Standings
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Code:
AMERICAN LEAGUE STANDINGS
East W L PCT GB
Cleveland Indians 54 36 .600 -
New York Yankees 52 39 .571 2.5
Boston Red Sox 47 42 .528 6.5
Baltimore Orioles 47 45 .511 8.0
Washington Senators 43 49 .467 12.0
Detroit Tigers 40 50 .444 14.0
West W L PCT GB
Minnesota Twins 54 39 .581 -
Oakland Athletics 46 40 .535 4.5
California Angels 47 44 .516 6.0
Chicago White Sox 45 49 .479 9.5
Kansas City Royals 35 55 .389 17.5
Milwaukee Brewers 35 57 .380 18.5
NATIONAL LEAGUE STANDINGS
East W L PCT GB
Chicago Cubs 53 36 .596 -
Philadelphia 49 41 .544 4.5
New York Mets 49 42 .538 5.0
Pittsburgh 50 43 .538 5.0
St. Louis 38 52 .422 15.5
Montreal Expos 33 59 .359 21.5
West W L PCT GB
Houston Astros 57 35 .620 -
Cincinnati Reds 53 39 .576 4.0
San Francisco 51 38 .573 4.5
Atlanta Braves 41 49 .456 15.0
Los Angeles Dodgers 36 55 .396 20.5
San Diego Padres 37 58 .389 21.5
Major Transactions
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July 14: The Cardinals trade RF Matt Wilson (.291, 0, 4) to the Red Sox as part of a conditional deal. This trade was originally for a little-used middle reliever named Chuck Hartenstein but to be honest this one makes a lot more sense for both sides. Wilson wants out of St. Louis, the Red Sox need someone to bolster their fading lineup. Wilson had 6 HRs in 132 at-bats last year and figures to replace Josh Teague (.238, 10, 33) in left field.
July 14: The Senators purchase 1B/OF John Fath (.270, 3, 13) from the Brewers for $5,000. This semi-violates my Brewers rule of "trade away all Pilots" but a. we're starting to run short on actual Pilots and b. Fath fits better. Fath was having an angry on regarding his lack of playing time for the expansion club and was probably days away from demanding a trade. With Washington he'll get his share of starts in left as the Sens look to replacing 33 year old Sebastiano Veneziano (.226, 7, 46). Fath is only a year younger but Veneziano has lost almost 80 points off his average and even when he's hitting well it's a pretty empty average.
July 15: The Padres acquire SP Jason Gilmer (4-8, 4.01) from the Tigers for $2,000. This was about the Tigers shedding that salary ($78,759) as much as anything else. The real-life version of this move was 35 year old Earl Wilson; Gilmore is 7 years younger but his ERA has climbed each of the last 2 years and is now well into "meh" territory.
July 17: The Angels purchased RHP Andy Ring (3-8, 5.48) from the Dodgers for $10,000. IRL this move was much, much smaller - it was for a guy named John Purdin, a middle reliever whose major league career ended in 1969 with LA. Ring won the NL Cy Young Award in 1967, is a 4 time All-Star, and is still only 30 years old. However, these are two teams in very different situations compared to real life. Ring has also been just plain awful this year, although by his peripherals he looks like he's around where he was last year when he was roughly league average. Nevertheless, the Dodgers had gone so far as to demote Ring to the bullpen and really had no use for him whereas for the Angels this is a decent gamble.
News
-----------------------
July 13: SS Paul McCartney, one week into his baseball career, was named to the All-Star Prospects Game for the American League. Also, Ringo is on the NL team as a starting pitcher. Wait, not just that - Richard Starkey is the NL starter, with McCartney flipping over to second to start. Clout chasing smh...
July 13: Also, I don't want the other two members of the Fab Four to slip through the cracks so... hey, look at that! C John Lennon just signed with the New York Yankees, citing a desire to remain close to his family. Terms were not disclosed. Also, SS George Harrison signed with San Francisco, citing their strong "hippie" culture and the "free availability of spirituality", whatever that means.
July 13: Pirates RF Brian Jackson (.322, 1, 55) has been leading that surging Pittsburgh attack and for his efforts he won the NL Player of the Week. Jackson went 14 for 23 (.609) with 9 RBIs; no homeruns, but that's not really a part of Jackson's game. This was Jackson's first POTY and it helps to ease some of the pain of being snubbed from the All-Star Game.
July 13: On the American side of the ledger, Cleveland LF Alonzo Huanosta (.349, 10, 49) took home the POTY thanks to a week where he went 15 for 31 with a couple of dingers. For Huanosta this was his 4th such award and unlike Jackson he will be representing his team tomorrow.
July 13: The NL Future Stars walloped the AL Future stars 14-7 thanks in large part to the AL trotting out poor Ramon Pineda (2-1, 2.22 for AA Savannah this year) for 3 innings at the end of the game. Ringo pitched a scoreless first inning, although he did allow 3 hits. McCartney went 1 for 2 with an RBI before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the 5th.
July 14: The Cardinals appear to be coming apart at the seams a bit. Today Matt Wilson (.291, 0, 4), a part-time starter for the World Series teams in '66 and '67 who got hurt all of last year and found himself without a job in 1970, has officially requested a trade. Here at least I can't blame the guy. He probably does still have something left in the tank but he wasn't going to get PT over Casey Satterfield (.265, 11, 40), who is younger than he is by 10 years and has a much better shot at being a member of the next good Cardinals team. As it happens, the Cards actually do have a trade in the works today so see above...
July 14: The NL All-Stars picked up where their prospects left off yesterday, blowing up the AL in a 7-4 victory. I think the game randomly selects the park and it just so happened to be in Forbes Field. This is the last year of Forbes (I think IRL the stadium opened in a few days) so it's a somewhat bittersweet victory. Anyway, true to Forbes form, the senior circuit got their 7 runs on 11 hits. Speaking of "true to form", the loss was pegged on Twins closer Pete Lynn (4-3, 3.38), who will probably have to sit out a game or two once the regular season commences because he threw 51 pitches in 2.1 innings. Speaking of, the NL winner was Pirates(!) closer Paz Lemus (4-3, 1.91, 11 Sv), who pitched the last 4(!) innings in relief here. Orioles 1B/C Jon Hernandez (.262, 9, 41) won the game MVP by hitting a 2-run single and walking twice.
July 16: In fact, today was the day when Three Rivers Stadium opened IRL. That would have been kind of cool if the literal last game played in Forbes was the All-Star Game. It's not really the case here, as both Trois Rivieres and the Vet will open in 1971 but... kind of, I guess?
July 16: Houston edged out the Cubs 6-5 to open a 4-game series that is possibly an NLCS preview. 1B Justin Richens (.292, 13, 62) belted a 2-run HR in the 7th off of Cubs ace Bill Lucas (8-8, 3.92) while they were down 5-4. It was a fine piece of clutch hitting, exactly the variety that we've come to expect out of Richens. "Not gonna lie, I tried to hit it towards my rooting section in left," said Richens after the game, "but I just didn't turn around on Luke's heater fast enough and it went into center field instead." That's the center field in the Astrodome, which is 406 feet away but plays like it's 500.
July 17: The Orioles' already dim playoff hopes just got a lot dimmer, as Hector Giron (10-5 2.75) left the mound with pain in his elbow in the second inning of today's game against the Athletics. Team doctors immediately recognized it as bone spurs and advised that Giron will likely not be back until September.
July 18: In the UK, Edward Heath leads the Conservative party to a surprise victory over Labour, who was expected to win. Harold Wilson was the old PM and of course he keeps his seat because of the way they do things over there but Heath will be taking over as PM. This election also appears to be the most extreme 2-party Parliamentary election in the UK until the Lib Dems sold themselves out and basically blew themselves up for the 2017 election. Speaking of the Lib Dems, half of that group was the third party here: the old school Liberals, who saw their seat count reduced from 12 to 6.
July 19: Welp, the Red Sox' season just took another turn for the worse. C Jeremy Dolak (.305, 3, 32), still spiritually sore after the All-Star snub job, is now physically sore for the next six weeks. That was an awkward turn of phrase. Anyway, he's out of the lineup with knee tendinitis.
July 19: Expos OF Matt Williams (.281, 4, 13) got far worse news today, as the knee injury he incurred yesterday after getting hit by a pitch turned out to be a broken kneecap that's going to take him out for the rest of the year and into rehab throughout much of the offseason. This is as good a time as any to bring back Ben Aldridge (.176, 0, 2 in 17 at-bats), who hasn't exactly been raking in AAA (.255, 5, 25, although a .373 OBP) but is just about the closest thing this young club has to a prospect.
July 19: Phillies C Lee Citro (.238, 2, 7), who started the last two seasons with St. Louis before coming over to Philly in a blockbuster trade, has asked to be moved once again. He'd just straight up lost his job to Sam Rahn (.298, 5, 18) and seems to think that he deserves a regular slot in the lineup on account of his being a "starting caliber player", whatever that means. I need him too much to cut him, as the Phillies are in the NL East race, if only just barely, but I've made a note of those demands.
July 19: How are the Beatles doing? Well, let me tell you...
- Richard Starkey has already earned a promotion to the short-season A Walla Walla Phillies (yes, it's a real city and not just a Bugs Bunny meme), where he's had 1 start and gave up 4 earned runs in 9 innings.
- Paul McCartney looks like a guy who badly needs to be promoted, hitting .578 (26 for 45) through 12 games at Columbia.
- John Lennon isn't doing quite so well, with 3 hits in 18 at-bats so far in rookie-ball Queens (note: rookie ball here started as the "reserve minors" and I've got them set as a small town/city close to the major league team. Do not look here for historical accuracy!).
- George Harris has got his mind set on Vallejo, hitting .480 (12 for 25) to open his baseball career.
July 19: The Yankees wrapped up a brutal stretch of games in fine fashion, coming back in the 9th to win both halves of a double-header against the Angels, 5-4 and 2-1. This was their 6th game in 4 days and even with a 5 man rotation I had to call up a guy - Manny Carbajal (1-0, 1.20) - to pitch the second game in a spot start situation. He in fact pitched well enough that I think he needs to replace Dan Ballard (3-8, 5.02) as the 5th starter. The Yanks got to Paul Kahl (6-8, 3.96) in the first game with a game-winning 2-run double by 1B Alex Cardenas (.321, 19, 57). In the second game Dustin Beaulieu (6-11, 4.51) looked practically unhittable for 8, then faltered in the 9th and gave the ball up to reliever Tanzan Kihara (1-0, 2.48, 1 Sv), who uncharacteristically walked the bases loaded and then gave up a single to CF and leadoff hitter Micah MacMillan (.266, 5, 32). The two teams wrap up their 4 game series tomorrow.
July 19 (EOD): and for les rankeurs le poweur:
1st (2nd) Houston 117 + 57-35
2nd (1st) Cleveland 111 - 54-36
3rd (3rd) Chicago (N) 108 o 53-36
4th (12th) New York (A) 107 ++ 52-39
5th (5th) San Francisco 104 o 51-38
Huge, huge week by the Yankees, who won 5 of 6 games out of the break. They are as you'd expect the biggest mover-upper in the league, although they were unable to make much of a move on Cleveland, who was not bad themselves. The biggest loser was Baltimore, who fell from 9th to 14th. They were overachieving a bit last week anyway...
And for the bottom five:
20th (23rd) Los Angeles 74 ++ 36-55
21st (19th) Kansas City 71 - 35-55
22nd (24th) Montreal 71 + 33-59
23rd (20th) Milwaukee 65 -- 35-57
24th (22nd) San Diego 62 - 37-58
And hey, there's Kansas City, officially rejoining the cellar after a week off (St. Louis only improved to 19th). Montreal actually went 4-0 out of the break, although 2 of those games were against the Padres so you can imagine why they didn't get such a big boost in the rankings.
Teams In Review
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July 16: Welp, it's time to look at the
Boston Red Sox, who have just kind of fallen apart over the past 3 weeks. At its heart this is a team built around pitching and defense but with enough offense to get ahead. This season they've been really blitzed by injuries to the pitching staff, which has left it merely OK (5th in runs allowed, 4th in both starters' and bullpen ERAs (3.64 and 2.80)). But that's not really all the story: the hitting aside from Mike Miller (.294, 15, 50) hasn't come around either (7th in runs scored). I've already engineered one trade to help rectify things but will that be enough?
Rotation: The best news here is that everyone who is coming back is back. Franklin Davila (4-6, 5.00) may be back around mid-September but he probably wasn't going to be a rotational guy anyway. But overall, given the freefall and given that the Bosox, unlike a lot of teams, have a relatively free schedule coming up, I'm dropping them down to a 4-man rotation, which means Chris Messina (4-4, 3.35), who's been sliding in and out of the rotation all season, is out for now.
Bullpen: Things also look pretty OK for the guys who are in there right now too. Matt Brock (3-2, 3.33, 13 Sv) seems a bit volatile this year, with 5 HR in 46 IPs, but he has a good track record and I'm not pulling him because he's only above average this year instead of being the shutdown guy he was from 1966-69. I think overall no change is good change here. They all might see more action with the shorter rotation.
Infield: One big change I can affect is to drop Edwin Madriles (.370, 1, 2) in at third base over Mauro Magoni (.250, 5, 31). Magoni changed some habits and seemed to want to hit everything out of the park last year and lost almost 60 points in his BA from 1968 (.235 vs. .293). He's gone back to hitting with the pitch more but the results have been less than great. Madriles meanwhile is a better fielder but looks like he can be around a league-average hitter at the position, which at this point would be an upgrade.
Outfield: I'm dropping Matt Wilson right in to at least be the platoon starter in left. The last time he saw significant action was 1968, when he hit .288 with 4 HRs and 48 RBIs in 354 innings. That's a lot less power than the man he's replacing in Josh Teague (.238, 10, 33) but Teague was straight up not coming through in the clutch - those 33 RBIs came hitting in the heart of the order - and Wilson does have that championship experience. If things truly fall apart this year the Sox have Sergio Sicre (.340, 1, 7 at Louisville) sitting in the minors waiting for a second chance (he was the guy the Royals tried out in left in April and May before giving up on his glove).
In center, Ryan Johnston (.221, 3, 8) missed time this year and opened the way for 23 year old Jon Glynn (.266, 4, 22) to take over. It's not just that Johnston isn't hitting lefties, like, at all (1-23 on the season against southpaws), it's that he's also not close to Glynn's level as a fielder. Which, Glynn isn't a Gold Glover himself but Johnston has never really had the range to cover the position.
I don't really need to say anything about right because Jun Kim (.256, 13, 38) has done a fine job holding the fort. In fact, with Teague now out of the lineup the Red Sox will look to him to provide leadership and clutch hitting from the cleanup spot.
July 17: The
Oakland A's have come down to earth in July after wowing everyone with an inexplicably torrid start to the season. They're now 4-9 for the month and have fallen to 43-40 overall, which, I have to say, is still really, really good for a team that lost 106 and 112 games the past two seasons. It's concerning that their offensive attack, which is built largely on the bats of 42 year old David Decker (.285, 13, 55) and 37 year old Matthew Levario (.262, 15, 40), is still only 7th best in the AL, but why quibble? This is still a Cinderellla season. The pitching is also pretty average - 6th in runs allowed, based on 6th best ERAs both in the rotation (3.81) and bullen (3.38).
Rotation: Mike Harris (11-4, 3.04 at AAA Iowa) is the team's #2 prospect at starting pitcher and #3 overall. He looks like he's got nothing left to prove and so he'll get some starts in the second half of the season. He's a lefty and this means that the entire back half of the rotation are now southpaws but there are worse problems to have. Otherwise, the rotation, frankly, looks a lot like the rotation you'd see out of a 100 loss rotation except that somehow they're getting results. The staff "ace" is Rick Shelton, who was 10-14 with the Pilots last year as a 28 year old rookie. The only thing keeping me from overhauling it is the relative success of the operation.
Bullpen: Danny Weickert (2-2, 4.78) is 36 and hasn't been that good as the team's lefty specialist so he gone. Otherwise, the bullpen is fine I guess. They appear to have traded Freddie Uscanga (5-3, 3.20, 10 Sv) just in time, as he's looking pretty volatile in Chicago right now. But enough about that! The bullpen is... fine. I guess the weakest link now that Weickert is out the door is RH Ryan "Love Story" O'Neal (5-5, 4.40), who was the guy kicked out of the rotation to make room for Harris. At 29, he's a longtime A's starter from when they were in KC who looks like he might have lost his stuff after tearing his rotator cuff in 1968. Unlike Jennifer's mysterious illness in that movie, I think we all know what "torn rotator cuff" means...
Infield: Third baseman Chase Jones (.205, 9, 45) was supposed to replace "Mister Athletic" Ryan Colvin this year but it hasn't really gone as planned. Those were some big shoes to fill and although he'd never admit it, perhaps the pressure has been getting to the former Houston Astro. Dude's also only 27 though and I've got zero reasons to cut into his playing time... I mean, outside of how July (.184) is his worst month yet. Nope. Not going to talk myself into it.
It's hard to know exactly what to do with this team... I'm very, very unimpressed with how Gil Wilson (.234, 3, 18) and 1969 All-Star representative for the A's Kellen Owen (.333, 1, 11 but 11 errors in 21 starts for a .904 FA there) have played at shorstop. Do I bring up prospect Matt Evenson (.267, 0, 22 at AAA Iowa), who I've been force-starting at shortstop all year and who now looks like he'd be adequate there? I think I do. I guess there's a chance that this could deep-six the A's season if he comes up and hits like .140 but I don't think that's going to happen. To quote Jon Bois, who got fired for saying this 117 times in a broadcast, I guess you never know...
Outfield: Honestly, these three slots are as good as anything in the AL. No changes needed here.
July 18: It feels early to take another look at the
New York Mets (48-40, 3rd, NL East) but here we are. They're just 7-8 in July and have lost their first 2 games after the break to the Dodgers of all teams to drop a half game in back of the Phillies. The Phillies! I think I've mostly noticed the pitching woes but truth be told the pitching is fine (3rd in runs allowed and both starters and bullpen ERA (3.50 and 3.57)), if not outstanding this year. The hitting on the other hand is merely average (7th in runs scored) and the lineup is very up and down.
Rotation: With the sale of Julio Sandoval the Mets' rotation is fine. I'm going to try to run a 4 man, knowing that they're going to need some spot starts in there (although to be fair NY has a couple games off in July, which means they probably have right around the lightest schedule in the senior circuit), but mostly they need to make up ground.
Bullpen: Geoff Saus (3-1, 4.02, 18 Sv) has been really volatile this year but a. it's only half a season and b. the guy is still striking out as many guys as ever and it mostly looks like he's been very hit-unlucky. I'm leaving him in as the stopper. One guy who's not being left in though is Mark Gorey (0-1, 9.00), who the Mets tried as a lefty specialist but who's been pretty horrible. He's 29 and not really a guy they have any investment in at this point so he's been released. I'm going to try Vinny Chavez (1-2, 5.23) out in his place. Chavez was up earlier in the year to fill in the rotation and was pretty bad but he's really shined as a closer since then.
Infield: Nick Warren (.229, 4, 31) has been nothing but subpar since coming over from Montreal in the middle of last season. Last year the Mets were able to overcome his lack of hitting; this year, not so much. For now I'm dropping Bob Baldwin (.333, 0, 5) into that slot. Baldwin was the Royals' starting 3B last season and is 35, so I don't expect a lot of defense, but the man should at least top a .300 OBP.
I don't see any easy answers at shortstop. Brian Wilcox (.228, 4, 14) is out for the season with a torn meniscus in his knee and the best thing I can say about Lorenzo Ortega (.216, 2, 9) is that he's young (24) and can field OK. He's a classic good-field, no-hit guy but his backup Robert Williams (.233, 1, 9) has dropped off the ledge of ability and just straight up doesn't have the range to play there regularly.
Outfield: The Mets have nothing in their farm system that looks like it's close to ready to go and this is really, really hurting the team right now. I've already replaced Edgar Arriaga (.221, 8, 27) in the lineup with longtime Mets pinch-hitting specialist Mario Diaz (.432, 1, 10). Arriaga was one of the feel-good stories of the year in 1969 but in retrospect asking a 33 year old with 99 career major league at-bats prior to '69 to repeat that fluke performance was asking a bit much.
I'm standing pat with LF Jimmy Washington (.242, 7, 56) in part because he's always hit a lot better than this and in part because there is just plain nothing in this organization to replace him. The cupboard is bare. Anyway, Washington if nothing else is still hitting well in the clutch and is somehow, in spite of the bad season, on pace to cross the century mark in RBIs this year.
July 19: Kind of surprised that it's been so long in between looks but the
Philadelphia Phillies are pretty good this year. I guess they did win the World Series in recent memory but at that it was 1966 - 4 years ago now - and at that they somehow snuck home with a pennant with just 91 wins. They could actually be a 91 win team this year but even in the smaller East Division I doubt 91 wins will be enough. Anyway, their success resides on above average hitting (5th in runs scored) and pitching (6th in runs allowed). Yeah, they are outplaying their record by a little but it's nothing massive (+2 over their Pythag). One place where that often shows up is in a good bullpen but so far Philadelphia actually has a better starters' ERA than relievers' ERA.
Rotation: There have been a couple of weaker spots in the rotation but one huge strength of this team is that the starting 5 is very, very young. The oldest man in there is 27 year old Marius Gaddi (14-2, 2.38), who is also having a Cy Young quality season. I'm not keen on Roger Quintana (7-7, 4.02) and especially his tendency to blow us (16 HRs allowed in 116.1 IP) but he's only 22 and I think giving him regular starts is more about his future than his present. The back end are guys who weren't very good last season but throw heat. I think I like where all that is headed.
Bullpen: The pen has a couple of guys who've really scuffled but here I refuse to believe they're just plain bad because both of those players - Luis de la Cruz (3-5, 5.36, 5 Sv) and Omar Sanchez (6-3, 4.71, 4 Sv) have been the bullpen stopper in the recent past. I guess of the two I'm a bit more skepticl of de la Cruz given that he's one of two pitchers on the roster on the wrong side of 30 (he's 32) and his K rate (3.2 per 9) is down significantly from last season (5.0). That said, I think there's one name I'm going to drop, and that's Josh Entwhistle (0-5, 5.02). Entwhistle won the Cy Young in 1961... somehow (he was 10-6 with a 3.01 ERA in what looks like a spot starter/long reliever role... surely there were better candidates?) but even if you weant to pretend that was earned, that was a decade ago now and he just hasn't been any good this year. Instead, the Phillies will call up Orlando Flores (0-2, 4.81), who was on a rehab assignment. Flores has also been kind of bad this year but the's the bad the Phils know.
Infield: Alex Beccera (.238, 15, 41) has been an absolute butcher with the glove at third base, with a .891 fielding average and 19 errors allowed on the season. He's never been this bad before; his career high in errors previously was 22 for all of 1968. He does look like he's lost a step range-wise and has been trying to make up for that by relying too heavily on his cannon arm. That said, I just don't see a good replacement for him, at least not yet. His ML backup is Pedro Arellano (.218, 3, 13), who lacks Becerra's power and is even worse in the field, and the closest prospect they have, 25 year old Joel King (.265, 5, 53 at AAA Eugene) is also a much inferior hitter and evinces the same error proneness that Arellano does (16 errors, .938 FA). So... those are a lot of words for "I guess I have to stay with the butcher".
Outfield: Not much to do here except that I see that at some point, probably due to injuries, I put AAAA outfielder Bobby Corley (.125, 0, 0) as the regular RF vs. LHP. I think I'll stick with that for the time being, as Corley did hit well in AAA so far (.283, 7, 30) and the incumbent Andrew Powell (.295, 1, 33) is a one-dimensional hitter who loses that one dimension against left-handers.