(TSN appears to have taken Memorial Day Weekend off, so no stories!)
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NATIONAL LEAGUE STANDINGS
W L PCT GB
New York Giants 18 7 .720 -
Chicago White Stockings 15 8 .652 2.0
Detroit Wolverines 15 9 .625 2.5
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 11 10 .524 5.0
Boston Beaneaters 13 12 .520 5.0
Washington Nationals 9 13 .409 7.5
Philadelphia Quakers 9 16 .360 9.0
Indianapolis Hoosiers 5 20 .200 13.0
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION STANDINGS
W L PCT GB
Philadelphia Athletics 21 10 .677 -
St. Louis Browns 21 12 .636 1.0
Cincinnati Red Stockings 19 14 .576 3.0
Brooklyn Grays 16 12 .571 3.5
Louisville Colonels 12 14 .462 6.5
Baltimore Orioles 12 16 .429 7.5
New York Metropolitans 10 18 .357 9.5
Cleveland Blues 8 23 .258 13.0
LEAGUE LEADERS AVG
Sean Farris - BAL .420
Harry Walker - PHA .385
Carter Hendricks - BAL .379
Keith Martinez - DET .370
Mourad Ollivier - WAS .368
LEAGUE LEADERS RBI
Rory Tonn - PHA 32
Oktav Dorner - STL 28
Danny Ludolph - BRO 28
Steve Hall - NYG 26
3 tied with 25
LEAGUE LEADERS W
4 tied with 8
Jason Bechtel - BRO 8
Wally Marion - CIN 8
Justin Suarez - PHA 8
Joey Walls - STL 8
LEAGUE LEADERS ERA
Tobias Wakker - BSN 1.54
Mitch Thomas - LOU 1.87
Joey Walls - STL 2.15
Jason Bechtel - BRO 2.23
Brent Weisser - PIT 2.33
LEAGUE LEADERS K
Tobias Wakker - BSN 47
Wally Marion - CIN 41
Jason Bechtel - BRO 40
Ruben Escareno - PHA 40
Roger Penaloza - NYG 39
I don't know how the Chicago White Stockings are doing it, but it's taken a 12 game Giants winning streak to keep them out of first place so far. By the numbers, it's a *little* smoke and mirrors, as the Chisox are just 5th in the league in runs scored, although 2nd in ERA somehow, and perhaps most importantly given the era we're in, 1st in ZR and 3rd in errors. Nobody's replaced Joe Fletcher (now .351, 3. 19 with 22 steals for the Beaneaters) but rookie 3B Adam Spratt (.256, 1, 9), career defensive replacement CF Ray Stepp (.278, 0, 15) have been very solid starters. Rodger Rott (7-1, 3.18) continues to do well on control and finesse, although his K rate is *way* down this year. The other 2 members of their rotation are Marco Villareal (4-4, 2.64), who has a career 44-40 mark for the Sox, and Mike Weeks (4-2, 2.55), who at 34 is having just the second opportunity to get an extended look in the rotation (the other shot he had came in 1883, when he went 11-11 with a 2.92 ERA that looks nice to the modern eye but which was worth just a 99 ERA+ that season).
In the AA, it's the same A's vs. Browns race we've come to expect. The A's are paced by Jim True (.333, 2, 20) and an amazing first month from C Harry Walker (.385, 2, 22). As seen above, Justin Suarez's name is all around the leaderboards for pitching. The Browns counter with an attack led by 3B Shawn Pierce (.324, 4, 25), who has *21* extra base hits so far on the year, and CF Oktav Dorner (.228, 0, 28), their former leadoff hitter who has seemingly become a guy who only knows how to hit in the clutch. Joey "Wonder" Walls (8-3, 2.14) can't believe that anybody feels the way he feels about you now, if the you in question is the game of baseball, and all the roads to Silver King's house (6-2, 2.36) are winding.