AL Mid-Season Report
Detroit and Boston have kept the pennant race close, but Oakland has begun to pull away. The A's lead the American league in pitching and are 2nd in offense and defense. To be quite honest, about half of their lineup is having a down season compared to last year, so the fact that they are still the second best offense is scary. They are being led this season by
Joe Jackson (.355, 23 HR, 83 RBI, 11 SB),
Eddie Collins (.337, 8 HR, 66 R, 37 SB) and
Frank Baker (.248, 17 HR, 64 RBI). And yes, if you noticed, Jackson has an impressive 83 RBI already. He is on pace to get 170, which would be a new record. In fact, a player has reached 150 RBI only twice in 33 years. Just two seasons removed from one of his poorest seasons (which was still above league average, by the way),
Eddie Plank (10-3, 1.87 ERA) is pitching his tail off this year. New closer
Jack Coombs (4-4, 18 Sv, 1.64 ERA) has been nearly automatic closing out games.
Boston is sitting 7 games out of first. That normally would not be an insurmountable lead, but with Oakland bound to get better, the Red Sox will need to get hot and stay hot. They lead the AL in offense, thanks primarily to
Gavvy Cravath (.308, 34 HR, 76 RBI) and
Tris Speaker (.308, 19 HR, 53 RBI, 11 SB). Their pitching staff is only ranked 4th in the league. Sophomore
Frank Arellanes (7-3, 2.37 ERA) is having the best season on the rotation so far, and new closer
Nick Altrock (2-4, 16 Sv, 2.76 ERA) is doing well.
The Tigers have surprised me this season. They were actually in first place in early May. They rank 3rd in offense, and their pitching staff has rebounded to a shocking 2nd place ranking. A much improved defense has a lot to do with that improvement.
Ty Cobb (.369, 16 HR, 63 RBI, 32 SB) is incredible as usual, and he is one of five Tigers to already have 10 or more home runs. 27-year-old
Bugs Raymond (10-6, 2.11 ERA) is having the best season of his career so far.
Standings
Batting Leaders
Pitching Leaders
