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Week 14 Summary


Week 14 is in the books and both leagues are still split among the haves and have-nots, but within those two groups, there is still plenty of struggle as teams continue to try to rise to the top of their respective grouping. Baltimore and Washington both have 67 games played and New York has 68, but we have completed week 14 of a 24 week season, so for a 140 game season, it is fair to say there are still quite a few games left to be played. At the other end of the spectrum, Chicago (NL) has reached the 80-games-played mark and is well ahead of the pace. Their end-of-season rush really shouldn’t be as drastic as others.

1901 Boston Beaneaters
In the AL Chicago has maintained an 81% winning percentage in road games so far. While that may be tough to keep up, they are second in the league in hitting and are best in pitching so it is not hard to imagine them being in first place at the end of the season. Boston continues to stay close in second place, but Chicago just might be too much. Detroit has been on a bit of a roll (finally), and combined with multiple Baltimore injuries has climbed past the Orioles into third place. Catching Boston for second place may be a bit much for Detroit to aspire too though. Baltimore is a tough and gritty team, but there is no doubt they are headed into a rough spot over the next few weeks. Washington and Philadelphia swap fifth and sixth place back and forth, and Cleveland and Milwaukee swap seventh and eighth place back and forth. If Baltimore really stumbles there may be an opening in the upper half of the standings yet, but I am not sure any of these teams can actually take it if it is offered.

Boston Beaneaters Manager Frank Selee
Pittsburgh is holding on to first place at the end of the week, but only by one-half game over Philadelphia. Both teams continue to play well and are trying to set themselves apart from the rest of the league. Brooklyn wants to be part of that lead group, but they lost 3-of-4 in Pittsburgh in the middle of the week and find themselves three games back from the top at week's end. Boston, Chicago, and New York take turns swapping places in fourth, fifth, and sixth place, while St. Louis and Cincinnati do the same in seventh and eighth place. I still think that one of those three teams stuck in the middle is going to assert themselves at some point, but it hasn’t happened yet.

Nap Lajoie is the only hitter still hitting over .400 (.430). That is a pretty tough mark to hit over the course of the season, even for someone that actually hit .400. There may be a few players that will bounce up and toy with that, but I think the course of normalcy has forced its way in at this point. The currently injured John McGraw leads the AL in walks still (56), but likely for not much longer. I noticed that McGraw also lead the AL in HBP's in 1901 (14), but somehow he is currently sitting with zero HBP's in the replay. I looked at his electronic card and he has no HBP's numbers (15, 19, 22, or 42) on his card. And when I look at my league totals I see both leagues are going to end up with about 50% of the HBP's they are supposed to have.

Given this set is ~30-years-old it is not hard to assume that baseball research has filled in a lot of statistical holes over the ~30 years since this set was released and the old version of the cards does not reflect that. No complaints, but if someone should ask, yes, I do believe the usage of a re-released past season is worth it for a season replayer. The game company has tightened up their card making procedures and formulas for one, they take updated stats into account, plus they account for every player, all providing a much more solid set. I was very happy with my 1949-R set/replay and am looking forward to 1957 after my 1901 is done.


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