The NL West Is Division by Subtraction

The National League West teams play one another for most of the next month, much to the dismay of the two other divisions.

At September’s outset, when roughly 30 games remained, two teams in the NL had losing records against the Western Division -- the Colorado Rockies and the Atlanta Braves, which is the last time those two franchises will be mentioned in the same sentence.

It’s no secret that some of the worst baseball in America is being played from the San Diego Padres down, and you can be pretty sure the members of the NL East -- all of whom have winning records -- are thinking one thing: “Dang, that continental-separation thing really messed with us.”

On the morning of July 4, I wrote that the Dodgers were dead. They were 38-43 and 6 1/2 games out of first place. Since then, they are 23-29 and have gained half a game. I still can’t decide if I was right or wrong, prescient or idiotic, though I am sure I will get input on that.

In any case, the standings since the end of May (through Friday):

*--* Team Rec. Pct. GB Rockies 38-46 452 -- Giants 37-46 446 1/2 Dodgers 35-48 422 2 1/2 Padres 34-48 415 3 Diamondbacks 31-53 369 7

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If you’ve found it especially hard to watch the Dodgers, and why wouldn’t you have, you may be comforted that nobody’s too happy about this in San Diego, either, and the Padres are in first place by half a dozen games.

It appears they are on their way to becoming the worst division winner ever, overtaking the 1973 New York Mets, who were 82-79. The good news: Those Mets beat the 99-win Cincinnati Reds for the NL pennant, then lost in the World Series to the 94-win Oakland A’s in seven games. The bad news: The previous six months.

This was bound to happen. With 30 teams, in divisions of four, five and six, a few bad ones were going to find each other some year. Some got old, some got young, some got hurt.

The Padres can’t hit, the Dodgers can’t catch, the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks can’t pitch, and the Rockies can’t catch or pitch.

The Rockies are the worst defensive and pitching team in the league.

Diamondback relievers have a 6.24 earned-run average, nearly 1.5 runs higher than the next-worst bullpen in the league, which belongs to the Rockies.

Three of the league’s four worst bullpens are in Los Angeles, Colorado and Arizona, and the Dodgers, Padres and Rockies are in the bottom six in club fielding.

All of which will leave the Padres with some explaining to do, come October, when three or four NL East teams are left out.

Padre Manager Bruce Bochy, noting the injuries across the division, said, “We’ve all tried to piece it together. We, for one, haven’t had the same lineup out there on a consistent basis.”

As for whether they, or any team in the division, are worthy of the postseason, Bochy said, “We’re in first place. We’re not happy with where we are in terms of wins and losses. At the same time, I’ll compare it to winning a ballgame, 10-9. You take it. Any team would say that in any division.”

As the summer wore on and it became reasonably clear there wasn’t a strong team in the West, center fielder Dave Roberts said, the Padres began to hear it from teams in the East and Central.

“First and foremost, we’re not worried about what we hear about the division,” he said. “We’re over that.... We knew when other teams from other divisions came in and they were playing well, we were looked at as not a worthy division leader.”

Trying to put that out of their minds, the Padres, through Friday, had won four of six to pull even with .500. Next stop: 1973 Mets.

Bats and Pieces

Baseball officials are bracing for another congressional hearing on steroids, back on the Senate side, as the Commerce Committee considers similar bills written by members John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jim Bunning (R-Ky). The House Government Reform Committee, which called before it baseball executives and players in a March 17 hearing, also has drafted a bill.

The Commerce Committee probably will not call players, but would expect representatives from the four major American sports and their union leaders at a hearing that could be held before Thanksgiving, and possibly during baseball’s playoffs.

McCain was among the first to cite the need for uniform drug-testing policies across Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA and NHL. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has repeatedly called for a stronger policy that would allow a suspension of 50 games for a first offense, 100 games for a second offense and a lifetime ban for a third.

Such a plan, if instituted, could persuade Congress that baseball was handling its steroid issues on its own, though Selig’s proposed discipline scale is lighter than those proposed in any of the three bills.

McCain’s bill, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, would require a two-year suspension for first-time offenders and a lifetime ban from all professional sports for a second offense. Players would have to be tested at least five times a year, three times during the season.

Among the other stipulations: public disclosure within 30 days of a positive test, suspension during the appeals process and testing for human growth hormone and amphetamines. Human growth hormone can be detected only through blood tests; baseball currently samples urine only.

The Bunning and Government Reform Committee bills include similar provisions.

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Your choice of closers down the stretch: the Angels’ Francisco Rodriguez, with the World Series pedigree, or the A’s Huston Street, in his first big league season?

Rodriguez, who has two pitches -- fastball and slider? Or Street, who last winter learned a third -- the changeup?

Rodriguez, who holds hitters to a .182 average? Or Street, at .173?

Rodriguez (2.92 ERA, 1.11 walks and hits per innings pitched, five blown saves) or Street (1.23 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, four blown saves)?

Rodriguez, who points and screams and fist-pumps after a save? Or Street, who shakes hands with the catcher?

They are special in that they are young and live in the ninth inning, the place where poise goes to die. If the AL West goes down to the end, then it could come down to Rodriguez or Street, because that is where they pitch -- at the end.

I’ll take ... Street. His changeup, taught to him by Steve Ontiveros, and his willingness to throw it whenever Jason Kendall asks, is the difference.

“It’s just another option,” Street said. “Especially for a power guy, the idea that less is better is a difficult concept. It’s hard to convince yourself, ‘I’m going to throw this pitch 82 mph and he’s not going to hit it 500 feet.’ ”

The Angels’ recent five-game losing streak and what was then a two-game deficit in the AL West made them prominent in this week’s balloting at AmIannoying.com, self-described as “the original and interactive annoying celebrity poll.”

Brought to our attention by the folks at Sportsbybrooks.com, Angel owner Arte Moreno was No. 2 on the list of “most annoying,” where he received 1,129 negative votes. Either Angel fans can no longer be pacified by lower beer prices or Frank McCourt has a lot of time on his hands.

Moreno came in just behind (ahead of?) the Home Shopping Network, which, coincidentally, is where his general manager found a left-handed reliever this week.

Vladimir Guerrero was No. 4, voters finding him more annoying than, among others, Suge Knight, “Full House,” Lawrence Phillips, Emo Philips and, at No. 48, Adolf Hitler.

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Considering the earplugs in Toronto, the lost everyday job and the .077 average since returning from steroid suspension, it seems Rafael Palmeiro will be moving into Mark McGwire’s guest house any day now.

The Orioles arrived in Boston for a weekend series against the Red Sox, and Palmeiro could have read this in the local papers Friday, assuming he had not blindfolded himself:

Doug Mirabelli: “I’ve never been a Palmeiro fan.”

Johnny Damon: “That was some really strong stuff he put in his body. He’s had to live with it.”

Palmeiro stayed in Baltimore, however, for an MRI exam on his ailing right knee, and it seems his injury is especially bothersome on the road.

It would be fairly surprising if Palmeiro, who turns 41 this month, didn’t retire. When he goes, he might as well take Sammy Sosa with him. In 102 games since he testified in front of a congressional committee that he was clean, Sosa has hit .221, with 14 home runs, over 380 at-bats.

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Stan Kasten, who once ran three professional franchises in Atlanta and is part of a group bidding to buy the Washington Nationals, told USA Today there should be no player agents, that union officials could negotiate deals.

Kasten says players benefit and the games suffer from too many wild contracts, which are approved by team owners and presidents, such as ... Kasten.

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From the mind and computer -- they’re becoming one -- of Steve Vanderpool at STATS LLC:

Mark Bellhorn, who signed Tuesday with the New York Yankees, strikes out every 3.11 plate appearances, more frequently than any player with at least 300 plate appearances, and the fourth fewest in a season by any active player.

Bellhorn is a career .226 hitter at Yankee Stadium, although he’s batting .348 there this season, and has batted .214 in playoff games there.

The rest of the strikeout-per-plate appearance list for 2005: Jayson Werth (3.36), Richie Sexson (3.79), Preston Wilson (3.81) and Mike Cameron (4.04).

To put Werth’s strikeout rate in perspective, a 600-plate-appearance season would result in 179 strikeouts, which would be a Dodger record.

Adam Dunn struck out a major league-record 195 times last season in 681 plate appearances.