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Syd Thrift · 06-29-2007, 10:43 AM

1902: The "Dog Days" of Summer

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National League Standings

Team			W  L   PCT   GB	Pyt.Rec	Diff Home  Away	 Hm+/- XInn  1Run  Strk	Last10
Cincinnati Reds		67 34 .663    -	63-38	+4   34-15 33-19 +18    10-2  19-11 W1	8-2
Saint Louis Cardinals	62 38 .620  4.5	64-36	-2   31-20 31-18 +11	 5-10 15-10 W2	7-3
New York Giants		56 44 .560 10.5	62-38	-6   28-21 28-23  +7	 7-5  15-18 W6	9-1
Pittsburgh Pirates	54 46 .540 12.5	63-37	-9   29-20 25-26  +5	 3-9  11-17 L2	3-7
Boston Beaneaters	50 50 .500 16.5	50-50	+0   26-25 24-25  -1	 7-7  18-16 L1	4-6
Chicago Colts		39 62 .386 28.0	33-68	+6   21-29 18-33 -11	 3-4  11-13 L2	5-5
Philadelphia Phillies	38 62 .380 28.5	37-63	+1   19-32 19-30 -13	 8-4  15-17 L10	0-10
Brooklyn Superbas	35 65 .350 31.5	33-67	+2   20-31 15-34 -16 	 4-6  15-17 W2	4-6

American League Standings

Team			W  L   PCT   GB	Pyt.Rec	Diff Home  Away	 Hm+/- XInn  1Run  Strk	Last10
Baltimore Orioles	64 37 .634    -	67-34	-3   30-21 34-16 +13	 8-2 16-9  L1	5-5
Louisville Colonels	61 39 .610  2.5	59-41	+2   25-20 36-19 +16	 5-5 14-13 L4	4-6
Washington Nationals	63 41 .606  2.5	61-43	+2   34-20 29-21  +9	 2-8 24-12 W3	7-3
Philadelphia Athletics	53 51 .510 12.5	52-52	+1   24-28 29-23  +5	 8-7 14-16 W1	5-5
Chicago White Stockings	48 55 .466 17.0	49-54	-1   25-28 23-27  -5	 2-3 15-14 L1	6-4
Boston Red Stockings	48 58 .453 18.5	53-53	-5   20-33 28-25  -5	 4-6 13-23 W1	4-6
Detroit Tigers		39 64 .376 26.0	40-63	-1   18-34 21-30 -13	 3-2 12-14 L1	4-6
Cleveland Blues		34 65 .343 29.0	34-65	+0   13-37 21-28 -16	 3-2 10-17 W1	5-5

National: No World's Series in '02
Cites "Obvious Lack of Balance"

We cannot say that we were surprised by the senior circuit's announcement last Friday that there will be no World Championship of baseball this October. Baltimore, after all, is little more than a team of minor leaguers and they still lead the American League despite the best efforts of the Louisville Colonels and Washington Nationals. We were, frankly, left to hope against hope that the lack of a solid leader in the National League would lead to the playing of a fall classic. Neither Cincinnati nor New York, of course, were likely to agree to anything of the sort, but Cardinals owner Tim Hurst seemed amenable to it.

Sadly, the decision came about and was announced by Albert Spalding, who despite being named the NL President is largely just a figurehead. "The National League of Base Ball Clubs does not serve itself well to stage a postseason contest against a minor league," he announced via press release. "The obvious lack of balance is simply too much to ignore." One thing Spalding appears to be overlooking is that, despite being based in smaller towns than their older counterpart, the AL is actually outdrawing the NL in attendance this year. Of particular note are the situations in Chicago and Philadelphia, two towns that have both an AL and an NL entrant. In both towns, the American club is fielding a more successful team (both the Cubs and Phillies are living through poor seasons) and, just as importantly, bringing more cranks to their games than their National counterpart.

We Would Say That We Are Talking Baseball But In Fact We Type With Our Mouths Closed
News From Around The League

Baltimore: Where was this man ten years ago? SP Sean Nickerson has gone from being the most unlikely Rookie of the Year candidate in the National League to being a surprisingly solid Pitcher of the League award-winner for the AL. Prior to last season, the 32-year-old Nickerson had appeared in a grand total of 35 games, all of them in relief in the Senior Circuit. Given a chance to start by a combination of expansion and a rebuilding Chicago Colts team, Nickerson was the winner in 18 of 29 decisions, posted an earned run average of under 2.50 (2.43), and struck out 3.41 batters for every man he walked. In 1902 he is currently 21-4 with a 1.77 ERA for these Orioles and has won 10 consecutive starts dating back to before McGraw and John Brush shipped his teammates out of Chesapeake Bay.

Boston (N): Earlier, we reported on the situation between CF Steven Corliss and his team. In the intervening month, the situation has become even crazier. Corliss continues to lash out at the club almost daily, but has managed to swing in such a way that the front office's hearing has improved. He's hitting .354 in August, which raises his seasonal average all the way to .280. Despite his prickly nature - or perhaps because of it - Corliss has also become something of a fan favorite. At this point, every option available to the Beaneaters - trade him, cut him, bench him, or play him every day - seems untenable.

Boston {A}: Manager Jeff Sass is sitting on a seat so hot it appears to be giving him blisters. Although he's renowned for his ability to handle young players, the Red Stockings' youthful hitters are batting like yannigans. Only Jay Robbins (.292, 54 RBI) appears to be striking the ball with any force, and even he is far, far off the pace he set in 1899 with the Chicago Colts, when he reached safely 206 times in 579 tries for a .356 average and added a full 53 long hits to that total. Back to '02: the most maddening thing about this ballclub is that there are no .180 hitters. It's just that everybody - from CF Eddie Hoddell (.245, 47 R, 8 SB) to SS Gunnar Jones (.246 with just 20 extra base hits in 382 at-bats) - is hitting somewhere between .230 and .260 with no apparent ability to slap the ball at a better rate.

Brooklyn: 3B Terrence Swarbrick is quietly helping to establish the right side of the Brooklyn infield as the best in baseball. Everybody knows teammate Devlin Shaner (.328), who is 3rd in hitting and 6th in runs scored in the Senior Circuit, but how many youngsters crowd around Swarbrick every day asking for an autograph or a kindly pat on the head? Swarbrick is landing on base nearly as often as his teammate in the middle of the infield (.322 BA) and has more doubles and triples (22 and 9 to 18 and 5). We will grant you that he is absolutely brutal afield (an .853 fielding average with 51 errors at the "hot corner"), but this is the Superbas we are talking about here - every positive must be highlighted.

Chicago (N): 2B Francis Ford (.385) more or less forced manager Jimmy Murphy to find a place for him after hitting .311 over 549 at-bats in the minors last year and this one. Ford is a man who you can visualize as a septegenarian, perhaps as an old man in the midst of a mob all too keen to lynch a couple of drifters who may or may not have murdered a local farmer. Or maybe he looks more like a wizened de facto leader of a small Irish town that an American boxer has come to live out his days at. Ford fancies himself an actor and director, yet there is a strange tie between him and the West that seems stronger than his love of the stage. His younger brother John, it is rumored, shows even more potential.

Chicago (A): We are not ones to criticize the play of those on the field, but we have some advice for SP Matt Nutt (10-16, 5.08): find a few pitches and stick to them. Currently, Nutt claims to have command of no less than six different deliveries: a fast ball, a nickel curve, two kinds of dropshoots, and another kind of fast ball that he says moves a little to the outside. The end result: this jack of all trades is the master of none. Everything seems to come in at about the same speed, which is not all that fast, and the movement he gets on his pitches is average at best. You would think that not having a lot of "stuff" on the balls he throws might make him better able to control them, but you would be wrong. In 219 innings this year, Nutt has walked 85 men and struck out just 53. He's still young - he won't celebrate his 22nd birthday until December - but he's going to need to undergo a significant change in his pitching philosophy if he wants to last in this league.

Cincinnati: It's only the middle of August, but it's beginning to look like the Peoples' Ballclub has sewn up the National League pennant and therefore the World title. They've nearly paced the red-hot Giants with 10 victories in 13 tries this month and will have a fine chance to put the Boston Beaneaters and St. Louis Cardinals away when they play both next weeks. Following that, it's a week's worth of games against two of the National's bottom feeders, the Phillies and the Superbas. Although the Reds hold the old American Association record for wins with 105, the National record is only 94 (by the 1894 Giants); can they surpass that? They need 29 wins in their last 39 games to do so.

Cleveland: We're not entirely sure whether the Blues' series victory over Boston was the result of an improved ballclub or the collapse of the Red Stockings, but we the people who have to report on them will take our victories any way we can get them. Actually, prior to losing 2 of 3 to lowly Detroit, our fair club was 6-3 for the month! Of particular note is SP Berto Sarrie (10-15, 3.84), who has shown signs of greatness this month, winning all three of his starts while allowing just one earned run per nine.

Detroit: What do you do with a 19-year old kid with a career record of 10 wins and 36 losses? You let him get some seasoning in the minor leagues, correct? Well, if you're the Detroit Tigers, that is incorrect. Gar "Doctor Detroit" Wood, a player whom manager Bryan Mertz was sure was going to be a big part of the rotation, was, in fact, sent down after winning just 1 of his first 8 decisions. However, he turned major-league Liliputianism into minor-league Brobdignagianism, winning 6 consecutive starts and posting an ERA of 2.40 against those lesser batters. Upon re-entry into the majors, he promptly lost his next 4 games.

Louisville: It's hard to say exactly what bedevils the Colonels. Poised to take the place of the Orioles at the top of the American division, the Fightin' 9th, as the cranks like to call them, were recently swept by the division rival Nationals and overall are just 5-7 for the month of August. It's true that 1B Rick Harpham (.311, 41 RBI) is out with an ankle injury (and likely gone for the season), but IF Zander Bostic (.301, 31 RBI, 12 XBH in 186 AB) has filled in admirably. They're also, it should be noted, without the services of CF Carl Hendron until next year, although they've had him out of the lineup for a while and were not stymied before.

New York: We were expecting this. The Giants have been almost unstoppable this month, winning 12 of 13 and outscoring their opponents 73 to 21 in that time. Both Bill "Snoopy" Haddon (25-7, 1.83) and youngster John "Big Six" Pearson (19-7, 2.37) are perfect for the month and will contend for Pitcher of the Year honors. The presence of fresh blood in the lineup has emboldened 3B Norm "Big Napoleon" Aston (.303, 54 RBI) and CF Ray Pearl (.304, 46 RBI, 15 SB) to each collect hits in a third of their at-bats for the month. If there's a cloud in this silver lining, it's that during this hot streak they've been able to gain just 2 games on the equally hot Cincinnati Reds.

Philadelphia (N): The wheels have come off the old Philles club. It was looking for a while as though brand new manager Paul Meagresauce was going to lead them to the promised land but instead he has led them to an altogether different Canaan - they won half of their first 22 games for him but have gone just 1-11 since. Mainly, we can blame defense for these woes. In their last 10 games, all of which they have lost, the Phils have given up on average 6.4 runs per game, a streak that includes 4 games in which they have surrendered 9 or more. The current home-and-home series against the Giants may be the season's low water mark.

Philadelphia (A): With four hitters earning a base hit in more than 3/10ths of their at-bats this August (that means a batting average of .300 or more for those of you who do not remember your fractions), things are really looking up for the Athletics in the future. 2B George Marshall (.307, 61 R, 28 SB) is, amazingly, still only 19. He has some ideas about how to "fix Europe"; we haven't the heart to tell him that Europe is not broken. At the hot corner, Ty Graham (.300, 75 R) is having a breakout season that puts him among the contenders for Most Valuable Player honors. SS Jerry Miller (.289, 37 R, 8/9 SB) is also having a career year; this is his second year in the majors and he's hitting 55 points above what he did the year before for the rival Philadelphia team. Finally, RF Doonan Elmes (.305, 49 R, 49 RBI) combines offense, defense (he earned a Gold Glove in 1900 and looks like he might get a 2nd), and gritty baserunning (9 steals so far and untold base advancements) to be the most complete player on the team.

Pittsburgh: The Pirates have got to be the most frustrating team in the league. It's not that they don't have the talent. A fan of the Superbas or the Cubs can at least rest in the knowledge that his team is performing as poorly as it's supposed to. The Pirates, however, seem to revel in underachieving. One month they'll look like legitimate champions, the next like a mediocrity. This month is looking to be one of the mediocre ones. Coming off of a 17-9 July, Pittsburgh was in a great position to make that extra step and get themselves into the pennant race. Unfortunately, their pitching has completely broken down and they've won just 5 of 13 games since then. "I'm doing everything I can," said manager Dave Wilke, who seems to be resigned to his fate at the end of the season. "The boys just won't do what they don't want to do."

St. Louis: Call them the Hitless Wonders. The Cardinals remain in 2nd place despite posting the lowest batting average in the National League (.247). It should be noted that despite the average, this team is somehow 4th in runs scored, so it's not entirely about the pitching. The Cards lead the league in the novelty that is the home run, which to our minds is more of a bit of trivia than an explanation for success. Our stathead tell us that a team that is 4th in the league in categories like "on base percentage" (how is that not batting average?) and "slugging percentage" (that's a nice name, but again... batting average covers that, right?) is exactly where it should be in terms of runs scored. Did we mention that our stathead lives in his mother's basement? We don't even pay him. He just shows up at the office.

Washington: A combination of grit, determination, and hustle have moved the Nationals into a tie for 2nd place and a prime slot to win the American League pennant. 1B Matt Barlow (.342, 71 R, 28 SB) has moved up a weight class this month, slamming the spheroid at a .357 clip. But it's not all about him. Pitchers Dennis Culler (11-1, 2.36) and Bob Cummins (17-8, 2.31) have both been perfect for the month - Cummins having given up 1 earned run (3 total) in 27 innings during that time. It just goes to show that sometimes generosity pays. The Nationals are building a dynasty and building a league at the same time.

06-29-2007, 10:43 AM	#127 (permalink)
Syd Thrift Banned Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 3,113	1902: The "Dog Days" of Summer Code: National League Standings Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away Hm+/- XInn 1Run Strk Last10 Cincinnati Reds 67 34 .663 - 63-38 +4 34-15 33-19 +18 10-2 19-11 W1 8-2 Saint Louis Cardinals 62 38 .620 4.5 64-36 -2 31-20 31-18 +11 5-10 15-10 W2 7-3 New York Giants 56 44 .560 10.5 62-38 -6 28-21 28-23 +7 7-5 15-18 W6 9-1 Pittsburgh Pirates 54 46 .540 12.5 63-37 -9 29-20 25-26 +5 3-9 11-17 L2 3-7 Boston Beaneaters 50 50 .500 16.5 50-50 +0 26-25 24-25 -1 7-7 18-16 L1 4-6 Chicago Colts 39 62 .386 28.0 33-68 +6 21-29 18-33 -11 3-4 11-13 L2 5-5 Philadelphia Phillies 38 62 .380 28.5 37-63 +1 19-32 19-30 -13 8-4 15-17 L10 0-10 Brooklyn Superbas 35 65 .350 31.5 33-67 +2 20-31 15-34 -16 4-6 15-17 W2 4-6 American League Standings Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away Hm+/- XInn 1Run Strk Last10 Baltimore Orioles 64 37 .634 - 67-34 -3 30-21 34-16 +13 8-2 16-9 L1 5-5 Louisville Colonels 61 39 .610 2.5 59-41 +2 25-20 36-19 +16 5-5 14-13 L4 4-6 Washington Nationals 63 41 .606 2.5 61-43 +2 34-20 29-21 +9 2-8 24-12 W3 7-3 Philadelphia Athletics 53 51 .510 12.5 52-52 +1 24-28 29-23 +5 8-7 14-16 W1 5-5 Chicago White Stockings 48 55 .466 17.0 49-54 -1 25-28 23-27 -5 2-3 15-14 L1 6-4 Boston Red Stockings 48 58 .453 18.5 53-53 -5 20-33 28-25 -5 4-6 13-23 W1 4-6 Detroit Tigers 39 64 .376 26.0 40-63 -1 18-34 21-30 -13 3-2 12-14 L1 4-6 Cleveland Blues 34 65 .343 29.0 34-65 +0 13-37 21-28 -16 3-2 10-17 W1 5-5 National: No World's Series in '02 Cites "Obvious Lack of Balance" We cannot say that we were surprised by the senior circuit's announcement last Friday that there will be no World Championship of baseball this October. Baltimore, after all, is little more than a team of minor leaguers and they still lead the American League despite the best efforts of the Louisville Colonels and Washington Nationals. We were, frankly, left to hope against hope that the lack of a solid leader in the National League would lead to the playing of a fall classic. Neither Cincinnati nor New York, of course, were likely to agree to anything of the sort, but Cardinals owner Tim Hurst seemed amenable to it. Sadly, the decision came about and was announced by Albert Spalding, who despite being named the NL President is largely just a figurehead. "The National League of Base Ball Clubs does not serve itself well to stage a postseason contest against a minor league," he announced via press release. "The obvious lack of balance is simply too much to ignore." One thing Spalding appears to be overlooking is that, despite being based in smaller towns than their older counterpart, the AL is actually outdrawing the NL in attendance this year. Of particular note are the situations in Chicago and Philadelphia, two towns that have both an AL and an NL entrant. In both towns, the American club is fielding a more successful team (both the Cubs and Phillies are living through poor seasons) and, just as importantly, bringing more cranks to their games than their National counterpart. We Would Say That We Are Talking Baseball But In Fact We Type With Our Mouths Closed News From Around The League Baltimore: Where was this man ten years ago? SP Sean Nickerson has gone from being the most unlikely Rookie of the Year candidate in the National League to being a surprisingly solid Pitcher of the League award-winner for the AL. Prior to last season, the 32-year-old Nickerson had appeared in a grand total of 35 games, all of them in relief in the Senior Circuit. Given a chance to start by a combination of expansion and a rebuilding Chicago Colts team, Nickerson was the winner in 18 of 29 decisions, posted an earned run average of under 2.50 (2.43), and struck out 3.41 batters for every man he walked. In 1902 he is currently 21-4 with a 1.77 ERA for these Orioles and has won 10 consecutive starts dating back to before McGraw and John Brush shipped his teammates out of Chesapeake Bay. Boston (N): Earlier, we reported on the situation between CF Steven Corliss and his team. In the intervening month, the situation has become even crazier. Corliss continues to lash out at the club almost daily, but has managed to swing in such a way that the front office's hearing has improved. He's hitting .354 in August, which raises his seasonal average all the way to .280. Despite his prickly nature - or perhaps because of it - Corliss has also become something of a fan favorite. At this point, every option available to the Beaneaters - trade him, cut him, bench him, or play him every day - seems untenable. Boston {A}: Manager Jeff Sass is sitting on a seat so hot it appears to be giving him blisters. Although he's renowned for his ability to handle young players, the Red Stockings' youthful hitters are batting like yannigans. Only Jay Robbins (.292, 54 RBI) appears to be striking the ball with any force, and even he is far, far off the pace he set in 1899 with the Chicago Colts, when he reached safely 206 times in 579 tries for a .356 average and added a full 53 long hits to that total. Back to '02: the most maddening thing about this ballclub is that there are no .180 hitters. It's just that everybody - from CF Eddie Hoddell (.245, 47 R, 8 SB) to SS Gunnar Jones (.246 with just 20 extra base hits in 382 at-bats) - is hitting somewhere between .230 and .260 with no apparent ability to slap the ball at a better rate. Brooklyn: 3B Terrence Swarbrick is quietly helping to establish the right side of the Brooklyn infield as the best in baseball. Everybody knows teammate Devlin Shaner (.328), who is 3rd in hitting and 6th in runs scored in the Senior Circuit, but how many youngsters crowd around Swarbrick every day asking for an autograph or a kindly pat on the head? Swarbrick is landing on base nearly as often as his teammate in the middle of the infield (.322 BA) and has more doubles and triples (22 and 9 to 18 and 5). We will grant you that he is absolutely brutal afield (an .853 fielding average with 51 errors at the "hot corner"), but this is the Superbas we are talking about here - every positive must be highlighted. Chicago (N): 2B Francis Ford (.385) more or less forced manager Jimmy Murphy to find a place for him after hitting .311 over 549 at-bats in the minors last year and this one. Ford is a man who you can visualize as a septegenarian, perhaps as an old man in the midst of a mob all too keen to lynch a couple of drifters who may or may not have murdered a local farmer. Or maybe he looks more like a wizened de facto leader of a small Irish town that an American boxer has come to live out his days at. Ford fancies himself an actor and director, yet there is a strange tie between him and the West that seems stronger than his love of the stage. His younger brother John, it is rumored, shows even more potential. Chicago (A): We are not ones to criticize the play of those on the field, but we have some advice for SP Matt Nutt (10-16, 5.08): find a few pitches and stick to them. Currently, Nutt claims to have command of no less than six different deliveries: a fast ball, a nickel curve, two kinds of dropshoots, and another kind of fast ball that he says moves a little to the outside. The end result: this jack of all trades is the master of none. Everything seems to come in at about the same speed, which is not all that fast, and the movement he gets on his pitches is average at best. You would think that not having a lot of "stuff" on the balls he throws might make him better able to control them, but you would be wrong. In 219 innings this year, Nutt has walked 85 men and struck out just 53. He's still young - he won't celebrate his 22nd birthday until December - but he's going to need to undergo a significant change in his pitching philosophy if he wants to last in this league. Cincinnati: It's only the middle of August, but it's beginning to look like the Peoples' Ballclub has sewn up the National League pennant and therefore the World title. They've nearly paced the red-hot Giants with 10 victories in 13 tries this month and will have a fine chance to put the Boston Beaneaters and St. Louis Cardinals away when they play both next weeks. Following that, it's a week's worth of games against two of the National's bottom feeders, the Phillies and the Superbas. Although the Reds hold the old American Association record for wins with 105, the National record is only 94 (by the 1894 Giants); can they surpass that? They need 29 wins in their last 39 games to do so. Cleveland: We're not entirely sure whether the Blues' series victory over Boston was the result of an improved ballclub or the collapse of the Red Stockings, but we the people who have to report on them will take our victories any way we can get them. Actually, prior to losing 2 of 3 to lowly Detroit, our fair club was 6-3 for the month! Of particular note is SP Berto Sarrie (10-15, 3.84), who has shown signs of greatness this month, winning all three of his starts while allowing just one earned run per nine. Detroit: What do you do with a 19-year old kid with a career record of 10 wins and 36 losses? You let him get some seasoning in the minor leagues, correct? Well, if you're the Detroit Tigers, that is incorrect. Gar "Doctor Detroit" Wood, a player whom manager Bryan Mertz was sure was going to be a big part of the rotation, was, in fact, sent down after winning just 1 of his first 8 decisions. However, he turned major-league Liliputianism into minor-league Brobdignagianism, winning 6 consecutive starts and posting an ERA of 2.40 against those lesser batters. Upon re-entry into the majors, he promptly lost his next 4 games. Louisville: It's hard to say exactly what bedevils the Colonels. Poised to take the place of the Orioles at the top of the American division, the Fightin' 9th, as the cranks like to call them, were recently swept by the division rival Nationals and overall are just 5-7 for the month of August. It's true that 1B Rick Harpham (.311, 41 RBI) is out with an ankle injury (and likely gone for the season), but IF Zander Bostic (.301, 31 RBI, 12 XBH in 186 AB) has filled in admirably. They're also, it should be noted, without the services of CF Carl Hendron until next year, although they've had him out of the lineup for a while and were not stymied before. New York: We were expecting this. The Giants have been almost unstoppable this month, winning 12 of 13 and outscoring their opponents 73 to 21 in that time. Both Bill "Snoopy" Haddon (25-7, 1.83) and youngster John "Big Six" Pearson (19-7, 2.37) are perfect for the month and will contend for Pitcher of the Year honors. The presence of fresh blood in the lineup has emboldened 3B Norm "Big Napoleon" Aston (.303, 54 RBI) and CF Ray Pearl (.304, 46 RBI, 15 SB) to each collect hits in a third of their at-bats for the month. If there's a cloud in this silver lining, it's that during this hot streak they've been able to gain just 2 games on the equally hot Cincinnati Reds. Philadelphia (N): The wheels have come off the old Philles club. It was looking for a while as though brand new manager Paul Meagresauce was going to lead them to the promised land but instead he has led them to an altogether different Canaan - they won half of their first 22 games for him but have gone just 1-11 since. Mainly, we can blame defense for these woes. In their last 10 games, all of which they have lost, the Phils have given up on average 6.4 runs per game, a streak that includes 4 games in which they have surrendered 9 or more. The current home-and-home series against the Giants may be the season's low water mark. Philadelphia (A): With four hitters earning a base hit in more than 3/10ths of their at-bats this August (that means a batting average of .300 or more for those of you who do not remember your fractions), things are really looking up for the Athletics in the future. 2B George Marshall (.307, 61 R, 28 SB) is, amazingly, still only 19. He has some ideas about how to "fix Europe"; we haven't the heart to tell him that Europe is not broken. At the hot corner, Ty Graham (.300, 75 R) is having a breakout season that puts him among the contenders for Most Valuable Player honors. SS Jerry Miller (.289, 37 R, 8/9 SB) is also having a career year; this is his second year in the majors and he's hitting 55 points above what he did the year before for the rival Philadelphia team. Finally, RF Doonan Elmes (.305, 49 R, 49 RBI) combines offense, defense (he earned a Gold Glove in 1900 and looks like he might get a 2nd), and gritty baserunning (9 steals so far and untold base advancements) to be the most complete player on the team. Pittsburgh: The Pirates have got to be the most frustrating team in the league. It's not that they don't have the talent. A fan of the Superbas or the Cubs can at least rest in the knowledge that his team is performing as poorly as it's supposed to. The Pirates, however, seem to revel in underachieving. One month they'll look like legitimate champions, the next like a mediocrity. This month is looking to be one of the mediocre ones. Coming off of a 17-9 July, Pittsburgh was in a great position to make that extra step and get themselves into the pennant race. Unfortunately, their pitching has completely broken down and they've won just 5 of 13 games since then. "I'm doing everything I can," said manager Dave Wilke, who seems to be resigned to his fate at the end of the season. "The boys just won't do what they don't want to do." St. Louis: Call them the Hitless Wonders. The Cardinals remain in 2nd place despite posting the lowest batting average in the National League (.247). It should be noted that despite the average, this team is somehow 4th in runs scored, so it's not entirely about the pitching. The Cards lead the league in the novelty that is the home run, which to our minds is more of a bit of trivia than an explanation for success. Our stathead tell us that a team that is 4th in the league in categories like "on base percentage" (how is that not batting average?) and "slugging percentage" (that's a nice name, but again... batting average covers that, right?) is exactly where it should be in terms of runs scored. Did we mention that our stathead lives in his mother's basement? We don't even pay him. He just shows up at the office. Washington: A combination of grit, determination, and hustle have moved the Nationals into a tie for 2nd place and a prime slot to win the American League pennant. 1B Matt Barlow (.342, 71 R, 28 SB) has moved up a weight class this month, slamming the spheroid at a .357 clip. But it's not all about him. Pitchers Dennis Culler (11-1, 2.36) and Bob Cummins (17-8, 2.31) have both been perfect for the month - Cummins having given up 1 earned run (3 total) in 27 innings during that time. It just goes to show that sometimes generosity pays. The Nationals are building a dynasty and building a league at the same time. Last edited by Syd Thrift : 06-30-2007 at 03:24 AM.