Continental Baseball League sim

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Started a new league, started in 1920, 10 teams each in the ten most populated cities in the U.S. as of 1920. Here's what happened in 1920:


1920
In the east the Boston Claws edged the Baltimore Stallions by a single game to take the first Eastern League crown. The Claws won seven of their last ten, while the Stallions lost seven of their last ten. The Claws' offense featured Shoeless Joe Jackson and his league leading .354 average as well as good years from Max Carey, Buck Weaver, Eddie Collins, Dave Robertson and Wally Pipp. Jack Quinn led the staff with a 2.90 ERA. Baltimore's offense was not as good, though High Pockets Kelly (329-7-49) and Larry Gardner (322-3-60) had nice years. Pittsburgh, led by Edd Roush (305-4-47), Elmer Smith (335-14-62) and pitchers Pete Alexander (16-13, 3.37) and Herb Pennock (14-13, 2.86) stayed in the race for much of the year but finished four and a half games back. The New York Titans (16.5 back) and Philadelphia Minutemen (23) were never a factor.

The Central League's race wasn't quite as close, with the Chicago Aces finishing with a four game margin over the Detroit Iron Horses. The Aces' name was appropriate, with a strong rotation led by Hippo Vaughn (16-7, 2.76), Red Faber (12-11, 3.07) and Al Mamaux (15-4, 2.31). Tris Speaker (348-2-48) and Bob Meusel (291-17-103) carried the Chicago offense. Detroit had some big bats - George Sisler (361-8-84), Ross Youngs (313-3-56) and Kenny Williams (309-7-73) but could never get over the hump. Cleveland, despite having Babe Ruth (300-28-79) and Ty Cobb (349-5-77) on offense, finished six and a half back, while St. Louis (12.5) (despite the magnificent Rogers Hornsby (322-10-84)) and Los Angeles (19.5) were didn't make much of an impact.

The season's two biggest trades saw Boston trade George Sisler to Detroit for 2B Eddie Collins, LF Herb Hunter and reliever Grover Lowdermilk in a trade that worked out well for the Claws, who turned around and picked up 1B Wally Pipp from Detroit to replace Sisler in a trade for reliever Bunny Hearn and RF Ben Paschal.

Chicago won game one 2-1 on first inning RBI singles by Carson Bigbee and Ira Flagstead as Red Faber allowed only six hits in a complete game victory. Fellow Aces' pitcher Art Nehf did him one better in game two, hurling a complete game shutout while Bob Meusel (HR, 3 RBI) and Bigbee (3-4, 2 RBI) provided the offense in a 5-0 win. Boston finally got a win in game three, as Max Carey's second inning 2-run double gave the Claws a lead that pitcher Jack Quinn made stand up in a 4-2 victory. Carey led the Claws again in a surprising 7-3 win in Game Four over Hippo Vaughn. Carey was 4-5 with 4 RBI, while Buck Weaver went four for four with three runs scored. The series returned to Boston for game five where the Claws' offense again battered the highly rated Chicago pitching staff. Eddie Collins and Ray Chapman each had three hits for the Claws, while Buck Weaver homered and drove in two in a 9-2 win.

Game six saw Boston's Walter Johnson win 5-4 thanks to a climactic ninth inning. The game was tied at four heading to the bottom of the ninth. Ray Chapman led off with a double off Chicago's Phil Douglas and moved to third on a ground out by Casey Stengel. Pinch hitter Clyde Milan was intentionally walked with hopes of setting up a double play, but Max Carey hit a sac fly to right field and Chapman came home with the winning run. After losing four straight Chicago got back on the winning side in game seven with a 7-6 win. They trailed 6-5 going into the bottom of the 8th but Ivey Wingo's triple tied the game and Happy Felsch singled him home for the winning run. Nehf pitched a scoreless 9th to preserve the win.

Chicago tied the series in Game Eight with a 4-1 win behind the pitching of Hippo Vaughn, who allowed just three hits to the Claws. The series then came down to game nine, which turned into a blowout victory for Boston. Though Chicago scored first with two in the top of the first Boston scored five in the third and never looked back with a 12-2 win to take home the trophy. Ray Chapman hit .406 for the series, while Max Carey drove in nine runs. Leon Cadore pitched a complete game, allowing two hits and no earned runs in the finale.

Cleveland's Babe Ruth won the Outstanding Hitter Award in the Central, while Shoeless Joe Jackson of Boston won it in the East. Teammate Walter Johnson won the Outstanding Pitcher Award for the East, while Hippo Vaughn of Chicago took home the award for the Central. Catcher Earl Smith (Philadelphia) won EL Rookie of the Year and 3B Bob Meusel won CL Rookie of the Year.

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The off-season kicked off with the inaugural first year player draft. Second baseman Riggs Stephenson went first overall to Philadelphia, followed by P Pete Donohue (Los Angeles), OF Goose Goslin (New York), OF Kiki Cuyler (St. Louis), OF Bing Miller (Cleveland), C Butch Henlime (Pittsburgh), P Chief Yellow Horse (Detroit), 1B Earl Sheely (Baltimore), 1B Lu Blue (Chicago) and OF Chicken Hawks (Boston).

The biggest off-season trade saw Jake Daubert traded from Baltimore to Pittsburgh, a year after the aging first baseman hit .356 for the Stallions. The season started ominously for defending CL champ Chicago, who lost CF Happy Felsch in the last game of spring training for six weeks. He would later be traded to Los Angeles for relievers Johnny Miljus and Sheriff Blake. The Aces struggled through the first half of the year and also traded starting 2B Ira Flagstead to Cleveland.

By the trading deadline it looked like Baltimore was going to run away with the East, with a 12 game lead over their closest competitor. Allan Sothoron and Dolf Luque were among the league pitching leaders and the Stallions' offense was also doing well, behind the hitting of Bobby Veach, Del Pratt, Curt Walker and Dave Bancroft. In the CL, St. Louis held a two and a half game lead over Cleveland. The Spiders' Ty Cobb was hitting .440 at this point while teammate Babe Ruth had 32 homers and 84 RBI.

In the second half Boston made quite a run at Baltimore, actually tying them at point in August but the Stallions pushed back on top and won the East by two and a half games. Pratt led the EL in average, Walker in RBI and Luque in strikeouts. The Claws had another strong year offensively, led by Max Carey, Eddie Collins and Wally Pipp but some of their pitching fell off. Pittsburgh fell from third to last as Elmer Smith (349-10-62) and Herb Pennock (15-12, 3.20) performed well but much of the rest of the team slipped badly. New York moved from fourth to third and Philadelphia from last to fourth with Minutemen Harry Heilmann (344-8-63) and Earl Smith (313-11-60) being two of the EL's finest hitters.

The Central saw St. Louis finish with the two game lead they seemed to hold constant over Cleveland all season. The Spirit's offense was led by high average hitters like Sam Rice (347), Rogers Hornsby (368), Joe Judge (341) and Baby Doll Jacobson (359) while off season acquisition Rube Marquard led the team in wins with 18. Cleveland continued to own some of the league's biggest stars, as Ty Cobb finished at .437 and Babe Ruth hit 46 homers and drove in 128 while Urban Shocker won 22 games on the mound. Last year's champs, Chicago, dropped to third place, despite big years from Tris Speaker (347-9-68), Billy Southworth (326-8-61) and Bob Meusel (372-13-86). The Aces' pitching dropped off considerably from the previous year, with only Red Faber (17-12, 3.23) having an ERA under four. Los Angeles got nice years from Frankie Frisch (337-7-62) and Zack Wheat (389-5-73) but never really threatened ,while last year's second place team, Detroit, had the wheels come off. The Iron Horses won only 37% of their games and finished 26 games back, despite a lineup whose first five hitters all .310 or better, led by Ross Youngs' .358. Detroit's pitching staff was a total disaster, as the lowest ERA among its starters was Lee Meadows' 4.33.

The Championship Series started with a close game for seven innings, as the game was knotted at two entering the top of the eighth. Baltimore broke it open at that point, scoring eight runs, as both Del Pratt and Curt Walker had triples, leading to a 10-6 victory over St. Louis. The Spirit rebounded to take game two 4-3, with Cliff Heathcote scoring the winning run on a Charlie Hollocher sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh. Back in Baltimore for Game Three, the Spirit took a 2-1 series lead as the won 9-2 behind 3 for 4 days from Joe Judge and rookie Butch Henline.

The Spirit won a second game in Baltimore to push the series to 3-1, as Baby Doll Jacobson's two-run triple scored Rogers Hornsby and Joe Judge for the winning margin in a 5-3 game. Returning home St. Louis stayed hot, scoring three in the first inning on their way to a 10-5 win.The Stallions actually came back and tied the game at five, but the Spirit put together five runs in the eighth on two walks and three hits for the win.

The series ended in dramatic fashion. St. Louis led 4-2 going into the eighth, but Baltimore rallied as Hi Myers drove in Larry Gardner and Bob O'Farrell to tie the game at four. The Stallions sent Ray FIsher to the mound for the bottom of the ninth and he gave up a single to the first batter, Mike Manosky. Manosky then stole second and a throwing error on the play sent him to third. Fisher then intentionally walked Butch Henline to put runners on the corners. Ivy Olson grounded out, sending Henline to second. Greasy Neale was then intentionally walked, loading the bases with one out. The count went full on Sam Rice before Fisher's sixth pitch was called ball four, sending Manosky across with the winning run.

Rookie of the Year Awards went to Detroit 3B Clyde Barnhart (312-3-48) in the Central and 2B Riggs Stephenson (310-4-67), the draft's #1 pick, in the East. The top pitcher awards went to Allan Sothoron of Baltimore and Urban Shocker of Cleveland. The Spiders' Babe Ruth repeated as the top batter in the CL, while OF Elmer Smith took home the honors in the East.

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The first day of the off-season saw a big name get dealt, as Chicago sent pitcher Hippo Vaughn to Detroit for 3B Charlie Deal and 2B Lance Richbourg. Vaughn, who was a key piece of the 1920 EL Champs, saw his ERA jump from 2.76 in 1920 to 4.15 in 1921 and at age 33 the Aces felt like his time may have passed. The Aces continued to deal, turning around and trading Richbourg and Al Mamaux (another starter whose ERA jumped a run in 1921) to Cleveland for SS Walter Barbare.

The trades continued also Baltimore dealt .300-hitting catcher Verne Clemons to Los Angeles for shortstop prospect Reuben Ewing and mediocre reliever Joe Oeschger. Other swaps saw C Hank Gowdy go from Boston to Chicago for two relievers and Detroit moving outfielders Sammy Hale and Butch Weis to Chicago for pitcher Speed Martin.

1922's first year player draft with Detroit taking catcher Gabby Hartnett. The rest of the first round went as follows : 2B George Grantham (Pittsburgh), CF Ike Boone (Los Angeles), OF Ray Blades (Philadelphia), P Syl Johnson (New York), 1B Jim Bottomley (Chicago), SS Sparky Adams (Boston), P Fred Fussell (Baltimore), P Art Decatur (Cleveland) and OF Bob Fothergill (St. Louis). Early forecasts were that Detroit, Chicago and St. Louis may have had the best drafts.

Post draft the deals continued; clearly unhappy with last year's last place showing Detroit made a blockbuster, acquiring outfielder Edd Roush from Pittsburgh for 2B Rabbit Benton, 3B Waddy MacPhee and 3B Elmer Yoter. Pitcher Joe Bush was traded from Los Angeles to Philadelphia for the Minutemen's second round pick in this year's draft, OF Pat McNulty. 1920 Championship Series hero Carson Bigbee was dealt from Chicago with recent acquisition Butch Weis to Pittsburgh for P Jack Scott.

Detroit continued to deal early into the year, as they grabbed headlines by trading 1B George Sisler (hitting .419 at the time) to Boston for pitchers Jack Quinn and Al Yeargin. The trade was questioned by many as Sisler is 29 and in the prime of his career while Quinn is 38 and the 20-year old Yeargin has yet to play in the CBA.

The first significant injury of the year came in May when Philadelphia catcher Earl Smith, hitting .323 at the time, went down with a torn labrum and was expected to miss the rest of the season. With several clubs, most notably Chicago (14 games out and without an injured Tris Speaker for the next month) not looking like contenders at the end of July the trading deadline saw some action. Detroit traded SS Joe Dugan to Los Angeles for P Harry Shriver and 3B Bill Doran, who had recently been acquired from Cleveland for P Clarence Mitchell.

September began with Boston comfortably in first over Philadelphia and Cleveland up a half-game on St. Louis. Spirit first baseman Joe Judge hit for the first cycle in league history on September 12, going four for five with 6 RBI against Detroit. Strangely enough the second cycle in history came just three days later, courtesy of Cleveland 2B Ira Flagstead. St. Louis surprised Cleveland by pushing past them in the standings and even a strong final week by the Spiders could get them no closer than two and a half games behind at season's end. Statistically, Philadelphia's Harry Heilmann became the first player to win a Triple Crown, with his .368-19-94 season, while Cleveland's Babe Ruth continued to crush the ball in the Central (.353-38-111). The Minutemen's Dutch Ruether became the second 20-game winner in league history.

The 1922 championship series started in Boston, but defending champs St. Louis came out on top in Game One, with an 8-6 win keyed by a five-run third inning. Rogers Hornsby went 3-5 with an RBI to lead the Spirit offense. Unfazed, the Claws bounced back in Game Two despite being down 4-1 at the end of the first. Boston went on to batter St. Louis 10-4 with 15 hits in the game, led by Eddie Collins' four. Game Three again featured offense, as St. Louis scored two in the bottom of the ninth to win 10-9. The Spirit began the inning trailing 9-8, but Charlie Hollocher was hit by a pitch from Johnny Enzmann and Rogers Hornsby followed with a single. Enzmann got Joe Judge out, but Sam Rice singled to drive home Hollocher and tie the game. A bunt by Duster Mails put runners on second and third with two out and catcher Butch Henline lined a single to left to bring home the winning run.

Game Four saw St. Louis rally again; down 5-4 in the eighth Joe Judge homered off Enzmann with Jack Smith on base for the winning 6-5 margin. Stan Coveleski retired the Claws best hitters (Max Carey, Ray Chapman, Eddie Collins) three-up three-down in the ninth for the win. Trailing three games to one, Boston returned home and sent Walter Johnson to the mound. The 34-year old took his second loss of the series in a 10-6 decision as Judge again homered while going 3 for 5 and driving in three.

Boston faced elimination in Game Six, sending Sam Jones up against St. Louis' Rube Marquand. Jones got off to a shaky start, with the score 3-0 St. Louis after two, but he and reliever Jim Brillheart didn't allow another run the rest of the way. 3B Tony Boeckel drove in two for the Claws, while Chapman and Collins each had two hits. Things were looking up for Boston in Game Seven, as they led 3-0 after one and 5-1 after five; unfortunately starter Leon Cadore faltered after that and the Spirit scored 8 runs in the last three innings to win their second straight championship. Offensive heroes included Hornsby (2-3, 3 runs), LF Jack Smith (2-5, 2 RBI) and Sam Rice (4 RBI including a 3-run double). Reliever Dustin Mails went the last three and two-thirds innings to get the win.

While deals started right away, the first big name trade came on October 20, when pitcher Burleigh Grimes was sent from Baltimore to Detroit with catcher Bubber Jonnard for young first baseman Cliff Lee. Lee hit .363 with 12 homers in 1921 but fell off to .244 and six home runs this past season. Despite hitting .366 in 1922, Carson BIgbee found himself on the move again, going from Pittsburgh to St. Louis for pitcher Stan Coveleski.

Rookie of the Year awards for 1922 went to catcher Johnny Gooch of Philadelphia and Chicago 3B Danny Clark. Outstanding Pitcher Awards were won by the Minutemen's Waite Hoyt and the Aces' Red Faber. Philadelphia made a clean sweep of the Eastern League awards as Harry Heilmann got Outstanding Hitter, while Babe Ruth won his third straight Central League hitting trophy.

Trading continued, as Chicago sent catcher Hank Gowdy and his .346 batting average (as a reserve with 127 at bats) to Cleveland for 2B Lance Richbourg. The 1923 draft featured some very exciting prospects, probably none more so than New York's first pick, Lou Gehrig. The rest of the first round (in order) was OF Hack Wilson (Pittsburgh), 1B Bill Terry (Chicago), OF Heinie Manush (Detroit), P Earl Whitehill (Los Angeles), P Ted Lyons (Baltimore), 3B WIllie Kamm (Philadelphia), P Firpo Marberry (Cleveland), OF Harvey Hendrick (St. Louis) and C Johnny Schulte (Boston). This round was hailed as the most talented in the short history of the draft.

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The league's top 100 prospect list did not feature a surprise at the top - 1B Lou Gehrig of New York. The only question is how long it will take him to push incumbent Jack Fournier out of the job. The rest of the top 10 prospects were P Joe Shaute (Baltimore), OF Hack Wilson (Pittsburgh), P Ted Lyons (Baltimore), P Dennis Burns (Baltimore), P Earl Whitehill (Los Angeles), 1B Bill Terry (Chicago), P Firpo Marberry (Cleveland), P Lil Stoner (St. Louis) and OF Heinie Manush (Detroit).

St. Louis surprised many during spring training by trading one of the key pieces of their championship run, OF Sam Rice, to Boston for pitcher Buddy Napier and 2B Allie Watt. The Spirit felt emerging youngster Cliff Heathcote and backup Baby Doll Jacobsen could handle right field. Baltimore dealt longtime regular 1B High Pockets Kelly (334-10-88 in 1922) to Philadelphia for OF Les Mann and 3B Carlton Lord.

April saw Philadelphia's Harry Heilmann become the first player to record six hits in a game, as he went 6-6 with 4 RBI in a win over Baltimore.

As June began it looked like Pittsburgh might set a record for futility, with the Grays already thirteen and a half games out after just 34 games. Injury wise Baltimore suffered a big blow losing 2B Del Pratt four four months and Detroit lost power hitting OF Ken Williams for six weeks with a separated shoulder.

July 1st saw St. Louis with a six and a half game lead, looking they were marching towards going for a three-peat while Baltimore led Boston by five and a half in the East. Chicago suffered a major blow, losing OF Bob Meusel for the rest of the season with a torn back muscle. Other major injuries that month included Detroit 2B Jimmy Dykes and Los Angeles OF Ray Powell.

The month of July saw St. Louis OF Cliff Heathcote run off a 25-game hitting streak while on the opposite end of the good news spectrum Cleveland pitcher Pete Alexander tore his labrum and was scheduled to miss the rest of the year. Trading deadline activity was light with the only real noticeable deal involved St. Louis dealing promising OF Bob Fothergill to Cleveland for pitcher Mule Watson and 1B Al Hermann.

By September 1st, it seemed a foregone conclusion St. Louis would win the Central, as they stood ten and a half games ahead of Cleveland and the Spiders had just lost pitcher Eddie Cicotte for six weeks. Boston and Baltimore were waging a great battle in the East with the Claws standing just a half-game ahead of the Stallions. Pittsburgh fans got to see some glimpses of hope for the future as rookies KIki Cuyler (.355-3-38) and Topper Rigney (303-2-31) had big months in August as the Grays showed enough life to move past Philadelphia into fourth place.

In the final weeks St. Louis lost SS Charlie Hollocher (347-4-62) to an ankle injury and it didn't look like he'd make it back in time for the post-season. An amazing thing happened in the East - New York ran off ten consecutive wins and with four days left in the season stood one game ahead of Boston and one and a half ahead of Baltimore. On September 27 Philadelphia broke the streak and defeated the Titans, but Boston lost to Pittsburgh while Baltimore was idle

Boston was idle on September 28, but Pittsburgh defeated the Titans and Baltimore downed Philadelphia 3-2. With two days left Baltimore and New York were tied with Boston a half-game back. September 29 saw New York blow out Pittsburgh 9-2 but Baltimore answered with a 8-6 win over Philadelphia. So as the season's final day dawned, the East could end in a three-way tie if New York and Baltimore both lost while Boston was idle.

At 1:05 the New York-Pittsburgh game started (with Baltimore and Philly to start at 3:05). As the Stallions took the field at 3:05 the Titans were leading the Grays 4-3 courtesy of two home runs by Jack Fournier, but the Pittsburgh had just scored twice in the bottom of the seventh.The Titans went on to win 7-3 with the game finishing with Baltimore and Philadelphia tied at zero in the third. It took twelve innings in Baltimore, but Amos Strunk opened the inning with a walk off of Claude Jonnard; Bobby Veach grounded out, moving Strunk to second. Bob O'Farrell hit a grounder to Minutemen SS Joe Sewell, but Sewell threw wildly and Strunk came all the way around from second for a 2-1 win. Since the Stallions' winning percentage was .001 better than New York they were named Eastern League champions.

The Stallions carried the momentum into the Championship Series, winning Game One 6-5 over St. Louis on the strength of an eighth inning where Earl Sheely walked, Happy Felsch doubled him to third and Ike Caveney brought him home with a sacrifice fly for the winning run. Game Two saw the two-time defending champion Spirit bounce back with a 4-1 win as Bill Sherdel pitched a four hitter, Butch Henline homered and Whitey Witt drove in two. The series moved to Baltimore for Game Three where the Spirit won 5-2 behind Rogers Hornsby (3-5, HR, RBI) and Joe Judge (5-5).

Game Four saw the Stallions perform some more late game heroics - tied at four going into the bottom of the ninth a single by Bob O'Farrell, sac bunt by Hod Ford and a game-winning single by in-season acquisition Cliff Lee provided the winning run in a 5-4 victory. The Stallions were not phased by returning to St. Louis, as they took Game Five 4-2. Again the game was tied late (at two) but a two-run double by Del Pratt scored Curt Walker and Lee in the top of the eighth. Ray Caldwell shut out the Spirit over the last two innings to preserve the win.

Baltimore seemed to sense their first title, and took Game Six 6-3 as Cliff Lee homered and Frank Parkinson drove in two runs. The Stallions returned home and Game Seven featured Dolf Luque for Baltimore against Mule Watson for St. Louis. The Spirit pushed across a run in the first, but Luque shut them out the rest of the way. The game was tied going into the bottom of the eighth but a two-run double from Del Pratt and an RBI single by Art Fletcher gave the Stallions a 4-1 win and their first ever CBA title.

The transaction wires immediately got hot after the season finished.
- Pittsburgh dealt slugging outfielder Elmer Smith to Boston for George Sisler and catcher Chuck Rowland;
- Los Angeles dealt pitchers Rossy Ryan and Showboat Fisher to Detroit for OF Clyde Barnhart;
- St. Louis sent starting pitcher Mule Watson to Chicago for OF John Perrin and catcher Red Lutz;
- Baltimore sent pitchers Ted Lyons and Fred Fussell to New York for Dick Burrus
- Baltimore then sent OF Happy Felsch to Pittsburgh for P Dixie LEverett and C Chuck Rowland (second time he was traded in two days)
- Cleveland dealt C Hank Gowdy to Pittsburgh for OF Ed Hock, OF Wally Shaner and OF Kenny Hogan
- Detroit turned around and traded Showboat Fisher with OF Tige Stone to Cleveland for P Firpo Marberry
- Chuck Rowland was then traded a third time in a week, as he was sent with P George Pipgras to Cleveland for Lynn Brenton
- Los Angeles sent 2B Rabbit Maranville to Baltimore for P Sherry Smith and OF Tex Jeanes

Rookie of the Year awards went to pitcher Joe Shaute of Baltimore (5-2, 2.28) and Detroit OF Heinie Manush (378-4-31). Outstanding Pitcher was given to Jesse Haines of Philadelphia (15-13, 3.19) and Red Faber of Chicago (18-8, 3.42). Outstanding Hitter was taken home by New York 1B Jack Fournier (350-21-84) and, of course, Cleveland OF Babe Ruth (376-32-95).

This year's first year player draft may not have been as star-studded as the previous seasons but some top prospects still went in the first round, led by Pittsburgh's selection of OF Al Simmons. Other first rounders included Philadelphia 2B Charlie Gehringer, OF Earle Combs (Chicago), 2B Max Bishop (Cleveland), OF Chick Haley (Detroit), P Red Ruffing (Los Angeles), P Watty Clark (Boston), P Sam Gray (New York), P Hi Bell (Baltimore) and P By Speece (St. Louis). The addition of Simmons to a talented young Pittsburgh squad and the addition of a potential future batting champion in Gehringer to the Minutemen were the headline picks. Pittsburgh also took a good second-rounder in SS Glenn Wright.

A couple of minor deals closed out the 1923 calendar, as Philadelphia sent C Muddy Ruel to Cleveland for pitchers Hugh McQuillan and George Pipgras and New York sent 1B/OF Frank Brower (290-16-72 in 1923) to Cleveland for Ps Speed Martin and Jumbo Elliott

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The first deal of the new year saw Pittsburgh send OF Ray Blades (317-1-22 in 1923) to Philadelphia for P Eppa Rixey and OF Carr Smith. Cleveland made a nice move picking up Rube Benton (15-13, 3.44 in 1923) from Baltimore for veteran Ira Flagstead and minor league 3B Wally Shaner.

Early predictions from the media had Pittsburgh and Chicago as the favorites to win their leagues. The Grays continued to fortify their base of young talent, picking up pitchers Ted Lyons and Rip Wheeler for little used 2B Cliff Brady (sent to New York in the trade). The Titans may have regretted trading away two pitchers just five days later when reliever Ted Wingfield (4-0, 1.73 as a rookie in 1923) was lost for the year with an elbow injury.

The top 10 prospect list again featured New York 1B Lou Gehrig at the top, followed by Pittsburgh P Ted Lyons, Baltimore P Johnny Cooney, P Red Ruffing (Los Angeles), P Jake Miller (Boston), 2B Charlie Gehringer (Philadelphia), OF Al Simmons (Pittsburgh), P Earl Whitehill (Los Angeles), P Kent Greenfield (Detroit) and P Flint Rhem (Cleveland).

Both divisions were tight through the end of May - Pittsburgh led the East with New York, Boston and Philadelphia all within a game and a half. Detroit, with second year catcher Gabby Hartnett leading the CL with 7 homers, was one ahead of Los Angeles and one and a half ahead of Chicago. Three-time league champ St. Louis was mired in last, though just four games back. Los Angeles, sensing a chance to stay in the race, dealt three minor leaguers for 39-year old veteran Eddie Cicotte.

Some key injuries hit in June - Los Angeles OF Zach Wheat (5 weeks), New York C Wally Schang (4-5 weeks) and Cleveland 3B Doc Prothro (5 weeks). The closest thing to a major trade was Los Angeles sending promising young 1B Chicken Hawks (400-1-14) to St. Louis for P John Slappey and 2B Reuben Ewing.

As the trading deadline approached, St. Louis, still stuck in last and seeing the end of a great run, sent OF Baby Doll Jacobson to Baltimore for P Tiny Osborne. Long-time Boston SS Ray Chapman was sent to Chicago for C Glenn Myatt and 3B Ed Clough. The Claws also parted with reliever Johnny Enzmann, sending him to Detroit for SS Jackie Tavener as they tried to get younger. The races at this point focused on Philadelphia, with a one game lead on Pittsburgh, in the East and Detroit, with a comfortable lead on Cleveland and Los Angeles, in the Central.

September 1st came with Philadelphia leading Pittsburgh by two; Detroit was still sitting comfortably, up 6.5 on Los Angeles. Things changed, though as Cleveland went on a tear, and with six days to go passed Detroit for the lead in the Central. The Spiders then swept a 3-game series from Detroit in the last week to clinch the title.

In the East, Philadelphia finished with a seven game lead. Eight of the nine Minutemen starters hit over .300, led by Elmer Smith (375-8-69), Joe Sewell (368-2-69) and Heinie Mueller (362-0-41). Waite Hoyt won 20 games in the rotation. Pittsburgh, predicted to turn the corner in '24, ran out of steam down the stretch but got promising seasons from young players like Kiki Cuyler, Al Simmons, Ike Boone and Glenn Wright. Stan Coveleksi led the Grays with 16 wins and a 3.33 ERA. Though some of Boston's stars - Max Carey (330-4-50) and Eddie Collins (342-1-68) - continued to shine, overall the offense and the pitching slipped with 36 year old Walter Johnson leading the team with 15 wins. New York finished 18 games back - Goose Goslin (314-9-67) and Jack Fournier (348-7-47) hit well and Lou Gehrig (310-6-34) looked as good as advertised in his first showing. Baltimore, last year's champs, fell apart and finished 20 games out of first. Bobby Veach and Curt Walker hit well but almost no one else did, and only Dolf Luque had a year worth mentioning in the rotation.

The best hitting pair on a team again dominated and this time got a Central title to show for it as Ty Cobb hit 359-3-79 and Babe Ruth 346-28-122. First baseman Joe Judge, picked up early in the year from St. Louis, made a big difference, hitting .307 and driving in 62 runs from the #2 spot. Detroit may have been let down by a weak infield (1B Joe Hauser's 339-19-92 withstanding) but the outfield continued to rake with Ross Youngs (354), Edd Roush (357) and Ken Williams (304, 91 RBI). Catcher Gabby Hartnett socked 20 homers and Burleigh Grimes picked up 17 wins. Los Agneles finished 4.5 back, despite some solid pitching and good years from Frankie Frisch (345-8-77) and Zack Wheat (341-4-47). Chicago was 6.5 back, with solid years from Bob Meusel (318-13-52), Pie Traynor (302), Jim Bottomley (346-15-74), Tris Speaker (300, 66 RBI) and Danny Clark (315-3-62). The pennant winning era for St. Louis crashed and burned in 1924 with the Spirit winning 42% of their games and finishing 15 games out. Rogers Hornsby and Harry Rice both hit over .350 and the pitching staff wasn't bad, but it was a year to forget.

The playoffs began in Philadelphia but Joe Judge (4-5, RBI, 2 R) and Heinie Meusel (4-5) led the Cleveland bats in a 9-6 victory in Game One. Philly bounced back in Game Two, winning 5-2 on solid pitching from Hesse Haines and a 3-run homer by LF Bibb Falk. Interestingly Ty Cobb did not pick up a hit in his first two playoff games and Babe Ruth was at .250-0-1. The MInutemen took Game 3 in Cleveland also, winning 7-5 as Falk drove in 3 more and overcoming Babe Ruth's first home run of the series.

Philadelphia took both games on the road, defeating the Spiders 7-1 in Game Four, as they had 15 hits and Dutch Ruether gave up just one run on four hits from the mound. With the Spiders in the hole Cleveland pitchers Catcus Keck and Bill Harris combined to shut out the Minutemen on four hits. All of Cleveland's runs came in the eighth as a double by Ty Cobb and a triple by Irish Meusel struck big blows. Suddenly on a roll, the Spiders offense battered Philly 11-7 in Game Six, with Ruth homering again and Cobb going 3 for 5 with 2 RBI.

The series shifted to Cleveland, but Philly, with big days from Falk and Joe Sewell, won out 8-7. The Spiders scored one in the ninth on a sac fly by Cobb, but Ruth flew out with Joe Judge on first to end the game.The MInutemen then closed out the series on another outstanding pitching performance from Dutch Ruether - 9 IP, 2 ER in a 7-2 win. Harry Heilman drove in three for Philadelphia,

As always the GMs got busy. Trades included:
- Baltimore sent 1B Earl Sheely (304-1-29) to Boston for 3B Heinie Groh and OF Joe Wyatt
- Baltimore traded P Dixie Leverett to St. Louis for OF Dick Loftus and SS Dot Fulghum
- Still busy, Baltimore sent P Lynn Brenton (2-8, 2.78) to Los Angeles for OF Jackie Gallagher, SS Jim Mahady and OF Howard Fitzgerald
- Baltimore traded P Hi Bell to Cleveland for OF Otto Vogel, SS Frank Naleway, C Jack Blott and 2B Jake Flowers
- Pittsburgh sent SS Topper Rigney to Los Angeles for P Sherry Smith and OF Tex Jeanes
- Baltimore traded P Joe Shaute and SS Frank Naleway to Cleveland for Sammy Hale (and yes, they had just acquired Naleway from the Spiders)
- Baltimore sent P Dennis Burns to Boston for 2B Jim Begley and 2B Freddy Spurgeon

1924's award winners include Rookies of the Year Johnny Cooney (P, Baltimore, 16-12, 3.99) and Eddie Dyer (P, Cleveland, 14-9, 3.67). Outstanding Pitcher Awards went to Philadelphia's Waite Hoyt (20-8, 3.07) and Detroit's Elmer Ponder (15-7, 3.32). The MInutemen's Earl Smith (375-8-69) won the Outstanding Hitter Award for the Eastern League, while the only man ever to win it in the Central, Babe Ruth, won it again.

St. Louis kicked off the First-Year Player Draft with the selection of super prospect Jimmie Foxx, who could return the Spirit to the top quickly. The rest of the first round saw the following picks - P Lefty Grove (Baltimore), C Mickey Cochrane (New York), OF Earl Webb (Chicago), P Freddie Fitzsimmons (Los Angeles), OF Dick Cox (Boston), SS Buddy Myer (Detroit), OF Dave Harris (Pittsburgh), 2B Fresco Thompson (Cleveland), and P Dutch Ulrich (Philadelphia).

Thompson didn't last long with Cleveland - he was traded six days later to Baltimore with 2B Heinie Scheer for C Bob O'Farrell (282-2-33 in 1924). The Stallions continued to wheel and deal, sending P Carl Mays to Philadelphia for P George Pipgras, 1B Augie Swentor and 1B Tony Murray. Chicago made a nice pickup, getting P Charlie Root from St. Louis for 2B Frank O'Rourke and 3B Hunter Lane. Surprisingly Baltimore traded rotation regular Dolf Luque to Pittsburgh for P Ted Lyons, OF Mule Haas and OF Tex Jeanes. Boston shipped starting catcher Hank Severeid (316-1-43) to Los Angeles for pitchers Al Pierotti and Jumbo Elliott.

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Preseason predictions had Cleveland running away with the Central and Boston edging Pittsburgh for the East. This year's top 10 prospect list - 1B Jimmie Foxx (St. Louis), P Lefty Grove (Baltimore), C Mickey Cochrane (New York), P Red Ruffing (Los Angeles), 2B Charlie Gehringer (Philadelphia), P Charlie Root (Chicago), P Freddie Fitzsimmons (Los Angeles), P Bob Osborn (St. Louis), P Ed Wells (Baltimore), P Flint Rhem (Cleveland)

Early season troubles showed in Los Angeles where the Stars staggered out of the gate 2-11 and lost catcher Hank Severeid for seven weeks with a hamstring injury. New York lost pitcher Urban Shocker for three months. Pittsburgh surprisingly dealt young star Kiki Cuyler to New York for 2B Russ Wrightstone and SS Chuck Corgan. Another top prospect was dealt in May as Chicago sent 1B Bill Terry to Los Angeles for P Lefty Williams and 1B Art Merewether. The end of May saw St. Louis back on top of the Central, one game up on Detroit and being led by Rogers Hornsby's .425 average and 37-game hitting streak. Boston was up 3.5 on Baltimore while Pittsburgh was struggling at 10-25, thirteen games back. The Stars continued to suffer major injuries, losing P Tim McNamara for the year and OF Zack Wheat for six weeks. May also featured the league's first no-hitter, as 41-year old Jack Quinn of St. Louis blanked Chicago on no hits and just two walks.

June saw Philadelphia push ahead of Boston by 3.5 games in the East, while Detroit held a one game lead on Cleveland and 2.5 on St. Louis. Philadelphia began to make some moves, sending 1B Lew Fonseca and 2B Billy Rogell to Pittsburgh for P Ray Kremer. The month also was highlighted by the further emergence of two young first basemen, as Lou Gehrig of New York finished the month leading the EL in average and Los Angeles' Bill Terry was hitting 384-5-31.

The pre-trading deadline featured mostly names of little renown, other than pitcher Ted Lyons, a top prospect who was shuttled off for the fourth time - Baltimore sent he and P johnny Miljus to Philadelphia for 2B Bernie Friberg.

The regular season ended with no real suspense in either division. Boston had a nine game lead over Philadelphia, with strong years from Eddie Collins (361-3-61), Pie Traynor (325-1-76) and Glenn Mynatt (304-13-94) and a surprising bounce back year from 37-year old Walter Johnson (19-9, 3.08). Philadelphia had some big seasons from Bibb Falk (354-3-66), Earl Smith (311-11-56) and Riggs Stephenson (313-7-69) but the left side of the infield (Joe Sewell & Willie Kamm) didn't perform as well as expected. Pittsburgh finished tied with New York twelve games back with OF Al Simmons (316-21-99) being a highlight for the Grays. The Titans all of a sudden may have as much young position player talent as anyone, with Lou Gehrig (353-20-86), rookie catcher Mickey Cochrane (291-4-29), Goose Goslin (347-14-83) and Kiki Cuyler (285-4-55). Baltimore finished last for the second straight season and other than OF Curt Walker (367-6-52) and Ray Caldwell (17-12, 2.86) don't have much to get excited about.

Cleveland surprised no one by winning the Central, especially with an outfield of Babe Ruth (337-40-111), Ty Cobb (328-4-74) and Irish Meusel (341-3-23). Second year 2B Max Bishop hit 326 in the leadoff sport and catcher Bob O'Farrell, acquired from Baltimore in the pre-season, drove in 76 runs. Virgil Barnes led the staff with a 3.22 ERA but the Spiders could outscore anyone. Detroit gave it a good run, finishing first in the Central in batting average and home runs as Heinie Manush (345-9-90), Ken Williams (338-16-62), Joe Hauser (271-18-79) and Gabby Hartnett (336-18-95) mashed the ball all year. Unfortunately their starting pitching and defense was dreadful, finishing last in both ERA and defensive efficiency. Los Angeles (6.5 back) had plenty of good hitters - Frankie Frisch (326-6-65), Bill Terry (357-14-74), High Pockets Kelly (315-6-59), and Zack Wheat (343-4-43) but not enough pitching. Chicago (9 back, under .500) has a couple of emerging stars in LF Rube Bressler (330-2-66) and 1B Jim Bottomley (366-20-101) but needs more in the lineup. The pitching staff, led by George Uhle (15-9, 3.78) and Jack Scott (3.77) was solid but unspectacular.St.Louis started out hot but then tumbled to last behead very poor pitching. Rogers Hornsby (397-22-95) and Hal Rice (369-8-78) can still hit and new acquisition Chicken Hawks (311-10-80) teamed with catcher Butch Henline (303-9-60) to provide more hitting.

The playoffs got off to an exciting start as Glenn Myatt singled home Pie Traynor (after he tripled) with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, giving Boston a 5-4 win over Cleveland. The Claws also won Game Two in dramatic fashion, as pinch hitter Tony Boeckel's two-out triple scored Earl Sheely in the bottom of the tenth. Suddenly on the ropes, Cleveland came out swinging when they returned home and won Game Three 7-4 behind two homers from Babe Ruth.

The Spiders were unable to pull even in Game Four though as the Claws scored five runs in the last three innings to win 7-5. Pie Traynor was 4-5 with a triple and a home run for Boston while Sam Rice and Max Carey each had a triple and three hits. Game Five featured another extra inning classic, with the score at 3-2 going into the bottom of the ninth - the Claws' Max Carey hit a two-out single to bring in Sheely to tie the game. In the 10th Cleveland scored three times for the win with a run scoring hit by pitch for Ray Chapman and a two-run double by Bob Fothergill. Cleveland tied the series at three with a 6-2 win. Virgil Barnes went the distance for the win, giving up two runs on six hits, while homers from Ruth and Bob O'Farrell provided most of the offense.

The series shifted to Cleveland, but Boston took Game Seven by scoring once in the eighth and ninth for a 6-4 win. In the 8th, Glenn Mynatt tripled and Earl Sheely brought him home with a sac fly to make it 5-4 and then the Claws added an insurance run in the ninth when Eddie Collins singled home Max Carey. The Claws closed out the series in Game Eight - the game was tied 2-2 going into the ninth but Sam Rice led off the ninth with a home run off Bert Gallia, followed by a single by Earl McNeely, a stolen base ,an RBi single by Earl Sheely, an error, a 2-run single by Max Carey and an RBI double by Eddie Collins. Boston then took home their second title of the decade.

Rookie of the Year went to New York catcher Mickey Cochrane and Los Angeles first baseman Bill Terry. Outstanding Pitcher Awards went to Boston's Walter Johnson and Cleveland's Joe Shaute, while the Outstanding Hitter went to Lou Gehrig of New York and Babe Ruth of Cleveland.

Off-season deals:
- Chicago sends P Jack Scott to Detroit for 2B Jimmy Dukes and 2B Mack Hillis
- Baltimore trades OF Bobby Veach to Chicago for Lu Blue
- Philadelphia deals IF/OF Riggs Stephenson to Boston for P Bob Shawkey and OF Frank Wilson
- St. Louis trades OF Whitey Witt to Baltimore for P Vance MvIlree and OF Roy Hutson
- Baltimore sends 3B Specs Toporcer and C Cliff Knox to Los Angeles for 2B High Pockets Kelly
- Cleveland sends 3B Ray Chapman to New York for P Dutch Ruether

The biggest trade by far was Chicago dealing 1B Jim Bottomley to Philadelphia for starting pitcher Waite Hoyt, OF Buddy Crump and P Ted Lyons.

The draft's first pick was 1B Babe Herman, going to St. Louis. The rest of the first round featured OF Mel Ott (Baltimore), OF Paul Waner (Chicago), 2B Tony Lazzeri (New York), 2B Joe Cronin (Pittsburgh), P Johnny Wertz (Los Angeles), OF Danny Taylor (Philadelphia), OF Pete Scott (Detroit), P Tommy Thomas (Cleveland) and the wonderfully named OF Cuckoo Christensen (Boston).

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Preseason predictions from the media had Pittsburgh and Cleveland as projected league champions. The top ten prospect list was led by Los Angeles' Jimmie Foxx and also included P Danny MacFayden (Los Angeles), P Jumbo Elliott (Los Angeles), P Bob Osborn (St. Louis), OF Babe Herman (St. Louis), OF Mel Ott (Baltimore), P Bump Hadley (New York), P Jim Brillheart (Boston), P Ownie Carroll (St. Louis) and OF Paul Waner of Chicago.

St. Louis opened the year trading OF Denver Grigsby, a .310 hitter, to Pittsburgh for 3B Russ Wrightstone. Cleveland traded starting OF Irish Meusel and OF Carr Smith to Pittsburgh for pitcher Howard Ehmke.

Through the trading deadline there were close pennant races going on - at the end of July the Eastern League had Philadelphia leading Boston by 2, with Pittsburgh struggling stay alive six games back. In the Central, Chicago had a half game lead on Cleveland with Los Angeles two and a half back. Babe Ruth continued to dominate the headlines, with 24 home runs at that point, 15 more than his closest competitor. By the end of August Philadelphia had pulled away to an eight game lead over Boston, 8.5 over New York and 9 over Pittsburgh so the East looked like it might be locked up. The Central wasn't as close either, down to a two team race with Cleveland up three and a half on Chicago.

Philadelphia ended up winning the East by 7.5 games, with much of the credit going to off-season acquisition Jim Bottomley (323-9-83). The Minutemen had one of the league's best outfields with Harry Heilman (304-6-65), Bibb Falk (316-5-60) and Taylor Douthit (309-2-40). Sam Gray (15-13, 3.29) and Jesse Haines (18-13, 3.54) led the rotation while Red Lewis (6-3, 2.01, 16 saves) and John Slappey (2-0, 1.20) were nearly unhittable out of the bullpen. Boston finished second, led by the league's best middle infield - Pie Traynor (350-4-99) and Eddie Collins (342-5-68).They had an excellent bullpen but not enough in the rotation to challenge the Minutemen. Pittsburgh fell short of expectations, though outfielders Al Simmons (314-11-76) and Hack WIlson (288-12-71) did their part. The Grays' Herb Pennock (13-8, 2.83) was one of the league's best starters but then was lost for the last two months with an injury and fellow starters Guy Bush and Stan Coveleski also had injury issues. New York had plenty of offense, including EL HR champ Lou Gehrig (303-14-79). He received ample support from Mickey Cochrane (333-4-72), Kiki Cuyler (337-12-72), Tony Lazzeri (275-9-67), Goose Goslin (295-8-63) and Cy Williams (316-9-59), not to mention Ben Paschal who hit .313 with six homers filling in for an injured Goslin. Once Dutch Leonard (6-6, 2.70) was traded to Detroit the Titans didn't really have an effective starter. Baltimore finished a distant fifth, winning only 35% of their games. Outside of RF Curt Walker (341-3-67) their only real threats were aging outfielders Tris Speaker and Baby Doll Jacobson.

In the Central, Cleveland continued to terrorize opponents. Ruth (340-34-112) had a huge year and Ty Cobb (330-5-61), Joe Judge (334-1-41) and Bob Fothergill (391-1-32) all hit for high averages. Chicago, as fitting a team called the Aces, led the Central in starters ERA, thanks to Burleigh Grimes (12-8, 3.12) and George Uhle (13-13, 3.34). Rookie OF Paul Waner crushed pitching all year (350-4-71, including the season's only cycle) with some able support from Bob Meusel (283-8-60) and 2B Spencer Adams (357). Los Angeles finished last in several pitching categories, undoing fine offensive work done by Zack Wheat (329-5-62), Frankie Frisch (311-3-57), Bill Terry (331-8-55) and rookie Jimmie Foxx (298-5-63). Detroit led the CL in batting average, thanks to league leader Heinie Manush (363-10-71) and SS Buddy Myer (358-4-54). The Iron Horses also got big years from Ken WIlliams, whose 36-year old bat still generated 14 homers and a .288 average, and RF Chick Hafey (322-11-58). The once proud St. Louis franchise finished last for the third straight year. Losing Rogers Hornsby (333-5-32) to a hamstring injury for much of the season didn't help. Harry Rice (306-5-67) and Babe Herman (317-7-63) had nice years for the Spirit and the pitching, led by trade pickup Lefty Williams, was solid, but the lineup needed a lot of work.

The 1926 Championship Series opened in Philadelphia and Cleveland's Jimmy RIng pitched a gem for the Spiders, allowing just one run over nine innings. Babe Ruth's third inning grand slam provided all the offense the Spiders needed in a 5-1 win. The Minutemen bounced back in Game Two, as they scored ten runs in the second and third innings combined. Harry Heilmann's three-run homer was the big blow, but SS Mark Koenig and CF Taylor Douthit each drove in a pair of runs as well in the 11-2 win. The Spiders won Game Three as they returned to Cleveland by a 5-4 margin. Philadelphia actually had a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the eighth, but the Spiders pieced together four runs on three hits, an error and two walks. Howard Ehmke went the distance on the mound for the Spiders, closing out the game with a scoreless ninth.

Cleveland got more standout pitching in Game Four, as Virgil Barnes pitched a three-hit shutout and Babe Ruth provided all the offense with a 2-run homer in the fourth, the only mistake made by Minutemen pitcher Charlie Root. Back in Philly for Game Five, Cleveland won a close one 5-4. Ruth again homered and teammate Joe Judge contributed a two-run blast. The MInutemen had a brief last chance rally when Freddie Lindstrom hit a two-out double in the ninth, but Earl Smith then flew out for the final out. On the verge of being eliminated Philadelphia bounced back for a 6-4 win in Game Six. First baseman JIm Bottomley went four for four with a double, home run and two RBI to lead the way, while Sam Gray picked up his second victory of the series.

The series returned to Cleveland for Game Seven, with the Spiders up 4-2, but the Minutemen's Dutch Ulrich surprised everyone by pitching seven shutout innings. Syl Johnson didn't allow a baserunner in the final two frames to close out a 5-0 win. Philadelphia got all of their runs in the first thanks two a two-run single by Earl Smith and a two-run double by Taylor Douthit. Cleveland hoped Virgil Barnes could work more magic in Game Eight, but the Minutemen battered him on the way to a 10-3 win. Mark Koenig drove in 3 while going 3 for 4, while Douthit had 2 doubles and 2 RBI and Charlie Gehringer was four for five. The series came down to Game Nine and started well for the Spiders, as Max Bishop and Joe Judge opened the game with singles and Babe Ruth blasted a three-run homer. Cleveland scored one more to be 4-0 after their first at bat, but Philadelphia countered with three in the bottom half, including a 2-run double by Freddie Lidstrom. The Spiders tied the game at five in the top of the fifth, but the Minutemen broke it open in the bottom half behind a 2-run double by Earl Smith. Jesse Haines, despite giving up 7 runs on 13 hits and 4 walks, went the distance and made the lead stand up, ending with a 9-7 Philadelphia win, giving the Minutemen their second championship in three years and sending Cleveland home with their third straight championship series defeat.

The first big name to move in the offseason was 38-year old center fielder Tris Speaker, who was sent from Baltimore to Boston for five minor leaguers. Baltimore also surprisingly dealt their main star, OF Curt Walker, to Los Angeles for four more minor leaguers. St. Louis sent 1B/3B Russ Wrightstone to Chicago for pitcher Al Yeargin and 2B Jim Begley.

For awards, the Rookie of the Year went to pitcher Red Lucas of Philadelphia and shortstop Buddy Myer of Detroit. Pitcher awards went to Jakie May (19-7, 3.56) of Boston and Howard Ehmke of Cleveland. The hitter awards were given to Pittsburgh's George Grantham (337-7-45 and CBA leader in on-base percentage) and Cleveland's Babe Ruth, who remained the only hitter to win the award in the seven year history of the league.

The draft was one of the less eye-catching drafts in years. The top overall pick was SS Red Kress, who went to Baltimore. The rest of the first round was OF Carl Reynolds (St. Louis), OF Sam West (Detroit), P Ben Cantwell (Los Angeles), OF Fred Schulte (New York), SS Woody English (Pittsburgh), OF DIck Spalding (Boston), OF Ernie Orsetti (Chicago), P Wilcy Moore (Cleveland) and 2B Dick Bartell (Philadelphia). A sleeper to watch is Pittsburgh second rounder Wes Ferrell, who was immediately included in a deal with pitcher John Glaser to Philadelphia for catcher Pat Collins.

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The new year began on a somber note, as Pittsburgh's ace Herb Pennock was forced to retire by a never injury. Spring Training was particularly rough from an injury standpoint - among those who went were Cleveland OF Babe Ruth (6 weeks), New York 3B Ossie Bluege (6 weeks), Chicago SS Rabbitt Maranville (4 weeks), Chicago 2B Jimmy Dykes (8 months) and Cleveland OF Harry Hooper (4 weeks).

The annual top ten prospect list was headed by OF Mel Ott of Baltimore but was dominated by Los Angeles pitchers - Ben Cantwell (#2), Danny MacFayden (#3), Fred Frankhouse (#5) and Ray Benge (#8) - all are hurlers in the Stars organization. Others in the top ten included pitcher Ownie Carroll and OF Carl Reynolds of St. Louis, Boston P Watty Clark, Detroit OF Sam West and Pittsburgh P George Blaeholder.

The injuries continued through the first six weeks, as Los Angeles lost star OF Curt Walker for 2-3 months with a hamstring injury and Boston lost P Eppa Rixey for the rest of the year with an elbow injury. The first big trade of the year saw Chicago send OF Rube Bressler to Pittsburgh for P Dolf Luque and SS Hod Kibbie. The biggest deadline deal saw Pittsburgh SS Lew Fonseca sent to Los Angeles for P Joe Shaute.

While the Central wasn't a race - Los Angeles finished 12 games ahead of Chicago - the Eastern was tied on the final day with New York and Baltimore in a dead heat and Pittsburgh one game back. The Titans were idle, while Baltimore took on Pittsburgh head-to-head. The Grays defeated the Stallions 4-2, leaving both of them a half-game behind New York, who got to claim the title without playing.

In the Central, Los Angeles was loaded - the Stars were first in every major category offensively, defensively and pitching-wise except home runs where they were third. Offensively players like Bill Terry (366-7-92), Jimmie Foxx (320-14-88), Frankie Frisch (323-1-64) and Lew Fonseca (340-4-56) tore it up, while Earl Whitehill (17-7,3.13) led a staff that had solid starters and outstanding relievers, including Lynn Brenton and his 0.84 ERA. Cleveland finished in second, largely driven by Babe Ruth's 32 home runs and decent pitching by guys like Ed Morris and Tommy Thomas. The only other .300 hitter in the lineup was Bob Fothergill (318-5-78). Chicago finished 12.5 back and had a great year from their outfield - Bob Meusel (306-2-37), Earle Combs (344-6-92) and Paul Waner (365-7-74). Flint Rhem was their best pitcher after coming over in a trade from Cleveland, going 8-7 with a 3.64 ERA. St. Louis finally avoided last place, though only by a half-game. The Spirit lineup featured three 300 hitters - Rogers Hornsby (320-9-73), Harvey Hendrick (318-5-49) and Babe Herman (319-8-68) and a good pitching performances from starters Bill Sherdel (16-12, 3.54) and Pete Donohue (12-12, 3.73) were hopeful and late season callups Tony Welzer (3-2, 3.48) and General Crowder (3-1, 3.82) offered more optimism for next season.Detroit slipped from fourth to last , largely because of a poor rotation that had a 4.27 ERA. Offensively the Iron Horses had plenty of hitters - Buddy Myer (339-1-53), Andy High (315-5-45), Heinie Manush (340-8-65), Chick Hafey (332-16-91), Gabby Hartnett (319-16-89) and Ken Williams (317-6-36) stood out.

Despite being last in the East in starters ERA the New York Titans eaked out a title, with Lou Gehrig (349-18-81) and Mickey Cochrane (340-4-66) leading the way. Having RF Cy Williams and SS Tony Lazzeri in double figures in home runs certainly didn't hurt. Pittsburgh also struggled with pitching and it may have cost them since they finished just a half-game back. Hack Wilson was the Grays offensive leader, hitting 328-25-98 but getting able support from Al Simmons (351-11-78) and Glenn Wright (302-7-43). Guy Bush led the team in wins with 16. After spending three years in last Baltimore turned into a contender , largely from rookies Mel Ott (372-20-90) and Lloyd Waner (328-1-47) being added to the lineup, though 1B Lu Blue (303-2-52) also helped out. Lefty Grove matured into a dominant starter, going 21-8 with a 2.51 ERA, while Sam Gibson (14-14, 3.89) and George Pipgras (14-12, 3.74) were solid. Philadelphia struggled, finishing 7.5 games back, as perennial .300 hitters Harry Heilmann (271) and Jim Bottomley (292) weren't up to their usual standards. The year did see 2B Charlie Gehringer finally blossom to superstardom, as he hit .336-3-42 from the leadoff spot. Charlie Root somehow managed to end up with a losing record despite a 2.93 ERA, a feat Dutch Ulrich (3.10) could sympathize with. Boston came in last, 9 games back, largely due to an offense that finished last in the East in most categories. Jesse Petty (3.44 ERA) did a nice job in the rotation and Eddie Collins hit .331 at the age of 40 but other than that and Pie Traynor's 333-3-69 line, there wasn't much to get excited about.

The Stars sent ace Earl Whitehill to the mound for Game One, while New York countered with Bump Hadley (12-17, 4.65 in just his second year). Of course, Hadley surprised everyone and outdueled Whitehill in a 2-1 Titans victory. The two teams were tied at one going into the sixth, when Lou Gehrig singled, Tony Lazzeri doubled and then Cy Williams brought Gehrig home with the winning run on a sacrifice fly to center. Game Two saw more great pitching, as Freddie Fitzsimmons shut out New York and held them to just four hits. Sam Jones did a nice job for New York as well, going 8 innings and allowing just one earned run on two hits. The game's only runs came in the bottom of the fifth as Walt French drove home Bill Terry on a sac fly and then Curt Walker scored on a bases loaded to walk to Fitzsimmons. The low scoring series continued in Game Three and featured a dramatic ending as the game was tied at 2 going into the bottom of the ninth. With one out Babe Twombly singled off Jumbo Elliott, then stole second. Goose Goslin lined a 2-2 pitch into right and Twombly came all the way around from second for the game winning run.

Game Four was yet another one run game, except this one went into extra innings. Tied at five in the 10th, the Stars' Topper Rigney doubled to lead off the inning and after a Frankie Frisch single Lew Fonseca brought Rigney home to make it a 6-5 Los Angeles win. Red Ruffing got the win, while John Slappey took the loss in relief. The fun continued in Game Five, another extra inning, one run game. Tied at five after eight innings New York took a one-run lead in the top of the ninth as Mickey Cochrane singled in Goslin. The Stars countered by scoring in the bottom of the inning as CF Alex Metzler singled in Jimmie Foxx to tie it up. Stars relief ace Lynn Brenton came on and shut out New York in the 10th, setting up a second night of Lew Fonseca heroics. Los Angeles 3B Joe Dugan led off with a single and Brenton bunted him to second. A ground out by Frankie Frisch put Dugan at third with two out and Fonseca singled on the second pitch from John Slappey to bring home Dugan for the win. New York evened the series at 3 with a 5-2 win in Game Six as Lou Gehrig homered twice and Kiki Cuyler also hit one out while Sam Jones pitched well and Slappey picked up the save.

The Titans took a 4-3 lead as they returned home for Game Seven and won 6-2 behind a complete game from vet Lefty Williams. Cuyler was 2 for 4 with a double, a triple and 2 RBI while Goose Goslin homered. New York won the championship in Game Eight, as Cy Williams broke the game open early with a 3-run homer in the first and Slim Harris pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth to finish a complete game outing.

1927 Rookies of the Year were Baltimore's Mel Ott, pretty much a no-brainer, and St. Louis first baseman Harvey Hendrick. The pitcher awards went to Baltimore's Lefty Grove and Los Angeles starter Earl Whitehill. Hitter awards were given to New York's Lou Gehrig, and as always, Cleveland's Babe Ruth.

As usual it didn't take long for teams to start dealing after season's end. St. Louis sent OF Edd Roush to New York for P Ken Holloway and 2B Johnny Burnett. After his struggles in the championship series, it wasn't a surprise to see New York send reliever John Slappey packing, as he was traded with minor league 1B Les Burke to St. Louis for Fred Schulte. New York also picked up SP Jesse Petty from St. Louis for P Johnny Welch, SS Charlie Engle and OF Bill Hohman. The overhaul of the Titans pitching staff continued as they also traded for SP Jakie May of Boston, giving up 1B Buck Jordan and three minor leaguers.

St. Louis surprised many by trading 26-year old outfielder Harry Rice (four straight years over .300) to Philadelphia for minor league SS Heinie Schuble. Detroit picked up SP Tommy Thomas from Cleveland for 3B Les Bell and 1B Andy Harrigan.

Detroit had the first pick in the draft and took catcher Bill Dickey, a potential superstar from a little town in Arkansas. The rest of the first round saw Boston take P Carl Hubbell then went P Pat Malone (St. Louis), OF Chuck Klein (Philadelphia), OF Ed Morgan (Chicago), P George Earnshaw (Cleveland), P Si Johnson (Pittsburgh), C Spud Davis (Baltimore), 1B Del Bissonette (New York) and P Ed Brandt (Los Angeles). Potential non-first rounders of interest included Pepper Martin (2nd round, Philadelphia) and P Mel Harder (3rd round, St. Louis)

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The first trade of the new year saw pitcher Burleigh Grimes sent from Chicago to Los Angeles for aging (39) OF Zack Wheat and minor league catcher Red Smith. The real stunner came two weeks later when Detroit traded catcher Gabby Hartnett to Los Angeles for first baseman Bill Terry as two of the league's finest at their positions switched clubs.

The new year's top prospect list was headed by Boston P Carl Hubbell and also included C Bill DIckey (Detroit), OF Chuck Klein (Philadelphia), Ed Morgan (Chicago), P WIllis Hudlin (Boston), P Pat Malone (St. Louis), P Ben Cantwell (Los Angeles), P Wes Ferrell (Philadelphia), C Spud Davis (Baltimore) and OF John Stone of Detroit.

Media chosen favorites for the upcoming season were for New York to edge Philadelphia in the Eastern and Cleveland to beat out Detroit in the Central. A few deals trickled in in the early part of the season - Philadelphia traded CF Taylor Douthit to Cleveland for pitcher Virgil Barnes and minor league SS Joe Hassler; Cleveland then traded OF Bob Fothergill to Los Angeles for reliever Hi Bell and 2B Jackie Hayes; A month later the Spiders dealt 1B Joe Judge and C Gus Mancuso to Pittsburgh for 3B John Monroe.

The dealing continued throughout June, as Philadelphia traded prospect Pepper Martin to Cleveland for reliever Bill Harris. Chicago traded pitcher Urban Shocker to Detroit for 2B Clarence Huber and 3B Ollie Sax. The league scheduled its first ever All-Star Game for the first week of July. At the break New York led Philadephia by 3.5 in the Eastern League, while Cleveland was up a half game on Los Angeles in the Central. St. Louis and Boston looked to already been done for the year as they trailed by 15 and 16 games respectively.

The first ever All-Star Game saw the Central defeat the Eastern 6-4. Starting for the Central were SS Frankie Frisch (Pittsburgh), LF Heinie Manush (Detroit), 2B Rogers Hornsby (St. Louis), RF Babe Ruth (Cleveland), 3B Jimmie Foxx (Los Angeles), CF Earle Combs (Chicago), 1B Bill Terry (Detroit), C Gabby Hartnett (Los Angeles) and P Earl Whitehill (Los Angeles). For the losing East squad the starters were RF Kiki Cuyler (New York), Freddie Lindstrom (Philadelphia), 1B Lou Gehrig (New York), CF Hack Wilson (Pittsburgh), C Mickey Cochrane (New York), 2B Charlie Gehringer (Philadelphia), LF Riggs Stephenson (Boston), SS PIe Traynor (Boston) and P Charlie Root (Philadelphia). Wilson named the game's MVP after his game-winning 10th inning home run.

A few big names hit the injury list during the year - C Bill Dickey of Detroit was lost for most of the year due to a fractured knee, while Cleveland lost OF Ty Cobb for four weeks and Boston lost Eddie Collins for three.

A shocking deal took place at the trading deadline, as Los Angeles traded one of the league's best pitchers Earl Whitehill, with minor league OF Bruce Caldwell to New York for 1B Cliff Brady and RP Sarge Connally. The trade looked to be a steal for the Titans. Other interesting deals saw Cleveland trade all-star outfielder Bing Miller to Baltimore for 1B Lu Blue, Los Angeles send OF Curt Walker to St. Louis for two minor leaguers and New York send SP Slim Harriss with two minor leaguers to Chicago for OF Earle Combs.

The pennant races were decided with about three weeks to go when Los Angeles won 8 of 10 games to pull away from Cleveland in the CL and Philadelphia showed that they couldn't close the gap any more than five games to first place New York. The Titans rode another big year from their offense, led by Lou Gehrig (314-24-114) but with major contributions from acquisition Earle Combs (318-2-63), catcher Mickey Cochrane (326-9-87), 2B Tony Lazzeri (268-18-91) and LF Goose Goslin (313-8-36). Earl Whitehill dominated as expected once obtained from L.A. (19-7, 2.64), while off-season pick up Jesse Petty (17-12, 3.20) was almost equal and Bump Hadley won 19 games with a 3.25 ERA. Philadelphia had a nice team, with stars in 3B Freddie Lindstrom (346-10-72), 1B Jim Bottomley (356-7-43) and Harry Heilmann (311-10-58), plus pitcher Charlie Root (16-12, 3.13), but not enough to challenge a dominant Titans squad. Baltimore slipped to .500 after last year's promising showing. Mel Ott fell off to 286-26-76 and while they had some nice players like Spud Davis (292-10-44) and Johnny Hodapp (317-2-56) they were a long way from the upper echelon. The best Stallion players may have been pitchers George Pipgras (2.94) and Garland Braxton (2.80). Boston finished 27.5 games back and only leadoff man Riggs Stephenson cleared .300 (322-5-66). The Claws were last in batting average, OBP, HR, runs against and defensive efficiency. Amazingly they still fninished six games ahead of Pittsburgh. The Grays had some good hitters - 1B George Grantham (307-14-50), 3B Pinky Whitney (309-3-31), OF Al Simmons (300-13-70), OF Hack Wilson (307-17-63) but a terrible pitching staff.

Over in the central Los Angeles' offense was all about Frankie Frisch (339-6-63) and Bob Fothergill (301-1-52) setting the table and 1B Jimmie Foxx (333-23-95) knocking them in. Catcher Gabby Hartnett's power fell off some but he still 287-9-55. Red Ruffing led the staff at 16-11, 3.27, taking over as the ace after the trade of Earl Whitehill. Cleveland still featured the game's top attraction in Babe Ruth (328-47-122) but didn't have a lot else other than pitchers Ed Morris (16-12, 2.94), Howard Ehmke (16-9,3.76) and Lloyd Brown (7-9 3.23). Chicago finished right at .500, 10.5 games back. Paul Waner continued to hit well (347-7-75) and 38-year old Ken Williams (308-5-46) showed he could still hit, even if some of his power was gone. The pitching staff was mediocre with Pete Donohue leading the starters at 3.69. Detroit's offense fell way off from the year before, and the injury to Bill Terry (305-8-68) didn't help. Outfielder Heinie Manush (368-9-73) was the star of the season, while George Earnshaw was the top starter (3.42). With another last place finish it's almost hard to remember that St. Louis was once the dominant franchise in the league. Rogers Hornsby (323-18-81) is still hitting, 1B Chicken Hawks made a nice comeback from an injury plague 1927 to hit 300-6-57 in 1928, and Harry Hendrick was a good leadoff hitter (326-8-59). The real pain was in the pitching, as the Spirit finished last in runs against and starters ERA.

All signs seemed to point to New York as the championship series opened, but Los Angeles blew them out 10-1 in Game One. Red Ruffing went the distance for the Stars, giving up just three hits and the lone run came in the first on a solo home run by Tony Lazzeri. The Stars got homers from Gabby Hartnett, Ruffing himself and Jimmie Foxx as they scored seven runs in the eighth to blow it open. The Titans bounced back in Game Two, as Bump Hadley pitched a gem, a one run, five hit complete game. Lew Fonseca and Lazzeri homered for New York, with Lou Gehrig driving in the other run on a double. Game three moved the venue across country and featured rookie Ben Cantwell 4-3, 3.29 in 8 late season starts) against Sam Gibson of the Titans. Cantwell seemed to lose his cool under the postseason pressure, giving up four runs in the first after a two-out error by Frankie Frisch let Kiki Cuyler score - Cantwell, noticeably frustrated, then gave up a 3-run homer to Goose Goslin and the rout was on. New York would win 10-2 in the end, taking a two game to one lead.

Los Angeles surprised many by beating their former ace Earl Whitehill in Game Four 5-3. The actual loss went to Jakie May, who was pitching in the eighth when Gabby Hartnett hit his game winning 2-run homer. Bob Fothergill drove in three runs for the Stars while Alex Metzler had three hits. With the series tied at two, New York's Jesse Petty allowed just two runs in a 7-2 Titan victory. New York scored five runs in the first off Red Ruffing and never looked back. The only offense the Stars could muster was Jimmie Foxx's third homer of the series. Jakie May made up for Game Four in Game Six when he was the winning pitcher as the Titans pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the thirteenth for a 6-5 win. Lou Gehrig's one out single drove in Kiki Cuyler for the game winner as Cantwell took his second loss of the series.

Amazingly Cantwell took the hill just one day later when the series returned to LA. He allowed three runs in nine innings and left with the game tied at three. New York scored two in the ninth to tie on an RBI double by Gehrig and an RBI single by Lazzeri. New York won it in the thirteenth as Sammy Hale doubled off Lynn Brenton to lead off the inning, then Earle Combs tripled home; Mickey Cochrane singled Combs in for an insurance run and Jakie May pitched a scoreless bottom of the thirteenth, getting Clyde Barnhart to ground out to close out the series and giving New York their second consecutive title.

The Hall of Fame inducted its first members after the series, with pitcher Pete Alexander and first baseman Jake Daubert being honored. Rookie of the Year awards went to Baltimore SS Red Kress (307-4-40) and Chicago RF Ed Morgan (303-4-59). The pitcher award went to New York's Bump Hadley and Cleveland's Ed Morris. There were repeat winners for the hitter award - New York's Lou Gehrig and Cleveland's Babe Ruth.

Hot Stove League deals saw:
- Cleveland send 2B Max Bishop to Detroit for 3B Wally Gilbert and SS Jack Rothrock
- Philadephia traded LF Jimmy Welsh to Chicago for P Waite Hoyt and C John O'Connell
- St. Louis traded CF Cliff Heathcote to Boston for P Al Pierotti and OF Bill Hohman
- Happy Felsch was traded for the sixth time in his career, going from St. Louis to Cleveland for 3B Ollie Sax
- Detroit traded OF Chick Hafey (289-12-66) to Baltimore for Ps Garland Braxton and Jumbo Brown
- St. Louis sent OF Curt Walker to New York for OFs Bruce Caldwell and Sam Leslie (their first round pick)
- Pittsburgh traded 1B Joe Judge to Los Angeles for P Sarge Connally and OF Johnny Gill
- Possibly the biggest deal - Chicago acquired OF Hack WIlson and 1B Lou Rosenberg from Pittsburgh for OF Paul Waner, OF Sam Byrd and P Dennis Burns

Center fielder Earl Averill went number one overall in the draft to Pittsburgh. Other first rounders were 1B Dale Alexander (St. Louis), OF Roy Johnson (Boston), OF Johnny Frederick (Detroit), P Larry French (Baltimore), OF Evar Swanson (Chicago), P Benny Frey (Cleveland), P Al Grabowski (Los Angeles), OF Dick Porter (Philadelphia) and OF Sam Leslie (New York). Non first rounders to watch include C Rick Ferrell (2nd round, St. Louis), SS Eric McNair (2nd round, Los Angeles) and P Bobo Newsom (3rd, Baltimore)

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The first trade of the new year saw defending two-time champions New York send leadoff hitter Kiki Cuyler to Detroit for SP Elmer Ponder and 1B Harley Boss. Left fielder Earle Combs was expected to take over Cuyler's leadoff spot, with Fred Schulte moving into his center field job. In a deal to watch the ending for Chicago picked up SS Travis Jackson from Philadelphia for RP Lefty Stewart and OF Sam Leslie, meaning that the #10 pick in this year's draft had been traded twice before his first season began.

The only major injury of spring training saw Philadelphia lose rookie pitcher Wes Ferrell for four months due to a torn back muscle. Boston dealt OF Red Barnes to Los Angeles for P Firpo Marberry and C George Susce.

The annual top prospect list had Baltimore P Larry French on top. The rest of the top 10 was P Clint Brown (Cleveland), 1B Dale Alexander (St. Louis), 3B Bill Akers (Baltimore), OF Sam Leslie (Philadelphia), P Ed Brandt (Los Angeles), OF Roy Johnson (Boston), P Bill Walker (Cleveland), SS Lyn Lary (Pittsburgh) and C Rick Ferrell (St. Louis).

Media predictions had New York winning the Eastern over Pittsburgh and Detroit was expected to run away from everyone in the Central. The champion Titans suffered a blow early in the year though, losing SP Jesse Petty for the year with an elbow injury. Some early season deals saw P Flint Rhem go from Chicago to Pittsburgh for 2B Jake Flowers and 1B Jim Bottomley sent from Philadelphia to Cleveland in exchange for P Hi Bell and 1B Jackie Hayes. The Stars lost RP Lynn Brenton for two months with a torn labrum.

At the All-Star break Pittsburgh and Baltimore sat tied atop the Eastern League, with a rash of injuries having sent New York tumbling to fourth place. In the Central League Los Angeles had a two game edge on St. Louis with media preseason favorites Detroit third and 3.5 games back. The Eastern defeated the Central in the All-Star Game 5-3 with New York catcher Mickey Cochrane edging Pittsburgh rookie Earl Averill for MVP honors. Both players had three hits but Cochrane drove in two runs to Averill's 1 RBI.Starting lineups were: Eastern - 2B Charlie Gehringer (Philadelphia), LF Lloyd Waner (Baltimore), 1B Lou Gehrig (New York), RF Mel Ott (Baltimore), CF Earl Averill (Pittsburgh), C Mickey Cochrane (New York), SS Joe Cronin (Pittsburgh), 3B Pinky Whitney (Pittsburgh) and P Bump Hadley (New York); for the Central - SS Frankie Frisch (Los Angeles), LF Heinie Manush (Detroit), 3B Jimmie Foxx (Los Angeles), RF Babe Ruth (Cleveland), 2B Rogers Hornsby (St. Louis), CF Johnny Frederick (Detroit), C Bill Dickey (Detroit), 1B Jim Bottomley (Cleveland) and P Pat Malone (St. Louis).

Boston made the first of the big deadline moves, getting SP Ed Morris from Cleveland for three minor leaguers. The two teams worked a second deal, sending 1B Lu Blue to Boston for RP Al Yeargin and 1B Buck Jordan. New York acquired 3B Charlie Hollocher and P Jumbo Brown in exchange for SP Earl Whitehill, who was sent to Detroit.

The races were tight going into the last week, with Baltimore trailing Pittsburgh by two games int he East and Detroit just a half game up on Los Angeles. With four days to go Baltimore had closed to within one while Los Angeles had fall one and a half behind Detroit. The Iron Horses' Watty Clark threw a shutout while LA was idle to get within one on Saturday September 28th while Pittsburgh and Baltimore each won. The Stallions sat idle and could only watch the last three days as Pittsburgh started a series with Boston.

Sunday the 29th saw Boston upset Pittsburgh 6-5, bringing Baltimore within a half-game. Los Angeles was also idle and Detroit had the pleasure of closing out their schedule with last place Cleveland. The Iron Horses scored one in the 11th to knock off the Spiders 8-7 and extend their lead to 1.5 games. Boston shocked Pittsburgh again on Monday the 30th, as the Claws knocked off the Grays' 15-game winner Flint Rhem with a 10-3 win. Cleveland made things interesting too with a come from behind walk off 3-2 win over Detroit.

The season's final day opened with Baltimore and Pittsburgh tied and Los Angeles trailing Detroit by one. Fortunately for the Iron Horses, even a loss would leave them a half-game up, so the Central was clinched and all the drama was in the Eastern League. Pittsburgh sent 17-game winner Bert Gallia to the mound and things looked great for the Grays when they opened up a 5-0 lead in the second behind Andy Cohen's three-run triple. Boston stunned everyone though by countering with six runs in the bottom of the second, with the big blow being a 3-run double by Paul Florence, followed by a 2-run single from Riggs Stephenson. The Grays never recovered and went on to lose the game 8-5 and lose the Eastern League crown.

Baltimore's success was no doubt driven by having names all over the league leaderboards - in batting average (Lloyd Waner 1st, Red Kress 3rd), home runs (Mel Ott 1st, Chick Hafey 3rd), RBI (Ott 1st, Hafey 3rd), OPS (Ott 1st, Waner 3rd), wins (Lefty Grove 1st), strikeouts (Grove 1st, George Pipgras 2nd) and ERA (Grove 2nd). Grove became the first pitcher to record two 20-win seasons. The Stallions also received good play from 3B Johnny Hodapp (314-6-48), 2B Fresco Thompson (319-2-50) and 1B Del Bisonette (299-12-49). Pittsburgh featured their own Murderers Row in the heart of their lineup with Paul Waner (338-9-93), Earl Averill (319-7-72) and catcher Shanty Hogan (344-15-86). The Grays' Joe Shaute (16-9, 2.95) won the Eastern ERA crown. New York, largely wiped out by injuries, finished 9.5 games back. Lou Gehrig (337-23-101) continued to be one of the league's elite and Earle Combs (316-4-47) and Curt Walker (316-9-54) did a nice job in front of him in the order. Catcher Mickey Cochrane (307-9-67) and Goose Goslin (288-12-65) also hit well. The pitching staff was devastated by injuries, with only Bump Hadley (14-11, 3.37) performing at the level the championship squad had the previous year. Philadelphia had the league's worst rotation, partially due to new pitchers Wes Ferrell and Freddie Fitzsimmons experiencing growing pains, but also due to an unexpected dropoff from Charlie Root (8-20, 5.08). The offense could still score, led by Chuck Klein (330-13-58) and Harry Heilmann (304-13-76). Boston finished 19 games back, mostly thanks to an offense that almost no power - Riggs Stephenson led the team with four homers, wasting nice efforts by pitchers Carl Hubbell (13-16, 3.52) and Firpo Marberry (12-11, 3.77).

Detroit ranked first in the league in average and on-base percentage and it's obvious why looking down their lineup - Buddy Myer (293), Bill Terry (319-7-74), Heinie Manush (332-12-88), Kiki Cuyler (321-13-80), Bill DIckey (366-6-68), Johnny Frederick (345-12-67), Max Bishop (295) and Andy High (284) - not a weak spot in the order. The pitching was just average, but with an offense like this George Earnshaw won 17 and Earl Whitehill 16. Los Angeles made a good run, largely driven by the league's best rotation, featuring Watty Clark (20-8, 3.47), Red Ruffing (14-12), Burleigh Grimes (11 wins, 3.41) and rookie Danny MacFayden (8-6, 3.34). The offense was led by Jimmie Foxx (326-35-101), with aging Frankie Frisch finally moving out of the leadoff spot but still hitting .343. The Stars fell a little short on the offensive side. St. Louis finished three games over .500 but still 7.5 back - they had some offense - Curt Reynolds (334-13-79), Babe Herman (365-22-92), Rogers Hornsby (360-19-86) and Harry Hendrick (316-4-59) and some pitching - second-year men General Crowder (19-10, 3.34) and Pat Malone (15-10, 3.43) - but not enough of either to really contend. Chicago finished 18.5 back, thanks to the league's worst offense. Only Hack Wilson (286-20-83) , C Jimmie Wilson (318-4-44) and 1B Ernie Orsatti (306-3-66) could really feel good about their contributions. The pitching staff wasn't bad, led by George Uhle (14-13, 3.54) and Slim Harriss (8-13, 3.79). In last was Cleveland, 25 games back. The Spiders' talent appears to have all aged off with the exception of Babe Ruth (338-36-101) and league batting average champ Dick Loftus (371). Jim Brillheart (11-8, 3.45) did a nice job in the rotation but this team would need a lot of change before it could contend again.

Detroit opened the Championship Series in front of the home crowd, and Garland Braxton (7 1/3) and Sloppy Thurston combined to pitch the Iron Horses to a 3-1 win over Baltimore. Kiki Cuyler and Heinie Manush got the RBI for Detroit. Game Two saw more of the same as Detroit sent George Earnshaw, who had grown into the ace of the staff in just his second year, to the mound. Earnshaw allowed just one run and five hits over eight innings in a 4-1 win. Bill Terry's 3-run homer provided all the offense the Iron Horses needed. Game Three was in Baltimore and saw the Stallions finally break in to the win column with a dramatic 11th inning win. Chick Hafey's one-out single brought in Lloyd Waner for the winning run.

The Stallions sent Lefty Grove to the mound in Game Four, and their ace responded with a three-hit shutout in an 11-0 pounding. Catcher Spud Davis was 4-5 with a triple. homer and 5 RBI, while Waner had three hits as Baltimore racked up 18 hits on the day. The series returned to Detroit tied at two with a good pitching matchup on the slate - Baltimore's George Pipgras against Detroit's Garland Braxton. The Iron Horses scored three in the first, but the Baltimore chased Braxton with a five run fifth. The game went into extra innings, where Waner drove in Fresco Thompson for the winning run for Baltimore in the top of the 10th. Pipgras pitched a complete game, including a scoreless tenth, to pick up the win. Earnshaw wasn't able to even the series in Game Six, as Baltimore scored two in the first and two in the third on their way to a 4-2 win behind Ed Wells' pitching. Del Bisonette's 2-run homer in the third was the big blow for the Stallions.

The series returned to Baltimore with the Stallions needing just one win out of the next three games to take home the title. Earl Whitehill would keep Detroit alive for another day though, pitching a 5-hit shutout, backed by a Kiki Cuyler homer and a 2-run triple by Eddie Moore. The Game Seven pitching matchup was Stallions' ace Lefty Grove against Detroit's Tommy Thomas, but the teams scored enough to make it a 4-4 tie after nine. Baltimore actually trailed 4-0 going into the seventh, but strung together five singles and two walks to bring in four runs. Detroit rookie reliever Sloppy Thurston made it through the first two batters in the bottom of the 11th before pinch hitter Pat Crawford came to the plate. A rookie second baseman obtained in a mid-season trade with St. Louis, Crawford (.289-6-43) was an unlikely hero on a team of big names, but after getting down 0-2 in the count he launched a 392-foot home run over the right field wall for a 5-4 win and Baltimore's second title (the first coming in 1923).

Rookie of the Year went to Pittsburgh center fielder Earl Averill and Detroit catcher Bill Dickey, a pair of the finest rookies to enter the league in quite some time. Pitcher awards were given to Los Angeles ace Watty Clark and Baltimore's Lefty Grove. Stallions teammate Mel Ott got the batter award for the Eastern, while Babe Ruth continued his ten year run as the award winner in the Central.

Hot Stove league deals included:
- Chicago sending 3B Jimmy Dykes to Philadelphia for OF Sam Leslie, SS Joe Hassler and OF Doc Cramer
- Leslie was immediately traded, going with P Joe Bush to Baltimore for 2B Fresco Thompson
- IF/OF Lew Fonseca went from New York to Los Angeles (his second tour of duty with the Stars) for P Bob Osborn and 3B Henry Peploski


The 1930 draft pool looked strong and Cleveland opened the selections by taking 1B Hank Greenberg, possibly an excellent choice to be the heir to Babe Ruth's legacy with the Spiders. The rest of the first round was : OF Wally Berger (Boston), SS Luke Appling (Chicago), 3B Ben Chapman (Philadelphia), P Lefty Gomez (New York), OF Smead Jolley (St. Louis), 3B Pinky HIggins (Pittsburgh), OF George Puccinelli (Baltimore), P Tommy Bridges (Los Angeles) and OF Dusty Cooke (Detroit). Other interesting picks included 1B Gus Suhr (2nd round, Boston), OF Joe Vosmik (2nd, Chicago), SP Dizzy Dean (2nd, Philadelphia), P Lon Warneke (2nd, St. Louis) and 2B Tony Cuccinello (3rd, Chicago).

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Preseason saw Chicago trade 2B Hughie Critz and P Bobo Newsom to Cleveland for OF George Watkins. Critz hit .276 in 1929 as a part time player while Newsom had a 4.30 ERA in Double-A as a rookie. Significant spring training injuries included Detroit P Eppa Rixey (shoulder, 4-5 months), St. Louis RP Jack Russell (shoulder, 4 months), Cleveland 3B Les Bell (4 weeks), Baltimore SP Ed Wells (torn labrum, 4-5 months) and Los Angeles RP Lynn Brenton (rotator cuff, 8 months). Rixey had been acquired by Detroit just two days earlier in a trade with Baltimore for OF Jimmy O'Connell.

St. Louis sent former first rounder Dale Alexander to Pittsburgh for infielder Glenn Wright. Alexander hit .381 with 22 homers in Triple-A in 1929. Pittsburgh then sent OF Mule Haas (295-3-51) to Baltimore for P Johnny Meador and former New York first rounder Sam Leslie. Cleveland traded OF Taylor Douthit to Chicago for 2B Jake Flowers and 3B Joe Graves.

The annual top prospects list was headed by Cleveland's recent top pick Hank Greenberg. The rest of the top ten include New York P Lefty Gomez, Pittsburgh's Si Johnson and Sam Leslie, Philadelphia P Mel Harder, Boston OF Wally Berger, Chicago SS Luke Appling, Los Angeles P Tommy Bridges, Philadelphia P Dizzy Dean and Detroit OF Dusty Cooke. The media predictions suggested close pennant races in both leagues, with Pittsburgh edging Baltimore and New York in the East and Detroit beating out St. Louis in the Central.

May saw more injuries - Philadelphia lost SS Mark Koenig for four months with a fractured ankle, while Chicago would be without OF George Watkins for a month with a rib cage muscle injury. New York sent OF Fred Schulte to Los Angeles for SP Ted Lyons, which allowed the Stars to then send SP Red Ruffing and minor league 1B Ed Roetz to Detroit for OF Sam West.

The All-Star break saw Detroit winning games at a 69% clip and with a comfortable eight game lead on Los Angeles. Chicago and St. Louis were hanging around in the middle of the pack while Cleveland had a .293 winning percentage and was already 23 games out of first. Pittsburgh led Boston by 3.5 in the East, with the other three teams not looking like contenders. Rookie Dale Alexander had energized the Grays, hitting 361-8-50 and ranking third in both average and RBI in the Eastern League.

The East won the All-Star Game 6-5, with Chicago's Hack Wilson winning MVP in a losing cause, going 3-5 with 2 RBI. The starters for the victorious East were CF Earl Averill (Pittsburgh), 3B Freddie Lindstrom (Philadelphia), RF Chuck Klein (Philadelphia), 1B Lou Gehrig (New York), LF Al Simmons (Pittsburgh), C Mickey Cochrane (New York), 2B George Grantham (Pittsburgh), SS Joe Cronin (Pittsburgh) and P Charlie Root of Philadelphia. For the Central the starters were SS Buddy Myer (Detroit), C Bill Dickey (Detroit), RF Babe Herman (St. Louis), 1B Jimmie Foxx (Los Angeles), 2B Rogers Hornsby (St. Louis), CF Hack Wilson (Chicago), LF Heinie Manush (Detroit), 3B Joe Sewell (St. Louis) and P Red Ruffing (Detroit).

During the break, St. Louis sent all-star reliever John Slappey to Baltimore for minor league outfielders Jo-Jo Moore and Larry Bettencourt. The stunner as the trading deadline approached though involved Baltimore sending 3B/SS Red Kress and OF Harry Rosenberg to Philadelphia for all-star OF Chuck Klein and RP Earl Kunz.

Rookie 1B Dale Alexander of Pittsburgh became one of the four players in league history to record six hits in a game when he went 6-7 with a homer and six RBI in a 20-8 win over Baltimore on July 24.

The season headed towards an anti-climactic ending - on September 1st Pittsburgh led Boston by nine games and Detroit led Los Angeles by 8.5. The most interest centered around Lou Gehrig making a run at the only the second Triple Crown in league history - he was tied with Chuck Klein in homers and slightly ahead of Earl Averill in average and Al Simmons in RBI.

Gehrig didn't end up winning any of the categories and Pittsburgh finished a dominant run in the East, winning by a ten game margin. With two batters hitting 360 - RF Paul Waner (361-6-57) and CF Earl Averill (360-12-79), plus power from Al Simmons (320-19-122) and double figure homers from George Grantham (331-10-71), Dale Alexander (324-13-85), Joe Cronin (344-10-74) and Shanty Hogan (297-10-63) the Grays had an offense capable of battering anyone. The pitching staff wasn't great, but Sam Jones went 17-10 and Si Johnson was 15-5, 3.53 mixing starting and relief appearances. Boston finished second with a solid club, led by rookies CF Wally Berger (344-20-122) and 1B Gus Suhr (321-8-60), in addition to fine work by Roy Johnson (322-7-45) in the leadoff spot. Carl Hubbell (17-10, 3.84) was the ace of the staff, but the pitching finished next to last in the East in most categories. Philadelphia was 11 back - despite trading away Klein they finished 2nd in most offensive categories, led by 2B Chariie Gehringer's 366-11-71, but also featuring fine seasons from Harry Heilmann (339-17-66), Freddie Lindstrom (347-15-91), Red Kress (329-9-73) and Ben Chapman (309-9-48). Charlie Root (16-12, 3.62) led the best staff in the league, which also got a good year from Syl Johnson (10-9, 3.98) and promising signs of progress from second year man Wes Ferrell. The wheels came off Baltimore's 1929 championship squad, as their pitching staff finished last in all major categories. Only Lefty Grove (16-11, 3.91) put up passable numbers. The offense still had some teeth, especially with Chuck Klein (359-41-115) and Mel Ott (347-23-83) in the three / four spots in the lineup. Johnny Hodapp (339-5-64) contributed his usual high average, while CF / leadoff man Mule Haas hit 326-7-37. New York finished last and 22 games out of first. Lou Gehrig (356-38-113) was as excellent as ever, but all-star catcher Mickey Cochrane tailed off in the second half, finishing at 294-3-59. Curt Walker (302-5-52) and Goose Goslin (323-5-48) were the only other Titans to finish above .300. The highlight of the pitching staff was rookie Lefty Gomes winning 12 games while working in both relief and starting.

Detroit's Central League winning squad featured all nine starters hitting over .300 led by Heinie Manush (379-6-60) and Bill Dickey (377-11-95). The pitching staff also ranked first in the Central in most major categories, with all four starters winning at least 15 games. The rotation of George Earnshaw (17-12, 3.84), Earl Whitehill (17-6, 4.17), Red Ruffing (16-10, 3.85) and Tom Zachary (15-5, 3.33) was one of the best in league history. Los Angeles had a nice year, with a .548 winning percentage, but lacked the horses to really challenge Detroit. The Stars were again led by Jimmie Foxx (322-34-97) but he was surrounded by solid hitters in Gabby Hartnett (314-20-98) and Earl Webb (320-23-106) while Frankie Frisch hit .340 in the leadoff spot. Watty Clark (14-7, 3.87), Ben Cantwell (10-11, 3.98) and Burleigh Grimes (19-5, 4.47) were all solid in the rotation. Chicago also finished above .500 (.512), but other than good 3/4 slots in the lineup - Ed Morgan (373-7-65) and Hack Wilson (315-22-92) - they didn't have much offensively. St. Louis had the league's best bullpen and a decent lineup but not enough starting pitching to contend. Rogers Hornsby (360-33-113) and Babe Herman (348-21-81) led the Spirit hitters. Cleveland had a horrific year, wining just under 37% of their games and finishing 32 games out. Babe Ruth was awesome again (370-38-110) and Jim Bottomley (331-20-77) hit well behind him, but the team ranked last in runs scored on offense and in every major pitching category.

The 1930 Championship Series opened in Detroit, and the Iron Horses opened up an 8-3 lead thanks to homers by Max BIshop and Johnny Frederick but pitcher Red Ruffing collapsed in the ninth, allowing five runs and letting Pittsburgh pull out a 10-8 win. A 2-run triple by Woody English was the biggest blow of the ninth. Game Two saw Pittsburgh again batter the Central's best pitching staff, as they put up 14 runs and 22 hits in a 14-5 victory. Paul Waner had his second straight four hit game, while Al Simmons was 4-5 with 2 RBI and Joe Cronin drove in four for the Grays. Four errors by the Iron Horses didn't help their cause and led to seven unearned runs. Changing venues to Pittsburgh for Game Three didn't slow the Grays' offense, as they blasted Detroit 7-1. Si Johnson allowed four hits and no earned runs in six and two-thirds with Jim Moore pitching two and a third of one-hit relief. Earl Averill and Dale Alexander each had three hits for Pittsburgh, with Alexander hitting a key two-run homer in the third.

Game Four put Pittsburgh on the verge of the first ever Championship Series sweep, as they won 10-8. The Grays jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, with catcher Shanty Hogan going 3-4 with a home run and 4 RBI, Heinie Manush driving in 3 runs and George Grantham contributing three hits. After a travel day back to Detroit the Grays sent Sam Jones to the mound to face Red Ruffing, Jones didn't allowed an earned run over eight innings (Detroit scored 2 unearned off him and added one in the ninth) as Pittsburgh won 4-3 to take the title in a five game sweep. Four different players drove in runs for the Grays who put up some amazing averages in the series - Paul Waner hit .609, Earl Averill .450, Dale Alexander .524 and Al Simmons .478.

The Hall of Fame added a new inductee, as pitcher Rube Marquard was inducted. Marquard pitched for Boston, New York and St. Louis with most of his success coming with the Spirit, including a three-year stretch in which he was 50-29 for the Spirit team that won three straight league titles.

Hot Stove League deals included:
- Detroit trading SS Eddie Moore to Boston for OF Dick Porter
- Cleveland sent 3B Les Bell and OF Buzz Boyle to Baltimore for OF Freddy Leach
- Detroit sent 2B Andy High to Baltimore for P Earl Kunz and SS Hugh Willingham
- The shocker of the offseason was New York sending Lefty Gomez to Cleveland for OF Hank Greenberg, 1B Buck Jordan and 2B Joe Graves
- Philadelphia sent 2B Jimmy Dykes to Chicago (a year after acquiring him from the Aces) for P Ike Kemp and 1B Jimmy Shevlin
- Philadelphia traded 2B John Monroe to Boston for RP Ken Ash and 1B Al Weston
- St. Louis sent C Rick Ferrell to Cleveland for P Lloyd Brown and OF Mike Kreevich
- New York traded P Bump Hadley to Pittsburgh for 1B Bob Way and OF Dixie Walker
- Boston traded 3B Pat Burke to Cleveland for P Bob Clark
- St. Louis traded 1B Chicken Hawks to Baltimore for OF Gene Moore


Awards - Rookie of the Year went to Boston's Wally Berger and Chicago pitcher Ed Durham (13-12, 4.78). Pitching awards were given to Pittsburgh's Si Johnson and Detroit's Earl Whitehill, while New York's Lou Gehrig and Cleveland's Babe Ruth were selected for the batting awards.

The draft saw OF Buzz Arlett go first overall to Cleveland. The rest of the first round included P Paul Derringer (New York), C Ernie Lombardi (Baltimore), 1B Ripper Collins (St. Louis), OF Gee Walker (Philadelphia), C Babe Phelps (Chicago), P Van Mungo (Boston), P Hal Schumacher (Los Angeles), OF Dixie Walker (Pittsburgh) and SS Red Rolfe (Detroit). Other picks to watch included 2B Billy Herman (2nd round, Baltimore) and SS Billy Jurges (3rd, Detroit).

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A stunning pre-season deal saw Philadelphia ship 27-year old all-star 2B Charlie Gehringer to Boston for P Firpo Marberry and minor league OF Carl Sumner. Other deals saw St. Louis ship OF Carl Reynolds to Chicago for 3B Clarence Huber and 1B Jimmy Shevlin; Detroit send 3B Stu Clarke to Baltimore for RP John Slappey and OF Buzz Boyle; Los Angeles trade CF Sam West to St. Louis for SP General Crowder and Shevlin.

Everyone's favorite, the pre-season top 10 prospect list, was again topped by Hank Greenberg, now the property of the New York Titans. The rest of the top ten included P Dizzy Dean (St. Louis), P Paul Derringer (New York), C Ernie Lombardi (Baltimore), P Lon Warneke (St. Louis), C Babe Phelps (Chicago), 3B Odell Hale (Cleveland), 3B Pinky Higgins (Pittsburgh), OF Dixie Walker (New York) and SS Red Rolfe (Detroit). The yearly media poll saw Pittsburgh getting picked to win the East reasonable easy, with Detroit doing the same in the Central, setting up a rematch of last year's championship series.

At the All-Star Break Baltimore was up 4.5 games on Pittsburgh in the East, with Boston and Philadelphia somewhat hanging around but New York off to a dreadful .345 winning percentage. In the Central Cleveland led by Chicago by a game and a half with everyone trailing by double digits. Pittsburgh's cause was not helped by losing SP Si Johnson (8-4, 2.12) for a month due to a back injury. In a bizarre statistical anomaly on the Boston staff Ed Morris was 0-5 despite a 2.72 ERA while staffmate Carl Hubbell was 11-1 with a higher (3.21) ERA.

The East won the All-Star Game 7-3 thanks to a five run first inning. Jimmy Dykes of the Central League was chosen MVP. East starters were 3B Ben Chapman (Philadelphia), CF Earl Averill (Pittsburgh), RF Chuck Klein (Baltimore), 1B Lou Gehrig (New York), LF Mel Ott (Baltimore), C Mickey Cochrane (New York), 2B Charlie Gehringer (Boston), SS Joe Cronin (Pittsburgh) and P George Blaeholder (Pittsburgh). West starters were C Bill Dickey (Detroit), CF Sam West (St. Louis), RF Babe Ruth (Cleveland), 1B Jimmie Foxx (Los Angeles), 3B Jimmie Dykes (Chicago), 2B Tony Cuccinello (Chicago), LF Hack Wilson (Chicago), SS Marty McManus (Chicago) and P Dizzy Dean (St. Louis).

Two monster deals at the trading deadline saw two of the league's highest profile first basemen trade uniforms - Cleveland trade Jim Bottomley to Boston for SS Billy Urbanski and 1B John Smith and New York sent Lou Gehrig to Baltimore for OF Chuck Klein and P Vic Frazier. St. Louis sent OF Cuckoo Christensen, an all-star in 1930 but a bench player this year, to Los Angeles for P Danny MacFayden and OF George Stumpf. The senior division of trades saw New York package off 35 year old OF Curt Walker to Cleveland for 39 year old Bert Gallia and the recently acquired John Smith. Just before the deadline one more big name was moved as 3-time all-star Heinie Manush was moved from Detroit to Pittsburgh for P Ad Liska.

By September 1st Cleveland was running away with the Central, with an eleven game lead on Chicago, but Baltimore was trying to stay within striking distance of Pittsburgh in the East, down two and a half games.

The Grays did end up winning the East by five games, thanks to a pitching staff that ranked first in the league. Si Johnson (15-8, 2.31) was the ace, but Watty Clark (14-10, 3.23 and 2.99 ERA after Pittsburgh traded for him) and Guy Bush (12-4, 2.84) were standouts as well. CF Earl Averill led the offense (336-12-69) with hep from Paul Waner (308-9-54) and Joe Cronin (296-3-80). Baltimore made some huge deals during the season but never enough to catch Pittsburgh. The Stallions had six .300 hitters in their lineup, including Mel Ott (347-16-87), Chick Hafey (310-17-68) and Spud Davis (318-11-61). Lou Gehrig struggled after coming over from New York (270-5-26). Lefty Grove (17-10, 2.76) was very good as usual, but the rest of the rotation left something to be desired. Philadelphia, on the other hand, had a good rotation, headlined by Wes Ferrell (20-7, 2.80) and Charlie Root (16-13, 3.30). Unfortunately the MInutemen offense lacked pop, as their team total of 36 home runs was next to last in the league. Catcher Earl Grace (338-4-61) and outfielders Mule Haas (312) and Curt Reynolds (318) did hit for nice averages. Boston finished 15.5 games back, despite the work of Carl Hubbell (19-9, 3.48) who had over 1/3 of the Claws' wins. Charlie Gehringer (309-7-66) and Pie Traynor (324-3-62) hit well, but Wally Berger suffered a major sophomore slump (288-6-65) and the rest of the lineup was a near-disaster. Thankfully they had New York around to make them feel better. The Titans ended 22.5 games back and their highlight may have been Ted Lyons (12-10, 3.55) finally developing into a good major league pitcher; Chuck Klein (289-15-62), Goose Goslin (295-18-66) and Tony Lazzeri (255-8-60) all hit less than expected, with Mickey Cochrane (312-7-68) the only .300 hitter in the lineup. Paul Derringer had an especially futile year on the mound, losing 20 (9-21, 4.71).

Cleveland returned to the playoffs for the first time since 1926 to give Babe Ruth one more shot at a title, though an injury had him on the sidelines as the playoffs began. Ruth (346-28-87) could still deliver at the plate and Joe Kuhel (317-8-66) offered able support. The Spiders weren't great on offense but what a rotation - at the end of the year their top four were Lefty Gomez (19-7, 2.60), Bill Walker (17-9, 3.28), Clint Brown (13-10, 3.09) and Chief Yellow Horse (4-2, 1.95). Chicago was the only other team in the Central to finish over .500, ending up 7.5 games back. LF Joe Vosmik (372-5-80) led the league in batting average, while Hack Wilson (312-17-65), 1B Ed Morgan (321-4-52) And 3B Jimmy Dykes (301-2-57) all swung the bat well. Ed Durham(18-6, 3.12) was the top pitcher, with George Uhle winning 19 games. St. Louis struggled offensively, finishing next to last in average and on-base percentage. Babe Herman (323-8-61) was the only regular to hit over .300, though 3B Lin Storti (344-8-52) did a nice job in part-time play. The pitching staff was stellar behind All-Star Dizzy Dean (16-13, 3.06), Danny McFayden (17-9, 3.32), Clise Dudley (7-3, 2.19) and Al Grabowski 4-6, 3.03). The Los Angeles Stars had the league's worst offense despite Jimmie Foxx (340-23-80) and decent years from Frankie Frisch (300-5-46) and Fred Schulte (302-8-47). Catcher Gabby Hartnett fell apart, hitting under .200 (199-7-57). Rookies Ed Brandt (13-13, 3.94) and Carl Fischer (8-7, 3.00) teamed with Ben Cantwell (6-7, 3.06) to some good work on the mound. Far below in the cellar was Detroit, with their .385 winning percentage sitting 27.5 games out. Bill Dickey lost over 100 points off his batting average from the last two seasons and while Bill Terry (329-6-38), rookie Buzz Arlett (291-12-72) and John Stone (308-9-52) it wasn't enough to compensate for some of the fall off from Dickey and Max Bishop. The pitching staff struggled as well, despite veterans Earl Whitehill and Red Ruffing.

1931's Championship Series saw Pittsburgh's George Blaeholder get to start both the All-Star Game and Game One of the series. Unfortunately he didn't win either. Cleveland's Bill Walker allowed one run and four hits over nine innings and CF Tom Hughes' two RBI were all the offense the Spiders needed in a 3-1 win. The Grays bounced back in Game Two in an 11 inning 5-4 win. In the top of the 9th, Dale Alexander's solo homer but the Grays up 4-3, but Cleveland responded in the bottom of the inning as Jimmy Moore scored on an Ike Danning sac fly. In the top of the 11th Paul Waner's single brought home Chick Autry for the win and Dutch Ulrich came in and pitched a scoreless inning to ensure the victory. The game got longer when the series moved to Pittsburgh; The two teams ended nine innings tied at three, thanks to Andy Cohen's two-out single that brought Billy Sullivan home with the tying run. The game remained tied until the top of the 15th when Hughes scored on a sacrifice fly by Freddy Leach and reliever Chad Kimsey got Pittsburgh out three up, three down in the bottom of the inning.

Up 2-1, Cleveland turned the ball over to Lefty Gomez, who pitched eight shutout innings before tiring a little but still winning 8-4. Rick Ferrell, Tom Hughes and Freddy Leach each had two hits and Joe Kuhel hit a solo homer as the Spiders to a three game to one lead. Blaeholder finally got a win in Game Five, as Pittsburgh scored four runs in the final two innings for a 7-5 victory. The key hits in those final frames were a two-run single by Woody English in the eighth and a two-run homer by Earl Averill in the top of the ninth. Game Six was all Watty Clark, who picked up his second series win by shutting out the Spiders on eight hits. Paul Waner's solo homer and 2 RBI by Averill were all the offense Clark needed.

The series returned to Pittsburgh tied at three. Guy Bush got the win for the Grays as they defeated Cleveland 7-4. Each of the top three hitters in the Grays lineup had two hits, while George Grantham was 2-4 with 3 RBI from the sixth spot. Woody English drove in two more as Pittsburgh jumped out to a 4-0 lead and held on from there. The two teams threw their aces with the Grays needing just one win for the tittle - Si Johnson for Pittsburgh against Lefty Gomez of Cleveland. In possibly the greatest game in playoff history Pittsburgh would win the title 7-6 in twenty innings. Cleveland was up 5-1 after five but the Grays scored one in the sixth, two in the seventh and then Joe Cronin's solo shot tied it in the eighth. The two teams would not score again through 11 more innings. Bill Walker, the fourth pitcher for Cleveland, started the 20th and Pinky Whitney worked him for a walk to start the inning. Shanty Hogan bunted him to second and with one out walked up an even unlikelier hero than Pat Crawford in 1929. Mandy Brooks was a 34-year old outfielder with 27 career in at-bats in the CBA, only two of which had come in 1931. Brooks had never hit a home run in the CBA, though he did it 24 in Triple-A in 1929. Pinch hitting for Billy Sullivan, Brooks didn't even bother to take a pitch - he socked Walker's first offering 417 feet and over the left field fence to send Pittsburgh to its second consecutive title (and the ninth straight year the Eastern League defeated the Central League).

The Hall of Fame inducted Eddie Cicotte on October 13, 1931. Cicotte, who pitched for Cleveland and Los Angeles, had his best year in 1922, when he won 14 and saved 5 with a 2.87 ERA while pitching in 37 games with 22 starts.

Hot Stove Deals:
- New York sent SP Jim Mooney to Chicago for C Babe Phelps
- St. Louis traded C Gus Mancuso to Los Angeles for minor league pitchers Slim McGrew and Bobo Newsom
- New York traded RP Jack Russell to Philadelphia for 3B Gil English and two minor leaguers
- Philadelphia sent 3B Freddie Lindstrom to St. Louis for two minor league pitchers
- Boston traded All-Star reliever Merle Settlemire to New York for OF Tom Winsett and 3B Bill Andrus
- Detroit sent reliever Sloppy Thurston to New York for 1B Jim Galvin and C George Susce
- New York acquired 3B Willie Kamm from Chicago for P Willis Hudlin
- Philadelphia got SS Marty McManus from Chicago for 2-time All-Star RP Ken Ash and P Bobo Newsom (the third time he'd been traded in a month)
- Pittsburgh traded 2B George Grantham (3-time All-Star and 4-time Gold Glove) to Los Angeles for RP Hi Bell and minor league 3B Jim McLeod
- Pittsburgh also sent LF Heinie Manush to Cleveland for RP Phil Bedgood and C Ed Connolly, who was then traded to Detroit with LF Joe Cicero for P Bob Osborn

1931's Rookies of the Year were Pittsburgh 3B Billy Sullivan who hit .367 in 98 games of playing time, and Chicago LF Joe Vosmik and his Central League leading .372 average. The pitching award went to Philadelphia's Wes Ferrell and Cleveland's Lefty Gomez, while Mel Ott of Baltimore and Babe Ruth of Cleveland took home the batter awards.

The draft kicked off with Detroit picking SS Arky Vaughan, a promising young hitter from Fullerton, California. The rest of the first round included C Bill DeLancey (New York), OF Len Koenecke (Boston), P Tex Carleton (Los Angeles), 3B Stan Hack (St. Louis), OF Joe Medwick (Philadelphia), P Bill Swift (Baltimore), P Hal Smith (Chicago), P John Michaels (Pittsburgh) and P Ray Starr (Cleveland). A few sleepers went in the third round in SS Frankie Crosetti (Detroit), P Rip Sewell (St. Louis) and P Johnny Murphy (Baltimore).

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The first deals of the new year saw 3B Randy Moore go from Chicago to New York, as the Aces picked up P Bill Hallahan and the Titans' recent first round pick, C Bill DeLancey. Chicago also dealt 1B/OF Ernie Orsatti to Los Angeles, receiving P Carl Fischer and OF Alta Cohen in return. Just before opening day Cleveland sent OF Curt Walker to Detroit for 3B Joe Stripp and P Earl Clark.

The 1932 top prospect list was headed up by Detroit SS Arky Vaughan, the only Iron Horse on the list. The rest of the top ten was P Van Mungo (Boston), C Bill DeLancey (Chicago), P Tex Carleton (Los Angeles), 3B Stan Hack (St. Louis), P Bill Swift (Baltimore), P Spades Wood (Boston), P Hal Schumacher (Los Angeles), OF Joe Medwick (Philadelphia) and P Bud Tinning (Los Angeles). The annual media poll predicted Pittsburgh would won the East over Baltimore, with St. Louis taking the Central from Detroit and Cleveland.

Paul Derringer of New York threw the league's second no-hitter, as he blanked Pittsburgh on May 8. First basemen Joe Kuhel of Cleveland put on a show early in the year when he became the fourth player in league history to hit three home runs in one game. Kuhel performed his feat on May 12, going four for five with 3 homers and 7 RBI in a win over Detroit. The only significant injuries through the season's first two months saw Boston lose SP Spades Wood (2-0, 1.84 at the time) for five weeks and Los Angeles rookie RP Hal Schumacher go down for five months with an elbow injury. Baltimore dealt 1B Del Bissonette to Los Angeles with 2B Roy Schalk for OF Cuckoo Christensen.

At the All-Star break Pittsburgh led Philadelphia by three in the East, while St. Louis and Detroit were tied in first in the Central. Cleveland lost reliever Firpo Marberry for three months with a back injury and Los Angeles center fielder Jo-Jo White was expected to miss three months with a partially torn labrum. The first big in-season trade sae Pittsburgh send two-time All-Star Dale Alexander to Boston for P Jumbo Brown and minor league OF Bill Norman.

The All-Star Game saw the Central League pummel the Eastern, 9-2, with St. Louis catcher Harry McCurdy winning MVP honors after going five for five. The winning starting lineup included 2B Max Bishop (Detroit), rookie SS Arky Vaughan (Detroit), 3B Jimmie Foxx (Los Angeles), RF Babe Ruth (Cleveland), 1B Babe Herman (St. Louis), LF Smead Jolley (St. Louis), rookie CF Debs Garms (Cleveland), McCurdy and P Dizzy Dean (St. Louis). For the East, the lineup was C Mickey Cochrane (New York), 2B Charlie Gehringer (Boston), 1B Lou Gehrig (Baltimore), LF Mel Ott (Baltimore), RF Chuck Klein (New York), CF Earl Averill (Pittsburgh), SS Joe Cronin (Pittsburgh), 3B Woody English (Pittsburgh) and P Paul Derringer (New York).

The races were tightening up by August 1st. In the East Baltimore and Pittsburgh were tied for first, with Philadelphia just 2.5 back. The Central saw Detroit leading St. Louis by 2.5. The Spirit, looking for more pitching, dealt promising rookie 3B Pepper Martin to Detroit for SP George Earnshaw, an unusual move to see the first and second place teams in the same division make a deal. In a deal of former all-stars, Pittsburgh sent SP George Blaeholder to Detroit for C Bill Dickey. Picking up Dickey enabled the Grays to sent their current starting catcher, Shanty Hogan, to Los Angeles for P Slim Embrey and 1B Jimmy Shevlin.

With a little over four weeks to go Detroit was looking like it was going to pull away, having opened their lead over St. Louis up to three and a half games. The East was still tight, with Baltimore and Pittsburgh still tied and Philadelphia only one and a half back. The Minutemen would fall out of the race over the next three weeks, and with a week to go Pittsburgh had a two game lead on Baltimore.

The Grays finished strong, ending the season with a two game lead and putting them in the post-season with a chance to win an unprecedented third straight championship. Earl Averill (341-22-108) and Al Simmons (317-10-66) finished first and third in average, with strong support coming from Paul Waner (305-5-62) and Bill Dickey (318-6-64). Matching the offense by finishing first in the league in several categories the pitching staff was led by Guy Bush (16-9, 2.99), Watty Clark (18-9, 3.25) and Si Johnson (14-15, 3.96). Baltimore led the league in home runs, thanks to Mel Ott (317-27-84) and Lou Gehrig (306-25-91) but was second to Pittsburgh in most everything else. The Stallions also got good years from Kiki Cuyler (318), Johnny Hodapp (304) and Spud Davis (309-8-73) at the plate, while Lefty Grove (18-9, 3.22) and Larry French (15-10, 3.22) led a capable staff of arms. Philadelphia's last place offense kept them from being more of a contender. Top bats on the team where C Earl Grace (282-10-66) and OF Ben Chapman (302-4-46), with Charlie Root (9-7, 2.71) putting up the best pitching numbers. New York had to be excited by the development of second year pitcher Paul Derringer, who recovered from losing 20 games as a rookie to win 18 with a 2.32 ERA in 1932. Chuck Klein (299-19-84) and Mickey Cochrane (314-12-66) were the Titans' leaders on offense. Boston finished way out of the race, with only Dale Alexander (303-4-49) and Charlie Gehringer (310-10-65) doing much at the plate. Carl Hubbell (12-15, 3.32) and Ivy Andrews (9-5, 3.02) did some nice work on the mound.

Detroit won 65% of their games and won the Central by 10.5 games as they finished first in most offensive, defensive and pitching categories in the league. Rookie Arky Vaughan was amazing, hitting 367-12-100 from the three spot in the lineup. He was complimented by 2B Max Bishop (312-9-63), 1B Bill Terry (336-4-75) and CF Johnny Frederick (302-12-62), one of the league's underappreciated stars. Red Ruffing (21-3, 2.27) was dominant on the mound and Earl Whitehill (18-7, 3.31) and George Blaeholder (5-2, 3.12) were strong as well. St.Louis had some good pieces, but not enough to challenge the Iron Horse juggernaut. The Spirit were led offensively by Babe Herman (306-10-56) and 1B Ripper Collins (321-10-57) while second year men Dizzy Dean (16-9, 2.62) and Lon Warneke (19-8, 3.29) developed into the types of aces you could build a championship team around. Cleveland finished 18.5 out as Babe Ruth (314-28-81) led them in all major categories again despite missing three weeks with an injury. Joe Kuhel (309-10-57), Heinie Manush (311-8-55) and Joe Stripp (328-2-27) were solid at the plate. Clint Brown (13-9, 3.73) was the best of a mediocre staff, as Lefty Gomez (10-18, 4.83) had an off-year. Chicago was 28 games back and finished last in every major offensive category. Top hitters were LF Joe Vosmik (300-9-56) and SS Luke Appling (319-3-44), with Carl Fischer topping the team with a 3.77 ERA. The league's worst staff belonged to Los Angeles, leading to the Stars finishing 30.5 games out of first. Jimmie Foxx (305-35-91) was as fantastic as ever at the plate and he got some help from the catching pair of Shanty Hogan (257-10-53 with 2 teams) and Gabby Hartnett (277-11-47) in addition to Earl Webb (322-3-41).

Detroit's George Blaeholder stunned everyone in Game One of the Championship Series, throwing a 3-hit shutout and completely shutting down the powerful Pittsburgh offense. RBI singles in the second by Dick Porter and Buddy Myer were all the offense Blaeholder would need in a 4-0 win. Pittsburgh bounced back the next day as Si Johnson outdueled Earl Whitehill for a 4-3 victory. The Grays scored three in the third on a solo homer by Johnson himself and RBI singles from Woody English and Joe Cronin. The Iron Horses scored once in the ninth and were threatening to tie but Johnson got John Stone to ground out to shortstop for the third out with runners on first and second. Detroit would win Game Three 8-5, with Porter's three run double doing much of the damage. Max Bishop contributed three hits for the Iron Horses and Vic Sorrell went the distance for the win.

Pittsburgh jumped out to a 3-0 lead in Game Four but Detroit ace Red Ruffing weathered the storm and the Iron Horses came back to win 10-5. Jack Cummings' two-run double in the fifth and a triple by Arky Vaughan in the eighth were the big blows in the game. With Detroit now leading three games to one the Grays' dreams of three-peating were fading. Pittsburgh's Guy Bush was cruising along with a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth in Game Five, but a two-run homer by Cummings followed by a double by Dick Porter, an error and RBI singles from Cy Moore and Max Bishop the game was tied and headed to extra innings. Both teams scored in the 14th, as Sam Byrd singled in Bill Dickey in the top of the inning for the Grays, while Detroit countered in the bottom with John Stone scoring on a wild pitch by reliever Jumbo Brown. Pittsburgh mounted their winning rally in the top of the 16th, when Al Simmons lead off with a single; Paul Waner walked and then Earl Averill doubled to score Simmons. Detroit was able to work out of the inning without any more runs scoring but Brown pitched a scoreless inning in the bottom of the 16th as the Grays cut the deficit to three games to two. Detroit scored five runs off Si Johnson in the first inning of Game Six and went on to roll to an 11-6 victory. Buddy Myer drove in three and Johnny Frederick two for the Iron Horses as Earl Whitehill picked up the win.

The Grays stayed alive in Game Seven, winning 4-3 behind Bump Hadley's pitching. Billy Sullivan's RBI single in the bottom of the eighth provided the winning margin. Sullivan also doubled and scored twice in the game. Detroit wanted to put an end to things before Pittsburgh got any closer and so sent ace Red Ruffing to the mound for Game Eight. The Grays held a 3-1 lead after seven, but Detroit exploded for six runs in the eighth and tacked on three more in the ninth to take home the title. Cummings was 3 for 5 with a homer and 3 RBI, Frederick 2 for 5 with 2 RBI and Bill Terry was 2 for 5 with 2 RBI as Ruffing picked up his second win of the series. It marked the first Championship Series win for the Central since St. Louis won in 1922.

Walter Johnson was inducted into the Hall of Fame at season's end. Johnson pitched exclusively for the Boston Claws and won 19 games for them in both 1920 and 1925. Detroit SS Arky Vaughan was a no-brainer for Rookie of the Year in the Central, while Philadelphia 1B Harry Davis (293-5-61) won the award for the East. The pitching awards went to Paul Derringer of New York and Red Ruffing of Detroit. Vaughan became the first player other than Babe Ruth ever to win the Outstanding Hitter Award in the Central League, heady stuff for a rookie. Pittsburgh's Earl Averill won the award in the East.

Los Angeles had the first pick in the draft, and the Stars took OF Bob Johnson, a pick that wasn't universally loved by CBA beat writers. P Schoolboy Rowe went second to Boston, followed by 1B Hal Trosky (Chicago), 1B Dolph Camilli (New York), OF Phil Weintraub (Cleveland), P Dutch Leonard (Philadelphia), OF Hank Leiber (St. Louis), P Ralph Birkofer (Baltimore), 3B Cecil Travis (Pittsburgh) and C Frankie Hayes (Detroit).

It looked like Cleveland might try and make one big push for another playoff run before Babe Ruth's career end, as they made two deals as soon as the season ended, sending 3B Joe Stripp to New York for SP Ted Lyons and SP Bill Walker to Pittsburgh for 3B Bill Brubaker.

Other Hot Stove action saw:
- New York reliever Joe Shaute sent to St. Louis for OF Gene Moore and minor league 3B Bobby Reis
- St. Louis sent 1B/3B/OF Harvey Hendrick and OF Hank Lieber to Chicago for P Carl Fischer
- The Spirit's 3rd deal involved sending SS Johnny Burnett (299-1-43) and minor league 1B Bill Dunlap to Baltimore for SP Pat Malone (13-10, 3.80)
- Cleveland sent rookie center fielder Debs Garms (321-0-30) to Chicago for RP Blll Harris and the recently acquired Hank Lieber
- Further signifying a change in direction St. Louis sent long time 2B Rogers Hornsby to Philadelphia for SP Lloyd Brown
- Chicago picked up 2B George Grantham from Los Angeles for P Rip Wheeler and OF Tommy Thompson

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As always there was an early season deal that got people's attention. The Grays sent starting shortstop Woody English to Los Angeles for pitchers Chad Kimsey and Tony Freitas. The Stars also dealt 1B Ray Foley to Boston for 2B Spencer Adams and 1B Jimmy Shevlin. The only major injuries suffered in spring training was St. Louis losing 3B Stan Hack for three months with a dislocated shoulder and P Waite Hoyt for two months.

The 1933 version of the top prospect list was headed by Philadelphia P Dutch Leonard; the rest of the top ten included Boston's Schoolboy Rowe (#2) and P Johnny Marcum (#10), Chicago's Bill DeLancey (#3) and Hal Trosky (#4), Baltimore P Ralph Birkofer, New York 1B Dolph Camilli, Cleveland outfielders Phil Weintraub (#7) and Hank Leiber (#8) and Pittsburgh P Tony Freitas (#9). Media predictions saw Pittsburgh again predicted to win the East, with a narrow race predicted for the Central with Detroit ranked slightly ahead of St. Louis and Los Angeles.

On the trading front Detroit sent SS Buddy Myer to Baltimore for P Red Peery and 2B Al Wright. Los Angeles traded SP Tommy Bridges to Cleveland for 2B Andy Reese and minor league C Casper Asbjornson. Chicago sent 1B Ed Morgan to Los Angeles for SP General Crowder.

The first half of the year saw a big turnout around from New York - the Titans had finished 4th, 5th, and 5th over the last three years but found themselves a half game over Pittsburgh in first. Baltimore was also staying close, just a game behind New York. In the Central Chicago was up a game and a half on Cleveland, as several of the pre-season favorites were struggling. Boston suffered a major injury, losing CF Wally Berger for five weeks with a strained abdominal muscle.

The All-Star Game saw the Central League come back from a 4-3 deficit to win 8-4. The CL scored five runs across the seventh and eighth to pick up the victory. The key hits were RBI singles by Arky Vaughan and Jimmie Foxx in the seventh and a two-run double by Willie Kamm in the eighth, followed by another RBI single by Vaughan, who was named the game's MVP. Charlie Gehringer and Bill Dickey homered for the East. Starting lineup for the Central was CF Dusty Cooke (Detroit), Vaughan at SS, Foxx at 1B, Babe Ruth (Cleveland) in LF, RF Ripper Collins (St. Louis), C Rick Ferrell (Cleveland), 2B Luke Appling (Chicago), Kamm (St. Louis) at 3B and P Red Ruffing of Detroit. For the East it was Gehringer (Boston) at 2B, Dickey (Pittsburgh) at C, 1B Lou Gehrig (Baltimore), LF Mel Ott (Baltimore), CF Earl Averill (Pittsburgh), RF Chuck Klein (New York), SS Joe Cronin (Pittsburgh), 3B Billy Werber (New York) and P Lefty Grove (Baltimore).

As usual the trading deadline saw a flurry of activity. Baltimore sent starting second baseman Johnny Hodapp to Philadelphia for OF Pid Purdy. Detroit sent 3B Marv Owen to Philadelphia for RP George Milstead. The Minutemen also dealt P Snipe Hansen to Boston for 1B Gus Suhr. Pittsburgh sent Firpo Marberry (9-3, 3.39) to Cleveland for SS Charlie Gelbert and C Paul Richards.
St. Louis traded CF Sam West (328-3-23) to New York for SP Roy Sherid (11-4, 2.89) as the Titans looked for a little more offense to keep their title run going. Philadelphia sent last year's rookie of the year, Harry Davis, to Los Angeles for RP Wally Hebert and minor league SS Otto Bluege. Boston dealt OF Jimmy Welsh to Chicago for SP Ivy Andrews and in a shocker Detroit sent OF Johnny Frederick (331-4-30) to Baltimore for RP Benny Frey (6-4, 2.11).

On September 1st Baltimore led New York by a half game, with Pittsburgh clinging to hope of a fourth title but six games out. In the Central Cleveland held a three game lead on Chicago and had momentum. A week later New York was up 1.5 on Baltimore and Chicago had gained a game on the Spiders. Another week passed and Baltimore was back on top with the Titans one back and Chicago had drawn within a half game of Cleveland.

With a little over two weeks to go the Stallions had a 1.5 game lead on the Titans and Chicago had passed Cleveland and was up by 3 games and starting a head-to-head series with each other. The Spiders took two out of three but by the end of the week were still two games back, while Baltimore was pulling away (5 games) from New York in the East. On October 1st, with three days left on the schedule Chicago and Cleveland stood in a virtual deadlock. Both teams lost on the 1st, with Detroit beating Chicago 4-3, coming back from a 3-1 deficit over the last 3 innings, and St. Louis beating Cleveland 3-1. Cleveland broke the deadlock on the next to last day, as Ted Lyons pitched the Spiders to an 8-2 victory while Detroit's John Stone singled in a run in the bottom of the 11th to beat Chicago. Detroit swept the Aces the following day with a 6-1 victory; Cleveland dropped a 10-inning game to St. Louis 3-2, setting up a one game playoff the following day for the title.

The Aces jumped out in front in the first, as Luke Appling singled and Hack Wilson followed with a two-run home run. That would be all the offense Ivy Andrews would need, as he allowed just one run over the next six innings, before relievers Dick Barrett and Allyn Stout shut out the Spiders over the last three.Wilson also tripled in a run for good measure.

There was still no doubt Babe Ruth (310-21-84) was still the main man in Cleveland, but the Spiders were driven by their rotation, which included Lefty Gomez (11-13, 3.02), Tommy Bridges (11-8, 3.16), Ted Lyons (15-12, 3.70) and Clint Brown (10-11, 3.84). The bullpen was shaky and Ruth didn't have much help in the lineup other than CF Tom Hughes (303-1-64) and C Rick Ferrell (303-4-48). Chicago ranked in the middle of the pack in almost every category in the league but despite not having much of a hitting threat other than LF Doc Cramer (343-2-56) they made quite a run at the title. Bill Hallahan won 13 games with a 3.08 ERA and Ivy Andrews pitched well (2.69 ERA) after coming over in a trade from Boston. Detroit finished over .500 and just 3.5 back thanks to a good September, but never really threatened Cleveland down the stretch. Detroit still had Arky Vaughan (.339) driving the ball over the field and with the help of John Stone (316) and Pepper Martin (316) the Iron Horses led the Central in batting average. The Iron Horses still had the same quality staff that won them the championship the previous year but everyone except Vic Sorrell (12-6, 3.12) fell off some, though Red Ruffing's year (15-12, 3.00) wasn't really anything to complain about. Los Angeles, though much improved over last year, still finished 8.5 back. They led the league in homers (thanks to Jimmie Foxx's 29) and steals (Jo-Jo White swiped 28 and Frankie Frisch 21) but needed more players on-base and a better pitching staff, though Ben Cantwell (16-12, 3.20) was solid.

Baltimore was the East's best all-around team, with a lineup that featured Johnny Frederick (345-9-48), Lou Gehrig (287-17-75), Mel Ott (325-32-830 and Spud Davis (304-9-57) but also had 300 hitters in Chick Hafey (301) and Johnny Vergez (310). Lefty Grove was 16-14, 2.89 to lead the staff but Larry French (16-11, 3.28) and Bill Swift (17-10, 3.18) were nearly as good and rookie Russ Van Atta (3-1, 3.27) made an impressive six starts in a late season call-up. New York's run was all about pitching - Paul Derringer (17 wins, 2.21 ERA) was the leader, with Roy Parmelee (14-8, 3.12) and Monte Pearson (10-9, 3.31) also pitching well. Rookie 1B Hank Greenberg (316-7-55) blossomed after a couple of years in the minors; vets like Chuck Klein (261-17-86), Mickey Cochrane (289-7-50) and Tony Lazzeri (271-11-57) weren't as productive as in prior seasons but still formed a good core. Boston (64-60, .516) came in six games back, as other than Carl Hubbell (16-14, 2.96) and Schoolboy Rowe (14-8, 2.96) they lacked the pitching to challenge. Riggs Stephenson led the hitters with a 344 average, while Charlie Gehringer hit 296 and drove in 77. Pittsburgh finished over .500 but still seven and a half out of first. LF Al Simmons fell way off (267-8-49) offensively and good years from Paul Waner (308-3-45), Bill Dickey (314-10-63) and Earl Averill (286-13-66) weren't enough to make up for some of the other holes in the lineup (like Pinky Whitney's .203 average at third base). Pitchers Guy Bush (15-14, 3.09) and Johnny AlleN (13-12, 3.11) were among the league's better hurlers. Last comes Philadelphia, the worst team in the CBA in 1933. The MInutemen won just 36% of their games and finished last in every major statistical category except stolen bases. The positive statements on offense again were pretty much limited to Earl Grace (311-5-78) and Ben Chapman (307-1-35) and this bunch hit only 25 home runs as a team.None of the pitchers were standouts.

Baltimore won Game One of the Championship Series, as Spud Davis hit a two-out double in the bottom of the eighth to score Johnny Frederick and Mel Ott and give the Stallions a 7-6 victory. Paul Carter pitched the ninth, giving up one hit but inducing a double play ground ball from Doc Cramer and striking out Hal Trosky to end it. Lonny Frey was 4-5 with a triple and a home run in a losing cause for the Aces. Chicago scored five runs in the first three innings of Game Two to even the series with a 6-2 win. Bill Hallahan went the distance for the win while Luke Appliing and Tony Cuccinello each had three hits and Harry Hendrick drove in two. The Stallions held off a late rally by the Spiders to win Game Three 4-3. Chicago opened up the bottom of the ninth down 4-2 and got a single from Frey, Joe Vosmik reached on an error, Hack Wilson reached on the second error by 3B Johnny Vergez in the inning and Tom Padden singled Frey home to make it 4-3. The play of the game came next - Bill DeLancey hit a fly ball to left that Johnny Frederick caught; Joe Vosmik tagged at third but he was gunned down on a beautiful throw by Frederick to the plate to preserve the lead. Tony Cuccinello grounded out to end the game. Vergez made up for his two errors by going four for four.

Game Four saw Baltimore's Lefty Grove outduel Chicago's Ivy Andrews 2-1. Johnny Vergez singled home Spud Davis and Mel Ott in the second for the Stallions' two runs. Hack Wilson doubled in the only run for the Aces. The series returned to Baltimore with the Stallions hoping to sweep the next two games and take the title at home. It didn't work out that way though, thanks to another series classic. The Stallions scored one in the seventh (Pid Purdy's ground out scored Buddy Myer) and one in the eighth (Lou Gehrig doubled in Johnny Frederick) to send the game to extra innings. Both teams scored in the eleventh, as Hack Wilson scored for Chicago on an error by Myer (playing 2B for the second time in the game after also playing SS and 3B) then Baltimore kept the game tied as Billy Herman doubled home Myer. Defense would bite the Stallions again in the 13th, as an error by backup infielder Les Bell put Wilson at first and Debs Garms brought him home with a double for the eventual winning run. Chicago's Willis Hudlin needed just nine pitches to record a three up three down bottom of the thirteenth for the win. Bill Hallahan pitched a 3-hitter for Chicago in Game Six to tie the series at three going to back to the Windy City. Lonnie Frey went 4 for 4 with a home run for the Aces, while Wilson drove in two more.

The Stallions' Larry French shut down Chicago in Game Seven, giving up just one run in nine innings. The Stallions put two quick runs on the board in the first as an error on RF Hack Wilson allowed Johnny Frederick and Chick Hafey to score. Johnny Vergez and Spud Davis added home runs to make the final score 5-1. Game Eight would be another extra inning affair as the score was tied at the end of nine but the bottom of the tenth saw the Stallions' defense hurt them again. PH Hub Walker struck out but the pitch rolled away and Lou Gehrig dropped Davis' throw to get Walker at first. Tom Padden singled Walker to third and Hal Trosky's fly out was enough to bring Walker home with the winning run. Game Nine was set in Baltimore with Bill Swift taking the mound for the Stallions and George Uhle for the Aces. Baltimore scored two in the first, as Billy Herman singled in Johnny Frederick and Spud Davis knocked in Mel Ott. Chicago came back with three in the top of the fourth as DeLancey singled, Johnny Moore doubled, Luke Appling grounded out to score DeLancey, George Watkins tripled to score Moore and Uhle knocked in Watkins with a single. The Stallions tied it in the bottom of the fifth as Gehrig tripled and Spud Davis doubled and then went ahead 5-3 the next inning as Myer doubled and Johnny Vergez homered to left-center. Chicago got it to 5-4 in the 8th when DeLancey singled home Doc Cramer but Swift pitched a scoreless ninth to give the title to Baltimore.

The off-season kicked off with the induction of outfielder Zack Wheat into the Hall of Fame. Wheat was a star throughout his career with the Los Angles Stars, and peaked in 1921 when he hit .389. Rookie of the Year was awarded to New York 1B Hank Greenberg and Cleveland P Tommy Bridges. Pitcher of the Year went to the Titans' Paul Derringer and Dizzy Dean of the Spirit ad the hitting awards went to Los Angeles 1B Jimmie Foxx and Baltimore OF Mel Ott who now has won the award three times at the age of 24.

The draft kicked off with Philadelphia selecting P Paul Dean, brother of St. Louis hurler Dizzy Dean. Los Angeles took OF George Selkirk followed by P Cy Blanton (St. Louis), C Rudy York (Detroit), 1B Zeke Bonura (Pittsburgh), P Fritz Ostermuller (Boston), P Monty Stratton (Chicago), OF Augie Galan (Cleveland), 3B Harlond Clift (New York) and P Bill Lee (Baltimore). Other picks to watch include 1B Phil Cavaretta (2nd, St. Louis), P Denny Galehouse (2nd, Boston), 1B Elbie Fletcher (2nd, Chicago) and Baltimore 1B Frank McCormick (2nd).

Hot Stove League Deals:
- St. Louis sends RP Waite Hoyt (5-3, 3.46) to Philadelphia for SS Otto Bluege (.339-0-8 in Triple-A)
- Los Angeles traded RP Rip Wheeler (0-0, 3.00) to Detroit for SS Al Reiss (.206-0-1)
- Detroit sent OF Curt Walker (345-0-3) to Cleveland for P Bill Harris (7-11, 4.15) and 3B Bill Brubaker (291-2-45 in Triple-A)
- Los Angeles acquired 3B Travis Jackson (299-5-32 in Triple-A) from Chicago for P Leon Chagnon (0-0. 10.80) and OF Lou Finney (290-4-29, AAA)
- New York traded C Cliff Bolton (225-0-5) and OF Gene Moore (288-5-42, AA) to Los Angeles for P Tex Carleton (11-9, 3.61)
- Philadelphia sent P Charlie Root (8-19, 4.47) to New York for 3B Joe Stripp (280-0-10) and OF John Stoneham (289-0-5, AA)
- Chicago traded 2B Bert Delmas (385-1-4, AA), OF Milt Bocek (333-1-9, AA) and recently acquired OF Lou Finney to St. Louis for P Roy Sherid (15-6, 3.08)
- Pittsburgh sent SS Jimmy Dykes (265-2-16) and 1B Mem Lovett to Los Angeles for OF Bob Johnson (284-12-71)
- Baltimore OF Kiki Cuyler (280-0-18) was traded to St. Louis for P Joe Shaute (2-2, 2.55) and OF Lou Finney (traded for the third time this month)
- Detroit traded IF Ed Roetz (346-0-5) and C Joe Glenn (275-9-58, AA) to Cleveland for P Ted Lyons (15-12, 3.70)
- Cleveland acquired P Lew Krausse (1-6, 3.03, AA) from Los Angeles for C Paul RIchards (250-0-2) and OF Tom Winslett (332-5-50, AA)
- Boston sent P Frank Pearce (3-2, 2.04, AA) and second round pick P Denny Galehouse to Cleveland for OF Heinie Manush (279-4-36)
- Philadelphia traded RP Red Lucas (1-6, 4.09) to Boston for SS Carl Lind (270-2-35)
- New York sent OF Earle Combs (251-1-33) to St. Louis for P Pat Malone (10-14, 3.77) and SS Otto Bluege (recently acquired from Philadelphia)
- Los Angeles traded C Shanty Hogan (391-0-7) and 1B Mem Lovett to St. Louis for P Danny MacFayden (6-16, 3.55, AA)
- Chicago traded OF Hack Wilson (329-4-22) to Los Angeles for RP Ken Ash (0-0, 6.30) and OF Fred Sington

Our first Winter Winner Award goes to New York Titans GM Rafael Ruiz, who bolstered the Titans' pitching staff by picking up Pat Malone, Charlie Root and Tex Carleton and only gave up an aging Earle Combs, utility infielder Joe Stripp and AA OF prospect Gene Moore