We're in August, so we're changing the rules; while we still plan to highlight as many teams in the league as we can, we'll start to focus on matchups that have some additional interest (most likely on pennant races).
We've seen most teams thrice, with only Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Portland, and San Francisco featured only twice.
To kick it off, we'll focus on the
New York Black Yankees (who we saw in
Series XI,
XV, and
XIX) visit to
Baltimore to take on the Black Sox (who we featured in
Series IX,
XVI, and
XXV).
The Black Yankees are 5.5 games behind in the
Effa Manley Division, and the Black Sox have the best record in the WBL, with 66 wins, ahead of Chicago by 2 games in the
Cumberland Posey Division.
#New York Black Yankees
A great offense, excellent starting pitching, and an incredibly poor bullpen. That's the Black Yankees in a nutshell.
New York leads the WBL in runs scored, OPS, WAR, and homeruns, and it ain't all because of
Babe Ruth.
Mickey Mantle leads the team with a .323 batting average, Ruth leads in virtually everything else.
Red Ruffing leads the staff in wins at 11-6 and in ERA at 3.88. But the staff is strong 1 through 4, and
Jamie Moyer seems to have claimed the 5th spot. And then there's the bullpen ... the only hope for the Black Yankees is that the newcomers--
Rheal Cormier,
Dick Tidrow, and especially closer
Aroldis Chapman--can address the team's glaring weakness.
#Baltimore Black Sox
Baltimore's staff is first in the league in runs against, both starting and relieving ERA, and the Black Sox lead in most fielding metrics.
Dennis Martínez and
Bill Byrd have 11 wins each, and both have ERAs under 3.50. There aren't any weak spots here: reliever
Sean Marshall is virtually unhittable, and
Don Bessent--now the full time closer since
Bob Miller's injury--has 16 saves.
Joe Beggs has been a disappointment since his acquisition, but seems more likely to rebound than not.
It's not like the Black Sox lack offense:
Bobby Wallace and
Larry Gardner are each hitting .309 with OBPs hovering around .400.
Frank Robinson leads in HR (25) and RBI (79), trailing only
Curt Blefary in OPS. The only offensive weak link--CF
Paul Blair--provides gold glove defense and has improved from a miserable hitter to merely well below average.
#Projected Starters
New York listed first
Red Ruffing (11-6, 3.88) @
Dennis Martínez (11-7, 3.46)
Jamie Moyer (5-4, 4.06) @
Bill Byrd (11-3, 3.29)
Jack Scott (10-5, 4.38) @
Mike Mussina (4-2, 3.67)
Waite Hoyt (9-6, 4.07) @
Connie Johnson (5-5, 4.13)
#Prediction
The classic question: good hitting or good pitching? I'm going to side with the bats this time, not least of all because it would tighten up some good pennant races--Black Yankees take 3 of the 4.