Week 20 Summary (08/21/1911 - 08/27/1911)

Week Twenty of the 1911 BBW replay is in the books and the season has started its downhill slide toward its finale. Several AL teams have reached the 120 games played mark and the remainder will be there shortly, while in the NL, most teams are in the mid-110s, while Chicago brings up the rear at only 109 games played. Batting averages of both leagues are now within a point or two of their actual number and the ERA differences have slipped from three-quarters of a run down to three-fifths of a run, so these numbers are starting to slowly line up.

The truly big news of the week was the second no-hitter of the season as St. Louis (NL) hurler Slim Sallee twirled a masterpiece in Brooklyn. Sallee walked two and struck out two and kept the Dodgers batters off-stride all day. Ironically, before this week was completed Sallee was suspended by the Cardinals for the remainder of the season due to his repeated issues with alcohol and disappearances from the team. Sallee was back with the Cardinals the following season and would pitch for another ten years in the majors, so maybe he took this opportunity to clean himself up.

 

In the AL, the Athletics still sit comfortably at the top, now having opened a 15.5 game lead over second-place Boston. The Red Sox lost both ends of a doubleheader to the lowly Browns this past week, but they remain safe in second place. At the end of last week and through the first several days of this week all four AL east teams resided in the top four spots of the standings, although at this point Washington has settled into fifth place, replaced by Chicago. The Senators were in third place all by themselves for a day earlier in the week, quite an accomplishment. Third place New York has a 2.0 game over seventh place Cleveland, so how these five teams will end up is anyone's guess.

Another week of disappointment for the New York Giants in the NL. They had crawled back to within 7.0 games of first-place Pittsburgh, and with a four-game homestand versus the Pirates this past week they hoped to cut that lead even further. The Pirates had other ideas though and the visitors took 3-of-4, ending the week with a 9.0 game lead. Chicago and St. Louis have been the two hottest teams in the NL, with the third-place Cubs now within 4.5 games of the struggling Giants and with St. Louis firmly planted in fourth place with a three-game lead over Philadelphia. Cincinnati was finally able to slip past Brooklyn into sixth place, although mostly based on the Dodgers' current seven-game losing streak.

 

In the Joe Jackson watch, Jackson ended the week at .482. Again, that is nothing to sneeze at, but he is going the wrong way from .500 (frankly, as he should be). Jackson did get his 56th double this past week and he currently has 220 hits. He is on a pace to end up with ~287 hits … this has been amazing to watch.