[bpbrooksy]

April 1961 - Review

First, a glance at the majors as a whole, before we put on our analytical glasses and take a look at how our 25 guys have been doing, and whether or not we can make any early improvements.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

1. Baltimore Orioles (13-7)
2. Chicago White Sox (11-7)
3. New York Yankees (12-8)
4. Boston Red Sox (10-8)
5. Cleveland Indians (9-9)
6. Kansas City Athletics (8-9)
7. Detroit Tigers (8-10)
8. MINNESOTA TWINS (7-10)
9. Washington Senators (7-11)
10. Los Angeles Angels (6-12)

MONTHLY AWARDS

1. Batter of the Month: 1B Roy Sievers, CHW (.420, 5 HR, 19 RBI, 12 R)
2. Pitcher of the Month: SP Barry Latman, CLE (3-0, 1.48 ERA, 12 K)
3. Rookie of the Month: SP Bob Locker, CHW (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 15 K)

BATTING RACE

1. 1B Roy Sievers, CHW (.420)
2. 1B Pete Runnels, BOS (.403)
3. 2B Danny O'Connell, WSH (.381)

HOME RUN RACE

1. 3B Al Smith, CHW (9)
2. 1B Steve Bilko, LAA (8)
3. CF Mickey Mantle, NYY (7)

ERA LEADERS

1. Chuck Estrada, BAL (0.44)
2. Ken McBride, LAA (1.23)
3. Barry Latman, CLE (1.48)

STRIKEOUT LEADERS

1. CAMILO PASCUAL, MIN (30)
2. Jim Bunning, DET (29)
3. Juan Pizarro, CHW (26)

A game back of Baltimore, the White Sox sure are looking like an exciting team. They're keeping pace early with the Yankees, the defending American League champions, and find themselves all over the April leaderboards. As you can see, we're nowhere to be found, really, except for Pascual, who leads the majors as a whole in K's. He's on pace for over 250; the post-1900 record is Rube Waddell, with 349 in 1904.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

1. Milwaukee Braves (11-5)
2. St. Louis Cardinals (11-6)
3. Philadelphia Phillies (11-7)
4. Pittsburgh Pirates (9-8)
5. San Francisco Giants (9-8)
6. Cincinnati Reds (8-9)
7. Chicago Cubs (5-13)
8. Los Angeles Dodgers (5-13)

MONTHLY AWARDS

1. Batter of the Month: CF Hank Aaron, MIL (.387, 8 HR, 21 RBI, 20 R)
2. Pitcher of the Month: SP Bob Gibson, STL (4-0, 2.88 ERA, 28 K)
3. Rookie of the Month: RP Ron Perranoski (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6 K, 12 IP)

BATTING RACE

1. CF Curt Flood, STL (.446)
2. 3B Don Hoak, PIT (.415)
3. LF Lee Maye, MIL (.397)

HOME RUN RACE

1. CF Hank Aaron, MIL (8)
2. 1B Gordy Coleman, CIN (6)
3. 1B Pancho Herrera, PHI (5)

ERA LEADERS

1. Turk Farrell, PHI (1.27)
2. Bob Friend, PIT (2.30)
3. Ernie Broglio, STL (2.53)

STRIKEOUT LEADERS

1. Bob Gibson, STL (28)
2. Don Drysdale, LAD (26)
3. Jim O'Toole, CIN (24)

Westward expansion isn't looking so hot right now, as both Los Angeles teams are dead last in their leagues. Joining the Dodgers in the cellar of the Senior Circuit are the Cubs, who don't have a whole lot to speak of right now as an organization. Not only is the major league roster pretty bare, but they have the worst farm of any team that existed prior to this season.

The Pirates, of course, are baseball's defending world champions, but they've got some early competition within their own state. And Hammerin' Hank Aaron's definitive power stroke is helping to push the Braves up to the top of the NL. Aaron has 227 career homers and would be on pace to break Babe Ruth's home run record this year.