Extra, Extra. Read all about it: AL Edition

Prior to opening day, many major market papers print a special preview of the season. This might be in the form of a separate section or just a few pages and often picks a specific theme, such as the influx of international players or the improvement in equipment, etc. Some nespapers with lower budgets take the cheap way out, relying on pe-packaged stories by wire services.

My favorite part is the standard table of predictions by the papers’ staff writers and columnists. These experts pretty much agree with each other, and on paper, at the beginning of the year, the choices seem logical. But as any fan knows, injuries, trades, and other unaccounted-for issues can change that in a heartbeat.

Here’s a brief overview of the sections and features from the major dailies that serve each geographic area for the teams. Most concentrate primarily on the local franchise, but many offer an additional glimpses about more general issues.

Larger markets should be expected to provide better coverage, but that isn’t always the case. While the papers may have printed supplements, these might not be available online, or might be posted at a later date. On the other hand, some online sections take advantage of different forms of media.

(Note: Some regions, such as the Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Oakland/San Francisco share coverage, so these teams (White Sox/Cubs, Yankees/Mets, Angels/Dodgers, As/Giants) are listed only once, with no slight intended at the NL entries.)

American League East

<ul><li>Baltimore: The Baltimore Sun: <a href=”http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-07baseballpreview,0,2396499.special?coll=bal-sports-breaking”>Special section</a>, includes a feature about their neighbors, the Washington Nationals.<a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=233,height=242,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0’); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/dicek.gif”><img title=”Dicek” height=”155″ alt=”Dicek” src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/dicek.gif” width=”150″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 5px 5px” /></a></li>

<li>Boston: The Boston media is falling all over themselves to cover the arrival of the latest new Asian sensation, Daisuke Matsuzaka. <a href=”http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/2007_baseball_preview/”>The Boston Globe</a> includes a feature on him and the influx of other Far East players in their special section. Although the <a href=”http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox.bg”>Boston Herald</a> does not have a special section, per se, it does offer extended baseball coverage.</li>

<li>New York: <a href=”http://www.nytimes.com/pages/sports/baseball/index.html”>The New York Times special section</a> <a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=190,height=101,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/nytimesglobe.jpg”><img title=”Nytimesglobe” height=”79″ alt=”Nytimesglobe” src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/nytimesglobe.jpg” width=”150″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 5px 5px” /></a>includes a George Vecsey piece on the globalization of the game, and two articles about gloves: batting (and their lack of use by some players) and fielding. It also includes profiles of the Mets’ David Wright and the Yankees’ Derek Jeter. The <a href=”http://www.nypost.com/seven/03282007/sports/baseball_preview/”>New York Post</a> concentrates on the home town teams, with an interesting piece on "famous pitching flameouts." <a href=”http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/ny-baseball2007-sg,0,6261674.storygallery”>Newsday </a>offer-in-depth analyses of the divisions and has a piece about Barry Bonds’ assault on the all-time home run record, which has been getting muted attention. The New York Daily News <a href=”http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/index.html”>does not offer</a> a special section on its website.The print version of my local paper, the Newark Star-Ledger, had a particularly good supplement, including an homage to the glut of players over 40, but, sadly, it doesn’t seem to be on-line. As a bonus, however, the Arts Section featured a column by Stephe Witty on <a href=”http://www.nj.com/entertainment/ledger/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-0/117540524794320.xml&coll=1″>the meaning of baseball movies</a>.<a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=537,height=339,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/raysmask_1.jpg”><img title=”Raysmask_1″ height=”94″ alt=”Raysmask_1″ src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/raysmask_1.jpg” width=”150″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 5px 5px” /></a></li>

<li>Tampa Bay: The team may be perennial cellar-dwellers, but the <a href=”http://www.tbo.com/sports/special/2007baseballpreview.htm”>Tampa Bay </a><a href=”http://www.tbo.com/sports/special/2007baseballpreview.htm”>Register</a> gets props for one of the better  graphics as it ponders whether or not it pays to be optimistic. The section also takes a look at "numbers," that is major milestones in reach of several players.</li>

<li>Toronto: The Majors’ sole Canadian representative deserves a little more excitement. The <a href=”http://www.globesports.com/baseball”>Globe and Mail</a> takes a standard home team analysis/general predictions approach. </li></ul>

American League Central

<ul><li>Chicago: Surprisingly, the <a href=”http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/index.html”>Sun Times</a> offers no major special section on-line, not even local team or league/division pre-caps, but rather an article on Derek Zumsteg’s new book on cheating. Same goes for the rival Tribune. No wonder Chicago is known as the Second City. </li>

<li>Cleveland:  The <a href=”http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/”>Plain Dealer'</a>s main non-Indians piece is about the role of the closer. The section includes the usual season previews and predictions.</li>

<li>Detroit: Nothing special in the Free Press. Gary Sheffield’s new book, <a href=”http://freepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070401/SPORTS02/304010003/1050/SPORTS”>Inside Power</a>, is a topic of discussion, however. The Detroit News offers an "<a href=”http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070329/SPORTS0104/70329001″>interactive" preview</a> of the Tigers’ season.</li>

<li>Kansas City: The <a href=”http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/baseball/”>KC Star has a nice preview</a> which focuses on pitchers and pitching, as well as an article on fantasy baseball.</li>

<li>Minnesota: Nothing online from the St. Paul Pioneer Press.</li></ul>

American League West

<ul><li>Los Angeles: Since Anaheim has no home town representation, the Angels split coverage with the Dodgers. Nothing in the Daily News. In addition to the standard divisional writeups, the LA Times merely has a <a href=”http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/la-sp-bonds1apr01,1,3707067.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-majorbaseb&ctrack=1&cset=true”>piece on the statistical milestones within reach of active players</a>.<a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=200,height=357,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0’); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/mariners.jpg”><img title=”Mariners” height=”267″ alt=”Mariners” src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/mariners.jpg” width=”150″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 5px 5px” /></a></li>

<li>Oakland: Nothing special from the Tribune, which covers both the A’s and the Giants.</li>

<li>Seattle: The Times covers <a href=”http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/marinerspreview/”>mostly Mariners</a> in its preview, with  supplemental material by the Associated Press.</li>

<li>Texas: The Rangers are served by the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, which has no special preview.</li></ul>

Next time: How home town newspapers cover the National League.