Weekend AL Roundup... Nov 16th-18th

[Proverbial Psalms]

Hindsight isn’t always 20/20
In the real 1986 season, 10 of the 14 American League teams were bunched up with either 5 or 6 wins… four other teams trailed that bunch… with Cleveland, Milwaukee, Toronto (4 wins each) and the Chicago White Sox (2 wins) off to starts slightly slower than the frontrunners.

In the “1986: Take Two” Replay, there’s more of a early spread between teams… while about half of te AL teams are bunched together with 5-6 wins, others like Detroit (8-2), Oakland (7-3) and California (7-4) have taken advantage of a quick start. And then there are the struggling teams... Kansas City (3-7), Seattle (3-7), and Baltimore (1-9) have started the season with an extended cold streak that already has greatly disappointed their fans.

Early Season Surprises
Gary Roenicke (NYY) hitting 3 HR’s in 15 AB’s, equaling his 1986 season total in 69 games; Carney Lansford (OAK) tied for the league lead in home runs (5); Mike Easler (NYY) batting .517 despite going 0-5 vs. lefties; Greg Gagne (Min) with 4 home runs; Willie Hernandez (Det) has 6 saves in just 10 games- maybe he can break the full season record? Toronto reliever Mark Eichhorn has not given up a run in 15.2 IP (he has 18 K’s).

Miscellaneous Factoids
Seattle’s Jim Pressley (20 K’s) is on pace for a 320 strikeout season and along with Danny Tartabull (13 K’s) and Ken Phelps (13 K’s), Seattle boasts three of the five highest AL strikeout totals for hitters- the three Mariners have more strikeouts than the entire Boston Red Sox roster; On the other side of things, Wade Boggs (Bos) has no strike outs in 46 plate appearances so far, and somehow leads the Red Sox with 10 RBI’s. Speaking of zero’s, what’s with Eddie Murray? Murray has no RBI’s in 38 AB’s (teammate Larry Sheets has no RBI’s in 34 AB’s). And Cleveland’s Brett Butler can’t even get a hit this season- so far he’s 0-26.

Kevin McReynolds vs. Baltimore Orioles
No this isn’t a civil suit in Maryland’s Superior Court, nor is it a grievance by the players union against one of the teams, it is an unusual race to see who can score more runs on the season. So far, the Orioles lead 21-16, but McReynolds believes he can overtake Baltimore. “I usually get off to a slow start, so I’m not worried. Now the fact that the Orioles get to use a DH in their lineup and play in hitting friendly American League is a whole other story.”

Strikeouts vs. Runs
This one is an odd battle for several pitchers. Against certain pitchers, it seems like batter have two choice... either return to the dugout after a strikeout, or return to the dugout after scoring a run. Bert Blyleven (Min) has 21 K’s and 19 runs allowed (6.48 ERA). Mark Langston (Sea) has 24 K’s and 17 runs allowed (7.20 ERA). Jose Rijo (Oak) has 14 K’s and 14 runs allowed (6.43 ERA). Joe Cowley (Bal) so far has runs winning, with 14 runs allowed and 13 K’s in only 9.2 IP (13.04 ERA).

Just take a few more pitches, please…
Here are the current standings in the contest to see which hitter can go the longest this season without a walk:
George Bell (Tor), 46 AB’s
Frank White (KC), 44 AB’s
Alfredo Griffin (Oak), 43 AB’s
Julio Franco (Cle-NYY), 42 AB’s
Damaso Garcia (Tor), 35 AB’s
Dave Henderson (Sea), 35 AB’s
Alan Wiggins (Bal), 32 AB’s
Rudy Law (KC), 31 AB’s

Who’s wearing Cory Snyder’s uniform?
Cory Snyder, or whoever is wearing his Indians uniform, has been nearly flawless in the 7 games since he took over the starting role at shortstop. In the 7 games, he made 6 of the 7 ss(x) plays and made no errors (6 outs, one single). Considering the 4e44 rating, this is simply amazing. He may redefine the shortstop position- the A’s manager was heard lamenting “If only Dave Kingman were rated at SS.”