Week 11 Recap

Two big stories this week. The first is another Perfect Game, this one by Lefty Grove. I am not even out of June yet and I have had a total of four no-hitters so far, two of which were perfect games, in the middle of a replay of the most offensively-oriented season of the 20th century. On the one hand, a no-hitter of any kind is an exciting event. On the other hand, it makes me wonder if I am doing something wrong It's the computer game, so it's not like I am fudging dice rolls or anything. I did regrade pitchers before I started, but Grove is/was an A, and the other three no-hitters were thrown by mid-level B starters, so not much really changed there. I am chalking this up to … it's just baseball. It's just APBA. Go figure. 

The other story is the implosion of the Yankees pitching staff this past week. From Sunday, June 22, through Sunday, June 29, the Yankees went 4-7 and allowed 102 runs, or 9.3 runs per game (and they had a game they won 2-1). During that period they played six games against the Browns - the Browns scored 51 runs in those six games or 23% of their yearly total to that date. The Yankees have now allowed 420 runs, 24.3% which occurred within this eight-day period. The Phillies have allowed 442 runs (in four fewer games), but I think you can describe the Yankees pitching so far as Phillies-esque 

The A's are the first team to 70 games played, with several teams still in the low 60's yet. After next week we will be at the 50% mark as far as the calendar goes, but as far as games played goes we have quite a bit of makeup to get through yet. Even in this past week, we saw several doubleheaders where bullpen pitchers got a start or two to help out their team through a batch of games. 

The Nationals and A's have been beating up on the western half of the division, with Washington just having a twelve game winning streak snapped. The addition of Heinie Manush for Goose Goslin has not adversely affected their performance, the addition of Art Shires and Dave Harris from the White Sox has been positive so far, and Joe Cronin has been on a hitting tear, so while they had seen their lead shrink much lower, it is now back up to a more comfortable five games over the A's. The Red Sox have also been beating up on the western teams, and instead of competing for last place they are currently seated in third place, three games over .500. This is largely smoke and mirrors, and won’t last once they start playing the eastern teams again. Cleveland has managed to climb out of the cellar, and while they are playing better, they are still struggling to get on a hot streak. 

The Cubs are the story in the NL. They just had their win streak snapped at 14 games and had climbed to within four games of the Robins when they took the first three of a four-game home series versus Brooklyn. Brooklyn has the horses and can still win it all, but we have a long way to go yet. The Giants and the Cardinals would also like to be in the discussion when it comes to the NL pennant. The Cardinals climbed over the Giants in the standings, but the Giants just swept a Sunday doubleheader in St. Louis to keep close. The Pirates are expecting to get Lloyd Waner back in the lineup this coming week and would love nothing more than to play spoiler to several of the first division teams. 

Bill Terry (.430) leads the NL in hitting, ahead of Lefty O'Doul (.406), Frankie Frisch (.399) and Chuck Klein (.393). The hit totals have started to reach the century mark, with Terry (107) in the lead, followed by Johnny Frederick (104), Del Bissonette (100), and Klein and Kiki Cuyler, both with 99. Cuyler (65) now leads in runs scored, ahead of Frederick (62) and Cubs teammate Woody English (62). Hack Wilson (74) leads in RBI's, ahead of Bissonette (67) and Klein (66). Wilson (18) has the homerun lead still, just ahead of Wally Berger (17). Adam Comorosky (14) has taken the lead in triples over Cuyler (11). Harry Heilmann (24) has been on a tear recently and leads in doubles, ahead of four tied with twenty and four others tied with nineteen. Jesse Haines (10-1, 1.74) continues to lead in ERA, although Pat Malone (11-4, 2.96) now leads in wins.  

Joe Cronin (.419) leads the AL in hitting, ahead of Al Simmons (.408), Lou Gehrig (.403) and Mickey Cochrane (.397). Similar to the NL, the century mark for hits has been breached, with Cronin (104) leading over Gehrig (102), Charlie Gehringer (100), and Heinie Manush (99). Babe Ruth (75) still leads in runs, ahead of Earle Combs (66) and Goose Goslin (62). Gehrig (80) holds the RBI lead, with Ruth (76) and Goslin (63) following behind. Ruth (23) and Gehrig (20) still sit atop the homerun race, With Ed Morgan (17) and Goslin (15) next in line. Gehringer (29) leads in doubles, ahead of Cochrane and Red Kress, both with 25. Pitching plaudits boil down to Lefty Grove (14-2, 1.47), although Rip Collins has a slightly better ERA (1.37). 

The early season explosion in triples has abated somewhat, and the number of doubles has started to pick up. Overall, my number of extra-base hits is below what I would have expected, and there are several big-time hitters that should be targeting much higher XBH numbers that are still lagging. XBH's really don’t get pimped like singles might in APBA, so I still of the opinion that the second half of the season is going to be quite "offensive." I am still monitoring sacrifice hits and stolen bases. In theory, players should be right around the 50% mark for both of these. The success rate for steals is over 50% in both leagues, 59% in the AL, 52% in the NL.