The WPK Standings as we enter the month of July:
Chicago continues to be the class of the SJL West, but their 1975 expansion mates, the Houston Cavaliers, are not far behind them. Pity the Milwaukee Cadets, who have never won more than 90 games in a season and have had losing records in 14 of their 21 seasons in existence, including the 7 seasons heading into the current campaign.
After a sluggish start, the Washington Night Train once again find themselves atop the SJL East standings, with the currently slumping Jacksonville Wolf Pack still very much in the hunt. The Columbus Whalers, who were one of the most dominant teams in the WPK the first 15 or so seasons of the league, have now slid into perennial cellar dweller contention for the past several seasons.
The Denver Brewers had moved into sole possession of first place just a few days ago but head into July in a dead heat with San Francisco, not just for first place in the MGL West but also for best record in all of the WPK.
And in the almost always mediocre MGL East, Detroit is currently the best of an unimpressive division, with the Oklahoma City Diamond Kings being the biggest disappointment thus far. Oh, and the Montreal Royals, do they still play in the WPK or have they been relegated to a minor league yet?
Brewers rookie right fielder
Jerry Lillie won MGL Batter of the Month as well as MGL Rookie of the Month honors for June.
Over in the SJL, another relatively unheralded rookie outfielder, Columbus' center fielder John Hassey, the #46 top prospect in the game, also won both Batter of the Month and Rookie of the Month honors.
Given how bad Columbus is, it is impressive that they also had the Pitcher of the Month in the SJL, in veteran and likely future Hall of Famer Luis Ramirez. The 3-time Harris/Lee award winner is an iron man who still throws upwards of 100 mph at age 34 and would have much more impressive numbers if only he had any kind of team around him.
And in the MGL, the Pitcher of the Month for June was Portland's very talented 24-year old right-hander Kyle Gilbert, who currently leads all of the WPK with his miniscule 1.88 ERA.
