Pirates lead as 1903 NL replay nears end

by Scott Fennessy

The drama that is the upper division of the National League is in full force. The Giants had a BXYW starter in the rotation that until about a week ago went unnoticed as a J-4. I like to think of it as John McGraw twisting the rules to his advantage. For those that do not know it the defender’s interference rule came into existence because his days as a third baseman where he would routinely block, trip, and even outright grab players finally became too much, so this is not out of his realm. The replacement was a D starter. One would think that the second place Pirates would get a huge lift, but then they got busted with a BXW starter, also a J-4 at the same time. Fortunately the Pirates had a CZ replacement.

That said, the D has pitched more like a B and the C has pitched to grade, but fortunately for Pittsburgh, they have moved into first just as the month ended. This is their first time leading the league since 1901. The bottom half is truly horrible and would get crushed by almost every AL team.

Pittsburgh Pirates (74-40)

The hitting rich Pirates have started to round out beautifully. Ginger Beaumont is hitting .318 with 35 steals. Honus Wagner had a monster month and due largely to his still active 13 game hitting streak is now at .308 he is well atop the leaders in doubles and triples and has 34 SB. Teammate and team captain Fred Clarke is well on pace to win the league MVP. He leads all of baseball with an impressive .347 average and is in the top 3 in doubles, triples and home runs.

Third baseman Tom Leach struggled badly early, then got hurt and has started to hit more to norm and is now up to .255 with 4 HR.

The pitching has really been solid, despite the loss of Lafayette Winham to the bullpen. Sam Leever has 26 wins with a 2.88 ERA and .92WHIP. Charles “Deacon” Phillippe has pitched more like a demon this year. He has allowed just 23 walks in 324 innings and struck out 122. He has 28 victories and a 2.58 ERA with a .83 WHIP.

New York Giants (74-41)

The Giants have been so strong all year that one has to forget other than the first month of the year they have been the team to beat, so John McGraw must really be steaming as his team has just dropped into second as the month ended.

First baseman Dan McGann is hitting .291 with 45 stolen bases. Catcher Roger Bresnahan is hitting .312 with 42 steals. The two titans of the rotation carry most of the weight. Christy Mathewson is hitting .288 as a hitter and is 27-11 with a 2.37 ERA, a .84 WHIP and 251 strikeouts on the mound. Joe McGinnity is 26-11 with a 2.73 ERA and .89 WHIP.

Outfielder George Browne went 4-5 against the Pirates as Joe McGinnity tosses a 3 hit gem. Christy Mathewson had a great month. He went 8.1 no hit innings against the Cubs and in his next start in Boston threw a three hitter, and repeated the performance in Philadelphia.

Chicago Cubs (67-46)

Reality has set in and they have dropped into third and are in danger of being caught by the Reds before the season ends. While Johnny Kling is struggling most of the lineup is doing ok. Frank Chance is hitting .309 leads all of baseball with 60 walks and 72 stolen bases. Outfielder Jimmy Slagle is hitting .290 with 58 walks and 37 steals. Jake Weimer leads the staff with a 27-9 record and a 2.71 ERA.

Joe Tinker went 4-5 against the Braves in the opening game of the series, and Bob Wicker temporarily ended his slump and tossed a 1 hitter in game 2.

Jake Weimer 3 hit the Dodgers on the 21st. Frank Chance decimated the Giants for 4 hits, 5 RBI and 2 steals in a 8-6 thriller.

Cincinnati Reds (61-51)

This is a team on fire right now. Early season struggles have been eliminated and really can do almost everything. They have pretty good power, great contact hitting and speed and the pitching is really coming around.

Jim Seymour is hitting .313 with 11 triples, 15 homers and 27 steals. Mike Donlin is hitting .307 with 13 homers and 24 steals. Harry Steinfeldt is hitting .280 with 7 home runs. John Sutthoff has 24 wins and a 2.35 ERA.

Steinfeld was a one man wrecking crew as the Reds crushed the Cardinals 10-1. He went 6 for 6 with a triple and a homer, 5 RBI, and two steals. Donlin went 4-5 the next day. Bob Ewing had a great day in the finale hurling a 3 hitter, and going 4-4 with 3 RBI as a hitter. Seymour also went 4-5, only missing the home run for the cycle.

Ewing followed up his great performance with a 3 hitter against the Dodgers, but surrendered the only run of the game with one out in the bottom of the 9th.

Brooklyn Dodgers (48-63)

This team is really pretty average, but because the upper division is so strong they don’t fare well against them. Jimmy Sheckard has seen his average plummet to .275, but he has 8 home runs and 56 steals. Jack Doyle is the unknown superstar. The sole remaining member of the defunct Hartford Dark Blues he comes to the park and means business. Hitting .318 with 43 steals he is the igniter on offense.

Hugie Hearne has been inserted into the lineup and is hitting .277. Oscar Jones has 15 wins, a 2.97 ERA and 1.07 WHIP for a team that plays terrible defense and has limited offense.

Boston Braves (42-66)

It’s been a tough summer in Boston this year. Other than Duff Cooley (.289) and Fred Tenney (.292) nobody is above the .230 mark. John Malarkey leads the staff with 16 victories and is in the top 10 in K per 9 innings.

Philadelphia Phillies (39-66)

Why this team is underperforming so badly is a mystery. They should be in 4th place based on the cards, but they are really struggling to hit the dice well. Roy Thomas is hitting .281 at the top of the order, John Titus is hitting .288 and William Gleason is hitting .294. Unfortunately nobody on the pitching staff stands out.

St. Louis Cardinals (41-75)

As I mentioned in my AL recap, it has been a truly awful season in St. Louis. While the Browns have been bad, the Cardinals have been absolutely terrible. I never thought I would see a redbird team with the worst record in the NL and second worst over all.

Pat Donovan is hitting .312 with 34 stolen bases, and John Farrell has overcome a bad first half and is finally over .250. Once it was obvious they were not going anywhere Leon DeMontreville moved into the lineup and is hitting .262 and providing some pop at the top of the lineup. Mordecai Brown, who is a great pitcher on an awful team has a 2.83 ERA and a .99 WHIP and almost 4 strikeouts per 9 innings, but only 12 wins.