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As I mentioned earlier, we're now at the bittersweet conclusion of another decade of baseball. Well, mostly bitter, but the finality is kind of nice, if that gets you through the winter. If not, stock up on your Hot Toddy ingredients and prepare to push through the dark days ahead (Literally dark. Worst part of winter, easily.). For my part, I'm going to be taking a look back at the 10 seasons past, so we can revisit days gone by. Tonight: it's the best and worst teams of 2000.
The Yankees brought home their third consecutive world championship this season. It was, in a way, the end of the dynasty, as they would lose to the Diamondbacks in the '01 World Series. In another, more correct way, it was just another high point for a team that's been a powerhouse since I was in kindergarten. And yet, for a championship team, this was not a dominant group of players. C Jorge Posada (139 OPS+), SS Derek Jeter (128) and CF Bernie Williams (140) were the only above-average offensive contributors. OF David Justice (141 OPS+) wielded a potent bat, but he only had 275 PAs, and Glenallen Hill (somewhat improbably) slugged .735 in 143 PA, but there were no other standouts. As a whole, though, they were slightly above league-average wOBA. On the other hand, they were worse than average in pitching, though their staff did boast the estimable talents of Roger Clemens (130 ERA+) and Andy Pettitte (111). Orlando Hernandez was a bit above-average, and Mariano Rivera and Jeff Nelson were superb bullpen arms, but the rest of the group...well, it's not surprising to see them finish below average on the whole.
Indeed, the Giants boasted a more impressive squad. They posted a league-leading 97 wins on the back of a very impressive offense, one of the best of the decade. 3B Bill Mueller and CF Marvin Benard were the only two regulars who were below 100 OPS+; LF Barry Bonds paced the group with a hefty 188 mark and RF Ellis Burks (of all people) wasn't far behind, at 163. 2B Jeff Kent slugged .596 with a 162 OPS+ en route to the MVP award, and Armando Rios and Ramon Martinez were both highly capable bench bats. The pitching staff was only two points worse than the league-average QERA, which isn't surprising considering that only Livan Hernandez was well above or below a league-average ERA+; his 111 mark paced the talents of Russ Ortiz, Shawn Estes, Kirk Reuter, and Mark Gardner. Fun fact: Twins closer-extraordinaire Joe Nathan started 15 games for this squad. He wasn't especially good. Jump along with me for more of the good, bad, and ugly of the 2000 season.
Good, you made it! Unfortunately, if you're a Phillies fan, you're going to wish you hadn't. The '00 iteration of the Phitins clawed and scratched their way to a league-worst 65-97 record that saw them average a .322 wOBA and 4.64 QERA. 3B Scott Rolen and RF Bobby Abreu were the two offensive bright spots; Rolen posted a 129 OPS+ and Abreu went off for a 143 mark, along with 100 walks in a 20-20 year. The bench provided zero value except for Travis Lee's patience; he posted a nice .381 OBP. And 2B Mickey Morandini and SS Desi Relaford put up the kind of performances that make Philly faithful especially happy for Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins; they combined for an execrable .237/.344/.322 line. Their bread was relatively buttered on the side of the pitching; I say relatively because only one man, Randy Wolf, could be bothered to make more than 30 starts. But he didn't boast the control that is a strong facet of his game today; he walked almost 4 batters per 9 en route to a 107 ERA+. Beyond that, Robert Person was their only reliable and effective pitcher; he managed 28 starts full of ~9 K/9 ball to the tune of a 129 ERA+. The bullpen was effectively an Arsonists Anonymous group; homer-prone and wild, they weren't so good at preserving whatever leads the anemic offense could stake the starters to. All in all, 27 pitchers toed the rubber for the Phillies, but none were effective at getting them out of the cellar.
But if you want really terrible pitching, direct your eyes westward: the Los Angeles Angels posted a league-worst 5.27 QERA. Only Jarrod Washburn managed a sub-5.00 ERA, and no starter threw more than 170 innings on the year. No starter struck out more than 6 batters per 9. The best K:BB ratio was Kent Bottenfield's 1.34, and Hill and Alan Levine combined to throw over 150 innings with more walks than strikeouts; Hill's 78 innings featured more than 2 baserunners per inning. And the list goes on and on. On the other side of the coin, the Arizona Diamondbacks were putting up an oustanding pitching season; they averaged a 3.97 QERA. Randy Johnson won the Cy Young for his 347 K, 181 ERA+ performance, Brian Anderson managed a 118 ERA+, and mid-season acquisition Curt Schilling threw up a 130 mark. The bullpen wasn't great overall, as closer Matt Mantei and setup man Mike Morgan were right around average, but Greg Swindell and Dan Plesac made up for their (Mantei and Morgan) mild effectiveness. Only 17 pitchers made apperances for the D-Backs that year, and altogether, they averaged a 2.44 K:BB ratio.
As for hitting, the Cleveland Indians paced the league with a .365 wOBA that's actually the second best mark of the entire decade ('09 Yankees). You may have heard of some of the hitting luminaries that populated this lineup; 1B (!) Jim Thome, 2B Roberto Alomar, 3B Travis Fryman, LF Richie Sexson, CF Kenny Lofton, DH Russell Branyan and, of course, RF Manny Ramirez made this lineup an utter force to be reckoned with. Most remarkable about this team is that they actually shipped off Richie Sexson to the Brewers and David Justice to the Yankees midseason, when they were 51-48 with a 19.9% chance of making the playoffs. Unfortunately for all those who wonder what could have been, they ended up 90-72, 5 games out of first place in the AL Central. Anyway, if you'll allow me to count Sexson and Justice among the totals here, they parked 221 dongers and hit a combined .288/.367/.470 - a useful bat for any player, and flat-out excellent for an entire team's average.
But hey, why bother fixating on the sadness of what could have been when we can point and laugh at the worst-hitting team of the year: the Milwaukee Brewers! That's right, even with the help of Sexson and the potent bat of LF Geoff Jenkins, they posted a league-worst .311 wOBA. SS Jose Hernandez and CF Marquis Grissom were particularly inept, putting up 75 and 63 OPS+ respectively. The only regular beyond Sexson and Jenkins who managed an .800 OPS was Jeromy Burnitz and his mighty .811 mark. Excluding Tyler Houston's .493 slugging percentage off the bench, there wasn't even anything particularly useful to be had from the reserves.
So there you have it, folks - your history lesson for the day. Be glad that it's in baseball and not, like, 13th-century Russia. Unless Zach decides we're going to branch out, anyway. There's bound to be some market of baseball enthusiasts and Russian historians!
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We would certainly be a niche blog, then. Nazi's and the National Pastime sounds like a good name. I'll get on that.