Say what?

Three games over .500 for the first time since 2003?

To put it in perspective, the following occured that year:

Oscar for best movie: Return of the King. Peter Jackson has since been embroiled in a lawsuit over accounting practices with respect to profits over Fellowship of the Ring and has been replaced as director of the upcoming movie, The Hobbit.

The Iraq war began on March 20, 2003, and presently has lasted longer than the U.S. involvement in World War II.

Roger Clemens reached the milestone marks of 300 wins and 4,000 strikeouts. He has since retired three times.

Barry Bonds swiped his 500th base, hit 45 homers and won his 6th NL MVP award. He's tagged 88 home runs since then, the same number Tino Martinez hit during his entire Mariner tenure. He's also injected 88 different spots on his hiney with - ahem - vitamin supplements.

Buddy Ebsen died at the ripe old age of 95. Funny that despite a career that lasted nearly 70 years, he was best known as the simple-minded rube grandfather from The Beverly Hillbillies.

You get the picture. 2003 was a long time ago. The M's have had longer periods of futility, but four years seems like an eternity. This cobbled-together, band-aided group of up-and-comers and dumpster-dives has performed better than one could reasonably expect to this point in the season.

One is tempted to offer at least tepid words resembling congratulatory sentiments to Messrs. Bavasi and Hargrove for the results. One would be highly premature to do so. The starting pitching is still a mess and many of the hitters are performing well above expectations. Sounds like my fantasy team.

I'm cautiously optimistic that the M's will stay within the periphery of the race for the A.L. West through the first half of the season. That's the most I can muster right now.