Two years of college French did nothing for my ensuing 50 or so years of baseball coverage. Given the explosion of Latin players in the majors, two years of Spanish, three years, why not four years, would have been of far greater benefit.
But I have finally found a use for my French: Plus ca change, plus c’est la même chose
This is an old proverb familiar to French students and other French-speaking people, meaning the more things change the more they stay the same.
How does it apply here? I refer you to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After they loaded up on expensive players for last season, beginning it with a club record $216 million payroll, the Dodgers struggled to a 30-42 record that put them in last place in the National League West, nine and a half games from first.
That was June 21. Two months less four days later, Aug. 17, the Dodgers were in first place, leading the division by eight and a half games. The difference? A remarkable 42-8 stretch that converted into an 18-game swing in the division standings for the Dodgers.
Starting this season with an even fatter payroll, $235 million, the Dodgers, as of June 7, had a 32-31 record and were in second place, both improvements over a year ago. However, they were the same nine and a half games out of first.
“We had a 42-8 run last year,” general manager Ned Colletti said Friday. “We haven’t had that this year. That’s tough to do once, let alone twice. It’s not something you would expect to duplicate.”
OK, so the Dodges haven’t duplicated it, but they did have a two-month (June 7-Aug. 7) 34-19 run that catapulted them into the division lead, which they held by two and a half games entering Sunday’s games.
The Dodgers have done it differently, but they are in position to win the division title again, even though the cautious Colletti said in a telephone interview, “They’ve got a long way to go. It’s a baseball season, not a baseball week.”
The Dodgers are only one of the teams that have reconfigured the landscape of the major league races.
For all of May and virtually all of June, the San Francisco Giants led the N.L. West. On June 7 and 8 their lead was nine and a half games. The Dodgers replaced them in first most recently July 26 and have been there since.
The team that masquerades as a Los Angeles team, the Angels of Anaheim, was in second place in the American League West from May 13 until they supplanted Oakland in first Aug. 16. The Athletics had held the lead since April 28 and looked like a likely candidate for a third consecutive division title.
But the Angels, after losing three straight to the Dodgers and two of three to the sinking Boston Red Sox, straightened themselves out and won 15 of their next 20 games, leapfrogging into first and becoming the first team in the majors to guarantee a winning record for the season. They gained victory No. 82 against Oakland Saturday night and increased their lead over the A’s to a season-high four games.
The Angels were not the only team to alter the A.L. landscape in recent weeks. The Kansas City Royals, who have improved steadily as the season has progressed, provided a preview of their late-season plans by bumping Detroit from the A.L. Central lead June 17-19.
It wasn’t going to be that easy, though. A month later, the Royals had a 48-50 record and were in third place, eight games behind the Tigers. But 19 games after that, the Royals had added 16 wins to their win total and, on Aug. 11, were back in first place by half a game over the Tigers.
When the season began, the Tigers were probably the team most likely to reach the American League playoffs. They spent the first two-thirds of the season establishing their credibility. As if they needed him, for emphasis, they added David Price to their already formidable starting rotation.
Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello, Anibal Sanchez, Price – if, as the old saying goes, you can never have too much pitching, the Tigers were sure trying.
“Beginning in August we got hit with significant injuries,” general manager Dave Dombrowski said.
Verlander had an inflamed shoulder and missed a start and had a second start delayed a couple of days. Sanchez suffered a strained muscle and went on the disabled list. The Tigers had a top Triple A prospect to fill in, but Drew VerHagen wound up on the disabled list, too.
Dombrowski said the team’s problems were not only pitching.
“It’s a combination of factors,” he said. “We’ve been sporadic, particularly the second half. The offense wasn’t good on a consistent basis. The bullpen has been inconsistent.”
Kansas City, meanwhile, “has played well and continues to play well,” Dombrowski added. “Cleveland is playing well. We do know that over 30 games a lot of things can happen. A team can come from a handful of games back. A lot of things can happen.”
A rookie pitcher, Kyle Ryan, gave the Tigers a boost Saturday night, throwing six shutout innings against the Chicago White Sox in his major league debut. Three other pitchers have made their initial major league appearances for the Tigers this season: Buck Farmer, Robbie Ray and VerHagen.
Ryan’s first victory enabled the Tigers to tie the Royals for first going into Sunday’s games.
Two of the National League division races have presented a tale of two teams seemingly going in opposite directions, though both remain in first place.
Except for one day, Washington has led the East since July 8. But the Nationals have built their lead from one percentage point to as much as eight games (seven before Sunday).
Atlanta had been the division’s dominant team for most of the season before the All-Star break, but after having a 53-43 record the day after the break, the Braves had had an 18-22 record.
Milwaukee took sole possession of first place in the Central April 9, barely a week into the season, and have been in first ever since, holding the lead for all but three days in July, when they were tied with St. Louis.
The Brewers had a lead of six and a half games before the end of April and matched that season-high margin four other days, most recently July 1. But the Brewers’ lead has fallen to a tiny half a game (Aug. 24) and was only one game over St. Louis and two games over Pittsburgh before Sunday’s games.
Not to overlook the quiet A. L. East, Baltimore took command July 3 with a lead of one percentage point over the Toronto Blue Jays, who had held first place since May 22. The team the Blue Jays supplanted in first? The New York Yankees, who had only a 24-21 record when they were last in first May 21.
Like the Yankees, the Dodgers’ payroll status guarantees them nothing. They still have to win games.
“We certainly would like to start stronger and win more games earlier than we have.” Colletti said. “But it’s where you are at the end. They all know what’s at stake. A lot of guys have been there. Some who have had great careers haven’t.”
It’s hard to imagine that a team as wealthy as the Dodgers would miss one of the playoff spots. But the Yankees missed last year and could miss again. The Dodgers, however, are a more solid, younger, better built team than the Yankees.
Still they do themselves no favors when they have a two-and-a-half game lead with four weeks to play.