AL Season Wrap-up
At mid-season, the Twins held a 3.5-game lead in the American League standings. After that, they went 46-33 while the second place Tigers fell apart and fell to 5th place, just 2-games above .500. The Twins led the AL in offense and pitching, a sure recipe for success if there ever was one. They also finished 2nd in defense.
Tim Jordan (.292, 40 HR, 112 RBI) raised his batting average from .259 to .292 in the second half and led the AL in home runs and RBI.
Cy Swaim (22-6, 2.27 ERA) had the team's best performance from a pitcher and led the league in wins.
Oakland heated up in the second half with the second best pitching staff and best team defense in the league.
Eddie Plank (18-8, 1.86 ERA) was superb and set a MLHR record in ERA while also leading the AL in strikeouts, WHIP and many other key pitching statistics.
There were few other memorable performances in this first season for the AL. Now we wait to see what kind of competition the Twins can offer the Pirates in the first ever World Series, and we look forward to see what type of new talent the AL adds in the offseason. I would be remiss if I didn't also mention the irony in the fact that the first ever AL pennant was won by the Senators/Twins franchise - a historically awful franchise (with a few exceptions) over the 60 years they spent in Washington. They did not actually win their first pennant until 1924, and they won just a total of three over those 60 years in Washington. It will also be fun to see how they fare over time as the rosters of all teams are filled with players who actually debuted with these franchises.
Standings
Batting Leaders
Pitching Leaders
