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The Outer Edge, A Weekly Report on the 2001 Season, by James Floto 2001 MID-SEASON STATISTICAL REVIEW HITTERS All stats through July 3, all lists major league, rather than league, leaders BATTING AVERAGE M. Alou, Hou, .368; R. Alomar, Clev., .360; Aurilia, SF, .358; L. Gonzalez, Az., .356, Berkman, Hou., .355. These are the big five. A resurgent Moises Alou, who leads the NL and the majors, and Roberto Alomar, Hall of Fame bound and perhaps headed for his first batting crown, leading the AL, top the list. Alomar is generally accepted as a great player, but since he doesn't hit homers, the media ignores the numbers he is stacking up, especially the fact that now he has 2,304 hits, which could easily be 2,400 by season's end--and 3,000 when he hangs up his spikes (he is still only 33, so 700 more hits is definitely feasible). Rich Aurilia of the Giants has long been an excellent shortstop, but he was a career .270 hitter going into 2001. When he hit .360 through May, most people felt he would return to earth. But here it is July and he is still hitting .358. He is not going to finish at .350, but will doubtless have his first .300 season. I predict about .325. Definitely a career year, although his 12 homers and 35 RBI are actually a little behind his pace of the past two years (in this high octane era, few noticed that Aurilia drove in 90 last year.) Luis Gonzalez , unlike Aurilia, has carried a big stick the past two seasons, with 57 homers and 125 RBI since he arrived in Arizona in 1999---and don't forget that he hit .336 that year, followed by .311 in 2000. But .356, 35 homers, 84 RBIs has the potential of becoming a season for the ages. He already has 3 homers in July. The 5th best hitter for average is Houston's Lance Berkman, who at 25 is only in his second full year (.295 last year) and may be one of the new generation of sluggers. With 22 homers and 71 RBI along with his .355 BA, he is off to an awesome start.The top 10, both leagues, is rounded out with Ichiro (Sea), .351; B. Giles, .347 (Pitts); L. Walker, .345; Sweeney, KC, .344; J. Gonzalez, Clev, .342. HOME RUNS Everyone knows that Barry Bonds leads the majors with 39. It is ridiculous when he goes 5 or 6 games without popping one and they talk about a slump! If he hits nary another one all year, he has already had a good homer year. Luis Gonzales is next with 35; then comes Sammy Sosa with 27 and three players with 25: Larry Walker, Todd Helton of the Rockies, and Boston's Manny Ramirez. Manny's is a great story. He came to Boston as a free agent from Cleveland and has fallen in love with both the town and the Green Monster. Although he has fallen off his Triple Crown pace, he is tied for the AL lead in RBI and homers, and is fifth with his .334 BA. The corollary to his story is his replacement in Cleveland, Juan Gonzales who at .341, 21, 74 is hitting like he used to in Texas before his disastrous 2000 season in Detroit. A good candidate for Comebaker of the Year, and since he is only 31, with his 383 homers and 1,213 RBI Juan is a definite HOF possibility.The rest of the top 10 in homers is rounded out by A-Rod with 24; Chipper Jones, 23; and Brett Boone, Rafael Palmeiro, Carlos Delgado, Jim Thome and Berkman, who all have 21. OPS OPS, or on base plus slugging %, a great way for determining ability to get on base and get runners in, is becoming increasingly accepted as a mainstream stat. Soon it will be in your daily paper. If you are not familiar with this statistic, anything over 1.000 is about like hitting .350, and the top 10 in OPS so far this year are all above 1.000.
Bonds, with his 1.326 OPS is performing as if he was in another universe. No surprise that Luis G. follows him at 1.208, followed by Berkman, 1.153, and Walker, 1.119. Then comes J.D. Drew, who was having a fantastic season before he went on the DL. Until his declining at bats per game knocks him off the list, the Cardinal outfielder is fifth at 1.114. Giambi, Oak, 1.103; Sosa, Chi, 1.092; Helton, Hou., 1.088; Manny Ramirez, Bos, 1.077; and Giles, Pitts., 1.075, round out the MLB top 10 of those who are good at getting on base and slugging. RUNS BATTED IN Luis Gonzalez has 84 RBI, which, if he kept that up during the second half would give him 168 for the year! Next come AL leaders Brett Boone (Sea.) and Ramirez with 82, and Helton, who also has 82. Larry Walker has 78. Colorado's altitude may help hitters, but Helton and Walker's production is impressive nonetheless. Sosa, is sixth with 76, followed by Juan Gone, 75, Bonds, king of the solo homer, with 71, Berkman 71, and Florida's Cliff Floyd, 71. RUNS SCORED A stat that goes all the way back to Chadwick. And did you know that RBIs were not even calculated until the 1920s? Runs batted in, apparently being more glamorous, eventually took over from runs scored as a stat that most people followed. But how are you going to drive in a run if no one is on base to score it? OK, a solo homer, but outside of that? Anyway, here are the top plate crossers as of July 3. Helton, Col., 77; L. Gonzalez, Az, 77; A. Rodriguez, Tex, 73; Ichiro, Sea, 72; L. Walker, Col., 70; Floyd, Fla, 70, Sweeney, KC, 69. STOLEN BASES Due to pitchers learning the slide step in the '90s and the astronomical increase in home runs, the stolen base has fallen in importance as an offensive weapon. Nonetheless, it is still used, still important, and best of all, still exciting. Ichiro leads the majors with 28 steals, and is followed by Roger Cedeno of Detroit and Chuck Knoblauch of the Yanks with 26. Then come the Phils' Jimmy Rollins and the Yanks' Alfonso Soriano with 25.Two interesting notes on steals. 43-year-old all-time stolen base leader Rickey Henderson (SD) has still managed to swipe 14 sacks this year. Also, the Yankees, identified since Babe Ruth with slugging prowess, lead the majors with 98 steals. If they finish the year first in pilfered sacks, it would be the first time since 1938 that the Bronx Bombers led in this category. Besides Knoblauch, Alfonso Soriano has 23 and Derek Jeter 17. Even creaky old Paul O'Neill has 10. UNHERALDED HITTERS There are plenty of guys who might make our list of hitters having a great 2001 who don't get much publicity, but we have selected the following three:Brian Giles, Pitts. If he played for a contender, B.G. would be well-known. He opened a few eyes the past two years, when he hit .315 both seasons, along with 39 and 35 homers, 115 and 123 RBI and 109 and 111 runs. He is off to an even better start this year, hitting .347 with 21 homers and 54 RBI. He has a good eye, evidenced by his .415 OBP and he has a strong .659 slugging average. Cliff Floyd, Fl. Along with the Marlins' talented young pitching corps, Floyd is one of the primary reasons Florida is making things uncomfortable for the Phils and Braves in the NLE. He hit .300 last year but is at .340 at the halfway point this season. He is about to eclipse his career high of 22 homers; he already has swatted 21. He has driven in 90 runs twice; in 2001 he already has 70. He has a .415 OBP and a .636 SA. No wonder he is a little irked he wasn't selected for the All Star team. Mike Sweeney The Royals 1B-DH has averaged .327 the past two years, and gained a little fame with 144 RBIs last year. He is on track for an even better 2001, with a .344 BA and 64 RBI, plus he has already slammed 21 homers, only 8 short of his career best. He has a .403 OBP and is slugging .647. Like Giles and Floyd, he would be a familiar name if he played on a winning club. PITCHERS WINS 20-game winners are becoming increasingly rare because of the five man rotation (fewer starts per pitcher) and the increased use of relievers, resulting in more no-decisions for starters. That said, there are 8 pitchers on pace to reach the magical number. Arizona's Curt Schilling is 12-3, the best in the majors, while Roger Clemens, NY is off to the best start of his fabulous career and may end up with his sixth Cy Young award. The Rocket is 11-1. Schilling's enormous teammate, Randy Johnson is 10-5, giving the Diamondbacks the best 1-2 punch in the game. ( Note: many of you know by now that both the Rocket and the Unit won on July 4, so Clemens is now 12-1, R.J., 11-5).Interestingly, in this year of The Teams from Nowhere, the other 10-game winners are not named Glavine, Maddux or Pedro, but Wade Miller, Hou.; Matt Morris, St. Lou.; Jon Lieber, Cubs; Ben Sheets, Mil; and Joe Mays of Minnesota. It was young Miller, who had 121 ML innings going into this season, who kept the Astros above water when they were slumping, and they now trail the Cubs by a mere 4 games. Morris is the Cardinals' ace. After a healthy 12-9 rookie year in '98, he spent most of the next two years battling injuries, but is back this year. Lieber, along with Kevin Tapani and Kerry Wood, is getting Cubs' fans hopes up for the first time in years. He won 22 games the last two years, but has emerged as a star in 2001. Ben Sheets is the Brewers' rookie who had everyone buzzing before the season, but few thought he would do this well. Joe Mays is another great story. Desperate for pitching, the Twins threw him out there the past two years and he won 13 while losing 26. But he is talented and gained in experience. Given some runs and an improved morale, he is living up to his potential. LOSSES We wouldn't be The Diamond Angle if we didn't give you some dubious statistics, including those who are on tap to lose 20 games. This list includes such stalwarts as Albie Lopez (Fl), Bobby Jones (SD), and Livan Hernandez (SF) , all of whom have lost 11 so far. Right behind them are Jimmy Haynes of the Brewers, with 10, followed by seven others who have lost 9. ERA Here we come back to more familiar names. Pedro Martinez, with three AL ERA titles under his belt, is once again the stingiest pitcher around, with a 2.26 ERA. Greg Maddux, quietly putting together another superb season, is second in the majors and first in the NL at 2.38. Maddux' teammate, John Burkett is having a fine year, his 2.39 ERA reflecting it more than his 6-6 record. Boston's Tim Wakefield has his famous knuckleball back under control after a couple of plus-five ERA years. He is at 2.61, followed by Matt Morris at 2.65, and Randy Johnson at 2.71. Then comes free-agent to be Chan Ho Park, 2.91, who reportedly will be receiving 12-15 million per year in his next contract. While he has yet to put together a Cy Young-type year, he has been one of the most steady performers of the past half-decade, going 60-38 from '97-'00. The Yanks redoubtable Andy Pettitte, another reliable starter (100-55 in his 6 year career) is eighth at 2.95, followed by Mays, 3.03 and the almost forgotten Rick Reed of the Mets, who is 7-4 with a thrifty 3.10 ERA.
STRIKEOUTS One of the interesting trends of our contemporary era is that most of the high strikeout guys average better than a K per inning, something that used to be rare for starters not named Ryan or Koufax. The Big Unit leads the pack with 202 whiffs in 133 innings (this almost guarantees that the 37-year-old will enjoy his third consecutive 300+ K season, and there is an outside chance of 400.) Pedro is quite a ways behind Johnson, with 150 strikeouts in 104 innings, Schilling has 149 in 136 and Kerry Wood of the Cubs has fanned 138 batters in just 106 innings. Chan Ho is 5th with 128 in 123. The top 10 in strikeouts is rounded out with Clemens (122), Nomo (110), Burkett (107), Javier Vazquez of Montreal (106) and Maddux (103). BASES ON BALLS Baseball legend has it that on his deathbed, 1914 Miracle Braves manager George Stallings' final utterance was "Bases on balls. Oh, those bases on balls." The free pass continues to be the bane of many a manager's existence, and so far this year's leading Wild Things are Kerry Wood (64 walks), Ryan Dempster (Fl., 61), followed, surprisingly by Tom Glavine, who has been a great pitcher without high heat in large part due to his pinpoint control. Not this year, when he is struggling with a plus 4 ERA and 58 walks. Last year he walked 65 all year, and he has never walked more than 90. Next is another Devil Ray, Matt Clement with 56, followed by the Giants' Russ Ortiz, who is having a fine (8-5, 3.36) year, despite being fifth in the majors with 55 walks. Workhorses: INNINGS PITCHED We may never see another 300-inning season. This year's leader, Curt Schilling, with 136 IP, is on pace to hurl 272 frames. Following him is teammate Randy Johnson (132), Brad Radke of Minnesota (129), who is also doing quite well this year, with a 9-4, 3.36 record. Jeff Weaver of the Tigers (7-8, 4.04), has 127 innings and Clemens rounds out the top five with 124. SAVES Even though relievers are increasingly important, there are few stats which adequately measure their performance. Saves have been controversial since they were first introduced, but they do go us some standard for measuring closers' accomplishments. Kazuhiro Sasaki of the Mariners gets a fair amount of opportunities, given Seattle's red-hot start. He has 29 saves. Mariano Rivera, Yanks, one of the best of his generation, has 27 (and an average of 40 per year the past four seasons). Rob Nenn, another premier closer, has saved 25 for SF, followed by LA's Jeff Shaw, 23. Jose Mesa is having a strong comeback season with the Phils, has saved 21, as have LaTroy Hawkins of the Twins and John Rocker, of the Braves until last week, now with the Indians. There you have it, baseball fans, a look at some of the more popular statistics for 2001's first half. This also concludes the first half of our report on the first 50% of the season. Check this spot after the weekend, when we will be posting Part Two, a report on some of the trends, important factors and downright oddities of this impressive year. Leave feedback on our message board. |