Legends League
Team W L Pct GB L10 Strk
East
Pittsburgh Pirates 21 13 .618 - 6-4 W1
New York Mets 19 16 .543 2 1/2 6-4 L3
Brooklyn Bridegrooms 17 18 .486 4 1/2 4-6 W1
New York Giants 12 22 .353 9 2-8 L4
North
Toronto Blue Jays 17 17 .500 - 3-7 L1
Keokuk Westerns 17 18 .486 1/2 3-7 L2
Chicago Cubs 14 21 .400 3 1/2 3-7 W1
Montreal Royales 12 22 .353 5 5-5 W2
South
Havana Leones 25 10 .714 - 9-1 W3
Cincinnati Reds 24 10 .706 1/2 6-4 L1
Homestead Grays 16 19 .457 9 8-2 W4
Houston Astros 13 21 .382 11 1/2 4-6 L1
Union League
Team W L Pct GB L10 Strk
Atlantic
Newark Eagles 28 8 .778 - 9-1 W8
Philadelphia Athletics 19 16 .543 8 1/2 6-4 L1
Boston Beaneaters 17 19 .472 11 4-6 L2
New York Yankees 14 21 .400 13 1/2 5-5 L4
Continental
Chicago White Sox 20 15 .571 - 4-6 W3
Cleveland Spiders 15 20 .429 5 6-4 W4
Detroit Tigers 14 20 .412 5 1/2 3-7 L3
Washington Nationals 12 22 .353 7 1/2 3-7 L4
Pacific
San Francisco Seals 19 15 .559 - 7-3 W4
Orix Blue Wave 17 16 .515 1 1/2 4-6 W1
Tokyo Giants* 17 17 .500 2 6-4 W2
Seattle Pilots 15 18 .455 3 1/2 3-7 L7
¡La Habaneros es caliente!
Hitting, hitting and more hitting, the Boys from Havana are tearing up
the Legends League to the tune of a .319 Team Batting Average. That
mark is the best in both leagues. It is an amazing 42 points above the
next highest team in the Legends League, and 68 points above the
average for the Legends League. The Leones also have the highest On
Base Average (.371) and Slugging Percentage (.510) in both leagues.
They have hit the most Doubles in the Legends League (70), tied with
Newark for both leagues, and are out in front of both leagues in
Triples (26). They have the highest mark in RBI (209) and Runs (219) in
the Legends League, and second overall. Alejandro Oms is the team and
league leader in batting, currently standing at a stratospheric .422
mark with 8 HR, 30 Runs and 28 RBI. Oms is not alone, and in fact seven
of the eight in the starting lineup are batting over .300: José
Fernandez (.388), Cristobal Torriente (.382, 8 HR, 30 RBI, 28 Runs),
Perucho Cepeda (.368), Roberto Clemente (.367, 25 RBI, 23 Runs), Martin
Dihigo (.328, 30 RBI, 24 Runs), and Tony Perez (.328, 26 RBI). Only Rod
Carew (.273, 32 Runs), the leadoff batter, remains below .300. The
pitching has improved lately, and has contributed to the Leones
overtaking the Cincinnati ballclub for the first time. The Havana staff
is now third in the Legends League in ERA (3.72), second in Saves (9)
& Complete Games (7), and third in WHIP (1.28) & K's (207).
Most
of the season this solid team has led the South Division of the Legends
League despite troubles in the front office. Abandoned by their
original owner, and working with an interim Field Manager until their
new Owner and General Manager could take over, the Reds remained
perched atop their standings all season until this last game before
this writing. A 1-0 loss to Pittsburgh (21-13) coupled with a 6-3
Havana (25-10) win over the Mets saw the Redlegs (24-10) relinquish
their hold on first place for the first time. Now the question is: Can
the Reds regain the lead? They have the second best hitting (.277) and
pitching (3.66) in the Legends League, and are led by a variety of
stars. Tris Speaker (.383, 36 Runs) patrols centerfield, flanked by Al
Simmons (.354) and Shoeless Joe Jackson (.302, 31 RBI, 24 Runs). Josh
Gibson (.316, 7 HR, 20 RBI, 21 Runs) commands the home plate, while
Jimmie Foxx (.295, 9 HR, 28 RBI, 20 Runs) anchors the infield. Not to
be outdone, Mike Mussina (6-1, 2.23, 1 SHU) is the leader in the
rotation with Harry Brecheen (4-1, 2.87) and Noodles Hahn (4-2, 2.44).
Mustachioed Rollie Fingers (1-0, 0.90, 4 SV, 1 Hld) leads the charge
from a bullpen that also includes Tiny Bonham (1-0, 1.72, 1 Hld) and
Bob Stanley (0-1, 2.57, 1 Sv, 1 Hld). With the new General Manager
trolling for trades, and rumours of wholesale changes, the fans wonder
how long these favorites will remain in Cincinnati!
This
Pittsburgh ballclub wasn't supposed to be sitting this pretty (21-13)
in the East Division of the Legends League at this or any other
juncture. When the Metroplitans of New York stole The Bambino from
Boston the faithful in the Iron City gave up a collective moan. But the
Pirates themselves are not the innocents
of old, and led by fireballing closer Troy Percival (0-0, 0.64, 9 SV,
.000 IRS%), unflappable setup man John Franco (2-0, 1.04, 3 Hld)
and indomitable starter Ed Walsh (4-1, 1.17, 1 SHU) they have pursued
and overtaken the Mets by 2 1/2 games at this writing. It hasn't been
just pitching either, as their third-best batting (.261) in the Legends
League attests. Henry Kimbro (.333, 25 Runs, 13 SB) in centerfield, Pop
Lloyd (.275, 25 Runs) at shortstop, Rogers Hornsby (.279, 23 Runs, 20
RBI) at second base provide strength up the middle. Newcomer Gabby
Hartnett is expected to solidify that axis by providing stalwart
defense and timely hitting from behind the dish. True, there was some
unsteadiness early on as some in the lineup seemed to have large holes
in their bats, but that weakness has worn away and even the much
maligned Billy Francis (.260, .351 OBA) has righted himself. Now if
only Randy Johnson (2-5, 5.43) and Dave Stieb (2-4, 3.72) can join Bob
Feller (5-2, 3.54), Urban Shocker (1-0, 3.30) and the aforementioned
brightest stars on the roster in playing solid base ball, there will be
a tremendous race here in the East.
The
only no-hitter of the year belongs to ChiSox curveballer Bert Blyleven
(5-2, 3.88, 3 CG, 2 SHU). But he's not alone in leading this club
(20-15) to the top of the Continental Division of the Union League. The
team is fourth in the Union League in pitching (3.71) as Blyleven is
joined in the rotation by knuckleballer Phil Niekro (3-1, 2.72) and
control artist Tom Seaver (4-2, 3.21, 2 CG, 1 SHU). The bullpen boasts
Goose Gossage (1-2, 1.80, 6 SV, 3 Hld), Red Faber (0-1, 1.59) and Orval
Overall (1-0, 2.79, 1 Hld) to keep games close enough for a struggling
lineup to capture as wins. Dick Allen (.336, 9HR, 31 RBI, 22 Runs) will
not be denied by anyone as he attempts to win games almost on his own
from the offensive viewpoint. Dick Lundy (.308, 26 Runs) at shortstop
has heard the beat of the bat in Chicago, but precious few others have.
Though Roy Campanella (.238, 7 HR), Hank Greenberg (.214, 7 HR) and
Wally Berger (.151, 6HR) have launched a few out of the confines of
Comiskey, their batting averages leave a lot to be desired. In this
early going a lot is being placed on a few pitching arms that have to
stay healthy and strong. But if Dazzy Vance (2-3, 5.22) can overcome
his early season injury, and Mike Marshall (0-1, 8.74, 3 SV, 2 Hld) can
settle down and pitch like he is capable of, then perhaps the team can
be carried all the way to the post-season on the broad shoulders of
Dick Allen.
The
Union League Pacific Division has been the tightest race through all of
the season so far. All 4 ballclubs has had a piece of first place at
one point or another, but the San Francisco club (19-15) has just taken
what amounts to a commanding lead in this division at 1 1/2 games
over the Orix Blue Wave. The Seals did this by going 7-3 in their
last 10, while Seattle toppled to a tune of 3-7, and Orix fell at 4-6.
Kevin Brown (4-0, 1.86, 2 CG, 1 SHU) hasn't been punching any dugout
walls since he is enjoying ace status right now. He leads the way for
Christy Mathewson (2-1, 2.10, 1 CG, 1 SHU), Smokey Joe Williams (4-2,
3.02, 2 CG, 2 SHU) and Stan Coveleski (3-2, 3.16, 2 CG) to bring
in a solid rotation and second best (3.49) overall staff in the Union
League. Good pitching is necessary because the lineup has had a
major hiccup at the plate, in the basement of the Union League in
regards to team batting (.202, .285 OBA). Roberto Alomar (.268, 23
Runs, 21 RBI) and a slumping Joe DiMaggio (.252, 11HR, 28 RBI, 26 Runs)
lead the offense that for a time had only Joltin' Joe to look forward
to. Jeff Bagwell at .124 is the epitomy of the batting struggles this
club has gone through, and unfortunately for Bagwell the General
Manager has gone out and traded for Keokuk's George Sisler (.125) to
try and jumpstart the hitting. Luckily for San Francisco diminutive
lefty Bobby Shantz (2-0, 2.21, 2 Hld) and side-arming righty Gene
Garber (1-0, 3.09, 1 Hld) has successfully led a bullpen charged with
keeping the score close because the offense can't score runs.
Often
mistaken for a catbird by non-bird fanciers, the blue jay can be just
as raucous and almost as domineering. But these Blue Jays have softly
slid into the lead in their Legends League North Division. At 17-17
they cannot be said to be in good shape, but they are in a catbird seat
for the nonce so we'll discuss their merits over that of the New York
Mets (19-16) and Philadelphia Athletics (19-16), who even though have
better records can only claim second place. No team seems willing to
pull ahead in the North, with Toronto, Keokuk and the Cubs all going
3-7 in the last 10. Montreal, at 5-5, may have started to pull out of
their nose dive so their companion Canadians better take note. Toronto
comes in 3rd-worst in batting (.233) in the Legends League, and 7th in
pitching with the league average 4.26 ERA. They can't find solace in
their fielding (.972) either, as they come in 2nd-last. However, this
team has won when it had to, and that is the important part no matter
what else is brought to the fore. Sammy Sosa (.306, 5 HR, 15 RBI, 14
Runs) and Larry Walker (.265, 5 HR, 12 Runs, 11 RBI) have settled into
a productive platoon in right field, while Derek Jeter (.273, 24 Runs),
Edgardo Alfonzo (.261, 17 RBI, 17 Runs) and Sadaharu Oh (.250, 8HR, 21
RBI, 26 Runs) anchor the lineup. Robb Nen (2-0, 1.83, 9 SV) has been
superlative as the closer, and Curt Schilling (4-3, 3.25, 4 CG) has
shown flashes of brilliance in the starting nod. Rumours have
circulated that a big trade is coming down the pike for this club, and
we will have to wait and see if that enables them to maintain their
lead.