May Day Standings
Code:
America/Asia Standings
American Division
Team W L PCT GB Home Away XInn 1Run Streak
Chicago Defenders 10 7 .588 - 5-3 5-4 1-0 3-2 L1
New York Giants 9 8 .529 1.0 3-5 6-3 1-1 2-1 W1
Cincinnati Reds 8 9 .471 2.0 4-2 4-7 0-0 1-1 L2
USA Baseball Engineers 3 14 .176 7.0 1-8 2-6 0-1 0-3 W1
Pioneer Division
Team W L PCT GB Home Away XInn 1Run Streak
RC Mounted Baseballists 12 5 .706 - 6-2 6-3 1-1 3-3 L1
Shanghai Dragons 12 5 .706 - 8-3 4-2 2-0 4-2 W4
Tokyo Rising Sun 11 6 .647 1.0 6-3 5-3 2-1 6-3 W1
Mexico City Aztecs 8 9 .471 4.0 3-3 5-6 1-1 1-2 W1
Sydney Outback 7 10 .412 5.0 6-5 1-5 1-2 1-2 L1
Rio de Janeiro Carnival 5 12 .294 7.0 3-6 2-6 0-2 1-3 L1
European League Standings
Euro West
Team W L PCT GB Home Away XInn 1Run Streak
Paris Revolutions 11 6 .647 - 4-4 7-2 1-0 1-3 L2
Amsterdam Admirals 10 7 .588 1.0 5-3 5-4 1-1 3-2 W1
Brussels Painters 7 10 .412 4.0 1-5 6-5 0-0 0-1 W2
Madrid Matadors 7 10 .412 4.0 4-7 3-3 0-1 3-1 L5
London Monarchs 6 11 .353 5.0 2-6 4-5 2-0 1-4 W1
Euro East
Team W L PCT GB Home Away XInn 1Run Streak
Vienna Musik 12 5 .706 - 3-3 9-2 1-0 4-0 L1
Rome Cardinals 9 8 .529 3.0 6-3 3-5 1-1 3-2 L1
Athens Philosophers 8 9 .471 4.0 4-5 4-4 0-0 1-2 L1
Moscow Proletariat 8 9 .471 4.0 2-7 6-2 0-2 0-1 W4
Berlin Teutonic Knights 7 10 .412 5.0 3-8 4-2 0-1 2-2 W1
At the opening bell, it appears that Paris Revolution manager Katsu Sato's premonitions about the league structure could turn out to be true. Right now, if the playoffs started, the 9-8 New York Giants would be in the playoffs and the 11-6 Tokyo Rising Sun would be on the outside looking in. Granted, it is very, very early, but that is somewhat troubling news. On the other hand, it will be nice to see either the Giants or the Reds in that weird out-of-time period we like to call October. There is only one October, after all, and as far as the League of Nations is concerned, there really isn't even one of them.
The game in 1921 also seems to be a little bit rougher on the players. So far, the following men have learned that their season is over:
Fat Freddie Turvill, SP, London
Enrico Ramirez, LF, Madrid
Alfonso Carbajal, RF, Madrid
'Don Quixote' Mario Ramos, SP, Mexico City
Frederic Deveaux, MR, Paris
Sisto Greenough, MR, Rio de Janeiro
Niculao Unho, MR, Rio de Janeiro
Bob Maitland, SP, Royal Canadian
Qian-gui "Kung Fu" Han, SP, Shanghai
Edmund Woodward, MR, US Army
Paris has been especially hit by the injury bug: at present, half its lineup is on the disabled list (1B Jean Pascal Dumoulin, SS Didier Bouchard, CF Herve Fischer, RF Didier Bernard). These setbacks don't appear to be doing a lot to their play on the field, though. London, on the other hand, has not been playing up to snuff at all. Part of that is their own injury struggles; in addition to #2 starter Turvill, they've also been without the use of Byron Feveryear for a good chunk of the proceedings thus far. Of course, Feveryear is one of those gritty ballplayers who spends almost as much time on the bench tending to his on-field injuries as he spends in the field putting his body on the line, so his absence can hardly be blamed for any downfall. In fact, the Monarchs lead the EU in hitting with a .312 mark. Their pitching isn't even that bad. It's just ponderous.
One team playing down to expectations is the US Army Baseball Engineers, who have taken a "scorched earth" policy to their own team. One wonders how much worse New York and Cincinnati would be if they didn't have what is essentially a farm team giving up their top players in addition for refuse. Then again, this is the country hit by the tragedy of the Baseball Brigade; in some ways, they can do whatever they want.
State of the League: Offense Reigns
Just over 10% into the season, one thing is very clear: we're going to be seeing a lot more runs scored this year. League of Nations batting hovers around the .290 mark, with the European League sitting just below .300 at .298. Home runs are also up, although not as spectacularly; last year teams hit an average of about 45 per team whereas this year it's looking like they might hit 55. It's hard to pinpoint a reason as to the sudden rise in offense. There's a general warming trend going on throughout the world. More than anything else, though, we think this is a sign of the world putting its mark on the American pastime.