I haven't updated the front page of the site in almost a month. That is not to say that I haven't been doing any work; profiles of Sherm Lollar, Norm Cash, Eddie Stanky, Dolph Camilli and a few others have been rewritten. I haven't tuned out the current season, but I have also been spending a lot of time reading old copies of The Sporting News.

And I've also been working on adding the 1876-1900 pages to the historical section of the site, which, at the rate I'm going, should be finished around 2006. And when I say "finished", I mean they'll be in early rough draft form.

As for August, the Red Sox, Astros and Marlins are charging hard for a wild-card berth. The Sox may even challenge the Yankees for the division lead. Both Houston and Florida looked dead in the water until their recent surges; the trick, of course, will be sustaining their success. Winning streaks are like sex; once they're over, there's usually a refractory period, where a team that wins 10 games in a row then slumps and loses five or six.

That was the silliest analogy I've ever used. Moving on...

It's time to start talking seriously about Randy Johnson winning the National League Cy Young Award. I know; his won-loss record is only 12-12. But this is 2004; we've mapped the human genome and put robots on Mars. It's time to move on to a new era in Cy Young voting.

Before we get into The Big Unit's credentials, let's ponder what makes a good pitcher. Albert Spalding explains:

"Those of the pitching fraternity who read up on the subject of skill in pitching, were told that the primary elements of strategic work in the "box" included: "First, to deceive the eye of the batsman in regard to the character of the delivery of the ball, as to its being fast or slow. Second, to deceive his judgment in reference to the direction of the ball when pitched to him, as to its being high or low, or where he wants it. Third, to watch the batsman closely so as to know just when he is temporarily 'out of form' for making a good hit; and Fourth, to tempt him with a ball which will be likely to go high from his bat to the outfield and be caught." Then again they were told that "another very effective point in strategic pitching, is a thoroughly disguised change of pace in delivery. This is difficult of attainment, and as a general rule it can only be played with effect on the careless class of batsmen.

Let it be borne in mind that the pitcher who cannot control his temper is as unfit for his position as is a quick-tempered billiard player to excel as a winner in professional contests. Quick temper is the mortal foe of cool judgment, and it plays the mischief with that nervy condition so necessary in the development of skilful strategy. The pitcher must of necessity be subject to annoyances well calculated to try a man's temper, especially when his best efforts in pitching are rendered useless by the blunders of incompetent fielders, but under such trying circumstances his triumph is all the greater if he can pluck victory out of the fire of such opposition, by the thorough control of his temper. This is something only a minority of League pitchers did in 1894."

Randy Johnson has, of course, needed to control his temper at times when his best efforts in pitching have been rendered useless by the blunders of incompetent fielders, not to mention relievers and hitters. The Arizona Diamondbacks are an historically awful team, and have stuck the Unit with a 12-12 record, not exactly Cy Young material.

Johnson does lead the National League with a 2.71 ERA, however. He also leads with 242 strikeouts. He is second in innings pitched, with 202. Opponents are batting .189, the lowest mark in the league. Their opposing on-base and slugging percentages are also the lowest in the league (.235 and .309, respectively). Only three NL pitchers have received less run support (4.05 runs per start). Oh, and he also threw a perfect game, for good measure.

Looking at some sabermetric stats, he leads in DIPS ERA by a good margin (2.45), and also Component ERA by a very wide margin (1.71). He leads NL pitchers in VORP (59.2). He leads the NL with 10 Tough Losses. He has an average Game Score of 65.1, also the best in the league. On May 18, he had a Game Score of 100, which is, well, perfect.

There is still a month left to go, but the Unit is not slowing down. He had 15 strikeouts in his last start, 11 in the one before that, 14 before that, 14 more before that... you get the idea. Whether you prefer conventional stats or sabermetric ones, I think it is pretty obvious that RJ has been the best pitcher in the league. Everything except the wins is there.

I suspect that most everyone in the media knows that he has been the best pitcher in the league, yet leaves him out of the serious Cy Young discussions because... I dunno, they're afraid of being called names or something. And to be fair, Jason Schmidt has been a stud most of the year and would be a decent choice, though he has struggled recently.

If Schmidt finishes strong, I won't begrudge him winning. But if the Unit continues to broaden the gap between them... well, I'll be giving him my version of the Cy Young, for whatever that's worth. Whether the professionals do the same, that's up to them.

The Sox may even challenge the Yankees for the division lead.

Huh. I wrote that about an hour ago, and just learned that Kevin Brown broke his hand while punching a wall. Is this the year that the Curse of the Babe is finally broken, and is replaced by the Curse of Zell Miller?