Tag: Cy Young Page 2 of 5

Series preview here.

#Game 1: Bill Steen @ Johnny Marcum

Bill Steen improved to 11-3 on the year with nearly 8 shutout innings as Cleveland rolled to a 9-2 victory.

Cleveland took the lead with 5 runs in the top of the 2nd, led by unexpected sources: 2 RBI’s from Louis Santop and 3 from Sammy Strang. They chased Detroit’s starter, Johnny Marcum, from the game in the top of the 4th with consecutive hits from Lance Berkman, Arky Vaughan, and Jim Gantner. At that point, it was 8-0, and a Tris Speaker pinch-hit homerun made it 9-0 after 8.

Detroit scored twice in the bottom of the 9th, but the game was long decided. Tony Phillips had 3 hits for Detroit in the loss.

CLE 9 (Steen 11-3) @ DET 2 (Marcum 11-4)
HRs: CLE – Speaker (2); DET – none.
Box Score

#Game 2: Pat Malone @ Gene Conley

Game 2 had a shot at being a decent pitching duel between Cleveland’s Pat Malone and Detroit’s Gene Conley.

Cleveland had an early lead as Lance Berkman scored on a Sammy Strang sacrifice fly. And that was it … Detroit loaded the bases in the bottom of the 6th, but Malone escaped without any damage, leaving the score at 1-0.

Both Conley and Malone were pretty much toast at this point, but both bullpens were able to preserve the score, despite some traffic on the bases.

That lasted until the 8th, when John Hiller uncorked a wild pitch with the bases loaded to make it 2-0. The Spiders added another in the 9th, allowing them to send their closer, Terry Adams, out for the bottom of the 9th with a 3-0 lead.

Adams was perfect, and the Spiders had a combined 5-hit shutout between Malone, Chuck Porter, Cory Gearrin, and Adams.

CLE 3 (Malone 15-8; Adams 34 Sv; Porter 13 H; Gearrin 12 H) @ DET 0 (Conley 11-6)
HRs: None.
Box Score

#Game 3: Mel Harder @ Charlie Root

Detroit turns to Charlie Root–3-1 with a 2.29 ERA since his mid-season acquisition from San Francisco–in their attempt to turn the series around. He’ll be opposed by Mel Harder, 5-2 on the year for Cleveland.

Detroit led early, with Bob Bailey tripling and scoring on a single from Al Kaline in the 2nd and Oscar Gamble singling home Hank Greenberg in the 4th.

Root was strong, allowing only 3 hits through 6 innings, but a Louis Santop triple (his league leading 14th) to lead off Cleveland’s 7th and got the Wolverine’s bullpen up and busy. Chuck Knoblauch singled home Santop, closing the score to 2-1 and chasing Root in favor of Justin Verlander … who promptly gave up a dinger to Lance Berkman, putting the Spiders in front, 3-2.

After an Al Kaline single chased Harder, the Spiders turned to Ron Reed, brought in for exactly these kind of situations. It hasn’t gone as planned. Reed, an all-star with Philadelphia, is 0-4 with an ERA near 7 with the Spiders. Here, he walked Jenkins and gave up a single to Robby Thompson to load the bases. Bill Carrigan pinch-hit and delivered a sacrifice fly to tie the game once more, but Reed escaped without further damage.

Evan Longoria gave the Spiders the lead again in the top of the 9th with an RBI single. Terry Adams came in for Cleveland to close out the game. Jenkins greeted Adams with a double, and his pinch-runner, Jimmy Collins, scored on a sacrifice fly from George Davis.

That sent us to extra innings, tied at 4.

In the bottom of the 11th, Kaline greeted Yordano Ventura with a leadoff single, and Chili Davis followed with a double. An intentional pass to Thompson loaded the bases, and a single from George Davis won the game for Detroit.

CLE 4 (Ventura 0-2; Reed 2 B Sv; Adams 7 B Sv) @ DET 5 (Henneman 2-6; Verlander 1 B Sv) [11 Innings]
HRs: CLE – Berkman (9); DET – none.
Box Score

#Game 4: Cy Young @ Hal Newhouser

After the extra inning heroics in game 3, the Wolverines would turn to Hal Newhouser to try to even up the series.

Newhouser and Cy Young were both solid through 5, with Cleveland leading 1-0 behind an RBI single from Jim Gantner. That lasted until the bottom of the 7th when Al Kaline scored on a wild pitch from Young, tying the game. At this point, Newhouser was gassed, bringing in John Hiller from Detroit’s bullpen, who surrendered the lead on an RBI double to Jake Stahl with 2 outs.

With Detroit’s closer, Terry Adams, unavailable after 2 innings yesterday, the Wolverines sent Young back out for the bottom of the 9th, clinging to the 2-1 lead. It worked: 3-up / 3-down and the Spiders both took the game and the series.

CLE 2 (Young 11-9) @ DET 1 (Hiller 3-4)
HRs: None.
Box Score

The two teams finished the series with identical 78-64 records, with both teams looking likely for the playoffs.

Series XXXV Preview: Cleveland Spiders @ Detroit Wolverines

By mknn

On July 18, 2023

In Featured Series, Series Previews

We roll into Series XXXV with its two teams barely making the playoffs. So, this could be a big one.

We saw the Cleveland Spiders–currently 1 game behind the New York Black Yankees in the Effa Manley Division–in Series VII, XIX, XXVIII, and XXX. The Detroit Wolverines, featured in Series IV, XXI, and XXVII, are tied with the New York Gothams for first place in the Bill James Division.

#Cleveland Spiders

Cleveland’s offense revolves around the odds-on favorite to finish runner-up in the MPV race, Ron Blomberg. Blomberg is slashing 339/410/655 with 36 2B, 40 HR, 111 RBI, and 101 R, all of which lead the team’s regulars (late season call-up Tris Speaker is slashing 386/426/523 in just under 50 PA’s, and is clearly arguing for more playing time–to the point where he is seeing time at the corner OF positions).

But there is more here than Blomberg. John Ellis and Jake Stahl each have over 20 HRs, over 70 RBI’s, and OPS’ in the .800’s. Add to that excellent production from 2B (Chuck Knoblauch) and C (Louis Santop) and, as importantly, no real weak links, and it’s a strong offense, top to bottom.

4 starters have double-digit wins, led by Pat Malone (14-8, 4.06). Bill Steen (10-3) has the best ERA in that group, but arguably Stan Coveleski (13-5, 3.93) has been better. The rotation is rounded out by Cy Young (10-9, 4.64), whose analytics are better than his raw numbers. Terry Adams has been excellent at closer (33 saves, 2.84), and the combination of Chuck Porter and Cory Gearrin have been great getting him the ball.

Some midseason acquisitions have been question marks: OF/1B Lance Berkman is still hitting far better with the Spiders than he did in Houston, but has hit a cold streak after an incredible start to his time in Cleveland. Reliever Ron Reed was an all-star with Philadelphia; he’s 0-4 with an ERA around 6.50 with Cleveland while SS Arky Vaughan, obtained from Homestead to cement the SS position, has hit so poorly that the team continues to experiment with other options.

#Detroit Wolverines

Detroit has two elite players on offense: Ty Cobb is slashing 348/391/557 with 20 HR and 45 SB and Hank Greenberg is at 317/376/589 with 27 HR and 102 RBI. Oscar Gamble has 26 HR and 3 other players are in double digits (Chili Davis has 18, Geoff Jenkins 13, and Ernie Lombardi 10, 4 coming since his mid-season acquisition from Indianapolis).

That’s enough for a solid offense. To become elite, Detroit needs 38 year old Tony Phillips–just back from injury–to pick up where he left off, getting on base and generally being a pest at the leadoff spot. Additionally, while both Al Kaline (302/362/667) and Olmedo Sáenz (350/395/525) are likely to revert to form at some point, the longer they can impersonate superstars, the better for the Wolverines.

After some juggling, Detroit’s rotation seems to be coming into shape at the right time. Hal Newhouser has a 3.06 ERA, and has an outside chance at accumulating enough innings to qualify for the ERA lead and Johnny Marcum is 11-3 with a sub 4.00 ERA. Add to them Gene Conley, whose first 28 appearances were from the bullpen but has been fantastic throughout (11-5, 3.63), and Charlie Root, 3-1 with a 2.29 ERA since being acquired at the all-star break.

None of the starters go very deep in games, which makes the performance of Chad Bradford, Buddy Napier, and Justin Verlander in the middle innings quite important to their success. Mike Henneman leads the league in saves with 35, but has been touched for an ERA just under 5.00.

TWIWBL 42.0: Series XXXIV Notes

By mknn

On July 7, 2023

In TWIWBL

August 27th

Playoffs

The more things change, the more things stay the same …

On the whole, the playoff teams took care of business, with Cleveland sweeping Houston and Baltimore, Chicago, Portland, and the New York Black Yankees all winning 3 of 4 games.

As such, Baltimore still has the best record in the lead, and still leads the Chicago American Giants by 4 games in the Cum Posey Division. Chicago leads the wild card race, and both teams seem certain to make the postseason.

Each of the other divisions are tight as tight can be. In the Bill James Division, the Detroit Wolverines and the New York Gothams are tied for first place, with the Wandering House of David 1 game back. Over in the Effa Manley Division, the Black Yankees have maintained their lead, but it’s down to 1 game over the Cleveland Spiders and in the Marvin Miller Division, the Portland Sea Dogs lead the Birmingham Black Barons by a single game, helped by Baltimore’s 3 wins coming against the Black Barons.

Right now, Cleveland and Birmingham are tied for the final wild card slot. The Houston Colt 45’s–five games back–still have an outside shot, but getting swept essentially took them out of the race. Realistically it looks like 1 of the 9 teams vying for the divisional leads won’t make the postseason.

Performance

Going into a little more depth this time, providing some insight into players who are not performing well, but have still, for a variety of reasons, amassed enough PA or IP to qualify for the leaderboards.

Batters

The list is longer, but not really. With Babe Ruth taking over the OBP lead from San Francisco‘s Reggie Jackson, if you ignore some of the outliers (the SB leaders, the 3B, etc), the offensive leaders of the WBL boil down to Ron Blomberg and Babe Ruth, with Pete Browning, Stan Musial, and Doug Rader in a second group, with apologies to Johnny Bench of the Indianapolis ABC’s, who is putting up outrageous numbers for a backstop. Bench, Musial (Kansas City) and Rader (Los Angeles) are out of the playoff picture, but the rest should be around for the postseason.

Johnny Bench (IND). 286/390/575. 5.7 WAR.
Ron Blomberg (CLE). 339/410/655. 168 H, 40 HR, 101 R.
Pete Browning (HOD). 353/390/629.
Ty Cobb (DET). 348/391/557. 169 H.
Eric Davis (NYY). 277/352/517. 5.7 WAR.
Willie Davis (PHI). 301/350/498. 11 3B.
Mike Fiore (CAG). 238/402/396. 100 BB.
Hank Greenberg (DET). 317/376/589. 41 2B.
Bobby Grich (LAA). 292/381/483. 41 2B.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 268/398/356. 86 SB.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 316/430/598.
Stan Musial (KCM). 326/389/574. 44 2B.
Alejandro Oms (MCG). 255/308/398. 11 3B.
Doug Rader (LAA). 335/395/542. 122 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 288/367/426. 89 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 318/435/673. 43 HR, 121 RBI, 113 R, 100 BB, 7.4 WAR.
Louis Santop (CLE). 304/336/464. 13 3B.

Anti-Batters

Looking at the pool of hitters who qualify for rate stats only. 17 of them haven’t hit a triple, so those are omitted.

Hank Aaron (BBB). 263/302/498. 21 GIDP.
Ernie Banks (HOD). 262/287/459. 16 BB.
Wade Boggs (MEM). 286/364/412. 25 GIDP.
José Canseco (MCG). 291/352/525. 159 SO.
Rico Carty (PHI). 264/340/421. 48 R.
George Davis (DET). 258/334/326. 1 HR.
Mike Fiore (CAG). 238/402/396. 89 H.
Tom Herr (BBB/NYY). 288/357/390. 2 HR, 25 RBI.
Gil Hodges (POR). 222/297/423. -0.4 WAR.
Frank Isbell (BBB/BRK). 310/341/401. 2 HR, 14 BB.
Derek Jeter (NYY). 262/311/369. -0.6 WAR.
Ted Kluszewski (PHI). 249/327/478. 48 R.
Freddy Parent (OTT/CAG). 257/305/431. 9 2B.
Ozzie Smith (KCM). 221/309/292. 86 H, 2HR, 25 RBI.
Pops Stargell (HOM). 243/327/427. 179 SO.
George Stone (HOD). 289/380/512. 12 2B.
Arky Vaughan (HOM/CLE). 235/348/335. 12 2B.
George Wright (LAA). 240/296/396.

This is an interesting list. There are some players considered stars on their teams–Aaron for Birmingham and Canseco for the Miami Cuban Giants especially (although GIDP and SO aren’t such awful things to lead the league in). Others are having decent seasons overall–Boggs, Banks, Hodges, Stone.

And then there is Ozzie Smith, hands down the weakest overall offensive player in the WBL. He’s been good defensively, but that’s a lot of negative output at the plate to overcome.

Mike Fiore offers the interesting case of being the only player to make both lists, leading the league in walks and having the second fewest hits of anybody qualifying for the leaderboards (behind Smith, of course).

Pitchers

Starters

A shorter list this time: 6 players have 14 wins, but since they would be 3rd in the league behind Christy Mathewson and Jack Taylor, they aren’t listed unless they qualify under another stat.

One thing to note: the presence of two starters from the San Francisco Sea Lions underscores how disappointing the season has been for them.

Lefty Grove (SFS). 13-7, 3.55. 191 K.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 7-11, 4.42. 175 K.
Christy Mathewson (NYG). 16-7, 3.50.
Roy Oswalt (HOU). 12-8, 3.63. 188.1 IP.
Alejandro Peña (BBB). 11-9, 3.72. 4.8 WAR, 3.45 FIP.
Eddie Plank (SFS). 11-6, 3.87. 3.29 FIP.
Andy Pettitte (KCM/BBB). 14-4, 3.05. 1.18 WHIP.
Jack Taylor (HOD). 15-9, 3.13. 1.12 WHIP.
Cy Young (CLE). 10-9, 4.64. 188.1 IP, 4.4 WAR.

Anti-Starters

Bert Blyleven (POR). 10-10, 4.17. 30 HRA.
Roger Clemens (MEM/HOU). 11-8, 5.31.
Vean Gregg (HOM). 9-8, 4.78. 97 BB, 1.59 WHIP.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 13-7, 3.55. 98 BB.
Luke Hamlin (KCM). 9-12, 4.80.
Jon Lester (MEM). 9-12, 4.68.
Dolf Luque (IND). 8-10, 5.29. 5.67 FIP.
Juan Marichal (NYG). 11-8, 5.64. 1.56 WHIP.
Wade Miley (HOD). 7-5, 5.05. 5.50 WHIP.
Don Newcombe (MCG/CAG). 4-13, 6.44. 34 HRA.
Jack Scott (NYY). 14-5, 4.41. 30 HRA.

Lefty Grove is on both lists: if he ever masters his control, he could be the best starter in the league (and if he loses an edge to his pitches, he could quickly be out of the league).

Blyleven and Scott are front of rotation starters for playoff bound teams, and Clemens has pitched far better since arriving in Houston, but his earlier performance for the Memphis Red Sox was so, so poor.

Newcombe is an conundrum: he doesn’t give up many hits or many walks, but when he does get hit, he gets hit hard.

Relievers

The best of the lot are probably Baltimore’s Buddy Groom and a duo from the Gothams, closer Brian Wilson and do-everything Mike Norris.

35 IP for rate stats.

Terry Adams (CLE). 2-6, 2.84. 33 Sv. 1 H.
Buddy Groom (BAL). 2-2, 1.93. 6 Sv, 13 H, 0.99 WHIP.
Mike Henneman (DET). 1-6, 4.83. 35 Sv.
* Sean Marshall (BAL). 5-0, 1.79. 1 Sv, 8 H, 0.98 WHIP.
Mike Norris (NYG). 4-3, 1.34. 8 Sv, 13 H.
Ron Reed (PHI/CLE). 0-6, 4.58. 3 Sv, 17 H.
Ron Robinson (SFS). 6-4, 3.92. 1 Sv, 17 H.
Ed Walsh (CAG). 8-6, 2.73. 5 H, 3.00 FIP.
Brian Wilson (NYG). 1-0, 1.00. 24 Sv, 1 H, 2.58 FIP.

Streaks

Very little going on here.

Los Angeles’ Bobby Grich–who should come of the DL soon–has reached base in 32 consecutive games, good for the 4th best streak in the league.

Brian Wilson has converted 22 consecutive saves and Andy Pettitte, between his time with Kansas City and Baltimore, has won his last 9 decisions, and is undefeated in his last 12 appearances.

Series Results

Series XXXV Sweeps

Cleveland over Houston
Memphis over Philadelphia Stars

Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XXXV

Baltimore over Birmingham
Chicago over Ottawa Mounties
Portland over Homestead Grays
Indianapolis over Miami
New York Black Yankees over San Francisco

Series Splits in Series XXXV

Brooklyn Royal Giants @ Kansas City
Detroit @ Los Angeles
House of David @ New York Gothams

TWIWBL 41.0: Series XXXIII Notes

By mknn

On June 15, 2023

In TWIWBL

August 22nd

Awards

Pedro Guerrero of the San Francisco Sea Lions was named the WBL Player of the Week, hitting .480 with 3 homeruns.

Playoff Races

The Bill James Division just gets tighter and tighter: we go into expanded rosters with the Detroit Wolverines and New York Gothams tied for first place, with the House of David only a game behind. Currently, all 3 teams would make the playoffs, but it’s very close and the only sure way to make it into the postseason is to win the division.

Well, sort of. The Chicago American Giants are tied (with the Gothams and Wolverines) for the 2nd best record in the WBL. That leaves them 4 games back in the Cum Posey Division, where the Baltimore Black Sox continue to be the league’s best team, playing at a .590 pace and leading the American Giants by 4 games. The Houston Colt 45‘s have won 6 straight, but remain 3 games out of the final Wild Card slot (and 9 behind Baltimore).

The New York Black Yankees have used an 8-2 streak (and a series sweep over the Philadelphia Stars) to–at long last–reclaim first place in the Effa Manley Division, where they now lead the Cleveland Spiders by 2 games. This race is intense, as most likely only the division winner will make the post-season. Cleveland missed a great opportunity this series, losing 3 out of 4 to the lowly Miami Cuban Giants.

Over in the Marvin Miller Division, the miracle that is the Birmingham Black Barons continues, as they lead the Portland Sea Dogs by 1 game. Both teams have a shot at the post-season, but it may be a close thing, putting pressure on the Black Barons to maintain their pace and the Sea Dogs to overtake them.

Performance

Batters

The House of David’s Pete Browning has finally cracked these lists after a long spell on the DL. Browning is one of 5 batters with an OPS over 1.000, led by Babe Ruth (who else?) at 1.102 (the others are Ron Blomberg, Reggie Jackson, and Joe Jackson).

Top 2 in each category as always, leaders in bold.

Ron Blomberg (CLE). 340/410/652. 163 H, 38 HR.
Pete Browning (HOD). 352/388/632.
Ty Cobb (DET). 346/390/556.
Eric Davis (NYY). 278/354/521. 5.7 WAR.
Mike Fiore (CAG). 232/399/378. 98 BB.
Bobby Grich (LAA). 292/381/483. 41 2B.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 271/402/360. 85 SB.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 336/421/587. 98 R.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 319/436/604.
Stan Musial (KCM). 326/390/576. 42 2B.
Alejandro Oms (MCG). 257/312/405. 11 3B.
Doug Rader (LAA). 337/397/548. 164 H, 119 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 293/371/435. 86 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 319/434/668. 41 HR, 118 RBI, 108 R, 96 BB, 7.0 WAR.
Louis Santop (CLE). 305/338/459. 12 3B.

Pitchers

Starters

The Gothams’ Christy Mathewson is pulling away in victories–this is the 3rd time someone has done this (Portland’s Walter Johnson at the start of the year, then Gerrit Cole of the Los Angeles Angels), so we’ll see if it sticks. It’s still between Mathewson and the House of David’s Jack Taylor as the best starter in the league, although Andy Pettitte‘s spectacular start with Birmingham has pushed him into the conversation (and the league lead in ERA).

All 4 14 game winners are included. This list has more pitcher’s who are among the leaders, but not having especially great years than the batters do: the Black Yankees’ Ron Guidry has been a hard luck starter all year, but still an ERA over 4.50 removes him from any “best in the league” list; likewise Cleveland’s Cy Young is an innings eater, but essentially a league average innings eater at this point.

Lefty Grove (SFS). 13-7, 3.50. 184 K.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 7-10, 4.55. 166 K.
Dennis Martínez (BAL). 14-8, 3.72.
Christy Mathewson (NYG). 16-7, 3.47.
Tricky Nichols (CAG). 14-8, 4.02.
Alejandro Peña (BBB). 11-8, 3.82. 4.5 WAR, 3.49 FIP.
Eddie Plank (SFS). 10-6, 4.08. 3.34 FIP.
Roy Oswalt (HOU). 12-7, 3.55. 183 IP, 4.3 WAR.
Andy Pettitte (KCM/BBB). 14-4, 3.14, 1.20 WHIP.
Jack Taylor (HOD). 14-9, 3.21. 1.14 WHIP.
Cy Young (CLE). 9-9, 4.67. 181 IP.

Relievers

The Gothams’ bullpen continues to be stellar, with Mike Norris perhaps the most valuable reliever in the league and Brian Wilson continuing to be totally lights out as a closer.

35 IP for rate stats.

Terry Adams (CLE). 2-6, 3.05. 30 Sv, 1 H.
Mike Henneman (DET). 1-5, 4.54. 34 Sv.
Ken Howell (SFS). 4-4, 2.35. 4 Sv, 9 H, 0.99 WHIP.
* Sean Marshall (BAL). 0-5, 1.79. 1 Sv, 8 H, 0.98 WHIP.
Mike Norris (NYG). 4-3, 1.36. 7 Sv, 13 H.
Ron Reed (PHI/CLE). 0-6, 4.64. 3 Sv, 16 H.
Ron Robinson (SFS). 6-4, 3.73. 1 Sv, 17 H.
Ed Walsh (CAG). 6-3, 2.73. 5 H, 3.00 FIP.
Brian Wilson (NYG). 1-0, 1.00. 24 Sv, 1 H, 2.58 FIP.

* Currently on the DL.

Streaks

Most impressively, Christy Mathewson hasn’t given up a run in 19 innings.

Los Angeles’ Bobby Grich has a 32 game on-base streak, but he’s still 20 shy of the league record. George Stone of the House of David has 4 consecutive pinch-hits, which has him tied for the league record.

Series Results

Series Sweeps in Series XXXIII

Houston over Los Angeles
New York Black Yankees over Philadelphia

Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XXXIII

Detroit over Memphis Red Sox
Homestead Grays over Kansas City Monarchs
Miami over Cleveland

Taking 3 out of 5 in Series XXXIII (weather makeup included)

Birmingham over New York Gothams

Series Splits in Series XXXIII

Chicago @ House of David
Baltimore @ Indianapolis ABC’s
Portland @ Ottawa Mounties
San Francisco @ Brooklyn Royal Giants

TWIWBL 38.0: Series XXX Notes

By mknn

On April 20, 2023

In TWIWBL

August 9th

There was a single game on August 9th: the Indianapolis ABCs visited the House of David to makeup a game rained out earlier in the year. And what a game it was …

The ABCs Willie Mitchell has struggled a bit since joining the starting rotation, but he’s still been effective; here he would be opposed by the House of David’s Frank Sullivan.

Mitchell struggled early, giving up 4 runs in the first two innings on a 2-run single from Joe Harris and an RBI triple from Dan Ford. Both are stories of note: Harris, a 35 year old minor league veteran, has hit well over .300 since being recalled a few weeks ago and Ford, an injury fill in early in the season, has blossomed, keeping his average over .300 with some power in becoming the House of David’s starting RF.

But Mitchell settled down after that, not allowing a run through 7 innings.

In the meantime, the ABCs scratched and clawed their way back with 2 in the 6th, 1 in the 7th, and a solo homerun from Dave Henderson in the 8th to tie the game.

Anthony Rizzo singled home the go-ahead run in the bottom of the frame as the game was handed over to two expended bullpens.

Indianapolis would get a pinch-hit, 2-run shot in the top of the 9th from Bob Bescher to take the lead, but Harris would answer with a 2-out solo shot in the bottom of the frame to send us to extra innings.

The 10th was scoreless, but after Ford reached on an error, Harris doubled him home to win the game.

Harris drove in 4 on 4 hits, and Ryne Sandberg and Jim Edmonds added 3 hits apiece for the winning side. Pete Browning went 1 for 6, edging closer and closer to qualifying for the league lead in batting (he currently sits at .358).

IND 6 (Carroll 2-4, 2 B Sv) @ HOD 7 (Downs 3-2; Niedenfuer 3 H; Smith 1 B Sv) [11 Innings]
HRs: IND – Henderson (10), Bescher (14); HOD – Harris (4).
Box Score

Awards

The House of David’s Elrod Hendricks was named the WBL Player of the Week, hitting .474 with a whopping 5 homeruns during 19 at-bats over the past 7 games.

Performance

Some random statistical accomplishments …

The New York Black Yankees‘ Eric Davis leads the Power/Speed combos, with 30 homeruns and 57 steals. Five other players have at least 20 of each, with Brooklyn‘s Beals Becker (21 HRs and 42 SBs) being the next highest total.

Davis’ teammate Don Mattingly has 24 homers and only 26 strikeouts.

The New York Gothams‘ Jimmy Sheckard and Willie Davis of the Philadelphia Stars have yet to hit into a doubleplay.

The Chicago American Giants‘ Dick Allen is the only player in the league in double digits in doubles (21), triples (10), and homeruns (19).

Batters

Standard stuff: top 2 in all categories, leader in bold.

Babe Ruth of the New York Black Yankees has put some distance between the rest of the homerun hitters. He and the Los Angeles Angels‘ Doug Rader are the dominant offensive players, but Ruth is clearly the man.

Dick Allen (CAG). 303/371/538. 10 3B.
Johnny Bench (IND). 302/410/598. 5.4 WAR.
Ty Cobb (DET). 343/388/562.
Mike Fiore (HOM). 241/403/396. 89 BB.
Bobby Grich (LAA). 288/377/483. 40 2B.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 253/383/338. 80 SB.
Kent Hrbek (POR). 305/378/594. 34 HR.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 333/418/586. 92 R.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 327/444/605.
Willie Mays (NYG). 327/392/526. 147 H.
Stan Musial (KCM). 333/396/585. 40 2B.
Doug Rader (LAA). 340/393/553. 153 H, 115 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 297/372/442. 78 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 320/435/675. 39 HR, 108 RBI, 99 R, 87 BB, 6.7 WAR.
Louis Santop (CLE). 298/327/457. 11 3B.

Pitchers

Same as the batters: top 2 in all categories, leader in bold.

Starters

Pitchers keep passing up their opportunities to lead the league in wins: currently 3 are tied with 13 wins each. Jack Taylor of the House of David is emerging as perhaps the best starter in the league.

Bill Byrd (BAL). 12-3, 3.18.
Gerrit Cole (LAA). 13-6, 4.40.
Don Drysedale (BRK). 7-6, 3.59. 1.16 WHIP.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 11-7, 3.74. 169 Ks, 9.7 K/9.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 6-10, 4.67. 162 Ks, 9.2 K/9, 3.5 K/BB.
Luke Hamlin (KCM). 7-10, 4.99. 1.8 BB/9, 3.1 K/BB.
Pat Malone (CLE). 13-6, 3.89.
Christy Mathewson (NYG). 13-7, 3.90.
Alejandro Peña (BBB). 10-7, 3.28. 4.8 WAR; 3.13 FIP.
Eddie Plank (SFS). 9-5, 4.08. 3.28 FIP.
Stephen Strasburg. 7-6, 3.26. 3.9 WAR.
Jack Taylor (HOD). 12-8, 2.98. 1.12 WHIP.
Cy Young (CLE). 9-7, 4.50. 1.8 BB/9.

Relievers

Relievers are weird, right? The Gothams’ Brian Wilson has been the most dominant. Baltimore‘s Sean Marshall will miss the rest of the season through injury, but may still end up leading the relievers in WHIP at the end of the season.

33 minimum IP for rate stats.

Terry Adams (CLE). 2-6, 3.26. 27 Sv; 1 H.
Watty Clark (BRK). 3-2, 1.82. 21 Sv. 1.01 WHIP.
Mike Henneman (DET). 1-5, 4.50. 32 Sv.
Sean Marshall (BAL). 5-0, 1.79. 1 Sv; 8H. 0.98 WHIP.
Mike Norris (NYG). 4-3, 1.47. 4 Sv; 12 H.
Ron Reed (PHI/CLE). 0-5, 4.12. 3 Sv; 16 H.
Ron Robinson (SFS). 5-3, 3.59. 1 Sv, 16 H.
Brian Wilson (NYG). 1-0, 1.02. 24 Sv.

Streaks

The king is dead! Long live the king! Boog Powell of the Kansas City Monarchs‘ has now reached base in 48 straight games, surpassing the Black Yankees’ Thurman Munson‘s mark of 43 games.

Ryne Sandberg‘s hitting streak ended at 22, tying him with Munson for 2nd place behind Ruth’s 23. During that streak, Sandberg scored in 15 straight games, setting the league record, but Ruth has scored in his last dozen contests, so we’ll see if he can reclaim that particular mark.

Baltimore’s Frank Robinson has hit a homerun in 4 consecutive games, 1 shy of the league record.

Two pitchers are threatening the Black Yankees’ Red Ruffing‘s league record of 24 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. The House of David’s Jack Taylor has a 21 inning streak and Birmingham‘s Greg Maddux is at 20 innings.

Results

Series XXX Sweeps

Indianapolis ABCs over Portland Sea Dogs

Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XXX

Baltimore over Memphis Red Sox
Detroit Wolverines over Philadelphia
Los Angeles over New York Gothams
New York Black Yankees over Miami Cuban Giants

Series Splits

Birmingham @ Kansas City
Brooklyn @ Ottawa Mounties
Cleveland Spiders @ Chicago
House of David @ Homestead Grays
Houston Colt 45s @ San Francisco Sea Lions

Series XXX Featured Matchup: Cleveland Spiders @ Chicago American Giants

By mknn

On April 19, 2023

In Featured Series, Game Recaps

Series preview here.

#Game 1: Cy Young @ Dick Rudolph

A win would pull Chicago to within a game of Baltimore, who lost in surprising fashion earlier in the day. It certainly looks like a possibility as Dick Rudolph, one of the hottest pitchers in the league, takes on Cleveland’s Cy Young, who has cooled off noticeably in recent starts.

Early, Young regained his form and Rudolph maintained his: both hurlers had shutouts through 4 innings.

That lasted until the bottom of the 6th, when a double from Joe Jackson and a triple–a TRIPLE–from Frank Thomas put Chicago up, 1-0. The American Giants bench then lost their collective mind, putting on a suicide squeeze (when Duffy Lewis missed the bunt, Thomas was, predictably, dead meat at the plate).

Rudolph lasted until one out in the 8th, when he was relieved by Hoyt Wilhelm. Tris Speaker delivered a pinch-hit single, but a wild pitch plated Chuck Knoblauch to tie the game. A third run scored on an error, putting Cleveland ahead 3-1, and making Rudolph’s fine performance all for naught.

John Ellis took Wilhelm deep in the top of the 9th, putting Cleveland ahead, 2-1. Terry Adams made it interesting, walking three in the bottom of the frame, but Jack Doyle grounded into a double play with the bases loaded to end the game.

CLE 3 (Gearrin 2-8; Adams 27 Sv) @ CHA 1 (Wilhelm 3-4, 1 B Sv)
HRs: CLE – Ellis (20); CHA – none.
Box Score

#Game 2: Mel Harder @ Tricky Nichols

Each team had a good chance to score in the opening frame, but Joe Jackson nailed a runner at the plate for the 3rd out in the top of the frame and Mel Harder got a nice play from Arky Vaughan at SS with two on base to close out the bottom half.

Cleveland would take the lead in the top of the 4th when Tricky Nichols walked Ron Blomberg and gave up doubles to John Ellis and Jake Stahl, giving the Spiders a 2-0 lead. Johnny Bates added an RBI single in the 5th while Harder was superb, tossing a 2-hit shutout through 5 innings.

Nichols was chased in the 6th, but his replacement, Ken Sanders, plunked Sammy Strang to bring in Cleveland’s 4th run.

Harder was running on fumes, but had still only given up 2 hits through 7. With 1 out in the 9th–and having thrown 130 pitches–Harder gave up a double to Duffy Lewis and was replaced by Chuck Porter, who completed the combined 3-hit shutout.

CLE 4 (Harder 4-1) @ CAG 0 (Nichols 12-7)
HRs: none.
Box Score

#Game 3: Pat Malone @ David Price

Pat Malone–who???–tries to become the first pitcher in the league to reach 14 wins as Cleveland looks to cement a series win.

Malone will have to wait, as the game was canceled due to rain, to be made up as part of a doubleheader the following day, but the opening game featured the same matchup, with Malone taking on Chicago’s David Price.

Price struggled in the first, giving up a run on a double by Lance Berkman, but induced an inning ending double play from Louis Santop to escape with the score 1-0 Cleveland. Price settled down after that, allowing only the 1 run on 3 hits through 5; Malone was sailing along with a 2-hit shutout as well.

That lasted until the 6th, when Duffy Lewis singled in 2 with a 2 out knock. Dick Allen followed with his 19th homerun of the year, pushing the American Giants lead to 4-1. Both pitchers made it through 7 full innings, with the score unchanged.

Akinori Otsuka was greeted by a single by Jake Stahl, and another by Ron Blomberg. Chicago’s LF, Duffy Lewis, had Stahl dead for rights at 3B, but his throw was high for his first error of the year, scoring Stahl and putting Blomberg at second with no outs. Otsuka settled down, however, and the Spiders could only manage the single run, cutting the lead to 4-2.

AJ Minter pitched a perfect 9th for his 20th save, giving Chicago a chance to even the series in the second half of the doubleheader.

CLE 2 (Malone 13-6) @ CAG 4 (Price 1-0; Minter 20 Sv; Otsuka 3 H)
HRs: CLE – none; CAG – Allen (19).
Box Score

#Game 4: Bill Steen @ Mark Buehrle

Chicago’s Mark Buehrle will take on the Spiders’ Bill Steen in the nightcap as the American Giants try to earn a series split by sweeping the twinbill.

Steen gave up Joe Jackson‘s 25th homerun in the bottom of the first for an early 2-0 lead for Chicago. Duffy Lewis and Mike Fiore would add RBI singles, increasing the lead to 4-0 while Buehrle was spinning a 4-hit shutout through 6 innings, despite 2 errors in the field behind him.

Buehrle was relieved by Ed Walsh with 2 outs in the 7th. Despite being greeted by a pinch-hit double by Johnny Bates, Walsh got out of the inning with the shutout preserved, and proceeded to close out the game as an 8-hit combined shutout.

Chicago added 2 more runs–the first on an error by Lance Berkman, the second on a solo shot by Carlton Fisk. Jackson ended the game with 3 hits, as did José Abreu, who had been mired in a horrible slump.

CLE 0 (Steen 8-3) @ CAG 7 (Buehrle 9-8)
HRs: CLE – none; CAG – Jackson (25), Fisk (10).
Box Score

Series XXX Preview: Cleveland Spiders @ Chicago American Giants

By mknn

On April 12, 2023

In Featured Series, Series Previews

We focused on Cleveland just 2 series ago, in Series XXVIII, as well as in Series XIX and VII while Chicago was featured in Series XXII, Series XX, and Series VI.

Neutral viewers will be rooting for Chicago: if they do well, they will close their gap with Baltimore in the Cum Posey Division while helping pull the Spiders back to within reach of the New York Black Yankees in the Effa Manley Division.

Cleveland Spiders

Not much has changed for Cleveland since we last saw them: the starting pitching is still excellent, if without a truly dominant front of the rotation arm. Pat Malone is 13-5, but really the quintet of Malone, Stan Coveleski, Cy Young, Bill Steen, and Mel Harder are fairly interchangeable. Strong pitching throughout the rotation is clearly an edge on other teams. Probably the most important question on the mound for Cleveland is if Ron Reed can regain the form he had with Philadelphia.

The offense continues to revolve around Ron Blomberg (335/405/636, 32 HR, 91 RBI), John Ellis (288/349/540, 19 HR) and Jake Stahl (279/340/529, 20 HR). The offensive questions remain the same: Sammy Strang gets on base, but does little else at 3B, and SS Arky Vaughan is still an unknown quantity since being acquired a few days ago.

Perhaps the biggest challenge is how to get Tris Speaker (385/467/846 in only 15 PAs) some more plate appearances. Kenny Lofton (296/379/391) has done well in CF, meaning Speaker is blocked at his primary position, but the team does need to know if Speaker can maintain anything close to that level of performance.

Before the series, the commissioner’s office finally approved the inclusion of Stan Bahnsen in the Spiders’ trade with Homestead. Bahnsen was sent to AAA for the meantime.

Chicago American Giants

While not yet following Indianapolis into the uncharted waters of a 6-man rotation, Chicago does need to do something to get Ed Walsh more innings. Tricky Nichols leads the staff with a 12-6 record, but there’s really not a lot between Nichols, Dick Rudolph, Mark Buehrle, Ben Sheets, and the newly-acquired David Price.

But they’re all a clear notch below Cleveland’s starters.

Closer AJ Minter is–finally–back from his stint on the DL. OF Magglio Ordoñez was the odd man out, with the American Giants preferring a deeper staff to Ordoñez’ glove in RF.

Chicago has 4 batters with an OPS over 900–RF Joe Jackson (333/420/584), 1B/DH Frank Thomas (312/425/535), 2B Eddie Collins (313/405/531), and 3B Dick Allen (309/378/543). The rest of the lineup is above-average as well–LF Duffy Lewis has 23 HRs, SS Freddy Parent continues to produce at an all-star level since being acquired from Ottawa, CF Mike Fiore has an OBP of .400 and C Carlton Fisk‘s .800 OPS is excellent for a backstop.

Series XXVIII Featured Series: Cleveland Spiders @ Kansas City Monarchs

By mknn

On March 10, 2023

In Featured Games, Featured Series

Series preview here.

#Game 1: Pat Malone @ Bob Gibson

Early on, it didn’t look good for either Cleveland’s Pat Malone‘s attempt at his 12th win of the year or for Kansas City’s Bob Gibson looking to establish himself in the Monarchs’ rotation.

Louis Santop tripled in Jake Stahl and scored on a groundout from Chuck Knoblauch to give the Spiders a lead in the top of the 2nd, but the game would be tight for a while as Lou Brock doubled in Robinson Canó and scored on a sacrifice fly from Frankie Frisch to tie it up.

Cleveland would retake the lead with a leadoff double from Johnny Bates and an RBI single from John Ellis, but again Kansas City would respond as an error in RF by Ron Blomberg allowed Boog Powell to score, and an RBI single from Canó gave the Monarchs their first lead, at 4-3.

Gibson would be chased in the 5th, surrendering 3 doubles and a walk to the first four batters, with Ellis driving in 1 and Stahl 2. Trevor Rosenthal came in and promptly gave away the store: 4 walks and an HBP and by the end of the inning, the Spiders were ahead, 9-4.

Malone had settled down at this point, and with the Monarchs’ getting a nice effort from Rube Marquard, the game stayed the same until the top of the 9th, when Marquard’s stuff ran out with Sammy Strang driving in 2 and Kenny Lofton 1. That made it 12-4, which was the final tally.

Malone is now tied for the league lead in victories. Ted Simmons had 3 hits for the Monarchs in a losing cause.

CLE 12 (Malone 12-5) @ KCM 4 (Gibson 0-2)
HRs: none.
Box Score

#Game 2: Bill Steen @ Luke Hamlin

A wild pitch by Cleveland’s Bill Steen allowed Ted Simmons (who had tripled) to score in the bottom of the 2nd. Steen walked 3 in the inning, but got Boog Powell to ground out, limiting the Monarchs to a single run.

Steen continued to struggle with his control, but made it through 5 innings only surrendering the 1 run.

You never know which Luke Hamlin will show up for Kansas City. This was the good one, as he spun a 2-hit shutout through 5 innings. The Monarchs do know which Louis Santop shows up, though, as the 19 year old continues to make a name for himself. Here, in the bottom of the 6th, his snap throw to first picked off Ozzie Smith, who had walked.

John Ellis led off the 7th with a double, and moved to 3rd on a single from Lance Berkman, chasing Hamlin from the mound. Santop tied the game with a sacrifice fly, but Frank DiPino was able to get out of the inning without further damage.

Cleveland fans love to disparage Sammy Strang, but the 3B has had a decent year, especially in terms of getting on base. Power has been an issue, but here he led off the 8th with his 2nd homerun of the year, putting the Spiders up, 2-1. The lead was short-lived, as consecutive pinch-hits by Steve Evans and Jack Rowe tied it up in the bottom of the 8th. Ron Reed, who was shaky all inning, got Stan Musial to fly out with 2 on, leaving the game tied heading into the 9th.

And it stayed that way, sending us to extra innings.

In the top of the 11th, Berkman chipped a one-out single into RF, and was replaced by Bill Dahlen. Dahlen moved to second on the 2nd out of the inning and scored on a single by Chuck Knoblauch.

The Monarchs tried to duplicate the pattern: Musial opened the inning with a hit, and was replaced by the pinch-running Frankie Frisch. Terry Adams walked Albert Pujols, prompting Cleveland to go to their bullpen for Bob Feller. Feller could not do it: Ducky Medwick, who had 3 hits on the day, drove home a run with a single, and Willie McGee won the game with a sacrifice fly to deep LF.

CLE 3 (Adams 2-6; Feller 1 B Sv) @ KCM 4 (Pfeffer 5-2; DiPino 2 B Sv) [11 Innings]
HRs: CLE – Strang (2); KCM – none.
Box Score

#Game 3: Stan Coveleski @ Adam Wainwright

Adam Wainwright has been struggling of late, and it continued, although he escaped damage until the 3rd, when Ron Blomberg singled in a run. John Ellis drove in a 2nd with a sacrifice fly giving the Spiders an early 2-0 lead. Wainwright settled down until Blomberg took him deep in the top of the 6th, increasing Cleveland’s lead to 3-0 and forcing Kansas City to bring in Joe Blong from the pen.

That didn’t work so well: Blong gave up a walk and 5 consecutive hits, pushing the lead to 6-0 and bringing in Adam Russell in relief, who gave up a sacrifice fly before bringing the inning to a close.

Stan Coveleski, on the other hand, went to the bottom of the 6th with the 7-0 lead nursing a 4-hit shutout. The shutout lasted into the 7th, when Lou Brock took Coveleski deep.

Each team added a run, but the outcome was never really in doubt. Blomberg ended with 4 hits for Cleveland while Willie McGee and Brock had 3 hits each for Kansas City in the losing cause.

CLE 8 (Coveleski 11-2) @ KCM 4 (Wainwright 1-5)
HRs: CLE – Blomberg (32); KCM – Brock (9).
Box Score

#Game 4: Cy Young @ Frank Castillo

Neither Cy Young nor Frank Castillo were very good, with each team scoring in the first frame. Cleveland used doubles from Ron Blomberg and Kenny Lofton and Kansas City RBI singles from Stan Musial and Robinson Canó, and we came out of the first inning with the Spiders leading, 3-2.

But, despite allowing a lot of traffic, only one more run crossed the plate until a 3-run shot by Lance Berkman made it 7-2 in favor of Cleveland in the top of the 7th.

Kansas City made it close with a 2 run single from Albert Pujols and a 2 run jack from Ducky Medwick making it a 1-run game at 7-6, but the Spiders’ Terry Adams pitched a perfect 9th for his 25th save giving Cleveland the 3-1 edge in the series.

CLE 7 (Young 9-7; Adams 25 Sv; Porter 11 H) @ KCM 6 (Castillo 6-9)
HRs: CLE – Berkman (8); KCM – Medwick (11).
Box Score

Series XXVIII Preview: Cleveland Spiders @ Kansas City Monarchs

By mknn

On March 7, 2023

In Featured Series, Series Previews

We focused on the Cleveland Spiders in Series VII and Series XIX and on the Kansas City Monarchs way back when in Series VIII and Series X. Since then, a lot has changed: Cleveland sits atop the Effa Manley Division and Kansas City has, effectively, given up on the early promise of their season.

Cleveland Spiders

The Spiders have a 4.5 game lead heading into August, and have gone from “a decent enough team” to a favorite to make the post-season. They’ve retooled their infield, bringing in Arky Vaughan, but will continue to depend on excellent starting pitching and a balanced offense to carry them through.

On the mound, they’ve lost Whit Wyatt, which will hurt, but the trio of Cy Young (8-7, 4.68), Pat Malone (11-5, 3.84), and Stan Coveleski (10-2, 3.55) has been excellent (if, in Young’s case, a bit erratic), and the back of the bullpen–closer Terry Adams (24 saves) and the duo of Cory Gearrin and Chuck Porter–is as good as there is. Ron Reed has struggled some since being brought in at the all-star break, which is something to watch, as is the progress of Bob Feller, recently recalled from AAA.

Offensively, it’s all about Ron Blomberg, who leads the team across the board with a 338/407/649 slash line, 31 homeruns, 80 runs scored, and 87 RBIs. Jake Stahl and John Ellis have been spectacular, and Johnny Bates, Chuck Knoblauch, Louis Santop, and Lance Berkman (slashing 287/439/500 since arriving in Cleveland) excellent. If Vaughan can have a similar impact to Berkman, the Spiders may be spinning a web towards a championship.

Kansas City Monarchs

The Monarchs may have a huge impact on the postseason through the talent they’ve let go: Rogers Hornsby (Portland), Andy Pettitte (Birmingham), and Connie Johnson (Baltimore) all have shot at dramatically impacting their new homes fortune in the postseason.

The team that remains is still solid. The occasionally-brilliant Luke Hamlin leads the starters with 7 wins, and there is literally no ceiling on what Bob Gibson may do now that he’s part of the rotation. Jeff Pfeffer has 15 saves, and the bullpen has been strong getting him the ball.

Stan Musial leads the offense, slashing 332/391/594 with 21 homeruns. Albert Pujols is tied with Musial in RBIs with 77, and second in homeruns with 17. Boog Powell has been quietly spectacular, with an OBP over 400. Throw in Ducky Medwick, Robinson Canó, and Willie McGee, and this offense will continue to score runs.

Projected Starters

Cleveland’s starter listed first.

Pat Malone (11-5, 3.84) @ Bob Gibson (0-1, 3.68)
Bill Steen (8-2, 3.83) @ Luke Hamlin (7-9, 5.04)
Mel Harder (3-1, 3.95) @ Rube Marquard (4-9, 6.12)
Stan Coveleski (10-2, 3.55) @ Adam Wainwright (1-4, 5.70)

Prediction

The strengths of each team collide head-on: Cleveland’s starting pitching against the Monarchs’ bats. But Cleveland can hit a bit, too, so I think they take 3 out of 4.

TWIWBL 32.0: Series XXV Notes

By mknn

On February 1, 2023

In TWIWBL

July 19th

For this TWIWBL we’re going to look at two of my favorite emerging plotlines.

Biggest Surprise

Right now, it’s got to be the Birmingham Black Barons. At the end of May, they were 10 games back, a .400 team, and battling Miami for last place in the Marvin Miller Division. Today, they are 7 games over .500, and only 2.5 games behind division-leading Portland. So, what happened?

Birmingham began to turn it around in late May, but their high level of activity at the all-star break has to be mentioned as well. Ultimately, they lost 2 SPs (Dick Rudolph to Chicago and all-star Tim Hudson to San Francisco), a key bullpen piece (Hoyt Wilhelm in the same trade as Rudolph), and two infielders (all-star 2B Tom Herr to the Black Yankees and U Frank Isbell to Brooklyn). They received 10 players and 4 draft picks in return, with only 1B Adrián González making the big leagues immediately.

González’ OPS with the Black Barons has been in the high 600’s, which isn’t great, but is almost 200 points higher than his struggles with Chicago. He is splitting time at 1B with Frank McCormick, and the combo is outperforming Isbell. Hank Aaron is playing more at 2B with Herr gone, allowing Bob Nieman and Curtis Granderson to be joined by a rotating cast of OFers, but overall strengthening the lineup (even if Aaron isn’t exactly good defensively at 2B). Additionally, Eddie Mathews and Pie Traynor are in the lineup most days, with Mathews becoming the primary DH.

It’s worked: the quartet of Granderson, McCormick, Mathews, and Aaron have all come to life, combining for 27 HRs and 103 RBIs since June 1st. All in all, a team that struggled to score at all is now slowly, very slowly, edging away from the bottom of the pack offensively.

But the real success has been on the mound where, quite surprisingly, the loss of Hudson, Rudolph, and Wilhelm hasn’t really been felt. Alejandro Peña has been solid all year, Greg Maddux is finally living up to his hype, and Vic Willis continues to impress in the rotation. Closer Juan Ríncón has 17 saves despite starting the season buried in the bullpen, and the trio of Bruce Chen, Harley Young, and Steve Bedrosian have been fantastic in getting the ball to Rincón.

Rincón got his 2nd, 3rd, and 4th save of the season in consecutive games in late May, about the same time Bedrosian and Willis joined the big league club, with Chen being recalled from AAA in late June.

Look, the Black Barons are still a longshot to make the playoffs–but just being in the conversation has been an unlikely triumph for Birmingham. And it’s not all luck: yes, they are outperforming their Pythagorean projection by 2 wins, but that would still leave them above .500 even if they weren’t.

Second Biggest Surprise

The New York Black Yankees were supposed to run away and hide atop the Effa Manley Division. But the Cleveland Spiders have other ideas, and currently sit 3.5 games above New York in the standings, with the second best record in baseball.

Cy Young and Pat Malone have led the rotation all year, with ERA’s right around 4.00 and excellent peripheral numbers, and the bullpen trio of Chuck Porter, Cory Gearrin, and Ron Reed (who has continued to excel since being acquired from Philadelphia) have been able to consistently get the ball to Terry Adams in good situations. Adams has delivered with 23 saves, despite an 0-5 record.

Offensively, Ron Blomberg is in the argument for the MVP, slashing 334/402/638 with 28 homeruns and 76 RBIs, but the key to the team may have been finding a way to get John Ellis in the lineup almost every day, as the C/1B/DH has an OPS over .900, ranking second to Blomberg in most offensive stats. Add in a great season from Louis Santop behind the plate, solid contributions from Jake Stahl, Chuck Knoblauch, and Johnny Bates and the surprising turnaround from midseason acquisition Lance Berkman (whose OPS is over 300 points above where it was for Houston), and the Spiders have a dangerous lineup, top to bottom.

Can they hold off the Black Yankees? If New York’s bullpen continues to be absolutely porous, yes, yes they can. Will they? That’s another question entirely.

Performance

Awards

I feel like I’ve missed these for a little while, so I’m going to list the last few Players of the Week as well as June’s Players of the Month.

Player of the Month

In an unusual occurence for a reliever, Willie Mitchell of the Indianapolis ABC’s was the Pitcher of the Month for June. Mitchell was 4-0 with a 0.95 ERA out of the bullpen, prompting him to be added to the ABC’s rotation.

The Los Angeles Angels‘ Mike Trout took the Batter of the Month award, by hitting .381 for June. Trout is still looking to add some power to his results, but it moved him firmly into the conversation of elite hitters in the game.

Player of the Week

Willie Stargell of the Homestead Grays was the PotW for the week ending 7/17, hitting .565 with 3 HRs and 9RBIs in the span.

Babe Ruth has recovered from a mini-slump with a vengeance, taking home the PotW award for the week ending 7/10, hitting .500 with 3 homeruns and 12 RBI’s.

Before Ruth, the award went to Brooklyn’s Beals Becker, who raised his season average to a cool .300 with a .478, 3 HR showing during the week.

Batters

Top 2 in all categories, with the WBL leader in bold.

It’s been the Babe Ruth show since Reggie Jackson‘s triple crown run fell apart, but we’re seeing some others, most notably Kansas City‘s Stan Musial, edge into the MVP discussion.

Dick Allen (CAG). 307/375/553. 10 3B.
Johnny Bench (IND). 295/411/564. 4.4 WAR.
Ron Blomberg (CLE). 334/402/638. 28 HR.
Rico Carty (PHI). 287/360/461. 34 2B.
Ty Cobb (DET). 350/392/559. 124 H.
Mike Epstein (HOM). 332/432/535.
Mike Fiore (CAG). 249/405/415. 70 BB.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 252/388/341. 74 BB; 69 SB.
Kent Hrbek (POR). 309/379/591. 28 HR.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 340/422/593. 76 R.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 327/439/587.
Stan Musial (KCM). 340/396/602. 129 H; 36 2B.
Doug Rader (LAA). 324/382/532. 94 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 290/365/433. 71 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 313/421/643. 30 HR; 91 RBI; 80 R; 5.3 WAR.
Louis Santop (CLE). 312/344/470. 10 3B.

Pitchers

Starters

Top 3 in each category, with the league leader in bold. No fewer than nine hurlers have 10 victories each, so only the top two in wins–Cole and Mathewson–are listed.

Bill Byrd (BAL). 10-2, 3.12. 1.18 WHIP.
Gerrit Cole (LAA). 12-4, 4.10.
Don Drysedale (BRK). 6-3, 3.49. 1 H; 1.17 WHIP.
Ned Garvin (BAL). 9-3, 2.66. 2 H; 1.15 WHIP.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 10-6, 3.72. 150 Ks.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 5-8, 3.99. 144 Ks; 3.4 WAR.
Walter Johnson (POR). 9-3, 3.54. 3.3 WAR.
Frank Knauss (BRK). 10-4, 3.19. 1 Sv.
Christy Mathewson (NYG). 11-6, 3.78. 123 Ks.
Alejandro Peña (BBB). 8-6, 3.65. 3.6 WAR.

Relievers

Detroit‘s Mike Henneman has finally passed the injured Johan Santana for the league lead in saves.

22 IP for rate stats; top 2, leader in bold.

Terry Adams (CLE). 0-5, 3.48. 23 Sv; 1 H.
Watty Clark (BRK). 3-1, 1.20. 17 Sv.
Mike Henneman (DET). 1-4, 3.41. 25 Sv.
AJ Minter (CAG). 1-0, 2.22. 18 Sv, 0.86 WHIP.
Chuck Porter (CLE). 4-3, 2.04. 1 Sv; 10 H; 0.86 WHIP.
Ron Reed (PHI/CLE). 0-3, 2.59. 3 Sv; 16 H.
Ron Robinson (SFS). 4-2, 3.35. 13 H.
Johan Santana (POR). 1-1, 2.78. 23 Sv; 1 H.
Jonny Venters (LAA). 3-3, 3.35. 5 Sv; 13 H.
Brian Wilson (SFS). 1-0, 1.15. 20 Sv.

Streaks

Beals Becker‘s on-bas streak ended at 32 games, but Boog Powell‘s is still alive at 29 and counting. Other active streaks of note include Brian Wilson‘s 18 consecutive saves and Bill Byrd‘s 14 starts without a loss, as well as Harley Young‘s 12 scoreless innings in relief.

Series Results

Series XXV Sweeps

Birmingham over Indianapolis

Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XXV

Chicago over Philadelphia
House of David over Cleveland
Kansas City over New York Black Yankees
San Francisco over Portland

Series XXV Splits

Houston Colt 45’s @ Baltimore Black Sox
Miami Cuban Giants @ Brooklyn
Detroit Wolverines @ New York Gothams
Homestead @ Memphis Red Sox
Ottawa Mounties @ Los Angeles