Before this season began, San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy declared, “I feel we’re in the best division in baseball now.”

Bruce wasn’t the only person who felt that way about the National League West. In fact, the only team most of us believed did not have a chance to win the division was the Giants. Little did we know the five clubs would play as poorly as they have, especially in the last six weeks.

Since May 7th, Colorado has the best record of any N. L. West squad, and has lost three more games than it has won…..entering this week. San Diego is four games under .500 during that span, and San Francisco seven games below the break even figure. First place Arizona and second place Los Angeles have the worst marks in that span, the D-Backs with nine more defeats than victories, and the Dodgers with ten more setbacks than wins since four days before Mother’s Day.

Going into play June 23rd, Arizona was leading the National League West, but with only two more triumphs than losses. L. A. was 3 and a half games back of the Diamondbacks, with San Francisco and Colorado each seven games out and San Diego seven and a half. The halfway point in the season will be reached this weekend.
The worst record to win a division in major league baseball history was 82 and 80 by San Diego in 2005. The Padres were 77 and 79 when they registered five wins in their last six games. At one stage of that schedule, San Diego lost 36 of 56 games, and was still in first place.

No, there has never been a division winner who finished below .500. There likely would have been one in 1994 when the Rangers were on top of the American League West with a record of 52 and 62 in August when a strike ended the season.

In 1973, the Mets were in fifth place in the National League East going into September, and 9 games under .500. But they won 20 of 28 that month, and wound up at 82 and 79 to finish first. Not only that, but they came within one victory of a world championship, losing the sixth and seventh games of the World Series to the A’s.

Ross Porter