Fueled by the pursuit of Roger Maris’ home run record, and to a lesser extent by Cubs rookie phenom Kerry Wood, Major League Baseball has made a remarkable comeback. Attendance is up 10.5 percent from last year and is expected to be the highest since the record 70 million of 1993, the year before the cancellation of the World Series.
Sounds good, but a much more significant problem has diminished the euphoria, particularly at the management level: the absence of pennant races. Except for the American League West, where Texas and Anaheim continue to duel, the other five division leaders have lapped the field.
The Yankees, who appear en route to a record for most victories in one season, had an 18 1/2-game lead in the AL East through Saturday. Cleveland had an 11 1/2-game bulge in the Central. There are similar runaways in the National League: San Diego was 14 1/2 ahead in the West, Atlanta was up 15 in the East and Houston, since the acquisition of Randy Johnson, had an nine-game spread over the Cubs in the Central.
The other 23 clubs are so far behind they might as well be in the second division. All that’s left are the wild-card races. The second-place club with the most wins in each league also qualifies for the playoffs.
If it weren’t for the acumen and foresight of White Sox Vice Chairman Eddie Einhorn, there wouldn’t be a wild card; it was born in controversy. The purists, myself among them, opposed creating an opportunity for a division runner-up to win the World Series. Absolutely sacrilegious. The purity of the long season would be destroyed.
Now it doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. Seven clubs, none of which has much of a chance to finish first, are in this chase, the Cubs included. As Einhorn saw it, this would hype the September gate. Otherwise, the fans wouldn’t have much interest until postseason play.
But the destruction of even minimal competitive balance is a big concern. It has not come as a surprise. The runaway races have demonstrated, as never before, the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots.
Commissioner Bud Selig and the financially strapped owners have repeatedly told the players union of the approaching danger: A time would come when the economic imbalance would further divide the clubs into two tiers. It has finally happened.
Pennant-winning clubs in the past won about 60 percent of their regular-season games; six wins for every 10 games played, sometimes less. In professional basketball and football, the victory ratio is 80 percent to 90 percent, occasionally higher. The beauty of baseball is even the worst teams have a fighting chance and win at least a third of their games.
This year the Yankees have dominated to such an extent they have been sailing along at an unprecedented and unhealthy 75 percent. Through Saturday they had won 89 games. If they maintain the pace they will finish the regular season with 122 victories, six more than the record set by the 1906 Cubs. Atlanta leads the NL with 82 wins.
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Unsurprisingly, the two clubs have the highest player payrolls–the Yankees at $73 million and the Braves at $71 million. Baltimore is third at $70 million. At that price, the Orioles should be in contention. Instead they are a distant third in the AL East, 25 1/2 games behind the Yankees.
But the Orioles have been the exception. Money hasn’t been their problem; it was the early-season collapse of their pitching staff.
Other clubs with payrolls above the average have also outdistanced the opposition. The Texas Rangers come in at $59 million; Cleveland, $52 million. Houston and San Diego are at all-time highs of $47 million. Anaheim is at $43 million and the Disney people, the team’s new owners who are discovering the ancillary rewards, are certain to exceed that figure.
But in the main, won-lost records reflect the huge economic differences between the top and bottom clubs. Montreal has an $8 million payroll. For every dollar the Yankees spend on players, the Expos spend 11 cents. Pittsburgh, at $13 million, pays 18 cents; Oakland, at $19 million, 26 cents. The other clubs with payrolls below $23 million are Florida, Detroit, Cincinnati and Minnesota.
The effect has been devastating. While Yankees and Braves fans are cheering, there is nothing but woe for the underprivileged.
“We have to battle our butt off when we play the Yankees,” Oakland manager Art Howe said at Comiskey Park last week. “We have no margin for error. Even then we might not win.”
The gap will widen. Soon, when the bottom clubs oppose each other, they will be playing before empty houses.