The West

NL WEST	W	L	PCT.	BATTING	RUNS	HR	SB	ERA	CG	SAVES	FIELDING
HOUSTON	93	70	.571	.261-	637-	75+	194-	3.10-	31+	41-	.978+
LOS ANGELES	92	71	.564	.263-	663+	148-	123+	3.24-	24+	42-	.981-
CINCINNATI	89	73	.549	.262+	707+	113-	156-	3.85+	30+	37-	.983-
ATLANTA	81	80	.503	.250+	630+	144+	73+	3.77-	29-	37-	.975+
SAN FRANCISCO	75	86	.466	.244+	573+	80+	100+	3.46+	27-	35+	.975-
SAN DIEGO	73	89	.451	.255-	591-	67-	239-	3.65-	19+	39-	.980+
A + or - beside each 1980 statistic indicates expected improvement or decline in 1981.

Welcome to the Mary Poppins division, where everything seems to be up in the air. Defending champion Houston gave up its soul. The Dodgers lost their most consistent winner, yet claim to be improved. Cincinnati made a couple of seemingly minor transactions but, in fact, substantially altered itself. Atlanta owner Ted Turner outraged both his peers and his players—no small feat, that. San Francisco acquired character when what it really needed was talent. The only club to forswear the West's fly-away logic, San Diego, gave up and started over.

Opinion is divided on how the Astros will fare after losing Joe Morgan, their second baseman and sparkplug, who as a free agent signed with the Giants. Houston couldn't have won the division without Morgan, who batted .300 the last month and a half of the season and ignited a 10-game winning streak down the stretch by calling a clubhouse meeting and reading the riot act to his teammates. "Morgan showed them how to win," says Dodger Rightfielder Reggie Smith. "I don't know if there's anyone who can take his place."

Houston Manager Bill Virdon, who puts more stock in a player's tangible qualities, thought so little of Morgan's diminished range that he often removed him in late innings, though it didn't always please his players.

Now Virdon feels the Astros may be better than ever. They picked up free agent Don Sutton (13-5) whose 2.21 ERA with Los Angeles led the league. Sutton will replace J.R. Richard (10-4), who's still recovering from last summer's stroke. In the spacious Astrodome, Sutton should reduce his yield of gopher balls—20 last season—but his usefulness can be overestimated. Considered a "seven-inning" pitcher at 35, Sutton in 1980 completed just four of his 31 starts, pitched his fewest innings (212) since 1968 and had the lowest strikeout total (128) of his major league career. Houston acquired another pitcher, San Francisco's Bob Knepper, in exchange for Third Baseman Enos Cabell. Knepper is the only lefthander on a starting staff that includes Sutton, Richard (if he makes it back), Joe Niekro (20-12), Vern Ruhle (12-4) and Nolan Ryan (11-10). The Astros are hoping the Knepper of 1981 will be the aggressive fellow who turned in records of 11-9 and 17-11 in '77 and '78, not the God Squad pacifist who slumped to 9-12 and 9-16 and shrugged off every loss as "God's will." If he doesn't work out, well, the bullpen of Dave Smith, Joe Sambito and Frank LaCorte had an aggregate record of 23-14 and 38 saves. The Astros should again lead the league in pitching.

The myth is that the Astros were a power-poor team who won with pitching, speed and defense. In truth, Houston outhomered the opposition 75-69—a statistic admittedly attributable more to the Astro pitchers than their batters—while playing inconsistent defense, especially in the infield. First Baseman Art Howe has been relocated at third, where he began his big-league career, and Rafael Landestoy will run down more balls at second than Morgan did. "Playing third is like riding a bicycle," says Howe. "Once you've learned it, you never forget."

With a weak bat at short (Craig Reynolds: .226), little power at catcher (Alan Ashby and Luis Pujols) and an inexperienced player at first (Danny Heep), the infield isn't Houston's strong suit. That's why the Astros gave a shocking $1.1-million, five-year deal to .240-hitting Texas utilityman Dave Roberts and acquired infielders Dickie Thon from California and Kiko Garcia from Baltimore.

Defense is so important to the Astros that they were willing to sacrifice Cabell's 21 stolen bases to be rid of his 29 errors. If Centerfielder Cesar Cedeno—48 steals—is reluctant to run after ankle surgery, the go-go offense that accounted for 194 stolen bases will lean more heavily than ever on the bats of Leftfielder Jose Cruz (.302, 11 homers. 91 RBIs) and Rightfielder Terry Puhl (.282; .526 in the playoffs). "People forget that we scored only 26 fewer runs than the Dodgers," says Sutton. But the Astros had few runs to spare. Pencil them in as the favorite, but barely.

Denying that Sutton's loss means a weaker Dodger team, Manager Tom Lasorda says, "Let me tell you something. Reggie Smith, who was batting .322, had to have shoulder surgery last summer. One reliever, Terry Forster, had an elbow operation and pitched only 12 innings. Another, Don Stanhouse, missed three months with back and shoulder trouble. Our shortstop, Bill Russell, broke the index finger of his throwing hand and was out the last three weeks, and Centerfielder Pete Guerrero was out a month with a knee injury. Yet we finished in a tie for first before losing the playoff game to Houston. Now we've got those guys. If they're healthy, we'll be better."

Obviously. Forster has given up the slider that wrecked his arm the last two seasons and gone back to his sharp curve. He says he's throwing without pain for the first time in six years. Adjusting to the injuries, the Dodgers uncovered depth in such performers as Rudy Law, Jay Johnstone and Derrel Thomas. The bullpen is well stocked with Forster, Stanhouse, Joe Beckwith. 1980 National League Rookie of the Year Steve Howe (17 saves) and 20-year-old Fernando Valenzuela, who didn't give up an earned run during an 18-inning cup of coffee last fall and could be L.A.'s third consecutive rookie award winner. Furthermore, Dave Goltz (7-11), who felt great pressure from having been a high-priced free agent, says he's now relaxed and ready to return to 20-win form.

But there's a Dodger downside, too. Comeback Player of the Year Jerry Reuss will be hard pressed to repeat his 18-6 record, and the other probable starters, Burt Hooton (14-8), Bob Welch (14-9), Goltz and 1979 Rookie of the Year Rick Sutcliffe (3-9) don't match up well with Houston's rotation. First Baseman Steve Garvey (.304, 200 hits, 26 homers. 106 RBIs, 835 consecutive games) and Leftfielder Dusty Baker (.294, 29 home runs, 97 RBIs) are the most dependable batters. The new centerfielder is Ken Landreaux, a .281 hitter last year with Minnesota.