How the West Was Survived

Well, thank goodness for this historic interlude with Barry Bonds and Rickey Henderson and the retirement tour of Tony Gwynn.

If it weren’t for these National League West distractions, we would be forced to focus on this bumbling, stumbling playoff race in which neither the Arizona Diamondbacks nor San Francisco Giants can sustain a dominant streak and the tantalizing Dodgers keep sliding a foot through the door only to then pull it out.

OK, maybe it was to be expected that no team would return from the six-day hiatus after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks fully focused--no matter what was at stake.

On the other hand, maybe the inconsistency is simply characteristic of the ... what is it, parity or parody?

Consider that only four of the 16 National League teams--the Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, the Colorado Rockies and New York Mets--have played better than .500 since Aug. 22, a stretch of almost six weeks, and nowhere is it more difficult to determine if this is a race or retreat than in the West.

The Diamondbacks (13-15), Giants (13-14) and Dodgers (13-15) all have been mediocre since that August date, and just as bad since resuming play Sept. 17.

The Diamondbacks are 5-5 and the Giants are 4-5 since then, while the Dodgers are 3-7, setting the discordant tone as they resumed play by being swept by San Diego in a three-game series at home.

It’s clear now, with nine games left, that whoever survives to win the West is going to emerge with about 92-94 wins, supporting what San Francisco General Manager Brian Sabean predicted in the spring. Sabean noted the depth and quality of the pitching in the West and doubted that any of the five teams would win more than 95 games because they would be beating up on each other so often in the unbalanced schedule.

Much of that pitching has dissolved because of injury and ineffectiveness, and if the Diamondbacks, Giants and, to a lesser extent, the Dodgers have been beating up on each other, it’s largely because none of the three has been good enough to put a stranglehold on the division.

Baseball’s three best teams--the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics--are in the American League, it’s that simple.

As for this NL West race, now stretching into October because of the adjusted schedule, it’s not so much a Fall Classic as a Flawed Classic.

Checking the dents:

Arizona

It is only a slight exaggeration to say that the Diamondbacks have survived to this point strictly on the pitching of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, the hitting of Luis Gonzalez and a defense that leads the league in fielding and has made 33 fewer errors than the Giants and 34 fewer than the Dodgers.

In a rotation wracked by injuries, Johnson and Schilling have prevented the Diamondbacks from experiencing a significant losing streak. They are a combined 41-12 while seven other starters are 29-38, which helps explain why it is still a race. In addition, a bullpen devoid of injured closer Matt Mantei has registered only 32 saves, and only the Florida Marlins (30) have fewer among NL teams.

If the Cy Young magnitude of Johnson and Schilling can’t be minimized, neither can the MVP-caliber contributions of Gonzalez, who has hit 53 homers and driven in 132 runs. How big is that? Well, Steve Finley and Matt Williams combined have hit only 28 homers and driven in 129 runs.

Yes, some of that Finley/Williams slack has been picked up by Reggie Sanders (31 homers, 87 RBIs) in a comeback-of-the-year performance and Mark Grace (.292, 75 RBIs) as he continues to spit in the face of the Chicago Cubs, but a veteran lineup that needs to win now too often has had to rely on Gonzalez alone to maintain the batteries in Arizona’s fragile chronological clock.

San Francisco

Aside from a brief onslaught after the July acquisition of Andres Galarraga, the Giant offense has been an inconsistent mystery masked by Bonds’ stellar season. Only Rich Aurilia (35 homers, 92 RBIs) has been a complementing force.

Jeff Kent will drive in about 30 fewer runs than he did as the MVP last year, J.T. Snow has been on the disabled list three times, Marvin Benard, beginning a three-year, $11-million contract, has been a bust in a leadoff role, and there has been a revolving door in right field and at third base, with the Giants paying a price for the economic decisions to trade Bill Mueller and allow Ellis Burks to leave as a free agent.

A Giant team that has generally thrived on fundamentals and execution under Dusty Baker leads the league in runners left on base, and ranks 12th (just ahead of the Dodgers) in fielding, with Mueller’s third base vacuum a particular problem.

That inconsistency on offense and defense has thwarted the Giants’ ability to generate any kind of convincing streak during a season in which the pitching has generally deserved better, although Shawn Estes (8-8) and Livan Hernandez (13-14) remain enigmas. The Giants wouldn’t even retain a chance to repeat as division champion if Felix Rodriguez (9-1, 1.70 earned-run average in 74 appearances) hadn’t supplied the glue and Sabean, master of the deadline deal, hadn’t acquired Jason Schmidt in July. Schmidt is 6-1 in 10 starts with the Giants, who have some of the same age concerns as the Diamondbacks and may need that playoff revenue if they are going to re-sign Bonds.

Dodgers

The Blue is being included here as a courtesy. They are certainly finished in the wild-card race and virtually done in the division. It is a tribute to their resolve and resiliency under Jim Tracy that they got this far.

The extended absences of Kevin Brown, Andy Ashby and Darren Dreifort alone would have wiped out most pitching staffs. In the Dodgers’ case, it ultimately took a toll on a bullpen that leads the league in blown saves. An overworked Matt Herges is operating on fumes, and Jeff Shaw’s costly inconsistency down the stretch has created a difficult situation regarding his 2002 option, although Shaw may take it out of the club’s hands by retiring.

In support of the troubled pitching, the Dodgers have been miserable on defense, ranking 13th, and largely smoke and mirrors on offense, ranking 11th. If Shawn Green, Paul Lo Duca and Gary Sheffield aren’t doing it, the Dodgers aren’t doing it, and Sheffield has been AWOL down the stretch, having gone the last 11 games without a home run or RBI. Otherwise, this is an offense that features a leadoff man (Marquis Grissom) batting .223 with a .254 on-base percentage, a shortstop (Alex Cora) batting .219 and an immobile first baseman (Eric Karros) whose production (15 homers, 61 RBIs) is down almost 50%.

The Dodgers, with that $110-million payroll, face the winter with an array of complex financial and roster decisions. However, it appears that they’ll be able to wrestle with them again while relaxing on the couch, watching an NL West colleague, having overcome problems of its own, in the playoffs.