Mark McGwire is back on the disabled list with his aching knee. Ken Griffey Jr. should be on the DL due to a sore hamstring that limits him to a pinch-hitting role. Cal Ripken is batting .154 and finds himself occasionally benched for Mike Kinkade.

But fans still can enjoy a sight each morning even prettier than the view from Pittsburgh's new ballpark and as refreshing as a summer breeze in the bleachers at Wrigley Field.

	Leadoff hitter Eric Young has been igniting the Cubs' offense.

Look at the standings and you'll find the Twins, Cubs and Phillies currently in first place. Yes, that's right. The three teams with the worst records in their leagues last year are sitting atop their respective divisions. Yes, it's early, but to see all three in first place at any point this season is as unlikely as finding a salad in front of Rosie O'Donnell.

The Cubs reached the playoffs as recently as 1998, but the Twins and Phillies generally find themselves eliminated from the pennant races shortly before the winter meetings begin. The Twins haven't been in first place this late in the season since 1992, when the first George Bush was in the White House and the last Randy Bush was in right field.

The Twins lost 93 games last year and their only addition during the winter was signing Tom Prince. Tom Prince. Yet, thanks to excellent pitching and much improved hitting from their returning players, here they are, off to the best start in team history and churning through opponents as if they were Peter Stormare putting Steve Buscemi through the woodchipper in "Fargo." The Phillies, meanwhile, haven't been competitive since the moment just before Mitch Williams' pitch reached Joe Carter's bat. Last year was typical. They traded Curt Schilling and tied the Cubs for the worst record in the National League, Philadelphia's third last-place finish since 1996.

And yet, here they are in first place with solid pitching and the best record in the National League under emotional new manager Larry Bowa. It is an extraordinary turn of events, but not Bowa's greatest achievement. His most impressive move was when he somehow parlayed an 81-137 record as a manager with the Padres into a book deal. "Bleep: Larry Bowa Manages" had a sales rank of 961,752 on Amazon.com at last glance, which isn't that bad, considering it's out of print.

Then there are the Cubs, the team that opens each season with those traditional words, "Wait 'til next year." The Cubs lost 97 games last year and couldn't see first place even with Harry Caray's old eyeglasses. And yet, here they are in first place, thanks to superb pitching (at least until Tuesday night's visit to Coors Field) and improved defense from Bill Mueller, the latest in a line of third baseman as unending as the traffic jam on Michigan Avenue. Like the return of '70s fashion, no one can really explain this or say how long it will last. A short losing streak could knock the Twins, Cubs and Phillies out of first place by the end of the month.

The key is to enjoy it while it lasts. For too many seasons, baseball's postseason participants have been as predictable as the phases of the moon. Too many teams spent the season playing behind the velvet rope, knowing they had as much chance of lasting into October as a WB sitcom.

Baseball can talk all it wants to about new stadiums and higher strike zones and revenue-sharing, but this start by the Twins, Phillies and Cubs provides the game with what it needs most. Hope.

Box score line of the week
The Cubs' vastly improved pitching took a night off Tuesday when starter Kevin Tapani gave up 10 runs in 3.1 innings, raising his ERA from 0.96 to 4.91. But the most impressive line of the week was last Tuesday night in another blowout when a desperate Tony La Russa sent Bobby Bonilla to the mound for his first appearance on a big-league mound.

Bobby Bo struggled a bit, allowing two runs and committing a balk. His line:

1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 balk.

With his performance and his 284 career home runs, Bonilla joins a small and illustrious group -- players who hit at least 250 home runs and also pitched. The leaders are Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Jimmie Foxx, Stan Musial, Rocky Colavito, Jose Canseco and Gary Gaetti.

Lies, damn lies and statistics
How is the alleged new strike zone affecting Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine? Differently. Maddux didn't walk a batter in his first 27 innings while Glavine walked a major-league high 22 in his first 31 innings. ... It only took three weeks and 20 games, but Andruw Jones finally drove in someone other than himself. Prior to singling home Glavine in Monday's 9-7 victory over Houston, Jones had four home runs and four RBI. ... Limited strictly to a pinch-hitting role, Ken Griffey Jr. extended his hitless streak to 12 games over the weekend, including two games when he walked and another when he was hit by a pitch. Teams do a lot of stupid things but not putting Griffey on the disabled list is mind-boggling. Based on the first three weeks, his value as a pinch-hitter is nil but even worse, he risks severe injury every time he steps into the box. Are the Reds so strong they can afford to play with only 24 players? ... Yankees second baseman Alfonso Soriano, who has a lower on-base percentage than batting average, passed the one-year anniversary of his only major-league walk Sunday. He's gone 113 at-bats without a walk, including 86 this season. Since Soriano's historic walk (how were we to know?), Jason Giambi has walked 147 times. ... Cleveland honored its fans this week by retiring No. 455, which represents the number of consecutive sellouts the team had. But attendance has dropped significantly there this season. Why such a sudden, steep dropoff? Don't underestimate the effects of the slowing economy and the Cleveland Browns on disposeable income. Remember, the bulk of that 455-game sellout streak was when Cleveland did not have an NFL team.

From left field
Oakland was the virtually unanimous choice to win the AL West this spring, but barely three weeks into the season, the Athletics find themselves nine games behind the Mariners and own one of the worst staff ERAs in baseball.

Nine games is an imposing gap to overcome but not an impossible one, especially with so much of the season left to play. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, here are the 10 largest deficits a team has ever overcome at any point in the season (includes the latest date of the largest deficit):

Team	Games back	Date
1914 Boston Braves	15	July 5 (won by 10.5 games)
1978 New York Yankees	14	July 19 (beat Red Sox in one-game playoff)
1951 New York Giants	13	August 11 (beat Dodgers in playoff)
1995 Seattle Mariners	13	August 2 (beat Angels in one-game playoff)
1973 New York Mets	12.5	July 8 (won by 1.5 games)
1911 Philadelphia Athletics	12	May 19 (won by 13.5 games)
1930 St. Louis Cardinals	12	August 8 (won by 2 games)
1964 St. Louis Cardinals	11	August 23 (won by 1 game)
1973 Cincinnati Reds	11	June 30 (won by 3.5 games)
1987 Detroit Tigers	11	May 5 (won by 2 games)

Win Blake Stein's money
This week's category is: Six Degrees of Eddie Bacon.

Q. Which active player was a teammate with someone who was a teammate of Robin Roberts?

Power rankings

1. Mariners Photo of Ichiro not wearing pants almost as rare as a photo of Tiger Woods not wearing a swoosh.

2. Twins Big week for owner Carl Pohlad. Twins in first, residual check arrives for role as Montgomery Burns.

3. Dennis Tito Compromise: He can be first space tourist but no miles or Marriott points.

4. Chicago Good: Cubs in first. Bad: Sox in last, Oprah's Book Club snubs Zimmer's bio.

5. Phillies Philly hasn't looked this good since John Kruk last shaved.

6. Bridget Jones Sexiest diary since "Ball Four."

7. Rickey Henderson Ties the Babe's walk record, celebrates by gold-plating entire strike zone for necklace.

8. Charles Barkley Goes on strict diet: Feed him nothing but Spaldings.

9. Devil Rays Rays add Hal for 2001, but the pod bay door still won't open.

10. Athletics Staff ERA even higher than Robert Downey Jr.

A. Seattle's Stan Javier made his big-league debut with the Yankees in 1984, the final season of then-teammate Lou Piniella's career, which began in 1964 with Baltimore, where he was a teammate of Robin Roberts.

Roberts was a teammate with Schoolboy Rowe on the 1948 Phillies. Rowe was a teammate with Firpo Marberry on the 1933 Tigers. Marberry was a teammate with Bullet Joe Bush on the 1926 Senators. Bush was a teammate with Eddie Bacon on the 1917 Athletics, a team that hit 17 home runs and finished 44.5 games out of first place. Bacon pitched one game in his career, walking seven batters in six innings.

Voice of summer
"No, I'm not so bad looking. I know some girls sent me flowers. I must be cute to somebody."

-- Pedro Martinez on whether he's intimidating.

Jim Caple is a Senior Writer for ESPN.com.