The last two weeks have been good for the Chiefs who have posted an 8-4 record after finishing April at 7-6. The hot start has Chicago
buzzing with the Cougars and the Chiefs a combined 12 games over .500 after 25 games each. If you consider the Chiefs were
predicted to finish the 1962 season with just 72 wins I'd say Mr. Whitney must be giddy. Let's take a look at how we got to this fantastic 15-10 record.
The Good
As you can see the Chiefs are swinging some hot bats. Leading the entire FABL in runs scored at just over six per contest.
They have scored twice as many runs per game in their wins(7.6) as they have in their losses(3.8). So who's leading this band
of merry men you might ask? It has to be veterans Rod Shearer or Ed Bloom, right? Nope, it's still Gene Rader!! Shearer
and Bloom are certainly doing their part to push the Chiefs in a winning direction but it's definitely Rader who is the catalyst
for the offensive surge. Radar is a rookie eligible 27 year-old who totaled 30 plate appearances between 1958 and 1960
and didn't even sniff the majors in 1961. We all know he can't keep up his torrid pace but it's fun to watch him and fellow
rookie, 28 year-old Joe Flanagan battle for the Fed batting race until reality sets in on both of them. Currently Rader
sits on top with an FABL best .444 average(to go along with a league best 26 RBI) with Flanagan next in the FED at .416.
Both players have likely surpassed what anyone thought they would do this year and we still have almost 130 more games
to play.
Along with the hitting the bullpen has done extremely well this season. Dutch Lane is tied for the league lead with six saves while he and Tom
Fisher both sport a 2.08 ERA. Waiver wire pick up, Al Mielcarek has done well sporting a thin 1.59 ERA in his first few outings with the club.
The Bad
We knew when the season started that we would sacrifice some defense for offense so it's not a surprise the Chiefs are near the bottom of the
league in efficiency, zone rating, and just about every other defensive metric not yet known to man. With Rader in the field, it's like having just
guys in the outfield. It's so bad that the pigeons have started to swirl above right field of Whitney Park on game days. He'll have to drop
at least 150 points on his batting average before we consider putting
him on the bench. If only there was a position for hitters that can't field!!
The So Very Ugly!!
One thing Mr. Whitney and all of the baseball fans in Chicago are not happy about is the half-million-dollar rotation the Chiefs trotted out to
the mound for the first 25 games of the 1962 season. What does $ 500k get you in 1962? It gets you a starter's ERA near 5.5 and a lot of
scrambling in the front office. It's too early to bench any of the top four as they are all veterans with proven track records. So despite having just
the fourth-worst ERA in the rotation, it's 22-year-old Fred Moore who gets the demotion to AAA. Paul Magee, the man Moore beat out in spring
training, has gotten the call after a dominant start in AAA to the tune of a .53 ERA in his first five starts.
Up Next
Up next for the Chiefs is seven games in seven days starting with a three-game set at home with Detroit, the team looking directly down on
us in the standings. Then it's three games with Philly and the first game of three with Pittsburgh. Can the bats stay as hot as they have been?
Can the starting pitching stay as bad as it has been? Most likely both answers wind up somewhere in between.