I Love This Game!

Many people will tell you the baseball season ended last week, but I'm here to tell you it just isn't so. No, really! I was glancing around the 'net today, and I ran across a scoreboard page that featured no fewer than 13 games!

I'm guessing these are specially scheduled exhibition games, just for the real die-hard fans like you and me who can't wait until next spring to get our baseball fix. Some of the match-ups are a bit weird -- not only is there no regard for the American and National Leagues, but some big league teams were taking on minor league clubs!

Not that it matters to me -- I'm just happy there were games being played. That in mind, here's a quick rundown of Tuesday night's contests.

Charlotte at Atlanta
Obviously not a game you'd see in the regular season, as the Braves are one of the best teams in the National League, while the Knights are the AAA affiliate of the White Sox. At first glance the Braves -- with a core of Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones and that great pitching staff -- would seem to be clear favorites, but there's quite a bit of talent on the Charlotte side as well. At various times this season, the Knights have featured up-and-coming pitchers Lorezno Barcelo, Kevin Beirne, Chad Bradford, Jon Garland, Aaron Myette and Kip Wells. That group is key to the White Sox' success in the future, but for the time being they don't have enough to overtake the Braves.

Cleveland at New Jersey
New Jersey? I can only assume they're referring to the Trenton (N.J.) Thunder, Boston's AA farm club in the Eastern League. This one should be ugly -- the Red Sox don't have much talent at the AA level, while the Indians just missed the Major League Baseball playoffs and were playing great ball by the end of the year. Look for that momentum to continue as the Tribe wipes out an undermanned Thunder club whose only hope is that Bret Saberhagen is still on rehab assignment.

Washington at Orlando
I'll bet you didn't know Peter Angelos loaned his Orioles out to the District of Columbia, did you? Turns out he can cut down on costs by not having to staff and maintain Camden Yards. The NFL's Washington Redskins played on Monday night, meaning the field isn't quite ready for baseball, so the Orioles had to open on the road in Orlando. And by Orlando, I am of course speaking of Tampa Bay's AA club, the Orlando Rays. I'm also talking about the first big upset of the schedule -- you know how I feel about the Orioles, while the Rays feature a trio of good young pitchers in Bobby Seay, Matt White and Jesus Colome (acquired from the A's for Jim Mercir).

Milwaukee at Dallas
Finally a real-deal MLB match-up, with the Rangers on loan to Dallas for those fans who can't make the drive to Arlington during the regular season. Both teams struggled this season, and neither appears to have a bright future... go ahead, you call it. And don't say this isn't interactive.

Sacramento at Chicago
Another AAA-MLB contest, this time featuring an Oakland farm club against the hapless Cubs. I've got to take the RiverCats, in this one, thanks to the young pitchers they've featured this year including Barry Zito and Mark Mulder, not to mention 2B Jose Ortiz, who hit .351 and was named Pacific Coast League Most Valuable Player. Fans who make the long trip to the Windy City for this one shouldn't come home disappointed, and they'll get to see Sammy Sosa hit a few out as well.

Minnesota at Houston
Another traditional game between clubs who have faced each other in Interleague games over the past couple of seasons. This one could come down to the health of the Astros -- are Billy Wagner and Craig Biggio ready to return to action? Even if they're not, look for the Twins to struggle against a more talented Houston club.

Indiana at San Antonio
Hey, our first all-minors match-up! For those of you out of the loop, Indianapolis is the International League affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. I think the club used to be part of the Reds' system, but I can't remember for sure. Either way, they'll have their hands full with the San Antonio Missions, who will probably start my favorite Dodgers pitching prospect -- Luke Prokopec. Prokopec was 7-3 with a 2.45 ERA this year, despite pitching in a good environment for hitters. The Indians will counter with Olympic hero Ben Sheets, who had a 2.87 ERA this year. This looks to be the best pitching match-up of the night.

Los Angeles at Utah
Look for the Dodgers later -- apparently, they're going with a split squad, much as teams often do during spring training. Unfortunately I don't have the roster breakdown, so it's hard to make a pick here. I do know one thing, though -- the Dodgers play in a great park for pitchers, while the Salt Lake City Buzz (AAA, Minnesota Twins) play in a hitter's paradise. It remains to be seen if this will have any effect on the Dodger players, though I hear Gary Sheffield did ask to be in this half of the split squad.

Phoenix at Golden State
This one is a bit puzzling, but as far as I can tell the Golden State club hails from the Bay Area and appears to be made up of players from both the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants. As you might imagine, that's a very good club indeed -- Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Jeff Kent, and the list goes on. If the Diamondbacks couldn't top the Giants in the NL West this season, how can they expect to beat a combined Giants/A's club? I'll take Golden State in a romp.

Los Angeles at Portland
As promised, here are the rest of the Dodgers. It's unclear if Portland is the Rockies AA team in the Eastern League (in which case it's Portland, Maine) or the Rockies short-season club in the Northwest League (in which case it's Portland, Oregon). Either way, the Dodgers might have an easier time scheduling better opponents if they agreed not to start Kevin Brown. Until then, they'll be forced to take what they can get.

Seattle at Vancouver
This is the last game on the schedule, and by far the most puzzling. The Mariners were one of the best teams in the American League last season, winning 91 games and advancing to the ALCS before losing to the eventual World Champion Yankees. So why then, are they making the short jaunt up to Vancouver when no team has called Vancouver home since the A's AAA team played there in 1999?

The Mariners may have re-signed manager Lou Piniella today, but management and scheduling decisions like this could keep them from becoming one of the elite teams in baseball.

Don't tell Jason Michael Barker that he needs to slow down from those five triple mochas a day, or else this schedule confusion will continue to escalate. Or maybe you should tell him at jmb@strikethree.com.

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