Turning It Up A Notch

From the historic to the horrendous, the first half had its moments. Now the stage is set for heated division races

By Tom Verducci

Commissioner Bud Selig needs an old-fashioned, honest-to-goodness pennant race or two, something that's been difficult to come by since the owners introduced the wild card in 1995. And at week's end [All stats as of June 30] it looked as if he could be in luck: 19 of the 30 teams were within 6 1/2 games of a playoff spot. A few down-to-the-wire battles would be welcome, as baseball hit its halfway mark quietly, with no dominant team and no dominant player (though the understated greatness of St. Louis Cardinals leftfielder Albert Pujols should be savored).

The biggest news of the first half was the stained reputation of one of its most lovable stars, Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa, who was suspended seven games for using a corked bat on June 3. (Talk about your expensive corkage fees.) Sosa, meanwhile, had been outhomered through Sunday 14-10 by Morgan Ensberg, which is not the name of a brokerage firm but the third baseman for the Houston Astros. What's more, Arizona Diamondbacks lefthander Randy Johnson and Boston Red Sox righthander Pedro Martinez, the game's most dynamic pitchers, had spent a combined 104 days on the disabled list and had six wins between them. New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza and New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, the biggest stars in the biggest market, had missed a combined 74 games because of injuries.

"The longer the season goes on, the better I feel about things," says Selig, which may be a polite way of wishing that more captivating days are ahead. It's been the kind of year in which Baltimore Orioles outfielder Melvin Mora and Chicago White Sox righthander Esteban Loaiza -- your basic anonymous journeymen -- are the front-runners for the American League batting title and Cy Young Award, respectively. Mora (.357), the father of quintuplets, was heretofore known for putting up big numbers only when shopping for diapers at a warehouse superstore. The 31-year-old Loaiza (11-3) has already equaled his career high in victories.

"We've got great division races shaping up," says Selig, who may be on to something. The three greatest rivalries in baseball are Yankees-Red Sox, Dodgers-Giants and Cubs-Cardinals, and every one was involved in a battle for first place in their respective divisions. Moreover, all of those races include third teams, which adds suspense because the wild card will not be an automatic consolation prize.

This year teams, not individuals, are the best watercooler topics, especially surprise contenders such as the Chicago Cubs, 95-game losers last year who have one of the hardest-throwing pitching staffs ever; the Los Angeles Dodgers, who couldn't outscore Manchester United; the Montreal Expos, who, with a closer named Rocky, are the ultimate underdogs; the Toronto Blue Jays, whose explosive lineup makes the game look like slo-pitch softball; the Kansas City Royals, who might execute an unprecedented U-turn in the standings; and the Detroit Tigers, who are to horrible teams what 100-year floods are to natural disasters.

Detroit, in fact, has been so bad it is the most fascinating story line of the season this side of Sosa's Chardonnay Slugger. If Selig doesn't get the pennant races he needs, the Tigers' countdown to a record 121 losses will have to do for our recommended daily dose of September drama. So take your Dramamine and fasten your seat belt: What follows is a road map to where the baseball season has been and where it's going, based on the 10 biggest developments of the first half.

1. Sosa's corked bat

Sammy Sosa. Charles Cherney/Chicago Tribune/AP

Review: You had to have been on Mars to not know the details.

Preview: The Cubs need another bat, partly because Sosa's undoctored ones haven't done enough damage. "Mike Lowell is the difference maker," one National League scout says, referring to the Florida third baseman who led the league in homers (25) but whom the Marlins may consider trading. "If the Cubs get Lowell, it puts them over the top. They have enough pitching." Chicago also has inquired about the availability of Baltimore Orioles third baseman Tony Batista (15 homers). In the meantime the pitching staff was on track to blow away the record for strikeouts in a season, 1,344, set by the 2001 Cubs.

2. Tigers challenge '62 Mets' record

Review: Detroit was on pace to go 37-125, which would smash the Mets' modern record of 120 losses. The Tigers were so bad they had lost at least seven games in a row five times, they were on track to become the first AL team in the 30 years of the designated hitter to post an on-base percentage worse than .300 in a full season (they were at .288), and they had won only six home games all year, threatening the record-low of 18 set by the St. Louis Browns in 1939.

Preview: When the '89 Tigers fell one loss short of the then franchise record of 104 defeats, manager Sparky Anderson mused, "We were so bad we couldn't even break the record." These Tigers will get the job done.

3. Kansas City is a contender

Review: The Royals haven't had a winning record in a full season since George Brett retired in 1993. They lost a franchise-high 100 games last season, then spent their available free-agent money on an Albie (Lopez) and a Desi (Relaford), presumably because they didn't have the big bucks to go after Sleepy and Grumpy. But rookie closer Mike MacDougal has nailed down games (20 saves) that K.C. used to give away, earning one of the game's best new nicknames: Mac the Ninth.

Preview: The 2002 Royals were one of 125 teams since 1900 to lose 100 games in a season. Only 11 had a winning record the next year (the 1988-89 Orioles were the last to do so), and none of them ever reached the postseason. The Minnesota Twins, despite a baffling slump, are the better team in the American League Central, but manager Tony Peña will keep the Royals in the thick of the race.

4. Milestones

Review: Sosa and Texas Rangers first baseman-designated hitter Rafael Palmeiro got 500 (home runs), Bonds got 500-500 (homers-stolen bases), Yankees righthander Roger Clemens got 300 (wins) and 4,000 (strikeouts), and Atlanta manager Bobby Cox got 1,500 (wins as the Braves' skipper, not ejections).

Preview: At week's end Bonds needed 26 homers for 661, which would move him ahead of his godfather, Willie Mays, into third place on the alltime list; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Fred McGriff and Cincinnati Reds centerfielder Ken Griffey Jr. needed 12 and 24 homers, respectively, for 500. The Reds needed one more fight against a ranked opponent to crack the WBA's light heavyweight top 10.

5. The great Canadian pastime

Review: The Montreal/San Juan Expos, despite touring more than Phish, are a wild-card contender. At the same time, the Blue Jays are making the Yankees and the Red Sox sweat in the AL East.

Preview: The Expos have an unproven bullpen -- closer Rocky Biddle is all they have to show for trading ace Bartolo Colon -- and still need a hitter since Juan Gonzalez refused a trade to Montreal. (He'd rather stay in Texas with the last-place Rangers.) As long as the Expos continue to win, look for general manager Omar Minaya to try to make another deal.

The Blue Jays were playing a game John McGraw wouldn't recognize. They will break the record for fewest sacrifice hits (they had four, a dozen fewer than the 1998 Tigers and the 2000 Yankees); they steal the fewest bases in the league (they had 12 while being caught 14 times); and they strike out the most (they had 545). Yet they were in contention because they were slugging .489, which would tie the alltime record set by none other than the 1927 Yankees. First baseman Carlos Delgado was on pace to become the first player in 65 years with more than 165 RBIs. Toronto plays 12 straight games against the Yankees and the Red Sox beginning on July 8, a stretch that will determine if they should unload (leftfielder Shannon Stewart to the Oakland A's; righthander Kelvim Escobar to the Cardinals, the Red Sox or the Yankees) or load up (righthander Sidney Ponson from Baltimore) before the trading deadline.

6. Albert Pujols flirts with .400 and the Triple Crown

Albert Pujols. John Biever

Review: The last NL player to win the Triple Crown was the Cardinals' Joe Medwick in 1937. At week's end Pujols led the league in hitting (.391) and RBIs (72) and had 23 homers.

Preview: The home run race will be Pujols's Belmont Stakes, the toughest leg, especially when Bonds goes on one of his power streaks. As for hitting .400, it's become nearly impossible to accomplish in today's game because of the specialization of relievers and reporters alike: There are more of them, and they come at you harder than ever.

7. Detroit pitchers Jeremy Bonderman and Mike Maroth lost 12 games before July

Review: No pitcher has lost 20 games in a season since Oakland's Brian Kingman in 1980. And if Maroth (2-12) doesn't do it, the 20-year-old Bonderman (2-12) could, establishing a new and unintended 20-20 club.

Preview: Maroth received only 3.4 runs per start. With that kind of support and continued good health, he is a lock to be the first 20-game loser in almost a quarter century. Bonderman got even less run support, 2.3 runs per game. These guys are in a no-win situation.

8. The Dodgers are hitless wonders

Review: Los Angeles ranked last in the league in runs but tied for the lead in the NL wild-card race. No team has ever reached the postseason with the worst scoring offense in its league.

Preview: Two scouts say that the Dodgers cannot be a playoff team unless they trade for a hitter -- reliever Guillermo Mota has emerged as L.A.'s most valuable trading chip -- or unless rightfielder Shawn Green and third baseman Adrian Beltre start to hit. "No team that is so one-dimensional gets through a whole year like that," says one scout, referring to L.A.'s superior pitching staff. "At some point you need some offense, and they don't have any." Without an offensive upgrade, the Dodgers will be another 90-plus-win team that falls just short of the playoffs.

9. Hideki Matsui went from a bust to the favorite for AL Rookie of the Year

Review: In a New York minute the erstwhile Groundzilla, who wore out infielders in May with his weak hitting stroke, became a bona fide run producer for the Yankees (61 RBIs, second on the team) and suddenly showed some pop in his bat.

Preview: No, he won't come close to the 50 homers he slugged in Japan last year, but Matsui was on pace to hit .304 with 18 homers and 122 RBIs at week's end. The early favorite for rookie honors in the American League, Tampa Bay Devil Rays free-swinging centerfielder Rocco Baldelli, won't come close to those power numbers and, according to one G.M., "should feel good if he finishes at .275, .280. He's falling fast."

Freewheeling lefthander Dontrelle Willis of the Marlins (8-1), a joy to watch with his high leg kick and a nightmare to hit, was pitching his way to the NL Rookie of the Year award.

10. Statistical oddities

Review: The pitching-proud Braves hadn't thrown a complete game but were threatening the '97 Seattle Mariners' record of hitting 264 home runs.... Boston's Johnny Damon had as many hits in the first inning of a game last Friday (three) as Cincinnati's Wily Mo Peña had all year.... Yankees lefty David Wells had more than twice as many wins (10) as batters walked (four).... Milwaukee Brewers reliever-DH Brooks Kieschnick had hit more homers (four) than he'd allowed (three).... Infielder Jose Hernandez of the Cubs was more than halfway to becoming the first hitter to whiff 200 times in a season.... Seattle was the only AL team to turn a 6-4-3 double play on 6/4/03.... The Red Sox were on track to hit 467 doubles, smashing the major league record of 373 set by the Browns in 1930 and tied by Boston in '97.... Dodgers closer Eric Gagne was striking out batters at a record rate of 15.8 per nine innings.

Preview: When the '62 Mets and the '27 Yankees can be Wite-Outed from the record book in the same year, expect more oddities.    

Issue date: July 7, 2003

 

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