Boston on a roll in Fennessy’s 1903 replay

by Scott Fennessy

This was the initial update for the AL.  There have been a few changes in the AL as the teams that were playing above their heads are starting to come back to reality, and the teams that were underperforming are starting to come closer to their norms. I guess that’s why they call them averages. So as of July first here is the breakdown.

Boston Red Sox (41-19)
The Red Sox continue to roll. Relying heavily on pitching early while the bats tried to sort themselves out are seeing players that were underperforming (in some cases badly). Having not noticed that one of my starters was a J-4 will probably see a sharp decrease in production at the catching position, where Lou Criger, a solid defender, but not so good with a bat in his hands regains the spot over Charles Farrell, who was hitting an admirable .287.

Jimmy Collins struggled early but is putting together a solid season at last and is among the league leaders in home runs, doubles and total bases. Buck Freeman struggled mightily through May, but really came alive. He went from about .210 to .245 and hit 4 homers this month. Freddy Parent is really having a big season at .290 with 10 steals.

Pat Dougherty has been great at the top of the order, hitting .308 with 26 steals, and third string catcher Alex Smith is hitting .357 in a very limited role.

Cy Young is probably the best pitcher in the AL with his 14-5 record, .60 WHIP and 1.85 ERA. His rotation partners are doing very well also. Tom Hughes is 11-8 with a 3.05 ERA, and Bill Dinneen is tied with Young for most victories in the league with a 14-6 record and a 3.03 ERA.

Highlights for June were Pat Dougherty’s 4 hit game against the Senators, but pitching was again the big story. The Boston trio of Cy Young, Bill Dinneen and Tom Hughes were completely overpowering. Hughes had a 2 hitter against the Yankees, Dinneen a no hitter through 6 innings before settling for a 3 hitter against the Tigers, and Cy Young threw a 2 hit 11 inning complete game victory against the White Sox.

Cleveland Indians (35-23)

The Indians are at present time the only real threat to the Red Sox, but have not yet closed ground, and in their head to head matchups have gotten pounded real hard, but unless the A’s and Tigers start playing better ball the only team standing between the Red Sox and their first World Series bid.

The Indians can really do it all, but slow starts abounded, especially with their better players. Napoleon Lajoie struggled badly through May but has turned it around a bit and is now hitting .256. Elmer Flick is slumping a bit but is hitting .268. Bill Bradley remains a mystery to me. This is my third replay with him, and he always gets a good card, but he never comes close to his actual numbers. After another horrible slump he is finally starting to hit after I dropped him in the order to the 7 spot (with a 5-6-2 card) and he seems to be responding and has finally cleared the Mendoza line and hit his first homer of the year, a three run shot off of Chief Bender of the A’s. Harry Bay has 27 steals this season.

Fortunately as the tribe’s other hitters have had hot and cold spells Charlie Hickman has been the constant. I took a liking to Charlie in my 1901 replay where he was one of only 2 hitters on an awful Giants team that had a good year and to see him rewarded with being on a contender is nice. He is a bona fide MVP candidate leading the AL in Slugging, OPS, and RBI. If Lajoie continues to improve and Flick’s slump is a short one, they can build a real threat.

Like the Red Sox, the Indians have tremendous pitching depth and it is strong enough to outlast a season long slump from almost anyone. Earl Moore (13-6 1.90 ERA .81 WHIP) is Cy Young’s equal in almost every way. He took a no hitter into the 6th inning against the Senators (their favorite punching bag) and already has a perfect game this season.

New York Yankees (27-27)

This is a team of overachievers for certain. Not one player is having a standout season on offense or on the hill, but they do just enough to win. If the A’s and Tigers start playing to form they will find their expected slot in the lower division, but for now they are at the .500 mark and that’s a good start.

Despite the complete lack of star power the bombers did have some moments during the month of June. Ambrose Puttmann, who is as close to a star as they have at the present is 10-8 and among the top 10 in ERA had a no hitter through 7.2 innings against the Indians. Jack Chesbro had two terrific outings; no hitting the Tigers for 6 innings before settling for a two hit shutout, and after allowing a two out single to Emmett Heidrick of the Browns in the first inning retired the next 25 hitters for a one hit shutout.

Willie Keeler went 5 for 5 against the White Sox, and Herm McFarland hit the first Grand Slam in team history. Dave Fultz and Will Conroy are among the leaders in steals.

Philadelphia A’s (29-31)

This is a team that is capable of much more, but always finds a way to lose. Jasper Davis (.280 4 HR 25 steals) is having a great year, but has slowed down of late. Ralph “Socks” Seybold is having a good year with a .285 average, but with only one homer to date is way off in the power category. Danny Murphy is having a breakout year hitting .278 with 18 steals and hit his first homer of the year.

Albert Daly, whose card will never be shown on “Monster Monday” is among the league leaders in triples with 5, despite appearing in only 10 games. Talk about lucky rolling! Back up third baseman Ed Hilley is hitting .429 while subbing for the injured Lave Cross.

Rube Waddell (10-10) has been a strikeout machine so far with 133 fans in 144 innings. Eddie Plank has been his usual consistent self, but Chief Bender has been a mystery so far. Despite being rated a BY he continually loses or gets hammered. He showed a couple of times in June that he may be coming around as he pitched a 3 hitter against the Tigers, and pitched another 3 hit gem against the White Sox, but took the loss in that one. He has been blessed with a strong hitting card, and it has been more helpful than his pitching at times. He is hitting .283 for the year.

St. Louis Browns (25-28)

The brownies got off to a good start, but have slowly come back to reality. They are actually a pretty competitive team, but the bats are underperforming and the pitching, while solid can only do so much.

John Sudhoff has been the king of the staff, going 10-7 with a 2.15 ERA and a .93 WHIP has been the most reliable and keeps the losing streaks to a minimum. He took a no hitter through 5 and finished with a two hitter against the mighty Red Sox. John Powell has been reliable as well and pitched a 3 hitter against the Yankees. Ed Seiver is another tough pitcher and while losing to Jack Chesbro in a 1 hit 2-0 loss he threw a three hitter himself and deserved a win.

While the bats have been more silent than hoped for, Benny Bowcock has hit .296 in a reserve role and Charlie Hemphill had a 4-5 game against the Yankees. Emmett Heidrick is not hitting as hoped for but leads the team with his .261 average and should he come around provide a little pop as well. Jesse Burkett had a real awful start but over the last week has started to come alive and while he is hitting an unusually low .234 average leads the team with 4 homers.

Detroit Tigers (24-31)

It took much longer than expected, but finally the Tigers have started to discover their winning ways. Considering how badly they started for them to be only 7 games under .500 is a miracle.

Although many of the bats have underperformed, Charlie Carr is hitting .285 to lead the team, and Lewis McAllister is hitting .270. Leadoff hitter Jimmy Barrett went 5-5 against the A’s and is hitting .259 now. This lineup will only go as far as Sam Crawford will take them though, and after a slow start is hitting better. In the same afternoon that Barrett had his 5 hit game he hit the game winning homer with two out in the bottom of the ninth. It was his 3rd of the year and he is now hitting .256 with 10 steals.

In the three game destruction of the A’s that signaled their rise from the cellar. Bill Donovan tossed a 3 hitter over Eddie Plank and with the help of their normally unimpressive defense that turned a rally killing triple play.

Although he does not get much action Charlie Kissinger has 3 saves and a .90 ERA.

Chicago White Sox (23-33)

Although not in the cellar currently, they have spent several days there while they suffer from a huge lack of offense and not enough pitching.

On offense only Ed Green stands out, hitting .321 with 14 steals. Guy “Doc” White is among the leaders in most pitching categories, and leads the AL with 211.1 innings pitched. He is 11-7 with a 2.05 ERA and .67 WHIP. He pitched a 2 hit beauty but lost to the Yankees due to poor hitting.

Washington Senators (22-34)

Well, it took them a couple of months, but they finally returned to their home; the cellar. Like their counterparts in Chicago, very little of note is taking place in the nation’s capital. However I was able to find at least a little to be positive about. Catcher Lew Drill is hitting .258 with 8 triples, and pitcher Wyatt Lee is 8-12, but has a 2.71 ERA and a .97 WHIP. He is hitting .237 in what I believe was the year he became a part time outfielder on days he did not pitch. Casey Patten, a CY pitcher struck out 12 in a loss to the Indians in Cleveland.

photo credit: "Jimmy Collins". Licensed under PD-US via Wikipedia