Central figures
Week at a Glance: Find pity, parity in middle divisions
Posted: Wednesday June 09, 1999 04:26 PM
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In the middle of it all: While Manny Ramirez (left) has led the powerful Indians with his bat, Jose Lima has carried the Astros with his high-energy pitching. AP |
By Bryan Boyle, CNN/SI
Like the commissioner of baseball and the King of Beers, the Central
divisions share little in common except a name.
A quick look at the standings reveals the dissimilarities. You'll notice
almost immediately that the NL Central has six teams; the AL five. Duh.
After some quick math, you'll also notice that the NL Central has the
majors' best cumulative winning percentage (.534 after the weekend); the AL
the worst (.467). And if you study the Games Back column long enough,
you'll notice that the last-place Brewers trail the NL Central-leading
Astros by as many games (9 1/2) as the second-place White Sox trail
the AL Central-leading Indians.
The NL Central is where parity prevails. Five of the six teams are over
.500, with the fifth-place Cardinals recently becoming the first team in
the majors to draw 1 million fans on the road.
The Comedy Central is where pity prevails. Cleveland is the only team over
.500, with the fifth- and last-place Twins recently becoming the worst team in the
majors -- unlikely to draw 1 million fans at home this year.
Once only the case in a World Series, the AL and NL can now assign
bragging rights on the diamond thanks to interleague play. And after five
interleague series over the weekend between the Central divisions, the NL
triumphed 9-6. Incidentally, the Brewers scored 24 runs in a three-game
series against the Rockies, only to suffer a sweep at Coors Field.
While there's still more interleague battle to do among these two
divisions, one thing's for sure: Playing in the Central is no walk in the
ballpark.
Unless you're an Indian.
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Milwaukee Brewers at
Cleveland Indians,
June 8-10
The Brewers travel to Cleveland after three
demoralizing losses at Coors Field. But Milwaukee has enjoyed unusual
success on the road, where it's 16-14. But the Brewers are only 8-18 at
County Stadium, which they'll vacate next season for a convertible-roof
ballpark. Brewers executives are convinced they'll sell over 3 million
tickets at the new yard next season, but not if it's featuring the NL's
second-worst ERA -- next to Colorado. No, sir. If the Tribe, still the only
team in the majors hitting .300 or better, make mincemeat of Milwaukee,
look for rumors to circulate regarding the job security of eighth-year
Brewers manager Phil Garner. Another three-game sweep may scare off the
skipper once known as "Scrap Iron."
If you only watch one:
Hideo Nomo
(2-1, 3.82) vs. Bartolo
Colon (6-2, 5.05) June 10, 7:05 p.m. ET
Nomo's pitched well,
but he's never faced Cleveland, or a lineup like it |
Chicago White Sox at
Chicago Cubs, June
11-13
Sammy
Sosa welcomes to Wrigley Field the team -- minus George Bell -- that
once traded him. The White Sox return hoping to avenge last season's
three-game sweep on the North Side. But should it happen again, at least
the White Sox are afforded the opportunity to return the favor at their
place this season (July 9-11). Sosa continues to swing a hot bat. He hit
his league-leading 20th home run and drove in four runs Monday night.
Meanwhile, Chicago's other slugger, Frank Thomas, has as
many homers as Gary
Gaetti -- five. Only hundredths of a point separate each team's ERA,
but look for beer, cheer and taters to win the day games.
If you
only watch one:
Jim Parque (6-5, 4.10)
vs. Jon Lieber (5-1,
3.32) June 11, 3:20 p.m. ET
Lieber career vs. White Sox: 1-0, 9
IP, 1 run, 10 strikeouts |
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Interleague debate
The debate between purists and progressives continues over the impact of
interleague play. The "experiment" is in its third season and attendance
figures continue to reflect that the fans approve, although the
Yankees-Mets, White Sox-Cubs and McGwire-anywhere series have a good deal
to do with inflating the turnstile tallies. A recent dismissal to surface
-- supported by Pirates outfielder Al Martin, Rangers
manager Johnny Oates and Rockies outfielder Larry Walker, to name a
few -- renders interleague play as simply "boring." Who needs another
Astros-Twins series? Aside from the 13,720 folks who showed up for Sunday's
series finale, just about nobody. Then again, who's hankering for an
Expos-Marlins series? |
College World Series
The NCAA baseball tournament,
expanded to 64 teams this season, has been narrowed to the Elite Eight.
From June 11-19, Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb., entertains a
double-elimination tournament to crown a national champion. Over the years,
the CWS has been a showcase of hustle and zeal oftentimes missing from the
big leagues. However, it's also fueled the argument for prohibiting
aluminum bats -- last year's championship was won by Southern Cal after a
21-14 slugfest against Arizona State. The action begins Friday with
fifth-seeded Alabama playing No. 4 seed Oklahoma State. In the late game,
top-seeded Miami will play No. 8 seed Rice. Second-seeded Florida State
plays No. 7 seed Texas A&M on Saturday. The late game has third-seeded Cal
State-Fullerton against No. 6 seed Stanford. Who will win this year's
College World Series? Cast your
vote. |
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Joy
Sean Casey, CIN,
12-for-25, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 8 R in five June games
Leads majors in
batting average (.393) and slugging percentage (.692) |
Coy
Miguel
Batista, MON, 5-2, 3.66 ERA, 6.81 K/9 this season
6-1 lifetime
pitching in Canada, 2-10 in the United States |
Oy!
Cal Eldred,
MIL, 1-4, 7.33 ERA in nine games this season
Last two starts: 0-1,
4 2/3 IP, 17.36 ERA, 9 ER, 8 H, 3 BB |
For the money
Glenallen Hill,
CHN, .429 BA, 7 HR, 21 RBI in 63 at-bats this season
Batting .524
(22-for-42) when starting game in left field |
To the show
Tim
Hudson, OAK, 4-0, 2.20 ERA in eight Class AAA starts
A's designated
Tom Candiotti for
assignment to bring Hudson up Monday |
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| As part of their '70s Week, the
Giants played the A's on Saturday in vintage '70s get-ups. San Fran sported
the bright orange jerseys, while Oakland wore the Kelly green.
Incidentally, Juan Marichal edged John Montefusco by a narrow margin for
Starting Right-Handed Pitcher on the Giants' 1970s All-Decade Team. |
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| Dodgers pitcher Chan Ho Park attacked
Tim Belcher with his
hands, forearm and feet Saturday after Park felt the Anaheim pitcher tagged
him too hard following a sac bunt. Whoa, Chan Ho. There's no kicking in
baseball. |  |
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Last week in New York, Major League Baseball, Mattel and the Yankees
unveiled the limited-edition, collectable, 11 1/2-inch Major League
Baseball Barbie. | |
John Henry, in his first year as Marlins owner, has been seen inviting some
fans to watch games from his private perch and personally moving other fans
to better seats.
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The Hack watch
 The Hack watch continues. Last year, it was Juan Gonzalez tearing
up the AL's RBI chart, driving in 101 runs before the All-Star break. This
year, it's Manny
Ramirez with the hot bat early. Through Monday's games, Ramirez had
knocked in league-leading 68 runs in 54 games, putting him on pace for --
yes, we know it's early -- 204 RBIs and ahead of Hack Wilson's record of
190. Let's just hope that Ramirez's three-game suspension -- starting
Tuesday -- doesn't keep him from taking an early Hack at Wilson's amazing
record. |
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The Glance's All-too-early RBI Projection |
| 1. Manny Ramirez, CLE 204 (68 RBIs in 54
games) |
| 2. Ken Griffey Jr., SEA
165 (56 RBIs in 55 games) |
| 3. Matt
Williams, ARZ 156 (55 RBIs in 57 games) |
4. Brian Jordan, ATL
150 (52 RBIs in 56 games)
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| Questions? Comments? Concerns? Ask the Glance. |
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Glance answers up |
Back in April, Charlene
from North Walpole, N.H., asked:
What has Mark Lemke decided,
if anything, to do? Has he signed for anyone yet?
The Glance
answered that The Lemmer was waiting for a big league team to come calling.
The call never came. For an update, check Inside Baseball from Sports
Illustrated: Lemke's
Second Career: Former Infielder Knuckles Down |
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CNN/SI's Baseball Week at a Glance appears
each Tuesday throughout the season.
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