The July Campaign
It’s nearly August and the race for the National League Pennant is Pittsburg’s to lose. It would be a mighty fall that no one expects to happen, as the Pirates lead second place Chicago by 8 games with an amazing 65-29 record. An untouchable pitching staff help propel the Pirates in June with 22 wins and only 3 losses. Rube Waddell (21-5) is on pace for over 30 wins and 300 plus strikeouts. 24 year old Harry Felix is 16-6 and 20 year old Jim St. Vrain at 13-9 can potentially make the Pirates a winning dynasty in the years ahead. By the way, each pitcher mentioned has a stingy ERA of 1.66! Chicago has banked on strong pitching as well, led by Ham Iburg’s five shutouts (17-6 overall). Fred Clarke has enjoyed a resurgent July hitting .360, finding his stride after coming back to the NL from California. The rest of the NL has not enjoyed much of any success, playing .500 ball or worse over the last couple months, treading water for what many already consider the offseason with Pittsburg’s big lead. There is talk in both leagues about scheduling fall City Series in St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Boston to see who among these struggling clubs are the best in town. Boston is home to two lowly clubs, both of which are 30 games out of the championship run, and could use any excitement at this point.
Slippery Elm Boy Watch:
Our lone spitballer in the National League,
Frank Corridon, is growing weary of his chances of returning to Philadelphia despite a solid performance thus far in Toronto, the Phillies top “farm” club. He is 12-8 in 22 starts, sporting a 1.57 ERA. He seems to have managed his control problems of the past, striking out 94 against 44 free passes in 194 innings. One man on the major league squad ahead of Corridon is
Dusty Rhoads, who has recovered from his injuries but still pitches for a bad team, going 6-13 with a 2.61 ERA. Rhoads can be moody on the mound, but he doesn’t lack the control of his fastball that probably keeps Corridon in the minors.
Chick Fraser is still without a job.
National Club Standing, July 31, 1903
Code:
Club Won Lost Pct G.B. Avg. ERA
Pittsburgh 65 29 .691 - .277 1.80
Chicago 58 38 .604 8 .265 2.34
St. Louis 48 45 .516 16.5 .248 2.56
Brooklyn 45 49 .479 20 .266 3.37
New York 44 49 .473 20.5 .262 2.89
Cincinnati 44 50 .468 21 .261 2.96
Philadelphia 43 50 .462 21.5 .255 2.69
Boston 28 65 .301 36.5 .236 3.56
Over in the American League, Detroit still leads surprising Washington after a cool 13-14 July record. The pace of May and June, 22-9 and 22-4, respectively, could not have possibly been extended. Detroit obviously has benefited from the late Win Mercer’s winter transactions, having brought in Sam Crawford (.318, 64 rbi’s) and Bill Donovan (16-5, 1.87 ERA). Donovan is joined in the rotation by fellow sub-2.00 ERA holder Stan Yerkes and Frank Kitson (17 wins, 3 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio). Washington follows the Tigers by reversing a poor June (9-17) with a strong July (19-8) behind the leading bat of veteran Big Ed Delahanty (.350, 5 home runs). The Senators are perhaps slowed by an off-year by
Al Orth, an otherwise dominant right-handed pitcher. Orth relies on his durability, mental strength and changing speeds to make due without a breaking pitch. But this year he’s suffered 1 more run a game and does not strike out hitters at any accelerated rate. Despite leading the league in batting average, the White Sox have not scored runs and have left strong pitchers Roy Patterson (12-10, 1.96 ERA) and young Addie Joss wanting in the win column. They’ve improved the past two months though, playing 13 games over .500, finally getting key scoring hits by Bill Keister (.337) and manager Fielder Jones. Co-captian and now former pitcher Nixey Callahan was sent to Minneapolis to work on becoming a major league fielder, and, to groom the young and extremely talented pitcher
Ed Walsh. The only excitement left in Cleveland is Nap Lajoie’s pursuit of the hitting crown, which he leads comfortably at a .394 clip. New York has fallen badly, going 16-38 since May due to an anemic offense. Boston’s Cy Young had showed promise in May of recovering his past form but has again reverted to his winless ways, going 2-11 with a 3.50 ERA the past two months.
American Club Standing, July 31, 1903
Code:
Club Won Lost Pct G.B. Avg. ERA
Detroit 62 30 .674 - .278 2.48
Washington 51 37 .580 9 .273 2.87
Chicago 49 39 .557 11 .279 2.36
St. Louis 49 42 .538 12.5 .263 3.03
Cleveland 44 44 .500 16 .269 2.86
New York 36 52 .409 24 .249 3.15
Philadelphia 36 54 .400 25 .262 3.39
Boston 31 60 .341 30.5 .246 3.25
Slippery Elm Boy Watch:
Jack Chesbro has kept his spirits high despite not gaining any run support from his disappearing New York offense. His own numbers aren’t much to talk about, with AL hitters having timed his still raw spitball. Chesbro is a disappointing 5-17 with a 3.18 ERA so far this year with the Highlanders. Teammate
Clark Griffith keeps pace with a 7-8 record in 17 starts, keeping hitters to a .235 batting average. His age is beginning to show, not able to make a start every time he usually sends himself out there on the mound. Cleveland’s
Earl Moore has regained the edge with his herky-jerky side arm delivery, having won 11 out of his last 12 decisions after losing his first 11 of 12 in the opening two months. Moore credits his ability to get ahead of hitters and the improved location of his “saliva shoot” down and away as keys to his return to stardom and Cleveland’s push to get out of the second division. Bostonians
Tom Hughes and
Bill Dinneen, both struggling to keep hitters off the bases, should reconsider how they’ll spend the offseason, hopefully by listening to teammate
George Hildebrand, whose stay on the roster won’t last long.