Triple-crowned Canadian king?
09/03/2000
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While many people credit the Toronto Blue Jays' success this season to the remarkable performance of pitcher David Wells, the Jays' first baseman also deserves a hefty chunk of that attention. Carlos Delgado, a converted catcher who wasn't even drafted by a Major League Baseball team, is primed for a 2000 run at the Triple Crown.
As most of you probably know, to win baseball's Triple Crown you must lead your league in the three main hitting categories: batting average, home runs and RBI. Going into Toronto's weekend series with Oakland, Delgado's .364 average was second to Nomar Garciaparra's .371, his 39 homers led the American League, and his 124 RBI placed him in second place behind Edgar Martinez's 127. He's scored 105 runs (fourth in the AL), tallied 173 hits (tied for third), 49 of those doubles (first), and walked 100 times (second). Not impressed? He's also leading the league in total bases, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Extraordinary resume. But where did this onslaught come from? Simply put, Delgado has just become a much better hitter this season.
While he's never really been a chump at the plate (176 homers since 1996... and counting), Delgado never resembled a batting champ either - prior to this season, his career high average was .292 in 1998, sandwiched between .262 in 1997 and .272 in 1999. Last year he set a career high with 86 walks but he also set a career high, if you'd call it that, with 141 strikeouts.
So perhaps the jump in numbers is directly related to Delgado's improved patience at the plate - he's on pace to log over 120 free passes and strike out only 100 times, not a bad ratio for a guy who could hit more than 50 jacks. But even more impressive was his ability to put the Jays on his back when the team could have fallen out of the Wild Card race. On July 21, Raul Mondesi played his last game of the 2000 season after suffering a major elbow injury. At the time, the outfielder was hitting .272 with 24 home runs and 22 steals and his injury looked like a major blow to Toronto's playoff hopes. To make matters worse, Wells, who had been nearly unbeatable for most of the season, went through a stretch where he gave up 22 ER in 23 1/3 IP following Mondesi's injury. But Delgado's bat kept the Jays in the hunt. Since July 21, he's hit .383 (49 for 128) with seven homers and 36 RBI. In fact, in true MVP style, Delgado really began turning the Triple Crown heat up during his team's most crucial stretch of the season, bringing them to within two games of the Wild Card lead heading into Friday's game. If there's an AL player more valuable to his team than Delgado, I'd like to hear the argument.
But what's more impressive, Delgado's Triple Crown charge or Colorado's Todd Helton and his attempt to hit .400? In the AL, eight players have won the Triple Crown nine times (Ted Williams did it twice in 1942 and 1947), while six NL players have won it seven times (twice by Rogers Hornsby in 1922 and 1925). In total, the 14 different players have won the Triple Crown 16 times, the last being Boston's Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. A player has ended the season with a .400 or better average 31 times, but only 21 people have accomplished the feat, the last, of course, being Ted Williams in 1941 with a .4057 average. In other words, it doesn't matter which accomplishment is more remarkable. It would be great to see either one (or both) of these guys make some history this season.
Now if we could only see some pitching records start to fall again.
Get warmed up, Grancy!
Why has Kordell Stewart's benching in Pittsburgh become a national debate? Did he deserve the pine? Without a doubt. Kordell has somehow managed to look even more lost on the field this preseason than he has the past two years. Face it, if you get outplayed by Kent Graham, you deserve to lose any hope you had of starting behind center. Last year, Stewart threw for only six touchdowns while coughing up 10 interceptions in his 13 starts, a painful 64.9 QB rating. There were dozens of quarterbacks, starters and backups, who were more effective than Kordell last year, including such high-end signal callers as Jeff Garcia, Damon Huard, Ray Lucas and, of course, Jim Hargaugh.
So I don't get it. Why are people questioning Bill Cowher's decision to sit this bum? Hasn't Stewart proven over and over again that he's the most overrated player in the NFL? He has terrible field vision, his teammates don't respect him, he makes horrible decisions that lead to debilitating turnovers. Even my Grandma (actually, she prefers Grancy) throws a much better deep ball than Slash, no joke. You laugh, but Grancy's the real deal. Sure, she's not the runner Kordell is but she's one hell of a pocket passer.
Let's face it, the promise Stewart showed in 1997 (75.2 QB rating) is just a far-away memory. And while Kent Graham certainly won't bring Steeler Country back to its glory days, at least he can get the ball to his receivers.
In the Bullz-Eye
Newly acquired Portland Trail Blazer F/C Shawn Kemp. He finally got his wish when he was traded to a contending team, but will his waistline decrease as his chances of winning increase? Kemp, who will make something close to the national debt between 2002-2004, vows to be in shape once training camp rolls around and promises a rebirth of the Reign Man. But there's something else that should worry Scottie Pippen & Co. besides Kemp's bloated belly: Will this former All-Star be happy playing second fiddle to current All-Star Rasheed Wallace? That's an awful lot of money to pay a backup F/C. Oh, and just a heads up for all you Blazers fans: You still don't have anyone who can guard Shaq.