[luckymann]

LATE COLLAPSE BY DETROIT PUTS WASHINGTON IN THE BOX SEAT IN THE AL AS WE ENTER THE FINAL MONTH – WHITE SOX BURN BRIGHT THEN FIZZLE OUT – DESPITE A TOUCH OF THE WOBBLES, ORPHANS LOOK ALL BUT HOME IN THE NL

Notable Performances

• 1st: Bucs SS JT Riddle has 5 hits including 2 triples, drives in 2 runs and scores 4 in a 17-6 whack job on the Superbas. Meanwhile the Senators score 7 in the 9th to steal one from their AL pennant rival Tigers 10-8.
• 8th: Americans CF Homer Smoot justifies the big money he’s being paid with a 5-hit / triple / 2 RBI game in a 13-12 squeaker over the Browns.
• 10th: The White Sox manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory when they give up 9 in the 9th against the Americans to lose 9-4 and miss a great chance to pick up a crucial game on the Tigers and Senators, both of whom also lose.
• 15th: O’s LF Xavier Nady becomes just the second player in FL history to get 6 hits in a game, doubling twice and knocking in 4 in a 16-6 romp over the Browns. The Tigers survive a real scare later that day when they give up 9 in the 9th to scrape past Boston 19-17 in a 53-hit doozy, with both Eddie Kasko and Buck Rodgers having five-fers.
• 18th: Phillies 2B Akinori Iwamura goes ballistic in a 19-5 smashing of the Pirates, with 5 hits – 4 of them triples – and 3 RBI. Teammate Buddy Phillips also has 5 hits in the game.
• 25th: First baseman Pete Runnels goes 5-for-5 with a FL record-tying 5 runs scored as the Phillies embarrass the Reds 18-6.
• 26th: Washington completes a crucial 4-game sweep of rivals Detroit by coming back late to pinch one 5-4. Across in the NL, New York’s Derek Jeter breaks all kinds of FL records as he goes 7-for-8 with 6 ribbies in a crazy 10-inning 17-14 win over Cincy.
• 28th: The Tigers seem to be imploding just at the wrong time. Today they gave up 24 runs on 33 hits in a huge shellacking at the hands of the Americans, with Homer Smoot, Joe Randa and Eric Young – each with 5 hits – doing most of the damage.

Feats and Streaks

• 8th: Chicago’s Wilbur Wood becomes the season’s first 20-game winner when he leads the Orphans past New York 4-3.
• 14th: New York 1B Dalton Jones’s consecutive hit streak reaches 25 games. He would push that mark out to 31 before going hitless late in the month in a 7-2 loss to the Reds.

Monthly Awards
American League

• Batter: Hector Lopez CWS (.454 / 2 HR / 19 RBI / 27 R)
• Pitcher: Pete Schourek WAS (7-0, 3.23 / 27 K / 64 IP)
• Rookie: Hector Lopez CWS

National League

• Batter: Leon Durham BSN (.467 / 1 HR / 28 RBI / 28 R)
• Pitcher: Danny Duffy CHC (5-0, 3.95 / 19 K / 57 IP)
• Rookie: Leon Durham BSN

Leaders
American League

• BA: Danny O’Connell BAL .417
• HR: Steve Cox CWS 6
• RBI: Steve Cox CWS 98
• BWAR: Solly Hemus CWS 5.8
• SB: Willie Wilson CLE 78

• W: Pete Schourek WAS 18
• ERA: Steve Cooke PHA 2.74
• K: Andy Messersmith CWS 126
• SV: Joe Hoerner BAL 5
• PWAR: Andy Messersmith CWS 4.5

National League

• BA: Pete Runnels PHI .412
• HR: 2 tied on 8
• RBI: Todd Dunwoody CHC 102
• BWAR: Todd Dunwoody CHC 5.9
• SB: Otis Clymer NYG 58

• W: Wilbur Wood CHC 21
• ERA: Wilbur Wood CHC 2.98
• K: Chappie McFarland BSN 112
• SV: Hank Johnson BSN 8
• PWAR: Chappie McFarland BSN 5.4

Transactions

• 1st: At the 24th hour, the Phillies (SP Tommy Hanson), Orioles (2B Bump Wills), White Sox (2B Hector Lopez), and Superbas (OF Delino DeShields) lock down early round Draft picks just before the Trade Deadline.
• 18th: SS Arnold Hauser is released by the Cincinnati Reds.

Injuries

• 1st: In what could have huge repercussions on the tight AL pennant race, the Tigers lose in-form CF Milt Cuyler for 5 weeks after he suffers a sprained ankle.
• 3rd: 1901 NL Cy Young Award winner Jamie Jones of the Cards is taken out for the season by a torn labrum.
• 9th: A torn back muscle brings Browns CF Jose Macias’ season to an end.
• 14th: The Reds will be without CF Chuck Diering for 3 months courtesy of a torn meniscus. They would also lose SS Dale Sveum for the season a fortnight later in what has been a horror season for them, injury-wise.
• 18th: Baltimore SP Jeremy Bonderman ruptures his Achilles tendon and will be forced to sit out the remainder of the season.

Life in a Minor Key (news from the lower levels)

• 1st: Harrisport’s Erskine Mayer two-hits the Bees while fanning 17 in a 9-0 whitewash.
• 3rd: Hazleton shortstop Bobby Valentine has a game to remember with 6 hits and 2 ribbies to help his team get past the Spudders 11-7.
• 13th: CF Jeff Abbott’s career-best 6-6 / 2 2B / HR / 3 RBI game leads Shreveport to an entertaining 16-13 triumph over Fort Worth.
• 14th: Reading’s charge continues as their 10th straight win gets them within 3 games of the slumping Hazleburg Senators.
• 17th: A big day for player and team as 2B Alexi Amarista has 5 hits including a double and a dinger and drives in 5 as his Fort Worth Panthers smash the Wilmington Pirates 20-7.
• 20th: The Waterloo Hawks clinch the PSLA pennant in a canter when the only team still in the race, the Chattanooga Lookouts, is eliminated with a loss. The PSLN race, on the other hand, is incredibly tight with Reading just 2 games back of Harrisburg and coming fast.
• 22nd: A day to remember for Jersey City’s Todd Benzinger as he hits for the cycle against Reading, driving in 5 runs in the process.
• 25th: Reading’s Danny Murtaugh has his hit streak snapped at 33 games in a 7-3 win over Jersey City.

Standings