MATTHEW BROWN: Win 100, lose 100, but always hustle

Published 9:30 am Saturday, September 28, 2024

Why get worked up over Georgia-Alabama week? It’s just the first of three times the two will play this season, right? And the third one will be the game that matters, again, right?

Well, Georgia’s playing somebody three times I’m always told, first in their stadium, then at Mercedes-Benz, then wherever they fall in the playoff. Guess whoever doesn’t win on Saturday is the one who doesn’t show too much of its hand in a mere regular-season prime-time contest. That is what the networks shell out the big bucks to get.

•••

It’s off to the diamond for the rest of this week’s commentary, starting with another trivia question. Off the top of your head, can you name who is the active leader in career hits for Major League Baseball? The answer may surprise you (it did me) and will follow later.

Here’s another good question you won’t have to wait to see the answer. It’s amazing how, in this season with arguably the worst team ever, there will not be a 100-win regular-season club. I bring this up because the memory is still fresh of the 2023 season where there were three 100-win teams – one being those Atlanta Braves – and none of them made it past the best-of-5 divisional round.

When there’s nothing else to do but watch raindrops hit the ground and trees sway back and forth, I wondered when was the last time there wasn’t a 100-win club in a full regular season with no viruses or work stoppages (which usually come from the same source). One doesn’t have to look too far back, 10 years exactly when 98 wins topped the league (the L.A. Angels). Who won the whole thing? The San Francisco Giants over Kansas City in a battle of high-80 win wild cards. Sounds like last season again.

Just how well have 100-win teams fared in the past decade, aside from last year’s triple bomb?

In 2015, you have the St. Louis Cardinals losing a best-of-5 to the Chicago Cubs. Those same Cubs broke their World Series drought one year later after winning 103 regular-season games. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros then played a century-mark WS in 2017 (won’t get into the outcome).

The Boston Red Sox were dominant in 2018 with 108 victories and a title. But in 2019, there were four 100-game winners, and then a wild card, the Washington Nationals, bettered them all, including the 106-win Dodgers in a best-of-5.

2021 is the one we like, the little 88-win Braves beating another 106-win Dodger club in the NLCS and the Astros in the WS. Houston, one year later, had 106 wins and would not let a wild card Philadelphia bunch score an upset. There were three 100-win NL clubs that year, including Atlanta and the astounding 111 by the Dodgers.

So there’s no one-way pattern there when winning 100 or more. The Braves may be at 90 by Monday – or whenever they finish that Mets series – and catch favorable matchups again like those Brewers.

Going back to that worst-team ever point. That’s the Chicago White Sox, who may just reach 40 Ws by Sunday if they can keep playing Ron Washington’s Angels. How can a team be that bad? Well, taking everyone who’s had an official at-bat into consideration, CWS is hitting a robust .221. They average three runs a game (the best offense belongs to the Dodgers, which puts up five each time out).

That stands out above every other metric.

On the mound, four White Sox pitchers are saddled with 10 or more losses. The latest addition to that group, you may remember the name, Michael Soroka, who took an L in relief last weekend from the Padres. That’s 10 losses for the former Brave against zero wins. The team ERA sits at 4.74, which is lower than I would have tagged it to be, and you notice the NL has two staffs with more total runs allowed (Colorado and Miami).

What would bother me if I followed the ChiSox is if I saw no effort, no hustle. Maybe they do go all out every day and just don’t catch the breaks. Breaks are not a guarantee.

Shortstops are going to make errors, and one of theirs has 14 in 100 games. Otherwise, the fielding percentage is 98.4.

Conclusion: It’s got to be the sticks.

BTW, Shohei Ohtani is on his way to another Most Valuable Player award, his first for the Dodgers in the NL. Who knew he was that fleet of foot, stealing more than 50 bases to go with 50+ home runs? His previous career best was 26 in 2021. Guess he had more time to think about thefts by not pitching.

What’s more impressive, though? Ohtani’s 50-50 or Ronald Acuna Jr.’s 40-70 from last year? Who will get to 60-60 first, Ohtani (needed 7 and 5 from Wednesday to Sunday) or Ronald when he makes his big 2025 comeback?

Now, about who is the active leader in baseball career hits. We have to go back to L.A., because the honor goes to … another former Brave, Freddie Freeman. He debuted in Atlanta on Sept. 1, 2010, and as of Friday his total is 2,267 hits, 37 ahead of Houston’s Jose Altuve (who actually has more hits this season, 183 to 153).

At 164^th all time, Freeman is chasing the likes of Carlos Lee, Tony Fernandez and Gary Gaetti before getting to a group from the bygone era who played for the Beaneaters, the Grooms and the Wolverines.

(If at all possible, give pet adoption a try through the Animal Rescue Foundation in Milledgeville. Donations of any kind are also in great need. ARF is a little red building at 711 S. Wilkinson St., and more information is available at animalrescuefoundation.org.)