BASEBALL MONTHLY
June 1890
Finally A Winner In The Big Apple
The city of New York has long been known as the largest and best in many walks of life including population, finances, entertainment, and opportunity. This trend however has never carried over to the popular game of baseball that has been a part of the big city since 1882. Even more frustrating for most of the New York area is their close neighbors from Brooklyn have long established themselves as royalty in the game, making the rest of the hotbeds like Manhattan, Harlem, Queens, and the Bronx green with envy.
After a long stretch of not winning and seemingly always being out of the pennant race, the New York Giants are having a season that thus far has captured the headlines. The Giants sit in first place three months into the season for the first time and have the best record in the game at 48-33. The Giants lead the National League by 3.5 games and even though there is a long summer to go before we decide a champion; even to be contending is finally something New Yorkers can embrace.
The club is first in the league in batting average at .281 and has been knocking the ball around the Polo Grounds all season. Although Orator Schaffer is the 38 year old fan favorite who can still hit when healthy, the real stars of the lineup are Mike Tiernan (.311, 64 RBI, 40 SB) and Lace Cross (.327, 64 RBI); leadoff man Walt Wilmot also has contributed 40 stolen bases to a team that has stolen 216 bags already, by far first in the league.
Mike Tiernan
On the mound Lee Viau is the hard luck man who can be considered the ace. Viau is only 23 but leads the team in most throwing catagories including wins (12), ERA (2.35) and strikeouts (79). Pitching is by far not the strongest attrubute of this team, but getting key outs with good defense has worked so far.
Is the excitement all for naught? Fans and pundits continue to flock to see this team play and just the fact that New York is on the baseball map again can only be considered a very good thing.
Colts Continue to Suffer and Slide
Charlie Comiskey has really run out of options it seems as the Chicago Colts dropped 10 games under .500 and are nowhere near the team many had hoped they would be.
This month the team owner met privately with the team and the manger in hopes of correcting the teams ails that have infiltrated all parts of the club. The team has the worst ERA in the league at 3.28 and all this despite having who many consider the best pitcher in the game with Bob Black. Still the losses keep on mounting, starter Harry Staley is only 2-7 since joining the team and his overall record has dropped to 5-16.
No doubt that age has caught up to the bats in the lineup as the Colts have shown great loyalty to many of their players like Fred Dunlap and Pete Hotaling.
A long summer awaits but reports remain that the managrial position held by young Charlie Comiskey is not at risk.
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League Notes Jumbo Lewis third baseman for the Reds will miss the remainder of the season after rupturing a collatoral ligament in this arm. Lewis was batting .266 this season and is a career .275 hitter.
Another one of the originals has retired. Long time infielder Ezra Sutton has announced his retirement effective immediatelly this month. Sutton who started his career in Chicago has always been respected around the league for his glovework. Sutton had a .263 lifetime average and had 1445 hits in his career.
George Davies was the top pick in the June draft by the Pittsburgh Alleghenys. Davies is a starting pitcher from Portage Michigan and is hoped to finally be the man to bring a winner long term to Pittsburgh.