Week 12 Recap

Week 12 is done and that, of course, means another No-Hitter, the fifth of the replay, this one by Cincinnati's Ray Kolp, 6-0, over the powerful hitting Cardinals.No, I don't get it, I don't understand it, it's just baseball, so I am just going with it. It's just odd.

Now that the 1930 Replay has completed Week 12 we are at the mid-point of the season, at least calendar-wise. Only two AL teams have reached the half-way mark in games played, Detroit (79) and Philadelphia (77). None in the NL have reached the 77 games played mark, but some are not far off. The lowest amount is Philadelphia (NL) with only 68 games played. Don’t worry - the Phillies have still managed to lead the entire league in runs allowed, which likely won’t improve much as they make up their missed games.

Regardless, I am treating the end of Week 12 as the halfway point of the replay. There are still a lot of games left to play, but I wanted to do a quick review of every team and provide some notes about their status at the half-way point. 

American League 

Washington (Replay: 53-20, Actual: 48-25, +5)  The Nationals continue to perform above expectations, based on strong hitting and pitching. They are the only AL team hitting over .300 (.311) and they lead the AL in ERA (2.95). I thought they might miss Goose Goslin once he was traded, but Heinie Manush has batted .457 since coming over. The real offensive driver since Goslin left has been Joe Cronin. Cronin has been on a hot streak for much of the past month and has kept his batting average over .400 (currently .413).

The key to Washington's success is their pitching though. Firpo Marberry (13-1) has a 2.92 ERA, and Lloyd Brown (8-5, 2.02) and Bump Hadley (8-3, 3.50) have contributed the Nationals pitching depth. The question for the Nationals is can their pitching stay healthy for the remainder of the season - pitchers are starting to miss occasional starts, and if their hitting slows down (which it almost certainly will) they know the A's are right on their tails.

Philadelphia (R: 52-27, R: 52-27, +0) The A's are second in ERA (3.56) and second in hitting (.295), and have managed to match their real-life WL at this same point. They have had some injury issues already and appear to be past the worst of it. Al Simmons is hitting .424 and Mickey Cochrane is hitting .402, but they are still waiting for Jimmie Foxx to get hot. Foxx only has fourteen homeruns and 63 RBI's, well off target for his real-life numbers of 37/156. On the other hand, Max Bishop has hit twelve homeruns in the replay but only hit ten in real life. Solo homeruns in the lead-off spot don’t have quite the same impact of the Hall-of-Fame slugger batting behind a pair of .400 hitters though.

The A's pitching discussion resolves around Lefty Grove (17-2, 1.48). Twice I have brought him for a save but he gave up the tying run, and then got the win when the A's rallied. Everything has been going his way in the first half. George Earnshaw (8-4) and Rube Walberg (9-4) have done well, but occasionally need the A's offense to bail them out. The A's really should be able to catch and pass Washington, but they have gone 3-10 versus the Nationals so far, so they have nine games left to directly make up ground.

Boston (R: 37-37, A: 29-45, +8) The Red Sox have been the surprise team of the first half. They were at four games over .500 four days ago, but the A's "fixed" that for them and returned them to .500. Primary catcher Charlie Berry is hitting .349 and has played in about 2/3 of the Red Sox games, and Earl Webb is hitting .336 and leads the team with nine homeruns, but can’t seem to hold the starting job. Boston's offense relatively unspectacular (their .253 batting average is seventh), but they manage to stay close in games and they have gotten just enough clutch hits to get off to a good start.

Milt Gaston is 10-5, Hod Lisenbee is 6-6, and Danny MacFayden is 7-7, all with ERA's in the 3.00's. Meanwhile, Jack Russell is 8-9 with an ERA of 6.22. Boston's Pythagorean says they should only have 29 wins, which would match their WL% in real life. Now that the Red Sox are playing their AL eastern compatriots I am sure the losses will begin to pile up.

Detroit (R: 36-41, A: 34-43, +2) The Tigers got off to a hot start, but then ran into the AL eastern teams and got cooled off quickly. Charlie Gehringer is hitting .372 and has 33 doubles, but only has 2 homeruns (his target is 16). Besides Gehringer, outfielders John Stone (.313)  and Roy Johnson (.301) provide plenty of RBI opportunities, but first baseman Dale Alexander has struggled all season, hitting .275 (.326), and only has eight doubles (33) and nine homeruns (20). The standard APBA leaderboards have a "Runners Left on Base" (LOB) category - Alexander has 140, second place is a distant 118, and Alexander has been atop of this dubious category for most of the season. Despite this Detroit has remained pretty close to their actual WL record.

George Uhle is 10-5 with a 275 ERA to lead the Tigers pitchers, but Earl Whitehill (5-6, 4.36) and Vic Sorrell (6-8, 4.49) are capable of having a good game but can go the other way quite easily as well. I expect the Tigers to muddle along for the rest of the year, but they have the ability to play the spoiler role should the opportunity arise.

New York (R: 34-40, A: 43-31, -9) Babe Ruth (.380, 26 homeruns, 83 RBI's) carried the Yankees for the first month of the season, Lou Gehrig (.399, 21 homeruns, 85 RBI's) did for the second, but when these two cool off and play like mere mortals the Yankees offense can be pretty pedestrian. Earle Combs (.341, 69 runs) has missed about a dozen games recently, and shortstop Lyn Lary (.285) has missed the past two weeks and is due to return soon. Both are due to return to full-time duties soon and should settle down the Yankees offense.

Most of the Yankees woes have been pitching related. The Yankees may be third in hitting (.294), but are last in ERA (5.45). George Pipgras (8-4) and the recently acquired Red Ruffing (4-5) both have ERA's below 4.00, and while the Yankees have made several pitching deals this year, I am not sure pitching help is really on the way, at least this year. Even their Pythagorean says they should only have two more wins than they currently have, so the Yankees offense is either going to have to go big or go home. I do expect the Yankees to settle into third place in the long run, and they are definitely a team that can play the role of a spoiler down the stretch.

St. Louis (R: 32-44, A: 30-46, +2) Kind of the opposite of the Yankees, the Browns are last in hitting (.245) but third in ERA (3.94). Heinie Manush was an offensive terror for the Browns while here, but Goose Goslin (.254) has yet to hit his stride since moving to St. Louis. Catcher Rick Ferrell is hitting .385 and was recently moved up to the middle of the lineup. Shortstop Red Kress (.311) has 28 doubles and 63 RBI's, and will likely pick up a few MVP votes before this is over. No other regular is hitting over .250, and most are hitting well below their actual batting average, including a few hitting below .200.

Pitching has kept St. Louis out of the cellar. Lefty Stewart is 13-3 with a 2.30 ERA, and Rip Collins is 4-4 with a 1.68 ERA, although Collins missed most of the first month of the season and has just enough innings to qualify in the ERA race. Throw in Dick Coffman with a 5-10 record and a 3.73 ERA and the Browns have managed to stay mildly competitive. The Browns won't likely be moving up in the standings, but if Cleveland has finally gotten it together they might be moving down.

Ed Morgan

Cleveland (29-46, A: 36-29, -7) The Indians have just recently managed to climb out of last place. They are -7 to their real-life record, but they have played the most one-run games (13-17) of any team so far, and their Pythagorean says they should be five wins better. All this adds up to the likelihood that Cleveland has just been unlucky so far, and luck should level out over time. I don’t know if they can reach the top half of the standings, but I do think they will make a run for it.

Earl Averill (.332, 13 homeruns, 46 RBI's) missed games at the beginning of the season, and then had a slow start, but has recently started to produce. Ed Morgan (. 347, 17 homeruns, 41 RBI's) hit a lot of solo homeruns as a leadoff hitter but has now moved down in the lineup. Johnny Burnett (.338) has settled in as the everyday shortstop, and Cleveland has an otherwise decent offense - it is only recently they have actually started to play like one.

Wes Ferrell (11-7, 2.79) has suffered from run support issues until recently, as has Mel Harder (4-6, 3.39). Clint Brown (5-9, 5.14) and Willis Hudlin (2-12, 5.42) have definitely under-performed to date. Any sort of normal performance leveling should help the two latter pitchers in the second half of the season.

Chicago (R: 26-44, A: 27-43, -1)  The White Sox are now on their sixth catcher and their fifth shortstop. While they are sixth in hitting (.259) and sixth in ERA (4.73), they have finally settled into last place in the AL. Smead Jolley (.344, 10 homeruns, 45 RBI's) and Carl Reynolds (.306, 9 homeruns, 48 RBI's) provide the offense, but things get pretty bleak after that.

Ted Lyons (9-8, 3.21) has been the only consistent White Sox pitcher so far this year. Both Red Faber (3-9, 4.50) and Tommy Thomas (3-6, 6.61) have missed time and generally do just enough to lose. It's hard to see a path for the White Sox to improve on … can Boston lose their 11 game lead over Chicago and fall into last place? That's a long drop. I suspect the White Sox can hold on to last place for the remainder of the season.

National League 

Glenn Wright

Brooklyn (Replay: 48-22, Actual: 42-28, +6) The Robins blitzed their western counterparts on their first extended road trip, had a 13 game win streak, and quickly built up a double-digit lead over the rest of the NL. The Robins have come back to the rest of the league a little recently but still carry a six-game lead. Glenn Wright (.357, 47 RBI's) carried Brooklyn for the first month of the season,  but when he got hurt Del Bissonette (.377, 60 runs, 69 RBI's) stepped into that role. Outfielders Babe Herman (.356, 12 homeruns, 61 runs, 53 RBI's) and Johnny Frederick (.366, 67 runs, 44 RBI's) have both contributed mightily as well.

Jumbo Elliott (10-0, 2.07), Dazzy Vance (8-6, 2.43), and Watty Clark (8-4, 2.82) lead the Brooklyn pitching brigade. The Robins are +6 against their real record, but are -1 to their Pythagorean, so they are performing pretty close to what their numbers say they should be. Can the Robins win the NL? Absolutely. Is the rest of the NL going to have a say in this? Absolutely.

Chicago (R: 45-31, A: 45-31, +0) The Cubs went through an early-season malaise, taking it on the chin early from both Brooklyn and St. Louis. Recently the Cubs had a 14 game win streak, extracting some level of revenge against the Robins and the NL pennant race has really tightened up. Hack Wilson (.298, 23 homeruns, 85 RBI's) got off to a slow start but has been very productive since. Gabby Hartnett (.356, 15 homeruns, 55 RBI's) has brought a needed pop to the bottom of the batting order. Riggs Stephenson (.393) has been flirting with off and on .400, Kiki Cuyler (.359, 72 runs) and Woody English (.341, 66 runs) are always on base, whether Wilson drives them in or not. Wilson has 121 LOB's, and Charlie Grimm is right behind at 119. Rogers Hornsby (.353) is out for another month and a half.

Pat Malone (11-4, 2.99) and Charley Root (9-3, 4.30) lead the pitching staff. The Cubs are fifth in hitting (.297) and are fifth in pitching (4.80) - they are going to have to improve in the latter if they want to continue on their push to the top.

St. Louis (R: 39-33, A: 39-33, +0) The Cardinals got off to a tremendous offensive start of the season, then their pitching carried them for a while, then they hit a lull recently and have settled safely into third place behind the Cubs, but just ahead of the Giants. The Cardinals lead the league in hitting (.321) and are second in ERA (4.54). Chick Hafey (.358, 19 doubles, 58 RBI's) led in several offensive categories through the first month of the season, but was recently injured and has just returned to play. Frankie Frisch (.386, 61 runs) then stepped in to be the offensive driver. George Watkins (.477, 12 doubles, 17 homeruns, 58 RBI's) has just managed to earn a starting spot in the Cardinals lineups - he had massed those numbers in only 164 plate appearances (OPS: 1.458).

Jesse Haines (11-2, 2.27) would likely get the nod as the best NL pitcher in the first half of the season. Burleigh Grimes has won his first four starts with a 0.50 ERA since coming over from the Braves, but the Cardinals are going to need some pitching help if they want to capture the pennant. Perhaps Bill Hallahan (6-9, 7.56) can get it together yet.

New York (R: 39-34, A: 40-33, -1) Bill Terry (.409, 59 RBI's) leads the NL in hitting and Freddie Lindstrom (.337, 46 RBI's) is chipping in as well, but if the Giants are going to do anything in the second half they are going to need Mel Ott (.297, 11 homeruns, 56 RBIs) to contribute more. Ott is only 21 this year, and in is his fifth season with the Giants. He will end this season with 96 homeruns - and he is just getting his career warmed up.

The Giants have four solid starters - Carl Hubbell (9-5, 2.43), Bill Walker (9-4, 3.57), Freddie Fitzsimmons (8-4, 4.17) and Clarence Mitchell (3-1, 2.12) has been solid since coming over from the Cardinals. Things get pretty thin beyond that, but the Giants are hopeful this foursome can take them deep into the season with a chance to win it all.

Cincinnati (R: 36-36, A: 29-43, +7) The slugging Reds have been a bit of a surprise in the NL so far. The Reds are fourth in hitting (.300), but they are sixth in pitching (5.07). Harry Heilmann (.397, 28 doubles, 33 RBI's) has hit well all year and his power numbers finally started to kick in over the past few months. Joe Stripp (.348, 21 doubles, 47 RBI's) is looking for a regular position in the lineup, and Bob Meusel (.289, 11 homeruns, 44 RBI's) has played well also.

For some reason, on some days the Reds jus decide to hit and that's all there is to it. On most days, the pitching just isn’t good. Benny Frey (9-3, 4.35) and Red Lucas (8-5, 4.45) benefit from the Reds run support, but most of the rest of the pitchers just get lit up. Larry Benton 3-4, 4.90) has doesn’t much since coming over from the Giants. The Reds are playing well ahead of the real-life WL%, but once Pittsburgh gets fully healthy I expect to see a run from them, and Cincinnati won't likely be able to keep up.

Pittsburgh (R: 31-41, A: 32-40, -1) Pie Traynor missed the first three weeks of the season and Lloyd Waner has just returned to play, although he really hasn’t resumed a full-time role in the outfield just yet. Taking two Hall-of-Famers out of the lineup really hurt the Pirates (as you might expect), but they are hoping to get on a hot streak and maybe make some serious headway in the standings. Paul Waner (.371, 45 runs, 25 doubles, 36 RBI's) and Adam Comorosky (.319, 16 triples, 47 RBI's) lead the offense. It would help if Gus Suhr (.260, ten homeruns, 47 RBI's) could spark up in the second half as well.

Larry French (8-8, 3.27) and Ray Kremer (7-10, 4.14) anchor a pitching corps that is fourth in the NL, but unless their hitting gets on track (currently seventh in the NL) it is going to be a long second half. Even so, they are just one game off their real WL at this time, so maybe there is hope for a strong finish.

Boston (R: 26-45, A: 35-36, -9) The Braves are seventh in hitting in the NL, and last in pitching and don’t have much hope otherwise. Wally Berger (.298, 39 runs, 17 doubles, 18 homeruns, and 46 RBI's) leads in almost every offensive category for the team but is mildly under-producing to his real-life numbers (i.e., too many solo homeruns). 38-year-old Rabbit Maranville (.266) is second on the team in runs (32) and RBI's (32), all while batting lead-off or in the two spot in the lineup.

Socks Seibold (9-7, 3.23) has been the Braves best pitcher, and Bob Smith (4-6, 4.27) should be doing much better. Acquisitions Tom Zachary (2-5, 3.84) and Bill Sherdel (2-1, 3.24) should help stabilize the rotation in the second half of the season.

Philadelphia (R: 23-45, A: 25-43, -2)  On the one hand, the Phillies have Lefty O'Doul (.408, 66 runs, 16 doubles, ten homeruns, 47 RBI's) and Chuck Klein (.403, 55 runs, 20 doubles, 15 homeruns, 75 RBI's). The Phillies can hit - they are second in the NL (.309) in hitting, but are fourth in runs scored. Pinky Whitney (.317, 46 RBI's) could really provide a jolt, but he is tied with Hack Wilson with 121 LOB's so far in the season.

The Phillies actually finished with a 7.69 ERA, and they are currently at 6.39. They are in line to allow more than 1000 runs. I stated a few weeks ago their starting pitching is bad, but their relief is worse. I don't know if their ERA will get over 7.00, but I just don’t see it improving.

I took several days off, did a little longer write-up this time, have refreshed my batteries a bit, so now it is time to get back to play. We are going to have good pennant races right down to the end and I am looking forward to seeing how this all works itself out.