We focused on
Cleveland just 2 series ago, in
Series XXVIII, as well as in
Series XIX and
VII while
Chicago was featured in
Series XXII,
Series XX, and
Series VI.
Neutral viewers will be rooting for Chicago: if they do well, they will close their gap with Baltimore in the
Cum Posey Division while helping pull the Spiders back to within reach of the New York Black Yankees in the
Effa Manley Division.
Cleveland Spiders
Not much has changed for Cleveland since we last saw them: the starting pitching is still excellent, if without a truly dominant front of the rotation arm.
Pat Malone is 13-5, but really the quintet of Malone,
Stan Coveleski,
Cy Young,
Bill Steen, and
Mel Harder are fairly interchangeable. Strong pitching throughout the rotation is clearly an edge on other teams. Probably the most important question on the mound for Cleveland is if
Ron Reed can regain the form he had with Philadelphia.
The offense continues to revolve around
Ron Blomberg (335/405/636, 32 HR, 91 RBI),
John Ellis (288/349/540, 19 HR) and
Jake Stahl (279/340/529, 20 HR). The offensive questions remain the same:
Sammy Strang gets on base, but does little else at 3B, and SS
Arky Vaughan is still an unknown quantity since being acquired a few days ago.
Perhaps the biggest challenge is how to get
Tris Speaker (385/467/846 in only 15 PAs) some more plate appearances.
Kenny Lofton (296/379/391) has done well in CF, meaning Speaker is blocked at his primary position, but the team does need to know if Speaker can maintain anything close to that level of performance.
Before the series, the commissioner's office finally approved the inclusion of
Stan Bahnsen in the Spiders' trade with Homestead. Bahnsen was sent to AAA for the meantime.
Chicago American Giants
While not yet following Indianapolis into the uncharted waters of a 6-man rotation, Chicago does need to do something to get
Ed Walsh more innings.
Tricky Nichols leads the staff with a 12-6 record, but there's really not a lot between Nichols,
Dick Rudolph,
Mark Buehrle,
Ben Sheets, and the newly-acquired
David Price.
But they're all a clear notch below Cleveland's starters.
Closer
AJ Minter is--finally--back from his stint on the DL. OF
Magglio Ordoņez was the odd man out, with the American Giants preferring a deeper staff to Ordoņez' glove in RF.
Chicago has 4 batters with an OPS over 900--RF
Joe Jackson (333/420/584), 1B/DH
Frank Thomas (312/425/535), 2B
Eddie Collins (313/405/531), and 3B
Dick Allen (309/378/543). The rest of the lineup is above-average as well--LF
Duffy Lewis has 23 HRs, SS
Freddy Parent continues to produce at an all-star level since being acquired from Ottawa, CF
Mike Fiore has an OBP of .400 and C
Carlton Fisk's .800 OPS is excellent for a backstop.