And as with the National League in 1999, the four teams are likely to be close enough in record that they will essentially be playing for three playoff spots among them. Meanwhile, as we pointed out in last week's AL West Notebook , that division is separated by just a handful of games top to bottom. The National League hasn't had the lack of excitement we've seen in the AL the past few years, and 2000 shapes up as another good year. A three-team race is something we haven't seen in some time, and would add another element to a pennant race that is already a bit tweaked by the wild card. One of the best things about baseball is that it goes through cycles, albeit irregular and unpredictable ones.
Offense dominates, then pitching does.
Power, then speed. Strategies evolve and then come back around. There is a period of parity, then one in which a few teams dominate. And this followed a stretch of dynasties and near-dynasties. The 1970s gave us the Big Red Machine and Charlie Finley's A's and George Steinbrenner's Yankees and Earl Weaver's Orioles.