The Franchise: NL Central

Jason Michael Barker

As a whole, the National League Central is a division devoid of superstars (some would say devoid of baseball as well, but I won't go that far). Mark McGwire in St. Louis and Houston's "Killer B's" (Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell) jump immediately to mind, but after that who is there? Yet in spite of this, it would be a disservice to fans of the NL Central to skip over the division altogether. As was the case with the National League West, the Central's list of franchise players consists entirely of hitters, which is less reflective of their hitting ability as it is of the state of pitching in the division.

Mark Grace, Chicago Cubs
Age	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
34	145	551	91	179	41	3	13	82	72	44	3	3	.400	.479	.325

Who were you expecting, Sammy Sosa? Although he's done so in relative obscurity, Grace has put up solid numbers for the Cubbies throughout the 90's. The only problem is his relative value. His numbers would be great if he were a middle infielder, but alas, he's a first baseman. Grace gets on base very well (.384 career OBP), but he just doesn't display the power generally associated with the position (.439 career slugging%). Still, he's an excellent defensive 1B, and any player who can get on base at nearly a 40% clip (as he's done over the past three years) has value. Grace has been with the Cubs his entire career, and has never missed significant time due to injury. His consistency and quiet leadership are an important asset to the team, but a team with Grace as their top player shouldn't plan on winning any time soon.

Barry Larkin, Cincinnati
Age	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
34	119	412	83	128	26	4	17	58	68	42	34	6	.409	.520	.310

Larkin has always been one of my favorite players, and it's a shame that injuries have taken so much time off his career, because he probably had a shot at the Hall if he'd stayed healthy. For a time, he was the best shortstop in baseball, combining power, speed and the ability to get on base, qualities which are rarely seen in combination for a middle infielder. In his prime, his speed and ability to get on base made him an ideal number two or three hitter. Like Grace, Larkin has been with his team his entire career, and barring an unforeseen turn of events, he'll most likely finish his career with the Reds.

Craig Biggio, Houston
Age	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
32	155	592	127	177	30	5	20	78	80	88	35	8	.403	.466	.299

One of the tougher choices in this entire series, Biggio gets the nod over teammate Jeff Bagwell (a tremendous player in his own right) based on (you probably guessed it) relative value. As a general rule, second basemen don't hit as well as Biggio. Bagwell's a great hitter, but so are a ton of other first basemen (Thomas, Vaughn, McGwire, etc.). As far as Biggio goes, he's a tremendous leadoff man, getting on base at a .400 clip and stealing bases with a high success rate. But unlike many leadoff hitters, he's not strictly a singles hitter. Biggio hit 22 home runs last season (and in '95) to go along with 37 doubles, all of which add up to a .501 slugging percentage, an outstanding number for any middle infielder. Bagwell provides the muscle in Houston's attack, but Biggio makes it all possible by getting on base and sparking the offense.

Jeff Cirillo, Milwaukee
Age	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
28	146	491	77	147	37	4	11	68	55	62	5	5	.377	.459	.300

Who? Don't worry if you haven't heard of the Brewers 28 year-old third baseman, because not many baseball fans outside of Milwaukee have. Without putting up spectacular numbers, Cirillo has been Milwaukee's most consistent performer over the past three seasons, a period of time during which their "big name" players (John Jaha and Jeromy Burnitz) have lost considerable time to injury. Burnitz is having a great season so far in 1998, but until he proves he can stay healthy, Cirillo is "the man" in Milwaukee. Because he doesn't hit for much power, his biggest asset to the team right now is his ability to get on base (notice a pattern in the division?). Notably, he's improved his walk totals in each of his four seasons, and so far this year he's walked 21 times in 25 games. And who knows? If the first-place Brewers can continue their winning ways, Cirillo just might become a household name.

Jason Kendall, Pittsburgh
Age	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
24	137	450	63	134	30	5	6	46	42	42	12	4	.382	.419	.297

Any time you can find a 24 year-old third-year player with a .386 career on-base percentage, you've got yourself a good player. But when that same player is a catcher, you've got a potential superstar on your hands. Kendall followed up a solid 1996 rookie season by raising both his OBP (.372 to .392) and his slugging percentage (.401 to .434). The young receiver has continued his upward trend in 1998, getting on base at a .418 clip and slugging over .500. While he's no Piazza or Ivan Rodriguez, Kendall is the best young catcher in baseball. Florida's Charles Johnson (age 27) has a great defensive rep but is nowhere near the hitter Kendall is, and though Oakland's AJ Hinch (24) looks like he'll be a pretty good hitter, he's just a rookie, while Kendall already has two seasons of big league experience under his belt. Aside from his offense, he does a great job handling the Pirates' young pitching staff, perhaps the biggest reason that the Pirates were able to win 79 games despite baseball's lowest payroll. A good young catcher is a great player to build a franchise around, and the Pirates are doing just that with Kendall.

Mark McGwire, St. Louis
Age	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
34	130	427	88	122	20	0	50	109	102	116	1	0	.430	.684	.287

What can I write about Big Mac that hasn't already been written? Obviously, he's a tremendous hitter who can hit the ball a mile on any given day. McGwire is one of those players who's worth paying to see, because there's a pretty good chance you'll get to see a mammoth homer. For the first time since 1991 (incidentally, the worst season of his career), he stayed healthy all season, and put up more monster numbers - 58 homers, 123 RBI, and a .646 slugging percentage. When Oakland traded free-agent-to-be McGwire to the Cardinals last season, the prevailing wisdom was that he would sign with a West Coast team after the season, with the Dodgers and Angels mentioned as possibilities. However, he was so excited by the fans and the atmosphere in St. Louis that he re-signed there without even testing the market. On-field performance aside, it was truly one of the most refreshing events in recent baseball history.

Whatever you do, don't dare Jason Michael Barker to recite the names of all the Cubs' managers in reverse chronological order within 30 seconds. He wins way too many bar bets with that one. Okay, if you must, try him at jmb@strikethree.com, and see if he remembers Jim Lefebvre.