1997...drastic changes afoot

1997...changes

     The 1997 season brought about many changes. With more expansion looming for the 1998 season, acting commissioner Bud Selig proposed a 'radical realignment', which would assign teams to leagues based on geographical location. So all the East Coast teams in one division, west coast teams in one division, and so on, and without regard for previous designations.

     One version of the realignment had fifteen teams switching leagues. The prospect of having one league being on the west coast didn't sit well with the players, fans or the media, so it was scrapped.

     This would have put the Mets and Yankees in the same division, or the Cubs and the White Sox, Dodgers and Angels...yada, yada, yada. The owners were very much opposed to this plan, and voted it down.

     The preparations were caused by the addition of the Arizona Diamondbacks franchise, which was promised to be in the National League, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, which was promised to be an American League team.

     Tampa Bay's ownership was banking on a big following from retired New Yorkers, and a built in fan base with the Yankee farm system based in Tampa. Arizona's ownership was banking on the same with the Dodger fan base.

     On paper, assigning one team to each league would be simple enough, except that would bring each league to a total of fifteen teams each. An odd number, which would cause the need for either one team from each league taking a series off every week, or the allowance of inter-league play.

     Inter-league play made the most sense, and the novelty of it was certainly getting attention. It was decided that there would be two sets of inter-league play periods, where teams would play teams in their rival division. So AL East plays NL East, AL Central plays NL Central and AL West plays NL West.

     The games would follow the league rules for the home team...designated hitter in the AL parks, none in the NL parks.

     It was designed with the fans in mind...so they told us. The American League fans getting to see the National League players, and vice-versa. However, that wasn't exactly the case. In my mind, if you want to expose the AL fans to the NL players, use the NL rules. Let the pitchers bat for themselves in the AL parks, since the fans never got to see that.

     Plus, too, the different style of play between the leagues, with the National League being a more pitching finesse type of league, with the fireballers in the American League.

     And don't get me started on the different strike zones....

     In hindsight, it's easy to see a greater plan in place...one that has been slowly erasing the delineation between the two leagues. There is one umpiring group, instead of AL and NL umps. There is no more League Offices, or League Presidents either.

     If you look right now at the mlb.com website and look at the league leaders for any category, (go ahead, I'll wait) you will see the default is for MLB leaders, then leaders for each league. This may seem insignificant to some, but to me, it is further diluting the game.

     In 1997 for example, Mark McGwire hit 58 home runs, but didn't lead the league. He played for Oakland in the American League, where he hit 34 homers. Then he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, where he hit another 24, giving him 58 total.

     But, since this was the good old days, his stats are split.

     Also, a couple of years earlier, in 1990, McGwire's teammate Willie McGee was traded from the Cardinals to Oakland late in the season. McGee hit .335 for the Cardinals, with enough at bats to qualify for the league lead. He struggled a little in Oakland, hitting just .274, which gave him a combined .324 batting average.

     Eddie Murray of the Dodgers hit .330, which led the majors, but following the rules in play at the time, finished second to McGee, who was now playing the the American League.

     But enough griping about the inter-league stuff. As we know now, the 1998 expansion happened, and instead of fifteen teams per league, the National League added a team from the American League. That team was the Milwaukee Brewers, which by sheer coincidence was owned by acting commissioner Bud Selig.

     In actuality, the Kansas City Royals were first offered the opportunity to switch leagues, but decide against it. The Brewers were the next to have the offer, and they took it. So, for the 1988 season, the Milwaukee Brewers began play as the first team to switch leagues since the modern Major Leagues had been 'invented'.

     But, back to 1997.

     The inter-league play schedule succeeded. The national League teams actually gained the advantage over their American League counterparts, winning 20 more games.

     This also led to many firsts..

     The first inter-league game was the San Francisco Giants visiting the Texas Rangers, with Giants outfielder Darryl Hamilton getting the first ever hit in inter-league play.

     The first Designated Hitters for each National League team were:

Braves	Keith Lockhart
Cubs	Dave Clark
Reds	Eddie Taubensee
Rockies	Dante Bichette
Marlins	Jim Eisenreich
Astros	Sean Berry
Dodgers	Mike Piazza
Expos	Jose Vidro
Mets	Butch Huskey
Phillies	Darren Daulton
Pirates	Mark Smith
Cardinals	Dmitri Young
Padres	Rickey Henderson
Giants	Glenallen Hill

     Among other inter-league curiosities was this fact...when the Toronto Blue Jays played the Montreal Expos, it was the first time since World War II that the American National Anthem was not played before a major league baseball game.

 

     Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Al Martin, in town to play the Minnesota Twins, got confused as to his whereabouts, and wound up at the Target Center, home of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.

     Another experiment was the “Aloha Series”, a three game set between the Cardinals and the Padres, played at Aloha Stadium, in Honolulu. They played a double-header on Saturday, April 19^th, which the Cardinals swept, and an afternoon game on Sunday, won bu the Padres.

     Logistically, it was a challenging trip for the Padres, who played a Wednesday night game in Pittsburgh, then flew back to San Diego for a layover, and then on to Hawaii.

     Mercifully, they were given two days off to recover...and explore.

     Padre's pitcher Joey Hamilton got badly sunburned,and third baseman Ken Caminiti showed up for batting practice wearing shorts.

     By all accounts, the series was a success, but hasn't been tried again.

     1997 also marked the fiftieth anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking the color line with the Dodgers. In commemoration, on the anniversary, the Dodgers were in New York to play the Mets at Shea Stadium.

          Commissioner Bud Selig made the unprecedented move of retiring the number 42 in perpetuity throughout baseball. Those who were active players that wore that number were allowed to keep wearing it. (Mariano Rivera of the Yankees would be the last active player to wear that number)

     Ken Griffey Jr. of the Seattle Mariners changed his number from 24 to 42 for that one game only. To this day, Jackie Robinson Day is celebrated by Major League baseball, and on that day, all uniformed personnel wear the number 42 jersey.

     In July, with the Chicago trailing the Indians in the Central Division race, the White Sox made a critical trade with the Giants at the trade deadline. The Giants sent minor leaguers Lorenzo Barcelo, Mike Caruso, Bob Howry, Brian Manning and Ken Vining along with Keith Foulke to the Windy City, in exchange for pitchers Wilson Alvarez, Danny Darwin and Roberto Hernandez. The three Sox pitchers had combined for 18 wins and 27 saves.

     But White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf was quoted as saying that it would be 'crazy' for anyone to think that the Sox could catch Cleveland for the pennant. They finished six games behind. For the record, the three pitchers traded to San Francisco, helped them by recording a combined 10 wins and 4 saves.

     Reinsdorf had already alienated his fellow owners somewhat, by announcing that he was taking a hard line on free agent signings, and then signing former Indians outfielder Albert Belle to a five year, fifty-five million dollar contract, making him (for a time) the highest payed player in the game.

     The Florida Marlins became the first Wild Card team to win the World Series. In doing so, they also became the fastest expansion team to become Champions as well, doing so in just five years.

In the process, owner Wayne Huizenga turned a lot of heads by his all in approach, over spending on free agents that he, frankly, couldn't afford. Apparently, he was hoping for municipal funding to build a new baseball stadium in downtown Miami.

     That deal fell through.

     Huizenga couldn't bank on the revenue that he had projected from the new stadium, and made no secret that he was: a. losing money, and b. going to be selling off that high priced talent as soon as the season was over.

     True to his word, he did both.

     But it was an unusual post season, and followed by a relatively hum-drum World Series, until Game Seven. With Cleveland hoping for its first World Series win since 1948, it took an eleventh inning game-winning single by Edgar Renteria, scoring Greg Counsell for South Florida's first ever World Series victory.

     The Atlanta Braves had won 101 games, but lost the National League Championship Series to the Marlins, who had won 92 games.

     The Indians, who had just 86 wins, bettered the Orioles, who had won 98 games, in their LCS.

     As for the team rankings, we have the following offensive leaders:

NATIONAL LEAGUE	AMERICAN LEAGUE
Rockies	Yankees
Padres	Mariners
Braves	Red Sox
Astros	Indians
Mets	Angels

     And then the top pitching teams were as follows:

Braves	Orioles
Dodgers	Yankees
Marlins	Rangers
Mets	Blue Jays
Astros	Brewers

     And our final overall 'Power Rankings' were:

Braves	1st in NL East, lost in LCS
Yankees	AL Wild Card, lost in Division
Orioles	1st in AL East, lost in LCS
Mariners	1st in AL West, lost in Division
Mets	3rd in NL East

     The Mets were the outliers on this list, winning 88 games, which would have won the NL Central. The Marlins and Indians rode hot streaks to carry them through their playoff series' and into the Fall Classic.

     But other things of note from the 1997 season:

     The Colorado Rockies became the first team to amass both 200 home runs and 200 double plays in a season.

     They were the first team with three batters to hit 40 homers in 1997: Larry Walker, Andres Galarraga and Vinny Castilla.

Joined in this picture by Dante Bichette

     Larry Walker, who won the NL MVP Award made 409 Total Bases, the highest amount in the National League since the immortal Stan Musial in 1948.

     Walker is the only player to have 30 homers and 30 stolen bases while hitting over .350 in a season.

     For the Anaheim Angels, outfielder Tim Salmon hit 30 homers for the fourth time in his career, the first Angels player to do that.

     First baseman Eddie Murray, who is the all-time leader in hitting Sacrifice Flies, plays in his 3,000^th game. He is the all-time record holder for games played at first base with 2,413.

     The Baltimore Orioles became just the third team in American League history to be in first place all season long, and the first to do so since the 1984 Tigers.

     Manager Davey Johnson won the Manager of the Year Award, and resigned the same day.

     In Boston, Rookie of the Year winner Nomar Garciaparra became the first American League rookie to have a thirty game hitting streak.

     The Cleveland Indians became the first American League team to hit 200 home runs in three consecutive seasons.

     They hit eight homers in a game against the Brewers.

     Cleveland hosted the All-Star Game, and catcher Sandy Alomar, Jr. homered in the game (he also homered in the World Series, becoming one of a handful who have done both in the same season).

     Alomar also was voted the All-Star Game MVP, becoming the first hometown player to win that award.

     The Atlanta Braves, playing their first season in Ted Turner Field, won a record 19 games in April.

     Outfielder Kenny Lofton became just the third Atlanta Brave to hit a lead-off homer in consecutive games, joining Dennis Menke and Felipe Alou.

     Florida Marlins catcher Charles Johnson, known for his defensive prowess, went the entire season without committing an error.

     For the Houston Astros, Jeff Bagwell became the first first-baseman to reach the 30 Homer/30 Stolen base club.

     Reliever Billy Wagner averaged 14.4 strikeouts per nine innings, the highest total for pitchers with 50 or more innings pitched.

     Craig Biggio scored 146 runs, the highest National League total since Chuck Klein's 152 in 1932. He also set the record for the most plate appearances (744) without hitting into a double play.

     For the Dodgers, they had four players hit thirty or more homers for the second time (1977 was the first). Mike Piazza, Eric Karros, Todd Zeile and Raul Mondesi all did the trick.

     Mondesi became the first Dodger to reach the 30 Homer/30 Stolen Base club.

     Mike Piazza established records for catcher for hits with 201. He is the only catcher to reach 200 hits and 40 homers in a season.

     In Montreal, Expos shortstop Mark Grudzielanek hits 54 doubles, setting a new National League record.

     The Expos scored an NL record 13 runs in the 6^th inning of a game against the Giants. Second baseman Mike Lansing homered twice in the inning, becoming the first National League second baseman to homer twice in an inning since 1894.

     Philadelphia Phillies rookie catcher Bobby Estalella became the first Phillies rookie to homer tree times in a game.

     Mets first baseman John Olerud became the second player to hit for the cycle in both leagues. Bob Watson was the first, in 1979.

     Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roger Clemens won the pitching Triple Crown.

     Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Tony Womack stole 32 consecutive bases, breaking the team record set by Max Carey in 1931.

     San Diego Padres legend Tony Gwynn won is fourth straight batting title, his eighth overall. The eight titles tied Honus Wagner for the National League record.

     Now to the statistical recap, beginning with the pitching in the American League. The American League pitching was not stellar as a whole. There were some outstanding performances, but as a whole, the league Earned Run Average was 4.57, compared to the National League's 4.20.

     Overall, the National League performed 7% better than the American League when looking at the pitching and hitting combined.

     That being said, here is our initial top ten American League pitching performances:

PITCHER	TEAM	W-L	ERA	SV
Randy Johnson	Mariners	20-4	2.28	0
Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	21-7	2.05	0
Randy Myers	Orioles	2-3	1.51	45
Mariano Rivera	Yankees	6-4	1.88	43
Andy Pettitte	Yankees	18-7	2.88	0
John Wetteland	Rangers	7-2	1.94	31
Justin Thompson	Tigers	15-11	3.02	0
Doug Jones	Brewers	6-6	2.02	36
David Cone	Yankees	12-6	2.82	0
Brad Radke	Twins	20-10	3.87	0

     And then as compared to their team's performances, we get this list:

Randy Johnson	Above
Brad Radke	Above
Roger Clemens	Above
Justin Thompson	Above
John Wetteland	Above
Roberto Hernandez*	White Sox (ONLY)	5-1	2.44	27
Doug Jones	Above
Jamie Moyer	Mariners	17-5	3.86	0
Wilson Alvarez*	White Sox (ONLY)	9-8	3.03	0
Willie Blair	Tigers	16-8	4.17	0

     This brings our official combined top ten list to the following:

Randy Johnson	2nd in Cy Young, 11th in MVP
Roger Clemens	Cy Young Winner, 10th in MVP
Brad Radke	3rd in Cy Young, 25th in MVP (tied)
Randy Myers	4th in Cy Young, 4th in MVP
John Wetteland	No votes
Justin Thompson	No votes
Doug Jones	20th in MVP (tied)
Mariano Rivera	25th in MVP (tied)
Andy Pettitte	5th in Cy Young
Roberto Hernandez	No votes

     Looking at the National League, where the pitchers out performed the hitters by 6.2%, and out performed the American league pitchers by 9.8%, we get the following initial ranking:

Pedro Martinez	Expos	17-8	1.90	0
Greg Maddux	Braves	19-4	2.20	0
Darryl Kile	Astros	19-7	2.57	0
Denny Neagle	Braves	20-5	2.97	0
Shawn Estes	Giants	19-5	3.18	0
Kevin Brown	Marlins	16-8	2.69	0
Curt Schilling	Phillies	17-11	2.97	0
Alex Fernandez	Marlins	17-12	3.59	0
Tom Glavine	Braves	14-7	2.96	0
Rick Reed	Mets	13-9	2.89	0

     Then compared to their team, we get this list:

Curt Schilling	Above
Pedro Martinez	Above
Shawn Estes	Above
Garret Stephenson	Phillies	8-6	3.15	0
Darryl Kile	Above
Trevor Hoffman	Padres	6-4	2.66	37
Greg Maddux	Above
Brett Tomko	Reds	11-7	3.43	0
Kevin Brown	Above
Alan Benes	Cardinals	9-9	2.89	0

     That brings the final overall ranking to this:

Pedro Martinez	Cy Young Winner, 16th in MVP (tied)
Greg Maddux	2nd in Cy Young, 12th in MVP
Curt Schilling	4th in Cy Young, 14th in MVP
Darryl Kile	5th in Cy Young, 22nd in MVP
Shawn Estes	No votes
Denny Neagle	3rd in Cy Young
Kevin Brown	No votes
Garret Stephenson	No votes
Brett Tomko	No votes
Alex Fernandez	No votes

     Switching to the offensive side, with some very garish numbers, due in part to the dawning of the performance enhancing era. The American League batters had a 9.6% advantage over their pitching adversaries, and a 5.9% advantage over the National League hitters. This is important, considering that the National League played more games at Coors Field, which seems to inflate offensive numbers.

     But more on that in a moment. For now, the top ten American League performers, initially are as such:

PLAYER	TEAM	HR	RBI	AVG	RCG
Frank Thomas	White Sox	35	125	.347	1.37
Ken Griffey Jr.	Mariners	56	147	.304	1.38
Bernie Williams	Yankees	21	100	.328	1.44
Juan Gonzalez	Rangers	42	131	.296	1.32
Edgar Martinez	Mariners	28	108	.330	1.19
Tino Martinez	Yankees	44	141	.296	1.22
Paul O'Neill	Yankees	21	117	.324	1.24
Jim Thome	Indians	40	102	.286	1.13
Tim Salmon	Angels	33	129	.296	1.22
Nomar Garciaparra	Red Sox	30	98	.306	1.24

     And then compared to their teams, we get this list:

Frank Thomas	Above
Juan Gonzalez	Above
Carlos Delgado	Blue Jays	30	91	.262	0.92
Ken Griffey Jr.	Above
Jeromy Burnitz	Brewers	27	85	.281	0.93
Tony Clark	Tigers	32	117	.276	1.19
Bernie Williams	Above
Bobby Higginson	Tigers	27	101	.299	1.15
Mark McGwire	A's (ONLY)	34	81	.284	0.90
Tim Salmon	Above

     Combining and crunching brings us this top ten list:

Frank Thomas	3rd in MVP
Ken Griffey Jr.	MVP Award Winner
Bernie Williams	17th in MVP
Juan Gonzalez	9th in MVP
Edgar Martinez	14th in MVP (tie)
Tino Martinez	2nd in MVP
Tim Salmon	7th in MVP
Jim Thome	6th in MVP
Paul O'Neill	12th in MVP
Tony Clark	18th in MVP

     Over in the National League, where the Rockies, playing at Coors Field, scored 140 more runs than their nearest competitor, hit 65 more home runs, an hit 17 points higher than any other NL team.      Their pitching, however, suffered in that rarefied air. The Rockies hit 124 homers there, but their opponents hit 121, That helped the Rockies staff to amass a season ERA of 5.25, a quarter a run per game higher than the next lowest team.

     With that, herewith is the initial top ten National League hitters:

Larry Walker	Rockies	49	130	.366	1.46
Mike Piazza	Dodgers	40	124	.362	1.24
Andres Galarraga	Rockies	41	140	.318	1.42
Tony Gwynn	Padres	17	119	.372	1.34
Jeff Bagwell	Astros	43	135	.286	1.24
Ray Lankford	Cardinals	31	98	.285	1.21
Barry Bonds	Giants	40	101	.291	1.16
Craig Biggio	Astros	22	81	.309	1.27
Todd Hundley	Mets	30	86	.273	1.02
Ellis Burks	Rockies	32	82	.290	1.18

     And then as compared to their team's statistics, we get this list:

Mike Piazza	Above
Ray Lankford	Above
Larry Walker	Above
Jeff Bagwell	Above
Tony Gwynn	Above
Barry Bonds	Above
Scott Rolen	Phillies	21	92	.283	1.05
Craig Biggio	Above
Todd Hundley	Above
Moises Alou	Marlins	23	115	.292	1.20

     This brings our National League finalized top ten list to:

Mike Piazza	2nd in MVP
Larry Walker	MVP Award Winner
Andres Galarraga	7th in MVP
Ray Lankford	16th in MVP (tied)
Tony Gwynn	6th in MVP
Jeff Bagwell	3rd in MVP
Barry Bonds	5th in MVP
Craig Biggio	4th in MVP
Todd Hundley	No votes
Moises Alou	10th in MVP

     Before we go further, we'll revisit the term 'Valuable' when it comes to picking the player with the most value. When one votes for the Most Valuable Player, is one looking at the entire league, or just looking for the most valuable player on his team, and then as compared to the league?

     A player, as I have mentioned several times, that may receive votes as the Most Valuable Player, in my mind, is the player that far exceeds the standard set by his team. He carries his team when needed. The poorer the team around him, the batter that player has to be.

     Looking at the American League hitters above, for example, which has three players on the list...how much of an impact did that lineup have with those three players in it have on a given day?         Compare that with Tony Clark from above, without a lot of other help in that lineup, yet he was able to create more than one run per game.

     And on the pitching side, strikeouts are nice. And they are glamorous. But they re not essential. If you'll notice. In my highlighted statistics, I never mention strikeout totals. Because they don't win games.

     The formula that I use doesn't factor strikeouts at all. More important in my formula is base runners. Or rather, lack of base runners. The fewer runners you allow, the fewer that can score. The fewer that score, the better your chance of winning a game. That is where the importance is.

     To quote former New York Jets head coach Herm Edwards, “You play to win the game.”

     From there, I weigh each statistic, but not evenly. Wins are worth a lot more than saves. Runs more than homers. Sacrifice hits as even with hits. Then I compare all the stats, which is where I get my final results.

     Also, there is always talk about how a player from a low finishing team can win any of the post season awards, which I don't agree with. If the player was the best in the league, he should be awarded for that.

     The initial lists for each category are flat out the best straight up performers for that season. That is based on raw, black and white statistics.

     The finalized rankings have been filtered to factor in other things, including how strong their team was, and how they compared to teammates and other peers.

     Most times, the top players from the initial list were the top players for the league. This particular season was an anomaly, where Larry Walker was the top National League hitter, but was beaten out by Mike Piazza for the top overall ranking. A good part of that reasoning was Walker's home ballpark. But also taken into account was that Piazza was putting those numbers up while being the catcher. He caught in 139 games, which is a little tougher on the body .

     My Cy Young winner in the AL would be Randy Johnson, who finished 2^nd to Roger Clemens in the actual voting. Johnson and the Mariners won the AL West Division, while Clemens and the Blue Jays finished in last place in the AL East, 22 games behind the Orioles.

     Neither one of my MVP, or offensive Player of the Year, were on playoff teams either.

     So my top five American League players were:

Randy Johnson

Roger Clemens

Frank Thomas

Ken Griffey Jr.

Bernie Williams

     And in the National League:

Mike Piazza

Larry Walker

Pedro Martinez

Andres Galarraga

Ray Lankford

     So my updated post-season award winners would be:

National League Most Valuable Player

Mike Piazza

National League Cy Young Award

Pedro Martinez

American League Most Valuable Player

AND

Cy Young Award

Randy Johnson

Offensive Player of the Year

Frank Thomas