## Standings / Recap / Comments
AMERICAN LEAGUE
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST
Code:
Team W L Pct GB STR R RA AVG HR SB ERA BB/9 K/9 FA ZR RTO%
Detroit 76 47 .618 - W1 568 417 .277 91 108 3.11 2.9 5.8 .983 47.4 44.9
Boston 67 55 .549 8˝ W2 524 430 .270 85 63 3.32 3.0 5.5 .983 41.5 41.5
New York 65 61 .516 12˝ L1 551 608 .248 130 37 4.51 2.8 4.9 .980 -13.9 36.7
Milwaukee 53 68 .438 22 W1 480 550 .259 81 78 4.08 3.5 4.9 .980 -25.2 31.9
Cleveland 54 71 .432 23 W1 470 520 .252 100 50 3.96 3.5 5.2 .982 0.2 33.3
Baltimore 49 71 .408 25˝ W2 493 575 .251 97 64 4.35 3.9 5.1 .978 -21.0 40.8
LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST
Code:
Team W L Pct GB STR R RA AVG HR SB ERA BB/9 K/9 FA ZR RTO%
Chicago 73 51 .589 - L2 513 457 .256 98 76 3.36 3.6 5.0 .984 38.6 36.8
Texas 71 50 .587 ˝ W1 463 381 .259 70 69 2.85 3.3 5.3 .983 39.7 31.9
Oakland 64 59 .520 8˝ L1 487 495 .260 85 49 3.66 3.1 4.8 .979 2.9 35.4
California 60 60 .500 11 L1 522 509 .264 89 74 3.82 3.3 4.8 .981 29.0 41.5
Kansas City 55 70 .440 18˝ L2 572 619 .256 92 67 4.55 3.5 4.8 .983 -4.9 28.1
Minnesota 49 73 .402 23 L1 481 563 .247 97 64 4.13 3.5 5.4 .976 -19.3 32.3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST
Code:
Team W L Pct GB STR R RA AVG HR SB ERA BB/9 K/9 FA ZR RTO%
Philadelphia 77 46 .626 - W3 576 441 .248 104 86 3.16 3.0 5.6 .981 31.2 53.8
St. Louis 70 54 .565 7˝ W1 514 506 .256 110 34 3.46 3.2 5.9 .979 -1.8 43.9
Chicago 62 61 .504 15 W1 469 460 .254 95 65 3.44 3.3 5.1 .984 38.9 46.2
New York 58 63 .479 18 W2 419 469 .251 56 76 3.38 3.2 5.3 .980 12.0 46.9
Pittsburgh 59 61 .492 16˝ W5 393 398 .234 57 29 3.06 2.7 5.9 .982 4.2 40.0
Montreal 48 74 .393 28˝ W1 498 588 .247 97 50 4.13 3.7 5.2 .977 -20.2 31.1
LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST
Code:
Team W L Pct GB STR R RA AVG HR SB ERA BB/9 K/9 FA ZR RTO%
San Diego 66 57 .537 - L1 493 401 .259 75 55 2.92 3.3 5.5 .982 50.5 36.0
Houston 67 59 .532 ˝ L3 519 505 .253 107 56 3.49 3.6 6.0 .977 1.6 31.7
Cincinnati 66 59 .528 1 L2 523 488 .252 100 46 3.64 3.1 5.9 .981 0.3 29.4
Atlanta 64 63 .504 4 L1 492 462 .251 91 40 3.28 3.2 5.9 .983 -7.7 37.8
Los Angeles 50 74 .403 16˝ L1 370 466 .243 91 60 3.32 3.1 5.6 .980 25.6 31.8
San Francisco 53 69 .434 12˝ L3 432 514 .248 84 66 3.65 3.3 5.6 .979 -5.3 27.8
By Pythagorean won/lost, we really should barely have one race right now: the Padres "should" be around 7 games up in the West, Detroit and Philly "should" have their divisions pretty much wrapped up (to be fair Detroit already does), and the Rangers "should" be a couple games up on the White Sox. Well, guess what, stat nerds? This is why we play the GAMES.
Boston and Pittsburgh had their dead-cat bounces this week to earn Yuppie of the Week honors. The Red Sox swept the A's and then won 2 out of 3 against Kansas City to finish 5-1 and vault from 12th to 6th this week. They still have zero chance, especially now that their ace Michael Pesco (13-15, 3.37) is out for the next month with a calf strain, but hey, it was a nice week and I guess the Tigers could conceivably fall part. Pittsburgh jumped from 13th to 7th with a 5-1 week of their own: winning 2 out of 3 vs the Reds and then sweeping the Giants over the weekend. Only one extra-inning game this week for them, too! I checked and they're actually only tied for 3rd in extra-inning games; it only feels like every game of their goes 25 innings and ends with a 2-1 loss (the extra-innings game this week was a doozy though: tied 5-5 after 9 and 6-5 in 17 UGH).
There's a 3-way tie for Hippie of the Week between California, Houston(!), and San Francisco. Cal went 2-4 vs two of the top 3 teams in the East in the Yankees and Tigers, so it feels slightly unfair but I guess to be fair TOOO BEEE FAAAAIR this was never a 7th-ranked team and much more of a 13th ranked one. Houston actually fell all the way from 8th to 14th with a week that started decently enough with 2 wins out of 3 in St. Louis, although the 2 wins were both in extra innings. Then they hosted the Phillies at home in what they hope will be an NLCS preview... except that Astros fans hope it does NOT work out like this because the Phightin' Phillies swept them over 3 games. San Francisco is full-on cellar dwelling but somehow they were 16th after last week. Well, they're 22nd in power rankings now after losing a 3-game series to those Phillies and then getting swept by the stupid annoying Pirates.
A quick look at the league leaders!
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Code:
Player AB R H BA HOMERUNS HR HITS H
J. Ramone, DET 436 69 147 .337 E. Garcia, NYY 43 C. Seek, CAL 154
C. Seek, CAL 339 55 110 .324 A. Cooper, CHW 30 J. Johnson, CHW 150
B. Johnson, BOS 405 53 131 .323 A. Martinez, MIN 24 J. Ayala, DET 148
B. Springsteen, BOS 453 62 146 .322 J. Ayala, DET 20 J. Ramone, DET 147
A. Rivera, KC 451 50 145 .322 J. Nation, CHW 20 B. Springsteen, BOS 146
RBIs RBI STOLEN BASES SB DOUBLES 2B RUNS R
E. Garcia, NYY 98 A. Romero, DET 53 T. Danza, KC 39 D. Corona, KC 89
A. Martinez, MIN 83 J. Glynn, BOS 34 J. Ramone, DET 34 A. Romero, DET 88
A. Cooper, CHW 80 D. Corona, KC 25 C. Seek, CAL 33 T. Danza, KC 78
J. Nation, CHW 80 B. Ramirez, TEX 24 A. Rivera, KC 32 E. Garcia, NYY 76
J. Ramone, DET 80 D. Hohman, DET 21 A. Romero, DET 32 A. Cooper, CHW 74
Neck and neck for the batting title, and I bet this time next week we'll have a triple digit RBI man!
Code:
Player IP ER ERA WINS W WINNING PCT Rec %
J. Goddard, DET 241.1 58 2.16 J. Goddard, DET 21 J. Goddard, DET 21-4 .840
V. Akright, OAK 212.1 56 2.37 E. Molina, DET 19 V. Akright, OAK 16-5 .762
B. Crystal, TEX 210.1 61 2.61 R. Coltrane, TEX 18 R. Coltrane, TEX 16-4 .750
R. Coltrane, TEX 229.2 68 2.66 J. Carpenter, NYY 17 B. Osbourne, BOS 15-5 .750
H. Rollins, KC 188.1 56 2.68 M.Sanchez, BOS 17 R. Reese, CHW 14-5 .737
STRIKEOUTS K SAVES S OPPONENTS BA BA
E. Molina, DET 187 M. Post, CHW 29 R. Reese, CHW .199
J. Goddard, DET 160 W. Chavez, OAK 19 H. Rollins, KC .200
M. Pesco, BOS 157 T. Kihara, TEX 19 R. Coltrane, TEX .209
M. Sanchez, BOS 155 J. Marceau, DET 15 C. Benavides, DET .217
J. Carpenter, NYY 149 G. Covarrubias, NYY 12 J. Kindberg, BOS .225
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Code:
Player AB R H BA HOMERUNS HR HITS H
J. Stone, LAD 370 62 118 .319 J. Weaver, CIN 31 G. Harrison, SF 149
R. Disla, STL 455 62 145 .319 J. Stone, LAD 27 C. Palacios, SD 147
M. Morrison, ATL 383 41 122 .319 A. Juantorena, PHI 25 R. Disla, STL 145
G. Harrison, SF 470 55 149 .317 M. Galeana, STL 22 P. McCartney, SD 138
M. Schurke, CHC 398 59 124 .312 L. Martinez, STL 21 S. Gabel, CHC 135
RBIs RBI STOLEN BASES SB DOUBLES 2B RUNS R
J. Weaver, CIN 95 J. Berry, SF 32 C. Palacios, SD 37 A. Juantorena, PHI 97
A. Juantorena, PHI 86 A. Juantorena, PHI 29 RJ Dominguez, CIN 33 P. Ortiz, CIN 82
RJ Dominguez, CIN 79 V. Luna, NYM 18 B. McAdoo, SF 32 RJ Dominguez, CIN 79
G. Foreman, HOU 73 P. McGraw, SD 18 M. Schurke, CHC 29 T. Shannon, PHI 75
M. Galeana, STL 70 J. Bushon, NYM 17 S. Gabel, CHC 27 J. Waltenbery, HOU 75
Code:
Player IP ER ERA WINS W WINNING PCT Rec %
V. Bachler, PHI 129.2 24 1.67 T. Rivera, HOU 18 V. Bachler, PHI 12-3 .800
J. Battaglia, PIT 246.0 54 1.98 D. Henley, SD 16 C. Olivares, PHI 12-3 .800
T. Rivera, HOU 245.2 57 2.09 R. Quintana, STL 16 D. Henley, SD 16-5 .762
C. Rose, ATL 203.1 51 2.26 R. Starkey, PHI 16 T. Rivera, HOU 18-6 .750
R. Quintana, STL 237.0 61 2.32 S. Waiters, CIN 15 C. Rose, ATL 12-5 .706
STRIKEOUTS K SAVES S OPPONENTS BA BA
R. Quintana, STL 172 D. Parchamn, SD 21 V. Bachler, PHI .172
T. Rivera, HOU 167 G. Saus, NYM 20 T. Rivera, HOU .210
R. Mendoza, STL 157 B. Yates, CIN 19 R. Salinas, LAD .212
J. Battaglia, PIT 155 T. Grohs, PHI 18 C.Olivares, PHI .217
G. House, ATL 152 T. Livingston, STL 17 R. Quintana, STL .220
The big news for the NL leaderboards was Vince Bachler, who spent the first third of the year in AAA Eugene (6-4, 3.87 there) getting enough innings to qualify. He's been pretty, pretty good, a lot better than you'd think he'd be based on his time in St. Louis (career 25-27, 3.41 there) but hey, he's still only about to turn 27 and maybe he was just a late bloomer.
## Major Transactions
August 13: The Expos purchased CF Jeff Murphy (.245, 3, 15) from the Yankees. It's not that I don't believe in Arsene Wegner (.271, 8, 41 at AAA Peninsula)... well, maybe it's that a little bit. Anyway, Murphy's already 30 so he's not the CFOTF but he can keep them from exposing Wegner if he's not there yet. For the Yanks, he'd fallen to 3rd string behind a resurgent Micah MacMillan (.268, 8, 24) and Dave Dornbush (.213, 0, 9) so was kind of useless.
August 13: The Cubs purchased PH/OF/1B Raul Bueno (.284, 2, 14) from the Rangers. Is this a white flag deal for Texas? They aren't that far out of it. Bueno has hit for a good average but kind of isn't the guy you want playing regularly at 1st and the OF corners. Chicago, I don't know, can pretend they're still contending with this move and he provides them with "veteran leadership", whatever that means, whereas for Texas this opens up playing opportunities for OF Tom Petty (.298, 9, 33 at AAA Spokane).
August 15: The Angels trade four players - SS Ivan Perez (.237, 1, 9), an IF TBNL (.305, 2, 12 in A Quad Cities), minor league P Al Gore (4-6, 4.45 in the majors this year), and minor league 3B Jean-Pierre Raffarin (.190, 1, 3 in his stint in the majors this year) for former All-Star 3B Mike Brookes (.227, 4, 28). Brookes got hurt this year and his power was hors d'combat even when healthy so in spite of chasing a pennant this looked like an offer the Phillies couldn't refuse. Gore and Raffarin have major league experience this year although maybe they aren't that good and the PTBNL is maybe the jewel of this deal, looking like he might be a future MLB starter at short.
August 18: The Cubs claimed SP Rich Whetzel (3-14, 4.04). I tend not to copy waiver deals except when they're absolutely bizarre and this one... was (the real-life deal was the Twins exposing Jim Kaat and the Sox snapping him up). Whetzel has had a terrible record but his ERA and peripherals indicate he's still pretty OK, and with the White Sox shooting for the AL West title he'll drop straight into the rotation. For Minnesota... they get closer to a teardown, I guess?
August 18: The A's traded 2B Jon Reid (.250, 4, 33) to the Yankee for a PTBNL. The PTBNL might not ever hit the majors - they're a 23 year old middle infield prospect - but this is more about getting a teeny tiny bit of value from a guy who's probably not part of the future for the A's. The Yankees... well, TJ Pritchett (.204, 3, 20) seems like he's done and I'll probably cut him.
August 18: The Astros traded LF Jesse Lockhart (.238, 1, 14) to the Cardinals for minor league OF Kevin Barber (.234, 8, 25 in AAA Tulsa) and $10,000. It's been a disaster of a season for Lockhart, who was coming off of a very bad 1972 (.231, 8, 49) as it was so this was mostly about just getting him out of Dodge. He'll join a crowded Cardinals outfield, at least for the rest of the season. Barber is a 27 year old organizational soldier who, if he gets a cup of coffee in the majors, will only ever get that cup of coffee.
## News
August 13: Aviaco Flight 118 crashes into an abandoned farmhouse in Montrove, Spain, killing all 85 people on board as well as one on the ground. The flight was attempting to land at the end of its flight from Madrid.
August 13: Nixon's "Phase IV" of price control measures goes into effect, ending a price freeze that had been in effect as part of Phase III. Yep, this was a thing conservative Republicans did back then.
August 13: Southern band Lynrd Skynrd releases their first album, 9 years after the formation of the band, called " (pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)".
August 13: There's not a lot going right for the last-place Twins this year but this week at least they had the best player of the league. CF Ronnie Hellstrom (.286, 9, 47) went 13-32 (.406) with 5 extra-base hits, 8 runs, and 8 RBIs to win the honor. Hellstrom, a goalkeeper in his native Sweden when he's not playing baseball, is playing his first full season and this was his 2nd PotW award, having one one for the week ending September 3rd of last year.
August 13: The NL counterpart this week is a guy who had just 10 plate appearances but he really made them count. IF Danny "Mister Nice Guy" Waters (.321, 3, 9) played in 5 games with 2 starts and went 6-9 with a walk, a double, a triple, a HR, 3 runs, and 2 RBIs. I personally would have found someone, anyone else but OOTP's gotta OOTP I guess. This was the former Mets backup's first PotW award, as you'd probably guess. He did win the Northwest League Gold Glove back in 1968 so hey that's nice.
August 13: SYD THRIFT'S NEATO STAT OF THE NIGHT is very 70s coded this week and yet pretty informative, maybe, I don't know. The top 5 ERAs at home:
5. Colin Rose, ATL (11-4, 2.15), 1.95
4. Josh Matthews, SF (9-11, 2.73), 1.79
3. Chad Daugharty, TEX (12-14, 3.13), 1.66
2. Jeremy Battaglia, PIT (12-10, 1.92), 1.48
1. Vince Bachler, PHI (10-3, 1.41), 1.68
So yeah, 3 guys in pitchers' parks (yes, Texas is a pitcher's park; don't ask me how), a knuckleballer, and... Vince Bachler. OKAY.
August 13: He probably started his season a little too late to be in contention for Rookie of the Year honors but Brewers SP Luther Vandross (3-1, 2.85) really put on a show tonight, shut out out the White Sox for 10 innings on just 5 hits and emerging the winner when his teammate Nelson Hernandez (.244, 4, 24), pinch-hitting for C Sam Rahn (.242, 3, 28) in the bottom of the inning, walked with the bases loaded against Chicago starter Chris Messina (8-15, 3.96). "A lot of people say I have a velvet voice," said a triumphant Vandross following the game. "Well, let me introduce you to my velvet curveball."
August 13: The Padres end Monday in a tie for first place! They made no doubt about it this day with a 12-4 rout of the Mets. CF Ed O'Neill (.250, 5, 31) went 3-5 with 3 RBIs from the leadoff slot to pace an attack that was happening up and down the lineup, with every position - yes, including starting pitcher Steven Tyler (11-7, 2.97 and also .182, 0, 4) getting a hit today.
San Diego has gotten to this place by going 11-2 so far in the month, a stretch that includes a 4-game sweep of the Braves and a 2-game split at home vs Philadelphia. They're 10 games over .500 and technically I guess actually in first place with a sliiiightly better record at 64-54 than the Reds' 65-55. Those two teams will play each other in a weekend series at the very end of this month.
August 14: Zhffikar Ali Bhutto is sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan as a new constitution takes effect. Unfortunately for him, he will eventually fall to a military coup and will then be executed. His daughter Benazir will also become a politician and, sadly, will also be assassinated.
August 14: The US Federal Reserve Board raises its discount rate to 7 1/2 percent, the highest level up to that time. Five years earlier many major US banks had raised their prime lending rate to a record high of 9 1/2 percent. And now people freak when it's over 2... freaky.
August 14: Paddy McGuinness, an English comedian and TV presenter with an unbelievably Irish name, is born in Farnworth, Lancaschire. Most amazingly, his real name is, in fact, Patrick Joseph McGuinness.
August 14: This has been a disaaaaaaster of a season for Brewers SP Marius Gaddi (5-16, 4.07) and today was so indicative. Gaddi was pitching his half of a scoreless tie into the 9th but 140+ pitches in, he just couldn't keep it up as he gave up a bases-loaded infield single to SS (and former batting champion) John Johnson (.319, 5, 48) to give up the only run scored in this one to the White Sox. Chicago's man Mick Fleetwood (10-11, 3.84) also labored through 8 scoreless innings but unlike the Brewers, Chicago has a bona fide stopper in Malcolm Post (6-2, 1.51) and he shut the door for save number 28.
"I just don't get it," said Gaddi after the game. "I feel like I'm doing everything I did 3 years ago (when he was 27-5, 2.31) but it's just not happening anymore."
August 14: Vince "The Eligible" Bachler (11-3, 1.63) just appeared on my NEATO STAT OF THE WEEK for having one of the best home ERAs in baseball. The flip side of this was that heading into the game (I know, I checked!) he was only 4-1 with a 4.22 ERA. Well, you know, sometimes hard work is its own reward. Bachler shut down the Giants for 1 run on 5 hits through 9 innings and, even though he was losing a pitching duel to SF starter Mike Stuckey (10-10, 3.87) for most of the game, a 9th inning solo HR by RF Greg Lake (.290, 14, 63) tied it up and then the Phillies won it in the 10th off of another HR, this time by 2B Tony Shannon (.278, 7, 42) off of beleaguered reliever Mike Goltry (0-4, 6.91). Bachler was removed for a pinch-hitter that inning so didn't get the extra-innings CG but he did get the W.
The Phillies as a team have now won 5 in a row and, coupled with the Cardinals' loss tonight to the evil Astros empire, they now sit 5 games up in the standings with 44 games left to play.
August 15: The American bombing of Cambodia halts at 10:45 in the morning local time. The halt officially ends 12 years of American combat in Southeast Asia. During the six and a half months since the Vietnam ceasefilre that happened on January 28 of this year the US had dropped 240,000 tons of bombs on Cambodia (yikes!). The final mission was flown by two A-7 Corsairs.
August 15: The US Department of Commerce announces that for the first time in over three years the balance of payments in the country was positive. Those were the days...
August 15: US President Nixon delivers a nationally televised address in which he asks the American public to end its "continued backward-looking obsession with Watergate", because, like, this is what criminals do. He states that he had no prior knowledge of an attempt to cover up the scandal until March of this year and he pinky swears to that. He also states that he will not turn over the tape recordings of conversations because, like, that would cripple future Presidents by making them not be able to burgalize opponents' headquarters I mean "(inhibit) conversations between (future Presidents) and those they look to for advice", for example, burglars.
August 15: The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Constellation departs "Yankee Station" in the Gulf of Tonkin off North Vietnam. It is the last carrier to operate at the point where American aircraft carriers had operated since 1966.
August 15: In TRULY IMPORTANT NEWS on this important news day, ITV broadcasts the first episode of the British sitcom "Man About the House", whose format will later be used in the US sitcom "Three's Company". They didn't have Mister Ferley though SUCK IT BRITISH LOSERS
August 15: The members of the rock band "Sick Man of Europe" rename themselves "Cheap Trick". I like the old name better...
August 15: Sometimes art imitates life and sometimes art imitates CRAP. CASE IN POINT, today Astros' ace Tony Rivera (18-6, 2.07) dueled Cards' big man Roger Quintana (15-8, 2.41) to a standstill for 9 innings and then the Houston bullpen outlasted St. Louis' to pick up a 3-2 win in 13 innings and win the 3-game series 2 games to 1. The sudden reversal in fortunes for Houstoh, who'd just dropped 2 of 3 in Chicago, means that they're now a full game and a half up on both the Reds and the Padres, both of whom lost tonight. I HATE IT
August 16: An armed Libyan attempts to hijack a Middle East Airlines plane with 119 people aboard as it was flying over Cyprus on a flight from Benghazi, Libya to Beirut, Lebanon. The plane lands lands in Israel at Lod International Airport in Tel Aviv, where the hijacker holds a press conference and surrenders to the authorities.
August 16: Vernon Rudolph, the American businessman who founded the Krispy Kreme doughnuts chain, dies at 58. I don't see a cause of death. I'm guessing diabeetus.
August 17: IN REAL LIFE, Willie Mays hits his 660th and final homerun against the Cincinnati Reds.
August 17: Paul Williams, the former lead singer for The Temptations, is found dead in his car, a gun near his body. His cause of death is ruled a suicide but there are some weird discrepancies, for example the fact that according to the coroner he had used his right hand to shoot himself on the left side of his head.
August 17: There's not a lot the Yankees can do this year other than play spoilers so... why not play spoiler? John Carpenter (17-11, 3.69) really got things started off right in their 3-game series vs the Rangers, throwing a perfect game into the 7th (CF Norm Hodge (.257, 5, 30) broke it up with a leadoff base hit) and hanging on to shut out Texas 4-0. RF Phil Hartman (.253, 12, 52), recently moved down in the order to, um, take advantage of his power (yeah, that's it) belted his 12th HR of the year, a 3 run blast in the 4th of of Robert "Rat" McHugh (13-10, 3.40).
August 17: Pirates SP Santos Arango (11-13, 2.63) pitched to a minor milestone today, earning his 150th career win in a 3-2 nailbiter against the Giants. Arango did his part with 8 solid innings of 7-hit, 2-run ball before giving way in the 9th to Pittsburgh's stopper Sparky Lemus (9-4, 2.01), who dutifully closed out the 9th for his 15th save on the year.
It's been a very low-support year for Arango, who's a little used to the lack of runs for this team but this is as bad as it's gotten. "All I can do is pitch, you know" said Arango, who did "all he could do" well enough to finish 24-8, 2.50 in 1971 and earn a Cy Young for his efforts. He did make the All-Star Game this year after a stunning and weird omission last season (20-15, 2.63 so it's not like he wasn't worthy) so there's that at least. Arango carries a record of 150-112 with a teeny tiny 2.89 ERA, which, yes, that's low even for a guy who started to be a regular starter in 1965.
August 18: Aeroflot Flight A13 crashes in the Soviet Union shortly after takeoff from Baku in modern-day Azerbaijan. 56 of the 64 passengers and crew are killed.
August 18: Renowned goalkeeper for the English national team and Stoke City FC, Gordon Banks, announces his retirement from the sport just as the new season is about to start. He was described by the press as "the world's greatest goalkeeper" but had lost the sight in one eye back in October.
August 18: Massive scandal in the Soap Box Derby world, as a 14 year old boy wins the event, only to have the win (along with a $7,500 scholarship to college) taken away when it is discovered that he'd placed an electromagnet in the bottom of the car. This allowed the car to be pulled forward when the metal starting gate fell, giving the little car a tiny but significant head start over his competition.
August 18: Alice Stevenson, the oldest resident of the UK ever at 112, died today. Stevenson was born shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run in the American Civil War, although, being an English, she was probably never told about that.
August 19: A three-month ban on the sale of beef goes into effect in Uruguay in South America as a measure to boost the country's exports of beef.
August 19: George Papadapolous is sworn in as President of Greece following his June 1 overthrow of the monarchy. In just a few short years he will be the dad on Webster!
August 19: Bruce Lee's martial arts film "Enter the Dragon" premiers in the United States 30 days after his death on July 20. It will become one of the most financially successful movies of all time, bringing back revenues of $400M with a budget of $850k.
August 19: Maybe I was scarred from all the August games last year? Pretty regular slate of games today: only the one double-header and it's between Minnesota and Cleveland so pretty inconsequential.c
## Teams in Review
August 14: The
Atlanta Braves (61-60, 4 1/2) are frankly fortunate to be as close to contention as they are. The hitting, especially with OF Henry Riggs (.323, 16, 41) out (he's back tomorrow!) has been moribund - 7th in the league in runs doesn't tell the whole story as this is the freaking Launching Pad - and the pitching, while actually pretty solid, is never going to be enough to make up. We're in August of course so pretty much whatever changes we could have made, we've made already, but I guess we'll see!
Rotation: All four of these guys are good and I'm not about to switch anything out until/unless we fall out of contention. The most vulnerable guy is Felix Carranza (9-11, 3.77), a 16 game winner for the team the last 2 seasons and still a roughly league-average pitcher this year. So NOPE.
Bullpen: Pretty much the only guy really struggling in the bullpen right now is the left-handed half of the closer job, Ron Shepherd (2-7, 4.47, 8 Sv). I think I will slot him down to just general LOOGY work (such that there are LOOGYs in this league). Otherwise, it's even a little surprising how strong the bullpen is.
Infield: I've already switched out 1B Jon Hernandez (.209, 5, 25) with young English rock star Peter Frampton (.305, 1, 11) and honestly I think sunk cost is the only reasohn I'm not cutting the 30 year old outright. Maybe that will happen tonight (probably I'll send down one of the young OFers with options remaining). But this is, weirdly enough, a position I think that's figured itself out without the review.
2B Kevin Dwyer (.263, 11, 56) is looking like a negative asset on this team at this point. I just can't switch out horses in midstream here - this is a guy who's led the league in hitting 2 of the last 3 seasons has never hit below .295 in his career - but he's performing like a league average hitter right now and a liability on defense. Vladimir Matorin (.264, 0, 10), acquired in the big trade of Santos Rodriguez (speaking of a guy who has NOT worked out for the new team) will start to spell him a little bit but even that's probably doing too much. Mostly I'm crossing my fingers and hoping Dwyer gets on a hot streak.
I really should have seen it coming that the oft-injured 3B Mike Morrison (.335, 3, 33) would get hurt but hey you know sometimes you just don't have a 2nd guy. So... we're trotting out Bill Clinton (.231, 12, 35 at AAA Richmond). He's 6-16 to start the year, which is nice! This is... not great and I'm not using the 27 year old future President because I believe in him.We do have a guy in AAA, Bill Wallace (.265, 1, 11) but he is preeetty bad as a fielder and isn't showing the kind of bat to make up for that (he might wind up playing out there next year anyway, I guess we'll see).
Outfield: I'm strongly tempted to move LF Chris Ward (.296, 9, 35) down in the order but I guess I'll hold off with Riggs on his way back. Speaking of, I really don't like putting both him and Riggs in the outfield but offensively I'm not seeing a lot of other options. Things would be easier if Wolf Blitzer (.256, 5, 21) was hitting like he did last year (.322/7/23 in 115 at-bats) but, well, he is not and so he'll be a 4th OFer soon.
CF TC Boyle (.244, 2, 15) doesn't really look like a future All-Star or anything himself but hey, he's getting the job done at least. Frank Menner (.210, 9, 31) got a lot of time out there and... did not really do the job and also is a touch worse of a fielder so I think Boyle's got to be the man for the remainder of the year.
August 15: The
New York Yankees (62-60, 13 1/2 GB) are juuuuuust about out of this... but do the Yankees call it quits? NEVER. While there's still time to kick off the final year of old Yankee Stadium with a bang, we must do so! Or something! The pitching is reeeeeeeally bad, like I'm amazed we're over .500 bad. The pitching's been strong but as you can see it hasn't been enough.
Rotation: I already sent down Santos Rodriguez (11-15, 4.68 overall but 6-7, 5.79 with NYY) who somehow still had an option left. Maybe I'll recall him in September? He literally led the AL in ERA last season; what happened? Otherwise Manny Carbajal (3-9, 5.97) has been just as bad and equally for reasons I can't explain. He's 30 though so ran out of options years ago so I'll have to leave him in. Likewise with the recently acquired Steve Tidwell (8-7, 4.30), who's allowed 8 runs in 11.1 innings with New York. This is soooo bad...
Bullpen: I'm just at a point now where I've got to live with what we've got. The co-closers are fine, Tracy Mosher (11-8, 4.66) isn't but I'm not cutting the team's best known starter, and... yeah it's not a great squad. On paper it should be better. We'll go with that!
Infield: I don't think TJ Pritchett (.206, 2, 18) has a lot left in the tank but desperate times call for desperate measures and that here means moving Jonathan Banks (.266, 1, 19) to short, where among other things he's the best defensive guy for the job, and giving Pritchett the job back for the remainder of the year. He can still draw walks!
Outfield: Man, RF Phil Hartman (.250, 10, 47) has got a gun for an arm, as evidenced by the 16 baserunner kills already, but oh booooy do the stats not like his defense overall (-20.2 ZR!). I've been meaning to drop him in the lineup for a while since LF Adam Groves (.302, 11, 39) has just plain been better (although Hartman does draw lots of walks). Longterm I'm not really sure what to do with the UNFROZEN CAVEMAN LAWYER; I can't very well move him to DH because that's Ernesto Garcia's (.253, 41, 93) job and we've already got 2 good 1B where we really only need 1. I guess he can continue to make flashy throws while not catching anything...
August 17: This just isn't the year for the
Chicago Cubs (61-60, 14 GB), I guess. They've been treading water but the surprisingly improved pitching staff has unfortunately been canceled out by a surprisingly ineffective offense. Which, I just don't think you can prepare that hard for season-long slumps by 1B Antonio Lopez (.272, 12, 48) and SS/RF Jeremy Taylor (.242, 12, 36). If both of those guys hit like they normally do... well, 14 games would still be a lot to make up for. STILL. What are we going to do? Is it time to wave or half-wave the white flag?
Rotation: The rotation has actually be kind of bad, 3rd worst in the NL (3.66) this year, in spite of the team being 5th overall in runs scored. That said, I've jettisoned most of the poor performers already; only Scott Coffee (10-7, 4.83) remains and he's also the voice of veteran Cubs leadership so I think any changes here, I've already made.
Bullpen: In the 'pen I don't think Javy Obregon (8-9, 5.16) is going to do much but it's hard to dump him only a year removed from a 16-8, 3.90 season. So I guess long relief is where he stays. Otherwise, the bullpen has been really nice... so actually, being a guy who took a boat trip out of Castro's Cuba to get here, Obregon even at 33 has options left and I need the spot so... I am in fact sending him down to try and figure it out for the next couple weeks.
Infield: I'm by no means impressed by Jon Cooley (.229, 2, 8) or utility man Aurelio "Chi Chi" Rodriguez (.223, 4, 20) but there really isn't much else to replace them with in this organization. Well... there is a PTBNL who was doing pretty well in AAA (.249, 7, 21 at Wichita) but he tore his labrum in July and won't be back until next year. So hey, spring training competition at least. Also of course this was Juan Perez' (.295, 13, 37) position but he's out for the remainder of the year himself. He is 35 so there's no guarantee he'll still be able to do this next year.
Sean Gabel (.285, 3, 42) is a great fielder but has been basically a one-dimensional singles hitter his entire career. That's fine when you're hitting in the .320s as he did in '69 and '70 but when the old average is .285 it's kind of not good. Also the Cubbies have the #18 prospect in the league at the position in 23 year old actor Bill Nighy (.264, 7, 23 at AAA Wichita) so it seems high time to give the youngster a try. Superficially it would look like Gabel's the better hitter but Nighy, in addition to displaying what looks like future 15-20 HR pop, walks a ton where Gabel never does (Gabel has a .300 OBP so far, whereas Nighy's got a .376 in AAA this year).
SS Jeremy Taylor (.242, 12, 32) missed time with injury and hasn't quite shown the league-leading HR power when he's been healthy. On the other hand... why did I ever switch him out into RF? He's nothing great as a defensive SS, sure, but when you hit like this you don't have to be. Anyway, he's staying put.
Outfield: 1973 was the year we decided to finally give RF Chance Cooper (.223, 10, 40) a shot. He... has been okay, I guess - good fielder, draws a lot of walks, has some speed - but he's hitting poorly. I wish I had a right-handed hitting corner OF to platoon with him. I do not, so I made an offer to free agent Scott Lammers (.186, 5, 11 in his last stint in SF this year). His numbers do not look good but scouts insist he's got something left so hey, why not? He's still only 31.