong direction can t bring myself to pick the yankees milwaukee was a fluke indians aren t ready to contend red sox were bad last year and didn t get any better detroit s pitching will be the new definition of replacement level but you don t really think the orioles will win do you no as a matter of fact i can t see any team in the american league winning either division on paper with the possible exception of the yankees who i hate but some body has to win so i pick the orioles you don t really think that brady anderson is going to repeat do you no i m basing the orioles prediction on the expectation of big years from cal ripken and glenn davis glenn davis that s insane yes so without further ado strong points hoiles ripken some years olson getting rid of billy ripken weak points segui may start valenzuela the original something may be the fifth starter oates puts his best hitters at the bottom of the lineup does anybody else think that might be a calculated maneuver to minimize the effect of a slumping ripken if you can t move ripken out of the spot why not move the rest of the line up would be a good sign glenn davis wins comeback player of the year would be a bad sign in a tight pennant race team trades for pecota obprediction the streak continues harold reynolds leads the team in caught stealing new york yankees strong points abbot key perez could have best pitching in american league boggs should improve on hayes weak points mattingly still considered best hitter the steinbrenner factor the yankees lost to the mets can wholesale changes be far behind never count on rookie pitchers i e wickman millitello to win a division would be a good sign boggs hits over would be a bad sign howe gets arrested again obprediction mattingly won t top a ops toronto blue jays strong points management willing to make big deals management has eerie power to convince other teams its prospects are not suspects olerud guzman alomar weak points the jackson for bell trade has shaken my faith in gillick losing stewart may hurt rotation that s really a bad sign no one in the outfield can get on base pitching is thin behind guzman and ward would be a good sign jack morris considered cy young contender in august would be a bad sign club makes no major deals in august obprediction morris will post better era and whip totals than last year and have a losing record milwaukee brewers strong points pitching staff was exceptional last year weak points molitor gone surhoff at third why eldred can t keep it up would be a good sign listach and eldred play like last year would be bad sign bones plays like last year obprediction surhoff won t finish the year at third cleveland indians strong points baerga belle nagy weak points pitching staff thin losing olin really hurts starts felix fermin would be a good sign bielecki s era is consistent with his atlanta starts would be a bad sign ted power bullpen ace obprediction alomar will be back on the dl by the all star break boston red sox strong points clemens viola clemens detroit clemens weak points most incompetent gm in baseball key free agent signing andre dawson burks is gone hatcher in center would be a good sign rainouts in between clemens starts would be a bad sign clemens on the dl obprediction russell will make sox fans forget reardon interpret that how you will detroit tigers strong points tettleton phillips whitaker weak points if fielder keeps declining he ll be a shortstop this year worst rotation in baseball entirely replaced but not necessarily better this year could be very ugly would be a good sign cecil fielder deserving the mvp would be a bad sign cecil fielder not whining about deserving an mvp obprediction cecil won t lead the league in rbis one more division to go dale j stephenson steph cs uiuc edu baseball fanatic it is considered good to look wise especially when not overburdened with information j golden kimball
