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N.L. CENTRAL Preview

The Contenders: Cardinals, Brewers, Cubs, Pirates, Reds. Every team in the division can win the division, albeit for different reasons.

The Brewers have a mini-playoffs year and a losing World Series season along with the years of “Lach’s losers” etc. but still managed to assemble a powerful lineup, with 3 Hall of Fame players starting. The Milwaukee Braves used to say “Spahn and Sain then pray for rain” and so it was for most Brewers teams, who usually had 1 or 2 decent pitchers backed up by a throng of mediocrity. In this league, however, the Brewers have the best from numerous years, thus a Cy Young Award winning Pete Vuckovich is the 5th starter, and in truth would not be on the team if not for an unwritten rule to include MVP and Cy Young winners on the respective rosters whenever possible. In any event, Bambi’s Bombers, Harvey’s Wallbangers and Treb’s rebels (?) are well-represented. If the Brewers string hits together, the pitching should reward them with wins.

The Cardinals went to 3 World Series, winning one against the then American League Champion Brewers, then losing the Denkinger series in ’85 and to the Twins in ’87. All three World Series teams were managed by Whitey Ford, so it is only appropriate that most players on the Redbirds roster are his type of players. The Cardinals will not always need to manufacture runs, but they certainly can do so whenever needed. With 6 switch-hitters starting, other teams will find it difficult to get good matchups against St. Louis. The Cardinals rotation has 4 staff aces and is the staff closest to the ability level of the Dodgers staff.

The Cubs are no longer the ‘lovable losers’ but in the time period chosen they still were, although a couple of seasons Chicago made it into the playoffs only to break their fans’ hearts in 1984 and ’89 when they lost to the Padres and Giants, respectively, despite having the NL MVP both years, and a Cy Young winner in ’84. The starting lineup has 2 NL MVP seasons represented, and 2 NL Cy Young Award winners along with the usual over-representation of All Star players inherent in this league. The 4 and 5 slots in the starting rotation are a little weak for this division, but having a one-two punch of Maddux and 1984 Sutcliffe will be fun to watch. Holy Cow the 3 and 4 hitters have 97 HRs between them, and the chosen time period doesn’t even include most of the Steroid era!

The Pirates went to and won the World Series in 1979, in addition to going to and losing the NLCS 3 times in 1990, ’91, and ’92. Winning 4 division titles makes for a good-sized talent pool, and all 4 teams are represented on the roster. The Bucs’ starting rotation is anchored by 2 staff aces and the ‘worst’ starter sports an ERA of 2.81. The lineup is made up of heavy hitters with high averages. In fact 1978 Willie Stargell’s .295 is the ‘worst’ in the starting lineup. 3 players hit better than .320 and 4 have OPS well north of .950. Teams with dominant left-handed starters might, emphasis on ‘might’ enjoy that the Pirates have 5 left-handed hitters in the everyday lineup. More accurately they will enjoy it until they find out the 5 hitters are named: Easler, Bonds, Parker, Stargell, and Van Slyke…

The Reds were probably happy to get out of the Dodgers division right up until they found out that the NL Central is probably an even tougher division from top to bottom. The chosen time period misses the best years of the ‘big red machine’ but Cincinnati did manage to get to the playoffs in 1979, and to win the ‘whole thing’ in 1990. Additionally the Reds were one of the teams ‘most hosed’ by the strike-shortened travesty of dividing the season into two parts, as they missed the cut despite having the best overall record in there then-home of the NL West. In any event, the Reds still manage to have a powerful lineup despite missing out on the ‘best years’ of the franchise, and will contend for the NL Central title. Think of how things might have looked if they had the best Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, etc. years! The Reds starting rotation has 1 Hall of Fame pitcher in Tom Seaver, and if not for some injuries he would likely have been joined by Rijo, and Soto, as both had filthy stuff. The starting lineup has 4 Hall of Fame players (counting Rose). In the final analysis, the ‘not so big Red Machine’ still has plenty of weapons, and will be contenders in the NL Central.

QUIRKS:

The Pirates and Reds are both starting Dave Parker.

Both the Cardinals and Brewers are starting Ted Simmons at Catcher.

Both the Cubs and Cardinals have Lee Smith on their rosters.

Both the Cubs and Cardinals have Bruce Sutter on their rosters.

Dennis Eckersley is a starter for the Cubs, and Red Sox, and God of all relievers for the A’s.

None of the players on the Brewers roster played for the Brewers in the National League…

The 3 teams, two of which are in the NL Central (now), which were involved in the monster trades after the 1980 season, all made the World Series within 4 years of the trades, and all were partly due to the trade. That would be the Padres, Cardinals, and Brewers for those scoring at home.

Pete Vuckovich, one of the players involved in that monster 1980 trade, almost made the Cardinals roster in addition to being the 5th starter for the ‘Crew.

The Brewers roster has 3 Hall of Fame members.

The Cubs roster has 6 HoF players.

The Cardinals roster has 5, and Willie McGee should be!

The Reds roster has 5, again counting Rose.

The Pirates roster has 3 counting Bonds and more than a couple who should be in the HoF…

The Cardinals, Pirates and Reds all won a World Series during the chosen time period, while the Brewers lost a World Series and the Cubs failed to make the World Series.