Cincy Duo Powers Reds Past Pirates
Left-handers Rube Waddell and Roy Hitt are making a difference for Cincinnati this year who finally return to the top of the standings for the first time since the turn of the century. Waddell is his usual stellar self, having just gone through his former stomping grounds and pummeling the Pennsylvania nines the past three games, giving up just one run and striking out no less than 6 batsmen. Rookie Roy Hitt has made Cincy fanatics forget about the departed star
Noodles Hahn by showing the toughness of a veteran in his youthful 21 years. Waddell has 4 shutouts in 12 wins with a 1.54 ERA and is tied for the lead league in strikeouts. Hitt is 11-4. Pittsburgh is not far behind the Reds but its once strong offense has fallen from grace and struggles to score runs despite leading the league in hits and home runs. Honus Wagner is the lone star of the lot, hitting an impressive .331, nearly 90 points higher than the league average. Otherwise, steady Jim St. Vrain leads a solid pitching staff with a 10-8 record. The Giants seem perpetually stuck in third place, this year managing perhaps as good a pitching staff as there is with Mathewson,
Wiltse and Ames, but not able to hide the large shortcomings on offense to make any push to the top. The Cardinals break into the first division on the laurels of 38 year old journeyman Mike Grady who has gotten better with age, hitting .336.
National Club Standing, July 1, 1908
Code:
Club Won Lost Pct G.B. Avg. ERA
Cincinnati 43 29 .597 - .245 2.24
Pittsburgh 40 34 .541 4 .240 2.28
New York 36 32 .529 5 .248 2.27
St. Louis 37 34 .521 5.5 .251 2.34
Brooklyn 33 35 .485 8 .226 2.42
Chicago 35 37 .486 8 .248 2.80
Philadelphia 30 38 .441 11 .228 2.65
Boston 27 42 .391 14.5 .247 2.89
Cleveland Set to Grab Pennant? Or Looking Over Shoulder?
Cleveland maintains its dominance over the American League with the best record in baseball, but its edge is slight in that four other nines are within 6 games of the top spot. Each club sports a better pitching staff than the Naps, and if their league-best offense should slump or falter down the stretch, the throne may be usurped by any one of them. Field Manager Nap Lajoie leads the charge to the pennant with a .306 average but is showing signs of slowing down.
Noodles Hahn is the only pitcher of note, who although having lost some zip on his fastball, has gotten the outs when he needs them, going 11-1 and only walking 9 in 109 innings. His efforts negate Ed Killian’s horrible start of 5 wins against 11 losses he’s given up nearly 1.5 runs more than the average pitcher. Detroit fashions a very fine right fielder in Cobb, who after three years seems to have learned the ropes of American League pitching, hitting a hot .365 with a league high 100 safeties. Sam Crawford is having his worst year but a number of pitchers are having career years to pace the Tigers. Ed Hughes and Bumpus Jones each claim an ERA under 2 while Bill Bernhard, 37, is capping a fine career with a steady performance while taking rookie Eddie Cicotte (8-7, 2.18 ERA) under his wing. Philadelphia’s Chief Bender is having a career year with 13 wins against 5 losses. A 1.41 ERA and 92 strikeouts put the tall Indian near the top in pitching categories but it’s Chicago’s
Ed Walsh that has everyone buzzing. Walsh is a can’t miss attraction, winning 16 of 20 games started. He leads the league in strikeouts with 103 and sports the league’s best control. If Chicago can continue to ride the wave of its wet wonders (the Sox sport 3 spitballers in its rotation) and can hope rookie Tris Speaker (Boston released him last year) continues his success, they’ll be a contender to break Cleveland’s string of AL pennants.
American Club Standings, July 1, 1908
Code:
Club Won Lost Pct G.B. Avg. ERA
Cleveland 42 24 .636 - .273 2.48
Detroit 38 27 .585 3.5 .251 2.10
Philadelphia 40 29 .580 3.5 .252 2.23
Chicago 39 30 .565 4.5 .262 2.19
New York 39 30 .565 4.5 .267 2.43
Boston 28 41 .406 15.5 .240 2.45
Washington 25 42 .373 17.5 .225 2.76
St. Louis 20 48 .294 23 .215 2.77