Extra, Extra. Read all about it: NL Edition

See the <a href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/2007/04/extra_extra_rea.html”>American League post</a> for an introduction to preview sections. Also note that individual papers might have removed their preview supplements/sections by the time you read this, especially now that the season has started.

National League East

<ul><li>Atlanta: Not much from the <a href=”https://www.ajc.com/braves/content/sports/braves/index.html#run”>Journal-Constitution</a>.</li>

<li>Florida (Miami): <a href=”http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/baseball/”>A piece on Bonds’ legacy</a> in the Herald.</li>

<li>New York: <a href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/2007/04/extra_extra_rea.html”>See AL entry</a>.</li>

<li>Philadelphia: At last, a decent preview. The Philadelphia Daily News includes its <a href=”http://www.philly.com/dailynews/hot_topics/Phillies_2007_Opening_Day_Preview.html”>24-page wraparound preview</a> on its website, featuring "20 story <a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=460,height=255,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/philsod.jpg”></a>lines to watch this season" (Bonds, Dice-K, the glut of sluggers about to reach 500 home runs, etc.) and "20 players worth the price of admission" (no homerism here since there are no Phillies players, including Ryan Howard, on this list). The rival <a href=”http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/preview”>Inquirer</a> posts a (standard) preview section.<a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=380,height=465,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/natsod.jpg”><img title=”Natsod” height=”183″ alt=”Natsod” src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/natsod.jpg” width=”150″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 5px 5px” /></a></li>

<li>Washington, D.C.: The Post does a nice job in its <a href=”http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/mlb/longterm/2007/front.html”>special section</a>, focusing on the farm system, since the present is so woeful. The section employs colorful PDFs for its links, which include the <a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=150,height=257,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/groundup.jpg”><img title=”Groundup” height=”257″ alt=”Groundup” src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/groundup.jpg” width=”150″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 5px 5px 0px” /></a>Nationals line-up, starting rotation, minor league system, and divisional capsules. The Times also does a nice presentation, reporting on the National’s rebuilding efforts with items on their new manager (Manny Acta), new ownership, new star (Ryan Zimmerman), and new stadium. The only knock is a lack of illustrative elements, save a nice cover image (see left). </li></ul>

National League Central

<ul><li>Chicago: <a href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/2007/04/extra_extra_rea.html”>See AL entry</a>.</li>

<li>Cincinnati: The major Cincy papers are hosted by the same site, so there seems to be only the Post’s preview in which Reds players discuss how they came to <a href=”http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AE/20070331/SPT05/70329002/”>pick their fielding gloves</a> in this otherwise unremarkable preview. General baseball coverage by both papers seems to be quite good, however. But then it’s <a href=”http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=openingday”>opening day</a>. Check back in four months.</li>

<li>Houston: Nothing from the Chronicle, although it does have a "Biggio Watch," as the second baseman pushes towards 3,000 hits.</li>

<li>Pittsburgh: <a href=”http://www.postgazette.com/pg/07092/774744-63.stm”>Not much</a> from the Post-Gazette.</li>

<li>St. Louis: Considering the Cardinals are the defending World Champions, the Post-Dispatch could have done a better stand-alone presentation (how hard is it to create a separate link?), rather than placing it <a href=”http://www.stltoday.com/sports/cards”>deep within the sports section</a>. Like the Washington Post, it presents its pages in PDF form, assuming that everyone has the capability to read them.</li></ul>

National League West

<ul><li>Arizona (Phoenix): Although the Republic acknowledges the D’backs tenth anniversary with a photo gallery of the team’s best players, there’s no separate preview section online.</li>

<li>Colorado (Denver): The Post  offers just a <a href=”http://www.denverpost.com/rockies/ci_5553489″>simple preview</a>, examining salaries, while the Rocky Mountain News site doesn’t show any section at all.</li>

<li>Los Angeles: <a href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/2007/04/extra_extra_rea.html”>See AL Entry</a>.</li>

<li>San Diego: Nada from the Union-Tribune.</li>

<li>San Francisco: The Chronicle has no website of its own, but is hosted on SFgate.com, where the <a href=”http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2007/03/29/SPGMLORIL91.DTL”>Giants share space with the As</a>. Also, <a href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/2007/04/extra_extra_rea.html”>see AL Entry</a>.</li></ul>