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| Tuesday, September 12 | |||||
| Will the Thrill heats up in St. Louis Special to ESPN.com | |||||
Over 100 players changed teams in the month of July, but here are the players who have had the most important impact:
1. Will Clark to the Cardinals. This was one deal that people kind of yawned about, but in light of what happened to Mark McGwire, it's been a key move for St. Louis. Through Thursday, Clark was hitting .369 with the Cardinals. He's also been hitting for surprising power, with nine home runs in 111 at-bats, after hitting just nine in 256 at-bats with Baltimore. Maybe it took his elbow that long to get strong after last year's surgery. We did a game over the weekend and McGwire told Charley Steiner that it's unlikely he'll be able to play in the field in the postseason and only pinch-hit or DH in the World Series, so it looks like Clark will be starting in the playoffs.
Of the prospects or young players who were traded, two stand out. Bruce Chen has pitched great for the Phillies, which hasn't been reflective in his wins. I think the Braves were in a position where they couldn't afford to be real patient with Chen. Now, if they would have had John Smoltz, they could have kept Chen as their fifth starter. Richie Sexson has done a nice job for Milwaukee. The Brewers are next-to-last in runs scored, so they definitely needed somebody who could bash the ball over the fence. Veterans are nice ... maybe Clark adds a veteran presence to the St. Louis lineup, but veterans don't help much if they're over the hill. In 1967, I got called up to the Tigers in September and the pennant race went down to the final weekend with four teams battling it out. The Tigers had one of the most veteran bullpens in baseball, but they made more mistakes that weekend than a bunch of bald-faced rookies. Sometimes I think naivetè can probably be a plus in a pennant race. I was such a fan of the Tigers growing up and then got called up with two weeks to go. You sit and don't do anything -- I think I had two pinch-hitting appearances. I don't think I had real positive thoughts at the time. After all, the rest of the team had been there all year, and I didn't want to screw it up for those guys. A lot of the younger Latin players (and others, for that matter) are out of touch with the history of the game and the pressures of the pennant race may not affect them as much. Campbell's Curse All I have to do is write about how good a team is and it goes into a slump. Three weeks ago, I said Seattle seemed bulletproof and then the wheels came off and the Mariners lost 15 of 18. Last week, I raved about the Mets and they've lost five of six. Well, this week it's the Giants. A lot has been made lately of how well their rotation has been pitching, but I like their bullpen. People have talked about important the Jeff Nelson/Mike Stanton/Ramiro Mendoza/Mariano Rivera foursome has been to the Yankees the past few years, but I think San Francisco's pen has the potential to be a dominant force in the postseason. You've got Joe Nathan in long relief and he can hit 98 mph on the radar gun. Alan Embree is pitching sensationally, throwing 94 from the left side with a great hook. Felix Rodriguez has a tremendous fastball, 97 mph, and has killed left-handed hitters this year (.144 average). And there's Robb Nen, throwing as well as any closer in the game, 96 mph with a nasty slider. This bullpen is the closest I've seen stuff-wise to the '90s Reds with Norm Charlton, Rob Dibble and Randy Myers. And the rotation has been terrific as well. Russ Ortiz is 7-0 since August 1 with a 1.00 ERA. Shawn Estes and Kirk Rueter have been solid and Mark Gardner has been the surprise, which is why Nathan is in the bullpen. The Giants are playing excellent defense, they have timely hitting, Barry Bonds is hot and top to bottom, they have the best staff in the National League right now. Speaking of Mr. Bonds Bonds has definitely entered into the MVP race. I was talking to Mike Krukow, one of the Giants broadcasters, and he said what's killing Bonds' MVP chances are he hasn't come up that many times with men in scoring position. Bonds has 44 home runs and 91 RBI, but has just 94 at-bats with runners in scoring position. Compare that to a few others: Mike Piazza 119, Todd Helton 131, Sammy Sosa 143, Jeff Kent 156 ... and Mike Sweeney has 181, twice as many as Bonds. You can't have a huge RBI total if guys aren't on base. Marvin Benard (.349 on-base percentage) and Bill Mueller (.339) aren't getting on base a whole lot. As good as Kent has been, Bonds has 16 intentional walks, so teams are still pitching to Kent. A-Rod's dilemma Have you checked out Alex Rodriguez's home and road numbers? He's hitting .291 with 11 homers and 40 RBI at home, .365 with 23 homers and 68 RBI on the road. Makes you wonder about his decision when he becomes a free agent. Safeco Field is a tough place to hit. The Mariners lead the majors in road batting average at .288, but are 29th in home average at .248. Why? I haven't heard anything about visibility problems. One of the little hidden facts in baseball is the area around home plate. If that area is hard, then the ball picks up speed and scoots through the infield faster. If the area is soft, then the ball slows down and infielders can get to the ball. I suspect this is what's going on in Seattle. The Mariners are doing some heavy watering, probably with the intention of helping their pitching staff. The Rockies did this a few years ago and runs went down. But they didn't want that and stopped watering it, although I don't know whose decision that was. So that will play a part in Alex's decision. Is is it about winning or about his chance to attack the all-time home run record? Former major leaguer Dave Campbell works as an analyst for ESPN and ESPN Radio. Campbell's Corner will appear throughout the season. | |||||
