Now, Time for the Rest of Our Season

First the news, then the views....

News: The Oakland Athletics reeled off 16 consecutive victories beginning play Saturday, matching the major leagues’ longest streak in 25 years.

Views: See what outstanding pitching produces.

General Manager Billy Beane, considered one of baseball’s shrewdest executives, built the Athletics on a foundation of phenomenal young starters, enabling the small-market club to compete with deep-pocket teams.

Despite losing first baseman Jason Giambi (New York Yankees), center fielder Johnny Damon (Boston Red Sox) and closer Jason Isringhausen (St. Louis Cardinals) in free agency, Oakland leads the AL West behind the terrific trio of left-handers Barry Zito, 24, and Mark Mulder, 25, and right-hander Tim Hudson, 27.

Zito has emerged as the group’s ace of the moment in only his second full season. The former USC All-American is 19-5 with a 2.83 earned-run average, including 8-2 with a 1.69 ERA in the second half.

After leading the staff with 21 victories last season, Mulder is 16-7 with a 3.77 ERA. Hudson, a 20-game winner in 2000, is 12-9 with a 3.22 ERA. He was 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA in August.

Hudson and Mulder are signed through 2005 and 2006, respectively, and Zito cannot become a free agent until after the 2006 season.

Shortstop Miguel Tejada and Gold Glove third baseman Eric Chavez also are rising young stars, but the Athletics are still powered by pitching.

“With our starting pitching, no matter what else happens, we feel we always have a chance,” Beane said. “We have lost some significant players here in the last year, including an MVP candidate [Giambi], arguably one of the premier leadoff hitters in the game in Damon and a closer who’s probably going to save 40 games. Do we ever wonder about what could have been? Yeah, we do for about 60 seconds.

“But then, instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we determine what our options are and we move on. We actually start thinking about our options long before the day of reckoning comes. We have to because we realize that, more often than not, when it comes to finances, we must be prepared and we have to be somewhat creative. But our pitching definitely makes it a little easier.”

News: The hot San Francisco Giants put pressure on the Dodgers in the NL wild-card race, setting the stage for a classic September showdown.

Views: What could be better than the Dodgers and Giants battling for a playoff spot with the finish line in sight?

Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent don’t like each other much, but they’ve pulled together on the field. It’s still seemingly Shawn Green or bust for the Dodgers, and the All-Star right fielder might not have enough left to carry them.

The clubs meet in a three-game series at Pacific Bell Park, beginning Sept. 9, and play four games from Sept. 16-19 at Dodger Stadium. Missing the playoffs after an outstanding start would be a huge letdown for the Dodgers and their fans, making the winter especially chilly at Chavez Ravine.

News: Owners rebuffed in their attempts to implement a minimum $45-million payroll, which the union considered to be another restraint on salaries, in the new labor contract approved Friday, and management in turn shot down the union’s proposal to participate in monitoring how clubs spend their revenue-sharing money.

Views: The battle lines are already drawn for the next labor war in 2006.

The union scoffed at owners’ payroll-floor proposal, considering almost every team was already above that level this season, but that won’t dissuade owners from pushing for hard payroll floors and ceilings in the next collective bargaining process.

The union and some big-market executives (see Yankee owner George Steinbrenner) are concerned that small-market clubs will simply pocket their bigger slices of the increased revenue-sharing pie.

“We had proposed a minimum payroll,” said Robert DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer. “But given the levels of increased revenue sharing, and given the goal of attaining a higher level of competitive balance, we believe the clubs will definitely use that revenue the way it was intended, which is to help them become more competitive.”

The union, by no means convinced, will be watching closely.

“We know from history of past collective bargaining, where [a similar] system of revenue sharing was in effect, that there was no increase in player payroll [of low-revenue clubs],” agent Scott Boras said. “I don’t believe this is going to have any measurable effect on the competitiveness of the clubs that are receiving the money.”

News: Atlanta starter Greg Maddux, who has only five victories in 17 starts since June 5, might not win 15 games for the first time in 15 years.

Views: It has been a strange season for the four-time Cy Young Award winner, slowed by injuries but still leading the NL with a 2.56 ERA. Maddux could make as many as seven more starts, and with four more victories would match Young’s record of 15 consecutive 15-victory seasons. Young’s streak ran from 1891 through 1905, and Maddux’s began in 1988, his first full season in the majors.

“I feel like I’m pitching better than it looks on paper,” the 268-game winner said. “Have I pitched good? Not as good as I would have liked to, obviously.

“I’ve made some mistakes that I shouldn’t be making. But I think, at the same time, I’ve made enough good pitches to get by.”

The right-hander has a salary of $12.5 million in the final year of a five-year, $57.5-million contract. Left-hander Tom Glavine--a two-time Cy Young award winner--also can become a free agent after the season, and the Braves are not expected to re-sign both.