## Standings / Recap / Comments
AMERICAN LEAGUE
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST
Code:
Team W L Pct GB STR R RA AVG HR SB ERA BB/9 K/9 FA ZR RTO%
Detroit 80 50 .615 - W2 588 432 .273 96 114 3.06 2.9 5.8 .983 50.8 45.6
Boston 71 57 .555 8 W1 542 440 .269 88 65 3.25 3.0 5.5 .983 43.9 42.7
New York 70 62 .530 11 W4 591 630 .249 138 42 4.47 2.7 4.9 .981 -14.3 36.3
Cleveland 59 72 .450 21½ W1 496 537 .252 104 53 3.87 3.5 5.2 .982 -2.3 33.0
Milwaukee 54 73 .425 24½ L2 501 584 .258 84 82 4.17 3.5 4.9 .979 -31.3 32.8
Baltimore 53 73 .421 25 L1 528 603 .252 105 69 4.33 3.9 5.1 .978 -26.6 40.2
LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST
Code:
Team W L Pct GB STR R RA AVG HR SB ERA BB/9 K/9 FA ZR RTO%
Texas 73 55 .570 - L1 484 410 .257 72 75 2.89 3.3 5.3 .982 36.4 31.9
Chicago 74 56 .569 - L2 521 475 .254 99 77 3.33 3.6 4.9 .983 39.0 35.5
Oakland 66 63 .512 7½ L3 503 520 .259 88 51 3.66 3.1 4.8 .979 2.9 36.8
California 64 62 .508 8 L1 541 522 .265 89 77 3.74 3.3 4.8 .982 28.4 41.1
Kansas City 57 74 .435 17½ W1 606 664 .256 95 72 4.69 3.6 4.8 .982 -12.6 26.6
Minnesota 52 76 .406 21 W2 509 593 .247 103 65 4.14 3.5 5.4 .976 -22.0 34.0
NATIONAL LEAGUE
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST
Code:
Team W L Pct GB STR R RA AVG HR SB ERA BB/9 K/9 FA ZR RTO%
Philadelphia 82 47 .636 - W2 603 455 .248 111 87 3.11 2.9 5.6 .981 27.4 53.8
St. Louis 73 56 .566 9 W2 530 520 .256 118 36 3.42 3.2 6.0 .979 -5.5 44.0
New York 64 64 .500 17½ W4 458 495 .254 65 78 3.37 3.1 5.3 .981 10.0 47.2
Pittsburgh 63 63 .500 17½ L1 415 416 .234 62 31 3.05 2.7 5.9 .982 -0.6 40.5
Chicago 64 65 .496 18 W1 493 491 .254 96 68 3.52 3.3 5.2 .984 35.8 44.7
Montreal 51 77 .398 30½ L3 519 609 .246 99 50 4.08 3.7 5.2 .977 -21.4 29.1
LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST
Code:
Team W L Pct GB STR R RA AVG HR SB ERA BB/9 K/9 FA ZR RTO%
San Diego 69 60 .535 - W3 512 421 .259 78 63 2.93 3.3 5.5 .982 52.2 37.4
Cincinnati 70 62 .530 ½ L2 560 509 .255 108 51 3.61 3.1 5.9 .982 -2.3 29.6
Houston 68 64 .515 2½ L1 534 536 .253 108 58 3.53 3.6 5.9 .977 -4.5 32.5
Atlanta 67 65 .508 3½ W1 506 477 .252 95 42 3.24 3.2 5.9 .982 -9.9 37.6
Los Angeles 52 78 .400 17½ L2 393 497 .243 95 62 3.38 3.1 5.6 .980 18.9 33.7
San Francisco 53 75 .414 15½ L9 448 545 .248 86 71 3.74 3.3 5.7 .979 -5.9 28.7
Aaaaand down the stretch they come! Sort of. Next weekend kicks off division games that should carry, from what it looks like, through the rest of the month. Interdivision play isn't quiiite over yet but it's all over except for fat ladies, etc. Everything's more or less the same as it looked last week except that the topsy-turvy NL West is as topsy and turvy as ever. Now expansion San Diego is up there in their 5th year of awesomeness, carrying an awesome defense into an NL best 2.93 ERA and, well, a lot of good vibes. Don't even think of counting out Cincinnati or Houston or hey, even last year's division champs the Atlanta Braves.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Code:
Player AB R H BA HOMERUNS HR HITS H
Chris Seek, CAL 487 77 164 .337 E. Garcia, NYY 45 C. Seek, CAL 164
J. Ramone, DET 462 70 151 .327 A. Cooper, CHW 30 J. Ayala, DET 156
A. Rivera, KC 471 55 152 .323 A. Martinez, MIN 26 J. Johnson, CHW 154
B. Springsteen, BOS 470 65 151 .321 D. Chairez, BAL 21 A. Rivera, KC 152
J. Ayala, DET 486 65 156 .321 2 players 20 J. Ramone, DET 151
RBIs RBI STOLEN BASES SB DOUBLES 2B RUNS R
E. Garcia, NYY 105 A. Romero, DET 56 T. Danza, KC 41 D. Corona, KC 98
A. Martinez, MIN 87 J. Glynn, BOS 35 J. Ramone, DET 35 A. Romero, DET 91
J. Ayala, DET 82 D. Corona, KC 26 A. Rivera, KC 35 T. Danza, KC 81
J. Nation, CHW 81 B. Ramirez, TEX 25 C. Seek, CAL 34 E. Garcia, NYY 81
2 players 80 D. Hohman, DET 22 A. Romero, DET 33 C. Seek, CAL 77
Code:
Player IP ER ERA WINS W WINNING PCT Rec %
J. Goddard, DET 250.1 58 2.08 J. Goddard, DET 22 J. Goddard, DET 22-4 .846
V. Akright, OAK 220.1 57 2.33 E. Molina, DET 19 V. Akright, OAK 17-5 .773
B. Crystal, TEX 227.1 66 2.61 R. Coltrane, TEX 19 R. Coltrane, TEX 19-6 .760
R. Coltrane, TEX 246.1 73 2.67 J. Carpenter, NYY 18 C. Benavides, DET 15-6 .714
J. Kindberg, BOS 234.1 73 2.80 M.Sanchez, BOS 18 B. Osborne, BOS 15-6 .714
STRIKEOUTS K SAVES S OPPONENTS BA BA
E. Molina, DET 197 M. Post, CHW 29 R. Reese, CHW .203
J. Goddard, DET 166 W. Chavez, OAK 20 H. Rollins, KC .204
M. Sanchez, BOS 161 T. Kihara, TEX 19 R. Coltrane, TEX .211
J. Carpenter, NYY 159 J. Marceau, DET 17 C. Benavides, DET .223
M. Pesco, BOS 157 G. Covarrubias, NYY 13 J. Goddard, DET .223
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Code:
Player AB R H BA HOMERUNS HR HITS H
J. Stone, LAD 393 65 124 .316 J. Weaver, CIN 32 C. Palacios, SD 154
R. Disla, STL 477 64 150 .316 J. Stone, LAD 27 G. Harrison, SF 152
G. Harrison, SF 488 57 152 .311 A. Juantorena, PHI 27 R. Disla, STL 150
B. Cooper, NYM 430 46 132 .307 M. Galeana, STL 27 P. McCartney, SD 142
C. Palacios, SC 502 52 154 .307 R. Dominguesz CIN 22 A. Juantorena, PHI 139
RBIs RBI STOLEN BASES SB DOUBLES 2B RUNS R
J. Weaver, CIN 98 J. Berry, SF 35 C. Palacios, SD 38 A. Juantorena, PHI 102
A. Juantorena, PHI 93 A. Juantorena, PHI 30 RJ Dominguez, CIN 36 R. Dominguez, CIN 85
RJ Dominguez, CIN 86 P. McGraw, SD 23 B. McAdoo, SF 33 P. Ortiz, CIN 85
M. Galeana, STL 78 S. Burwell, STL 18 M. Schurke, CHC 30 T. Shannon, PHI 79
G. Foreman, HOU 74 D. Fager, LAD 18 2 players 27 J. Waltenbery, HOU 79
Code:
Player IP ER ERA WINS W WINNING PCT Rec %
V. Bachler, PHI 145.2 25 1.54 T. Rivera, HOU 18 V. Bachler, PHI 14-3 .824
J. Battaglia, PIT 253.0 57 2.03 R. Starkey, PHI 18 C. Olivares, PHI 13-3 .812
C. Rose, ATL 212.1 51 2.16 D. Henley, SD 17 D. Henley, SD 17-6 .739
D. Henley, SD 208.1 52 2.25 R. Quintana, STL 16 C. Rose, ATL 13-5 .722
T. Rivera, HOU 252.1 64 2.28 S. Waiters, CIN 16 T. Rivera, HOU 18-7 .720
STRIKEOUTS K SAVES S OPPONENTS BA BA
R. Quintana, STL 177 D. Parchamn, SD 23 V. Bachler, PHI .179
R. Mendoza, STL 171 G. Saus, NYM 22 T. Rivera, HOU .210
T. Rivera, HOU 169 B. Yates, CIN 21 R. Salinas, LAD .217
G. House, ATL 163 T. Grohs, PHI 19 C.Olivares, PHI .220
J. Battaglia, PIT 160 T. Livingston, STL 18 R. Quintana, STL .223
## Major Transactions
August 24: The Pirates claimed RF Chris Tyree (.256, 0, 17) off waivers from the Angels. Tyree was a 2nd overall pick back in 1965 but now at age 29 it's fair to say that he has not cashed in on all that potential. Well, hey... Pittsburgh has a big giant hole in right that Tyree could conceivably fill if he turns into that good-average speedy guy he was supposed to be... almost a decade ago now.
## News
August 20: In the Kingdom of Laos, Army General Thao Ma leads 60 officers in an attempt to overthrow the government but is ultimately unseccessful. His troops briefly take the airport at Vientiane (the nation's capital) but are turned back and his plane is shot down as he attempts to land. He survives the crash but is put into a truck and executed by the government along with 11 other coup participants.
August 20: A flash flood sweepts through the city of Irapuato in Mexico, killing more than 200 people.
August 20: Nixon grabs and shoves his Press Secretary Ron Ziegler into a crowd of reporters after being angry at being followed. The incident is caught on film by a CBS News crew. Yeah, Tricky Dick, this will get the press off your back...
August 20: Baseballist Todd Helton is born in Knoxville, Tennessee.
August 20: Your American League Player of the Week is a new guy, Cleveland 1B Nick Hodzic (.268, 16, 55). He had some massive shoes to fill in replacing Ernesto Garcia and, let's be honest, he's not filling them, but he did have a nice week with 12 hits in 25 at bats (.480), 2 HRs, 5 RBIs, and 7 runs scored. This is a rare month for Hodzic, who just made the All-Star Game in July and now has his very first major-league PotW. He also made the Prospects game in 1972.
August 20: The NL PotW is, on the other hand, a cagey veteran: Atlanta 2B Kevin Dwyer (.275, 12, 61). Teammate Henry Riggs returning from injury was the big story in the clubhouse but Dwyer's big week comes a close second: only playing in 4 games he went 10-17 (.588) with 3 extra-base hits including a HR, 5 runs, and 5 RBIs. The 34 year old 1972 batting champion missed the All-Star Game for the first time in his career and has been given more and more days off in the second half as the Braves try to figure something out. Maybe he's the guy to figure it out! Anyway, Dwyer's won PotW 10 times in all, the last time coming the week ending May 7 of last season.
August 20: SYD THRIFT'S NEATO STAT OF THE WEEK! It's another kind of dumb one but man, this one is soooo 70s coded I just can't not do it. The top 5 guys at HRs in the first 3 innings. Who, pray tell, are the best at jumping on starters early? The answers may surprise you! Just kidding, they won't.
5. Alberto Juantorena, PHI (.302, 25, 86), 9
4. Alice Cooper, CHW (.280, 30, 80), 10
2t. Justin Stone, LAD (.319, 27, 58), 13
2t. RJ Dominguez, CIN (.292, 20, 79), 13
1. Ernesto Garcia, NYY (.253, 43, 98), 19
Yeah, it's just the league leaders in HRs. The one guy missing from this list is Reds RF Jaden Weaver (.261, 31, 95), who's got 9 of them. Um, that's tied for 5th, game. Anyway, he saves his big knocks for innings 4-6, when he has 14 of them along with a slash line of .270/.357/.610. He's... middle inning clutch!
August 21: Major Hubert O'Neill, the coroner in the inquest on the "Bloody Sunday" massacre, accuses the British Army of "sheer unadulterated murder" after the coroner's jury returns an open verdict with no indictments recommended against anyone. I guess this is like the opposite of an American grand jury or something, although I guess too that if the US Army just like shot and killed 26 Americans on US soil then we'd figure out a way to not hold them accountable as well.
August 21: Sergey Brin is born in the Soviet Union. Brin will go on to co-found Google with Larry Page.
August 21: Speaking of prominent SOVIET RUSSIANS, future WBA champion heavyweight Nikolai Valuev is born in Leningrad.
August 21: JOSH MULLETT (10-7, 3.13) of all people, just threw a no-hitter!!!! What!? Yeah, everyone's favorite "party in the back" master gave up exactly zero hits over 9 innings to the Dodgers in the 5-0 win by his Mets. True to form, Mullett only struck out 3 in this game and left it to his defense. "I work hard when I'm in the park but I have interests off the field if you know what I mean," he said after the game. "And tonight I will be exploring those interests." Mullett also only walked 1 batter and overall only faced 28 men, a simply dominant performance for a guy who is not exactly the picture of dominance.
This was the first no-no in almost a year; Pittsburgh's DJ Cheeves threw the last one on September 16 of last year. This was also the lowest K count for a no-no since Josh Matthews threw only 2 in his no-no against the Yankees (he was playing for Cleveland at the time) on April 12, 1970. The all-time "record" for fewest no-no Ks, which I will guess is not going to be be broken, is 1, set by 2 guys in 1946 and 1953.
August 21: Meanwhile in Philadelphia Richard Starkey (17-10, 2.48) had the quietest shutout of the season, completely swamped in the news by the Mullett no-no. Starkey gave up 7 whole hits in stopping the Padres cold for the 3-0 win and pushing his Phillies into an 8 1/2 game lead over the Cardinals, who lost today. "With peace and love... what was I saying again?" said Starkey following this game. The Phillies put up the only run they'd need in the 1st off of an RBI single by LF Alberto Juantorena (.301, 25, 87) but C Nikolai Volkoff's (.227, 4, 30) 4th inning RBI single is what really put the game away.
August 22: US Secretary of State William Rogers resigns, as the President announces today. Is this mice fleeing a burning ship? He'll return to private practice on September 4. In the meantime, Nixon's national security adviser Henry Kissinger will be promoted to the role.
August 22: The Chamber of Deputies in Chile vote 81-47 to condemn their president Salvador Allende for violation's of the constitution during his attempts to suppress nationwide strikes. They'd have gone ahead with impeachment but they're 4 votes shy of the 30 (out of 50) needed in the Senate. But hey, don't worry folks! He'll be out of office within the next 3 weeks! Hooray America!
August 22: Kristen Wiig, who come on, you have to know, is born today in Canandaigua, New York.
August 22: It looks like Expos 2B Hudson Watts' (.287, 5, 34) season is pretty much over, as a hamstring injury will put him out of the lineup for the next month plus. Watts, a former 1st overall pick (1970) hasn't quite been a super-duperstar but he was arguably the best hitter on this team this season, depending on how much you like walks (he holds a .380 OBP). "Mister Nice Guy" Danny Waters (.333, 3, 10) will get a chance over the last month to show if his backup sauce was for real this year.
August 23: There's a big robbery in Stockholm, Sweden that becomes the first criminal event covered by live television. A hostage situation arises with the 2 robbers holed up in a bank demanding that another convicted criminal be released and they be presented with cash, a car, and a flight out of the country. The police are like "nah" and eventually break the siege with tear gase after five days. This incident becomes famous for the origin of the term "Stockholm syndrome" after the four hostages refuse to testify against their captors.
August 23: A nationwide railway strike is called by the Associated Railway Unions in Canada. No poutine shall be transported over provincial lines for the next nine days.
August 23: Contaminated mussels in Italy leads to an outbreak of... cholera(!) in Naples. By September 3 the illness will have spread to West Germany and yes this is 1973, not 1873.
August 23: The Association of Tennis Professionals begin publish their weekly rankings of men's professional tennis players using a computerized system based on the players' finishes over the previous 52 weeks in tournaments (which in turn are ranked). The first rankings, which come in advance of the US Open, show Ilie Nastase of Romania (not in the league SADLY) on the top of a list of 186 players.
August 24: King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan announces from his exile in Rome that he has abdicated the throne in order to become a loyal citizen of the new republic of his country. He had ben overthrown on July 17; the abdication makes the former crown prince Ahmad Shad Khan the head of the Barakzai dynasty. SPOILER ALERT: this dynasty won't get back into power, at least not from the son (who just died in 2024).
August 24: Dave Chappelle is born in Washington, DC. What did the five fingers say to the face!?
August 24: I'll know that this month unofficially ends when we get all the inter-division games back and... it ain't done yet! 12 series this weekend and all of them are East v West.
August 24: Tigers SP Jimmy Goddard (22-4, 2.08) got support in the form of a run-scoring single by DH Jose Ayala (.320, 20, 79) in the first inning... and that was all he got. And yet, it was still enough to beat the White Sox tonight, as he dominated the AL West leaders with a 1-0, 2-hit shutout. Chris Messina (8-17, 3.67) took the very, very tough loss. This was Goddard's 7th shutout on the year and at this point it looks like he'd have to have a king-sized meltdown to not win the Cy Young.
August 24: I HATE IT the Brewers pull out a 6-5 win (which itself I am indifferent to) but in the offing young 2B James Hong (.354, 6, 18) strains his oblique and will miss the next month as a result. UGH. WHY CAN'T WE HAVE NICE THINGS. I guess the silver lining to this cloud is that I get to call up Lionel Ritchie (.277, 13, 30 at AAA Evansville)...
August 24: The Cubs at 63-64 don't have a lot to play for this year except for spoilers but they spoiled today. Astros ace Tony Rivera (18-7, 2.28) got touched for 3 in the 5th and then 4 more in the 7th, and on the flip side Chicago SP Gordon "Sting" Summers (8-8, 2.50) threw a 5-hitter for an easy 7-0 Cubs win in the Astrodome. "I just didn't have it tonight," said a dejected Rivera following the game. "Usually I can make guys miss my curveball but they sure weren't missing tonight."
The shutout was Summers' 3rd in this season in just 20 starts (he started the year in AAA Witchita, where he was 3-2, 1.93 in 5 starts). Chicago and Houston have 2 more games to play in this series, and the Astros are now 3 games behind the division-leading Reds.
August 25: Various bombs are sent in the mail from West London, with at least one exploding and causing the secretary who opened it to lose her hand. The British government will issue a worldwide alert the next day.
August 25: The North American Soccer League (NASL) plays its championship game with a brand new team, the Philadelphia Atoms, beating the Dallas Tornado 2-0 before a crowd of 18,824 at Texas Stadium. Sadly for the fledgling league, the Atoms will eventually go into receivership in 1976, not play for 2 seasons, almost be relocated to San Antonio, and eventually be reborn as the Philadelphia Fury in 1978.
August 25: The United States basketball team avenges their 51-50 loss in the 1972 Summer Olympics to the Soviet Union with a 75-67 victory in Moscow at the World University Games.
August 25: And in even more sports news, a team from Tainan, Taiwan wins the Little League World Series with their superstar pitcher Huang Ching-huy throwing his 3rd consecutive no-hitter. Sign that kid up to a contract! No, I mean it.
August 25: Giants RF Frank Meneses (.198, 13, 40) is complaining that he isn't starting. Like, I totally understand that he's mad and stuff but... he's been very close to getting cut and as it is this year is kind of a lifeline for him (he played just 14 games last year for the Red Sox before they released him and he'd been sitting on his couch more or less since San Francisco picked him up). I've been wavering as to whether or not to give him his final release and I think this seals it.
Someone could pick him up I guess but in all probability he's going to end his MLB career with 999 hits, 191 HRs, 751 RBIs, and a .238 batting average. He was actually a pretty solid power hitter in his prime although the pitching-dominated 60s make it look less so. He's a 2-time All-Star who also has 2 championship rings from 1960 and 1962 with the Yankees, for whom he played most of his career.
August 25: Edgar Molina (19-15, 3.51) didn't pitch a great game, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits in 7 innings in a 4-2 loss to the White Sox, but what he didn't do is give up a home run, thus keeping him just shy of the all-time record for HRs allowed. Molina's given up 45; the record is 46. Brand new White Sox starter Rich Whetzel (4-15, 3.93), acquired off of waivers from the moribund Twins (note: they did htis in real life to Jim Kaat, who was a way better pitcher at the time he was waived than Whetzel is now) evened his record up with the Chisox at 1-1 with a solid 6-hit complete game.
August 26: Two days before he's scheduled to give a press conference to announce a challenge to Chad's dictator Francois Tombalbaye, Dr. Outel Bono is assassinated in Paris. The shooter is never found and nobody is ever arrested for the crime.
August 26: The Ulster Volunteer Force terrorist organization places a time bomb outside of the St. Patrick's and St. Brigid's church, set so that it would explode just as Roman Catholic worshippers are leaving the service. The services run late and as a result when the bomb explodes most of the congregants are still in the building. Nevertheless, 50 people are still injured in the blast.
August 26: The first Women's Equality Day is observed in the US to commemorate the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment that granted women the right to vote on this date in 1920. On the same day, the National Women's Hall of Fame inducts its first twenty members.
August 26: South Vietnam holds national elections which turn out to be its final national elections ever, as voters choose from four lists of candidates for the 30 seats of the Senate of the Republic of Viet Nam. President Nguyen Van Thieu's ruling party, the Social Democratic Alliance, wins the majority.
August 26: 200 bicycle riders depart from Sioux City, Iowa along with feature writers John Karras and Don Kaul of the Demoines Register to participate in "The Great Six-Day Bicycle Ride". This event will later be called Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa and today is the largest bike-touring event in the world.
August 26: I guess we don't have to make up as many dates this year, as here we are in late August and we have "only" 2 Sunday double-headers. Granted, that's 2 more than you'd ever see at any point in time after like 1991 but hey, the 1970s...
August 26: Both of those double-headers involved the AL West contenders and... I would not say the results looked great for that division. Texas was in Cleveland and Game One was good stuff for them: Robbie Coltrane (19-6, 2.67) outdueled youthful Indians starter Claudio Rainieri (3-1, 2.30) for a 2-0 victory. DH Jimmy Washington (.262, 16, 63) hit a solo HR and was responsible for both RBIs. In Chicago, the Tigers won a pitchers' duel of their own with Chris Benavides (15-6, 3.09) going 8 and yielding to CL Jim Marceau (4-6, 2.32), who picked up his 17th save in a 3-2 win. Rich Reese (14-7, 2.90) had a quality start for the White Sox but the converted reliever also faded in the 9th, getting relieved by Malcolm Post (6-2, 1.43). The win and the loss put the two teams into a tie going into their second games.
Cleveland split their double-header vs Texas with a closely fought 3-2 win. Track star Lee Evans (6-4, 2.74), practically the granddaddy of the staff at age 26, threw 7 innings before giving way to the bullpen which has been kind of up and down for the Tribe this year (3.92 ERA, 7th in the AL) but they came through tonight, culminating in the 10th save for Bruno Kirby (1-2, 3.71). This wound up being kind of a big loss because the White Sox were never in their 2nd game, as Tigers starter Bruce Rubio (12-10, 3.35) threw a 6-hit shutout for a 5-0 win. CF Alvin Romero (.284, 5, 43), although not in the batting race this year, socked a solo HR in the 4th to give the Tigers their lead and DH Jose Ayala (.321, 20, 82) broke the back of the Chicago defense and SP Stephen Chu (15-9, 3.64) with a 2-run single in the 6th.
You'll see this described above, of course, but this puts the Rangers and White Sox in a virtual tie in the West. It also puts both in a situation where it's kind of hard to see either getting past the Tigers in the ALCS.
August 26: Everyone's counting out the Braves and I mean, they came into today just a game above .500 and with a very average hitting attack this year. Well... maybe we shouldn't? With 2 runners on and Pirates SP Clyde Jones (1-1, 3.18) trying to preserve a 2-0 shutout win, CF TC Boyle (.263, 3, 23) jacked his 3rd homerun on the season to win the game for the Braves and, pending results from the rest of the league, put them 3 1/2 back in the NL West.
"Wish I coulda seen it through" said Braves SP George House (12-12, 3.61), their 3-time All-Star and former ace, who was removed for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the 7th. "But hey whaddya know, my guys did their job in the end and that's all that matters."
August 26: Meanwhile, ahead of the Braves in the West, you could say that Don Henley (17-6, 2.25) did everything he possibly could do to put the surging Padres on top of the division. Okay, I guess he didn't hit a homerun... but Henley carried a perfect game into the 9th inning - it was spoiled by a leadoff double by 2B Brian Hunter (.259, 1, 11) but he still only faced 28 batters, as he allowed a walk and then got a double play - en route to a 4-0 win over the Expos.
San Diego finishes a sweep against the Expos, which righted the ship from a 3-game swept by the Phillies at the Vet earlier this week (look I know I said they were surging... they're 16-8 in August), and with the Reds' tough 2-1 loss at home to the Cardinals today they are now 1/2 game up. Will this be the first expansion team to break through? 1969 expansion team I mean. I think the first-first was the '69 Mets if we're counting that way...
## Teams in Review
August 21: The
California Angels (60-60, 10 1/2 GB) are around where they were last year, it's just, 3 other teams have surpassed them since and now it's looking like maybe it's time to pack it up. I think... not yet? but we'll see.
Rotation: Given the park the play in I think being 6th in the AL in runs scored is kind of not so great. Still, by and large I've pushed the worst offenders - David Camacho (5-9, 5.46) and Carlos Figueroa (6-12, 4.98) - into the bullpen so I'm not sure there's much place to do further changes. At this point the worst rotational guy is Andy O'Connnor (8-3, 4.30) but the won-lost record tells me he's doing something right (right?) so I'll keep it as it is for now. There are a couple guys I'm interested in come September 1 though, which is only 10 days away now.
Bullpen: Will Camacho and Figueroa be relegated to doing nothing in 10 days? Hard to say. The rest of the bullpen is pretty good, especially now that we've got historic ace Montay Luiso (2-2, 2.09, 11 Sv) in the fold. No changes here.
Infield: Conversely, 5th in the Al in runs scored as a team playing in the Big A is pretty good...
I juuuust acquired 3B Mike Brookes (.214, 4, 28) from the Phillies. Lowkey this team likes to play like they're in a large market. Anyway, Brookes has been baaaaad this year but we'll give him the last month to show he's got something left at least. That also pushes Bobby Kralcevic (.191, 1, 15 with CAL) to the bench, which, Bobby K on the bench is just a whiner so he might not be long for this team.
I feel like SS Richard Simmons (.231, 3, 32) has hit juuuust well enough to stay in the lineup. He's hitting .213 with 2 whole extra base hits so he definitely needs plus defense to stay in here. Fortunately that is what he provides and they traded Ivan Perez away in the Brookes deal so it's just him from here on out.
Outfield: LF Willie Vargas (.280, 11, 44) does a solid job in the leadoff slot but man he's been a bad defender for years now. I kind of *want* to look elsewhere but the Paingels just don't have a lot of other, better options. Also, Vargas is somehow still only 28 so in some simulations he might even improve from here on, who knows?
Somehow RF Chris Tyree (.256, 0, 17) was a first round draft pick back in 1965 - the 2nd overall pick at that! He does just absolutely nothing to help a team win and I think it's time to DFA him in favor of corner OFer Brad Wagner (.303, 22, 60 in AAA Salt Lake City), who's even had an 11-game trial earlier in the year. At this point Wagner's doing too much to ignore... and Tyree sucks.
August 21: Hey, speaking of teams ahead of the Angels this year... the
Oakland A's (64-60, 8 1/2 GB) are even doing better than last year but the AL West doesn't suck this year so they mired in the middle. The defense and pitching is... okay (5th) and the scoring is vaguely not (8th) so... what do we do? Still probably not time to throw in the towel, although maybe they're closer now that they're 8-10 in August (they had a 20-9 July that made A's fans think that maybe they were ready to go).
Rotation: The rotation has some big old holes but there is noooobody to fill it so it's staying as is. Like, hey, Lee "Batty" Barnard (10-9, 4.61) and expansion Pilots star Rick Shelton (10-10, 4.43) have been good in the past, right?
Bullpen: The bullpen is also mostly staying the same although I'm running with a 4-man setup for now. I did demote Ben Lamar (2-2, 4.50), who's been kind of bad all year. Mostly the idea here is just going to be to put stopper Willis Chavez (8-10, 2.85, 19 Sv) in every close game situation possible... we'll see how that works out.
Infield: CI Alex Canales (.263, 8, 42) literally just got back from a stint on the DL. I think I stuck him on in anticipation of a longer injury and then he was diagnosed with an injury that would have made him miss like 3 days so it wasn't needed. Canales is not exactly a great hitter for a 1B and I'm trying to give Bobby Scott (.290, 4, 21) an extended shot at 3rd so... he'll start for now but we'll probably check back in in 10ish days.
2B Alberto Sepulveda (.243, 9, 32 at AAA Tucson) did really nothing to indicate he was ready to take over 2B this year but the A's wanted to get rid of Jon Reid (.251, 5, 37) so... here he is in the pros! We'll figure out what to do about this position in the offseason I guess.
Outfield: At this point we've got 3 solid OFers with Casey Satterfield (.285, 18, 76) at DH so things are looking up out here. The new guys is CF Cat Stevens (.273, 3, 12) but he could hit 50 points lower and still be a contributor with his incredible range in center. Please don't though!
August 21: MAAAAN when it rains it pours when it comes to 60 Ls! The
Cincinnati Reds (66-60, 1 1/2 GB) are in the position the Angels and A's thought they'd be this year... but this is definitely not a complete team right now. Cincy is as good as anyone in the NL at putting runs over the plate (2nd in runs scored) but are pretty bad for a contender in terms of giving them up (8th in allowed, including the 2nd worst starters' ERA at 3.91). Surely we can do... something?
Rotation: We brought Rodrigo Aguilar (10-13, 4.77) to provide some consistency to the back of the order but the former 16 game winner has been baaaad with the Reds at 5-7, 4.91 and he's been even worse over his last 3 starts (1-2, 8.82) so screw it, I'm demoting him to the bullpen in favor of 22 year old Mohamed Morsi (10-10, 3.07 at AAA Indianapolis). The scouts aren't super high on him but he seems like he can give 5-6 good innings and right now that's all we want.
Bullpen: I'm not sure whyyyyy I kept with Rick Rodriguez (0-2, 10.53) for as long as I did - 19.2 IP! 24 runs allowed! but that's done. Aguilar will go down and be our new lefty specialist with Bastien Maurice (2-0, 4.72) trying to figure things out in long relief now. At least the short relief section of this squad is good...
Infield: I think C Leron Lee (.260, 3, 26) has deserved a shot at starting as much as possible. I'd been platooning him with Viet Bieler (.198, 1, 9), who will still get some at-bats vs lefties, but Lee is pretty good for a backstop.
2B Pedro Ortiz (.242, 5, 43) is having an awful year but he's the guy who's got us there in the past as a leadoff hitter and I'm really, really not seeing anyone ready to replace him. The closest is I guess minor leaguer Jose Hernandez (.224, 19, 39) but even if I wasn't scared off by that average I'd be horrified by his .128/202/233 split in 28 games with Texas last year (he is the guy who went 229/25/86 with the Senators their last year in Washington). Maaaaybe he'll get a September call-up?
Third has been a mess since we got rid of Bobby K... and I'm going to go back to Erico Liserio (.242, 2, 16), I guess. Nick Weber (.200, 2, 7) has clearly been worse and both of them are 27. Hmm... all the while, Theodore Long (.315, 1, 15) has also been there all year, isn't hitting terribly, and defensively is about the equal of Liserio and Weber. Okay, so 3rd's going to be a complete mess all year. Long is also the utility guy so he won't be able to play there all the time but as much as possible...
Outfield: CF Dennis bin Naim (.300, 1, 10) is hurt right now but otherwise we're pretty set in the outfield I think. This team is kind of a mess!
August 21: Hey, EVERYBODY GETS A REVIEW! The
Houston Astros (67-60, 1/2 GB) are also riiiight in this one but in a weird, non-Astrosy way. They have a pretty bad pitching staff, actually - 3rd most runs scored and that's playing in the Astrodome - and terribad defense - 2nd most errors in the NL - but it's propped up by a really good offense. Is this a team that deserves to win? NO BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ASTROS but beyond that what can we do here, if anything?
Rotation: This feels soooo much like tempting fate but Roberto Ortiz (5-10, 4.56) has been really bad in the rotation this year, like you'd think he'd get a Nolan Ryan style bump from walking guys in an environment where walks don't matter as much but nope, he's picked up where he left off in badness in Atlanta last year. I'm going to demote him into the bullpen but we don't actually have a good pen guy so... up comes 26 year old Mike Birdwell (12-12, 2.37 for AAA Denver), who's been striking guys out like Ortiz (176 in 220 AAA IP) but without so many of the walks. It's looking like Ortiz will need to do one last spot start to make the fatigue sync up but still. Otherwise, Rowan Atkinson (11-5, 3.70) isn't great but I think he's good enough at this point.
Bullpen: I've been giving Adam Eastin (5-5, 3.14, 14 Sv) an inning at a time and for the rest of the year I think he's got to just be the man now. Jason Gilmer (4-8, 5.22) was supposed to transition from starter to setup man and it just hasn't happened so I'll drop him down to lower-leverage innings. I'm not super confident that Eastin can handle like all of the high-leverage situations but he's what we've got.
Infield: I think C Latimer Roy (.296, 0, 7) might deserve a bigger role but Jonathan Hyde (.204, 5, 27), poor hitting and all, is the clearly better plate-blocker who has what it takes to calm down the Astros' wild pitching staff as much as possible.
The middle infield is in a...state right now with Masanori Hattori (.245, 4, 32) still awaiting diagnosis for a back injury he suffered yesterday and his backup Elijah Patton (.314, 0, 8) also suffering from a strainedback. Neither of those guys are actually very good defensively and so I'd turn to the decent-with-the-glove Jordan Green (.297, 10, 48) with Nolan Ryan (.239, 1, 11 in AAA Denver) at 2nd. It's not the finest fix but already I can see that this is probably the best defensive unit we'll have put together all year (which is to say it's basically average).
Outfield: It's pretty well set. I signed Jason Workman (.212, 10, 32) after he was released by the Orioles earlier in the month because come on man the guy is a former MVP and 4-time All Star. He's 1-16 so far in Houston. GREAT. The guy he's spelling a bit, John Rohrbough (.261, 5, 23), is also taking this opportunity to have his worst month of the season (11-55 so far), right after we officially gave up on Jesse Lockhart (.235, 1, 14 but now St. Louis' problem). I am severely tempted to just put Workman into the lineup full-time and let him prove that he still has All-Star potential... and that is what I am going to do.