August 31
Awards
Far too often overlooked in the
New York Black Yankees' lineup,
Mickey Mantle has been on fire lately, netting the
WBL Player of the Week award, hitting .429 with 3 homeruns.
Playoff Races
Other than the
Birmingham Black Barons beginning to fade somewhat, nothing has really changed:
The New York Gothams,
Baltimore Black Sox,
Cleveland Spiders, and
Portland Sea Dogs all lead their divisions, but none by more than 4 games. The teams in close pursuit--the
Wandering House of David and
Detroit Wolverines in the
Bill James Division, the
Chicago American Giants in the
Cum Posey Division, The New York Black Yankees in the
Effa Manley Division, and Birmingham in the
Marvin Miller Division--are all firmly in the hunt for the postseason.
If the season ended today--the first use of those words, but not the last--Birmingham and the Black Yankees would be tied for the final wildcard spot.
Both the
Houston Colt 45's (4 games back) and the
Brooklyn Royal Giants (5 games) have a shot.
All of this is not for lack of trying: the Black Yankees, Detroit, Houston, and Portland all won 3 out of 4 this series. But it's hard to make up games without series against your direct rivals: Series XXXVI will see Houston travel to Birmingham and Portland host Brooklyn in the only matchups where both teams have a legitimate playoff shot.
Performance
Batters
To keep this list a little shorter, four players are tied for 2nd with 11 triples (Houston's
George Brett, the
Philadelphia Stars'
Willie Davis, the
Homestead Grays'
Josh Gibson, and the
Miami Cuban Giants'
Alejandro Oms).
Usual pattern: league leader in bold, top 2 in each category are listed.
Ron Blomberg (CLE). 338/411/646. 40 HR, 101 R.
Pete Browning (HOD).
352/389/627.
Ty Cobb (DET). 345/385/550. 173 H.
Eric Davis (NYY). 275/350/514. 5.8 WAR.
Mike Fiore (HOM). 235/399/389.
102 BB.
Hank Greenberg (DET). 314/373/584. 43 2B.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 270/398/355. 99 BB, 89 SB.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 331/413/575. 101 R.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 319/432/604.
Willie Mays (NYG). 330/394/532.
175 H.
Stan Musial (KCM). 323/388/567.
45 2B.
Doug Radar (LAA). 340/401/548.
175 H,
128 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 289/366/427.
90 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 317/
434/
670.
44 HR, 124 RBI,
117 R, 102 BB,
7.4 WAR.
Louis Santop (CLE). 304/335/464.
14 3B.
Pitchers
Starters
Christy Mathewson lost a chance to solidify his claim as the best starter in the league (see here): now it's a 3-man race between Matty,
Andy Pettitte, and
Jack Taylor.
Pettitte and
Charlie Root look like (along with Portland's RF
Gavvy Cravath) look like the gems of the trade market, with each of them performing fantastically for their new clubs.
Gerrit Cole (LAA). 15-9, 4.20.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 13-7, 3.68.
196 K.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 7-11, 4.42. 178 K.
Pat Malone (CLE). 15-8, 3.92.
Christy Mathewson (NYG).
16-7, 3.46.
Alejandro Peņa (BBB). 12-9, 3.69.
5.0 WAR.
Eddie Plank (SFS). 11-7, 4.11. 3.46 FIP.
Andy Pettitte (KCM/BBB). 14-4,
3.03.
3.42 FIP.
Charlie Root (SFS/DET). 8-6, 3.55.
1.09 WHIP.
Jack Taylor (HOD). 15-9, 3.22. 193 IP, 1.13 WHIP.
Cy Young (CLE). 11-9, 4.47.
197 IP, 4.7 WAR.
Relievers
I always liked
Mike Norris irl. It's pretty fantastic seeing him be, possibly, the best reliever in the WBL here. I know the 35 year old has a limited future so I'm just enjoying the ride for now.
35 IP for rate stats.
Terry Adams (CLE). 2-6, 2.85. 34 Sv, 1 H, 3.04 FIP.
Clay Carroll (IND). 2-5, 4.29. 3 Sv, 10 H.
61 G.
Mike Henneman (DET). 2-6, 4.60.
35 Sv.
*
Sean Marshall (BAL). 5-0, 1.79. 1 Sv, 8 H.
0.98 WHIP.
Buddy Napier (DET). 1-1, 2.84. 2 Sv, 7 H. 1.00 WHIP.
Mike Norris (NYG). 4-3,
1.46. 8 Sv, 13 H.
Ron Reed (PHI/CLE). 0-6, 4.46. 3 Sv,
17 H,
61 G.
Ron Robinson (SFS). 6-5, 4.03. 1 Sv,
17 H.
Carson Smith (NYG). 2-0, 1.63. 1 Sv, 9 H.
Jonny Venters (LAA). 5-3, 2.83. 5 Sv, 15 H.
Brian Wilson (NYG). 1-0, 1.93. 25 Sv, 1 H.
2.56 FIP.
* On the DL, likely out for the rest of the season.
Streaks
No really interesting active streaks (perhaps understandable as the season goes on), although both Brooklyn's
John Briggs and the House of David's
George Stone have succeeded int heir last 4 pinch hit attempts.
Wait, there's one:
Bobby Grich of the
Los Angeles Angels has reached base in 32 straight games, tied for 4th in the league this year.
Series Results
Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XXXV
Black Yankees over Brooklyn
Detroit over Cleveland
Houston over
Indianapolis ABC's
Portland over
Kansas City Monarchs
Series XXXV Splits
Baltimore @ House of David
Birmingham @ Miami
Chicago @ Homestead
Los Angeles @ Philadelphia
Memphis @
San Francisco Sea Lions
Gothams @
Ottawa Mounties