Following an 11-1 start to the month of July, the Louisville Colonels stumbled a bit in the second half, going 7-8 to finish the month but still hold a three-game edge on the second-place Beaneaters. For their part, Boston went 19-4 in July to solidify their hold on a Temple Cup slot, holding a three-and-a-half game advantage on Brooklyn.
The player of the month was Paddy Murphy of Baltimore. Though the Orioles have slipped back to the pack from their recent days of dominance, their young center fielder has stepped up his game. Murphy torched League pitching in July, amassing a .432 average to bolster his seasonal mark to .374 - second-best only to Ed Burrell of the Phillies (who is still hitting over .400, .408 to be exact).
On the pitcher's side, Pat Daly garnered some attention in July by posting a very solid month's work. The unheralded Boston hurler was 8-0 with a 2.27 mark in July. For the season, he has a 17-7 mark and 3.22 ERA.
In the Western League, the St. Paul Saints are running away with the pennant race. St. Paul has a 69-25 record, a full 14 games better than second-place rival Minneapolis. Will Tobin, the 21-year-old pitching phenomenon is 26-4 for the Saints, while hitters Trey Duren (.462) and Harry Lynch (.418) are both in the top five among batsmen.
The Eastern League's top spot is currently held by Scranton. The Miners are 58-29 and have a seven-game edge on both Rochester and Wilkes-Barre. 34-year-old Howard Parks is following up a 21-9 record last season with an even better one this year: 20-3 so far with a 3.01 earned run average. Surprisingly, despite being 57-17 over his past three seasons, Parks has not drawn any attention from National League clubs (presumably because of his age).
PAT DALY, BOSTON