Week 23 Summary (September 19, 1938 - September 25, 1938)

Week Twenty-Three of the 1938 BBW Replay is in the books, and what a week it was. We are now down to the final week of the season, and Mother Nature decided it was time to intervene. A massive hurricane roared up the East Coast late last week, interrupted several NL games last Sunday, no NL games were then played on Monday or Tuesday, and on Wednesday, there was only one NL game played (St. Louis at Boston). Games being impacted were one thing, but the entire region was impacted by the major storm, including train lines connecting cities.

This also meant that NL teams, then playing their games on the East Coast, were hampered, but the potential customers of the baseball games were impacted greatly as well. And then, after the NL teams finally got to squeeze a full set of doubleheaders on Thursday, some teams had trouble getting trains back out to the Midwest. But it also impacted AL teams who had been able to play their games in the Midwest unimpeded, but when it came time for the East Coast AL teams to return to the East Coast, they ran into the same train problems the NL had been putting up with for the previous several days.

 

Finally, it all got sorted out, and a full set of games (including doubleheaders) was played on Saturday and Sunday. However, the result of these recent weather-related interruptions, and with only one week on the season left to play, is that most teams will not get to play their full set of 154 games played this season. There are still plenty of doubleheaders yet to be played, and teams will get close, but most dates will miss multiple games (and the revenue from those games).

 

In the AL, the Yankees have had a stranglehold on the AL pennant for the past several weeks, so as they enter the final week of the season, they have a Magic Number of four, but New York has six games remaining on the schedule, and Boston has five, so the Yankees have successfully defended their AL pennant.

 

The real question left to be answered is in the NL. Chicago and Pittsburgh have been locked in a death grip for the past several weeks. They have continually swapped first place back and forth as each of the past two Sundays, each team had gone 5-5 in their ten previous games. Chicago will start out the final week of the season with sole possession of first place by one full game, but no one can guarantee they will keep that lead. Chicago and Pittsburgh play each other three times this coming week, so that will likely decide who will be crowned the NL champion. Likely, maybe but that is not a guarantee. The commissioner (me) is still deciding what to do if these two should end the season tied for first place.

 

The other news item to review is the race for the AL homerun and RBI title. Jimmie Foxx (54, 176) and Hank Greenberg (57, 192) are going to take this down to the wire. Foxx had temporarily taken the lead in both up until a few weeks ago, but this past week Greenberg came alive, hitting a trio of three-run homeruns and a Grand Slam in this past week. Foxx is still hitting .422 at the end of the week, and even though he lost ~25 batting points this past week, he will likely be able to hold on for the batting title, but the Triple Crown might be beyond his grasp.

 

It is the final week of the season, there are still plenty of questions to be answered, so that can only mean one thing - let's go play!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 1 Results (April 18, 1938 - April 24, 1938)

Image
Monday, April 18, 1938   Transactions:   Boston (AL) pitcher Jim Bagby made his Major League Debut on 04/18/1838   New York (AL) pitcher Joe Beggs made his Major League Debut on 04/19/1938. New York (AL) infielder Joe Gordon made his Major League Debut on 04/18/1938   Detroit outfielder Roy Cullenbine made his Major League Debut on 04/19/1938. Detroit infielder Don Ross made his Major League Debut on 04/19/1938   Cincinnati catcher Willard Hershberger made his Major League Debut on 04/19/1938   Pittsburgh pitcher Bob Klinger made his Major League Debut on 04/19/1938. Pittsburgh outfielder Johnny Rizzo made his Major League Debut on 04/19/1938   Brooklyn outfielder Ernie Koy made his Major League Debut on 04/19/1938   St. Louis (NL) outfielder Enos Slaughter made his Major League Debut on 04/19/1938. St. Louis (NL) pitcher Max Lanier made his Major League Debut on 04/20/1938   Philadelphia (AL) infi...
Read more

Week 11 Summary (June 27, 1938 - July 3, 1938)

Image
Week Eleven of the 1938 BBW Replay is in the books, and it was another interesting and fun week. No real changes in the standings, but both last-place Philadelphia teams decided it was time to assert themselves and win multiple games. Both teams have undergone roster and lineup changes over the course of the season, and in both cases, it looks like the changes are finally making a difference. Neither team is going to challenge for the pennant, but over the past few weeks, both have become much more competitive and have stopped being pushovers. Philadelphia (NL) Manager Jimmie Wilson In the AL, the Yankees' dreams of running away to supremacy were slowed down a bit this past week, with Detroit and Boston, both 6.0 games out of first, making a bit of a dent in the Yankees' lead. Next are the surprising Washington Nationals. The Nationals team batting average is currently an amazing .330. On days when they get any kind of decent pitching, they can be very dangerous. Even on days...
Read more

Week 9 Summary (June 13, 1938 - June 19, 1938)

Image
Week Nine of the 1938 BBW Replay is in the books, and another outstanding week it was. This was the week when Ebbets Field hosted its first night game, and Johnny Vander Meer  threw his second consecutive no-hitter as a way to open the park. Of course, Vander Meer didn’t throw a no-hitter in the replay, but it was the kind of event that brought attention to the baseball world. Schedules on both Friday and Sunday included five double headers as teams are starting to make up for games missed earlier in the season. Only two teams (Boston and Philadelphia, both in the NL) haven't reached the fifty games played mark yet, but they both have played forty-nine games, so it won’t be very long. Pittsburgh Manager Pie Traynor In the AL, after a relatively slow start, the Yankees have begun to assert themselves. Joe DiMaggio was a salary hold out and missed the first two weeks of the season, then rookie second baseman Joe Gordon missed a month due to injuries, plus it took some time for th...
Read more