GYBL

Monthly Recaps

1947

 

June

June became moving month as several contenders either moved up (Hoboken, Savannah and Flatbush) or moved down (Coney Island and Gotham). This was the most movement that we have seen this year. We still have 7 legitimate contenders for the playoffs, plus Pittsburg continues to hang around after a much needed strong month. Coney Island’s 2-month reign at the top of the AL came to an abrupt end after a terrible month of June. The upstart Flatbush Bums seem to be the real deal as they posted the best record in the GYBL in June winning 18 of 27 games to pull into 2nd place into a tie for 2nd with Gotham.  After dominating inter-league play last season, the AL took a beating this season winning only 95 of 216 games with Hoboken the only AL team with a +.500% record.

 

American League

Hoboken took over 1st place by winning 17 of 27 (46-36 overall) and opened a 3 game lead over 2nd place Savannah. Savannah held onto 2nd place despite winning only 12 of 27 games (43-39 overall) as Coney Island won only 9 of 27 games (41-41 overall). Coney Island went from 1st to a tie for 3rd 5 games back. Portland also suffered this month with a 11-16 record (41-41) to sit tied with Coney Island for the final playoff spot. Relatively speaking, Dacula did not have such a bad month at 12-15 (31-50 overall) but are now 14 ˝ games back of 1st and 9 ˝ games back in the wild card race. New York at 9-18 (29-50 overall) is now 15 ˝ games back of 1st and 10 ˝ games back in the wild card race.

 

National League

Newark’s grip on 1st place shrank to 2 ˝ games despite a strong 16-11 month (51-31 overall) since both Flatbush and Gotham posted better months. Flatbush at 18-9 (48-33 overall) knocked Gotham out of sole procession of 2nd place even though Gotham won 17 of 27 games (48-33 overall). This promises to be a very tight 3-team race right now to the wire and an important race as the 1st round bye will be very important since all 3 teams are very strong. Poor Pittsburg won 16 of 27 games (43-39 overall), but still couldn’t gain any ground, as they are still 8 games out of 1st and 5 ˝ games out of a wild card spot. The good news for Pittsburg is that without the strong June, they would most likely have been done for the year, but as it stands they still have a shot. Seattle at 13-14 (35-48 overall) fell 16 ˝ games back of 1st and 14 games back in the wild card race. Atlanta at 12-15 (33-48 overall) is now 17 ˝ games back of 1st and 15 games back in the wild card race.

 

Batting Leaders                                                

BA                      Walker, NWC - .380                

HR                      Kiner, PRC - 24             

RBI                      Henrich, GHE - 88          

Runs                    Williams, GHE - 84                 

Hits                     Pesky, PRC - 124            

SLG                     Williams, GHE - .627               

SB                       Robinson, FBB - 36                  

 

Click here for Org batting leaders top 25

Click here for Org batting leaders bottom 25

 

Walker has a cushion now for the batting title as he outpaces Pesky by .024. Kiner has pulled ahead of Spence by 1, but not far behind are Williams and Mize just 3 back. Henrich has nudged Mize out of the RBI lead by 1. Jackie Robinson has already established a new season record for stolen bases and continues to run away from the pack.

 

Pitching Leaders

Wins                   Dickson, NWC - 12

K’s                      Blackwell, STT - 103

ERA                    Hearn, PLP - 1.81

CG                      Spahn, FBB - 9

BA                      Blackwell, STT - .201

Shutouts               Munger, SSJ / Spahn, FBB - 4

Saves                   Murphy, NWC - 17

 

Click here for Org pitching leaders top 25

Click here for Org pitching leaders bottom 25

 

Dickson takes sole procession of the wins lead, but right behind him are Spahn & Munger at 11. Blackwell has put some distance on Feller for K-king as he leads by 13ks. Amazingly, Hearn continues to keep his ERA under 2.00 and has widened his lead over 2nd place Spahn to .49.

 

May

After only 2 months of the season, it appears that a separation has occurred between the contenders and the clubs that will be looking to 1948! There are 7 teams with a legitimate shot at a playoff spot and 1 more that is on the bubble. That leaves 4 teams that most likely will play out the string unless they turn their fortunes around very soon. In the American League, it is still Coney Island at the top but they have 3 teams (Savannah, Portland & Hoboken) all within 3 games. New York and Dacula seem to have fallen out of the race. In the National League, as expected it is still Newark and Gotham battling it out at the top and in a bit of a surprise, the Flatbush Bums continue to hang in the race. For Pittsburg, June will be a key month to determine if they will be staying in the race as they need a strong month to stay in striking distance of a wildcard spot. For Seattle and Atlanta, it just doesn’t look like 1947 will be their year.

 

American League

Coney Island had another strong month winning 15 of 26 (32-23 overall) to stay 1 game ahead of Savannah. Savannah along with the Portland both posted a 16-12 record in May to stay right on the heels of the Cyclones. The Shoeless Joes remain 1 game back with a 31-24 overall record and the Pirates are 2 games back with a 30-25 overall record. On the outside of a playoff spot is Hoboken who after a 14-12 month (29-26 overall) are 3 games back of Coney Island and 1 game behind Portland for the final wildcard spot. New York was 10-15 (20-32 overall) to fall 10 ˝ games back while Dacula went a dismal 7-20 (19-35 overall) and fell 12 ˝ games back.

 

National League

Newark needed a strong month to fend off a Gotham team that is heating up and they got it winning 17 of 27 (35-20 overall) which gained them another ˝ game on Gotham despite Gotham’s 17-11 month (31-23 overall). Gotham sits 3 ˝ games back but might have played the best baseball in May as they had a +78 run differential compared to Newark at +21. Flatbush went 17-11 (30-24 overall) which despite being the 3rd best record in May dropped them to 4 ˝ games back as unfortunately the 2 teams with better records were Newark and Gotham. Pittsburg was a respectable 14-14 in May (27-28 overall), but in the powerful NL it wasn’t good enough as they fell to 8 games back of 1st place and 3 ˝ games back in the wildcard race. Seattle went 10-18 (22-34 overall) and Atlanta went 11-17 (21-33 overall) as both teams fell to 13 ˝ games back.

 

Batting Leaders                                                

BA                      Walker, NWC - .385                

HR                      Spence, GHE - 17           

RBI                      Mize, PLP - 62               

Runs                    Gustine, PLP - 57           

Hits                     Gustine, PLP - 87            

SLG                     Henrich, GHE - .629                

SB                       Robinson, FBB - 27                  

 

Click here for Org batting leaders top 25

 

Walker still leads in batting but the lead is only .012 over Gustine. Spence now leads the homerun race which is more than a small surprise. He is chased by some real sluggers as Kiner is 2 back and Mize is 4 back. Mize’s RBI lead over Henrich is 5 & previous months leader Hatton is 7 back. I think we can award the Stolen Base Crown to Mr. Robinson as his lead is now 18 over Wyrostek.  He is only 6 behind the final total of last years winner Stirnweiss.

 

Pitching Leaders

Wins                   Dickson, NWC / Hutchinson, CIC - 8

K’s                      Blackwell, STT - 64

ERA                    Hearn, PLP - 1.56

CG                      Hutchinson, CIC - 7

BA                      Blackwell, STT - .196

Shutouts               Munger, SSJ / Hutchinson, CIC - 3

Saves                   Murphy, NWC - 12

 

Click here for Org pitching leaders top 25

 

Dickson and Hutchinson lead with 8 wins and might be the early favorites for the Walter Johnson Award. Feller is only 3 K’s behind Blackwell. Hearn is being chased by Dickson for ERA lead as Dickson is 0.14 behind.

 

April

Our 2nd season is underway and we have had several changes including new ownership, movement of franchises, some big name players switching teams…however, one thing seems to have stayed constant and appears that it will remain constant through out 1947 and possibly even longer…Newark and Gotham battling it out at the top of the National League. They finished one, two in 1946 and are one, two at the end of April. Last season it was Gotham that jumped out to the lead in April, but this season it is Newark posting the best record in the GYBL and opening a 3 game lead on the Eagles. In the American League, the Guadalcanal Coastwatchers moved to the vacated Coney Island, but have not vacated the top spot in the GYBL. They are ranked in the Power Index #1 and also have the 2nd best record in the GYBL. However, they do have company with newcomers Savannah and Portland right on their heels only 1 game and 2 games back, respectively. Interestingly, eight teams in the GYBL are above .500% and one more team is only one game below .500%.

 

American League

Coney Island started the season 17-12 which was good enough to put them at the top of the league, however with a +74 run differential in April (scored an average of 5.7 runs per game while only hitting .247 with only 18 homeruns.  They scored the most runs in April with 165 while allowing the fewest at 91) they might have missed a real opportunity to take a commanding lead. As it stands, Savannah (the only other team in the league with a + run differential at +21) at 15-12 is only 1 game back and Portland at 14-13 and Hoboken at 15-14 are both only 2 games back. Dacula finished the month 12-15 and is 4 games back, while New York finished the month 10-17 and 6 games back. 

 

National League

At 18-10 Newark was able to open a 3 game lead over 2nd place Gotham who finished 14-12. In 3rd place with a record of 14-13 is Flatbush who is only 3 ˝ games back. After finishing at the bottom of the leagues last season, the Bums look ready to compete for at least a wildcard spot this season if they can improve upon their 4-10 road record. Pittsburg is in 4th with a 13-14 record and are 4 ˝ games behind.  Seattle finished a disappointing 12-16 and finds themselves 6 games back and Atlanta at 10-16 is 7 games back. 

 

Batting Leaders                                                

BA                      Walker, NWC - .406                

HR                      Kiner & Mueller, PRC - 10                

RBI                      Hatton, CIC - 36            

Runs                    Musial, SSJ - 23              

Hits                     Walker, NWC - 41         

SLG                     Mueller, PRC - .650                 

SB                       Robinson, FBB - 16                  

 

Click here for Org batting leaders top 25

 

Walker has a .058 lead in the batting race over teammate Evers who sits at .348.  Mueller who? Pittsburg’s Muller banged 10 homeruns and had a .650% slugging which was to say the least a bit surprising for this part-timer. His teammate and not so surprising slugger, Kiner, tied him with 10 round-trippers. Coney Island’s Hatton is also a bit of a surprise as the knocked in 36 runs in April to lead Pafko by 6.

 

Pitching Leaders

Wins                   [7 players tied] - 4

K’s                      Sain, STT - 36

ERA                    Newhouser, CIC - 0.96

CG                      [4 players tied] - 4

BA                      Jones, NYM - .171

Shutouts               [6 players tied] - 2

Saves                   Page, FFB - 7

 

Click here for Org pitching leaders top 25

 

Seattle started slow but their pitchers were throwing some heat as Sain k’d 36 batters and his teammate Branca fanned 32.  Newhouser with a 0.96 ERA held a .03 lead over 2nd place Dickson.