Baseball : National League Can’t Find Answer for the Lack of .300 Hitters

The absence of division races in the National League has been compounded by the disappearance of the .300 hitter.

Dead ball? Lively arms? Widespread injuries?

There is no concrete explanation for the National League having only three players, among those qualified for the batting title, hitting .300 or more, led by Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres and Gerald Perry of the Atlanta Braves, both at .308.

The lowest average to win a National League batting title was .320 by Larry Doyle of the 1915 New York Giants.

The lowest average to win an American League title was .301 by Carl Yastrzemski of the 1968 Boston Red Sox.

Statistician Seymour Siwoff of the Elias Sports Bureau in New York said he is confounded by the low averages.

“I’m lost. I can’t explain it,” he said. “Every (pitcher) looks like Cy Young. The character of a league can’t change that much in a year. It’s incredible. Some people say the ball is dead, but then a kid like Gregg Jefferies (of the New York Mets) comes along and hits .400. The ball didn’t stop him. “

The ball, thought to be particularly lively during last year’s home run parade, is made uniformly at the Rawlings factory in Haiti, then stamped either American League or National League.

The American League, as of Friday, had 14 players at .2996 or better, including four--Wade Boggs, Kirby Puckett, Mike Greenwell and Dave Winfield--above .335.

There is more offense in the American League because of the designated hitter but only 1 of those 14 is a DH regularly--Paul Molitor of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Pete Rose, the Cincinnati Reds manager who hit .300 or better 15 times, cited an improvement in National League pitching depth.

“You’ve still got your Mike Scotts, Orel Hershisers, Fernando Valenzuelas, Rick Reuschels, Dwight Goodens and Ron Darlings,” he said.

“Now you’ve also got a lot of good young pitchers who’ve come into their own this year--Danny Jackson, David Cone, Tim Leary, Tim Belcher, Jose Rijo, Greg Maddux. And there are good young relief pitchers, too.

“Last year was a hitter’s year. This year is a pitcher’s year.”

Be it improved pitching or bad hitting, National League clubs are averaging 3.89 runs a game, compared to 4.45 last year. The league earned-run average has dropped from 4.08 to 3.46, and there has been a commensurate drop--.261 to .248--in the league batting average. The 12 National League clubs are going to produce about 600 fewer home runs than last season.

American League power is similarly down, giving credence to the dead-ball theory, but then there’s the disparity in the number of .300 hitters.

One factor is that the National League’s top three of last year--Gwynn, .370, Pedro Guerrero, .338, and Tim Raines, .330--have had to battle injuries throughout the season. Of the 10 players who batted .300 last year, only Gwynn and Andres Galarraga are doing it again.

Whatever the cause--and even National League snobs have to admit that the American has welcomed a far greater number of top young players in recent years--statistician Siwoff sighed when he reflected on a probable playoff between the Mets and Dodgers.

“A battle of hitless wonders,” he said. “Neither team can score. It’s a throwback to another era.”

Has there ever been a September this devoid of drama?

Has there ever been a season with fewer lead changes?

Consider:

--In three of the four divisions, there has not been a lead change since late May. The Dodgers have led the National League West since May 26. The Mets have led the NL East since May 3. The Oakland Athletics have led the American League West since April 21.

--The only substantive race has been in the American League East, and now the Boston Red Sox are removing the drama from it, too, though the East, at least, produced four lead changes after the Yankees replaced the Cleveland Indians in first place May 3.

Detroit took the lead June 20, the Yankees regained it July 25, the Tigers regained it July 28, then the Red Sox unseated Detroit on Labor Day.

Sid Fernandez boasts two of the major leagues’ most impressive statistics. Before his 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs Wednesday, opposing hitters were batting .196 against him, the lowest average against a starting pitcher in the majors. He was also averaging 9.23 strikeouts per nine innings, the top National League ratio among starters.

Yet Fernandez (9-10) is expected to go to the bullpen as the Mets employ a four-man rotation of Dwight Gooden, David Cone, Ron Darling and Bobby Ojeda in the playoffs.

Fernandez made three relief appearances in the 1986 World Series against the Red Sox, striking out 10 and allowing 1 earned run in 6 innings. He wasn’t happy about his role then, however, and he is said to be equally displeased about the current prospects. He wasn’t talking to reporters this week because of resentment regarding recent stories dealing with his weight problem.

Fernandez has been inconsistent since spraining an ankle Aug. 31, an injury that the Mets believe stemmed from his being a reported 20 to 30 pounds over his normal weight of 220 to 230. The problem has hounded Fernandez since his early years with the Dodgers, but now Met Manager Davey Johnson, preparing to send Fernandez to the bullpen, turns out to be the heavy--in Fernandez’s view, at least.

Johnson also drew the enmity of Gooden and Darling on successive nights against the Pittsburgh Pirates, first removing Gooden in the seventh inning of a game he was losing, 1-0, Monday night, then removing Darling in the ninth inning of a game that was tied, 2-2.

“I’ve been shot at for five years,” Johnson said of the pitchers’ barbs. “There are plenty of holes in me. This doesn’t bother me. The fact is, there are so many holes in me, they don’t even hit me anymore.”

But will it affect his choice of starters in the playoffs.

“I’ve got to get all the newspapers and see the derogatory comments before I set my rotation,” he said. “The guy who’s the maddest will start the first game.”

The reports that Jack McKeon had yielded his responsibilities as general manager in accepting a three-year contract to continue as manager of the Padres were misleading.

Yes, McKeon will give up the front-office title. But he is expected to continue making most of the personnel decisions and to do almost everything he used to do except negotiate contracts.

In fact, McKeon’s role could grow considerably if the Padres yield to widespread media and player pressure and remove Chub Feeney as the club president.

“I’m very pleased,” said McKeon, under whom the Padres are 57-43. “I feel with the three years they have given me, we have a chance to win it all before that time is up. Shoot, I’m hoping we’ll have a shot at winning it next year. Joan (Kroc, the owner) told me she would help me make any effort to put this club back to where it was in 1984 (when it won the National League pennant).

“We secure the right player or two, maybe a couple of free agents, and we’re there.”

Feeney’s tenuous status was not strengthened when he got into a shouting match with agent Jerry Kapstein in the club’s offices Wednesday.

Kapstein had dropped by to discuss the status of pitcher Andy Hawkins, who is eligible for free agency, and became angry when Feeney refused to see him.

They ultimately exchanged words, with Kapstein slamming an office door so hard that pictures fell from the wall.

In a press conference later, Kapstein accused Feeney of sleeping through negotiations and said that when it comes to the Padre president, “truth is stranger than fiction.”

The Philadelphia Phillies, having lost 17 of their last 25 games, are winding up a miserable season the same way they started it.

“This is a terrible reflection of a great organization,” Manager Lee Elia said. “The club is sick of it, and I’m sick of it. I promised the players changes would be made if I have any input at all.

“At this point, anybody who does anything can’t help but make us notice. We’re not exactly the ’27 Yankees.”

Lee Thomas, the new general manager, recently extended Elia’s contract through 1989, but rumors persist that Thomas would jump at getting Jim Fregosi, a close friend since their early years with the Angels, if Fregosi is fired by the Chicago White Sox.

Fregosi has done a nice job, keeping the White Sox out of last place in the American League West, but his relationship with General Manager Larry Himes is strained at best.

Bet that the Angels would also be interested if Fregosi, a changed man and manager since his first stint in Anaheim, became available.

Dallas Green, the former Phillie manager and former Chicago Cubs president, has made no bones about his desire to manage the New York Yankees.

He told Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Frank Dolson that Yankee owner George Steinbrenner, before talking Lou Piniella into succeeding Billy Martin, had sounded Green out on his interest.

“I’ve been around George in meetings,” Green said. “He’s a little like me--impetuous, not too tactful. Maybe we’d get along.”

Steinbrenner’s disruptive influence is legend, but baseball’s poorest-run organization has been the Seattle Mariners. George Argyros wasn’t the owner when the club started, but he has done nothing to correct the pattern. The organization has employed five general managers, seven field managers and still will finish under .500 for the 12th time in 12 years.

Woody Woodward, fired by the Phillies earlier this year and hired by Argyros as his latest general manager, said the key problem is that the system’s younger players don’t know how to win and will have to be taught.

“We have to create a winning attitude and we’re not doing that,” he said. “I’d like to see us sign some older players to provide leadership on the minor league level. We did that with the Yankees.

“A big part of the minor league system is teaching guys how to play. But part of it is learning how to win. That’s what we need to do.”