July 14th
Early Pennant Race Update
Look, it's July. Not even late July. Mid July. It's far too soon to talk pennant races, right?
Never.
Bill James Division
The
Detroit Wolverines and the
New York Gothams are neck and neck, separated by a single game. Both the
Wandering House of David and the
Los Angeles Angels are close enough--5 games back--to make a move, but they can't let too much more separation occur between them and the league leaders.
Cum Posey Division
The
Baltimore Black Sox--with the best record in baseball--just can't shake the
Chicago American Giants, who are 5 games back. The rest of the division would need to make a significant move to change this from a two team race, with the
Houston Colt 45's--9 games back--the closest.
Effa Manley Division
The
Cleveland Spiders are writing a great story, having overtaken the dominant favorite
New York Black Yankees, who they now lead by 3.5 games. Everyone expects the Black Yankees to catch up, but they also never expected Cleveland to be where they are. The
Indianapolis ABC's sit 8.5 games back.
Marvin Miller Division
The
Portland Sea Dogs leads the division by 5.5 games, but the story here is really the sudden resurgence of the
Birmingham Black Barons, who have ridden a great streak to pull within 5.5 games. The
Brooklyn Royal Giants sit 7 games back.
Performance
As usual, top 2 performers in all categories, with the WBL leader
in bold.
Batters
Everything is tightening up: 6 batters sit between .336 and .339 for the league lead in BA, but the Black Yankees'
Babe Ruth continues to be the dominant offensive force in the league. It's still a long list, though.
Dick Allen (CAG). 307/374/557.
9 3B.
Johnny Bench (IND). 301/420/585. 4.5 WAR.
Rico Carty (PHI). 289/361/469.
34 2B.
Willie Davis (PHI). 283/336/509.
9 3B.
Mike Epstein (HOM). 336/439/544.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 257/394/351.
72 BB; 64 SB.
Kent Hrbek (POR). 308/375/593. 27 HR.
Joe Jackson (CAG).
339/422/598. 74 R.
Ron Blomberg (CLE). 339/410/646. 27 HR.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 336/
447/610.
Willie Mays (NYG). 325/382/536. 119 H.
Stan Musial (KCM). 337/396/591.
121 H;
34 2B.
Doug Radar (LAA). 325/378/542.
92 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 298/373/447.
69 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 321/431/
659.
30 HR; 91 RBI;
78 R; 69 BB;
5.3 WAR.
Louis Santop (CLE). 311/345/467.
9 3B.
Pitchers
There are 5 other pitchers tied with
Bill Byrd with 10 victories; other than that the top 3 in each category are listed with the league leader in
bold. No idea why
Alejandro Peña is so highly rated in WAR.
Starters
Bill Byrd (BAL). 10-2, 3.20. 1.19 WHIP.
Gerrit Cole (LAA).
12-4, 4.03.
Ned Garvin (BAL). 8-3,
2.64.
1.14 WHIP.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 9-6, 3.86.
142 SO.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 5-8, 4.13. 138 SO.
Roy Halladay (OTT). 3-9, 4.13. 1.19 WAR.
Walter Johnson (POR). 8-3, 3.57. 3.4 WAR.
Johnny Marcum (DET). 9-2, 3.33.
Christy Mathewson (NYG). 10-6, 3.91.
Alejandro Peña (BBB). 8-6, 3.77.
3.5 WAR.
Jack Scott (NYY). 10-4, 4.10.
Cy Young (CLE). 8-4, 3.81. 3.2 WAR.
Relievers
20 IP minimum for rate stats. Top 2, leaders in
bold.
Terry Adams (CLE). 0-5, 3.60. 23 Sv.
Watty Clark (BRK). 3-1,
1.20. 17 Sv.
Mike Henneman (DET). 1-4, 3.54.
24 Sv.
Trevor Hildenberger (BRK). 3-0, 2.18. 0.92 WHIP.
AJ Minter (CAG). 1-0, 2.08. 16 Sv,
0.88 WHIP.
Ron Reed (PHI). 0-3, 2.52.
16 H.
Johan Santana (POR). 1-1, 2.78. 23 Sv.
Jonny Venters (LAA). 3-3, 3.15. 13 H.
Brian Wilson (NYG). 1-0, 1.23. 18 Sv.
Streaks
There are 4 active on-base streaks of note, led by Brooklyn's
Beals Becker (30 games).
Iván Rodríguez (POR, 27 G),
Don Buford (LAA, 26), and
Boog Powell (KAN, 25) are also live. Not much else:
George Stone of the Wandering House of David has delivered 4 straight pinch-hits.
Series Results
Series XXIII Sweeps
Kansas City Monarchs over
San Francisco Sea Lions
Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XXIV
Indianapolis over Brooklyn
Detroit over Chicago
Homestead Grays over New York Black Yankees
House of David over Los Angeles
Portland over
Philadelphia Stars
Splitting Series XXIV
Baltimore @
Miami Cuban Giants
Cleveland @ Birmingham
New York Gothams @ Houston
Memphis Red Sox @
Ottawa Mounties