May 15, 1948
Detroit seems unstoppable. The addition of
Billy Crowell has worked beautifully, and with their incredible offense hitting on all cylinders, they have opened up a 7-game lead on the rest of the AL. The Red Sox are improving and have moved into 2nd place.
The Cardinals maintained their lead over the Phillies, although it grew by 1 game. Brooklyn is staying alive in 3rd, thanks to a resurgent offense and solid pitching behind their ace. Since their miserable 2-12 start, the Braves have gone 16-9. They have moved into 6th place, but they are just 2.5 games out of 3rd.
After worries about his April numbers, it is clear that Brooklyn's
Frank Smith is back. He is 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA so far in May, and his season numbers are leveling out at 7-1 with a 3.38 ERA. More importantly however is the fact that he became the second pitcher in history to win 400 games when he defeated the Cubs 7-1 on May 9th at Wrigley. In the bottom of the 3rd in that game with runners on 1st and 2nd and no one out, the Dodgers led 4-0 and Smith struck out the Cubs' two top sluggers,
Will Groaning and
Dewey Mickelsen back-to-back, giving him 3000 career K's. Five days later, Smith tossed a complete game in a 10-2 walloping of the Giants to give him win #401, moving him ahead of Jethro Lee for #1 all-time.
More and more people are talking about Smith as the best pitcher ever. If you look at the
active leaders list, you will see his 2.66 career ERA is far ahead of every other pitcher except
Cotton Simson. Before Simson came along, Smith was a full 1.00 ahead of all other pitchers.
Smith's 400th Win and 3000's K
Smith's 401st Win
In The News
May 8: At Griffith Stadium, Detroit's
Ray Kress pounded a 408-foot homer to CF, which hit the loudspeakers 35 feet high to help the Tigers top the Senators 8-6. Ray's ball bounced back onto the field and was initially declared in play. The 6th-inning two-run homer was the longest home run in the stadium's history.
Code:
American League Standings
Detroit 27 11 .711 -
Boston (A) 20 18 .526 7.0
New York (A) 19 19 .500 8.0
St. Louis (A) 19 19 .500 8.0
Chicago (A) 19 21 .475 9.0
Cleveland 18 20 .474 9.0
Philadelphia (A) 18 21 .462 9.5
Washington 14 25 .359 13.5
National League Standings
St. Louis (N) 24 14 .632 -
Philadelphia (N) 23 16 .590 1.5
Brooklyn 20 18 .526 4.0
Cincinnati 19 20 .487 5.5
Pittsburgh 19 20 .487 5.5
Boston (N) 18 21 .462 6.5
Chicago (N) 16 23 .410 8.5
New York (N) 16 23 .410 8.5
AL AVG
.423 Peaches Badeau, PHA
.378 Luther Ormiston, DET
.374 Emerson Meggs, CLE
NL AVG
.375 Tom Howard, NYG
.367 Jonathan Wright, BKN
.362 Maurice Misisca, PHI
AL HOMERUNS
10 Jimmy Ditty, NYA
9 Al Arsenault, BOS
9 Ray Kress, DET
NL HOMERUNS
12 Maurice Misisca, PHI
11 Ken Chaucer, BSN
11 Mitch Leibowitz, BSN
AL RBI
42 Matt Perly, DET
41 Luther Ormiston, DET
40 Al Arsenault, BOS
NL RBI
38 Jonathan Wright, BKN
36 Maurice Misisca, PHI
34 Morton Chamblee, STL
AL STEALS
23 Ping Hung, NYA
15 Hershel Cooley, PHA
12 Hans Habermehl, PHA
NL STEALS
17 Jonny Perly, BKN
11 Leroy Daurio, BKN
10 Ogden Wing, STL
AL ERA
1.77 Billy Crowell, DET
2.18 Bob Finley, WSH
2.79 Chief Harrington, NYA
NL ERA
2.02 Ace Shipley, CIN
2.21 Schoolboy Emberling, CIN
2.65 Randall Bray, NYG
AL WINS
9 Billy Crowell, DET
7 Bob Bussmann, CHA
6 Hal Andrew, DET
NL WINS
8 John Nolting, PHI
7 Frank Smith, BKN
7 Rock Charnley, STL
AL STRIKEOUTS
52 Cotton Simson, SLA
49 Chief Harrington, NYA
47 John Skoropat, CHA
NL STRIKEOUTS
50 Scottie Allen, BSN
49 Ron Fleischmann, PIT
45 Wally Saeger, STL
AL SAVES
6 Rudolph Crago, BOS
5 Herman Curoe, SLA
5 Lloyd Wyman, DET
NL SAVES
11 Doyle Weaver, PHI
8 Ben Jaroslawski, STL
5 Rob Robison, CHN