Week 17 Summary (August 8, 1938 - August 14, 1938)

Week Seventeen of the 1938 BBW Replay is in the books, and what a week it was. Cleveland has won ten in a row, Chicago (AL) has lost nine games in a row, and, at least for one day, they were in last place behind Philadelphia. Pittsburgh is still in first place in the NL but has lost four in a row, and behind them, the Reds and Cubs creep ever closer, with these two teams tied now in a dead heat.

Cleveland Manager
Ossie Vitt
Week 17 started off with a travel day, and no games played, but after that there were twelve doubleheaders in the week just completed, and the schedule shows fourteen doubleheaders to be played in the upcoming week. Teams are having to use relievers to make spot starts as needed, which doesn't necessarily strengthen their starting rotation, while, at the same time, simultaneously weakens their bullpen as well.

In the AL, New York sits secure in the top spot as the teams behind them do their best to maintain the current position in the standings. Boston has a strong hold on second place, and Jimmie Foxx has been on a real tear over the past month to drive the Red Sox machine, but they will have to do it without their best pitcher, Lefty Grove. Boston is hitting .325 as a team, trailing only Washington, and is going to be reliant upon their offense, which may have to carry them.

 

Washington is hitting .329 as a team, but their pitching staff finds themselves with the third-best ERA (4.79) in the AL. The Nationals are scoring 6.4 runs per game, so as long as they can continue to consistently outscore their opponents, they will remain in the upper echelon of the AL teams.

 

1938 Cleveland Indians
The real story in the AL this week was Cleveland and its ten-game winning streak, with all ten wins coming in Week 17 (10-0!). They swept four doubleheaders, including three on consecutive days, sweeping St. Louis and then sweeping Chicago in back-to-back doubleheaders. This allowed the Indians to beat the curse of being stuck at .500 for the past month, plus they have soared past Detroit into fourth place. The Tigers got caught looking as the Indians zoomed past them, and they are looking to restore their position in the upper half of the AL standings.

In the NL, Pittsburgh still leads the NL in batting, pitching, and fielding, and still has a comfortable lead atop the NL standings, but they ended the week losing three games to Chicago. This allowed the Cubs to move up in the standings, and they now find themselves tied with Cincinnati for second place. One would have to assume that one of these three teams is going to win the NL pennant, so it is really just a question of who is going to get on a hot streak and go out and take it.

 

Boston (AL) and Chicago (AL) have not reached the 100-games-played mark but will do so this coming week. All the NL teams are there, but with the aforementioned fourteen doubleheaders coming up in Week 18. All this means is that there is still a lot of 1938 baseball yet to be played, so let's go play.

 



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