[legendsport]

The National's "wait & see" attitude didn't result in too much waiting before they got to see what the American League was going to do. As he had intimated, Byron Standish removed the leashes on his club presidents (most of whom had been involved in some manner with the National League before hooking up with Standish and the Westerners). It was open season on any player whose contract was merely "reserved."

About 15 players took immediate advantage of the situation, led by Harvey Cart of Brooklyn. Cart was a batting champion and an excellent all-around player at second base. It didn't take long for him to ditch Brooklyn for a doubling of his salary with Washington's new AL club. Other players, many of them young, up & coming stars also jumped ship to the new league - names such as Fred Johnson, Tavis Petticrew, Maurice Foley and Sean McGonigle were soon signing their names to contracts with American League clubs.

The National League was bleeding and it didn't take long for the magnates to take notice. The question was: how to stop the bleeding? The apparent - and for the magnates, distasteful - answer was simple: pay their players more or see them walk away for Standish's loop.


Harvey Cart of Washington

[legendsport]

The Boston Beaneaters and Pittsburgh Pirates have emerged as the powers in the National League - though this comes with the caveat that the season is very, very young. Pittsburgh (19-6) and Boston (18-6) emerged from the ravages of the American League's raids this offseason with strong rosters (some of that strength coming from the NL clubs' own raids on the helpless Eastern League).

Boston's Dixie Russell is currently leading the NL in batting at .449 while Pittsburgh's Fritz Behrens (.420) is second. Pittsburgh's Ralph Jeffers is a perfect 6-0 on the season with a 1.15 earned run average. His team mate Carl Martin leads the NL in ERA with a 0.30 mark, and is 4-2 on the season.

In the upstart American League, Philadelphia is sitting atop the standings with a 13-6 mark, with Milwaukee right behind at 10-5. Milwaukee's Emory Crisp, a holdover from the club's minor circuit days, is hitting .500 to lead the league while his team mate Harvey Barry (another carryover from the old Western League) has a perfect 0.00 earned run mark.

[legendsport]

As the calendar page turns to July, the American League race is shaping up to be a great one. Philadelphia and Washington are knotted at the top of the standings with identical 33-26 records. Milwaukee (30-26) is a game and a half off the pace. With Boston four back and both Chicago and Cleveland four-and-a-half back, the race is wide open. Even the last-place Baltimore club is only eight games behind the leaders.

The National League, on the other hand, is shaping up into a two-horse race. Boston continues to set the pace with a stellar 45-18 record, good for a .714 winning percentage. Pittsburgh, at 41-23, is four-and-a-half back, but within shouting distance and has been getting the top-notch pitching necessary to chase down a pennant. The great records of the top two has left New York (34-30) a distant third despite a relatively strong showing thus far. Cincinnati (34-34) is showing a rebound from recent disappointments and may be shaping up to become a contender in the near future.

The Boston Beaneaters' Heinie Staudenmaier is hitting .394 to top both leagues in batting average while Milwaukee's Harry Lynch, who bolted the Phillies this past winter, is leading the American League with a .365 mark. Washington's Ken Lammers is the first hurler to notch fifteen victories this season while Pittsburgh's Claude Martin has been phenomenal with an ERA of 0.65 - an incredible mark.


CLAUDE MARTIN

[legendsport]

The Philadelphia Athletics have created some separation between themselves and the pack in the American League pennant race. The Athletics (53-33) were 20-7 in July and now hold a seven game lead over second-place Milwaukee (44-38) with three other teams (Boston, Chicago and Washington) all sitting tied for third-best at 44-40. "Slim Jim" Larson, who had been unable to break into the regular lineup in three seasons with Pittsburgh in the National League, has been the key producer in the Athletics' lineup. Larson currently leads all hitters in both leagues with a .374 average.

In the National League, Boston continues to set the pace with a stellar 62-27 mark thru the end of July. The Beaneaters seem to be cruising to a third-consecutive pennant behind Heinie Staudenmaier (.367 average, tops in the NL) and Mike O'Halloran (68 runs driven in). The Beaneaters only competition comes from the Pittsburgh nine. The Pirates are a mere four games back and with Fritz Behrens (.358 average) and the surprising Carl Martin (1.70 ERA), Pittsburgh may have the talent to catch the streaking Bostons.


Michael O'Halloran, Boston (NL)

[legendsport]

As the calendar page turns to September and the final push for the pennant begins, it appears that the race may already be over in both the National and American Leagues. Both the Boston Beaneaters and Philadelphia Athletics have firm control over their respective circuits.

Boston holds a nine-game advantage over the second-place Pittsburgh club in the National while Philadelphia has a 10-game edge on Boston in the American.

Pickles Dill of the Cincinnati club has a .365 average to lead the National in batting, an identical average to that of the two men: Slim Jim Larson (Philadelphia) and the ageless Tom Ewart (Cleveland) sitting atop the American League batting charts. Ewart, the 39-year-old playing manager of Cleveland, is the all-time hit king in baseball history, having recorded 3170 safeties thus far in a career stretching back to the 1879 campaign.

On the pitcher's side of things, Beaneater Pat Daly has amassed 23 victories to lead the National while Bob Batts, The "California Cannon" has 21 wins for Philadelphia to top the American League's charts. Milwaukee's Robby Watson (formerly of Cincinnati in the National) leads the AL in ERA with a 1.83 mark while the 2.21 mark of Pittsburgh's Owen Upjohn is tops in the National.

Cincinnati's Jasper Ellis has struck out 219 men this season as he closes in on 1000 in his career (he currently has 924). Ellis throws with such speed that some wonder how long his arm will hold up. A fellow youngster who throws hard, St. Louis' Lionel Frace, has a dead arm and is currently resting up. Ellis has thus far proven extremely durable, and has also shown signs of harnessing his raw power as his number of free passes, though still somewhat alarming, is decreasing as he matures.


FLOYD "PICKLES" DILL

[legendsport]

The 1901 season is in the books!

The Boston Beaneaters and Philadelphia Athletics each ended up winning their respective League's pennants with relative ease. Rumors of a post-season series between the two were quickly squashed by officials from the National League which refuses to acknowledge the legitimacy of the "upstart" American circuit, leaving fans to wonder just which team is the true champion.

The Beaneaters had a tremendous campaign in winning their third consecutive National League pennant. Boston finished with 94 wins in its 140 games, good for a twelve-game cushion over the second-place Pittsburgh Pirates. Stanley Sweetwater, Boston's ace pitcher, also had a momentous season, winning his 200th career game on October 1st (a 9-2 win over Pittsburgh) less than a month after throwing a no-hit, no-walk game against the same Pittsburgh club, missing out on a perfect game by a pair of fielding errors. For his career, Sweets is 200-84 with a 2.75 earned run average.

Boston's always potent lineup also produced in tremendous fashion in '01. Heinie Staudenmaier hit .349 to lead the club and was 5th in the National League (Floyd Dill of Cincinnati was the batting champion at .365). Mick O'Halloran had the best season of his five-year career, scoring 132 runs and hitting .340 for the year. Rocky Hennessey, the English-born outfielder who came over after the Cleveland Spiders were folded in 1899, followed a .341 campaign in 1900 by hitting .333 in 1901. And Claude Martin, the "California Kid," was plucked from an orange field in southern California and hit .331 in his first professional baseball since 1899.

The American League champion Phildelphia club also dominated their loop. The Athletics won 88 contests, ten better than their nearest competition (the Boston Americans) to win the first American League pennant. The club was led by Slim Jim Larson, a talented 25-year-old outfielder who jumped from Pittsburgh of the National League. Larson had been a backup for the Pirates, but given a chance in Philadelphia, he shone with a league-best .367 average. Other standouts were catcher Stumpy Walker (.304) and shortstop Larry Patterson (101 runs, .299 average).

The Athletics also sported some great pitching, with Jim Kirby leading the way. The slow-talking, tobacco-chewing Alabaman was dubbed "Southern Comfort" by his team mates and he provided a lot of comfort, leading the league in earned run average at 2.10 and posting a 20-12 record in his first season outside the Southern Association. Kirby's young protege, 21-year-old Bob Batts (who earned the moniker the California Cannon for his speed ball), also showed he's ready for the big-time, winning 24 games and striking out 152 batters.

The Erie club was the toast of the Eastern League, winning 81 and losing just 39 to leave second-place Providence 13 games behind.

[legendsport]

The New York Giants are setting a blistering pace in the National League pennant race and have opened up a 13.5-game lead over the Brooklyn Superbas. With Dell Coyne hitting .357 and both Paul Samples and Deacon White collecting hits at over a .325 clip, the Giants' offense is strong but the pitching is what has New York winning at a .766 pace.

With newcomer Long Island Lonnie Tauber winning 10 of his first 13 career decisions while posting a 1.94 earned run average, and with Aidan O'Day (2.11), Bernard Berry (2.26) and Clive Hines (2.27) also extremely effective, the New York pitching staff is more than a half-run better at 2.20 than their nearest competitor.

In the American League, Cleveland continues to surprise, leading the league with a 42-20 record, a game and a half ahead of Washington. Unlike New York, the Cleveland nine is winning on the strength of the most potent offense in baseball. The Blues are the only club in either league whose collective batting average is over .300, and are .036 above the AL average. Orville Taylor leads the club with a .355 mark, following on the heels of his .343 average last season. Joining the hit parade for Cleveland is ageless wonder Tom Ewart (.332) who may never retire and Rocky Hennessey (.311) who jumped to the Blues from the Boston National club, returning to the city where he began his professional career.

The game's top hitter is St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Milt "Cumby" Cumberledge with a .388 average while Boston Americans pitcher Jeb Brewer is knotted with Washington hurler Harlan Holladay with a 1.53 earned run average, to top all pitchers.


Lonnie Tauber

[legendsport]

The biggest story of the 1902 season continues to be the surprising Cleveland Blues. The Cleveland nine has led the American League pennant race from the very beginning, maintaining a steady four-game edge over their competition. The St. Louis and Washington clubs are currently knotted just behind Cleveland as they hope to catch and pass the Blues with the season entering August.

In the National League, the New York Giants continue to dominate. The Gotham nine wins nearly three out of every four times they take the field and holds a commanding seventeen-and-a-half game lead over the second-place Brooklyn club. The hub-bub in New York isn't over whether the Giants will win the pennant, but whether they will set a new National League victory standard in doing so.

Harvey Cart, the former Brooklyn standout who jumped to the American Washington club in 1901, is leading the Junior loop in batting with a .385 average. This is nothing new for old "Dog & Pony" who has a .342 career mark, with his all-time high of .390 coming back in 1900 for the Brooklyns. His National League counterpart, also sporting a spiffy .385 average, is Milton Cumberledge. Cumby is a relative newcomer to the top of the batting charts, with a .317 career mark and a high of .321 which came in his debut season of 1899 with the old Batimore club.

The victory leaders in each respective league also have identical marks: 19. Aidan O'Day of the New York Giants tops the National League, while Victor Parson of St. Louis leads the American League.


Milton Cumberledge

[legendsport]

As the season swings into the home stretch, the National League appears to be all but sewn up. The New York Giants are 84-31 and well on their way to an early pennant celebration with a commanding 22.5 game lead over the second-place Brooklyn Superbas. The Giants have the National's top winning pitcher and the league's stingiest as well - and they're not the same pitcher. Aidan O'Day has 23 victories while team mate Bernard Berry has a 1.82 earned run mark (with a "mere" 19 wins). Lest you think New York is all pitching and no hitting, the club also sports a .282 collective average, tops in the National League.

Over in the so-called "Junior Circuit" the Cleveland Blues continues to set the pace, holding the St. Louis Browns at arm's length with a four-game lead. Cleveland's ageless wonder, playing-manager Tom Ewart, leads all of baseball in circuit clouts with 11 and also has 79 runs batted in to lead his club. His .330 average shows that even at age 40, the Hit King is still defending his kingdom.

Washington's Harvey Cart, flirting with a .400 average (he's at .393) is also trying to fend off Detroit's Jack "Sweets" Honeywell, who hit .444 in July and has raised his average to .388 for the year. Milt Cumberledge of the St. Louis Cardinals continues to lead the National League with a .374 average.

[legendsport]

The 1902 campaign saw the National League have its pennant race decided early while the American League featured a much closer and exciting chase for the flag.

The New York Giants quickly established themselves as the class of the National League, and ended up with an impressive 103 victories in a runaway that saw them finish 26 games ahead of the Brooklyn Superbas. The defending-champion Boston Beaneaters were derailed by a rash of injuries and finished third with a 73-67 record.

The Giants powerful pitching proved too much for the rest of the National League clubs. Aidan O'Day (29-8, 2.16 ERA), Bernard Berry (23-7, 1.84 ERA), Clive Hines (24-9, 2.36) and Lonnie Tauber (18-9, 2.49) were the league's top quartet with O'Day the league's top winner and Berry its most stingy hurler. The offense was provided by Davey White (.333, 103 runs), Paul Samples (.338, 91 runs), Dell Coyne (.324, 101 runs) and Bruno Barbella (.281, 100 runs).

While New York was running away with the pennant in the National, the American League had its race come down to the wire. Cleveland was the surprise leader for the bulk of the season, but could not hold off the defending champions from Philadelphia as the Athletics ended up winning the pennant with a 84-51 record.

Injuries had the Athletics scuffling a bit this season, with such stalwarts as Fred Johnson playing only 104 games, though he did hit .324 for the season and scored 84 runs. The pitching prowess was provided by Bob Batts (19-5, 2.22 ERA), Eric Frontz (20-13, 2.18) and Jim Kirby (21-13, 2.89).

Top individual performances were turned in by Washington's Harvey Cart, whose .394 average topped both leagues, with Detroit's Jack Honeywell (.382) second in the American League. St. Louis Cardinal Milton Cumberledge hit .371 to lead the National with young Boston star Claude Martin finishing second with a .367 average. The ageless wonder in Cleveland, Tom Ewart topped the home run chart with 12, with Floyd Dill of Cincinnati topping the National with 11. Ewart's Cleveland team mate Orville Taylor had 104 runs batted in to lead the American while Cincinnati's George Hinkley was the National leader with 97. While Hinkley & Dill provided the offensive punch for the Reds, the Baxter Bullet was setting down the opposition in Cincinnati with 240 strikeouts before ending his season with an arm injury. New York's Bernard Berry was the ERA leader at 1.84 in the National while Eric Frontz of the Athletics topped the AL.


Harvey Cart

[legendsport]

June 1, 1903:

The New York Giants are up to their old tricks again, as they end May with a stellar .725 winning percentage and a three-game edge over Boston in the National League standings. The Giants are doing it with a well-rounded game: they are neither tops in National League batting (2nd at .270) nor pitching (tied for 4th at 2.77), but do lead the loop in the oft-overlooked category of fielding. Their 58 errors are 14 less than the next-best club (2nd-place Boston) and their .967 percentage is tops in both leagues.

The American League's current leaders do have the game's best batting: the Detroit Tigers currently are hitting .294 which is not only 23 percentage points better than the next best in the American circuit (Cleveland at .271), but also 15 points better than the National's leader (Boston). The Tigers have the most triples and home runs as well, though they are suprisingly last in stolen bases and "only" third in doubles. Still, they have scored 218 runs, far more than any other club and even 15 better than the National's best (New York).

Fred Johnson, aka "Frederick the Great" is hitting .411 for the Philadelphia Athletics to lead all of base ball in batting. Detroit's Jack Honeywell is also doing well with a nice round .400 average. Boston's Heinie Staudenmaier leads the National with a .364 average.

Boston Beaneater Stanley Sweetwater is the National's winningest pitcher with 12 victories thus far, while Detroit's Moses Helton has 10 to lead the Junior Circuit.

[legendsport]

Despite a 15-11 month, the Detroit Tigers lead the American League pennant race, with a three-game edge on the Washington Senators. Likewise, the National League leaders, the New York Giants, were also middling in June, with a 14-13 record, but currently holds a four-game edge on the second-place Beaneaters.

Speaking of the Beaneaters, their star player Heinie Staudenmaier has a .399 batting average as he seeks his first .400 season and second batting title after his .369 mark led the NL in 1899. Rocky Hennessey of Cleveland currently leads the American League with a .382 average.

Stanley Sweetwater of the Boston Beaneaters has 18 wins to currently lead the National League, while there are three AL hurlers tied with 14 wins.

[legendsport]

Yep, The Chronicle is still going... it was on hiatus for a bit, but we're getting ready for 1904 right now and here's a bio on one of the game's biggest stars, the recently retired Charlie Shanafelt:

Charles Robert Shanafelt was born in North Canton, Ohio on June 22, 1864. His father, Horace, a blacksmith by trade, was in the Union Army at the time, serving with General Sherman's army as it "Marched to the sea."

Young Charlie was a rambunctious child, often getting into mischief. He discovered base ball at an early age and it was a pursuit his father, who had played in the Army, approved of despite his mother Mary's aversion to it. To Horace's delight, not only did Charlie enjoy the game, but he also quickly demonstrated a high degree of skill as a batsman. By the time the lad was 12 he was playing with boys three and four years older than he and holding his own.

Charlie joined a barnstorming team at age 16 causing a huge fight between his parents - his mother forbade his leaving, but his father quietly handed the boy $20 and wished him luck. Leaving his mother in tears, Charlie joined his team, which had dubbed itself the Superbas and toured Ohio and Pennsylvania during the summer of 1881, celebrating his 17th birthday by hitting for the cycle in Harrisburg.

Later that summer, he was signed by York of the Pennsylvania League for the balance of the 1881 season and he also spent 1882 in the Penn League, hitting over .400 and ultimately drawing the attention of Ben Groves, who would sign him the next spring to play in the American Association for the New York Metropolitans.

In 1883 Charlie Shanafelt arrived in New York where he quickly showed himself to be a star in the making. He hit .350 to lead his club in batting. He also showed a penchant for breaking curfew and though his nightly excursions became legendary, they also earned him the moniker "Traveler" after his roommate, young catcher George Christian was asked where Shanafelt had gone and replied, "He's out travelin' - you know Charlie."

Shanafelt may have been a nighttime wanderer, but it didn't hurt his play in the days that followed. Charlie would play 21 seasons at baseball's top level, spending three years with the Mets before he was sold to the National League's New York Giants. After four years with the Giants, Shanafelt jumped to the Player's League, but stayed in New York (presumably the plethora of nightly distractions made him a fan of New York City).

Where Shanafelt really made his mark though, was when the Player's League experiment failed and he signed on with the Brooklyn club of the National League. Shanafelt became a fixture in center field with Brooklyn and spent ten years there, with yearly appearances amongst the league leaders in hits and batting average (as well as curfews broken). His 'wandering' ways led him to take a spot with the fledgling American League's Milwaukee entry in 1901, but he spent just one unhappy year in the Midwest before returning to Brooklyn in 1902 and ending his career there in 1903 with a .334 lifetime average and a hit total of 3197, behind only Tom Ewart and Otto Bentz on the all-time list.

[legendsport]

The race for the pennant in the National League is shaping up to be one for the ages. Four teams are grouped together at the top, with Brooklyn currently holding a slight half-game edge on Boston and St. Louis and the defending champion New York club, just one-and-a-half games back. Brooklyn is thus far succeeding by employing well-rounded team play. They neither lead the circuit in batting nor pitching, but are near the top in both, and therefore hold their slight edge on the competition.

The Boston Americans club sports the current batting leader in Sean McGonigle. "The Mighty Mick" is hitting .373 thus far, showing consistency: he hit .372 in 1903 and has a lifetime mark of .359 through his four previous seasons and the start of his fifth. St. Louis in the National has the top batting in either league, with 233 runs scored, and most of the credit can be given to the Cardinals' duo of Harry Valentine (.365) and Milton Cumberledge (.366).

The American League race is less exciting than that of the "Senior Circuit," with the defending champions from the nation's capital currently enjoying a five-and-a-half game lead over Detroit. The Senators' 30-13 record is the best in either league and ace hurler Pat Krieger's 13 victories are four more than his nearest competitors.


SEAN MCGONIGLE

[legendsport]

As the season swings into the heat of the summer, the pennant race in the National League continues to sizzle with four teams in the chase. The front-runner continues to be the Brooklyn Superbas, who currently hold a slight two-game edge on the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Beaneaters while the defending-champion New York Giants are four back.

In the American League, the two-horse race between Washington and Detroit has dissolved into an apparent runaway for the Capital City Nine. The Senators enjoy an 11-game cushion over the Tigers, with the Philadelphia Athletics 12 back and Cleveland sitting at 34-34 is 13.5 games off the pace.

Sean McGonigle of the Boston Americans continue to set the pace in the batter's race. His .373 mark is well ahead of Philadelphia Athletics' shortstop Newt Madewell (.354) and also tops the National's best - St. Louis' Milton Cumberledge (.356) and his team mate Hugh Harris (.354). Paddy Murphy rounds out a trio of hot hitting Cardinals with a .350 average, putting the the three top Senior Circuit batting averages all in heart of the St. Louis lineup.

Washington's Pat Krieger has become the first man to the 20-victory mark this season. Krieger is currently 20-4 with a 1.60 earned run average and is clearly the top pitcher in all of baseball thus far in 1904. He is first in wins in either league, and fifth (fourth in the AL) in earned run average.


PAT KRIEGER

[legendsport]

Here's what a 21-4 month will do for you: catapult your team into first place. The New York Giants, who dominated the National League in both 1902 and 1903 started a bit sluggishly in 1904, but turned it on in July, with a 21-4 month to catch, pass and put some distance between themselves and Brooklyn. The Superbas, over the same period, went 12-13, including dropping 3 out of 4 to New York, and enter August sitting five and a half games behind the streaking Giants. With two months remaining on the schedule, Brooklyn needs to right their ship if they're to stay in the race for the pennant.

In the American League, the Senators continue to lead the pennant race, ending July 17-11 and 12.5 games ahead of the Tigers as they seek to become the first repeat pennant winner in the Junior Circuit. The Athletics have moved ahead of Cleveland and Detroit into second place.

Sean McGonigle of the Boston Americans continues to be the best hitter in the game, with a .363 average thus far. Hugh Harris' .350 mark for the Cardinals is the National League's best average. Washington's Pat Krieger has 22 victories to lead all pitchers while Brooklyn's Little Lion, Leo Rosen has 19 to pace the National League.

In the "minor" leagues, the Newark Sailors lead the Eastern League with a 60-29 record, good for a two-game edge on the second-place Rochester Bronchos, with perennial contender Montreal sitting six-and-a-half back. In the midwest's American Association, Louisville is running away with the pennant. The Colonels are 60-31 and hold a nine-game edge on the Columbus Senators. And out west in the Pacific Coast League, there's quite a pennant race going on. Portland and San Francisco are tied at 75-61 and Seattle is right there with them at 73-63.


LEO ROSEN

[legendsport]

It looks like the World Series teams from 1903 are on a collision course for a repeat engagement in 1904. The Giants may have started sluggishly in the National League pennant race, but they have turned it on since July 1 and now hold a commanding 13 game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals, with Boston 14 back and the once-leading Brooklyn Superbas in fourth, 16 and a half games out.

The American League race is also all but over, with the Washington Senators enjoying a 12 game lead over the second-place Cleveland club.


BRUNO BARBELLA
NEW YORK (N)

[legendsport]

The bigs news at the end of the championship seasons in the National and American Leagues was the refusal by the New York Giants to play the planned "World Championship Series" against the AL Champions. "We beat those fellas last year," opined Paul Samples, the star outfielder of the Giants. "I reckon the owners figure nothing much has changed."

So the fans are left without the promised championship series and the uproar will give them something to talk about during the long winter months.

As for the regular season, the pennant races were essentially over at the end of August. The Giants ended up winning the NL flag by a robust 13 games over the St. Louis Cardinals by virtue of finishing with a 104-50 record. The Senators posted a slightly better 14 game cushion over the AL runners-up from Cleveland, finishing 102-52 for the season.

The batting crown (another race that seemingly ended by around mid-season) went to Boston Americans' star Sean McGonigle. The Mighty Mick posted a .382 mark and was a full thirty percentage points better than his nearest AL rival, Philly's Newt Madewell (.352) and 51 points better than the NL batting champion: St. Louis' Milt Cumberledge (.341).

Pitching was the name of the game in '04 and Washington's Pat Krieger had a heckuva season. Krieger was 31-11 with a 1.76 ERA for the AL champs, tossing 391 innings in his 44 starts. There was a tie atop the NL winner board with New York's Aidan O'Day and St. Louis' Tommy Powell each posting 27 victories. Powell was 27-4 with a tidy 1.61 ERA while O'Day was 27-11 with a 1.55 ERA. O'Day's Giant team mate Fred McDonnell was the ERA champ with a 1.49 mark, while Detroit's Reginald Filligree paced the AL with a 1.59 mark.

The Eastern League champion was the Newark Sailors, who posted a 98-42 mark and finished four games ahead of Rochester. Rochester's Jersey Joe Reed was the batting champion with a .426 mark while Buffalo's John Whitaker made news by recording 31 round trippers this season.

In the American Association, the Louisville Colonels repeated as Association champs, posting a 92-48 mark to finish 14 games ahead of Columbus. Milwaukee's Pat Mastin was the AA batting titlist with a .324 mark while Colonels' pitcher Don Hunsacker was 21-6 and posted a league-best 1.31 ERA to stake his claim as the top hurler in the circuit.

Out west, the Pacific Coast League season ends in a week, and the pennant race between Portland and Seattle is coming down to the wire. Seattle (114-89) currently has a two-game edge on the Browns (112-91) as the marathon PCL season winds down.


PAUL SAMPLES

[legendsport]

A new season has dawned and the ball parks are again alive with the sounds of wooden bats striking horsehide. Though the rooting interests for each of the eight clubs in the respective leagues have high hopes for the season, many will wilt as spring turns to summer. But right now, all is right with the world as another campaign gets underway.

In the National League, the powerhouse New York Giants club appears to be replaying their formula of 1904. To wit, they have started slowly. This did not prove to be their undoing in '04 and I doubt many of the Gotham nine's followers are sweating following a sluggish 6-8 April. A lot of base ball remains to be played. Currently the Giants' accustomed top spot is jointly held by the Boston Beaneaters and Cincinnati Reds.

In the American League, the twice-defending champions from the national capital are not following the Giants' plan, but have rather come of the gate quickly and ride a 12-4 April into May atop the standings board. They are followed by their familiar chasers from a year ago - Boston and Cleveland.

Out west on the Pacific Coast, the appropriately named Pacific Coast League is already well-established on its marathon (200 game) season. The Seattle club currently holds the top spot with a 33-17 record on the strength of the batting of Oscar Leitch (.371) and Floyd Volpe, and a trio of top-notch hurlers in Chuck Flinn (8-1, 2.33), Frank Coil (8-1, 2.44) and Ellis Wallace (5-3, 2.57).

The other significant "minor" circuits - the Eastern League and American Association have both begun their seasons this past week and it is obviously very early. More reports on their campaigns will be forthcoming.


CHUCK FLINN, SEATTLE (PCL)

[legendsport]

The month of May will begin to show the patterns which will overlay this season in both the National and American Leagues. In the former, the Boston Beaneaters continue to lead the circuit, though the lead is slim and there are many suitors seeking a date with the American League's champion in the World Series this fall.

It was something of a Jekyll & Hyde fortnight for the Beaneaters - they traveled to New York for a four-game set with the Giants and swept them. Then the teams shared a train to Boston and the visitors promptly returned the favor with a four-game sweep of their own. Then Boston traveled west to play Cincinnati where they dropped the first game of a four-game set before bouncing back to win the final three. So the Beaneaters' ledger for May shows seven up and five down and they hold a one-game advantage on the St. Louis Cardinals (with Chicago and New York two back and Cincinnati two-and-a-half off the pace).

In the American League, the Washington nine continue to lead the circuit. The Senators have won eight of twelve ballgames thus far and hold a 20-9 mark overall this season. That's good for a three-game cushion over the Cleveland Blues. The big news in the nation's capital isn't President Roosevelt's efforts to mediate the Russo-Japanese War - it is rather the efforts of opposing bats to settle with Senators pitcher Harlan Holladay. The pride of Mountain View, Arkansas has an 8-1 record with a 0.81 earned run average and has allowed just 57 hits and 8 walks over his 89 innings spread over ten games this season. With Pat Krieger and Wes Luttier also pitching well, the Senators look to be hard to beat in the so-called Junior Circuit this season.

Sean McGonigle of the Boston Americans is back in his spot as the top hitter in all of baseball. McGonigle sports a solid .384 mark as he seeks a third-straight batting crown. His National League counterpart, Harry Valentine of St. Louis (.376) hit a snag in his chase when he collided at second base with Enos Sayer of the Chicagos in a successful attempt at a double on the May 15. He will miss about a week.

In the early going, Providence has a 16-9 record atop the Eastern League. The American Association is led by the 14-8 Louisville Colonels. And out west, where the season is in full swing, the Seattle Siwashes continue to lead the Pacific Coast League with a 40-24 mark.


HARLAN HOLLADAY, WASHINGTON (AL)