Quick Peek At the First 10 Games

You can't tell much this early, but let's say there are the barest "whiffs of trends" discernible. Around the world at 10 games:

American League
The Chicago hitters set a blistering early pace that saw the Chimps jump out to an 8-2 start. James Martin picked up right where he left off last year (MVP) with 13 RBI and an 1.190 OPS; Jerome Palmer (1.009 OPS) and Rick Vander Wal (1.146) also started red-hot for the Chimps.

In the East, Pittsburgh relied on its league-leading pitching (2.30 ERA) to post a 6-4 start. 4 relievers had ERA's of 0 through 10 games, and none of the starters was over 2.77. Syracuse hung with the Phils thanks to 12 innings each of 1.50 ERA by starters Marcus Swann and Chief King, plus 10 RBI from Pat Krausse and 4 homers by Ivan DeSoto.

Memphis paces the South at 7-3. Pitching rules for the Maulers...Coco Casey is off to a 2-0, 1.84 start. Richmond stands a game back despite scoring only 32 runs...they got 2 dominant starts each from Anthony Cradle (2-0, 1.13) and Gerald Kirby (2-0, 1.64).

Honolulu (9-1) carried over its pitching dominance from last year's playoffs: .98 team WHIP and complete-game wins from Chin-Hui Martin and Brent Young. The rehabbed Virgil Torres lead the offense with a 1.208 OPS and 9 RBI.

National League
In the North, Minnesota opened 7-3 by plating a world-leading 73 runs and holding opponents to 29. Edgardo Lima was the hitting star, lapping the field with 18 RBI. Price (1-0, 0.0 ERA), Fassero (2-0, 0.82), and Pearson (2-0, 1.50) were golden in 2 starts each. Toronto (7-3) stayed with the Hoodrats by being even stingier, giving up just 27 runs - Rafael Montanez (1-0, 0.60) and Marv Christian (1-0, 1.93) lead the way.

In the East, Toledo (6-4) opened a 1-game lead on the field. The Hens must've gotten a lot of timely hits: despite being 13th in OBP and 12th in Slugging %, they pushed across 54 runs (3rd).

Iowa City and Montgomery head up the South at 6-4, thanks largely to both winning 3 1-run games. On the stats front, George Hutton had 12 RBI for the Apartheid; Russ Nelson (1-0, 1.64) and Julio Batista (1-0, 1.98) were outstanding for the Biscuits.

Portland (7-3) was the surprise leader out West after 10. Catcher Carson Russ (.400/3/9) was on fire, 5 RP's were uner 3.00 ERA, and SP Jocko Newhouser went 2-0, 2.84 for the Finnegan.