Week 18 Summary (August 15, 1938 - August 21, 1938)

Week Eighteen of the 1938 BBW Replay is in the books, and after twelve doubleheaders two weeks ago, there were fourteen doubleheaders this past week. The makeup games finally getting made up have done a lot to get the number of games played caught up (obviously), but the cost is in pitcher usage. The pitching staff on all teams is relatively thin to begin with - the great depression is still ongoing, so smaller rosters have been the rule of the day all season. Therefore, teams are having to scramble to keep their rotation intact while slotting in sport starters (i.e., relievers) as needed, all while praying for a good outing from their lesser hurlers.

Detroit Manager
Del Baker

In the AL, the Yankees are slowly asserting themselves. Second-place Boston has been on a roll and has won seven of their last team games, but while doing so the Yankees were winning nine of their last ten. Washington had been on a roll, but then they had to face New York and Boston. The result was that their team batting average went from .329 to .323, and then they lost seven of their last ten. These losses by Washington have allowed Cleveland to swoop past them into third place.

The Athletics ended Week 18 by losing both ends of a doubleheader versus the Yankees, Monday is an off-day as the AL Midwest teams will all be travelling eastward. When play resumes on Tuesday, Philadelphia has six doubleheaders scheduled to fill up the remainder of its week. The A's need the doubleheaders to get caught up on their games played, and so do their opponents - Detroit, St. Louis, and Chicago - but this is a particularly brutal way to do it.

 

In the NL, Pittsburgh still sits atop the NL, but its lead is down to only 3.0 games. Chicago is right on their tail, and the Cubs ended their week by taking two of three from the Pirates. After their recent surge, the Reds find themselves 3.0 games behind the Cubs, 6.0 behind the Pirates. The Reds ended the week on a three-game winning streak, so hope rings eternal. The fourth-place Giants are sitting at fourteen games over .500, and they seem to have emerged from their summer doldrums, but with three teams in front of them, their pennant chances are looking pretty bleak. That, plus pitching ace Carl Hubbell underwent elbow surgery at the end of the week and will not return this season, so the Giants' role for the final six weeks may be the opportunity to play spoiler.

 

It's just not the Athletics with their six doubleheaders this coming week; there are twenty doubleheaders on the schedule over the next seven days. That point in the season where teams have no choice but to squeeze in these makeup games has finally arrived, and the replay is right in the middle of it. With all that said, let's go play!