Baseball Digest articles from January 2003

Baseball Digest archives from January 2003

The fans speak out. (Letters To The Editor).
January 1, 2003... The powers that be, namely Major League Baseball said the Minnesota Twins shouldn't be allowed to continue. They claimed the Twins wouldn't be a viable franchise; didn't have a big payroll, and so couldn't realistically hope to compete for a...

Barry Bonds once again earns Baseball Digest's Player of the Year honor. (Warm Up Tosses).
January 1, 2003... BEFORE THE START OF THE WORLD SERIES IN ANAHEIM LAST FALL, MIKE Scioscia, manager of the Angels, was talking about a formidable adversary. "Barry Bonds," he said of the Giants' focused power hitter, "has had the best two seasons--this year and...

Randy Johnson: 2002 Pitcher of the Year.
January 1, 2003... RANDY JOHNSON, THE FIRST LEFTHANDER to win as many as 24 games in a season since Frank Viola did it for the Twins in 1988, continued his dominating performance as the most complete pitcher in the major leagues in 2002. In fact, The Big...

Ranking the majors' top starters for 2002.
January 1, 2003... RANKING THE MAJORS' TOP STARTERS FOR 2002 To qualify for these charts, a starting pitcher must have won at least 15 games with an ERA below 4.00 WINS Pitcher, Team W Randy Johnson, Ari. 24...

Negative records: the humbling side of baseball: unflattering marks remind players about the degree of difficulty the game takes on at the major league level.
January 1, 2003... A NOTABLE WIT WROTE: "THERE IS only one thing in the world worse than being remembered, and that is not being remembered." It's something all ballplayers should think about in mid-career, and a few possibly do with regret in vain once their...

A's pitching coach Rick Peterson using a philosophical approach to teaching.
January 1, 2003... DEEP DOWN IN HIS SOUL, RICK Peterson, the 48-year-old pitching coach for the Oakland Athletics, considers himself an old school baseball person. But when he starts talking about biomechanics, Eastern philosophy, right brain and left brain...

Baseball profile: Ryan Klesko: San Diego Padres.
January 1, 2003... FULL NAME: Ryan Anthony Klesko AGE, HT., WT.: 31, 6-3, 220 Born: June 12, 1971 HOME: Covington, Georgia STATUS/FAMILY: Single Nickname: Rhino BASEBALL BACKGROUND: Selected by the Atlanta Braves organization in the...

Underrated players deserve more credit: some top individual performances in 2002 gained little public attention, but should not go unnoticed.
January 1, 2003... LIFE ISN'T ALWAYS FAIR--AND that also applies to baseball. Despite ever-growing media coverage, there are players who put up impressive numbers but get virtually no credit or publicity for their efforts. While most of these unheralded stars...

True grit: Angels' Adam Kennedy makes hard work pay off; Anaheim's hard-nosed second baseman takes care of business with consistent defensive work and clutch hitting.
January 1, 2003... HE TALKS WITH A SLIGHT LISP, hits ninth in the batting order, and generally shuns the spotlight. Last October 13 when Anaheim clinched its first American League pennant in the club's 41-year history, was, for Angels second baseman Adam...

Baseball quick quiz.
January 1, 2003... Collect ten points for each question answered correctly. Answers on page 90. (If you score 80 or better, you are a baseball expert; 70 or better, superior; between 60 and 70, good, and between 40 and 60, average. 1. There are five active...

American League 2002 batting leaders.
January 1, 2003... American League 2002 Batting Leaders Home Runs Player, Team HR Alex Rodriguez, Tex. 57 Jim Thome, Cle. 52 Rafael Palmeiro, Tex. 43 Jason Giambi, N.Y. 41 Alfonso Soriano, N.Y....

American League 2002 pitching leaders.
January 1, 2003... American League 2002 Pitching Leaders Wins Pitcher, Team W Barry Zito, Oak. 23 Derek Lowe, Bos. 21 Pedro Martinez, Bos. 20 Mark Buehrle, Chi. 19 Roy Halladay, Tor....

National League 2002 pitching leaders.
January 1, 2003... National League 2002 Pitching Leaders Wins Pitcher, Team W Randy Johnson, Ari. 24 Curt Schilling, Ari. 23 Roy Oswalt, Hou. 19 Tom Glavine, Atl. 18 Kevin...

National League 2002 batting leaders.
January 1, 2003... National League 2002 Batting Leaders Home Runs Player, Team HR Sammy Sosa, Chi. 49 Barry Bonds, S.F. 46 Lance Berkman, Hou. 42 Shawn Green, L.A. 42...

Final 2002 statistics: team batting and pitching.
January 1, 2003... AMERICAN LEAGUE ANAHEIM ANGELS Player GP AB R H TB 2B 3B Alfredo Amezaga 12 13 3 7 9 2 0 Adam Kennedy 144 474 65 148 213...

Baseball rules corner: base runners are restrained from circumventing the rules.
January 1, 2003... GREG COLBRUNN OF THE ARIZONA Diamondbacks hit for the cycle in the D'Backs 10-3 win over the Padres last September 18. If he had listened to teammate Mark Grace, he would have found a new way to complete the cycle by creatively using the...