Coincidence?
Week at a Glance: Putting up big numbers, little hope
Posted: Monday August 09, 1999 09:04 PM
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McGwire and the Cardinals are virtually out of postseason contention, while his old team, the A's, are in the AL wild-card hunt. AP |
By Bryan Boyle, CNN/SI
The numbers racket was deafening last week. You had to be vacationing in
Montreal not to learn that Mark McGwire struck his
500th career home run Thursday, Tony Gwynn lined his
3,000th career hit Friday and, one day later, Wade Boggs reached
3,000 hits like none other -- by homering.
Even Frank Thomas
got into the act Saturday, ending two weeks of waiting between home runs
Nos. 299 and 300.
But for all the talk and, of course, media attention lent to the important
ballpark figures, hasn't what's important been somewhat lost? Not on
McGwire, who -- along with Gwynn, Boggs and Thomas -- finds himself
virtually out of postseason contention with still two months to play
ball.
"The fascination with numbers started when Rotisserie Baseball became big
probably 10 years ago," McGwire said last week. "There's stats coming out
of the woodwork that nobody ever knew about that I think sometimes blow
things way out of proportion."
A pair of National League right fielders won't be found dwelling on the
impressive numbers they've managed to generate this season. Chicago's Sammy Sosa, just behind
McGwire for the major league lead in homers, and Colorado's Larry Walker, the NL's
batting leader, both last week expressed their displeasure with management
and mounting losses.
When the Cubs didn't offer a good-enough deal to Jose Hernandez and
subsequently dealt him to the Braves at the July 31 trade deadline, Sosa
questioned the team's general manager and direction.
"When Sammy speaks, I listen," Cubs GM Ed Lynch said after meeting with
Sosa to explain the club's method.
The Rockies dumped Darryl Hamilton and Chuck McElroy, each in
the first year of three-year contracts, to the Mets on the same day.
Shortly thereafter, Walker let it be known that he deserves at least a say
in moves to improve the team.
"I want to win just like anybody else," Walker said last week. "I've got
my own feelings on things that could be done. I'll probably in the future
here voice those feelings and voice them in a room with the right
people."
Sosa and Walker have the right idea, but not many have any idea that the
Oakland
Athletics, out of postseason play for seven years, are a mere game out
of the AL wild-card race. Or how 'bout them Mets, who haven't visited the
postseason since 1988? They lead the NL East by one-half game over the
Braves, who haven't not won a division since 1990.
Now that McGwire, Gwynn and Boggs have done their swings, baseball's off
to the races. Well, until Cal Ripken Jr. returns
from the DL next week to become not only a 400-homer guy, but also the
first to become the third in the same year -- and the 24th overall -- to
reach 3,000 career hits. With all that to accomplish, Ripken won't have
anything left for the postseason.
He won't need it anyway.
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New York Mets at San Francisco Giants,
Aug. 13-15
On June 5, the Mets lost their eighth straight game
and fell below .500. Three of manager Bobby Valentine's hand-picked coaches
were canned. Not long after, the Mets won 17 of their first 21 games after
the All-Star break before losing two straight to the Dodgers over the
weekend. With a bullpen bolstered by trade-deadline deals and the best
defense in the majors (.988 fielding pct.), the Mets have made up for their
lack of a No. 1 starter and entered Monday atop the NL East with a
half-game lead. The three-day set with the Giants at 3Com starts a six-game
road trip in California. If they fare well, Atlanta will tremble. And the
Giants are no slouch. They need to brush aside the Mets to stay in step
with Arizona in the NL West race.
If you only watch one:
Masato
Yoshii (7-7, 5.87) vs. Russ Ortiz (12-8, 3.90)
Friday, Aug. 13
Injury to Rick Reed shifts Yoshii
back into the rotation |
Oakland Athletics at Toronto Blue Jays,
Aug. 13-15
The A's enter Monday trailing both Toronto and
Boston by a single game in the AL wild-card race. After this three-game set
with the Jays, the Athletics go to Fenway Park for four games (Aug. 16-19)
before returning to Oakland Coliseum, where they are 40-17, for four more
games (Aug. 20-23) against Toronto. Catch all that? Essentially, the series
starts for Oakland 13 straight days of games -- 11 against wild-card
contenders and the final two against powerhouse Cleveland. The A's can make
believers out of fans and small-market clubs everywhere with a strong
showing the next two weeks. Toronto, meanwhile, will look to counter
Oakland's strong pitching -- third-best ERA in AL -- with speed. The Jays
lead the AL in stolen bases.
If you only watch one:
Kevin Appier (11-9,
4.52) vs. David
Wells (11-7, 5.16) Friday, Aug. 13
Appier is 2-0 with a 1.20
ERA in first two starts with new team |
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AL wild card
Boston and Toronto enter Monday tied for the wild-card lead. The A's trail
by only one game. The Yankees, Indians and Rangers, each with a .600-plus
winning percentage, have each division pretty much wrapped up. But this
wild-card hunt could make that A's-Angels game in late September worth
watching. |
Changing of the guard
Without production at leadoff, without a
reliable closer, without their everyday first baseman, catcher and No. 5
starter, can the Braves maintain their NL East dominance? Starting
pitching may not be enough to carry the Braves into this postseason if the
Mets and Reds (11-4 since July 24 and one game behind Atlanta for the wild
card) have their druthers. |
 |
Joy
Carlos Delgado, TOR,
3-for-4, 3 HR, 3 RBI vs. TEX on Aug. 6
It was the 12th
three-homer game in the majors this season |
Coy
Francisco Cordova, PIT,
7 2/3 IP, 1 R in win vs. STL on Aug. 6
Before All-Star break:
4-4, 4.81 ERA; After break: 3-1, 2.70 ERA |
Oy!
Jim Parque, CHA, 4 IP,
6 R, 7 H, 2 BB vs. OAK on Aug. 7
Has not won in seven starts
dating to July 7 |
For the money
Gerald Williams, ATL, 2
HR, 8 RBI in 3-game series Aug. 6-8
Extended his hitting streak
to a career-best 11 games Sunday |
To the show
Dave Roberts, CLE,
3-for-5 with 3 R, 1 SB in ML debut Aug. 7
Recorded first career
hit on night Wade Boggs hit his 3,000th |
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| During Atlanta's 15-4
win over San Francisco on Saturday, J.T. Snow's infield
pop-up dropped between three Braves infielders for an apparent gaffe. But
after the ball landed on the pitcher's mound, shortstop Ozzie Guillen let it
bounce toward the third-base line. As soon as it crossed into foul
territory, he grabbed the ball -- turning it into a mere foul. |  |
| A crowd of 25,104
took advantage of a $5 ticket promotion in Montreal on Saturday, the day
after only 13,540 saw San Diego's Tony Gwynn become the 22nd player to
reach 3,000 career hits. The crowd was the second largest in Montreal this
season. The largest was the season's home opener. This club's headed south.
|  |
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Instead of hitting the showers, Frankie chose to hit Joe Girardi. After
hitting a batter, M's pitcher Frankie Rodriguez was pulled Friday. As he
left the mound, he was angered at something on-deck hitter Girardi said.
Rodriguez, the same pitcher who triggered a bench-clearing brawl in Los
Angeles on July 11 with a brushback pitch, charged the batter's box and
took two swings at Girardi, knocking him down. Bad form, Frankie. |
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After homering for
career hit No. 3,000, Wade Boggs didn't get much sleep Saturday night. But
he felt he owed it to fans to play the next game; many of them purchased
tickets hoping Sunday would be the big day. Boggs doubled in his only
at-bat -- "It was probably the most relaxed at-bat I had in 18 years" --
and took the rest of the day off.
 | |
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The Whiff Watch
 The Whiff Watch continues. Balls are landing over the fence at
a record rate this season, and players are swinging for those fences at a
record rate, too. The Indians' Jim Thome is on pace to
near Bobby Bonds' record of 189 strikeouts in a season, set in 1970.
Through Sunday's games, Thome had 115 strikeouts. There have been only five
players to fan at least 180 times in a season: Bonds, Rob Deer, Cecil Fielder, Pete Incaviglia and
Mike Schmidt. |
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The Glance's Strikeout King Projection |
| 1. Jim Thome, CLE 175 (115 K's, 52
remaining, 1.16 K/G) |
| 2. Sammy
Sosa, CHA 169 (115 K's, 52 games remaining, 1.05 K/G)
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| 3. Carlos Delgado, TOR 165
(115 K's, 49 games remaining, 1.02 K/G) |
4. Derek Bell, HOU
161 (112 K's, 49 games remaining, 1.01 K/G)
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| Questions? Comments? Concerns? Ask the Glance. |
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Glance answers up |
You were incorrect in
projecting the season-end strikeout projections. You took the batter's
current rate and projected it for 162 games. You didn't take into account,
for example, that Jim Thome has played in 93 out of the Indians' 110 games.
You have to take his current number, and add to it the current rate times
the games left.
Mike Walczak, Westmont, Ill.
Yes, Mike, it seems that the Glance oversimplified the Strikeout King
Projection formula. From now on, as long as The Whiff Watch is part of the
Glance, your more precise formula will be used. Please note the inclusion
of games remaining, as well as K/G ratio. While Thome still leads the pack,
this week's 175 projection is indeed more accurate than the 188, derived by
dividing K's by games played and multiplying that number by 162
regular-season games. Thanks, Mike. |
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CNN/SI's Baseball Week at a Glance appears
each Monday.
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