Wonders are many and nothing is more wonderful than man, with the possible exception of the 2006 Detroit Tigers.
I apologize profusely to the shade of old Sophocles for the preceding. I feel shame.
But look at the standings. Here are the seven AL teams playing .500 ball or better:
Detroit has the best record in the major leagues. I didn't see this coming, Liam didn't see it coming, and - be honest, now - neither did you.
And yet... if we look closely enough at these records, do we see something that might explain this unforeseen development? A clue, perhaps? We do indeed. Not, alas, the footprints of a gigantic hound, but a clear sign nevertheless. We might want to hold off on those "Jim Leyland is a genius" stories for a while. Consider this slightly modified version of the same chart:
17 games against the Twins and Royals. The Blue Jays have played just 3, all against the Twins. The Red Sox haven't played any games at all against Minnesota or Kansas City.
While the Tigers do have a winning record against the rest of the AL, they've actually been outscored in those 38 games (and we all know what that means, oh sons of Pythagoras!). It is true that their pitching, Comerica-aided though it may be, is really pretty impressive. They will miss Mike Maroth, and Jeremy Bonderman needs to get untracked, but the old Gambler can still deal, and young Verlander is the Real Deal, already. But their offense is something else entirely. Detroit may very well have the worst offense in the major leagues, and this will probably emerge much more clearly once they stop playing one game in three against the Royals and Twins.
Which begins now. Detroit isn't seeing either one of them until after the All-Star Break.
Well, let's move on. Let's take a quick tour of the NL.... the oft-mocked and maligned NL West is still the only division where no one has a losing record. San Diego went into a tailspin as soon as I pronounced them ready to assume control, but they do seem to have righted the ship again... I absolutely do not understand how Arizona and the Dodgers are still on top of the heap... however, this year's D'Backs are not a fluke, I will admit that much.... Brandon Webb has been brilliant, the bullpen has been good, Miguel Batista has been OK, and Juan Cruz may have finally - finally - begun to harness all that potential... best wait and see on Cruz, though...
The Dodgers have received outstanding work from Derek Lowe and Brad Penny, which isn't all that unreasonable... they're both quality pitchers, and they're working in one of the best places to pitch in the Known Universe.... but Aaron (3-0, 2.20) Sele? Pitchers will be making pilgrimmages to Chavez Ravine... it'll be like Lourdes...
We're starting to see some separation in the NL Central... the Cardinals have just been so hot that it was impossible for everyone to keep pace.... the Reds are doing their best anyway, and the Astros may have just made a major upgrade to their rotation.... not sure they could really afford to wait this long for the Rocket... better late than never, though...
In the NL East... well, you've heard of Death? You know about Taxes? Guess who's making a move in the NL East? Yup. They're ba-ack. You know who they are...
The Braves have won 16 of their last 24... Bobby Cox now seems to spend the first six weeks of the season figuring out what he's got, and the rest of the season winning with what he's got. Whatever that happens to be... the Braves still need to get Marcus Giles untracked at the top of the order, and they badly need to come up with a bullpen... but the opportunity is there...
The Mets are being carried by Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine, who are both no-doubt Hall-of-Famers, and they're having terrific seasons, both of them... but they both peaked in the previous milennium and the only other guy they have who even resembles a major league starter is Steve "I-hold-the-ball-until-the-batter-loses-interest" Trachsel, and he's 2-4 5.10... the Mets even tried Jose Lima, which is just about as desperate as one can be without actually offering tryouts to the first 500 people who show up at Shea... they may try that next, but for now they've hauled in the ancient bones of El Duque himself.... it's easy to see how this could come apart, and quickly...
The Mets still have more pitching than the Phillies... amazingly enough, Brett Myers, who was my pre-season pick for NL Cy Young, has been every bit as good as I expected....no curse of Oliver Perez affecting him, he just can't get a decision....the rest of their rotation might have trouble making the Royals' staff, however...
Which is sort of where I came in. Sort of.
And the Blue Jays played the Devil Rays last night. This was Casey Janssen's start, and as I wrote last weekend, something about Janssen's posture before he goes into his delivery (his regular windup, not his stretch delivery) perplexed me without mercy for... well, for days and days. I couldn't figure out who it reminded me of, and I was asking everyone I saw. No one could help. Anyway, I finally bumped into Jerry Howarth, who instantly - instantly! - said "Robert Person." And I spent the next five minutes smiting my brow and muttering "of course! Robert-bloody-Person. How could I forget him?"
Anyway, this is more or less what had me puzzled:
It's a little more clear from behind home plate (Aaron would have snapped this one from the camera bay down the third base line) that Janssen's right arm is very nearly parallel to the ground, and his right elbow is pointing at his third baseman. Which is what Person used to do, I think it was supposed to remind him to stay on top in his delivery or something...
This was a tight game until the ninth inning, when the Jays spent a long, long time hitting, and running the bases, and crossing home plate. How much time did they spend hitting? Well, Edgardo Alfonzo actually had an RBI base hit... BA-DA-BOOM!. Yes, that's the kind of inning it was, folks.
Anyway, when it was done, John Gibbons actually had an interesting decision to make. B.J. Ryan had closed out the eighth inning, with the tying run on base... he now just needed to get three more outs while preserving a 10 run lead to chalk up a pretty easy save # 13....but Ryan didn't pitch the ninth, and instead gets a well-earned first Hold of the year.... Gibbons and/or Ryan may figure that closing off a 10 run lead is a bit beneath him anyway, save or no save... Ryan may have had to sit so long in the dugout that Gibbons decided it made more sense to use someone who was actually warm....but it's certainly helpful that Ryan's already got a big five year deal, and he doesn't need to ring up flashy numbers....anyway, I'm very happy that he didn't.
I apologize profusely to the shade of old Sophocles for the preceding. I feel shame.
But look at the standings. Here are the seven AL teams playing .500 ball or better:
MLB W L PCT HOME ROAD RS/G RA/G
Detroit 36 19 .655 16-12 20-7 4.95 3.78
Boston 32 20 .615 16-8 16-12 5.52 4.85
Chicago Sox 33 21 .611 19-7 14-14 5.48 4.44
NY Yankees 32 21 .604 16-9 16-12 6.02 4.62
Toronto 30 23 .566 19-11 11-12 5.77 5.00
Texas 29 25 .537 15-16 14-9 5.09 4.91
Cleveland 27 27 .500 16-12 11-15 5.70 5.13
Detroit has the best record in the major leagues. I didn't see this coming, Liam didn't see it coming, and - be honest, now - neither did you.
And yet... if we look closely enough at these records, do we see something that might explain this unforeseen development? A clue, perhaps? We do indeed. Not, alas, the footprints of a gigantic hound, but a clear sign nevertheless. We might want to hold off on those "Jim Leyland is a genius" stories for a while. Consider this slightly modified version of the same chart:
MLB W L PCT HOME ROAD RS/G RA/GWhat's different? Just this - games against Minnesota and Kansas City have been removed. Detroit has played 17 games against the Twins and Royals, winning all but two of them. Moreover, they've been winning many of those games by insanely lopsided scores- in those 17 games, they've scored 123 runs and allowed just 48. Detroit began their season by winning two games in Kansas City, in which they outscored the Royals 17-4. Towards the end of April, they swept the Twins at Comerica by a combined score of 33-1. Two weeks ago,. they went into Kaufman Stadium and swept four games from Kansas City by a combined score of 39-16.
Boston 32 20 .615 16-8 16-12 5.52 4.85
NY Yankees 26 18 .591 13-9 13-9 5.61 4.55
Chicago Sox 22 16 .579 13-7 9- 9 5.42 4.74
Toronto 28 22 .560 17-10 11-12 5.80 4.92
Detroit 21 17 .553 8-12 13-5 3.92 4.21
Texas 28 23 .549 14-14 14-9 5.12 4.75
Cleveland 19 21 .475 10-12 9-9 5.73 5.25
17 games against the Twins and Royals. The Blue Jays have played just 3, all against the Twins. The Red Sox haven't played any games at all against Minnesota or Kansas City.
While the Tigers do have a winning record against the rest of the AL, they've actually been outscored in those 38 games (and we all know what that means, oh sons of Pythagoras!). It is true that their pitching, Comerica-aided though it may be, is really pretty impressive. They will miss Mike Maroth, and Jeremy Bonderman needs to get untracked, but the old Gambler can still deal, and young Verlander is the Real Deal, already. But their offense is something else entirely. Detroit may very well have the worst offense in the major leagues, and this will probably emerge much more clearly once they stop playing one game in three against the Royals and Twins.
Which begins now. Detroit isn't seeing either one of them until after the All-Star Break.
Well, let's move on. Let's take a quick tour of the NL.... the oft-mocked and maligned NL West is still the only division where no one has a losing record. San Diego went into a tailspin as soon as I pronounced them ready to assume control, but they do seem to have righted the ship again... I absolutely do not understand how Arizona and the Dodgers are still on top of the heap... however, this year's D'Backs are not a fluke, I will admit that much.... Brandon Webb has been brilliant, the bullpen has been good, Miguel Batista has been OK, and Juan Cruz may have finally - finally - begun to harness all that potential... best wait and see on Cruz, though...
The Dodgers have received outstanding work from Derek Lowe and Brad Penny, which isn't all that unreasonable... they're both quality pitchers, and they're working in one of the best places to pitch in the Known Universe.... but Aaron (3-0, 2.20) Sele? Pitchers will be making pilgrimmages to Chavez Ravine... it'll be like Lourdes...
We're starting to see some separation in the NL Central... the Cardinals have just been so hot that it was impossible for everyone to keep pace.... the Reds are doing their best anyway, and the Astros may have just made a major upgrade to their rotation.... not sure they could really afford to wait this long for the Rocket... better late than never, though...
In the NL East... well, you've heard of Death? You know about Taxes? Guess who's making a move in the NL East? Yup. They're ba-ack. You know who they are...
The Braves have won 16 of their last 24... Bobby Cox now seems to spend the first six weeks of the season figuring out what he's got, and the rest of the season winning with what he's got. Whatever that happens to be... the Braves still need to get Marcus Giles untracked at the top of the order, and they badly need to come up with a bullpen... but the opportunity is there...
The Mets are being carried by Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine, who are both no-doubt Hall-of-Famers, and they're having terrific seasons, both of them... but they both peaked in the previous milennium and the only other guy they have who even resembles a major league starter is Steve "I-hold-the-ball-until-the-batter-loses-interest" Trachsel, and he's 2-4 5.10... the Mets even tried Jose Lima, which is just about as desperate as one can be without actually offering tryouts to the first 500 people who show up at Shea... they may try that next, but for now they've hauled in the ancient bones of El Duque himself.... it's easy to see how this could come apart, and quickly...
The Mets still have more pitching than the Phillies... amazingly enough, Brett Myers, who was my pre-season pick for NL Cy Young, has been every bit as good as I expected....no curse of Oliver Perez affecting him, he just can't get a decision....the rest of their rotation might have trouble making the Royals' staff, however...
Which is sort of where I came in. Sort of.
And the Blue Jays played the Devil Rays last night. This was Casey Janssen's start, and as I wrote last weekend, something about Janssen's posture before he goes into his delivery (his regular windup, not his stretch delivery) perplexed me without mercy for... well, for days and days. I couldn't figure out who it reminded me of, and I was asking everyone I saw. No one could help. Anyway, I finally bumped into Jerry Howarth, who instantly - instantly! - said "Robert Person." And I spent the next five minutes smiting my brow and muttering "of course! Robert-bloody-Person. How could I forget him?"
Anyway, this is more or less what had me puzzled:
It's a little more clear from behind home plate (Aaron would have snapped this one from the camera bay down the third base line) that Janssen's right arm is very nearly parallel to the ground, and his right elbow is pointing at his third baseman. Which is what Person used to do, I think it was supposed to remind him to stay on top in his delivery or something...
This was a tight game until the ninth inning, when the Jays spent a long, long time hitting, and running the bases, and crossing home plate. How much time did they spend hitting? Well, Edgardo Alfonzo actually had an RBI base hit... BA-DA-BOOM!. Yes, that's the kind of inning it was, folks.
Anyway, when it was done, John Gibbons actually had an interesting decision to make. B.J. Ryan had closed out the eighth inning, with the tying run on base... he now just needed to get three more outs while preserving a 10 run lead to chalk up a pretty easy save # 13....but Ryan didn't pitch the ninth, and instead gets a well-earned first Hold of the year.... Gibbons and/or Ryan may figure that closing off a 10 run lead is a bit beneath him anyway, save or no save... Ryan may have had to sit so long in the dugout that Gibbons decided it made more sense to use someone who was actually warm....but it's certainly helpful that Ryan's already got a big five year deal, and he doesn't need to ring up flashy numbers....anyway, I'm very happy that he didn't.
