[Nick Soulis]

Season 5
April



Awards
Batter of the month AL: Harmon Killebrew (1964 Twins)
Batter of the month NL - Ken Boyer (1960 Cardinals)
Pitcher of the month AL - Zack Greinke (2022 Royals)
Pitcher of the month NL - Steve Carlton (1977 Phillies)

Injuries
Bob Kuzava (1949 White Sox) - Tommy John (Season)
John Eubank (1906 Tigers) - Tommy John (Season)
Bob Rush (1960 Braves) - Back (8 weeks)
George McConnel (1912 Highlanders) - Hip (4 weeks)

American League West

2022 Kansas City Royals - The Royals find themselves on top of the division very early winning 15 games behind the strong pitching of veteran Zack Greinke. Greinke went 5-0 in the month with a 1.83 ERA while his battery mate Salvador Perez hit .333. Drew Waters has driven 1in 18 runs and Scott Barlow has converted nine saves. It is early, but quite a quick start by a club no one sees competing for a title.

1998 Cleveland Indians - The backend of the rotation has been ugly for the Tribe as Jaret Wright and Charles Nagy may lose their place. The pen has not been better and as expected the Indians have needed to depend on their bats. Travis Fryman is on fire as in David Justice while veteran Shawon Dunston has driven in 14 runs. Cleveland is hitting .280 as a team and sit at .500, they will need pitching if they truly are to compete.

1916 Boston Red Sox - Dutch Leonard has been roughed up and Babe Ruth just average as the favorites got off to a slow start. Ruth did hit a home run on opening day but the club remains last in runs scored early. They are not running much either and all of a sudden a club that was highly favored has created more questions then answers early. Ruth isnt playing at all on his off days.

1906 Detroit Tigers - Nineteen year old Ty Cobb is hitting .349 and shows no signs of slowing down. Still the Tigers are going no where as their offensive WAR as a team is under zero and the team average is .244. Bill Donovan is 0-5 and George Mullin has an ERA over 7. The Tiger s lost 13-2 on opening day, setting a bad omen for the season.

American League East

1964 Minnesota Twins - What a start for the Twins who won 19 games and hit .299 as a club for the month. Harmon Killbrew had 40 RBI in the month with 11 home runs while Tony Oliva is hitting .356 in the lead off spot. The offense is really a well oiled machine. Lee Stange is 4-0 and along with Jim Perry has looked sharp. Jim Kaat on the other hand has a 5.84 ERA early and hasn't look comfortable at all. It could be quite the summer at the Land of 1000 lakes.

1966 Detroit Tigers - More was expected from this Tigers club but it has been their bullpen that has been a disaster as the club tries to stay close to .500. Mickey Lolich has been lights out with a 1.98 ERA but too often leads have been blown late forcing Tiger pitching to go deeper into games. The offense got hot near the end of the month and hope the better weather can produce more damage. The team is slow on the bases and in the field but Bill Freehan is a gem behind the plate.

1927 New York Yankees - Rogers Hornsby is hitting only .293, an unthinkable number for him, as the Giants offense has struggled early. George Harper is the exception hitting .379 in the middle of the lineup. The rotation has done its best but Burleigh Grimes has had nothing early on with an 6.96 ERA. It hopefully will get better all around for this team as John McGraw looks for answers into May.

1970 Chicago White Sox - Dennis O'Toole has 7 saves and an ERA at 1.04 but it has been the Sox starters that are struggling sporting a 5.30 ERA as a unit; Tommy John is especially getting hit hard. Luis Aparicio still has all the tools at 36 years old hitting .340 while Ken Berry sits at .378 after one month. The Sox cant complain too much as the entire world has them finishing last in the AL for this season, and the play of the team has not been all that bad, especially on offense.

National League East

1918 New York Giants - It should a tough fight all summer long between these Giants and the 1977 Phillies. The Giants lost two out of three to them this month but finished well and hold a half game lead into May. Ross Youngs is hitting .408 and Slim Sallee is 5-0 as the attitude of winning seems obvious for this club. Benny Kauff hit 5 home runs in the final 9 games of the month to help fuel the first place finish of April.

1977 Philadelphia Phillies - Steve Carlton looks to be at his absolute best with a 5-1 record and a 1.04 ERA with 45 K in April. Jim Lonborg has almost been as good with a 1.52 ERA but Tug McGraw has blown a couple of games and Mike Schmidt is hitting only .247. Greg Luzinski has 9 home runs and 28 driven in and the club did finish second in runs scored. The Phils look dangerous and most fully expect them to take off to the top of the league.

1988 Chicago Cubs - Don Zimmer had the Cubbies start hot and even now they are 3.5 games back after the opening month. Ryne Sandberg has been brilliant hitting .340 and playing great defense. Greg Maddux gives any team a shot and has started well with a 2.41 ERA but Rick Sutcliffe among others have struggled, and the Cubs are falling back down to earth quickly, getting swept by the Giants as the month came to a close.

1949 Chicago White Sox - Bob Kuzava went down early this year stealing a major piece to this already undermanned team. Billy Pierce and the rotation has been hit hard as the team ERA is bottom in the league. Only Jerry Scala has over 10 RBI on offense and the 87 runs scored for the entire month speaks for itself. The Sox need answers from somewhere, but the need isnt likely to be met.

National League West

1960 Milwaukee Braves - Hank Aaron is pacing the Braves early to their first place lead. Henry has 20 HR and is hitting .364 in what is sure to be a big year. Braves pitching has been stellar also as Joey Jay is 4-0 and Warren Spahn at 39 seems to still have it with a 2.68 ERA. The Braves will look to build on their division lead in May as they are clear favorites for a post season place.

1912 New York Highlanders - Not a bad start at all for the lowly Highlanders who won 16 games. Jack Lelivelt and Roy Hartzell have hit well in the middle of the order and Hal Chase is hitting .303 while flashing some great leather. The rotation also has looked better then expected as New York swept the 57 Giants and took three out of four from the mighty Phillies in the month. Dont expect this to last.

1957 New York Giants - Willie Mays is of course playing well but has been pitched around and isnt playing as big as his rival Aaron. Mays has a .323 average but the lineup is hitting .245 with only seven stolen bases combined. Johnny Antonelli is the only bright spot on the mound as the Giants have struggled. Marv Grissom does have 6 saves without allowing an earned run. The Giants really need a good May to build up hope for contention.

1960 St. Louis Cardinals - Bob Gibson has inflammation is his elbow and Curt Flood has been battling injuries as the Cardinals look to stay in the race. Without Gibson the rotation cant find footing but Larry Jackson has pitched well. Ken Boyer hit .458 in the last week of the season and the St. Louis offense has really produced leading the NL in runs scored. The diagnosis of the Gibson injury is what this team awaits and surely their fate along with it.