The West

But age is not as conspicuous a factor in the Reds ' scheme of things as is the absence of Pete Rose and Manager Sparky Anderson . Rose defected to Philadelphia for the well-publicized zillion dollars, and Anderson was summarily cashiered, presumably for not winning the division in his last two years. He is succeeded by John McNamara , an affable, intelligent, low-keyed former manager at Oakland and San Diego . McNamara has appointed Ken Griffey as Rose's replacement at leadoff hitter and Ray Knight as his successor at third base. Griffey is speedier than Rose and will steal more bases and beat out more infield hits, and Knight , in his own opinion at least, is a better fielder. "I'm a better third baseman than Pete," he has said, "and everyone here knows it." Possibly, but Pete Rose had other qualities, as the Hall of Fame voters will eventually confirm.

The Reds still have George Foster , the league's home-run and RBI champion the last two seasons, but they will need improved bat work from First Baseman Dan Driessen (.250) and Centerfielder Cesar Geronimo (.226) to crank up the Old Red Machine. Beyond Seaver , the Reds ' pitching is a fright. Bill Bonham is recovering from elbow surgery, Paul Moskau is coming off a poor season and Fred Norman is 36. Tom Hume , who won five games on the Reds ' fall tour of Japan , will be the fifth starter if he can conquer a tendency to come in tantalizingly high with his fastball. The bullpen, with Doug Bair and Pedro Borbon , seems good enough. But Red bats can no longer support Red arms.

Pitching should be San Diego 's strong suit. Forty-year-old Cy Young Award winner Gaylord Perry (21-6), whose hair—what little there is of it—is now gray, heads a staff of starters that includes Randy Jones , Eric Rasmussen, Bob Owchinko and Steve Mura. The Padres ' bullpen of Rollie Fingers , who had 37 saves in '78; John D'Acquisto; Mark Lee, who was 5-1 in 56 appearances as a rookie; and Bob Shirley is hard to beat. D'Acquisto was the happiest surprise of last season. He had 10 saves, 104 strikeouts in 93 innings and a 2.13 ERA. A 1974 Rookie of the Year with the Giants , he had been plagued with seemingly incurable wildness. His fastball has been clocked at 100 miles an hour, but as one former manager remarked, "He couldn't keep it in this room." He experimented last season with a simplified delivery, which involved keeping his elbow up and his wrist uncurled, and—voil�!—he got control. D'Acquisto was sustained in his long search for the plate by the experience of another pitcher who suffered from wildness early in his career. "I just kept telling myself, ' Sandy Koufax , Sandy Koufax ,' " D'Acquisto says.

The Padres also have some offensive punch, particularly in an outfield of Jerry Turner (.280) in left, Gene Richards (.308) in center and Dave Winfield (.308) in right. Richards started last season as a first baseman, a position now occupied by Mike Hargrove , who was obtained in a trade with Texas . Manager Roger Craig assumes that Hargrove 's .251 season in '78—he averaged .303 during his first four big league seasons—was an aberration.

Bill Almon is the second baseman, rookie Barry Evans is at third, and last year's rookie sensation, Ozzie Smith , is a superb shortstop. Gene Tenace , who commuted between catcher and first last year and, possibly because of it, hit only .224, is now strictly a catcher. "This is the first time the Padres have been a real contender," says Craig .

With a little more success on the road, the Astros , who finished 21 games back in '78, could make it a five-team race. In the Astrodome they were a pennant-contending 50-31; outside it they were a cellar-dwelling 24-57. "There are climatic changes outside the Astrodome ," Manager Bill Virdon correctly concludes. "It always takes two or three days to adjust after playing indoors." Inside or out, Houston must get a full season from its star, the unpredictable Cesar Cedeno , to be a contender. Cedeno tore a knee ligament sliding into second base against the Cubs last June 16. "I looked up," he recalls, "and the top of the Dome was spinning." He was virtually finished for the season. This year he will be flanked in the outfield by Terry Puhl in right and Jose Cruz , who hit a very quiet .315 in 1978, in left. Bob Watson , whom the Astros wanted to trade but didn't, will be the first baseman, and Craig Reynolds , whom Seattle wanted to trade and did, is the new shortstop. Reynolds hit .292 last year, but Mariner Manager Darrell Johnson decided he was not quick enough to play shortstop on the Kingdome 's artificial surface. Now the Astros will see if he's quick enough for the rug in another dome.

League strikeout-leader J. R. Richard heads a pitching staff that also includes Joe Niekro , Ken Forsch , Vern Ruhle and, possibly, Joaquin Andujar . The bullpen is weak.

Most of the talk in the Atlanta Braves ' camp was about a man who was not there—Rookie of the Year Bob Horner . Horner hit 23 homers in 89 games last year, 19 of them in Atlanta Stadium and the other four in similarly cozy Wrigley Field . He absented himself from most of spring training over a salary squabble that, in the view of the Braves ' owner, Ted Turner , merits him Ingrate of the Year honors. With Horner , who at the eleventh hour allowed that he'd play for Atlanta , the Braves are long on power. Gary Matthews , who had 18 homers despite missing 27 games with an injured shoulder; Jeff Burroughs (23); and Dale Murphy (23) are all bombers. But the team finished last in the league in team batting (.244) and pitching (4.08 ERA) and last in the division standings. Young (25) Larry McWilliams and old (40) Phil Niekro will be heroic on the mound, but the Braves are not likely to gain ground.