In the seventh inning Sunday, Rockies star Todd Helton strode into the batter’s box at Coors Field as his statistics flashed on the scoreboard. As the No. 3 hitter for a team that plays half of its games at a hitter’s paradise, Helton’s numbers caused pause: .304 average, 17 home runs, 62 RBIs.
That used to be a nice resting spot at the all-star break, not in mid-September.
Helton (now at .303), however, hardly is alone among stars with hollow bats in 2005. Ichiro Suzuki, who pounded out a record 262 hits last season, is batting .302, compared with .375 at this point last season. Catchers Mike Piazza and Ivan Rodriguez, who redefined hitting at their position, have combined for 28 homers in 823 at-bats. As the season fades to black and the playoffs approach, baseball’s bats, if not hollow, are slightly cracked. Homers, runs and the number of .300 hitters all have declined from a year ago.
In talking to executives, players and coaches, two major reasons are cited: steroid testing and better pitching led by a crop of young arms.
“The game has changed dramatically,” Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd said. “Runs are at a premium. There is a difference in the bulk of the statistics across the board.”
Reacting to public pressure and threatened government intervention, Major League Baseball stiffened its stance on performance-enhancing drugs. The testing program, instituted in March, features a five-strikes-and-you’re out punishment process, beginning with a 10- game suspension whose strength lies in public humiliation.
Nine major-leaguers, including Baltimore Orioles star Rafael Palmeiro, have violated the policy. It’s no coincidence, said some big-leaguers, that hits and home runs have dropped in this the first season of punishment.
“The ballparks haven’t changed. They’ve all got smaller for years because everyone in the game wanted more offense,” San Diego Padres closer Trevor Hoffman said. “To me what you are seeing (in the numbers) is indicative of the testing going on.”
Shrinking sluggers created a buzz in spring training. Six months later, there are only 23 qualifying hitters with at least a .300 average. At this time last season, there were 36. In the American League, home runs have slipped by 6.6 percent. In the NL, by 10.4 percent.
“It’s probably steroids (testing),” said Rockies outfielder Dustan Mohr, when asked for an explanation. “I don’t know if that’s the only reason, but I think it’s directly affected the power numbers. There are guys who hit them before that aren’t hitting as many anymore.”
Added Rockies special instructor and former big-leaguer Walt Weiss: “Maybe the numbers were just so skewed for years that they are finally coming back into line. But I would definitely agree that testing is a part of it.”
At this explanation, others scoffed. Arizona slugger Luis Gonzalez wasn’t buying the argument, citing the cyclical nature of the sport that has routinely gone through dead ball and rabbit ball eras.
“You just never know what’s going to happen from year to year, or even game to game; that’s what makes baseball so great,” Gonzalez said. “To say it’s because of hitters (not taking steroids), well there’s been a lot of speculation that pitchers were using them, too. I just think it’s one of those years.”
Some prefer to credit better pitching, in particular an array of impressing young starters.
Rockies director of pro scouting Jerry Dipoto quickly reeled off names of young aces – Oakland’s Rich Harden, the Cubs’ Mark Prior and Carlos Zambrano, Miami’s Dontrelle Willis – to support his point. Rockies catcher Todd Greene extended the roll call to include phenoms such as 19-year old Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners.
“Give pitchers some credit,” Greene said.
Chimed in Rockies reliever Mike DeJean: “I wouldn’t say it’s a trend because it’s only one year, but I am all for it. Pitchers have been taken a beating for 15 years.”
In that context, consider 2005 the year of the counterpunch. A year ago, Minnesota, lonelier than one sock, was the only AL team with an ERA under 4.00 with three weeks left in the season, at 3.96. There are five teams this season, all below 3.72 in a comparable number of games.
The NL also has seen a rise in falling ERAs, with seven teams below the 4.00 threshold, compared with five last season.
The issue of fading offense is more personal for the Rockies because of how their field has played this season. Their home ballpark – ridiculed as Coors Canaveral and Williamsport West, among the printable nicknames – has become Coors Light Field. Opponents are on pace to hit 88 home runs there, shattering the previous low of 101 set in 1998.
The shift, not yet seismic, has become detectable to general managers whose job it is to stock rosters. O’Dowd said the change will affect how he evaluates free agents this winter, conceding that a .300-average, 30-home run, 100-RBI season – once the staple of greatness before dwarfed by the proliferation of big numbers – matters again.
“If you go back and look at the way baseball was 20 to 25 years ago, those numbers meant something,” O’Dowd said. “Maybe we are getting back to that. For kids to see that, I think it makes the sport more appealing because those statistics are more realistic.”
Staff writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-820-5447 or trenck@denverpost.com.
