The regular season for 1907 is in the books and it was another good one. The National League race, which had been on a streak of exciting and close finishes, was this time a rather ho-hum walk to the flag for the St. Louis Cardinals, who built a strong lead in August and then cruised home with a 93-61 record and seven-game cushion over the second-place New York Giants. The Cardinals were tough all season long, making up for a disappointing 1906 campaign that saw them lead the league in both hitting and pitching and yet finish a disappointing 77-77, good for fifth-place in the highly competitive Senior Circuit. The Cardinals were led by the hitting of first baseman Ezekial Curl who had a .333 average to lead the club with perennial hitting star Milt Cumberledge chipping in a .316 average and 80 runs batted in. Terrible Tommy Powell and Glenn Skelton each notched 24 victories for the Red Birds and will provide a tough one-two punch for the AL champions to deal with in the upcoming World's Series.
EZEKIAL CURL - ST. LOUIS (N)
For their part, the Giants had an up-and-down campaign, but their experience and talent were enough to carry them to the second-place finish. Aidan O'Day was stellar with a 27-16 record and 1.99 ERA, as was teammate Fred McDonnell who was 23-12 with a 1.59 ERA. But hitting did the Giants in as their leading hitter was 1B Ham Vail, who posted a relatively modest .275 average. Boston, which finished third, eight games behind the Cardinals, had another good season out of the California Kid, Claude Martin (.322 average, 78 RBI) and Big John Kemp (.305, 8 HR, 51 RBI), but their pitching - while good - was not outstanding enough to carry them to the pennant. The fourth-place Pirates, the champions of the league in 1906, struggled with an average offense (.245 team average, .242 was the NL average), which when coupled with pitching which was above average but not stellar, had them finish as the last team in the first division. The second division finishers were Brooklyn (which was in the mix for the flag until late in the summer), Chicago, Cincinnati and Philadelphia. The latter was able to overcome an absolutely dreadful start to finish with 96 losses when they were seemingly headed for 100-plus.
CLAUDE MARTIN - BOSTON (N)
In the so-called Junior Circuit, the race was the best the loop has seen since its beginning in 1901. Five clubs had realistic chances at the flag entering the final month of play. The defending champions from Washington, whose dynasty had dominated the league since 1903, had a horrid start due to injuries and the retirement of Harvey Cart, but straightened out enough to finish with a respectable 81-73 record, good for fifth place. The pennant winners came from Detroit, which was able to post an 88-66 record - two games better than Cleveland. Boston (3 back) and Philadelphia (4 back) were also in the chase right to the end. The Tigers won the pennant on the strenghth of the league's best pitching, with a 1.88 team ERA, nearly a half-run better than the league average of 2.34. Reginald Filligree, earning his nickname of 'Cyclone', blew away the competition with a 32-10 mark and 1.17 earned run average. With Clyde Reese (22-15, 1.76) the Tigers have their own 1-2 punch to counter that of National League titlist St. Louis. The question you may have is: how good is the Tigers' lineup? Detroit had a collective batting average of .236 in a league with a .237 average, so they are, in a word: average. But their pitching was good enough to carry the lackluster lineup whose only real hitting star is third sacker Enoch Leeds (.312 average).
REGINALD FILLIGREE - DETROIT
Cleveland, with a bona fide ace pitcher of its own in Larry Singer, was probably the favorite to take home the '07 flag when Washington faltered out of the gate. But despite a stellar season from Singer (30-15, 1.29 ERA, 265 Ks), the Blues just didn't have enough of a supporting cast to stay ahead of Detroit. Despite the late season addition of outfielder Dick Paper, who contributed a .268 average in 26 games after coming to the Blues from Milwaukee of the American Association, Cleveland's offense was subpar in September and October when it counted most and though their season mark was a solid .252, they didn't come through down the stretch and it likely cost the Blues the pennant. Boston and Philadelphia each rode a superb star throughout the season, but their lack of supporting players cost them in the final reckoning. With Sean McGonigle reasserting his position as the game's top hitter (.348 average to lead all hitters), Boston was right there in the fight all season long. An ironman performance by Bob Batts in Philadelphia, decimated by injuries to its pitching staff, saw him win 38 games (in 64 starts), which when coupled with the .344 average of Newt Madewell, kept the Athletics a factor throughout the campaign. Washington was joined in the second division by Chicago and St. Louis (both 72-82 for the year) and the absolutely horrid New York Highlanders, whose 48-106 record set a new league mark for futility.
SEAN MCGONIGLE - BOSTON (A)