Week 19 Summary (08/18/1941 - 08/24/1941)

Week Nineteen of the 1941 BBW Replay is in the books, and it was a week of doubleheaders, including twelve during the week and then ending the week on Sunday with six more. It's 1941, so the schedule makers have had plenty of practice by this point and want to avoid errors of the past, so it's best to not wait until the last week of the season to try and schedule makeup games. There are still more doubleheaders in the queue next week, and then the week after includes a Labor Day holiday doubleheader spectacular. It is August, it is hot, it is humid, the players are wearing flannel, and it's been a long season already … let's face it - everyone is dragging a little bit at this time of year. 

All the AL teams have passed the 120 games played mark, and all the NL teams will be at or past that point by the time next Tuesday's games are completed. Both New York and St. Louis have substantial leads and with only ~30 games remaining, I am thinking they are pretty safe. As has been stated here previously, all the action is in the teams immediately behind the top teams in the standings. In the AL, Boston has maintained their position in second place as both Boston and New York thumped Cleveland and Chicago pretty good last week, allowing the Red Sox to extend their cushion to 4.0 games over third-place Cleveland.

 

Chicago is currently bogged down in fourth place and riding a five-game losing streak, and much to their chagrin they have company approaching them that they can see in their rearview mirror. St. Louis is currently only 1.5 games behind Chicago as the "Big Browns Machine" is three games over .500 and hungry to move up. However, they can't shake Washington, who ended the week exactly at .500 (60-60) and is 1.5 games behind St. Louis. The Browns are fourth in hitting (.275) and third in runs scored (644) while Washington is second in hitting (.287) and fourth in runs scored (597) as both teams have been able to settle into a regular batting lineup and a semi-normal pitching rotation - Washington is fifth (4.61) in ERA and St. Louis is sixth (4.69) - and both teams have become a major nuisance to the teams above them.

In the NL, it is Brooklyn that actually won the NL in 1941, but lately, they have found themselves as low as fourth place and their offense continues to sputter. They are second in runs scored (568), but much of that is carried over from their hot start at the beginning of the season. Cincinnati is currently in second place, riding its strong pitching rotation as far as it will take them. They currently have the best ERA in the NL (2.85) which is just ahead of St. Louis (2.86). New York is fourth in runs scored (525), four more than Cincinnati. Both of these teams spent time at the beginning of the season making lineup adjustments before settling on one and a stabilized lineup and pitching rotation has benefitted both clubs.

 

There were two newsworthy events from this past week. The first was when St. Louis Browns outfielder / first baseman Roy Cullenbine hit for the third cycle of the season, the other event being that Boston Red Sox hurler Lefty Grove won his seventh game of the season, meaning that he has now reached 300 career wins.

After this upcoming week, we will be through Week Twenty and finished with the month of August. September awaits and all teams are reviewing their minor leagues to determine who to bring up for their proverbial "cup of coffee." Expect to see many new names appearing in box scores as the season winds down.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 3 Summary (04/28/1941 - 05/04/1941)

Image
Week Three of the 1941 BBW replay is in the books and the Yankees and the Dodgers are continuing to try and run away with their respective leagues. It's still early obviously, so teams in both leagues are continuing to hang around as best they can, and should the leaders blink at some point during the season, they want to be ready to jump into a lead of their own. 1941 New York Giants At the completion of Week One the Yankees were averaging 9.3 runs per game. They are now down to "only" 6.8 runs per game but are clearly leading the AL in this category. Perhaps more importantly, they have lowered their ERA from 4.71 in Week One to 3.17 at the end of Week Three. The star for the Yankees so far has been left fielder Charlie Keller . Keller leads the AL in hits (37), doubles (9), homeruns (10), runs (26), RBI's (32), and is second in average (.416). Batting in the fifth spot in the lineup, Keller has cleaned up on whoever has set the plate in front of him, with Joe DiMa...
Read more

Week 20 Summary (08/25/1941 - 08/31/1941)

Image
Week Twenty of the 1941 BBW Replay is in the books and we have reached the end of August and are heading into September with four weeks remaining to be played. Four teams in the AL have reached or passed the 130 games played mark, but the remainder are close behind. The NL teams are still slightly behind their AL counterparts, but that will be made up over these few remaining weeks. In the AL, New York has been without Joe DiMaggio for the last ten days or so, but he is scheduled to return to play later this coming week. Regardless, they have maintained their healthy lead over the rest of the division. Their magic number is down to ten, with only twenty-two games left to play. Boston has secured the second spot in the AL standings, although that may have more to do with Chicago and Cleveland's current struggles. Cleveland actually spent a few days in fifth place this last week behind St. Louis, but as this week ended, they are 0.5 games ahead of the Browns. Washington is right at...
Read more

Week 17 Results (08/04/1941 - 08/10/1941)

Image
Monday, August 4, 1941 Transactions:   Cleveland pitcher Joe Heving made his Season Finale on 08/03/1941   Cincinnati infielder Bobby Mattick returned to play on 08/05/1941   St. Louis (AL) pitcher Archie McKain (Team Debut 08/07/1941) was acquired from Detroit on 08/04/1941   Note: A relatively light schedule today as it is a travel day, with the AL Midwest teams returning to home ground while in the NL it is the easternmost teams returning to their hometowns.   Philadelphia (AL) 8 Boston (AL) (H) 1   The A's blew open a close game by scoring six runs in the top of the seventh as Red Sox reliever Mike Ryba was wild both inside and outside the strike zone. Lum Harris (5-4, 4.48) didn’t allow any earned runs in picking up the tough road win.   Washington (H) 4 New York (AL) 3   The Yankees scored three runs in the top of the second to take a 3-1 lead, but Ken Chase and Walt Masterson (1-5, 6.32) kept them of...
Read more