Week 7 Summary

Week 7 is in the books and the season has reached the month of June. The pennant races are still bunched up with a lot of churn seen in the middle of the pack, but Pittsburgh and Boston remain atop of the standings in their respective leagues. Each league still has two teams that haven’t reached the thirty games played mark yet, the two at the top in the AL and two of the three at the bottom in the NL. The AL has surpassed the NL in the number of games played, despite the NL getting a week head start on their new compatriots. Both leagues have started their eastern and western swings and at this point, the only teams that haven’t face each other yet are Baltimore and Cleveland, which will get fixed immediately when Week 8 commences.

1901 New York Ginats

In the AL, Boston is fifth in the league in hitting and fourth in ERA, but thanks to Cy Young's 9-0 start and 0.89 ERA they enjoy a comfortable 4.5 game lead. Baltimore is second in the league in hitting and ERA and has managed to stay right behind Boston so far this year. Philadelphia is hitting .322 as a team and has scored 213 runs, which, considering they have two hitters batting over .400 and two others in the .380's, means they are a powerful contender as they recently slipped passed the White Stockings into third place. Chicago leads the league in ERA, and this should only get better as Jimmy Callahan just returned from his broken arm and will be taking his turn in the rotation very shortly. Chicago has gone 3-7 over their last ten games and is in danger of slipping out of the top half of the standings, so his return is happening just in time. Milwaukee and Washington are tied for fifth, and both teams alternate between good and bad games, neither seemingly able to put together consistent play. Detroit is a bit of a mystery - they are fifth in hitting and third in ERA, but after a quick start has seen themselves consistently slipping down in the standings since. Cleveland sits alone in last place as they struggle to move players in and out in hopes of finding a stable and productive lineup.

In the NL, Pittsburgh has been on top of the standings almost from the beginning. They feature strong pitching (first in ERA) and strong hitting (first in hitting) and have built a reputation as a team that is never out of it. Brooklyn got off to a poor start, they are fifth in both hitting and ERA but have played much better as of recently and last year's NL champions now find themselves in second place. Pitching ace Bill Donovan has won his last five starts to help lead the Superbas' charge. Philadelphia is third in hitting and third in ERA and find themselves all alone in third place, a half-game behind Brooklyn. Chicago got off to a rough start but the acquisition of Rube Waddell has settled their pitching staff and they lead the NL in hitting. St. Louis is fourth in hitting, but last in ERA, which really explains the up and down season the Cardinals are having. Boston got off to a strong start but has faltered as they just can't score enough to support their pitchers. Cincinnati needs Sam Crawford to come alive as they otherwise drift through the season. New York needs their offense to kick it up as they are last in runs scored while their pitchers are a collective second in the NL.

New York Player-Manager George Davis

Philadelphia's Nap Lajoie continues to be Mr. Everything in the AL. Lajoie leads in hitting (.457), runs (38), RBI's (38), hits (64), is second in doubles (14) and is tied for first with Washington's Pop Foster in homeruns (4). Washington's Sam Dungan is second in hitting (.433), just ahead of John Anderson (.412) Lave Cross (.411), and Mike Donlin (.406). Anderson is having quite a year. Besides leading the league with 19 doubles, he is third in hits (56) and second in runs (32) and RBI's (32).  Cy Young (9-0, 0.89) is keeping Boston in first-place almost by himself, while Wiley Piatt (7-2, 5.23) is benefitting from a league-leading 9.3 runs per nine innings in run support.

Ginger Beaumont leads the NL in hitting (.406), ahead of Danny Green (.374) and Ed Delahanty (.372). Beaumont also leads in hits (53), tied with Jesse Burkett. Burkett now leads in doubles (10), while Kitty Bransfield leads the NL in RBI's (25). Delahanty is close to the top of most offensive categories, but at this point only leads in runs scored (31). Doc White (7-2) leads in wins, ahead of Jesse Tannehill (6-0) and Bill Donovan and Rube Waddell, both at 6-3.

The replay is going well. I have actually overused the sacrifice so far, so that should be easy to pare back. Stolen bases are still well behind though, although it really feel like I am abusing it already. The AL, especially Philadelphia, is on a bit of a hitting tear, but even so, both leagues are well behind in runs scored. We still have a lot of games left to play though, so let's see where this goes.

Polo Grounds, Circa 1901