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Week 3 Summary


Week 3 is in the books and the season have just gotten cranked up. This week saw a full schedule of games for both leagues so while there are still six total teams that haven’t reached the ten-game played mark yet, suffice it say that league play is full speed ahead at this point.

Jimmy Collins, Player-Manager 1901 Boston Americans
There have been quite a few roster adjustments already and most teams have commenced with making lineups manipulations as well to try and improve performance. Most of the roster adjustments are around the fact that some teams are still scrambling to assemble a roster following the raids on National League players from American League teams this past winter. All teams are carrying a very thin bench as well, so any injury, even for a few days, is problematic as well.

Chicago (AL) and Pittsburgh has set the standard so far and both have early leads in each of their leagues. Both teams feature solid pitching and good hitting and both teams have had schedules that featured games against lesser opponents, all keys to getting off to a fast start. It is still early though and I still expect plenty of jockeying for position in the standings as the season progresses.

I am going to hold off for another week before listing leaders, but I am keeping an eye on my stats already. I really pushed stolen base attempts this past week and made up some of the delta from the previous week, but will need to continue to push on that. Likewise for sacrifice hits - I pushed it, but I think the difference is sacrifice attempts often don’t end up as sacrifice hits - they can end up a strike or a ball, foul tips, fielder's choices, or even the occasional pop-up/double play … it seems like ~50% of my sacrifice attempts end up as something other than a sacrifice. I need to ensure I am getting a sacrifice hit in every game.


My total hits and league batting averages are up, but my runs scored are down. My sacrifice flies are through the roof though - teams always seem to be able to get runners to third, but not always able to otherwise score them. Even though I bumped up the error numbers from 2 to 2.5 per card my number of errors up, but still way behind. Therefore league ERA's are still a little on the high side yet.

It's still early and I am sure the numbers will come around as games progress (I keep telling myself). With the poorer defenses I am seeing resultants I don’t think I have ever seen before. I also acknowledge that perhaps the scouting in those days wasn't as thorough as it is now, so I often take chances on the base paths that I might never otherwise do, especially in circumstances where one run can really make the difference.


Huntington Avenue Grounds, Boston  MA



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