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08/19/2000
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What Major League Baseball player entered his team's weekend series with the best shot at joining Ty Cobb, Shoeless Joe and Rogers Hornsby in the .400 Club? I'll give you a minute to think about it... .
OK, now what if I told you he wasn't an AL shortstop? Does that eliminate your pick? For many of you, the answer to that question probably is yes.
Red Sox SS Nomar Garciaparra is having a superb season. In 101 games going into this weekend, Nomar is hitting a remarkable .375 while getting on base at an equally impressive .435 clip. But a closer look shows the Boston shortstop is slowing down. Nomar went 19 for his last 46 (.413) heading into the All-Star break, and his average stood strong at .389. He hovered right around the .400-mark for the two weeks following the break, reaching his season high of .403 on July 20. On July 28, Garciaparra still carried a .398 average, but then the "slump" hit: only 19 hits in his last 70 at bats (.271).
But the Rockies' Todd Helton is moving in the opposite direction. Going into the break, Helton lagged a little behind the Boston SS with his .383 average after spending the end of May and beginning of June in the .405-.421 range. But as Garciaparra exploded toward .400 in the weeks following the break, Helton's average dipped to .370 on August 2. A 4-for-4 day against the Phillies on August 4, however, kick-started a streak in which the Colorado first baseman would scorch opposing pitchers for 31 hits in 53 at bats (.585), raising his average to .396.
Yet despite his recent success, most of the .400 hoopla hasn't been aimed toward Helton. Instead, Web sites, TV shows and sports columnists seem more eager to sing Nomar's praises while they gush about his "assault on .400." Please. If Garciaparra plans to join fellow Boston legend Ted Williams in the .400 Club, he's going to have to be nearly perfect for the rest of the season.
Nomar has 142 hits in 379 at bats this year while playing in 101 games. That's an average of 3.75 at bats per game for the 27-year-old shortstop. Boston has 45 games left to play this year, and assuming Nomar's AB/game average holds true for the remainder of the season, he'll log 169 more official plate appearances, giving him a total of 548 on the year. Smacking 220 hits in those 548 at bats would yield a .401 average, meaning he'd still need to collect 78 hits to attain Club membership. Nomar would have to end the season hitting .462 (78 hits in 169 at bats) to reach 220 hits. In other words, it ain't gonna happen. What really hurt Garciaparra's chances this season were his 44 walks. If he had 20 more walks under his belt and still had the 142 hits, Nomar would be staring at a .395 average right now.
Instead, Helton is the one who's a few points shy of the magical number. In 119 games, the former University of Tennessee quarterback has been walked 77 times while collecting 170 hits. But what are Helton's chances of gaining Club membership? He's averaging 3.60 official plate appearances per game, meaning in Colorado's last 41 games Helton should log around 148 at bats, giving him a total of 577 for the season. He'd need 231 hits in those 577 at bats for an average of .4003, meaning he'd still need to collect 61 more hits this year in his remaining 148 at bats, an average of .412. A long shot, sure, but still a much shorter long shot than Nomar's. Consider this: If Helton can keep up his current pace (.585) for ten more games - I know, a
big if - he could conceivably have 191 hits with 31 games left, needing 40 more hits in his last 112 at bats, a .357 average. That doesn't sound all that difficult for a guy who hasn't spent a day under .370 since April 30.
But even more interesting than Helton's chances at hitting .400 this year is the media's and fans' lack of respect for his numbers. Of course, most of that stems from Colorado's reputation for "jacking up" offensive stats - look no further than the Coors Field numbers forDante Bichette, Vinny Castilla and Tom Goodwin for proof. But while Helton has hit .435 in Colorado this season, he's also been impressive away from his home launching pad: .357 with 11 homers on the road. Still, playing 25 of his final 41 games at home certainly won't hurt his chances. This former quarterback prospect has developed into one of the best young players in the game today... and he may be hitting his way into baseball's most distinguished Club.
Rocker, Part II?
As a Browns fan, nothing pleased me more than to see the Denver Broncos suffer through a miserable season last year - ask any football guru about "The Drive" and "The Fumble" and you'll understand those feelings. Still, as a human being I have to hope that the information being fed to us by
Sports Illustrated about Denver linebacker Bill Romanowski is as fictitious as Romanowski so emotionally claimed it was on August 16. The drug allegations against the Broncos' linebacker were bad enough, but the latest has a former teammate testifying that Romanowski offered dietary pills to him so they could "compete with the black players." Now, who knows if this article is grounded in truth? I'm sure we'll find out sometime down the road. Either way,
SI once again has planted the nasty racism bomb in the sports world (let's not forget about our ignorant friend, Mr. Rocker), but this isn't the first time Romanowski has been an R-bomb's intended victim: A couple of years ago, he spit in J.J. Stokes' face, a black 49ers wide receiver, after the play was over, but Romo somehow avoided any league punishment. Several of his black teammates, however, were reportedly upset with the league for letting him off so lightly as they felt the altercation was, aside from extremely disrespectful and detestable, racially motivated. It may be hard for Romanowski to duck away from this loaded gun again.
In the Bullz-Eye:
Arizona Diamondbacks' owner Jerry Colangelo. With guys like Randy Johnson, Matt Williams, Jay Bell, Matt Mantei and Curt Schilling on the payroll, Colangelo is having a hard time paying his bills. Reportedly, he has turned to the league for the third straight year to help him settle his debts. Colangelo's main problems lie with an underachieving team and bored fans. If the D-backs don't find a way to win and fill up that huge stadium soon, the organization, and particularly Mr. Money Bags, is in big trouble.