radio@spuxll.UUCP (Rick Farina) (08/20/85)
> Whitey Herzog, the most brilliant > man in baseball who can't be trusted as a general manager, may have > hit it right on the button when he declared before the season began > that, as nearly every Cub had an outstanding offensive season in 1984, > the Cubs would never be able to match that level of production again > with their present personnel. I wonder if Whitey notices any similarities between the 84 Cubs and his 85 Cardinals. Just look at the seasons some of his Cardinals are having: McGee, Herr, Andujar, Tudor, Clark, Cox, and Coleman are all queuing up for MVP honors. The only one we're not surprised about is Coleman, who is only a rookie and therefore an "unproven" commodity; indeed, he may improve upon his numbers in seasons to come. Of the others, only Clark is having a season that can be reasonably related to his past performance; nevertheless, this looks like his best season. McGee is 70 points over his career average. Herr broke his personal RBI high in June. Andujar is megapoints over his career winning percentage, etc, etc. In addition, Herzog's "bullpen by committee" has been executed brilliantly partly because ALL components (Lahti, Campbell, Horton, etc.) have ALL performed unexpectedly well (unexpected based on past performances). The 85 Cardinals, like the 84 Cubs, argue for the MVP to be occasionally awarded to an entire team. raf ---