A-Rod vs. Joe D: dead heat

So far Alex Rodriguez's year is nearly the equal of the season Joe DiMaggio had in 1937, which is considered the greatest season for a Yankees right-handed batter. Here's a numerical comparison. A-Rod's totals are projected:

As you can see, they are exactly tied for runs produced (318) and on-base percentage (.412) and are separated by only one in extra-base hits (97-96 for A-Rod) and 10 percentage points in slugging percentage and OPS (with DiMaggio leading in both categories). The two categories DiMaggio wins easily are hits and batting average. A-Rod would win in stolen bases, 17-3, if his current pace continues.

DiMaggio lost the MVP that year to Detroit's Charlie Gehringer, despite superior overall numbers (Gehringer hit .371 but with 14 home runs and 96 RBIs). A-Rod could also wind up losing out for MVP to a Tiger: Magglio Ordonez.

Around the Majors

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• The loss of Chris Carpenter could be the final blow for the Cardinals, who've had an impossible season. They are expected to decide in the next few days whether they are a buyer or seller. Though it's probably hard for the defending World Series champion to sell when it resides in the still-up-for-grabs NL Central.

• While the Cardinals have no prospects, Milwaukee is in good shape with Yovani Gallardo coming in to replace the injured Ben Sheets. According to one scout, Gallardo is "better than Phil Hughes or [Cincinnati's] Homer Bailey. He has more poise than either of them.''

• The Mets (and probably anyone else) would want the White Sox to pay part of Jose Contreras' $10 million salary over the next two years.

• Mets people are saying Pedro Martinez's 10-day break was due to mental fatigue, and is not anything physical. He's back throwing now. Even so, it's worrisome.

• The Padres should look to upgrade at second base, where Marcus Giles is batting .238 and has slipped in each month (from .327 in April to .220 in May, .208 in June and .167 in July). One consideration should be Houston's Mark Loretta, who is batting .301 and had his best seasons in San Diego, where he hit .335 with 16 home runs in '04.

• The Tigers recently went through a stretch of 16 games against winning teams, going 11-5 and beating Jonathan Papelbon, Daisuke Matsuzaka, C.C. Sabathia, Joe Nathan and Johan Santana, notes Danny Knobler of Michigan's Booth Newspapers.

• Scott Proctor got a break last night. His wife gave birth to a son, Cooper, meaning Joe Torre couldn't call him into Monday night's game, even if he wanted to. Cooper's an apt name for Proctor's son, since he has accepted his overuse (he's third in the league in appearances and relief innings) with a quiet toughness, a la Gary Cooper.

• Hard-throwing Yankees pitching prospect Chamberlain has impressed scouts to where they say he'd be the Yankees' best eighth-inning option. The callup of Shelley Duncan worked nicely. Maybe they ought to to give Chamberlain a shot.

• Has anyone noticed Reds starter Aaron Harang, who pitched 10 innings but got a no-decision in Cincy's win over Milwaukee on Monday, is 10-2 for a last-place team? The Reds are 17-5 in games started by Harang and 25-53 otherwise.

• I understand that there are Web sites dedicated to eradicating Joe Morgan from the airwaves. If that's true, I'd just like to know where to sign up.