2000 Baseball Roundup

Ebony, June, 2000

IN the world of Major League Baseball, the new millennium has brought about some significant changes. In the first big-league games ever played outside North America, the season's opener between the Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets took place in Tokyo; new stadiums opened in Detroit, Houston and San Francisco, and after 11 years in Seattle, Ken Griffey Jr. has proven that you can go home again and has taken his "All Century Team" talents to the Cincinnati Reds.

But the more things change, the more they remain the same. The New York Yankees are favored again to make it three World Series titles in a row, and as it has been the past two years, the fans' major focus will be on the home-run derby between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. However, that race will intensify now that Griffey is a National Leaguer and will be playing half of his games in homer-friendly Cinergy Field. "People put too much emphasis on home run races," Griffey says. "The bottom line is a championship, and that's all I'm looking for in Cincinnati."

On the managerial front, Don Baylor, a former "Manager of the Year" recipient during his tenure with the Colorado Rockies, is now the skipper of the Chicago Cubs, joining Chicago White Sox manager Jerry Manuel in a city that, surprisingly, has two minority managers. "When minority hiring is no longer news," Baylor says, "we'll know that we have made some major steps."

In the meantime, the inaugural season of the new century is under way. And the race is on to see who will be the rookies of the year, the MVPs and the Cy Young Award winners. But most want to see who will be the first to claim the World Series title in the new millennium.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Anaheim Angels

Garret Anderson Ken Hill Mo Vaughn

Chicago White Sox

James Baldwin Ray Durham Chris Singleton Frank Thomas

Baltimore Orioles

Harold Baines Albert Belle Delino DeShields Jerry Hairston Jr. Charles Johnson Wayne Kirby Derrick May Chuck McElroy Calvin Pickering

Boston Red Sox

Carl Everett Tom Gordon Tray O'Leary Darren Lewis Donnie Sadler

Cleveland Indians

David Justice Kenny Lofton

Detroit Tigers

Tony Clark Damion Easley

Kansas City Royals

Dermal Brown Jermaine Dye

Minnesota Twins

Latroy Hawkins Torii Hunter Jacque Jones Matt Lawton

New York Yankees

Derek Jeter

Oakland A's

Terrence Long Bo Porter

Seattle Mariners

Mike Cameron Mark McLemore Arthur Rhodes

Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Quinton McCracken Fred McGriff Bobby Smith Greg Vaughn Gerald Williams Randy Winn

Texas Rangers

Royce Clayton Darren Oliver

Toronto Blue Jays

Jacob Brumfield Shannon Stewart

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Arizona Diamond-backs

Bernard Gilkey Lenny Harris Stephen Randolph Junior Spivey Tony Womack

Atlanta Braves

Brian Jordan George Lombard Reggie Sanders Everett Stull

Chicago Clubs

Damon Buford Willie Greene Glenallen Hill Eric Young

Cincinnati Reds

Travis Dawkins Ken Griffey Jr. Barry Larkin Pokey Reese Deion Sanders Michael Tucker Dmitri Young

Colorado Rockies

Tom Goodwin Jeffrey Hammonds

Florida Marlins

Cliff Floyd Derrek Lee Preston Wilson

Houston Astros

Glen Barker Dwight Gooden

Los Angeles Dodgers

Alan Mills Gary Sheffield Devon White

Milwaukee Brewers

Lou Collier Marquis Grissom

New York Mets

Derek Bell Marlon Anderson Rob Ducey Ron Gant Darryl Hamilton Doug Glanville Mike Jackson Kevin Jordan

Montreal Expos

Lenny Webster Rondell White

Philadelphia Phillies

Rickey Henderson Pat Mahomes Robert Person Desi Relaford Reggie Taylor

Pittsburgh Pirates

Adrian Brown Emil Brown Kevin Young

San Diego Padres

Tony Gwynn Damian Jackson Al Martin

San Francisco Giants

Barry Bonds Ellis Burks

St Louis Cardinals

Eric Davis Shawon Dunston Thomas Howard Ray Lankfort