May 1939
Cleveland and Washington battled for most of the month, but the Indians slid by May's end and the Yankees heated up. New York wound up in a first place tie with the Senators, but the Indians are just 2.5 games back. The Red Sox have been playing well, going 16-11 in May and moving into 4th place. Meanwhile, the White Sox cannot seem to stay above .500.
The Cubs went 15-13 and found the NL a lot tougher this month. Early in May, they lost
"Punchy" Cote with a back injury that should keep him out until early July. Meanwhile, Brooklyn went 19-10 to move to within 1.5 games of first. Right on their heels are the Bees, who 16-11 this month. However, they lost
Bourbon Allen until mid-July with a torn bicep. Boston also lost star leftfielder
John Schmieder until early July after he fractured his hip while diving for a ball in the outfield. The Pirates have played well but finished the month on a 5-game skid and dropped to 4th. They also lost their ace,
"Tex" Blakemore, until early July with elbow pain. The Reds were the 5th NL team with a winning record before losing 11 straight near the end of the month.
On May 16th, the first night game in AL history took place in Philadelphia as the A's defeated the Yankees 6-0.
View the BOX SCORE here. On the next day, Princeton defeated Columbia 2-1 in the first televised baseball game in history.
American League-Pitcher of the Month:
Art Booth (NYA)!
He had a record of 7-1 in 8 games started, with an ERA of 1.39.
American League-Batter of the Month:
Blake "Hitman" Crocitto (WSH)!
He batted .436 in 101 AB, with 0 homers and 18 RBI.
National League-Pitcher of the Month:
David Wickersham (CHN)!
He had a record of 4-0 in 5 games started, with an ERA of 1.34.
National League-Batter of the Month:
Oscar "The Kid" Vancini (BKN)!
He batted .396 in 106 AB, with 13 homers and 39 RBI.
Code:
American League Standings
New York (A) 31 19 .620 -
Washington 32 20 .615 -
Cleveland 29 22 .569 2.5
Boston (A) 26 25 .510 5.5
Chicago (A) 26 27 .491 6.5
Detroit 23 27 .460 8.0
St. Louis (A) 20 31 .392 11.5
Philadelphia (A) 18 34 .346 14.0
National League Standings
Chicago (N) 32 20 .615 -
Brooklyn 31 22 .585 1.5
Boston (N) 30 22 .577 2.0
Pittsburgh 29 24 .547 3.5
New York (N) 24 27 .471 7.5
Cincinnati 23 28 .451 8.5
Philadelphia (N) 22 30 .423 10.0
St. Louis (N) 17 35 .327 15.0
AL AVG
.431 Blake "Hitman" Crocitto, Senators
.389 Wolter Tjeenk-Willink, Senators
.369 Adolf Greisbach, Tigers
NL AVG
.395 George "The General" Ward, Bees
.391 Elmer "The Jeweler" Menard, Pirates
.369 Brad Coffenberger, Dodgers
AL HOMERUNS
13 Howard Sheridan, Red Sox
11 Leonard "Sunny" Davie, White Sox
11 Daniel Lutzke, Indians
NL HOMERUNS
21 Oscar "The Kid" Vancini, Dodgers
12 Jeff Bundy, Dodgers
11 "Froggy" Borgert, Giants
AL RBI
41 Rollie McCord, White Sox
38 Leonard "Sunny" Davie, White Sox
38 Howard Sheridan, Red Sox
NL RBI
57 Oscar "The Kid" Vancini, Dodgers
55 "Froggy" Borgert, Giants
46 Jeff Bundy, Dodgers
AL STEALS
26 Ricardo "Tiny" Bowden, Red Sox
22 Joe Campbell, Indians
19 John Shears, White Sox
NL STEALS
27 Foglesong "Fuzz" Allen, Giants
22 Jonny "Speedy" Perly, Dodgers
21 Bud Breckenridge, Pirates
AL ERA
1.83 Art Booth, Yankees
2.39 Chris Frays, Senators
2.94 George "The Joker" Bowers, Indians
NL ERA
2.10 David Wickersham, Cubs
2.59 Otto "Kaiser" Kahle, Bees
2.95 Remmy Paul, Dodgers
AL WINS
12 Art Booth, Yankees
9 Billy Crowell, Indians
8 Micky Guyton, Senators
NL WINS
10 Otto "Kaiser" Kahle, Bees
9 David Wickersham, Cubs
8 Danny "Slim" Fitzgerald, Reds
AL STRIKEOUTS
75 Jethro "Dodge" Lee, Senators
57 Art Booth, Yankees
56 Luke Riley, Yankees
NL STRIKEOUTS
66 Frank Smith, Dodgers
65 David Wickersham, Cubs
56 Gerald Saxton, Cardinals
Ancestors:
George "The General" Ward, RF, Bees - Ward hit .359 with 4 homeruns, 18 RBI and 17 runs scored.
Sam Kass, CF, Senators - Kass hit .264 with 4 homeruns, 16 RBI and 23 runs scored.
Levi "Tyke" Walls, SS, Giants - Tyke hit .219 with 6 steals.
David "Pops" McAuliffe, 3B, Cubs - Pops hit .291 with 2 homeruns, 11 RBI and 17 runs scored.
August "Fat Gus" Kahle, 3B, Yankees - Gus hit .275 with 3 homeruns, 16 RBI and 12 runs scored.
Kid Fite, 2B, Phillies - Augie Cost missed some time this month, giving Fite the chance to start again. He hit .317 with 2 homeruns, 10 RBI and 12 runs scored in 63 AB but he returned to the bench upon Cost's return.
Salvatore "The Sicilian Saucer" Rossi, 1B, Athletics - Sal hit .296 with 8 RBI.
Harry Finley, C, Yankees - Harry hit .324 with 15 RBI and 6 steals.
Bourbon Allen, SP, Bees - Bourbon went 3-1 with a 3.40 ERA before tearing his bicep. He is out until mid-July.
Otto "Kaiser" Kahle, SP, Bees - Otto went 6-0 with a 2.95 ERA.
David Wickersham, SP, Cubs - David went 4-0 with a 1.34 ERA. He was named the NL POTM.
Adolf "The Human Torch" Greisbach, SS, Tigers - Adolf hit .434 with 10 RBI and 10 runs scored.
Lloyd Johnson, C, Giants - Lloyd hit .212 with 3 homeruns, 15 RBI and 10 runs scored.
Alan Liao, 3B, Reds - Liao hit .302 with 17 RBI and 13 runs.
Carl "Dutch" Kahle, C, Senators - Dutch hit .304 with 6 homeruns, 21 RBI and 16 runs scored.
Carmack "Country" Alford, LF, Reds - Alford hit .330 with 3 homeruns, 10 RBI and 13 runs scored.
Foglesong "Fuzz" Allen, LF, Giants - Fuzz hit .275 with 16 runs scored and 17 steals.
John "Bucky" Smith, SP, Cubs - Bucky went 1-5 with a 5.63 ERA.
Leonard "Sunny" Davie, C, White Sox - Sunny hit .373 with 6 homeruns, 18 RBI and 18 runs scored.
Swervin' Ervin Skjerly, 2B, Yankees - Ervin hit .354 with 16 runs scored.
Ricardo "Tiny" Bowden, SS, Red Sox - Tiny hit .269 with 16 runs scored and 8 steals.
Keith "Dead-Eye" Laverick, 1B, Senators - Keith hit .275 with 2 homeruns and 11 RBI.
Frank Smith, SP, Dodgers - Frank went 4-1 with a 3.57 ERA.
F.X. Ditty, 2B, Indians - Ditty hit .347 with 2 homeruns, 14 RBI and 15 runs scored.
Dewey Mickelsen, LF, Cubs - Dewey hit .354 with 2 homeruns, 12 RBI and 19 runs scored.
Wolter "Boeken" Tjeenk-Willink, LF, Senators - Wolter hit .354 with 3 homeruns, 16 RBI and 15 runs scored.
George "The Joker" Bowers, SP, Indians - Bowers went 4-1 with a 3.67 ERA.
Blake "Hitman" Crocitto, SS, Senators - Blake hit .436 with 18 RBI and 18 runs scored.
David "Harlequin" Hunter, 2B, Bees - David hit .362 with 19 RBI, a whopping 32 runs scored and 11 steals.
Jimmy "The Schnozz" Ditty, CF, Yankees - Ditty hit .299 with 4 homeruns, 11 RBI and 15 runs scored.
Al Arsenault, LF, Red Sox - Al hit .286 with 2 homeruns, 15 RBI and 13 runs scored.
Peyton "Flamethrower" Arana, SP, Cardinals - Arana went 3-3 with a 4.58 ERA.
William "Bill" Berry, RF, Indians - Bill hit .299 with 10 RBI and 15 runs scored.
Bobby "Tree" Martin, 2B, Giants - Martin hit .351 with 4 homeruns, 20 RBI and 16 runs scored.
Jonathan "White Rhino" Wright, RF, Dodgers - Wright hit .284 with 20 RBI.
Tequila Allen, 3B, Red Sox - Tequila hit .469 in just 32 AB after losing his job to newly acquired Stew Tremere.
Elmer "The Jeweler" Menard, SS, Pirates - Elmer hit .385 with 13 RBI and 18 runs scored.
Carlos "The Colonel" Hulse, 1B, Giants - Hulse hit .359 with 2 homeruns, 15 RBI and 18 runs scored.
Jonny "Speedy" Perly, SS, Dodgers - Perly hit .348 with 17 runs scored and 12 steals.
Herman "Dunk" Dunkel, C, Cardinals - Dunk hit .342 with 2 homeruns, and 14 RBI.
Genarito Nunez, 3B, Cardinals - Nunez hit .333 with 13 RBI and 15 runs scored.
Em Pelto, 1B, Indians - Pelto was traded to the Indians on May 11th along with pitcher
Al Weidenheimer for shortstop
David Boyle. Em was sent to AAA, where he played the first minor league games of his career. He is expected to be the eventual replacement for
Daniel Lutzke, but Lutzke is just 33 and has a few good years left.