AL Mid-Season Report
The American League has been turned upside down all season. Currently three of the preseason favorites - the White Sox, Red Sox and Athletics - are at the bottom of the standings. Those three teams have accounted for all but five of the AL pennants in the league's 20-year history. Chicago's offense is dead last in the league and their pitching staff has struggled. Boston's pitching staff is ranked 2nd in the league, but their offense is just 6th overall despite the fact that 33-year-old
Tris Speaker (.419, 16 HR, 64 RBI) is hitting over .400 at the end of June. Meanwhile, Oakland's pitching staff has not performed to the level that they had hoped, and their offense is ranked just 5th.
That leads us to the Minnesota Twins, who currently lead the AL standings. Their offense is ranked just 4th, but rookie
Goose Goslin (.315, 26 HR, 55 RBI) has been stellar, as has veteran right fielder
Irish Meusel (.327, 20 HR, 70 RBI). The team's pitching staff ranks just 3rd overall but
Walter Johnson (10-6, 2.69 ERA) is as tough as ever.
Detroit is in second place with the top offense in the AL.
Ty Cobb (.332, 14 HR, 41 RBI, 70 R, 32 SB) and
Baby Doll Jacobson (.332, 6 HR, 30 RBI, 45 R) are hitting well at the top of the batting order. However, the team's pitching staff is next to last in the AL in runs allowed and their starting rotation has the worst ERA (4.35) in the league.
The Indians' 3rd ranked offense and 4th ranked pitching staff has been good enough to put the team in 3rd place.
Billy Southworth (.328, 16 HR, 58 RBI) leads the offense while rookie
Jesse Petty (7-4, 2.87 ERA) has actually been their top pitcher. Meanwhile, 40-year-old
Addie Joss (1-1, 15 Sv, 2.53 ERA) has been great as a first-time closer.
The Yankees offense is ranked 2nd in the league thanks in large part to
Lefty O'Doul (.344, 21 HR, 56 RBI). But their pitching staff is last in the AL. Even Baltimore has been in on the action, only recently dropping back below .500. Their offense is struggling, but they actually have the top pitching staff and defense in the league.
Carl Weilman (4-4, 2.82 ERA) and former closer
Alex Malloy (5-6, 2.82 ERA) are tops in the rotation.
I believe this may be the most exciting season in the AL to date with all teams in the race. Even the last place White Sox are defending World Series champs and at 12 1/2 games back, they could get red hot and be right back in the race.
Standings
Batting Leaders
Pitching Leaders
