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Volume 38 Issue 10
February 27, 2001

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The mother of all spring trainings

MESA LEGEND
Submitted February 27, 2001

Cactus League baseball gets underway on March 1. The year 2001 has brought the elite Major League Baseball players to the desert in quantities that have never been seen before.

Even with the exiting of the highest paid player in all of sports (Alex Rodriguez to the Texas Rangers), the free agents have flocked to the Cactus League teams; making this spring the perfect chance to get a look at what the MLB has to offer.

If you like offense, the team to see is the Anaheim Angels.

Last year, the Angels hit a team record 236 homeruns, and had the first 30-homer quartet in American League history.

Troy Glaus solidified himself as the premier third baseman in baseball at the ripe age of 24. Glaus was the first Angel to lead the league in homers with 47, and he broke a 47 year-old American League record for homers by a third baseman.

You’re not going to see Mo Vaughn swinging for the fences this year due to a bicep injury that will likely sideline him for the entire season.

The Angels did sign Wally Joyner to fill Vaughn’s void, and Jose Canseco, who when healthy, can be as exciting a player as he was when he played in the Cactus League from 1985-1992 as a member of the Oakland A’s.

Even with the amazing year Glaus had, he was out performed by his teammate Darin Erstad. The Angels center fielder led baseball with 240 hits while scoring triple digits in RBI’s and runs scored.

The best offensive performer in the game last year is also training in the desert.

The Colorado Rockies’ sensational first baseman Todd Helton put together numbers that only three other players in the history of the game have been able to match.

Helton hit .372, with 42 homers and 147 RBI’s.

Only Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Roger Hornsby had a better average and more home runs in a season then Helton accomplished last year.

The Rockies also landed the best free agent pitcher since Greg Maddux left the Cubs to become a Brave.

Colorado signed Mike Hampton away from the Mets – plan on him elevating the Rockies to a post-season contender.

Last year’s American League MVP will be working on his swing in Phoenix this spring.

Jason Giambi’s monster year, the year that drove Oakland only two wins shy of a World Series birth, has earned him the right to be paid market value.

Giambi’s contract is up after the end of the season, so don’t be shocked if the desolate A’s let another team pick up the heavy check on the mammoth left handed first baseman.

Former National League MVP’s Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa are also in the final year of their contracts, so you never know if this will be their last year training in the Valley of the Sun.

MLB’s collective bargaining agreement expires at the conclusion of the 2001 season, so their is a strong possibility that their will be another work stoppage a year from now.

If their is a lock-out, the first thing to be cancelled will be spring training.

Chris Bowman is the sports editor for the Mesa Legend and a journalism major at MCC.

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