And We Move Into July
Code:
America/Asia Standings
American Division
Team W L PCT GB Home Away XInn 1Run Streak Last10
Chicago Defenders 48 25 .658 - 23-13 25-12 4-0 14-5 W7 8-2
New York Giants 38 35 .521 10.0 21-15 17-20 4-1 14-7 W4 6-4
Cincinnati Reds 37 36 .507 11.0 15-19 22-17 2-1 4-6 L1 7-3
USA Baseball Engineers 24 49 .329 24.0 13-24 11-25 2-3 4-12 L4 2-8
Pioneer Division
Team W L PCT GB Home Away XInn 1Run Streak Last10
RC Mounted Baseballists 50 23 .685 - 24-12 26-11 1-4 9-10 W2 6-4
Mexico City Aztecs 40 33 .548 10.0 19-15 21-18 1-5 7-10 W4 7-3
Tokyo Rising Sun 40 33 .548 10.0 21-15 19-18 3-4 11-12 W1 6-4
Shanghai Dragons 36 37 .493 14.0 22-17 14-20 6-2 14-9 L7 2-8
Rio de Janeiro Carnival 26 47 .356 24.0 11-26 15-21 2-3 7-8 L4 2-8
Sydney Outback 26 47 .356 24.0 14-26 12-21 3-5 6-11 L4 4-6
European League Standings
Euro West
Team W L PCT GB Home Away XInn 1Run Streak Last10
Paris Revolutions 48 25 .658 - 23-13 25-12 4-0 9-10 W2 8-2
Brussels Painters 42 31 .575 6.0 16-18 26-13 4-1 11-2 W1 5-5
Amsterdam Admirals 39 34 .534 9.0 24-12 15-22 2-5 10-10 L1 5-5
London Monarchs 33 40 .452 15.0 21-15 12-25 7-2 9-10 L3 3-7
Madrid Matadors 28 45 .384 20.0 14-26 14-19 7-6 10-14 L3 3-7
Euro East
Team W L PCT GB Home Away XInn 1Run Streak Last10
Vienna Musik 48 25 .658 - 22-12 26-13 5-2 13-2 W3 6-4
Moscow Proletariat 38 35 .521 10.0 20-17 18-18 3-8 9-8 L1 4-6
Rome Cardinals 31 42 .425 17.0 19-18 12-24 1-3 5-12 W2 6-4
Athens Philosophers 30 43 .411 18.0 14-22 16-21 1-3 7-14 L3 5-5
Berlin Teutonic Knights 28 45 .384 20.0 12-27 16-18 3-7 14-15 W1 5-5
It's sure a good thing that the League of Nations instituted the new divisional format this year. If we were still using last year's model, both leagues would have their playoff pictures all but wrapped up. The Royal Canadian Mounted Baseballists continue to pummel their opponents into submission, and now that the Chicago Defenders have also emerged from the pack, the only thing left to determine would have been who got home field advantage for the first round of the playoffs. As it stands now, though, the Giants and Reds are battling for one of the playoff spots with a 2-way race between Mexico City and Tokyo for the other slot.
The Euro League is similarly defined. Vienna and Paris are simply the class of the league, there is no doubt about it. However, Brussels, Amsterdam, and (surprisingly enough) Moscow know that once you get into October anything can happen.
A secondary story to who is contending is who is not. The biggest surprise so far are the London Monarchs, who are currently trying to make do without their #1, 2, and 3 starters. The good news is that their #3 man Bradley Weld (5-5, 3.61) should be back within the week. He's not an ace by any means, sporting a career record of 38 wins and 36 losses, but he should be a damn sight better the men currently in the rotation. The Monarchs have already pulled the trigger on a couple desperation trades, bringing in 34-year-old Aussie Patrick Harwood (16-12 last year with Sydney but so far 0-4 with a 9.19 ERA with the Monarchs) and former Big Six Award winner Yvon Calzolai from the Rome Cardinals (8-9, 4.07 overall and 0-2, 6.35 with London). Unfortunately they still haven't been able to make up any ground and it's only the known grit qualities of the English that are keeping us from counting them completely out at this point.
Chasing .400 - A 1921 Watch
Several men are pursuing the .400 mark. Nobody came close last year but with averages on a general upswing this looks like it could be the year. Here's a brief profile of the ballplayers in question:
1B Gary Lemaitre, Brussels (.423) - Lemaitre isn't just pushing the barrier, he's threatening to blow it apart. Lemaitre is one of 13 players to play in all 73 games for his team so far and as such is on pace to rap out 273 hits. The record is 235 by Aurochs Eckhardt.
2B Luis Vargas, Mexico City (.409) - Vargas played in just 14 games last year, missing nearly all of the season with a badly broken ankle. Because it happened so early in the year, it wasn't widely reported as a reason why the Aztecs didn't get further into the playoffs, but it was probably as big a factor as anything else. Well, he's back. Critics say that pretty much his entire value is wrapped up in his batting average, but when you hit like Vargas does, that's not really a criticism.
C Laurent Garnier, Paris (.408) - We're considering coming up with a new statistic to measure a catcher's worth to his club called Catcher's Number. It's the sum total of his batting average and runner thrown out percentage. Right now, Garnier's Catcher Number is almost .900 thanks to the batting average and a 47.5 RTO%, which would surely be a record. What the heck, it's our statistic. It would be a record if he could keep this up.
3B John Baird, New York (.399) - Baird has increased his average in each of the 3 years he's been in the league. The previous 2 seasons he hit .316 and .320 so it's only natural that he'd be up among the .400 chasers, right? If he keeps it up, he could be in double figures in doubles, triples, and homeruns, and in triple digits in runs and RBIs. He's only off the pace in the runs category.
C Claude Goncalves, Amsterdam (.397) - How loaded is Paris' "Reign of Terror" lineup? Goncalves is French. He was traded to Amsterdam to shore up the pitching staff. We'd say the Revolution would love to get this guy back, but where would he play? Anyway, he's thumping the ball at a very consistent pace this year (.415 in April, .392 in May, .390 in June) and is the meat of the Admirals' lineup.
1B Tim Kinch, Royal Canadians (.395) - Kinch demonstrated just how hard it is to maintain a .400 average. He hit "just" .347 last month, bringing his BA down from the .420s to where it is now. This is still a man capable of a .471 month, so don't be surprised if he moves up on this list.
SP Florian Knaus, Vienna (15-1, 2.23) - Okay, so Knaus isn't going to hit .400 this year, but he is on pace to best an equally challenging mark: 30 victories. Knaus won his first 14 starts of the season before dropping a 5-2 decision to the Revolution on June 23rd. He has failed to go 9 innings just one time this season and has yet to give up his first home run. Knaus is the kind of guy who just gets tougher when the game is on the line: his opponent batting numbers of 256/284/320 drop to 236/274/292 from the 7th inning on.