April 03, 2006 | Volume 104, Issue 14

D.C.'s club will go only as far as its two workhorses carry it

After yet another postchampionship purge, youth will be served up

A title could be in the cards if Scott Rolen can shoulder the load

The first winning season in 14 years? If the pitching holds up

Versatile Preston Wilson adds some power to an anemic lineup

A new set of outfielders is one step in the right direction

Sean Casey returns home to help a club building for the future

A new owner has big dreams, but old woes won't be easily fixed

A big bounce back to the top after the injury-filled calamity of '05

Barry Bonds isn't the only player the club needs to return to form

Mike Cameron provides a spark, but will that light a fire?

Chad Tracy is on the brink of stardom; his team has a ways to go

Escaping the cellar will depend on a young team's rate of maturity

The Week In Sports

Bumped Up Though knocked out of a likely win at Bristol by Kurt Busch, former Cup champ Matt Kenseth grabbed the points lead

Double Clutch Unstoppable in shootouts and unmatched in come-from-behind wins, Dallas is primed for the pressure of the playoffs

When Capitals coach Glen Hanlon briefly benched star Alexander Ovechkin (right) during a March 20 loss to Montreal for staying out too long on a power play, he sent a message to his players:...

Lost and Found Once headed nowhere, the Kings are closing in on a playoff spot--and that's a scary prospect for the West's top teams

THE HOTLINE

THE POINT GUARD nearly drowned in his own house.

Exclusively on Verizon Wireless V CAST and SI.com.

The Reaction

Steve Randall is a small man making small money in small towns, a 5'6" high school basketball coach who climbed a short professional ladder from Turtle Lake to Montfort to Oshkosh, Wis. He drives...

Eagerly playing the race card, a few unscrupulous black financial advisers are hurting athlete-clients and legit minority businesses

WHO'S Hot

Won By Kimmie Meissner (above), the gold medal at the World Figure Skating Championships in Calgary, in one of the biggest upsets in the event's history. The 16-year-old from Bel Air, Md., who...

5 Times since the 2001-02 season that the Bulls' Tyson Chandler, who had 21 boards against the Hornets last Friday, has grabbed 20 rebounds in a game he did not start.

The 68-year-old Academy Award winner (Million Dollar Baby) costars in Lucky Number Slevin, which opens on April 7

When a fighter quickly packs on 20 pounds after the weigh-in, two people can get hurt

It wasn't quite Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, but last week British rocker Pete Doherty, the former Libertines frontman, played an acoustic set for ex-con and former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson...

Give that man a contract ... and throw in some ice to soothe those stinging palms. During the Sabres' loss to the Senators last Friday an unidentified fan--call him the Buffalo Saver--made the...

LOEK VAN MIL,

The Florida Department of Corrections gave an ex-minor leaguer a no-show job so he could help prison guards win a softball tournament.

What to watch and watch for

Isaiah Thomas

Taking March Madness to a new level, 11th-seeded George Mason reached the Final Four with the most improbable run in history. With no No. 1 seeds left and a trio of young players leading the other...

A PROGRAM ON THE RISE

Three precocious, ferocious post players have led their teams on surprise runs to the Final Four

Not all the reminders of the Steroid Era are gone yet, but the good news is that the new generation of hitters has a natural athleticism and a tough drug policy to help keep them--and their...

For Tom Verducci's weekly Internet column go to SI.com/baseball.

Everyone knows Big Papi and Ozzie and A-Rod and Barry and the Boss. They're the stars of the Show. But the fresh appeal of the coming season lies elsewhere, with those on and off the field who...

Righthander Matsuzaka is 91-55 with a 3.07 ERA in seven seasons in Japan's Pacific League and was recently named the MVP of the World Baseball Classic with a 3-0 record. So what's next? "Major...

This march has been like last September for Howard: unusually hot. The Phillies first baseman, who hit a major-league-rookie-record 10 home runs in September, is still crushing the ball this...

Friends since they were kids growing up in the foothills of western Maryland, Mazzone and Sam Perlozzo made a pact two decades ago when they were both minor league coaches, Mazzone in the Braves'...

Is young, the Devil Rays' 20-year-old outfield sensation ready for the Show? "I thought I was ready when I was 18," says Delmon, the game's best five-tool prospect.

At a time when front offices are infested with Ivy League-- educated sabermetricians, Williams, entering his sixth season as White Sox general manager, is an anomaly--make that an anomaly with a...

After 17 years of providing candid play-by-play on radio, Cohen becomes the face of the Mets' new cable-TV network, SportsNet NY. Calling games as an employee of a team-owned network can be...

When reps for the players' union come to the table later this year for talks on a new collective bargaining agreement, one of the key figures across from them will again be Manfred, an MLB...

The yankees' $50 million rotation includes a five-time Cy Young winner (Randy Johnson), the sixth-winningest pitcher in the majors over the last decade (Mike Mussina) and two other All-Stars...

Having worn out his welcome in Montreal, Cleveland and Los Angeles, the combustible but talented Bradley landed with the A's, who traded for the outfielder this winter. Still only 27 and three...

The president of the Dodgers is a bit tired of the rally towel. "Really, who needs another one of those?" says McCourt, whose husband, Frank, purchased the team from Rupert Murdoch for $430...

He can throw a fastball 99 mph, but Scherzer, Missouri's 21-year-old ace, says, "People always remember me because of my eyes."

When you saw the picture to the right, was the first word that came to your mind pioneer? Well, among baseball wives, that's how Benson sees herself. "We just sit there at games, and we're...

Baseball operations analyst for the A's, Zaidi is the latest in general manager Billy Beane's coterie of quantitative thinkers with comparatively thin baseball résumés--and a future candidate for...

As he enters his second full season as general manager of the Mets, Minaya would like to make it clear that he has not been given the combination to the Wilpon family vault. It just looks that...

In late november, Ryan was enjoying a few cold ones with childhood friends at a bar in his hometown of Bossier City, La., when the news broke: The crawl on a big-screen TV announced that the Blue...

First things first: What's up with the glasses? Aside from Who's going to be your closer? it's the question that Maddon--who wears thick black retro specs--gets the most now that he's the manager...

Since its launch in 2000, Major League Baseball Advanced Media, MLB's interactive media and Internet arm, has evolved from a shoestring operation to one of the game's greatest assets. Its revenue...

First base is not the best career path in the Rockies' organization, not as long as five-time All-Star Todd Helton, 32, who has a career .337 average and a contract that runs through 2011, is...

A Los Angeles investment banker, whose group's $223 million purchase of the Brewers was approved in January 2005, Attanasio has been a boon for baseball in two ways: By buying out commissioner Bud...

A rare gem at 20, he's already polished and must be handled with care

SI's RANKINGS

Scores, schedules and career stats on every player, plus the latest news and analysis from Tom Verducci at SI.com/baseball.

The ace knows what's expected--a title--and he aims to deliver

An icon is gone, but his replacement is ready for his close-up

What does $107 million buy in baseball's richest neighborhood?

A slender lefty provides--can you believe it?--a Ray of hope

Expecting another start like last year's is pure fantasy

The defending champs add some big hurt to their lineup

Strong up the middle, the Tribe is still rough around the edges

A team for the aged? Off-season pickups bring a lot of experience

Buffaloes' Spring Field

A change in the team's personality begins with a new skipper

Lots of changes were made, but not necessarily for the better

A deep but young team rolls the dice on three discarded veterans

How do you replace a Gold Glove catcher? Leave it to Mathis

A beleaguered rotation gets a makeover, starting with a new ace

A fun-loving Japanese import will liven up the season, at least

Young arms will decide whether a 15-peat (!) becomes a reality

Rising star David Wright spearheads a Shea resurgence

The off-season left some holes, but a big one got filled in center

Jimmy Conrad provides punch to the Wizards' backline--and punch lines in his Internet column

Last year the Galaxy finished fourth in the West yet took the title. Expect the unexpected again in '06: Wizards win. --Grant Wahl