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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Williamsburg, VA
Posts: 2,410
Thanks: 117
Thanked 91x in 73 posts
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September 19, 1938
Code:
NATIONAL LEAGUE STANDINGS
NORTHERN W L PCT GB
New York G 94 60 .610 --
Boston 77 77 .500 17
Philadelphia 76 78 .494 18
New York Y 75 79 .487 19
Pittsburgh 72 82 .468 22
Brooklyn 68 86 .442 26
MID-EAST W L PCT GB
Washington 94 60 .610 --
Detroit 89 65 .578 5
Milwaukee 83 71 .539 11
Cincinnati 73 81 .474 21
Baltimore 72 82 .468 22
Cleveland 51 103 .331 43
AMERICAN LEAGUE STANDINGS
CONTINENTAL W L PCT GB
Chicago C 91 63 .591 --
Portland 88 66 .571 3
Kansas City 74 80 .481 17
St. Louis 74 80 .481 17
Chicago W 66 88 .429 25
Seattle 65 89 .422 26
PACIFIC W L PCT GB
San Diego 91 63 .591 --
Sacramento 86 68 .558 5
Hollywood 85 69 .552 6
San Francisco 80 74 .519 11
Oakland 69 85 .448 22
Los Angeles 55 99 .357 36
- The Portland Beavers gave it their best shot, but in the end they didn't have quite enough to snatch the AL Continental Division title away from the Chicago Cubs, who staggered across the finish line three lengths ahead.
The Beavers, attempting to win their fifth consecutive division championship, went 12-5 in September. Meanwhile, the listless Cubs slid to a sub-.500 pace, dropping nine of their last 17 decisions. Nevertheless, the Cubbies will advance to postseason play for only the second time in their history. In 1930, the Cubs won it all, and their fans hope history will repeat itself this fall.
- Oddly enough, the division champions in each league finished with identical records. The Cubs and the other American League champ, the San Diego Padres, both ended up with 91-63 records. The National League winners, the New York Giants and the Washington Senators, tied for the best record in the big leagues at 94-60.
- The frontrunner for the National League Pitcher of the Year Award has to be the Giants' superb young ace, Bob Feller. His 22 wins, 2.38 ERA, and 278 strikeouts gave him a pitcher's Triple Crown. Hollywood's Carl Hubbell, the AL leader in victories, matched Bob's total. Feller's strikeout total is a new major league record.
- For the second time, the National League batting champion is Milwaukee's Hank Greenberg. The big first baseman hit .359 this year; his .375 mark led the league in 1936. Greenberg added 32 homers, 132 RBI, and 47 doubles; he slugged a hearty .619.
- The AL batting king is Portland catcher Josh Gibson, whose .383/.498/.706 line is one of the best in major league history. Only Gibson, Buck Leonard, Wally Berger, Al Simmons, and Gibson's teammate Chuck Klein have ever slugged .700 in a season; Leonard and Klein have done so twice.
- The Cubs' Hal Trosky outhomered Leonard, 44-43, to win the major league home run title. Other frequent fencebusters included Jimmie Foxx and Gibson, who went deep 39 times apiece.
- Mule Suttles of the Senators drove in 150 runs to lead all big league hitters. The Mule holds the single-season RBI record of 194, set in 1932, and his career total of 2130 RBI is almost 200 greater than that of Lou Gehrig, his closest competitor for the all-time lead . Suttles has driven in at least 104 runs in each of his 15 full major league seasons.
- Chuck Klein led the American League with 146 RBI, and finished second to the man who usually precedes him in the Portland batting order in the batting race. He batted .370 to Josh Gibson's .383.
- San Diego's Cool Papa Bell was batting an even .400 when he got hurt in early July. He returned to the Padres lineup on September 16, and over the course of the last three games of the season, he went 3-15, dropping his average to .392.
- Cool Papa's injury probably cost him the major league stolen base title, too. The Yankees' Jesus Lopez stole 82 bases to Cool Papa's 60. His Coolness still won his eighth AL title, edging Oakland's Gualtierno Costagna by two bags. And, with ten more career steals, Bell will reach 1000 for his career. He's the all-time leader in steals; Frank Jenkins retired with 968 to his credit, and nobody else has stolen more than 657.
Last edited by Big Six; 10-07-2009 at 04:18 PM.
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