Week 24 Summary (09/18/1911 - 09/24/1911)

Week 24 of the 1911 BBW replay is in the books and things continue to get interesting in the NL as the season winds down. All the AL teams have reached the 140 games played mark as have most of the NL teams, but the three remaining will get there shortly. Most teams have acquired players to give a try-out too, so there are a lot of unfamiliar names appearing in the box scores. Many (most?) are just here for the proverbial "cup of coffee," but at the same time they are all giving it their best in the hope of staying up with the big boys.

In the NL, New York has continued their push for the pennant, while at the same time Pittsburgh is ferociously trying to maintain their position atop the NL standings. The Giants ended the week only 5.5 games behind the Pirates, but at the end of Week 23 the Giants were 6.0 games behind and they know with only three weeks remaining half-game improvements just won’t do it. Chicago remained all by themselves in third place, Philadelphia and St. Louis battled back and forth for the fourth spot, and below them Cincinnati, Brooklyn and Boston are pretty much set in the sixth, seventh, and eighth spots in the NL.

 

In the AL, Philadelphia continues to trample everyone who gets in their way, Boston is secure in second, and from the herd in the middle of the AL standings, Chicago has climbed into third place and has a 3.0 game lead over New York. The difference between fourth-place New York and seventh place Cleveland is 2.5 games, so there will likely be plenty of fireworks remaining as each of these teams tries to claw their way to the top of the middle. Poor St. Louis - even when they play well they often can't buy a win.

Joe Jackson still leads the AL in hitting (.471), well ahead of Ty Cobb (.397) - who has only recently fallen below .400, and Eddie Collins (.381). Clyde Milan (133) still leads in runs scored, ahead of Jackson (132) and Cobb (126), and Frank Baker (142) leads in RBI’s ahead of Cobb (126), Jackson (119), and Sam Crawford (118). Jackson leads in hits (256), next is Cobb (234), and Baker (201) has crept up into third place. Jackson has a huge lead in doubles (64), over Baker (40) and Tris Speaker (37), and Jackson leads in homeruns (11) just ahead of Speaker (10) and Baker (10). Cobb leads in triples (26) with a healthy lead over Jackson (20) and Bridie Cree (20). This means Jackson now has 95 extra-base hits, so reaching the 100 XBH’s mark is actually well within reach. Cobb leads in steals (74), well ahead of Milan (50) and Cree (45). Among the pitchers, Jack Coombs (30-6, 2.40) and Walter Johnson (29-5, 1.78) lead the way.

 

Honus Wagner (.368) leads the NL in hitting despite having been in a bit of a slump since his return from an injury. Jake Daubert (.351) and Chief Wilson (.344) are next in the batting average race. Jimmy Sheckard has been leading a recent Cubs surge and leads in runs (121) over Larry Doyle (112) and Josh Devore (106), while teammates Wagner (118) and Wilson (114) still lead in RBI’s with Fred Merkle (114) creeping into the picture. Buck Herzog leads in doubles (40), ahead of Wilson (36) and Mike Mowrey (34), and Frank Schulte leads in homeruns (23) in front of Wilson (20), and Sherry Magee and Doyle, both with 18. Red Murray has the lead in triples (20) with Mike Mitchell (17) and Devore (17) close behind. Bob Bescher has the lead in stolen bases (72) in front of Devore (58) and Fred Snodgrass (48). After Bescher, the next five and six of the next seven in steals all play for New York. Pete Alexander (28-10, 2.57) and Christy Mathewson (27-11, 2.61) lead the NL pitchers, with the next three, all with twenty or more wins, members of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Behind them are four additional pitchers sitting on nineteen wins, so several additional twenty-game winners are highly likely before this is all over.