[AZTarHeel]

Phillip Zarzour
440 N.C. Hwy 98-East
Bunn, NC 27508

Mr. Dennis Zarzour
Yunnan Normal University
NO. 298 Yieryi Avenue
Kunming, Yunnan
Peoples Republic of China 650092

Sept. 3, 2001


Greetings Big Brother

I hope you get this letter OK and I pray that you and Brenda are doing well. I can't believe it's been more than a year since you two packed all your belongings in storage and headed off for a "second career" as English teachers in China. I don't think Elizabeth and I will get that daring when Timmy finally moves out, but who knows?

I take it from your last letter that the two of you are having a ball learning the new customs and language. You've really been to a Buddhist temple and you sleep under mosquito netting every night? Wow, different world indeed.

Glad to hear you still get a chance to play basketball quite a bit with the students. I'm sure your skills and hustle impressed the "youngsters" at your school.

Well, you hinted that baseball news was hard to come by there in Kunming, so I thought I'd bring you up to a speed a little bit on what's happening with America's past time. Of course, by the time you get this it could be Spring Training 2002, but a little late news is better than nothing. right?

Our Phillies are out of it in the NL East (as usual), but Andrew's Dodgers are hanging on to their hopes of winning a wildcard berth. I don't think the Giants (79-52), who made a major surge over the summer, can be caught in the NL West. But the Dodgers (72-59) still have a chance to catch Cincy (76-55) in the wildcard standings.

Talking with Andrew I get the feeling he's a little frustrated at what's going on in LA. They have one of the best collection of hitters and players in the Majors — and the league's second highest payroll — yet they can't seem to put it all together. You would think that young pitching would be the culprit, but the Dodgers' team ERA is fifth-best in the Majors. The hitting is only middle of the pack.

I wrote to you about the Pujols kid in my last letter. But the Dodgers recently called up another big bopper in RF Craig Wilson. In just 55 at-bats, he already has five homers and is hitting .288. Paul Lo Duca is chasing the NL batting title with a .343 average. Piazza is hitting just over .300 and A-Rod is batting just under .300 with 26 homers. He had a 23-game hitting streak over the summer.

So why don't the Dodgers have 80 or 85 wins? Andrew says he can't explain it but seems to suggest that a lot of folks are just looking out for themselves. He says that Piazza had been the team leader when he first arrived in LA, but some of the young guys don't listen to him or are trying to take over. In any event, it will be a big disappointment if this team doesn't make the playoffs, but they should be built for a nice run in the next few years — if they can get that chemistry thing worked out.

On the AL side, those pesky Red Sox look like the team to beat again. Everyone in the AL East has a winning record, but you won't believe who is in last place - the Yankees!! They're 15 games back (and five behind the D-Rays -- I love it!).

Some other headlines from this summer: Barry Bonds homered for the 500th time in his career, and he had one stretch where he hit six in six days. He's got 41 for the season but trails Juan Gonzalez of Texas by six for the season lead. Guess the Giants don't really miss ol' Barry but he's picked Toronto up. They may win the wildcard in the AL.

Baltimore's BJ Surhoff and New York's Paul O'Neill both got their 2,000th hits on the same day in mid-August. Jim Thome's tearing it up with 145 RBIs already. He's got 41 homers also.

Getting back to the Dodgers, they did get some help at 2B after trading for Damian Easley in July. They gave away a lot to get him — Roger Cedano, Ismael Valdes and Eric Young. But he's solid on defense and carries a much better bat than anyone else they had at the keystone sack.

Not trying to brag about my boy, but Andrew has enjoyed a great summer. He's got the most wins of any Dodgers starter (14-7 record), and his ERA is pretty good at 4.26. His 164 strikeouts is 11th best in the Majors. Since that awful May that I wrote to you about, he's 10-2. He hasn't talked to me much about his "secret" but he's hinted at subtle adjustments in his delivery and overall approach to hitters. It doesn't matter, I'm just proud and hope he can keep it up. We'd love to see him in the playoffs one more time.

Andrew's last win was an impressive one, 10-2 against the Giants, in San Fran. He's got eight road wins, which impresses me, too.

OK, enough about my son. Sorry if I sound like I'm being boastful. We're just enjoying seeing him have so much success. We're going to enjoy every minute of it.

I'm proud of Timmy, too, who just started his senior year at Bunn High. He thought about trying out for football (wouldn't that have been funny?!?) but then decided against it to focus on fall baseball. He may end up getting a full ride somewhere to play baseball. That would be great. Mary Katherine is doing well as a new elementary school teacher. She's got a new boyfriend, and I think they are getting serious. More on that later.

Once you get your computer set up and the Internet working correctly, let us know. We'll keep you updated in a more timely fashion. Take care, brother. Know that Elizabeth and I love you both very much and miss you incredibly. Be safe and be good. Most of all have fun.

God bless,

Phillip