Cubs the best, Part II

Add comment May 20th, 2008

 The Cubs have been, far and away, the most impressive team in the National League. Chicago (28-17) is one-half game behind Arizona (28-16) for the best record in baseball, but has played a far tougher schedule. A fan who disagrees said Arizona’s 20-5 division record against the pathetically weak NL West is more important because “the goal is to win your division.” Well, yes, but the argument here isn’t who is more likely to win their division; that would be Arizona because of the aforementioned pathetically weak NL West. The question is who is better? Think of it like the Associated Press college football poll. An 11-0 team from the Big Ten will get more votes than an 11-0 team from the MAC. Arizona is 8-11 against teams outside its division — including 0-3 against the Cubs. That .421 winning percentage would put Arizona dead LAST in the NL Central. The Cubs, you may have heard, are FIRST in that division. The Cubs are 16-11 in their division and 12-6 against everyone else. In other words, the Cubs beat everybody; the Diamondbacks pick only on the weak.

More proof of the Cubs’ dominance: Chicago has outscored its foes by a Major League-high 84 runs. Arizona is next, at plus-56 runs. The Red Sox are a distant third at plus-37 runs. And, again, the Cubs are doing this against the best teams in the National League. The NL Central, as a whole, is a plus 46 in runs scored. The NL West is minus-93 runs. Yes, I said, a minus-93 runs. The NL West is on its way to being just about the worst division in baseball history. Arizona is the Rutgers or Boise State of baseball right now: Talk to me when you beat somebody good. Until then, all hail the Cubs!