Pastime Baseball League
May Review (cont.)
Leaders as of June 1, 2012
The New York Heroes have lost Bill Drake (4-4, 3.36) for the season with an elbow injury, a tough end to a great 19-8 month that has seen the Heroes open up an 8 1/2 game lead over the Charlotte Cougars. Roger Connor (.279-13-53) is on pace for a great RBI year, while Irish Meusel leads the league in batting at .363. Jack Taylor, who has been both a starter and reliever during his three years with the Heroes will be inserted as the 5th starter in a rotation that leads the Northern League with a 3.67 ERA. Billy Byrd, Harry Howell and Frank Killen are a combined 21-7.
In addition to losing Andy Sonnanstine and Cliff Lee in April, the Charlotte Cougars are now without Matt Holliday (.350-3-22), who was off to a great start. Holliday has a bulging disc in his back and is out until the All-Star break. The time is nearing when the Pedro Feliz (.176-1-14) experiment at first base needs to be tabled. The high hopes for Matt Cain (3-6, 6.45), coming back successfully from shoulder surgery last year, have faded in the early going this season.
Other than leading baseball in homers, little went right in May for the Philadelphia Ringers. Charley Jones and John O'Rourke remain among the league leaders in homers, and rookie Jason Thompson hit .354 on the month. But John Anderson (.282-6-30) is the only starter hitting over .260 for the season, and pitching continues to struggle with a 4.50 ERA.
The Louisville Racers see Roy Oswalt (7-5, 4.30) and Dan Brouthers (.318-10-38) in their familiar leading roles, but struggles elsewhere. Hardy Richardson (.176-5-22) has given way to rookie Lou Whitaker at second base, at least part time. Lefty Marr hit .290 last year, is hitting .263 this year with no homers (after 18 last year).
The Indianapolis Engines may well be for real. Three starters hitting .330: Jake Beckley (.358), Elmer Flick (.335) and Wally Pipp (.335); the league's best bullpen (2.97, collectively); a dynamite closer in Joakim Soria (12 saves, 0.92 ERA); and a pitcher on pace for a 20-win season (Charley Radbourn, 8-2).
They lead the Wichita Brigade by only two games, after Wichita went 20-9 in May to burst from the cellar. The annual surprise star for Wichita this season seems to be Jim Whitney (7-1, 3.08). But it's Rube Waddell (8-2, 3.59) who's turning heads, having struck out a league-leading 112 batters in 95.1 innings and in his last start becoming the first PBL pitcher to top 1,000 strikeouts.
Pink Hawley has made six starts for the Chicago Hitmen. He's taken six losses. Four of those came during a May that saw the Hitmen go 12-16, and suffer the loss of rookie Len Barker (3-1, 3.63) to a shoulder strain. He should be back, and Hawley really didn't pitch that badly, posting a 4.08 ERA on the month. Babe Ruth (.311-4-22) also went down, with a back strain, but is expected back in about a week. Keep an eye on rookie Garry Templeton, who has 10 hits in his first 21 at bats and could push the struggling Troy Tulowitzski (.186) to the bench.
As for the Sacramento Stingers, they hope the imminent return of rookie Paul Molitor and Sam Bankhead (.295) to try and jumpstart and offense whose lone bright spot has been Brian McCann (.299-7-25). As for pitching...it's the league's worst. We'll leave it at that.
AWARDS
Player of the Week
5/7 SS Bill Yancey - Louisville Racers
5/14 1B Roger Connor - New York Heroes
5/21 2B Hub Collins - Wichita Brigade
5/28 LF Irish Meusel - New York Heroes
Hitter of the Month
1B Roger Connor - New York Heroes
Pitcher of the Month
Jim Whitney - Wichita Brigade
Rookie of the Month
1B Wally Pipp - Chicago Hitmen