The 2016 Chicago Cubs won 24 of their first 30 games for a winning percentage of .800 which, if maintained for the rest of the season would net them an unprecedented 129 or 130 victories for the year. Now, 30 games is only 18.5 per cent of the schedule, but with their strong starting pitchers led by the unworldly Jake Arrieta and a deep and talented roster featuring Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Addison Russell, it is possible to consider that they will indeed run away from the pack in the National League Central and set some kind of record before it all is over. With the possible exception of St. Louis, the Cubs aren’t facing very stiff opposition in their own division. On the other side of town, the White Sox are doing very well also, so Chicago fans are forgiven for fantasizing about an all Chicago World Series this year.

Which team had the best record ever for a full season in major league baseball? Why, it was the Chicago Cubs, of course, back in 1906. That team won 116 games and lost 36, a mind boggling percentage of .763. However, they were not World Champions. They got beat, four games to two, in the series by none other than the Chicago White Sox.

I had to look a lot of this stuff up because, in 1906, I was yet to even have my first paper route. Those Cubs rolled to the pennant by 20 games over John McGraw‘s New York Giants. They were managed by Frank Chance, the final link in the poetically famous Tinker to Evers to Chance double play combination. Chance was the first baseman. Many teams in those days had playing managers, saving a bundle in the process. McGraw barely qualified by playing one game at third base. Third place Pittsburgh was managed by outfielder Fred Clarke, who led the league in triples with 13. Unlike today, triples were much more common than home runs in 1906. Consequently, teams had to utilize what today’s Giants announcers Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow refer to as the ground attack. Sacrifice bunts, the hit and run, and stolen bases were all the rage. It was probably a lot more exciting than the steroid era solo home run parade at the turn of this century. The Cubs in 1906 led the National League with a team total of 20 homers while stealing 283 bases. The whole team got in on the act, led by Chance with 57 thefts and second baseman Johnny Evers with 49. Even the catcher, Johnny Kling, stole 14 bases.

It was the pitching, however, that really separated the 1906 Cubs from the pack, just as it has been so far this season. Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown completed 27 of his 32 starts for a 26-6 record with an earned run average of 1.04. Jack Pfiester was the only lefty on the seven man staff and he was 20-8 with an ERA of 1.56. The staff completed 125 games that season but that number did not lead the league. That honor went to the last place Boston Braves with 137. We made a big deal out of the Baltimore Orioles starters in 1971 because they had four twenty game winners. Well, how about the 1906 Braves, who had four twenty game losers? Gus Domer led the way with a record of 8-25 and he also lost a game for Cincinnati before joining the Braves, so he led the league with 26.

Not surprisingly,with the scarcity of home runs in those days there were also a lot fewer strikeouts. Maybe that’s why pitchers were able to pitch so many innings. Fred Beebe, who pitched in 14 games for the Cubs before being traded to St. Louis, led the N.L. with 171 strikeouts. Irv Young of the aforementioned Braves fanned 151 in his 358 innings of work. Hall of Fame righty Christy Mathewson of the Giants struck out 128 in 267 innings that year.

The White Sox were called the Hitless Wonders in those days and needed defense and pitching to secure the American League flag. They were led by playing manager Fielder Jones, the aptly named outfielder who matched the team batting average by hitting at a .230 pace. The Sox averaged 3.77 runs per game but had a team earned run average of 2.13. They featured lefty Nick Altrock, who won 20 games, and righty Frank Owen, who won 22, but the Sox had a more modest record of 93-58 as they edged the Yankees by 3 games for the pennant. Second baseman Frank Isbell led the team in batting average at .279 and the team collected 6 home runs for the season, led by Jones with two.

The Cubs hosted the first game and lost, 2-1, as Altrock bested Brown. They moved to Comiskey Park for the second game and the Cubs prevailed, 7-1. Ed Walsh of the White Sox shut out the Cubs, 3-0 in the third game and then Brown returned the favor against Altrock, 1-0 in the fourth. The Sox then went crazy (for them) by scoring eight runs in each of the last two games to win it all.

Can it happen again? Perhaps, but certainly not this way. For one thing, the prospect of four to seven night games in Chicago around Halloween is a bit daunting. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Ed Skaneski was my first base coach and I thought he’d said “Go!” Later, he would explain that he had actually said “No!”. At any rate, I was picked off.I knew I was in trouble because the pitcher had thrown over to the first baseman and I was about two steps off the bag. When you are thirteen and in trouble, you run. When you are much older and in trouble, you can’t run so you figure out something else. This day I ran like hell for second base even though I knew that once I got back to our bench there would be hell to pay. Sure enough,the shortstop was waiting for me with the ball in his glove. I executed my slide, which was not the best part of my game by far. I went straight for the bag and he applied the tag. The ball popped out of his hands and I was safe! I was no Ty Cobb but I was safe. Later, on the bench, no one punched me or called me dirty names. In fact, some of them were laughing and I think the other coach, not Skaneski,cracked a smile. Best of all, our best player,Danny Spanish, smiled and said, “You steamrolled him.” Quite a reversal of fortune for me and the VFW P.O.N.Y. league team it was, although I knew that getting picked off was a little like wetting the bed and I had been lucky.

What’s that got to do with the Chase Utley rule? Well, a lot, actually.

We have become a nation of spectators rather than players for the most part and the results have not been good for those of us who are not in the television or video game businesses. One of the results is that casual sports “fans” exhibit less and less awareness of what physical and mental skills are needed in athletics and more and more fondness for gratuitous violence and displays of thuggery. That’s partly why basketball games have been reduced to frequent stop action whistles, technical fouls, and boring free throw contests featuring “smart” fouls, hard screens,and “enforcers” on every team. As Rodney Dangerfield complained, “I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.” If you are sitting there passing gas in your easy chair and can’t appreciate grace, speed, and skill you will settle for a brawl.

When baseball players were making five or six grand a year, neither the owners nor any agents worried about protecting their “investments” very much, with the obvious exceptions being the ticket selling, drawing card stars who were paid a bit more. Now, when third string catchers can be millionaires, there is plenty of incentive to save a career rather than seek an easy replacement. Thus, MLB has been motivated to try to prevent serious injuries to the Buster Poseys out there risking life and limb from testosterone laden runners who have been coached all their playing careers to “take out” any player between themselves and the next base.

Should ballplayers curtsy and shake hands as they greet opposing players on the base paths or at home plate? No. A good, hard slide toward second base is to be expected and encouraged; there is danger enough in that for all concerned. It is right and good that the rules now state that crashing toward the infielder rather than the bag means that the runner will be called out. Infielders will require an adjustment period to break the habit of the “neighborhood” play where they tend to avoid actually stepping on the bag in order to avoid serious injury. The tedious calls for review will have to be endured by us all for a while. Runners need to avoid using catchers as a blocking sled at home plate and not try to emulate Pete Rose as he crippled Ray Fosse in an exhibition game. Catchers must not block the plate without the ball as a demonstration of respect for the game. In other words, play ball, not war. It’s a lot more fun that way.

It’s easy to agree with what conventional wisdom tells us because then we can all be wrong together, such as believing that skits on Saturday Night Live are actually funny. The easy thing to believe as far as the National League East is concerned is that in 2016 it will be a fight between two superior teams, the New York Mets and the Washington Nationals. That may very well be what happens, but the Mets and Nats are good , not great, teams and the Phillies, Braves, and Marlins all have reasons to believe that things are getting better. Let’s hope that it ends up becoming a more interesting race than we all assume it will be. Change is inevitable despite what residents of convalescent hospitals may believe.

The past few seasons it has been reported that the Washington Nationals were an under achieving team blessed with more talent than they were demonstrating on the field, especially since they had not only Bryce Harper but also a fine array of good young pitchers. That’s one reason that Matt Williams is back to coaching and not managing. When Max Scherzer joined the staff it seemed as though Washington had every bit as much talent on the mound as those fabled Mets. However, Jordan Zimmermann is now a Detroit Tiger. Lefty Gio Gonzalez remains almost good. Tanner Roark appears to have had a confidence reducing off year last season after a stellar 2014. Stephen Strasburg is still more of a colt than a horse after a 127 inning 2015. The lineup is not the same either. Denard Span went west and until Ben Revere shows up, the Nats don’t really have a leadoff hitter.  At age 37, Jayson Werth has become a shadow of his former self both in the outfield, where his range and throwing arm had once been very strong, and at the plate, where his power hitting in the clutch had been feared. Ryan Zimmerman first lost it in the field due to injury but now he has also become just an average hitter. Danny Espinosa is a credible replacement for Ian Desmond at shortstop but is better suited for second base. At second resides transplanted Met Daniel Murphy, who will continue to add runs when he bats and also when he fields. Harper, of course, makes a lot of things happen. Except for his base running, he has become a complete player, and he continues to improve. So the Nationals are well equipped but do not threaten to become the juggernaut that the Cubs are starting to resemble. Dusty Baker, however, is a considerable improvement at the helm who tends to get more out of players than the average manager.

Can the Mets repeat? Yes, mainly because while that starting rotation of pitchers does not exactly resemble the Cleveland team of 1954 or ’55, there really is talent and depth among the five or six inning starters they use. Plus, I will venture to say that their lineup is now actually superior to the Nationals’. It will make a big difference to have Yoenis Cespedes all season and Neil Walker will be a slight upgrade over Murphy at second base. If Asdrubal Cabrera is the shortstop all season they will also be better off there than they were in 2015. Curtis Granderson is a fine fellow and a pretty good all around ballplayer but he is miscast as a leadoff hitter (151 strikeouts). Will David Wright be able to overcome his spinal stenosis and have a full, productive season? We shall see. Will Michael  Conforto blossom as the every day left fielder? Again, we’ll see.Juan Lagares is good to have around as outfield insurance and would be a good leadoff batter if he could reach base more frequently. Travis d’Arnaud has become one of the better catchers in the league. The erratic Lucas Duda teams with Cespedes and Walker to give the Mets a fairly powerful middle of the lineup.

The Miami Marlins loom as a possible sleeper selection in the East. Jose Fernandez leads a starting pitching staff that has shown some real potential and both he and slugger Giancarlo Stanton will make a big difference by being available all season in 2016. Shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria , left fielder Christian Yelich, second baseman Dee Gordon, center fielder Marcell Ozuna, and catcher J.T. Realmuto are all emerging stars and third baseman Derek Dietrich shows offensive promise. Watch out for these guys as the season rolls on. New manager Don Mattingly and, yes, batting coach Barry Bonds offer good support for these youngsters.

The Philadelphia Phillies have their heads above the swampy mire of bad old contracts now and should improve a good deal this season. Ryan Howard will probably be at first base forever as a reminder of spendthrift days but his RBI are important. More importantly, third baseman Maikel Franco, center fielder Odubel Herrera,  second baseman Cesar Hernandez, and shortstop Freddy Galvis all provide hope that, once a pitching staff emerges, the Phillies will be in contention once again.

The Atlanta Braves have become everybody’s favorite team to rag on but I really don’t think that they are that bad. Of course, I may be unduly influenced by the memory of their decades of dominance in the East, and it’s hard to take a team seriously that has A.J. Pierzynski as their starting catcher, but I will not join the chorus predicting a 100 loss season for the Braves. Pierzynski showed last year that he can still hit as he approaches age 40 and his baseball savvy will no doubt help the stable of young pitchers that Atlanta employs. Erick Aybar is still a quality shortstop and young Jace Peterson is pretty good at second base. Nick Markakis has slowed a bit compared to his Baltimore days but is still more than adequate in right field and Jeff Francoeur is back in town to help Freddie Freeman with the offense.  As with the Phillies, the key for the Braves will be when and if the young hurlers develop.

For a couple of decades, the Kansas City Royals floundered among the also rans of the American League. In 1996 they finished last in their division for the first time since entering the league in 1969. The glory days of George Brett,Frank White, Amos Otis, Dan Quisenberry, and Bret Saberhagen faded into history as the inglorious days of Joe Randa and Jeff Suppan dragged on. Then, finally, in 2013 the Royals started to be good again, finishing ten games over .500. In 2014, they made it to the World Series, losing to San Francisco. I thought they would be the best team in baseball last season and they were, winning the World Series for the first time since 1985.
The formula is ancient, really, with a few modern modifications. The Royals play good defense all around, employ good if not spectacular starting pitching, create runs with speed and timely hitting, and have a very solid bullpen. Kendrys Morales was an effective designated sitter,driving in 106 runs last year with 41 doubles and 22 home runs. Alcides Escobar was among the elite defensively at shortstop and contributed at bat with 17 stolen bases despite low on base and slugging percentages. Salvador Perez was a gold glove catcher and steadying influence who hit with power to make up for walking about twice a month. Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Alex Gordon provided offensive firepower to go with their sterling defensive play. It may be time for young Christian Colon to replace aging second baseman Omar Infante, who dropped to a .220 batting average that wasn’t helped by his season total of nine bases on balls. Wade Davis was other worldly out of the bullpen with an ERA of 0.94 Kelvin Herrera was also a good reliever but Greg Holland did not duplicate his sensational 2014 season. Joakim Soria is back to help again in the bullpen this year, and the Royals are probably just one really good starter away from dominating the Central Division. They owe it all to good management despite the fact that owner David Glass is the odious former CEO of Wal-Mart who was justifiably vilified in Dave Zirin’s excellent book Bad Sports.
Detroit is threatening to compete again. Whether or not the Tigers do that may be highly dependent on how many games graceful young shortstop Jose Iglesias plays. Injuries have plagued him in his short career so far, but when he’s in there, he’s good. He bats a soft .300 but that doesn’t bother anyone when you can make the plays at short. If Victor Martinez has some big hits left at age 37 he will join Miguel Cabrera, Ian Kinsler, and J.D. Martinez in creating lots of runs for the Tigers. Nick Castellanos upped his production at third base in 2015 and continued improvement from him would be important. Justin Verlander is another important key for Detroit because if he can be as good or better than his 20 starts showed last year, manager Brad Ausmus will sleep better. Frankie Rodriguez, no longer a kid, has been brought in to shore up a seemingly perpetually shaky bullpen and the real prize addition in the winter was starter Jordan Zimmermann, who pitched well for the Nationals the past few years. Lefty Blaine Hardy has been good in short relief stints. The Tigers are using veteran Jarrod Saltalamacchia at catcher while waiting for James McCann to come back from the disabled list. McCann is a good defensive catcher with some pop in his bat.
The Cleveland Caucasians are an interesting team that will probably overachieve thanks to optimistic manager Terry Francona, but it’s not as though they lack talent. In fact, shortstop Francisco Lindor seems to be on the verge of super stardom. The pitching staff is young and impressive even though they don’t get the hype some other (Mets)staff might. Currently injured Michael Brantley is very good in left field and veteran first baseman/DH Carlos Santana has more career walks than his namesake does hit songs.This is a team that will likely improve as the season wears on and perhaps remind people of last year’s big surprise, Houston. They have Juan Uribe and Marlon Byrd on hand now for veteran leadership, so it’s hard not to like these guys despite the fact that they have to wear that ridiculous, demeaning Wahoo Sam logo during games.
In an odd turn of events, the Chicago White Sox suddenly appear to have a cohesive plan about what they want to put on the playing field. The winter acquisition of Todd Frazier got everybody’s attention because the guy had 79 extra base hits for Cincinnati last year, but the addition of catchers Alex Avila and Dioner Navarro and now shortstop Jimmy Rollins have also been noteworthy. Rollins is well past his prime but, as he did with the Dodgers last season, he will provide a steady, winning presence. It helps a lot to have lefty starter Chris Sale around, and Jose Quintana and Carlos Rodon are solid starters now joined by the enigmatic Mat Latos. Avisail Garcia, Jose Abreu, and Melky Cabrera will all be helped by the presence of Frazier in the lineup. The Pale Hose will be doomed, however, by their lack of one key ingredient–defense.
Minnesota was one of the pleasant surprises of 2015, remaining in contention through September despite the fact that besides Joe Mauer and Brian Dozier—who the hell are these guys? Well, there’s a lot to be said for letting the kids play and get some experience. Especially when you have no choice. Torii Hunter, of course, was no kid. He has now retired. Eddie Rosario, now 25, had a solid all around season in the outfield and should get better. Eduardo Escobar has become yet another Escobar playing shortstop, and he will be adequate. Miguel Sano,23, is being hidden in right field though he should probably be a DH. The DH is a Korean import,Byung-ho Park, who is big and hits them far. The entire pitching staff, including Ervin Santana, Tommy Milone, Phil Hughes,and Kyle Gibson, could be described as mediocre. The Twins weren’t scoring much as the season began, but many of us know that Spring doesn’t arrive in Minnesota until some time in August, and the winter returns after Labor Day. This is no argument to building another dome, however. Thanks to Paul Molitor for an excellent managing job last season, and we hope he remains patient. Remember, the Royals did it.

Even the ferocious and loyal fans of the San Francisco Giants have to be tired of the “it’s an even year, so…” talk about their team’s chances for a fourth World Series championship since 2010. One thing that does seem possible in 2016, however, is that the Giants will do something that they did not accomplish three times in those five years. They have a good shot at winning their National League West division title. Long gone are the days when the best team in each league went straight to the World Series at the end of the regular schedule and , of course, in the last two decades you need not even have won your division to have a chance at all of the marbles. Five teams in each league make the playoffs, so to pick a World Champion in April based on the fact that it is year 2016 is ludicrous, although still kind of fun. The Giants do look like the best in the N.L. West at the moment, but it definitely can be expected to be an interesting ride.

The most interesting news in the winter was that one member of the division, the Arizona Diamondbacks, plucked a Cy Young award candidate starting pitcher, Zack Greinke, away from last year’s division winner, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Snakes were already credible contenders, finishing four games under .500 in third place last season, which was a 15 game improvement over 2014. Arizona also added starting pitcher Shelby Miller, acquired in a trade with Atlanta that cost them quality outfielder Ender Inciarte and shortstop prospect Danby Swanson. With Patrick Corbin back and Robbie Ray and Jorge DeLaRosa ready and steady, the Diamondbacks look much better on the mound. Greinke has struggled in the early going, but I would not count on that continuing. The loss of premier center fielder A. J. Pollock hurts badly, but youngster Socrates Brito might shine with more playing time, and they have moved infielder Chris Owings to the outfield, at least occasionally. Paul Goldschmidt leads a stellar defensive infield with newly acquired Jean Segura at second and developing Nick Ahmed at shortstop. The Diamondbacks went with defensive whiz Tuffy Gosewich behind the plate last year until injury cut short his season and he was one of the better catchers in the league, but they are going more for offense this season with Wellington Castillo. In addition to his defensive skills, Goldschmidt powers a tough offensive lineup that includes outfielders David Peralta, who hit .312 with 78 RBI last year, and Yasmany Tomas, whose more modest production was somewhat offset by a walks to strikeouts ratio of 17 to 110.

Brad Ziegler, who doesn’t strike a lot of batters out but allows few base runners and very few home runs, is the best out of the bullpen for Arizona and Tyler Clippard is there to help out now. So the Dodgers and Giants will not be alone in contention this season.

As for those Dodgers, who knows? The baseball gods work in mysterious ways, so perhaps now that Los Angeles is not the odds on pick to click they will fool everybody and run away from the pack. There is a large contingent of Dodgers on the disabled list as the season begins, including outfielders Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford and starting pitchers Brandon Mc Carthy, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Brett Anderson, and Mike Bolsinger. Thus, if they hold their heads above water for a couple of months, that help is on the way and we already know that they have replaced the Yankees as the holders of the fattest wallet in the sport.

What is already available for the Dodgers is pretty good, with Howie Kendrick and Corey Seager strong offensively and defensively at second and short, Adrian Gonzalez still capable at first and a big run producer, newcomer Trayce Thompson a rising star in the outfield, and Yasiel Puig apparently ready to fulfill his considerable potential. The current pitching rotation still features the best lefty in ball, Clayton Kershaw, but there is no one close to Greinke’s quality after that. Similarly, the bullpen has an ace in Kenley Jansen but then just a bunch of other guys.

Several teams were hit hard by injuries in 2015, most notably Texas and St. Louis, and the Giants certainly had their share. Starting pitchers Matt Cain, Jake Peavy, and Tim Lincecum were limited to 45 starts among them due to various ailments. Second baseman Joe Panik played in 100 games and was having an All Star season before he succumbed to a lower back injury, and veteran star outfielder and motivational speaker Hunter Pence played just 52 games while center fielder Angel Pagan did not miss too many games but was obviously sub par physically as his defense and offense both suffered. The Giants addressed these issues fairly well during the winter. Denard Span was signed as a free agent. Span was also hurt in 2015, but if he can be more like the Span of 2014 the center field problem is solved. If he is like the Span of 2015, then the Giants have two Pagans.

For a 30 year old pitcher with good career results, Johnny Cueto remains a bit of a mystery. His 2012 and 2014 seasons for Cincinnati were great, but the rest of the time he has been mediocre. His short stint in Kansas City last year was less than the Royals expected, but the Giants are hoping that he will be a rock solid number two starter behind ace Madison Bumgarner. We’ll see. The now well traveled  righty Jeff Samardzija is pegged at number three, and the Giants expect that their fabled infield defense and pitcher friendly yard will help him improve on his record for the White Sox last season, one of the worst in either league. Peavy, Cain, and last year’s capable fill in , Chris Heston all return and how they will perform is open to speculation at the moment. Lincecum remains unemployed after hip surgery. The bullpen looks  about average and is showing age in spots, but relative youngsters Hunter Strickland and Josh Osich might help.

It’s impossible to say a bad thing about Buster Posey, who batted .318 with 95 RBI last year while challenging Yadier Molina as the best defensive catcher in the league. One could point out that it may be time for the 29 year old All Star to increase his power production as the big legs begin to slow down.

The home grown infield of Brandon Belt at first, Panik at second, Brandon Crawford at short, and Matt Duffy at third provides superb defense and good run production all around the horn. A good if thin bench (13 pitchers on any roster is ridiculous) includes trusty Gregor Blanco and new guys Ehire Adrianza and Kelby Tomlinson. This is a very solid, probably division winning team.

The Colorado Rockies have a very scary lineup and a very solid defense, both personified by third baseman Nolan Arenado and outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. They will have to clone Walter Johnson, Sandy Koufax, and Goose Gossage in order to contend, however.

The weather in San Diego is very nice most of the time. We wish the Padres a lot of luck. They now employ Jon Jay.

It all seemed to be coming together for the Toronto Blue Jays late last summer and, bat flip or no bat flip, it almost did. The Jays had to settle for winning the Eastern Division with 93 victories and then losing in six games in the League Championship Series to eventual World Champion Kansas City, but when they added Troy Tulowitzki and David Price to an already solid team it had seemed as though the Skydome was the limit.

Now, with Price taking the money train to Boston and Mark Buehrle retired, the Blue Jays do not seem to be impressing the experts as they did some short months ago but, looking at the competition, I find it hard to believe that they will not repeat. This would be a really fun team to follow if they had a decent yard to play in at home, one where home runs were not so cheap and where sunshine and grass were permitted to flourish. Tulowitzki and Josh Donaldson   give Toronto a very, very, strong left side of the infield, both offensively and defensively.  That is provided, of course, that shortstop Tulowitzki spends more time on the field than on the disabled list. Then you have Ryan Goins, a golden glove candidate at second base, Kevin Pillar, likewise golden in center field, and Russell Martin, who is now the best catcher in the American League. So there is your basic, old school, strength up the middle core, plus nobody in the league scores more runs. Right fielder Jose Bautista struck out 106 times last season (is that now, like, the average?) BUT he walked more (110 times) and his OPS of .913 gives him slack to flip out a little now and then.

Ah, you say, but what about pitching?  Well, Buehrle and Price are gone but Marcus Stroman is back, knuckleballer  R.A. Dickey eats innings, as the gourmet analysts say, and the Jaybirds have a pretty strong bullpen featuring Roberto Osuna and Brett Cecil among others. They also have a couple of very useful bench players, infielder Darwin Barney and outfielder Ezequiel Carrera.  It won’t be a cakewalk, but the Jays have a lot of acorns stashed as 2016 begins.

I’m taking a big, deep breath first, but now I’m going to write that the New York Yankees just might be the next strongest contender in the A.L. East. There are some big “ifs” involved here, but not nearly as many as the Steinbrenners had going into last season. The repulsive Alex Rodriguez proved he could still hit at age 64 last season, but the Yanks don’t even really need him this time around IF: the injury riddled starting pitching staff can keep them in range of victories before a potentially devastating relief corps that will eventually include Andrew Miller, Dellin Betances, and Aroldis Chapman take over and IF: Mark Teixeira can once again play enough to get the 392 at bats he had last year and IF: the new double play combination of Didi Gregorius and Starlin Castro hold together in the field as well as at bat. Gregorius was glorious in 2015. Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner have speed and defensive prowess in the outfield and old Carlos Beltran wasn’t as washed up as we all thought he was last year.  Brian McCann is good enough behind the plate and Dustin Ackley and Aaron Hicks are capable backups.

A lot of the East Coast bias types have somehow figured out that the Red Sox are pennant winners again. Well, the David Price addition is certainly more promising than the Pablo Sandoval one was last year. They do have some players, notably the fly chasing center fielder Jackie Bradley, whose hitting appears still to be a work in progress, and Mookie Betts who became the replacement for Jacoby Ellsbury that they have craved. David Ortiz is the fine wine element, raking away on into retirement. Dustin Pedroia has slowed just a bit but could provide dramatic leadership if they threaten to contend, After Price, however, we have Joe Kelly, Rick Porcello, and Steven Wright, none of whom are reminding us of Jim Lonborg or Pedro Martinez. The enigmatic Clay Buchholz could be great or lousy, we never know. Xander Bogaerts has developed nicely at shortstop but Hanley Ramirez, once a four tool sensation, has become a designated sitter type who isn’t even hitting that well. Not this year, beaneaters.

The Baltimore Orioles were my pick in this division last year, which shows how much I know. They had shown many good things in 2014, especially a sterling defense and lots of power in a power friendly home yard. They had Matt Wieters and Manny Machado coming back from injuries. But they also had a pitching staff that performed much better than they would in 2015, especially starters like Chris Tillman and Miguel Gonzalez, and shortstop J.J. Hardy was still very good in the field but slipped badly at the plate. Adam Jones is great in center, and Jonathan Schoop broke out big time at second base, while Chris Davis was his old self at first and Machado was a good MVP candidate. So the Orioles have weapons, but Buck Showalter will need to work magic with a marginal crew of starting pitchers if they are to fly high.

Okay, name five players other than Chris Archer who are on Tampa Bay’s roster. You people in St. Petersburg don’t get to play. Well, they still have Evan Longoria, and he’s still pretty good. They also have Tropicana’s version of Willie Mays, at least defensively, in Kevin Kiermaier. For some reason they released James Loney. Can’t be because they have Logan Morrison, who hit .225 in another bad yard for hitters, Seattle. Steve Pearce is a good all around backup who devastates left handed pitchers. The pitching staff has good numbers but again, it’s a terrible place to hit–or watch baseball, for that matter.  Wher have you gone Joe DiMaddongio?

 

 

It pains me to join the growing cluster of people who have realized that this time, this year, the Chicago Cubs look like the class of their division and, perhaps, all of baseball. Last year, it seemed a bit premature for all of those self styled experts to be predicting big things for the Cubs. However, Joe Maddon‘s delicate maneuver of Starlin Castro out of the shortstop position and Addison Russell into it coupled with the astonishing excellence of Jake Arrieta propelled the Cubs into a strong finish and the best postseason performance among the three tough N.L. Central teams. Now, it appears that the Cubs have gotten stronger while the Cardinals, who actually won the division in 2015, and the Pirates, who finished second, are looking stagnant.

It stands to reason that Arrieta cannot repeat his Cy Young performance of last season (22-6, 1.77 E.R.A.), doesn’t it? Yet it did not look like that on Opening Day. Kris Bryant lived up to all of the hype with his rookie of the year performance and it seems safe to say that he will only improve, especially if they keep him at third base. Jorge Soler should also improve and he can’t even crack the starting lineup. Anthony Rizzo became the guy many people expected he would a few years ago—an MVP candidate. The biggest thing for this season, though, is the acquisition of Jason Heyward. This improves the Cubs while simultaneously hurting the Cardinals, for whom he had a healthy and very productive 2015. Heyward is the premier right fielder in baseball and he can back up Dexter Fowler in center field as needed. Kyle Schwarber is sort of the left handed version of old Cliff Johnson. He will not win a gold glove anywhere, but is an adequate catching backup who tortures right handed pitchers the way Johnson used to hurt lefties. The starting pitchers after Arrieta are not great, but John Lackey  and Jon Lester, the Steve Sax of pitchers, have lots of big game experience and the bullpen is deep and good.

Russell and old Maddon favorite Ben Zobrist make a very good combination up the middle and Javier Baez is there in case Zobrist has to play outfield or pitch or whatever. Miguel Montero did not look like his old self behind the plate last year but he is still better than most and just 32 years old.

Even though St. Louis won 100 games in 2015, dark clouds circled overhead and they appear to be lingering. Right handed ace starter Adam Wainwright was limited to 28 innings by injury, promising first baseman Matt Adams played only 60 games, and then their postseason was marred by a nasty  thumb injury to their MVP, catcher Yadier Molina. Now, Wainwright is back but  Lance Lynn, who started 31 games last season and was very good, is out for the year. Shortstop Jhonny Peralta, no Marty Marion or Ozzie Smith, had good pop in his bat as usual last year but begins 2016 on the disabled list as does new backup to Molina Brayan Pena. However, the Cardinals proved last year what a deep and strong organization they have, so let’s not just write them off. Stephen Piscotty and Randal Grichuk are young outfielders who helped a lot last year and could keep getting better. Matt Holliday is 36 years old and missed 89 games last year but perhaps he still has something left to give. Mike Matheny is the equal to Bruce Bochy in getting the most out of his roster so stay tuned.

Cincinnati was a win at home away from big things in 2012 and has faded far from that ever since.  The Brewers were contenders not that long ago but now , like Yahoo! , they are”rebuilding”. Pittsburgh won our hearts in 2013 by bursting into contention after a couple of decades of futility. The Pirates broke hearts with wild card game losses the past two seasons and still have a lot of good weapons, but postseason games may be out of reach in 2016 as they have seemed to level off.  The great Andrew McCutchen anchors both the offense and what is likely the best fielding outfield in the game. Gerrit Cole is a potential Cy Young award winner. Francisco Cervelli almost made Bucco fans forget Russell Martin. Tony Watson and Mark Melancon continue to be stellar out of the bullpen. Francisco Liriano gives excellent, if short, efforts as a veteran starting pitcher. Nevertheless, the overall depth doesn’t seem to be there. Winter arrivals Matt Joyce and David Freese do not hurt but neither do they strike fear into opponents,and a platoon of Michael Morse and John Jaso at first base will not fare much better than the departed Pedro Alvarez. The outfielders on either side of McCutchen, Gregory Polanco and Starling Marte, have many good qualities but 55 walks versus 121 strikeouts (Polanco) and 27 walks versus 123 strikeouts (Marte) detract from their Hall of Fame potential. I’m not saying that they should be made over into Matty Alou, but that needs to get better because the Pirates’ pitching is not what it once was, unless suddenly Jeff Locke becomes consistent and the Pittsburgh coaches work some of their magic on veteran journeymen Ryan Vogelsong and Jon Niese. The infield defense will tend to make pitchers go for strikeouts.

National League Central was great fun last season. Let’s hope I’m wrong and it is again this year but I am afraid that I have jumped on that crowded Cubs bandwagon for now.

Before the 2015 season started, the general consensus was that the American League West division title was going to be fought over mainly between a revitalized Seattle Mariners team and the Bellflower Angels, who might have had the best team in baseball in 2014. The Houston Astros were considered the dark horse as they had stockpiled prospects all around the diamond, especially pitchers, but it was safe to say that they were at least a year away from real contention. No one expected much from the Texas Rangers, who had been decimated by injuries the previous season. The Oakland Athletics were not recognizable as Billy Beane channeled Frank Lane, apparently just because he could.

Houston surprised many of us by leading the division most of the way despite their youth and propensity for swinging and missing. The Angels’ pitching did not nearly match the strong performance of 2014 but they stayed in contention in a division where just a tad above mediocre was going to be enough. Texas won it on the last day as Cole Hamels won his seventh game for the Rangers after his trading deadline acquisition from Philadelphia. Therefore, since Texas would have Yu Darvish back for 2016, they have become the  odds on favorite to repeat, right? I’m not so sure.

The Angels have Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Kole Calhoun, and C.J. Cron, so they are going to score a lot of runs. They have Andrelton Simmons at shortstop now, so their good defense is now slightly better, and if young catcher Carlos Perez plays well over a full season they have an upgrade there. But C.J. Wilson and Jared Weaver do not appear to be the pitchers they once were, although young lefty Andrew Heaney looks good. Huston Street and Joe Smith do not look as good as they once did either, so that a once deep bullpen is sagging a bit. I’ll be surprised if Azusa finishes higher than third.

Oakland has strengthened its lineup but the pitching will relegate them to another last place finish unless they get off to a hot start and acquire two more Sonny Gray types.

The Rangers are pretty solid, especially on the mound, and if Rougned Odor continues to develop and improves defensively they will be strong up the middle. Designated sitter Prince Fielder, Adrian Beltre and new left fielder Ian Desmond give them some pop along with the strikeout prone young Joey Gallo so we won’t write them off.

Seattle is neither as good as we thought they were nor as bad as they seemed to be last season but this time it would be a surprise if they put together a real consistent threat. Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, and Felix Hernandez keep them interesting, but trying to hit well in their yard seems to wear on people.

The Astos look like the real thing now because guys like George Springer and the shortstop Carlos Correa will probably only get better and the pitching staff has become perhaps the strongest in baseball. Carlos Gomez will be a key element. So I say they will prevail.

Rich “Goose” Gossage was a mean, tough pitcher for 17 seasons in the major leagues with a commanding, intimidating presence. He pitched for several teams during his great career, most notably for the Yankees in the Bronx zoo era of the late 70s and early 80s. He was the guy who enabled the reptilian George Steinbrenner to rid himself of another great relief pitcher, lefty Sparky Lyle, who talked, and wrote,too much to please the Boss, and I don’t mean Bruce Springsteen.
In 1976, Gossage was mostly a starting pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, completing 15 of his 29 starts while winning 9 games and losing 17 with a 3.94 earned run average in 224 innings of work. The next season the Goose became a bullpen specialist for Chuck Tanner‘s Pittsburgh Pirates and he was spectacular. He finished 55 games with 26 saves with a 1.62 ERA in 133 innings. That innings total would make about three seasons’ worth for “closers” nowadays but Gossage gave Tanner and the Pirates up to three innings per appearance and combined with the relief work of Kent Tekulve to get the Pirates very close to the Eastern Division crown won by the Philadelphia Phillies. Pittsburgh needed that because, other than John Candelaria and Jim Rooker, their starters were not among the best.
Steinbrenner opened up his saddlebags full of cash and signed Gossage for 1978 and Gossage did not disappoint the Lyin’ King. He just about duplicated the previous season by again pitching often and well, notching 134 and one third innings with 55 finished games, 27 saves, and a 2.01 earned run average.
That’s the sort of player he was and he continued for quite a good long while.
Now, the Goose has grabbed headlines again without touching a ball. He’s done it the way it’s most often done these days—with his mouth. Apparently his profanity laced diatribe on ESPN contained damning statements about “celebrating” on the field, pointing in particular to the Blue Jays’ Jose Bautista‘s bat flip during the playoffs as an example of what players in his day did not approve of or engage in very often.
Before getting into whether or not Gossage’s old school rant was justified, let’s pick a bone about what constitutes journalism in 2016. I wonder sometimes if it is even being taught the way some of us once learned it, and I am more than certain that it is not being learned. Click bait is just another form of old yeller in journalism that, while not admirable, has its roots in the fact that if nothing sells no one gets paid. What bugs me more is that I was taught that what a person does should hold substantially more weight than what a person says. That’s an important thing, in my opinion, in journalism as well as the rest of life. What that means, for instance, is that when an apparently drunk driver loses control of his vehicle and smashes into a tree it is not really necessary to interview his neighbors about whether or not he is a nice person who pays his rent on time. It is also not necessary to interview the tree. Yet, to an ever increasing degree, that is what we get. Headlines are created more and more by quotes and less and less by events. That is, in part, how we came to the time when an amoral asshole like Donald Trump dominates news space and time. As Spencer Crump, my old instructor, would say, “That ain’t news.”
Now back to the “celebrating” by Bautista et al. What the Toronto outfielder did, in the context of where and when he did it, was okay in my book. There is a big difference between genuine joy at accomplishing something important like winning a World Series or a pennant and “showing up” your opponent with some mean display such as finger pointing and other gestures only fit for Republican presidential candidates. Celebrating smaller accomplishments is only natural and is okay as well. I don’t think we need Miss Manners on the sidelines telling the players what is cool and what is not but, on the other hand…some displays are a bit much. In the NBA, at least back when I used to watch games, it became an embarrassment to see players getting patted on the butt and high fives all around after a missed free throw. Maybe they were just encouraging him to perhaps make the next one. The first cooler full of overrated sugar water to get poured over the coach’s head by surprise was kind of funny. Every one since then has been lame. All of the convoluted dance routines that have ever been performed by touchdown scorers have been lame. That is especially so when it makes the score 52-7. In baseball, sometimes we see little hand signals from one teammate to another or to the dugout. That’s a bonding thing, absolutely cool. The pointing to the sky thing rather baffles me but harms no one.
The whole thing about “showmanship” and entertainment began in the early days of Monday Night Football while Howard Cosell was committing weekly sins of omission as extra cameras began to focus more and more on the boasters and the jerks. Now, it is important to remember that TV runs the whole mess. It’s not like the old days, Goose. Every inning of every game is on the tube or online. These players are exposed for good or bad on a daily basis. The cameras are in the dugout and the clubhouse and they are always on. How would you like to have all of your workdays on tape? And these players have grown up with that fact and no other way of seeing things. So we can cut them some slack no matter how much more money they make than we do. Just like we did when you and Reggie and Billy and Graig were “entertaining”.

When Salvador Perez popped out to Pablo Sandoval to end the 2014 World Series, the Kansas City Royals left the tying run at third base and the San Francisco Giants won their third championship in five years. That was a tough moment for Perez and the Royals, but without question that moment could not have existed without the stellar performance from the Royals’ catcher all season long. Last season,the St. Louis Cardinals won 100 games to win the National League Central Division, but with Yadier Molina trying to play through a torn ligament in his right thumb they faltered in the playoffs against the Chicago Cubs. Meanwhile those Giants, with Buster Posey limited to 106 games catching while also covering for often injured Brandon Belt at first base, missed the playoffs altogether. This time the Royals, with Perez behind the plate for 139 games, won it all.
The fact that these three teams have been able to contend and excel over the past few seasons has been, in my opinion, in large part due to those three towers of strength at the catching position.
Perez, Posey, and Molina are all excellent defensive catchers. Last season Molina was once again strong offensively as well, batting .270 with 61 RBI. He doesn’t walk much but he also doesn’t strike out a lot. Plus, he is a threat to steal the occasional base despite possessing what we call “Molina speed” in honor of his brothers Benjie and Jose as well as himself. Posey hit .318 in 2015 along with 19 home runs and 95 RBI and a .379 on base percentage. Those numbers may have been helped by his not having to squat so much. Perez batted .260 with 21 home runs and 70 RBI, very good for a slow catcher in a tough home ballpark for hitters. He wasn’t perfect, as his 13 walks (4 intentional) qualify Perez as a free swinger with a low .280 on base percentage.
Sabermetrics cough up an astounding mass of statistical information, most notably Wins Against Replacement with the suitable American acronym of WAR. We now can tell you the average velocity at which spit sunflower seed shells travel before hitting the ground adjusted for ballpark and weather conditions. There are still some things, however, that are very difficult to quantify. With team sports, every player is presumably trying her best to accomplish the goal of winning the game. Being skillful will always be the most important asset in achieving that goal. In times of crisis, though, each player has his own way of responding. It is at these moments of tension that a player who remains calm, assured, and relaxed is able to keep the rest of the team confident that the storm can be weathered successfully. In baseball, it usually falls to the shortstop, the center fielder, or the catcher to fill this role. That’s because the center fielder is the captain of the outfield, taking charge and reminding his cohorts in right and left of their responsibilities as well as cheerfully fulfilling his own. The shortstop should be the captain of the infield. These are the places where most plays are made. The catcher, ideally, is the captain of the whole team. He can be the one to direct all other players as to positioning, communicate with the pitcher especially as to pitch selection and location, and be a coach on the field and a buffer between the manager and that screwball left hander on the mound.
Their coaches and teammates agree that Molina, Perez, and Posey all perform this duty very well. In the past, we have seen catchers such as Gary Carter, Johnny Bench, and Yogi Berra glue winning teams together. In general, there are and have been catchers who can hit but aren’t so good behind the plate, and excellent defensive catchers who don’t hit so well on average teams that try to get by that way. When catchers are good at both hitting and defense, that’s a big plus. When they combine those skills with Darren Daulton type leadership, as Posey, Perez and Molina do, you get teams that win lots and lots of games.