[Highlander]

American League Central

The First AL Central franchise is the Cleveland Guardians. We go back a few decades for their representative team with the 1948 Indians. That team was 97-58 and won what is still their last World Series. Their offense is fantastic and is led by HOF 2B Joe Gordon (.371 OBP, 32 HR, 124 RBI), HOF MVP SS Lou Boudreau (.355/.453/.534, 116 R, 18 HR, 106 RBI…and oh, by the way he was also the manager!), 3B Ken Keltner (.917 OPS, 31 HR, 119 RBI), OF Dale Mitchell (.336) and HOF OF Larry Doby (.301, .384 OBP). As if that offense wasn’t enough, they also have a great staff led by two more HOFers. The staff includes HOF Bob Lemon (20-14, 2.82), HOF Bob Feller (19-15, 3.56) and Gene Bearden (20-7, league leading 2.43) as starters. They also have a great bullpen with guys like Russ Christopher (3-2, 2.90, league leading 17 Saves), Steve Gromek (9-3, 2.84) and HOF Satchel Paige (6-1, 2.48….age 41) among a few others.

Next we have the Detroit Tigers and the team that will represent them is probably the biggest surprise of all for me. There were a number of teams I would have guessed but it was the 1986 Tigers that made it through a really tough gauntlet to get here. They came in 3rd in the AL East with a record of 87-75. How they beat out teams like 84, 68, the Hank Greenberg teams and the Ty Cobb teams, I will never know. However, they do have a pretty strong collection of players. The offense has C Lance Parrish (22 HR in 327 AB), 1B Darrell Evans (.356 OBP, 29 HR), HOF SS Alan Trammell (107 R, 21 HR, 25 SB), OF Kirk Gibson (28 HR, 34 SB) and OF Johnny Grubb (.333/.412/.590, 13 HR in 210 AB). Pitching is not a big strength, but they do have HOF Jack Morris (21-8, 3.27, 223 Ks), Willie Hernandez (8-7, 3.55, 24 Saves), Eric King (11-4, 3.51, 3 Saves…but made 16 starts) and Mark Thurmond (4-1, 1.92, 3 Saves in 51.2 IP with 4 starts).

The Kansas City Royals franchise is quite a bit younger than the first two and haven’t had a ton of great teams. Still, it was a little surprising to see the 1989 Royals make it through. They were a pretty solid team though, finishing in 2nd place in the AL West with a 92-70 record. Their offense was more scrappy than powerful with HOF 1B George Brett (.362 OBP, 80 RBI, 14 SB), 3B Kevin Seitzer (.387 OBP, 17 SB), OF Bo Jackson (32 HR, 105 RBI, 26 SB) and OF Jim Eisenreich (.293, 27 SB). The pitching was stronger with Cy Young winner Bret Saberhagen (23-6, league leading 2.16, 193 Ks), Mark Gubicza (15-11, 3.04), Tom Gordon (17-9, 3.64) and Jeff Montogomery (7-3, 1.37, 18 Saves).

The Minnesota Twins franchise went way back in time for their representative. It was the 1930 Washington Senators that made it through. They were not a well-known team to me but finished 2nd in the AL that year with a record of 94-60. They are actually a pretty impressive team with an offense led by 1B Joe Judge (.326/.410/.509, 11 triples, 10 HR, 80 RBI in 442 AB), HOF MVP SS Joe Cronin (.346/.422/.513, 127 R, 41 doubles, 13 HR, 126 RBI, 17 SB), HOF OF Sam Rice (.349, .407 OBP, 121 R), OF Sam West (.328) and HOF OF Heinie Manush (.362/.406/.559, 33 doubles, 8 triples, 7 HR in 356 AB). The pitching doesn’t seem quite as good, but the numbers for this era are pretty solid. They had guys like Bump Hadley (15-11, 3.73), General Crowder (15-9, 3.60), Garland Braxton (3-2, 3.29, 5 Saves) and Ad Liska (9-7, 3.29 in a swingman role).

The Chicago White Sox will finish off this division. They have only won 3 World Series over their long history, but the team that will represent them is not one of them. It will be the 2021 White Sox, a team that finished 93-69 and lost in the ALDS to the Astros. Their offense is full of partial season/bench guys with good power, along with some full time guys. SOme of the best were C Yasmani Grandal (.420 OBP, 23 HR in 279 AB), 1B Jose Abreu (.351 OBP, 30 HR, 117 RBI), SS Tim Anderson (.309, 17 HR, 18 SB) and OF Luis Robert (.946 OPS, 13 HR in 275 AB) among others. The pitching had four guys get Cy Young votes and was really good. They had guys like Lucas Giolitto (11-9, 3.53, 201 Ks), Dylan Cease (13-7, 3.91, 226 Ks), Lance Lynn (11-6, 2.69, 176 Ks in 157 IP), Carlos Rodon (13-5, 2.37, 185 Ks in 132.2 IP). They also have a great bullpen led by closer Liam Hendriks (8-3, 2.54, 38 Saves, 113 Ks in 71 IP).

This is a pretty wild division. The Guardians/Indians look really tough, but that Senators team could be a problem as well. Then there is this 2021 White Sox team. Their pitching staff is really good and if the right combination of partial season guys come together on offense, they could really challenge I think. The Royals and Tigers seem outmatched but they made it this far so who knows?