June 22
Performance
Best Batters
Reggie Jackson of the
San Francisco Sea Lions is oh-so-slowly being drawn back to the pack. He still leads the WBL in BA (by 11 points over
Cleveland's
Ron Blomberg) and in OBP (by 26 points over
Homestead's
Mike Epstein), but the
New York Black Yankees'
Babe Ruth has retaken the lead in SLG. Ruth has actually struggled recently, seeing his BA drop all the way down to .303, but over half his hits are for extra bases.
Looking at the leaderboards, a few things of note:
- Ruth remains the only player in the top 2 in more than a few categories.
- Ottawa's Tim Raines has taken over the SB lead, ahead of San Francisco's Rickey Henderson.
- The Chicago American Giants offense remains formidable, with four different players listed.
As usual,
bold indicates a league leader, and the top 2 in most categories are included.
Dick Allen (CAG). 303/367/565.
8 3B.
Rico Carty (PHI). 296/362/487.
30 2B.
Eric Davis (NYY). 278/331/556. 24 HR, 59 R.
Mike Epstein (HOM). 335/440/527.
Mike Fiore (CAG). 238/381/398. 53 BB.
Bobby Grich (LAA). 281/352/467. 25 2B.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 263/39/369.
57 BB. 53 SB.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 330/409/583. 59 R.
Reggie Jackson (SFS).
353/
466/634.
Willie Mays (NYG). 332/389/569.
98 H.
3.9 WAR.
Ron Blomberg (CLE). 342/411/640.
Doug Radar (LAA). 317/371/537.
74 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 305/383/456.
58 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 303/410/
643.
25 HR, 72 RBI,
61 R. 3.8 WAR.
Louis Santop (CLE). 301/335/446.
8 3B.
Frank Thomas (CAG). 339/432/580. 96 H.
Bobby Wallace (BAL). 321/420/461. 25 2B.
Best Starting Pitchers
It's going to be interesting seeing how this develops. There is no real front-runner for the best pitcher in the league. Cleveland's
Cy Young shows up in the most categories, and when you consider how much of a workhorse he is, perhaps that puts him in front. But
Los Angeles'
Gerrit Cole is the only hurler in double-digits in wins, and
Baltimore's
Dennis Martínez is the only one with an ERA under 3.00.
Bill Byrd (BAL). 7-2,
1.12 WHIP.
Gerrit Cole (LAA).
11-3, 3.92.
Ray Collins (PHI). 7-5, 3.62. 112 IP.
Don Drysedale (BRK). 6-3, 3.11
Bob Feller (CLE). 7-4, 5.07.
11.0 K/9.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 8-4, 3.78. 10.1 K/9. 112 K.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 5-7, 4.20.
115 K.
Walter Johnson (POR). 8-3, 3.77. 2.8 WAR.
Dennis Martínez (BAL). 9-4,
2.91.
Don Newcombe (CAG). 2-9, 6.15.
1.4 BB/9.
Red Ruffing (NYY). 9-2, 3.74.
Cy Young (CLE). 7-3,
1.12 WHIP. 1.6 BB/9.
114.2 IP.
3.1 WAR.
Best Relievers
Joseíto Muñoz has moved into
Portland's rotation, but is a long way from having enough IP to be listed with the starters. A similar move may be looming for
Indianapolis'
Willie Mitchell. The best ERAs for pure relievers with over 20 IP belong to
Ken Howell (San Francisco) and
Aroldis Chapman (
Miami Cuban Giants).
Terry Adams (CLE). 0-4, 4.24. 18 Sv.
Aroldis Chapman (MCG). 2-1. 1.42. 13 Sv.
Gene Conley (DET).
7-1, 3.96. 4 H.
Ken Howell (SFS). 3-3, 1.41. 3 Sv. 4 H. 0.94 WHIP.
Mark Melancon (HOU).
7-1, 3.12.
Willie Mitchell (IND). 3-2, 1.27. 1 Sv. 1 H.
Joseíto Muñoz (POR). 3-1,
1.17. 3 Sv. 2 H.
Ron Reed (CLE). 0-2, 2.72. 3 Sv.
12 H.
Johan Santana (POR). 1-1, 2.57.
22 Sv. 1 H.
Brian Wilson (SFS). 1-0, 1.61. 12 Sv.
0.90 WHIP.
Streaks
Most notably,
Thurman Munson's remarkable streak of reaching base in 43 consecutive games ended.
George Hendrick (
Philadelphia) and
Doug Radar (Los Angeles) each have extra-base hits in 6 consecutive games. Radar is slashing 448/448/966 over those six games, while Hendrick is at 560/593/1.120 over his last 27 plate appearances.
Mike Norris of the
New York Gothams hasn't allowed a run in his last 14 appearances.
Lance Berkman's change of scenery hasn't seemed to help, as the new Cleveland Spider is mired in a slump where, over 13 games, he's managed only a 109/180/109 slash line.
Series XIX Results
Series XIX Sweeps
Indianapolis over San Francisco
Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XIX
Baltimore over
Kansas City
Philadelphia over
Birmingham
Brooklyn over Chicago
Homestead over Miami
Los Angeles over
Memphis
Houston over Ottawa
Series Splits
Cleveland @ New York Black Yankees
Wandering House of David @
Detroit
New York Gothams @ Portland