Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - With one full month complete in the Major League Baseball season, there have been pleasant surprises on some teams and poor showings on others.

While the New York Yankees continue their reign in the AL East, the Kansas City Royals are opening some eyes in the Central. Rocco Baldelli is off to a sizzling start, making him an early candidate for AL Rookie of the Year, but it seems 2002 AL MVP Miguel Tejada can hardly hit off a tee.

Some trends will continue and others will probably come to an end, like Tejada's .161 average in the first month. With that in mind, I'd like to take some time and review some of the excellent and atrocious performances after the first full month of the season.

AWESOME APRIL

KANSAS CITY ROYALS - Tony Pena's team started quickly out of the gate and the club went 17-7 in the opening month. Despite Carlos Beltran being on the disabled list, KC started the year by winning its first nine games, the first time that's happened for a major league club since the 1990 Cincinnati Reds did it. Runelvys Hernandez went a shocking 4-0 over six starts and rookie closer Mike MacDougal came within one save of matching the club record in a single month. Additionally, Raul Ibanez had an incredible month, batting .330.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS - Felipe Alou may be the new man in town, but in April he certainly seemed like a manager who's been in San Francisco for several years. Alou's squad won 13 of their first 14 games to equal the best start in franchise history and finished April with a 19-7 mark, only faltering in the final week when the Giants lost three in a row. Damian Moss led the way for San Francisco with a 4-0 mark and a 2.21 ERA.

NEW YORK YANKEES - There remains that possibility the Yankees may not lose more than 50 games this year. Joe Torre's squad has been dominant, although in recent days there appeared to be a chink in the armor of the veteran pitching staff. George Steinbrenner's team was criticized in the off-season for carrying too many starting pitchers and having a staff that could possibly break down. With Roger Clemens (40), David Wells (39), Mike Mussina (34) and Andy Pettitte (30) anchoring the rotation, the Yankee starters are off to an incredible beginning to 2003. Up until an April 24th loss in Anaheim, Yankee starters had recorded wins in 20 straight regular-season decisions dating back to last season, breaking the previous AL record of 18 set by the 1906 Chicago White Sox. Despite injuries to closer Mariano Rivera and All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter, the Yankees received adequate contributions from Erick Almonte and Juan Acevedo.

ROCCO BALDELLI - What else can you say, but "the kid is awesome!" The 21-year- old centerfielder for the Devil Rays started the season with a 13-game hitting streak and set a major league record for most hits by a rookie through April, surpassing Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki, who had 39 in 2001. From March 31st until the end of April, Baldelli had 40 hits and finished the month leading all AL rookies in 11 offensive categories and in outfield assists. He has tremendous speed and is aggressive on the bases. He also hit .353 for the month and was an incredible .500 with runners in scoring position. One downfall for the rookie was his 28 strikeouts.

HANK BLALOCK - The Texas Rangers rookie third basemanL hit safely in 16 of his 20 starts for the month. His .388 average for the month was second-best in the AL and his .635 slugging percentage was sixth-best in the league. The 22-year- old lefthanded hitter had the top average versus righthanders (.435).

JIM EDMONDS AND ALBERT PUJOLS - Despite early season injuries, the St. Louis duo finished first (.389) and second (.382), respectively, in batting average for the month in the National League. Pujols gutted it out late in April despite a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Edmonds is a lifetime .344 hitter in April with 40 homers and 138 RBI, and in four seasons with St. Louis he's hit .381 in the month with 25 homers and 80 RBI.

ALFONSO SORIANO - Through the end of April the star second baseman led the majors in hits (46), multi-hit games (16) and total bases (81). He also topped the AL in runs (26) and was tied for the lead in homers (9).

SHAWN CHACON - The Colorado starter's four consecutive winning decisions and three straight winning starts were both career bests, as he finished the month 4-0. The 25-year-old righthander was tops in the National League in ERA for starters at 1.04 and limited batters to hit just .164 against him.

ALEX RODRIGUEZ AND CARL EVERETT - You would expect A-Rod to be in this category every month, but teammate Carl Everett? Rodriguez went 12-of-17 the last three games of April to raise his average from .289 to .355. Everett, who was hit by a cell phone during an April 19 game in Oakland, led the AL with nine home runs, tying the club record for April.

BRAD FULLMER - Anaheim's DH finished the opening month batting a major league- best .392 with four homers and 18 RBI. He hit just .219 last April.

ESTEBAN LOAIZA - The Chicago White Sox hurler, who was signed to a minor league contract in the offseason, bolted to a 5-0 mark with a 1.25 ERA in April. He recorded 35 strikeouts and walked just five batters, while holding opponents to a major league best .151 batting average.

AWFUL APRIL

DETROIT TIGERS - The team hit a paltry .182 for the month and had just three wins in April (3-21). Manager Alan Trammell and current Tigers coaches Kirk Gibson and Lance Parrish aren't used to losing. The 1984 Tigers, which included the trio, went 35-5 for the best start in major-league history. Dean Palmer contributed to the horrible start by hitting .132 for the month, while starting pitcher Mike Maroth lost all six of his decisions.

EDGARDO ALFONZO - It was thought that Alfonzo would have a monster year on his new team, especially with pitchers focusing on Barry Bonds, J.T. Snow and Marquis Grissom in San Francisco's power-packed lineup. However, Fonzie has gotten off to an awful start. The new Giants third baseman finished April hitting .167 and went just 1-for-16 over his last four games of the month.

MO VAUGHN - A sub-par 2002 has carried over into 2003 for Vaughn and Mets fans have been unable to stomach the big first baseman. Sidelined by a stomach virus in late April, Vaughn might as well have taken a sabbatical the entire month. Aside from a 3-for-4 performance on April 4 against Montreal and a 4- for-5 showing on April 17 at Pittsburgh, it was a brutal first month for the Mets first baseman, as he hit .205.

JASON GIAMBI - The Yankee first baseman had possibly the worst month of his career, hitting .194 with 22 strikeouts. The 2000 AL MVP, hit .314 with 41 homers and 122 RBI last season, but has had trouble recently with nagging hand, knee and hamstring injuries.

TORII HUNTER - An All-Star last season, the Minnesota centerfielder has taken a big dive in his stats early this year. Was it the four-year, $32 million deal he signed in the offseason? Now that Hunter has the security of a big contract, he's not performing up to his level, at least not yet. He batted just .217 for the month.

MIGUEL TEJADA - Last season's AL MVP has taken an about-face. The Oakland shortstop finished April in a 3-for-26 slump and going into May had a .161 average, second lowest in the American League, next to Palmer. It was a huge difference from a year ago, when Tejada hit .295 in April, and that happened to be his lowest average in one month in 2002. Tejada also committed seven errors, second-most in the majors.