Week 23 Summary (09/11/1911 - 09/17/1911)

Week 23 of the 1911 BBW replay is in the books and Philadelphia (AL) has clinched in the AL and in the NL we just might have a pennant race after all. No team in either league has reached the 140 games played mark yet but all but one team (New York (NL)) have reached the 130 games played mark, so in a 154 game season things are really starting to get close to the end. There are four weeks left to play and the final east/west road trip is currently in session in both leagues as teams are closing out their final series versus their league opponents. 

In the AL, Philadelphia started the week on Monday with a magic number of five, and then by the end of Tuesday (two days!) they had clinched the pennant in the AL. Boston, New York, and Washington have all found wins a lot tougher to come by now that they are playing each other - Philadelphia doesn't care, they continue to roll through everybody. This has allowed Chicago and Detroit to climb out of the mess in the middle of the AL standings up to third and fourth place as both teams have won seven of their last ten.

 

In the NL, first place Pittsburgh has seen their 12.0 lead shrink to 6.0 in less than two weeks. Honus Wagner and Chief Wilson are back in the lineup for the Pirates, but their offense has sputtered. At the same time, New York has started to see their powerful offense resurface while their pitching continues to be stellar, resulting in a current eight-game winning streak. The Giants are currently in Pittsburgh where they won the first game of the series, and these two teams will play again in the next two days. They will have their final game later in the year yet, so the Giants still have hope for the NL pennant.

 

The other point to consider here is that Pittsburgh has the most games played in the NL (138), while New York has the least (128). Pittsburgh has 43 losses, New York has 44, so to an extent New York really does control their own destiny. The Pirates could shake off their slumbers and go on another surge of course, and while I was ready to write off New York last week, if they stay hot, we might have a real pennant race in the NL before this is over.