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So what about strikeouts? Marlins' Wilson closes in on other statistical milestones
As the poster child for Generation K, Marlins center fielder Preston Wilson has taken a lot of abuse for his assault on Bobby Bonds' 30-year-old, single-season strikeout record. It's going to be close but Wilson remains on pace to eclipse Bonds' 189 strikeouts in 1970. Even so, the Marlins have left Wilson in their cleanup spot all year because when he doesn't just strike out, he produces. He's on target to break Gary Sheffield's franchise single-season RBI mark, and with one more homer will become the 23rd member of baseball's 30/30 club, for home runs and stolen bases. Wilson says his embarrassment at closing in on the strikeout record is outweighed by his pride in the RBI mark. "To be a run producer out of all the times I've failed this year," he told me. "I feel good about that."
Left in their dustIn the days of Fred McGriff, David Justice and Ryan Klesko, teams used to line up their left-handed starters to shut down the Braves. Now the Braves send lefties running for cover.With the additions over the last few years of Andres Galarraga and Brian Jordan, and Don Baylor's overhaul of Chipper Jones' right-handed swing, the Braves have turned their fatal flaw into their biggest strength. Not only do they lead the majors with a .318 average against lefties, but that's 58 points higher than their average against righties and 51 points higher than the league average. Braves hitting coach Merv Rettenmund told me he's never seen any club hit lefties quite like this. The Braves are 20-13 against left-handed starters this year, including wins over Randy Johnson, Mike Hampton, Al Leiter, Shawn Estes, and twice over Kirk Rueter. Come October, the Braves could be murder on clubs like the Giants, Mets, White Sox and Yankees, all of whom should have two lefties in their postseason rotations.
Can't buy me titlesUnless the Red Sox pull off a miracle wild-card run, Pedro Martinez will be home for October. So will Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson and many other highly-paid superstars. Entering the final week of the regular season, just two of the game's top 10 annual salaries appear playoff-bound: Mike Piazza and Bernie Williams. In fact, of the 17 players making at least $10 million a year, just six will play on. No, baseball is definitely not the NBA.Mike Berardino covers the baseball beat for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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