What can be gleaned from the first week in the AL

Did everyone get the memo about the Kansas City Royals? Unless George Brett is playing third base, nobody has the foggiest idea how this team could get off to such a scorching 5-0 start. With a trip to Detroit to face the bottom feeding Detroit Tigers this week, Kansas City should get its wins now before reality sets in.

Although the Royals have caught the league by surprise, I would not suggest that Kansas City's mayor start planning their October ticker tape parade just yet. While its division, the American League Central, is the most mediocre in the league, there is no telling what can happen over a six month season.

Every dog--the Royals--can have its day. Catcher Brent Mayne is batting .600 to lead the league and closer, Mike MacDougal has an AL leading three saves . But a real contender cannot go through a season faking it. The fact of the matter is that if the season was only three months long, the Boston Red Sox would be pouring champagne every year.

Speaking of whom, it has not been a cakewalk being a Sox fan thus far this year. While the 4-2 record is hardly awful, it is deceiving. They have obtained it against the likes of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Baltimore Orioles, two teams who have been mistaken as minor league clubs recently. And in four of the six games Boston has played, its "bullpen by committee" experiment has proven to be an idea right up there with a submarine with screen doors.

The names Allan Embree, Mike Timlin, Chad Fox, Bobby Howry and Ramiro Mendoza don't exactly strike fear in the hearts of Sox opponents. They have all had the opportunity to separate themselves from the pack at the beginning of the season and have dropped the ball. The lesson here is that five somewhat decent major leaguers may not be capable of doing the job of one nasty closer.

While the Sox have proven shaky, the New York Yankees are hoping that one player does not a great team make. On opening night in Toronto, Derek Jeter was diving into third base when Blue Jays catcher Ken Huckaby's knee pad slammed violently into Jeter's shoulder.

But in true Yankee form, they have just reloaded and found a steady replacement in Erick Almonte, who was called up from Triple A and has proceeded to hit .385 with a home run and four RBI. Add this to body builder Jason Giambi's three home runs and Hideki Matsui's emergence, and it looks like it could be the same old song and dance from the Bronx Bombers.

With the AL East an exhibit in the rich mixed with the poor, and the AL Central a study in scrappy teams that do not appear all that special, the AL West is simply the most entertaining and most competitive division in the majors. Thus far, they have just beaten on each other, with the Oakland Athletics setting the pace at 4-1 and the other three squads -- World Champion Anaheim Angels, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers--settling at 2-3.

The A's have been able to put Miguel Tejada's contract aside and focus on winning games. New pickup Erubiel Durazo has opened eyes, as he leads the AL with 11 RBI. Their big three pitchers--Cy Young winner Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson-- have picked up right where they left off, as they currently are a combined 3-0 with a 2.50 ERA. This is a vast change from past seasons where they have struggled at the start only to catch fire by the season end.

Not to be forgotten are the Angels, who used a National League style of play to carry them to the pinnacle of the profession. With Garrett Anderson swinging a hot stick, David Eckstein continuing to muck and grind for everything he gets, and Francisco Rodriguez mowing batters down in the bullpen, the league still needs to watch out.

While the first week of the season can tell us things about what could develop later, it also can fool those who are bandwagon jumpers. So stay tuned.

One Last Thing:

Alex Rodriguez of the Rangers hit his 300th home run last week, making him the youngest ever to do so. Do not be surprised to see this man break every record in the book.