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Old 09-17-2013, 07:20 PM   #11
abell1198
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1940's Division-April

In the American League, the 1948 Cleveland Indians are leading the division at 18-10. For a team predicted to finish 4th in the division, the Indians have definitely outdone themselves. CF Larry Doby (.327 avg) leads the team in hitting and is one of four players who are batting over .300. The Indians pitching staff, SP Bob Lemon (3-1 1.88 ERA), SP Bob Feller (3-0 1.50 ERA), SP Gene Bearden (4-1 1.58 ERA), SP Satchel Paige (2-2 3.51 ERA) and SP Al Gettel (2-2 4.72) are the 2nd best pitching staff in the AL with a combined ERA of 2.41. The bullpen has been weak and will need to improve for the Indians to stay on top. Highlights of the Indian's April includes sweeps of the 1941 New York Yankees and the 1962 New York Yankees.

In second place are the 1943 New York Yankees at 17-11, 1 GB. 3B Billy Johnson leads all hitters, batting .361. The pitching has been solid, led by SP Spud Chandler at 3-0, 0.96 ERA, 45 K's.

Tied for third place in the division are the 1942 New York Yankees and the 1941 New York Yankees at 16-12, 2 GB. The 1942 Yankees are 8th in the AL in batting average and 3rd in OBP. 2B Joe Gordon (.360 avg) is one of four hitters batting over .300. Their pitching has been solid, led by SP Atley Donald at 3-1, 2.85 ERA. The team is streaky, with four and six game winning streaks in the first month. The 1941 Yankees are the favorites to win the division. C Bill Dickey is batting .340, but the real reason this team is performing is because of their pitching. The pitching staff, led by SP Atley Donald (3-1, 1.88 ERA) and SP Marius Russo (5-0, 2.01 ERA), is ranked 4th in the AL with an ERA of 2.87. The starters have an ERA of 2.83 and the bullpen is at 3.05.

Two teams are tied for fifth place in the division at 15-13, 3 GB: the 1947 New York Yankees and the 1946 Boston Red Sox. The Yankees have six players hitting over .300. Led by 1B George McQuinn (.336), the team is fourth in the AL in batting average at .293. The pitching, however, has not performed as well, other than SP Spud Chandler (5-1, 1.39 ERA). The Red Sox are 1st in the AL in batting average (.301) and 2nd in OBP (.377). The team's best hitters are SS Johnny Pesky (.352) and 2B Bobby Doerr (.350). Pesky is currently on a 20 game hitting streak. The Red Sox pitching staff is another story, as the starting pitching is bad and the bullpen average.

The 1944 St. Louis Browns and 1940 Detroit Tigers are tied for seventh place at 12-16, 6 GB. Browns DH Milt Byrnes (.360 avg) is the only hitter over .300 and the team ranks in the bottom half of the league in nearly every category. The Tigers have been streaky, with a nine game losing streak and five game winning streak in April. LF Hank Greenberg leads the hitters with a .336 batting average, while SP Bobo Newsom (3-1, 3.45 ERA) has been the lone bright spot for a staff ranking near the bottom of the AL.

In ninth place are the 1949 New York Yankees at 10-18, 8 GB. The team lost six of their first seven games and their only hitters over .300 are 3B Bobby Brown (.333) and CF Joe DiMaggio (.313). The pitching staff is ranked 106th out of 108 teams.

The basement team is the 1945 Detroit Tigers at 6-22, 12 GB. The Tigers started their season 0-9, as they were swept by the 1960 New York Yankees, the 1977 New York Yankees and the 2004 Boston Red Sox. The team also had another six game losing streak during the month. 3B Don Ross (.308) is the team's only .300 hitter.

In the National League, two teams share the lead: the surprising 1945 Chicago Cubs and 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers at 16-12. The Cubs were predicted to finish 9th in the division. The team lacks power, but they rank in the top 20 in the NL in average, OBP and bullpen ERA. 3B Stan Hack leads all hitters with a .376 batting average. SP Claude Passeau (3-1, 2.90 ERA), SP Ray Prim (3-1, 3.18 ERA) and SP Paul Derringer (3-1, 3.10 ERA) lead a solid starting pitching corp. The Dodgers are led by LF Joe Medwick (.398 avg) and three other .300 hitters and are 7th in the NL in batting average and 8th in OBP at .360. SP Hugh Casey has started strong at 4-0, 1.57 ERA.

Three teams are tied for third at 15-13, 1 GB. The first of these teams are one of the preseason favorites, the 1944 St. Louis Cardinals. CF Johnny Hopp (.315 avg) is the only .300 hitter thus far. SP Max Lanier leads the starting pitching staff at 3-1, 1.71 ERA. The bullpen is 7th in the NL, led by CL Blix Donnelly (1-0, 0.61 ERA, 6 SV). The second team a game back is the 1940 Cincinnati Reds. The Reds have been streaky so far, having swept the 1946 Cardinals and 1933 New York Giants, but were swept by the 1985 Cardinals and 1975 Reds. C Ernie Lombardi (.330 avg) is the only .300 hitter. The pitching staff has been a regular Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. SP Paul Derringer (4-2, 1.88 ERA) and SP Bucky Walters (3-2, 1.02 ERA, 4 CG, 2 SHO) lead a starting staff which ranks 7th in the NL with a combined ERA of 2.81. The bullpen is another story, as they rank 103rd with a 6.75 ERA. The third team of this group is the 1949 Brooklyn Dodgers, led by 2B Jackie Robinson's .361 batting average. The Dodger's pitching has been poor, as they lost 10 games in a two week period. The team has been 8-1 since and is currently riding a five game winning streak.

Two teams are tied for sixth place with a record of 14-14, 2 GB: the 1942 St. Louis Cardinals and another favorite to win the division, the 1948 Boston Braves. The Cardinals dug themselves in a hole early, starting the season 1-5. RF Enos Slaughter (.375 avg) and LF Stan Musial (.320 avg) are the leading hitters. The pitching staff as a whole ranks 15th in the NL with a combined ERA of 3.16, led by SP Mort Cooper (3-2, 3.03 ERA) and SP Lon Warneke (3-2, 3.58 ERA). The Braves have no .300 hitters and have a team batting average of .227. SP Johnny Sain leads the pitching staff at 3-1, 2.80 ERA.

Tied for eighth place are the 1943 St. Louis Cardinals and 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers at 11-17, 5 GB. The Cardinals have no .300 hitters and are next to last (107th) in team batting average in the NL with a .223 average. St. Louis has only one stolen base and is last in hits, runs scored and slugging percentage. The pitching staff has been outstanding, ranking 10th in the NL with a 3.09 ERA. SP Mort Cooper leads the staff at 3-3, 1.96 ERA. The Cardinals also had two 6 game losing streaks in April. The Dodgers, who started 1-6, have the opposite problem, with players who can hit, but not pitch. CF Pete Reiser (.342 avg) and LF Carl Furillo (.341 avg) lead the hitters. The bullpen is one of the worst in the NL.

In last place are the 1946 St. Louis Cardinals at 8-20, 8 GB. The team started 1-7 after being swept by the 1940 Cincinnati Reds to start the season. St. Louis has only won two series so far and have been swept by the 1934 Cardinals and 1938 Chicago Cubs. LF Stan Musial has been impressive, batting .411.
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