No signs of a title hangover and no complaints from me as once again these magic men surprise to the upside, with an 11-game win string in April the backbone of a strong 31-16 opening stanza.
No doubt the most pleasant surprise has been the veritable - by our standards, at any rate - explosion of run production.
While Pops has been at the forefront of this upswing, it has once again been underpinned by an even spread up and down the lineup, with only Cannizarro showing neg bWAR.
Patata has struggled a bit and we've lost Bob Veale for a spell, but the pitching metrics remain strong with WS hero Bob Friend the pick so far, including nabbing the April award. The BP, despite the loss of Gibbon, hasn't missed a beat.
The league is all atizz with what Willie Mays has been doing, just out of this world and his projections are insanity personified.
Off the back of that, the Jints are flying high, while the BoSox and O's have been taking turns with the lead across in the AL.
Monthly Award Winners
April
American League
- Batter – Pete Ward (Athletics): 391 / 5 HR / 11 RBI
- Pitcher – Whitey Ford (Red Sox): 3-0 / 1.08 / 14 K / 25 IP
- Rookie – Luis Tiant (Red Sox): 2-1 / 0.82 / 35 K / 33 IP
National League
- Batter – Willie Mays (Giants): 509 / 9 HR / 19 RBI
- Pitcher – Bob Friend (Pirates): 3-0 / 1.36 / 12 K / 25 IP
- Rookie – Marcelino Lopez (Colt .45s): 1-0 / 0.44 / 12 K / 20.1 IP
May
American League
- Batter – Deron Johnson (Orioles): 392 / 4 HR / 15 RBI
- Pitcher – Mickey Lolich (Tigers): 5-0 / 2.05 / 48 K / 48.1 IP
- Rookie – Mel Stottlemyre (Yankees): 3-0 / 2.42 / 26 K / 52 IP
National League
- Batter – Willie Mays (Giants): 385 / 11 HR / 24 RBI
- Pitcher – Chris Short (Phillies): 4-2 / 2.34 / 49 K / 50 IP
- Rookie – Pete Mikkelsen (Reds): 2-2 / 3.20 / 6 SV / 19 K / 25.1 IP
News and Leaders
Milestones and Observations of Note
- 400 HR: Willie Mays
- 300 HR: Henry Aaron, Rocky Colavito
- 2500 Hits: Richie Ashburn
- 2000 Hits: Joe Adcock
- The Dodgers lose Closer Jim Dunn for the remainder to a torn labrum, while veteran Harvey Haddix will also miss the rest of this season with the Phillies thanks to a bout of shoulder inflammation.
- More pitching woes as Cleveland starter Ray Culp suffers a labrum tear that sits him for 2 months and Mike McCormick of the A’s is felled by a neck injury that will keep him out thru June.
- An ab strain keeps Washington’s Mack Jones out of action for 5 weeks.
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