Who's Hot? Who's Not?

RED-HOT!

1935 PITTSBURGH CRAWFORDS 

         The Crawfords continue to roll with their record-setting (and current) 8 game winning-streak, they have a plus 25 scoring differential against their opponents, a two-game division lead on the 9-3 Chicago Cubs of 1929 -- all while the team is batting .296!
         Satchel Paige, may be the early choice for the Cy Young Award, with a 3-0 record, 2 Saves, 1.24 ERA, 22 K's & 2 BB's in 29 innings pitched. Leroy Matlock has been a solid #2 starter with a 3-0 record of his own, 1 Save & 2.67 ERA, while Roosevelt Davis has been pitching above his usual, with a 2.19 ERA.
          The team has been blessed with avoiding injuries, the team can't afford injuries (especially to their star players) with a roster of only 16 players (smallest roster in the entire league). Plus it may be a matter of time when Davis comes back down to earth (he's a APBA D starting pitcher).
          The ride should continue for now, as they play the 1971 San Francisco Giants next, who have a record of 5-7, and are winners of two straight (after setting a league record 7-game losing streak).

HEATING UP

1917 CHICAGO WHITE SOX

     The White Sox were not looking good after their first series of the season against the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates, the team's backbone (their starting pitching) was not there for the most part, while the team's lineup was ice cold (including "Shoeless" Joe Jackson). Things started to shift in their second series, the pitching was more effective, the lineup started to get better, and the team ended up splitting with the favored 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers.

       The White Sox had another tough series against the 1954 Cleveland Indians, sure the Indians have been struggling, but they certainly could take advantage of a small-ball team like Chicago? No cigar, the Indians didn't show up, as the White Sox swept the Tribe (Cleveland is now a disappointing 4-8). The White Sox' batting average has improved to .265, while "Shoeless" Joe Jackson is batting .413, 2 HR & 6 RBI (with an on-base percentage of .471). The Sox have also got contribution from two of the most unlikeliest sources in their lineup: Chick Gandil & Swede Risberg; Gandil (batting .326) leads the team with 13 RBI, despite the fact that 13 of his 15 hits this season are all singles & Risberg is batting .308 with a .371 OBP, despite showing signs of cooling off.

        The starting pitching is still working through their lumps, but it's the team's bullpen (1.80 ERA in 30 Innings) and clutch hitting that has the White Sox at 7-5.

2001 SEATTLE MARINERS

      Winners of 8 out of 9 games, as they finished off sweeping the 1968 Detroit Tigers. Their bullpen set a record start of 27 1/3 innings without allowing a single run. Ichiro Suzuki, the Japanese sensation is tearing the leather off the ball with his .415 Batting Average, 22 hits, while also scoring 10 runs & swiping 5 bases. Bret Boone (.320, 3 HR & 7 RBI) and Edgar Martinez (.306, 3 HR & 10 RBI) have come around strongly after slow starts, now they just need John Olerud to come around and break out of his season slump (.171 AVG in 35 AB's).

        Freddy Garcia (1-0, 2.20 ERA & 14 K's) and Aaron Sele (0-1, 1.74 ERA & 9 K's) have put together strong outings, to allow the lineup and bullpen to shut the door on opponents. The Mariners will open up the next series in Seattle against a strong team in the 1942 Cardinals (6-6), who have been bouncing back as of late.

COOLING OFF

1984 DETROIT TIGERS

        After the league's best start at 5-0 (sweeping 1995 Indians), the Detroit Tigers started to struggle against the 1998 Padres (series ended in 2-2 split) and lost their series against a rejuvenated 1993 Giants team. The Tigers have now lost 5 of their last 7 games, and have been stretching their bullpen more than they would have liked. Although Jack Morris, Dan Pety & Juan Berenguer have been consistent -- Milt Wilcox (besides one start) has been downright awful (8.40 ERA & 12 walks). Dave Rozema's return from the disabled list (on the last game of the upcoming series) will help give the bullpen a little breather, but not in time for their series against the 1904 New York Giants, who have the best winning streak in the entire league with the Pittsburgh Crawfords -- winning eight straight!

          The Tigers bench has been quiet of late, while some of their regular starters have cooled off -- especially Alan Trammell, who batted 6th in the lineup the last game against the Giants, from his usual #2 spot (his average has dropped from .285 to .200, in 45 at-bats).

1914 BOSTON BRAVES

          The Boston Braves were a bit of a surprise out of the gate with a 5-1 record to start the season, they have unfortunately done the reverse (1-5) in their last 6 games, not to mention blew a few games as well. To manage the Braves, you have to do a lot of shuffling with the lineups and who you give starts to -- since everyone on the team (besides a few) are not full-time players; keeping them fresh and trying to avoid injuries. The team is a dead-ball team, so they definitely don't have any power, but certainly know how to get on the bases, the players do a lot of feeding off each other in which the team can score in bunches or go ice-cold, in which they seem to be cooling off drastically.

          The team is led by hitter Joe Connolly (.314, 2 HR & 11 RBI) and a two-headed monster in Dick Rudolph and Bill James (who pitched a no-no on the second game of the season over the 71' Athletics) of their rotation. The team really has no bullpen, as their top three starting pitchers eat up many innings, it's a bit of a balancing act with the bullpen and dealing with matchups. The key for the Braves is to get a huge lead at the beginning and hold on to it.

ICE COLD!

1971 OAKLAND ATHLETICS

        The Oakland Athletics have a difficult time buying hits right now, their best hitter has been Tommy Davis (.423 in 26 at-bats) and is over the pace for his at-bats season limit right now. Their best batting average among regulars is an awful Mendoza line .200 for Reggie Jackson (10 hits in 50 AB's), with Dick Green at .190 in 42 at-bats. Angel Mangual (.304 AVG) just came off a record five hit performance, but just like Davis, the Athletics have to monitor his playing time. Sal Bando has really cooled down as well.

Here is a list of the team's other hitters (and their slumps)

Sal Bando - .176 (51 AB's)

Rick Monday - .176 (34 AB's)

Joe Rudi - .163 (43 AB's)

Mike Epstein - .120 (25 AB's)

Bert Campaneris - .106 (47 AB's)

Dave Duncan - .059 (34 AB's)

Not surprisingly, the team's batting average is a lousy .191 this season! The big surprise would be that the team's backbone in pitching has been frail, and the bullpen inconsistent -- the team's pitching ERA sits at 4.70, one of the league's worst. The team actually ended with a split in their last series, and avoided becoming the first team in the "Crazy 48's" with 10 losses.

Vida Blue finally had a great outing last game, lowering his ERA to 5.14.

*** Make sure to CHECK OUT THE LEAGUE STANDINGS in the post, just below!***