Week 10 is in the books and both leagues are having interesting twists and turns as they approach the midpoint of the season. In the AL, Chicago was able to tie for first place with Boston for a day, but the Americans have proven to be tenacious and so far have refused to fully move out of the top spot. In the NL, it is Brooklyn and Pittsburgh that have taken to swapping out the position at the top of the standings. The highlight of the week was Pittsburgh's Jesse Tannehill throwing a perfect game versus Boston, but the Pirates couldn’t win the second game of that doubleheader and currently find themselves a half-game out of first.
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1901 Pittsburgh Pirates |
As for the rest of the NL Brooklyn and Pittsburgh might want to keep an eye out for the hard-charging Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies, winners of nine of their last ten, now find themselves in third place, only two games behind Pittsburgh. Philadelphia is third in both pitching and hitting and is poised to make a move should either of the two teams in front of them falter. Chicago is second in runs scored, which combined with the weak pitching finds them in fourth place with a .500 record. After that … it's a mess. The remaining four teams are all intertwined to such a degree that a win can propel any one of them to the top of this stack. Someone out of this group is going to get hot sooner or later but until then … it's a mess.
Baltimore is all along in third place in the AL and is currently working on a four-game winning streak. Philadelphia leads the AL in hitting and runs scored, but if they can't thoroughly bludgeon their opponent they struggle. Washington is next to last in hitting and runs scored, but somehow they continue to hang tough. Detroit is a bit of a mystery. They are fourth in hitting and runs scored, and in pitching, but often just can't get out of their own way. Kid Elberfeld should return to his position at shortstop soon, freeing up Joe Yeager (6-0, 1.83) to resume his mound duties. I suspect we will hear more from the Tigers before this season is over. Milwaukee and Cleveland have slowly filtered down toward the bottom, but both can be dangerous if you think you can take them for granted.
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Pittsburgh Player-Manager Fred Clarke |
Philadelphia second baseman Nap Lajoie leads the AL in hitting (.457), hits (91), runs (56), RBI's (58), is second in doubles (18), and leads in homeruns (9). Milwaukee first baseman John Anderson is second in hitting (.440), also has 91 hits, is second in runs (46), third in RBI's (47), and has an amazing 27 doubles in only 49 games played. Washington outfielder Sam Dungan is still hitting .418, and Baltimore's Mike Donlin (.397) and Jimmy Williams (.394) are right behind. Detroit's Ducky Holmes is second in RBI's (50), which is pretty good considering he only had 62 during the 1901 season. Three players have eight triples and three others have seven, so that race remains wide open. Pop Foster and Herm McFarland are tied for second in homeruns (6). Teammates Cy Young (12-1, 1.34) and Ted Lewis (9-3, 3.03) lead the AL in pitching and both play a major role in keeping Boston on top of the AL.
Pittsburgh's Ginger Beaumont (.390) came back strong from his recent injury but now finds himself behind Jesse Burkett (.398) for the NL hitting title. Burkett also leads in hits (92) and doubles (15). Ed Delahanty is third in hitting (.381) and leads in runs (46), RBI's (43), and homeruns (5). Brooklyn teammates Tom McCreery and Jimmy Sheckard both have nine triples and there are a total of nine players with four homeruns, right behind Delahanty. Frank Kitson (10-3, 2.40), Jack Powell (10-3, 2.40), and Jesse Tannehill (9-2, 1.42) lead the NL in pitching, with three other pitchers with nine wins right behind them.
I was asked questions about errors in the replay and I am going to address that is a separate essay, but for now, let me say the replay is progressing well and as the pennant races begin to congeal. The NL has begun to start playing doubleheaders to make up for lost games, while the AL is yet to do so. Even so, with the NL ahead in game splayed the runs scored in the AL far surpasses those of the NL. I can see both leagues start to divide into the haves and the have-nots but I am still expecting some additional shuffling to come as we progress through the season.
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Exhibition Park III, Pittsburgh, PA |

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