Coming Attractions

Sporting News, The, July 23, 2001

Expect LF Cliff Floyd to come up big in Mets manager Bobby Valentine's first visit to Pro Player Stadium (Monday-Wednesday) since All-Stargate. Floyd normally hits well against the Mets (.333 with five home runs and 16 RBIs in 1998-2000); now he has motivation--regardless of the talk about the feud being over.

... The A.L. East could be decided in the next few weeks, when New York and Boston run through baseball's nether regions. Starting July 18, the Bombers have 22 straight games against teams that had losing records at the break. Beginning the same day, the Red Sox play 18 straight against, ahem, underachievers. The Yanks have a habit of mailing it in against weak teams. Expect them to get over that--and leave Boston behind--in this stretch.