MLB'S weaker teams sinking to historic lows
Talk about parity now long forgotten as basement dwellers drop out of sight
Remember that talk of parity early on in the 2021 Major League Baseball season? That's toast.
Remember how, at the 30-game pole, with no team boasted a better record than 18-12 — something that last happened in the 1870s? It seemed historic.
Well, it's gone historic the other way, with the “have nots” having completely fallen off the rails.
The Baltimore Orioles (38-82) had lost 15 straight games through Thursday night. Further to that, they have been outscored by an ugly 138-42 run count. It's their second losing skid of at least 14 games this season, matching the infamy brought of the 1911 and 1935 Boston Braves. And the O's have lost 15 of 16 meetings with the Tampa Bay Rays this season.
They trail the first place Rays by 36 games in the American League East, which is otherwise a fun division.
The Chicago Cubs (54-69) are 2-8 in their last 10 and have been simply putrid since trading away their World Series heroes — Kris Bryant, Javy Baez, Anthony Rizzo and Craig Kimbrel. (Somebody please explain to us why they dealt such a fearsome foursome away?)
The Pittsburgh Pirates (42-79) are 1-9 over their last 10. They've lost 15 of 17 games in August.
The Bucs just dropped a threegame series to the Los Angeles Dodgers and sit 31.5 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers (74-48) in the NL Central.
The gaps are huge everywhere in the standings.
The Texas Rangers (42-79) have fallen 29 games back of the American League West-best Houston Astros (71-50).
The Arizona Diamondbacks (4181) are 37.5 games behind in their division.
We're talking big swings from top to bottom in the standings, due to second-half production from teams at a rate never seen before.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum — did anybody honestly see the San Francisco Giants (78-43) and the Seattle Mariners as contenders? They seemed much closer to being “have-not” teams, especially the M's.
The Giants, for sure, have been magical with their wire-to-wire bid to lead and capture the NL West, although the World Series champion Dodgers (76-46) have reeled off seven straight wins heading into weekend play.
Every once in a while, we get to feel pretty good about what we do for a living when we get feedback that has meaning and puts life into context.
A reader named “Bill” responded with his full heart to my column last week, talking about the emotion brought out by MLB'S Field Of Dreams Game in Iowa.
Bill wrote “Your `Field Of Dreams' article ... had me in tears by the time I reached the end, as a son who lost my biological father to suicide when I was 8, and my stepfather abandoning our family when I was 17, I've never really had that father/son bond, I'm 51 now, I don't have a family of my own, I still lose it every time I see Field Of Dreams. You are right, it's not a `baseball' movie. It's much more, maybe one day I'll get to have my Field Of Dreams moment.”
We'll say it again, folks. Don't get caught up in whether Field Of Dreams was a glorious baseball show. It's not Moneyball, or even Bull Durham. Get onside with the fact it's a father-son flick that wonderfully stands the test of time.
Bravo, Bill.
What do Bobo, Bumpus and Breitenstein have in common? Before Tyler Gilbert came along last Saturday, they were the only pitchers in MLB history to spin a no-hitter in their respective debut starts. We're talking old-timers here since Ted Breitenstein did it in 1891, Bumpus Jones matched it in 1892, and Bobo Holloman then equalled the feat in 1953. But Gilbert of the Arizona Diamondback joined them in 2021 when he no-hit the mighty San Diego Padres despite walking Tommy Pham three times. The rookie faced 25 batters, striking out five, in a 7-0 victory for the eighth no-no of the MLB campaign . ... It was a scary scene on Tuesday when Oakland Athletics P Chris Bassitt took a Brian Goodwin line drive to the face and had to be carted off the field against the Chicago White Sox. Fortunately, he's doing OK, although he'll need surgery to repair a broken cheek bone, and his AL Cy Young chances took a hit. The 9-0 loss suffered by the A's on the night likely don't sit too well, either . ... One night later, another pitcher from that series endured another early departure, when White Sox P Lance Lynn was tossed after throwing his belt at umpire Nic Lentz during a foreign-substance check. “He was late getting over (for the fourth-inning inspection), so I left my glove and my hat, and then while I was going down in the dugout, trying to see the trainers because I'm dealing with something, he yells at me that he needs to see my belt,” a perturbed Lynn told reporters after the 3-2 White Sox victory. “So I toss it up, and then he throws me out.”