Tag: baseball

Take a look at the standings today in the American League East:

EAST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10
Baltimore	5	1	.833	–	2-1	3-0	29	16	+13	Won 1	5-1
NY Yankees	4	2	.667	1	4-2	0-0	35	30	+5	Won 1	4-2
Toronto	4	2	.667	1	4-2	0-0	35	19	+16	Lost 1	4-2
Tampa Bay	0	6	.000	5	0-5	0-1	8	27	-19	Lost 6	0-6
Boston	0	6	.000	5	0-0	0-6	16	38	-22	Lost 6	0-6

Now, take a look at how the same division finished a year ago:

*-Tampa Bay	96	66	.593	–	49-32	47-34	802	649	+153	Won 2	5-5
y-NY Yankees	95	67	.586	1	52-29	43-38	859	693	+166	Lost 2	3-7
Boston	89	73	.549	7	46-35	43-38	818	744	+74	Won 2	5-5
Toronto	85	77	.525	11	45-33	40-44	755	728	+27	Won 1	8-2
Baltimore	66	96	.407	30	37-44	29-52	613	785	-172	Lost 1	5-5

What should stand out is that the two teams at the bottom of the heap so far this year are the teams and the top and the bottom of the heap. Boston and Tampa were picked by most baseball folks to battle for the division lead, while the Orioles, the perennial basement dwellers, were picked to finish last once again. After a week, however, the roles are reversed.

The Orioles are the surprise team so far. And yet, it really does not matter. The chances that the Orioles will maintain this level of play all season and contend in what many believe to be the toughest division in baseball are slim. And the chances that two teams that have deep rosters and have been among their division leaders for the last three or four years (longer for the Sox) are even slimmer.

I still expect this to be a three-team race between Tampa Bay, Boston and the Yankees, with the Blue Jays hanging along the periphery and the Orioles’ hot start forgotten by the All-Star break.

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• Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.

He failed miserably when he arrived at Shea, but there should never have been any doubts that Robbie Alomar was going to the Hall of Fame. Alomar was one of the best to ever play his position, better than anyone who played in her era and today’s announcement was a year overdue.

As for the others: I won’t begrudge Bert Blyleven’s entrance, though I am not sure he belongs in the hall. Two others Jack Morris, a top-notch pitcher, and shortstop Barry Larkin are close. I would vote for Larkin, who was the best all-around shortstop of his era — the years between Ripken/Ozzie Smith and the current Jeter/A-Rod group. Morris is a closer call, like Blyleven, because his numbers do not jump out and say Hall. But there were few pitchers on his level during his prime and he was a gutty winner.

So congrats to Alomar and Blyleven.

• Send me an e-mail.
• Read poetry at The Subterranean.
• Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
• Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.

Everyone who follows baseball knows that for a long time the two leagues have had different strengths, with the AL being known for its hitting and the NL being known for its pitching. The differences, while apparent, have not been drastic in recent years, narrowed by a number of factors (steroids, expansion diluting pitching, park size).

Until this year, that is, which has witnessed a rebirth of pitching dominance in the National League. Here we are, about 60 games into the season — almost 40 percent — and just one hitter in the NL is on a pace to hit more than 40 homeruns (Corey Hart in Milwaukee), with just nine others in line to pass the 30 mark. Recent years finished like this: 2008, 40-plus, 2/30-plus, 14; 2007, 50-plus, 1/40-plus, 3/30-plus 15; 2006, 1/7/14.

Earned Run Averages also have shown a drop. In 2006, just one pitcher — Roy Oswalt — finished with an ERA under 3.00 and, in 2007, Jake Peavey was the lone pitcher under 3.00. In 2008, four pitchers were under 3.00. Last year, there was a huge jump, with eight pitchers finishing below 3.00. right now, there are 17 pitchers in the NL with ERAs under 3.00, four of which are under 2.00 and one — Usbaldo Jimenez, of Colorado (COLORADO!) — under 1.00.

The top three scoring teams in baseball are in the AL, four of five and six of eight. On the flip side, five of the top six teams (and seven of nine) in ERA are NL teams.

As a National League baseball watcher and lover of good pitching, I find the trend heartening — especially having just watched the young Jon Niese toss a one-hit shutout against San Diego.

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The story of Dwight Gooden has gone from sad and tragic to just painful and absurd. The former ace — for a two- or three-year period, he was the best there was — snorted away his great talent, spent several years as a journeyman pitcher before leaving the game and spending time in jail.

He was arrested yesterday on DUI charges, with his kid in the car.

• Send me an e-mail.
• Read poetry at The Subterranean.
• Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.